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PALEOBOTANY and PALEOZOOLOGY

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

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OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

~ OF LONDON.

NOVEMBER 1843 ro APRIL 1845.

VOL. IV.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY R. AND J. E. TAYLOR, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET ;

AND SOLD AT THE APARTMENTS OF THE SOCIETY,
SOMERSET HOUSE.
1846.

CONTENTS.

VOL. IV.

SESSION 1842-1843.

|

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges, exhibited by the boring
' operations in Fort William in the years 1836-1840. By Lieut. R.
| Baird Smith, B.B. ........cccecscecesenensccnreecseceescssecsescsrscssecesenes

On Pipes or Sand-galls in Chalk. By Joshua Trimmer, Esq. .........
On some remarkable Concretions in the Tertiary Beds of the Isle of
i Man. By H. E. Strickland, Eisq., M.A....cccscecsnensceeseeseerene epee
On the Bala Limestone. By D. Sharpe, Esq. .......-..sssseseeeeeoenees

On the discovery of the Remains of Insects in the Lias of Gloucester-
shire, with some remarks on the lower members of this Formation.

By the Rev. P. B. Brodie, M.A. w..sessessecssserenecenesenereee ees cepaee
On certain Impressions on the Surface of the Lias Bone-bed of
~ Gloucestershire. By H. E. Strickland, Esq., M.A. .,....ssesssseeees

On the Ridges, Elevated Beaches, Inland Cliffs and Boulder Forma-
tions of the Canadian Lakes and Valleys of St. Lawrence. By
Charles Lyell, Esq., M.A..o....ssseerssssevececeneeanesnesensvensersesen ees
On a suite of Specimens of Ornithoidichnites, of Foot;-prints..of Birds
on the New Red Sandstone of Connecticut, United States. By
G. A. Mantell, Esq., LL.D. ...... Sea MORI e ealaiavcttarce alow Main coals atareia crates
Extract of a Letter on newly-discovered Ichthyolites in the New Red
Sandstone of New Jersey, United States. By W.C. Redfield, Esq.

On the Silurian Rocks of the South.-of Westmoreland and Northrof

“4

Lancashire. By D. Sharpe, Esq....-ssy...irsfeweass Peter sPeerrneee seven
On the Stratified Rocks of Berwickshire and their imbedded Organic
Remains. By Mr. W. Stevenson, OLMIUDSE uiccsaes semeaseae deceseeiaas
On the Tertiary Strata of the Island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massa-
chussetts. By Charles Lyell, Esq., M.A. ......ccese sessesereecesenee
Letter on Fossil Bones found in digging the New Brunswick Canal in
Georgja, United States. By J. Hamilton Cooper, Esq. ........++.

Description of some Fossil Fruits from the Chalk Formation of the
South-east of England. By G. A. Mantell, Esq., (DED hasoseuooe wa

33

34

lV

Notice on the Fossilized Remains of the soft parts of Mollusca. By
(C-<as Mantel, Heq., UL. Ds, cccccesseehe cccercteee ce ee page 35

On the geological position of the Mastodon giganteum and associated
Fossil Remains at Bigbone Lick, Kentucky, United States, and
other localities in the United States and in Canada. By Charles

ME Vells WS Qsey <seetecacce cs ep aig tis talon itinieinnisels nije s opis snnn/s sla/siaaicieie eee EE 36
Amnual-Reports. |..17th February,,1843, ..co-cocsrcecesccsscusteccucr savages 2 |
Address on the Adjudication of the Wollaston Medal to MM. Dufré-

noy and Elie de Beaumont............ aces dat Sale eea cts é venta aieomaeGnaeee 62

Anniversary Address, delivered 17th February, 1843, by R. I. Mur-
chison, Bsqee Gy aG 0 ehen, auorelilingol, wiaises. ne evccccec eco 65

Oa some New Species of Fossil Chimeroid Fishes, with Remarks on
their general affinities. By Sir Philip Grey Egerton, Bart., M.P... 153 i

On the Geology of the neighbourhood of Bayonne. By S. P. Pratt, |
BSG. ssccsareccertnsscnscecees ena, eeeccnae. Besa deve das adel site sce oautedete 157

On the Locomotive and Non-Locomotive Powers of the Family Cri- |
noidea. By J. C. Pearce, Wisq: 1280.8. of. Ao, aoe. Mi & et aeoeraip 159.

On an entirely new form of Encrinite from the Dudley Limestone. |
By J. CSPearc’;! Hsq:, 0 9984) 20 aicinOy St 96 sanay WOR. IA 160°

On a Fossil Pine-Forest at Kurrur-Kurran in the inlet of Awaaba on
the Eastern Coast of Australia. By the Rev. W. B. Clarke, M.A... 161.

On some Pleistocene Deposits near Copford, Essex. By John Brown,
WWEGlop Cli SHENG Z | Goneneneopoaooceosnes © e/sleolo(ole)sie s)n/s(esielenisinis)els snialsicis see eeeinee 162

On the Tin-mines of Tenasserim Province. By J. Royle, Esq., M.D. 165.
On the Geology of the South-East of Surrey. By R. A. C. Austen

|B. igpetcaore eBcednconiaannneehon aniccnreeMaenainm nema CL. esses. 167)
Notice of the Occurrence of Beds containing Freshwater Fossils in the |
Oolitic Coal-field of Brora, Sutherlandshire. By Al. Robertson,
Esq.
Observations on the Occurrence of Freshwater Beds in the Oolitic De-
posits of Brora, Sutherlandshire, and on the British Equivalents of

the Neocomian System of Foreign Geologists. By R. 1. Murchison,

IDSs deaese Pepleisienisnjnsicjnanedetancaniem bet dessines seta cunecccce onto Seseracccree 174 |

On the Upright Fossil Trees found at different levels in the Coal
Strata of Cumberland, Nova Scotia. By Charles Lyell, FSi soncscne 176 |

On Changes in the Temperature of the Earth asa mode of accounting
for the Subsidence of the Ocean, and for the consequent formation
of Sea-beaches above its present Level. By Robert Harkness, Esq.,
of Ormskirk

On some New Ganoid Fishes. By Sir P. Grey Egerton, M.P....... 183 |

On the Coal Formation of Nova Scotia, and on the Age and Relative
Position of the Gypsum accompanying Marine Limestones. By
Charles Lyell, RSG. AO, KO

A Geological Map of Nova Scotia, with an accompanying Memoir. |
By Abraltam ‘Gesner, Esq-jMeDin tesa) alt. Ja comucel ade, 186 |

On the Geology of some Points on the West Coast of Africa, and of
the Banks of the Niger. By W. Stanger, Esq. M.Div. Ene er coe 190)

On the Classification of Granitic Rocks. By Robert Wallace, Esq... 193 |

Vv

Additional Notes on the Geology of the South-East of Surrey. By
Ree Oe ANustenPEISt[e)cscececcmeresocmseserynarannns soeem sone sn: endoue page
Observations on part of the Section of the Lower Greensand at Ather-

field on the Coast of the Isle of Wight. By W. H. Fitton, Esq.,
PEO LE ROBES AIA RE TE ie eleah Saale ce tien onsen sen
On Scratched Surfaces of Rocks near Mount Parnassus. By W. C.
» Trevelyan, Esq. ...+ sssseeseee se ofan bos ROIS TOEA Ue foatele de «0 wdiatebing pina oie

On Ichthyopatolites or Petrified Track-wings of Ambulatory Fishes
upon Sandstone of the Coal Formation. By the Rev. Prof. Buck-

Jand, D.D. .c..ccersecvesconnecoeececarcacrercerencceees ceccvsssecess So usdcospoo
Observations on certain Fossiliferous Beds in Southern India. By
| C. J. Kaye, Esq., Madras Civil Service ...s+rserrsserrerseeentnneen tet
Account of a Section of the Strata between the Chalk and the Wealden

Clay in the Vicinity of Hythe, Kent. By F. W. Simms, Esq. ......
Comparative remarks on the Lower Greensand of Kent and the Isle of
_ Wight. By W. H. Fitton, Esq., M.D. ccccsceessevsscceeneceeeerseeeres
Supplement to a Memoir on the Fossil Species of Chimera. By Sir
P. Grey Egerton, Bart. .....ss.sseeeseeeenees AS eRe ellonctebaosepadacade
‘On the Occurrence of the Remains of Insects in the Upper Lias of the

County of Gloucester. By James Buckman, Esq......--sss+2+++8 “goo
Outline of the Geological Structure of North Wales. By the Rev.

Prof. Sedgwick, M.A......++«. A a) pegubosaeconuadonduagaeogonouecudecennG

1843-1844.

On the Geology of the Maltese Islands. By Lieut. T. Spratt, R.N....

Report on the Collection of Tertiary Fossils from Malta and Gozo.
By Prof. E. Forbes...s.sseesssssessssesssetersrseestsereenses sree eonehooces

On the Fossil Remains of Starfishes of the Order Ophiuride found in

Britain. ‘By Prof. E. Forbes.....-e.s+sseeeeree She plelaia ohcte mesh cereus aes
On some Fossil Remains of Anoplotherium and Giraffe from the
Sewalik Hills. By H. Falconer, M.D. and Capt. Cautley .........

On the Older Paleozoic (Protozoic) Rocks of North Wales. By the
Rev. A. Sedgwick, Ji betes “5 aha aguas Bde deppnugan cebandanidbooooonboccsnioceco

On the Geology of Cape Breton. By Richard Brown, Esq......+++++.-
On the Lower Carboniferous Rocks, or Gypsiferous Formation of
Nova Scotia. By John William Dawson, Esq. csseceecnsceneeeeeatens
On Concretions in the Red Crag at Felixstow, Suffolk. By the Rey.
J_S. vEllenslaw,,. MAbs ssus-reacesaennaneessuenten teaenceranssccstre sco sink:

Appendix to Prof. Henslow’s Paper, consisting of a Description of the
Fossil ‘[ympanic Bones referable to four distinct Species of Balzena.

On the Occurrence of the Genus Physeter (or Sperm Whale) in the
Red Crag of Felixstow. By Edward Charlesworth, Esq. ......++++-
On a Fossil Forest in the Parkfield Colliery near Wolverhampton.

By Mr. Henry Beckett ...--++ Janorpeguarecse _ Atspemobecdan cepanees neigenbn

196

198

203

204

204

206

208

211

211

212

287

vi

Description of the Remains of numerous Fossil Dicotyledonous Trees
in an Outcrop of the Bottom Coal at Parkfield Colliery, near Bil-
ston. By William Ick, Esq.......... age eoGRobi -eseem nei s ee ciae eee page

Some Account of a Fossil Tree found in the Coal Grit near Darlaston,

South Staffordshire. By John S. Dawes, Esq. ........s...0.08 seceniaoel

On the Trap-rock of Bleadon-hill, in Somersetshire. By the Rev.
DS Willianis **2.issitaviatiiies tinenebwrnsetssichleniesinarthseclodseene a kaameeeee

On the Occurrence of Phosphorite in Estremadura. By Charles
Daubeny, M.D., and Capt. Widdrington, R.N. ........ccecssceeseeeees

Notes on the Cretaceous Strata of New Jersey, and other Parts of
the United States bordering the Atlantic. By C. Lyell, Esq. ......
On the Fossil Shells collected by Mr. Lyell from the Cretaceous For-
mations of New Jersey. Description of New Species, by Prof.
Bid ward' POTbes hyo sce. s.diaacoohacterscksdesnad coasesncaGeeeee cane eee

Account of six species of Polyparia obtained from Timber Creek, New
Jersey, and described by William Lonsdale, Esq. ........0ss0ece+ wale
On the thickness of the Lower Greensand Beds of the South-East
Coast of the Isle of Wight. By F. W. Simms, Esq. ...0.-...... Seeeee

Report on the Lower Greensand Fossils in the Possession of the
Geological Society. By Prof. Edward Forbes ..........s.csesee seeeee

Report on the Collection of Fossils from Southern India, presented by
C.J. Kaye, Esq., and the Rev. W. H. Egerton. By Prof. Edward
HOLDES wenecec cece socotsnsecesncsrcnsc sees ct etc acs teat esa eee

On the Permian System as developed in Russia and other Parts of
Europe. By Roderick Impey Murchison, Esq., and M. E. de Ver-
PNET HUI Resco ontERcedaboobdgcancogboasesneMbocoonioas eiehies eines cielcereke seccscsscacces

Annual Report, 16th February 1844 ...... Secieaicense@ecinscaermeres Sadie

Some Remarks on the White Limestone of Corfu and Vido. By
Capt. Portlock, R.E. ............ Decdecoetlecuaccheanontseseen eo toceT ean

Account of the Strata observed in the Excavation of the Bletchingley

Tunnel. By Frederick Walter Simms...............cscece0ee eBrgcnitos00;
Remarks upon Sternbergie. By John S. Dawes, Esq. ........sscceseess
On the Thalassina Emerii, a fossil Crustacean, forwarded by Mr. W.S.

MacLeay, from New Holland. By Prof. T. Bell............... sacoeeses
On Two Fossil Species of Creseis (?) collected by Professor Sedgwick.

By. Worbes, ESQ +: .isairosecoceunceeduasosanora nat cceeee seen eeeneeee ace
On Fractured Boulders found at Auchmithie near Arbroath. By W.

(CoG NOL SRI Bs caddiassoadoadabonsuesdes nocbonosscadasdacs sotiensie taste beset
On the Origin of the Gypseous and Saliferous Marls of the New Red

Sandstone. By the Rev. D. Williams, M.A. ............cceceeceneceoee
On the Occurrence of Fossils in the Boulder Clay. By Robert Hark-

TESS IWEO orccuo saeebecee stteteneceecncescueceeeeseeceecceceecaseesseeeenesanses
On the Traces of the Action of Glaciers at Porth-Treiddyn, in Carnar-

voushire: By Robert W. Byres, Bsqussedeastencee terete ss0sc6
On the Existence of Fluoric Acid in recent Bones. By G. Owen

Rees, Esq. ......sese0e andese0.o.acc QedancoangoadudgnoudosageNoSscoNseGooC ontGe0

Observations on the Geology of the Southern Part of the Gulf of
Smyrna and the Promontory of Karabournou. By Lieut. Spratt, R.N.

289
292
293
298

301

307
311
322

324
325
327
335

355

357
359

360
362
364
365
369
370
373

373

Vii

Note on the Fossils collected by Lieut. Spratt in the Freshwater Tertiary
Formation of the Gulf of Smyrna. By Prof. Edward Forbes...page 379
(On the Remains of Fishes found by Mr. Kaye and Mr. Cunliffe, in
the Pondicherry Beds. By Sir Philip Grey Egerton, Bart., M.P, 381
‘On the Occurrence of a Bed of Septaria, containing Freshwater Shells,
in the series of Plastic Clay, at New Cross, Kent. By Henry War-
(2 burton, Eisq., M.P. .ccececececececccccerscetesecseceees cig sie wane Semaine = 389
Report on the Fossils from Santa Fe de Bogota, presented to the Geo-
. logical Society by Evan Hopkins, Esq. By Prof. Edward Forbes . 391

Comparative Remarks on the Sections below the Chalk on the Coast
| near Hythe, in Kent, and Atherfield, in the Isle of Wight. By W.

H. Fitton, M.D. ......ccccccecccnsccscssccsccecsssccceccesencsscsnsesscccsceoes 396
On the Junction of the Lower Greensand and the Wealden, at the
. Teston Cutting. By F. W. Simms, Esq. ..-.ssssseereeerersseeseeeeess 406
On the Section between Black-Gang-Chine and Atherfield Point. By
_ Capt. L. L. B. Ibbetson, and Prof. Edward Forbes....scsss.sseeeeeee 407

Description of the Mouth of a Hybodus found by Mr. Boscawen Ibbet-
son in the Isle of Wight. By Sir Philip Grey Egerton, Bart., M.P. 414
On some Crustaceous Remains in Carboniferous Rocks. By W. Ick,
& TESQ. esoceseeecsoeeeers donanecosenocsnone pono -nacshs ace eherlcissbesseincs sci aseiveriss 416
‘On the probable Age and Origin of a Bed of Plumbago and Anthracite
occurring in mica-schist near Worcester, Massachussetts. By C.
> Lyell, Esq. ...cscceecsrseeeeesesesesssenrtearenscensceccesncceneesnseees Se-becoe 416
Analysis of Specimens of Bituminous and Anthracitic Coal of the
United States, and of the Plumbaginous Anthracite alluded to in
the foregoing paper. By John Percy, Esq., M.D....... Sonaseposseanare oo
On the Geology of Cape Breton. By Richard Brown, Esq. -.......+++- 424
On Fluorine in Bones, its source, and its application to the determina-
tion of the Geological Age of Fossil Bones. By J. Middleton, Esq. 431

Notice of the Raised Beaches on the Western Coast of Ross-shire.

By J. G. Jeffreys, Esq. 1.111 seessscesssecereseeeeneens Spmiehe <siaigsirs elfgweisiai 434
On the Cliffs of Northern Drift on the Coast of Norfolk, between Wey-
bourne and Happisburgh. By Joshua Trimmer, Esq. -.....++++++++ 435
On the Stonesfield Slate of the Cotteswold Hills. By the Rev. P. B.
Brodie, M.A., and James Buckman, Esq. ........-eceesecseereeenescere 437
Description of a Fossil Ray from Mount Lebanon ( Cyclobatis oligadac-
tylus). By Sir Philip Grey Egerton, Bart., TR LAB cB SBseebededocacbebe uiiek)
On some New Species of Fossil Fish, from the Oxford Clay at Chris-
tian Malford. By Sir Philip Grey Egerton, Bart., IMESPS cteoscsecns 446
On certain Calcareo-corneous Bodies found in the outer chambers of
Ammonites. By H. E. Strickland, INUSAR Soc ctne Risa masmtine wala sGloaeeisieiee 449
Notice concerning the Tertiary Deposits in the South of Spain. By
James Smith, Esq. ....0-.ssecseeeecssvscccccecencere oneaeecees nace Basstic 452

1844-1845.

Observations on the Geology of some parts of Tuscany. By W. J.
Hamilton, Esq., M.P..scceeeee Reh ene Lia fea ect ratcls ae nlelenciaiserien casts vee 455

Vili
On the Geology of Gibraltar. By James Smith, Esq. ........0... page

Remarks on the Geology of British Guiana. By Sir Robert Schom-
DUPER ME HEIs ainda toon cteesen.. Woe eeseneceroscseccscensscsasesessevecceeacne

A Letter to Dr. Buckland on the subject of Glacier Marks in South
Wales. By W.C. Trevelyan, BBG sniieditusd. dis seks bes ead cet ee

On the Pipes or Sand-galls in the Chalk and Chalk-rubble of Norfolk.
By Joshua Trimmer, Esq. ............00. .

Corr eererereecrerssssee te acesersece

On the Discovery of the Fossil Remains of Bidental and other Reptiles
in South Africa. By Andrew Geddes Bain, Esq. secss0.sie a eee

Description of certain Fossil Crania, discovered by A. G. Bain, Esq.,
in Sandstone Rocks at the South-eastern Extremity of Africa, re-
ferable to different Species of an extinct Genus of Reptilia (Dicyno-
don), and indicative of a new Tribe or Sub-order of Sauria. By
Richard Owen, BIS, cdicescenssetnccksctanecodnctuattonnt. ae

On the Newer Coal Formation of the Eastern Part of Nova Scotia.
By John Dawson; Bsqs,.iiciosccnacue cased lec ee

Geological Features of the Country round the Mines of the Taurus in
the Pashalic of Diarbekr described from Observations made in the
Year 1843. By Warington W. Smyth, EsqusirB SA: acaceesseey uae

On certain Conditions and Appearances of the Strata on the Coast of
Essex near Walton.. By John Brown, Bega teeccneas tenenee concise

On Dykes of Marble and Quartz in connection with Plutonic Rock on
the Upper Wollondilly in Argyle County, New South Wales. By
the. Rev.-WecBa Clarke; MiAs= 228 bcc cssc cee teeane ree REN

Annual Report, 21st February 1845......e...06...... vseinle Sepaceees ae weeaae

On the Miocene Tertiary Strata of Maryland, Virginia, and of North
and South Carolina. By Charles Lyell Esq. anc naiicciwaa» ugtenaeaen’

Appendix on the Indications of Climate afforded by the Miocene Co-
rals of Virginia, U.S. By W. Lonsdale, RSG Ve. a een ake

Observations on the White Limestone and other Eocene or Older Ter-
tiary Formations of Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. By
Charles Lyell, ESO echt chaeees suistnstee tec. wattage 0 saisie o SeimaNe eR RIE <2

On the comparative Classification of the Fossiliferous Strata of North
Wales, with the corresponding deposits of Cumberland, Westmore-
land, and Lancashire. By the Rev. Prof. Sedgwick, M.A. .........

On a supposed Aérolite, said to have fallen near Lymington, Herts.
By, RvAS C. Austen, /Hisq-.eneneeeeen ae sia wsclshicie ham eneroeee Spordens

On the Junction of the Transition and Primary Rocks of Canada and
Labrador. By Capt. Bayfield, R.N.......ccscssssssceseseesseesecec cece.

On the supposed Evidences of the former Existence of Glaciers in North
Wales. By Angus Friend Macintosh, ESQ. nnndbGsSS2 EVR y ROE

On the Paleozoic Deposits of Scandinavia and the Baltic Provinces of
Russia, and their relations to Azoic or more ancient crystalline Rocks;
with an account of some great features of dislocation and metamor-
phism along their northern frontiers. By Roderick Impey Murchison,
Ksq.

PROD TODO DCEO COC AGO OOO COOUOUID OO OCOD OUDDOGouUOOnHOndOOOOKG CO sac BOG eecssecrevoasse

480

480

482

482,

499

500

504

512

523

563

576

584

584

594

601

4

LIST OF THE FOSSILS FIGURED IN THIS VOLUME.

OOOO

Name of Species. Formation *. Locality. Page.
PLANTS.
Sternbergia? (fragment of stem) |Carb........-...-(Oldbury, near Birming-
| AM ...,..sceeseeeesesees | 359
PoLyPARIA.
Cellepora tubulata. Lonsdale...... Crete ccecnaestrer New Jersey, &c., U.S....| 316
Eschara digitata ...ccccecssscresssees Crete seansces 2: New Jersey, U.S. ...... 319
Escharina ? Sagend ....ssece.eeeseeee Crete casecccses New Jersey, U.S. ...... 317
Idmonea contortilis. Lonsdale ...\Cret............. New Jersey, U.S. ...... 314
Montivaltia atlantica ...ccc...--++0- Cretivescassi tees New Jersey, U.S. ...... 311
Tubulipora megera. Lonsdale ...{Cret..........--- New Jersey, U.S. ......| 315
FORAMINIFERA.

Cristellaria sp...++.+++ epecengst sannnoe Oretseccnams Pere New Jersey, U.S. ......| 310
ROtalina Sp. .....ececscerersereoencees (Creterseanccecer ...New Jersey, U.S. ...... 310
ECHINODERMATA.

Amphidetus Virginianus. Edw.

BODES axeepck an og sh3-aoeeo bwasboarccs- Miocene ......|Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.) 559
Amphiura Pratti. Edw. Forbes...\Oxford Clay ...|England ........---+..00+ 233
Echinus Ruffinit, Edw. Forbes ...|Miocene ....../Williamsburg, Virginia,

Wis Ss ceenbddancian qadoddes 560

Ophioderma Egerton ........- ate. Inf. Oolite...... England .........-..2ce00. 233

tenuibrachiata.........+++ saseoel LiLASs wees eiictaaets Bridport «002 con. 0secsccs- 233

Ophiura Murravii. E. Forbes ...|Marlstone...... Staithes svssss.cesenuss asteos|{ 200

SEU TACs ce wrenjenialdew las relslel ale Chalk .......6. England. ; ...c0s-.-r2cace 234
Seutella Jonesii. Edw. Forbes ...|Hocene ........- Jacksonboro’, Georgia,

CRUSTACEA.
Thalassina Emerii. Bell..........+- | ? JAustralia ...cccseseeeeoveee| 360
Genus incert. sed.
Aptychus ? (tWO Species) .esscecreees |Lias ............|Bidford, Warwickshire...| 449
Mou.usca.—Péeropoda.
Creseis primeva. Edw. Forbes......|Denbigh flag...|N. Wales ......s00..s00005. 362
Sedgwicki, Edw. Forbes...... Denbigh flag...|N. Wales ........ 8 HIG 362

* The following abbreviations are made use of :—Carb., Carboniferous series ;
Cret., Cretaceous; and L. G. S., Lower Greensand.—Eocene, f. w. signifies
Freshwater beds of the older Tertiary period.

x '_ LIST OF FOSSILS.

Name of Species. Formation. Locality. Page.

Mo.iusca.—Conchifera.

Inoceramus lunatus. Edw. Forbes..|Cret. ............|Santa Fe ...... seacoocooncs|), SHE
Lima reticulata. Lyell and Edw.

TONES. cocooncacasacbossaqagsaan006e9 Creteyeccewesecee New Jersey, U.S. ...... 308
Ostrea subspatulata. Lyell and

Sowerby 2 icitist2-cccuesctecctessess Creticsncsncces N. Carolina, U.S..........| 307
Terebratula Vanuxemiana. Lyell

and Edw. Forbes ........2.2.e:0+0- Cret. ......000.5. New Jersey, U.S. ......| 308

Wilmingtonensis. Lyell and|Eocene ......... Wilmington, N. Carolina,
G. Sow. WI5 IS Goonagsonocanadccpaas 565

Mo.uivusca.— Gasteropoda.

Bulla Mortoni. Lyell and Edw.
Forbes. (A Cast.) .....0.....000e Cretateecners -...|New Jersey; U.S. ......| 309
Cerithium Georgianum. Lyell and|Eocene ......... Jacksonboro’, Georgia,
G. Sow. WeSigecteeseite eae 573
Melania Hamiltoniana. Edw. Forbes|Eocene, f. w....)Vourla, Smyrna ..:...... 380
sp (Cast) i.scccaeescsse ee npoHCno Eocene, f. w,...|Jacksonboro’, Georgia...) 573
Natica sp. (Cast) scccecccsceccecsceess Cret. ..........0.,New Jersey, U.S. ...... 309
Oliva sp. (Cast) .......00. paocenosons Eocene ......... Wilmington, N. Carolina,
1B iesesoseaaanaconooocc 565
Paludina Stricklandiana. E. Forbes|Eocene, f. w..../Vourla, Smyrna ......... 380
S77 (CASh) cceneacsucesseoees ++se-|Hocene, f. w..../ Wilmington, N. Carolina,
By Sp loodsnaddononosocdcsne 573
Planorbis Spratti. Edw. Forbes.../Eocene, f. w.... Vourla, Gulf of Smyrna... 380
Tornatella sp. (Cast) ....0...sceeeee Cretacenssscene «.|New Jersey, U.S. ...... 309
Voluta. (Casts of 3 species) ...... Cret. ...,........|New Jersey, U.S. ......| 309

Mo.ivusca.— Cephalopoda.

Ammonites Bogotensis. EH. Forbes..|Cret. .......62...|Santa Fe .....sccecseoseees 395
—— Buchiana. Edw. Forbes...... Cretisccesecssss Santaule weecscroceeeee seee-| 394
Hopkinsi. Edw. Forbes...... Cret. ...... GQUCG| ETN INXS) “Gogsoccooonna900cc 393
Inca. Edw. Forbes ......... Cretyecanerecees Santapheleeecsceseceeerere 394
Leai. Edw. Forbes ......... Cretsmanieccstees Santa, Fe: c.cceccsssessscene 395
Ancyloceras Humboldtiana ......... Cretsfececaeess ace Santa Fe ............+00... 392
Hamites Orbignyana. Edw. Forbes|Cret. .........0.. Santa Fe ...... osnao006 see] B92
FisHEs.

Aspidorhynchus euodus. Egerton.

(Part Of Jaw.) ........scecseseseees Oxford Clay ...|Christian Malford.........| 438
Corax incisus. Hg. (Tooth.) ...... Crete ccccecsenes Pondicherry .............. 385
pristodontus. (Tooth.) ...... Cretaeseessecers Pondicherry ......... soesss| O84
Cyclobatis oligodactylus. Egerton.
TL, © cosoaaoodedonbooobesosonucondeeer Eocene ....... e-[Lebanon. ....c..sceeeeee.-| 442
oe basanus. Egerton.(Mouth.)
BIS) cceces bodngogooousenqnada_DOOCaor L. G.S....... ..|Isle of Wight ............ 414

Lamna complanata. Ee. (Teeth.)\Cret. .............Pondicherny <.,-..-+-..sus|) OOM

LIST OF FOSSILS. : Xi

Name of Species. Formation. Locality. Page.
Lamna sigmoides. Eg. (Teeth. ...|Cret.........+++-/Pondicherry ......+e+eeee0.| 387
Odontaspis constrictus. Egerton.
((IN@SHS) scoaooneqdnosabaccoooEeBoKudsG Cret. .....-.+2+-/PONdICHErTY «...c2ee2-.-02-| 388
oxyprion. Eg. (Tooth.)...... Cretiecedrecrees Pondicherry .....+....2+++- 388
Otodus basalis. Egerton. (Teeth.)..|Cret. ......2+-2+ Pondicherry ......+--...0++ 386
divergens. Eg. (Tooth.)...... Cret. ...+0...0-e. Pondicherry ....... Sooooo"e 386
——? marginatus. Eg. (Teeth.)...|Cret. ....0....+6 Pondicherry .......++...0+. 385
—— minutus. Egerton. (Teeth.)..|Cret. ..........-- Pondicherry ....+.....+-+- 386
nanus. Egerton. (Teeth.)...|Cret. .....0...00: Pondicherry ......+++...0+. 386
Oxyrhina triangularis. Egerton.
((INGGUINS 5 soedaenocaasbereceoencacdbeC Cret. ...00- veees|PONGICHEITY .oreeseeereenee 386
Spherodus rugulosus. Egerton.
(Palatal tooth.)....... awcitaceteaisreeies Cret. ......06 veee(PONGICHETTY ..+00e.eseeeee- 384
MAMMALIA.
Anoplotherium sivalense. Falc. Pl.
23s Tip Uh 25 Se sentitiebonsue990000000800 Tertiary ...... India... .ssccoceantedsgoee-os| 20D
Balena afinis. Owen. (Petro-tym-
panic bone.) ............eeeceeeeeees Red crag ...... Felixstow ...cecscseorseseee| 280
Camelopardalis afinis. Fale. Pl. 2.
iD Rfid | oceotoce quent conden anadobobeT Tertiary ...... IGTVETE, Sogooooegapouascceugsnde 244

—— sivalensis. Falc. Pl. 3.f. ....|Tertiary ...... India .........++ Sn enabOSOrCE 240

Xeiobrone phe “i ia
a eta Oxia &

foqeds he UO cael

LFEPNS ASP HS OY YF > ree) ys peewee

aes eed bees ie 3 ie ste

.

ioeetyli iy sj

be eed: ee ea e008 ew 0 thaty for qM fs
ee seaeWRL AM: ye tins 8 stented ot pero

Ye Yet ade igaieatvtod nid at de qalh iigotos— HY ;
cee? dae qd tiomel 6 ccatibalile ee pare

“Erg ba saaanasienesronee pas ovenaveucsvaryeny

5
hs

bs risisetelacecteoes ie hON oy on: Shave dvindologd

stgidaati iad ltantgulaons Sarnig bibs stipe te 0 ‘toqalt “id
ab sinybapden xs sates ONO AM Ww sunsets WL 83). ea

- " ohesdailli eid aicwent wa hive ‘avica’y ads. ‘Haves - volt
sup tot 6 Yolooey oud: isd tonto ht adden aM es
ab at

poses. sy a noites: tin sails TOM “Uh OY beibaniin Rik isd hlaode
vad Wh Heat esta aiff to duaisegeoin ed? acidinyaes 88
waial't adi ol hoverges wane i wth no ont silo yadlel of geri

| ‘atnuley iat iil sei ei aan te

By he 10 oarteds ait feds ‘Gro! bocliteln voit
ater ¢ vols ae din sift Ra 1a ati

Ms

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

Piatr I.—Geological Map of Nova Scotia by Dr. A. Gesner, and
a Map of Cape Breton, coloured from the surveys
of Mr. Dawson and Mr. Brown™*...... to face page 186

Prater IJ.—Map and Sections of the Maltese Islands, to illustrate a
Memoir by Lieut. T. Spratt, R.N. .........s2seeee. - 225

Puate IlJ.—Teeth of <Anoplotherium sivalense and Camelopardalis
affinis, to illustrate a Memoir by Dr. Falconer
and Capt. Cautley.........scesecsssseensereres nooecenocs 250

Puatse 1V.—Third Cervical Vertebra of Camelopardalis sivalensis, to
illustrate the same Memoir .........0+4-+- SqdDo00a000C 250

Prats V.—Geological Map of North Wales, to illustrate a Memoir
by Prof. Sedgwick..........+. ssosengos Sagoo0se¢ scdoacess 268

Puate VI.—Geological Map of part of Nova Scotia, by J. W. Daw-
son, Esq., to illustrate a Memoir by Mr. Dawson... 280

Puate VII.—Geological Map of the Country bordering the Gulf of
Smyrna, to illustrate a Memoir by Lieut. T.

Spratt, RN. .....cssscecssscessscssceeeee aheuoasecceoesen 380
Pxiate VIII.—Mouth of Hybodus basanus, Egerton .......+. sdipasoenoes 416
Prate [X.—Cyclobatis oligodactylus, Egerton.........scceceeseesseesseeees 446

Piate X.—Map of part of Tuscany, coloured geologically, to illustrate
a Memoir by Mr. Hamilton............cseceseeeeesers 478

Prats XI.—Route through the Taurus and Antitaurus, to illustrate
Mr. Smyth’s Memoir on the Geology of the Taurus 522

~

The Binder should be instructed to pay particular attention to the direc-
tions here given concerning the arrangement of the Plates. It will be
found convenient to alter with the pen the numbers engraved in the Plates,
to correspond with their position in this volume.

* This Map, though published long after the abstract of the paper, is

now inserted in its right place. The small Maps of Cape Breton are re-
ferred to at page 280.

Peay

PROCEEDINGS

OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Vou. IV. Parrt. 1842—1843. No. 92.

Noy. 2.—Josiah Rees, Esq., was elected a Fellow of this Society.

A paper was read, “‘On the Geology of the Western States of
- North America.” By David Dale Owen, M.D., of Indiana.

The remarks of the author relate chiefly to that part of the west-
ern states watered by the rivers Ohio, Wabash, Illinois, Rock, Wis-
consin, Cumberland, and Tennessee, lying between 35° and 43° of
north latitude, and 81° and 91° of west longitude. It includes the
States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Du-
buque and Mineral Point districts of the territories of Jowa and
Wisconsin. ‘The observations recorded are the results of numerous

excursions in those provinces, commenced in the year 1834, and
~ continued to the present time by Dr. Owen, sometimes alone, at
others accompanied by Dr. Troost and Dr. Locke, the state geologists
respectively of Tennessee and Ohio. Though the territory under
consideration occupies an area of about half a million of square miles,
its geological features are remarkably uniform. With a few partial
exceptions its formations belong to the eras of the bituminous coal,
the mountain limestone of Europe, and the Silurian rocks of Mur-
chison. ‘The exceptions are the superficial deposits which occasion-
ally cover these up from view, over considerable districts, and which
themselves must be referred to the age of the gigantic mammalia and
formations of a still more recent date; together with a marl and
greensand in the western district of Tennessee, corresponding pro-
bably to the greensand and other members of the cretaceous group.

Of the tract described, the formations west of the Tennessee river
occupy but a small corner, and the author has had but limited op-
portunities of examining them in person. The upper part of this
group is an argillaceous marl of a light grey colour; the lower (of
unascertained thickness) a greenish sandy marl. In no instance, as
far as known to the author, has either the greensand or marl been
discovered east of the Tennessee river. But it exists, according to
Dr. Troost, under the superficial soil in most of the countries west
of that river, extending probably west and south, into the states of
Missisippi and Alabama, Both the marl and greensand are rich in
fossils. In the former the most characteristic shell is the Hzogyra.
Though it is evident, from the character of the fossils imbedded in
the marl and greensand beds, that these belong to the cretaceous

VOL, IY. PARTI. B

2

group, yet hitherto no true chalk has been discovered in ‘Tennessee,
nor, so far as I know, in any of the United States.

In the territory described are two coal-fields of great extent. On
the west is the great Illinois coal-field, equalling in area the entire
island of Great Britain, occupying the greater part of Illinois, about
one-third of Indiana, a north-western strip of Kentucky, and extend-
ing a short distance into Jowa. It is covered. on the north by ex-
tensive diluvial deposits, sometimes to the depth of more than a
hundred feet. The other coal-field forms a part of at least six states,
viz. Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Ala-
bama; and its area is estimated at 50,000 square miles. These
coal formations consist, as in Europe, of sandstones, shale, slaty
clays, seams of coal, and occasionally beds of limestone, these latter
usually dark-coloured and bituminous. At the base of the Ohio
formation is a conglomerate from 200 to 300 feet in thickness, which
has been referred to the millstone grit of England. A similar con-
glomerate shows itself in one or two localities at the base of the
Illinois coal-field.

The thickness of these coal-fields is estimated at from 1200 to
2000 feet. All the coal is of a bituminous character, some of the
caking variety, some splint coal, some cannel. Neither of the coal-
fields have suffered much from dislocation; no dykes of trap, whin-
stone, basalt, or greenstone have been met with in either. On the
eastern flank, however, of the Cumberland mountains, the coal is
occasionally much disturbed, even thrown up nearly vertically. There
is a striking analogy between the fossil flora of these western coal-
fields and that of the equivalent strata in Europe. The most pro-
ductive brines discovered in the western states have been procured
by boring through the lower members of the coal measures. Imme-
diately below the coal-formations of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and
Tennessee, are limestones mostly of a light grey colour and of a
compact texture, including occasionally layers and nodules of chert.
Some of these limestones assume the appearance of lithographic
stone, others present a beautiful oolitic structure. The strata vary
in thickness ; in Ohio it does not appear to exist, being replaced by
the before-mentioned conglomerate. The great mammoth cave of
Kentucky is in the upper beds of this limestone, which abound in
subterraneous passages. These beds are characterized by two re-
markable fossils, the Pentremites and the Archimedes, and Dr. Dale
Owen has designated the group Pentremital limestones, from the
abundance of those fossils. The oolitic stratum lies immediately
beneath. No workable seam of coal has hitherto been found beneath
the beds containing these fossils; Producte and Terebratule are
abundant in them, and asmall species of Calymene occurs. Dr. Owen
regards these limestones as the equivalent of the mountain limestone
of Europe. Iron ores occur at the junction of the limestone and coal
measures, and galena and fluorspar have been found in the former.

The rocks which succeed to the Pentremital limestone are grey,
yellow, and brown siliceous sandstones, soft and fine grained, some-
times argillaceous and free from mica, passing on the one hand into

3

chert and limestone, and on the other into a rock presenting the
appearance of Tripoli: interstratified with these are beds of lime-
stone, occasionally oolitic. This group is not rich in organic re-
mains ; Crinoidee, Polypifere and Producte are most common. The
middle and lower beds of this group are regarded by Dr. Owen as
probable equivalents of the upper Ludlow rocks.

We next in descending order arrive at a group of bituminous,
alumimous shales and associate limestones, the lowest of which
affords a valuable water cement. In the shale there are no fossils
except a few slight impressions, apparently of seeds or seed-vessels.
Where the shale is replaced by indurated clay, Dr. Troost has found
Encrinites and Polypifera, and the ‘‘encrinital limestone” over the
shale in Tennessee is rich in Crinoidea. <Atrypa prisea, Orthis lu-
nata vel orbicularis, Terebra sinuosa, Calymene bufo, and Asaphus ma-
crurus occur in the water limestone. The shale, Dr. Owen considers,
must probably be referred, as well as the water limestone, to the
lower Ludlow, and’ may be regarded as the equivalent of the Hel-
derberg group and Marcellus shales of the New York geologists.
The encrinital limestone and the green ferruginous rock of Indiana
may correspond with the Aymestry limestones.

Next in order is a group consisting almost wholly of compact
limestones, lying in thick beds without any interstratified marls or
shales. ‘This rock is best developed towards the north-west, and in
certain districts becomes a true magnesian limestone upwards of
500 feet in thickness. It closely approximates, both in lithological
character, mineral contents, and even proximity to the coal mea-
sures, the “‘scar limestone ” of England, and were it not for the or-
ganic remains might be mistaken for it. But, says Dr. Owen, the
list of organic remains supplies proof hardly contestable, that the
rocks in which they occur are equivalents of the Wenlock formation
of Murchison. In the upper beds, Catenipora escharoides and Pen-
tamerus huspodus are very abundant, with numerous other species
recorded by the author in his memoir. In the lower hundred feet
of this group fossils are scarce. Rich and important lead mines
occur in it, the most valuable in the United States. The most cha-
racteristic fossil of the lead-bearing strata is the Coscinopora.

Next in order follow thin beds of shell limestone, alternating with
marl and marlite, occupying a superficial area of about 10,000 square
miles. The thickness of this group is greatest about the centre of the
Ohio valley, where it is estimated at 1000 feet. In the north-west,
at Prairie du Chien, it is but 100 feet, and near the Blue Mounds in
Wisconsin, but a few feet in thickness; it abounds in organic re-
mains, Among these are characteristic, Isotelus gigas, Triarthrus
Bechii, several species of Conotubularia, and of Bellerophon and
Maclurites ; Isotelus planus, Lingula Lewisii, Orthis excentrica,
Orthis alata, and Asterias antiqua. ‘These fundamental rocks of the
Ohio valley Dr. Owen considers the equivalents of the lower Silurian.

No inferior rocks are visible in a north-west direction until the
vicinity of the Wisconsin river, where the blue fossiliferous lime-
stone rests conformably on a sandstone succeeded by a magnesian

BQ

4

limestone, with few and imperfect fossils, so that its proper place is
doubtful. The blue limestone in the south-east, beyond the Cum-
berland mountains, rests unconformably on the inferior stratified
rocks of ‘Tennessee, which dip towards the granitic rocks. The au-
thor appends extensive lists of fossils.

An extensive series of rocks and fossils from the formations de-
scribed, with beautiful diagrams in illustration of the memoir, were
presented to the Society by Dr. Dale Owen at this meeting.

Noy. 16.—Albert Hambrough, Esq., of Steep Hill Castle, Isle of
Wight, was elected a Fellow of this Society.

A paper was read “ On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges,
exhibited by the Boring Operations in Fort William, a.p. 1836-40.”
By Lieut. R. Baird Smith, B.E.

Since the year 1804, a number of boring operations have been
conducted in the Gangetic Delta, with a view to supply the deficiency
of good fresh water in the vicinity of Calcutta, but, from mechanical
obstacles, without success. The geological results of the last of
these experiments, commenced in April 1836, and abandoned in 1840,
after being carried on to the depth of 480 feet, are detailed by Lieut. |
Smith in this memoir. After penetrating to the depth of ten feet
through the artificial surface soil, a bed of blue clay, close and ad-
hesive in its texture, was entered. As the bore descended, the clay
became darker in colour, till, in from thirty to fifty feet, large por-
tions of peat, with decaying fragments of trees, were found. These
Dr. Wallich identified with the common Soondri of the Sunderbunds,
and the roots of some climbing tree resembling Bredelia. ‘The stra-
tum of peat and decayed wood was therefore formed from the debris
of forests which at a former period covered the entire surface of the
Delta, as the existing jungles of the Sunderbunds cover so large a
portion of it now. In one instance bones were found in the peat,
but they were unfortunately destroyed by the workmen before exa-
mination. Succeeding these peat-charged beds, a stratum of calca-
reous clay, ten feet in thickness, is found, and intermixed with it
are portions of the concretionary limestone, commonly known in
India as kankur, which Lieut. Smith regards as formed by the se-
gregation of the particles of calcareous matter disseminated through-
out the body of the clay with which it is associated, and as nearly
contemporaneous in its origin with this clay. Underlyimg the bed
of calcareous clay in which the kankur first occurs, there isa thin
bed of green siliceous clay, extending from sixty to sixty-five feet in
depth. The clay then loses its colour, and continues to a depth of
seventy-five feet, the lower portion of it furnishing nodules of kankur.
At seventy-five feet, a bed of variegated, sandy, or arenaceous clay
-commences, and continues to the depth of 120 feet, occasionally
traversed by horizontal beds of kankur. Beneath this is a stratum of
argillaceous marl, five feet in thickness ; and succeeding it there is a
bed only three feet in thickness, of loose friable sandstone, the par-
ticles of sand being held loosely together by a clayey cement, Ar-

5

gillaceous marl, twenty feet in thickness, follows the sandstone, ter-

minating at the depth of 150 feet, when it passes into an arenaceous
clay, intermixed with water-worn nodules of hydrated oxide of iron.

Weathered mica slate is found attached to the clay of this bed, and
throughout the entire range of strata penetrated, scales of mica have
always been abundantly met with. At 175 feet, a coarse friable
quartzose conglomerate occurs, composed of pebbles of different sizes,

though none are very large, cemented together by clay. At 177

feet, this conglomerate becomes smaller grained; and at 183 feet 3

inches, if is found to pass into indurated ferruginous clay, which
continues, with but little variation, to a depth of 208 feet. Here

another layer of sandstone, soft in its upper portion, but becoming
more indurated, and assuming the lamellar structure as it is passed

through, occurs; the thickness being, however, no more than three

feet. Ferruginous sand, with thin beds of calcareous and arenaceous

clay, prevail from 208 feet to 380. Kankur, with minute water-worn

fragments of quartz, felspar, granite, and other indications of debris

from primary rocks, are met with in the lower parts of this sandy de-

posit, in which were also found three fragments of bones, of which one

was considered by Mr. J. Prinsep to be the lower half of a humerus of
some small quadruped like a dog, and another the fragment of the
carapace of a turtle. At 380 feet, there occurred a thin layer, only
two feet in thickness, of blue calcareous clay, thickly studded with

fragments of shells; and at 382 feet, this was succeeded by a layer
of dark clay, composed almost entirely of decayed wood. From the
lower portion of it several fragments of coal, of excellent quality,

were brought up. Underneath this stratum, and in the gravelly
bed which immediately succeeds it, there were found several other
fragments of fossil bones. One was considered to be a caudal ver-

tebra of a kind of lizard, and the rest were fragments of turtles.

These were discovered at the depth of 423 feet, and were associated

with large rolled pebbles of quartz, both white and amethystine, -
felspar, limestone, and indurated clay. ‘The gravel, composed en-

tirely of the debris of primary rocks, continued to the depth of 481

feet, where the operations ceased.

The fossils recorded above, observes the author, were found in two
distinct deposits, separated from each other by the interposition of
a bed of shelly, calcareous clay and a deposit of carbonaceous matter
ten feet in thickness, the remnants of some extensive forest which
flourished at a period anterior to the deposit of the 380 feet of su-
perincumbent sands and clays. The lithological characters of the
superior and inferior fossiliferous deposits differ considerably from
each other, the former being a fine and slightly indurated sandstone,
the latter a coarse conglomerate, formed of the debris of primary
rocks, imbedded in an arenaceous matrix. The fossils of the upper
bed, which is about eighty feet in thickness, furnish the only speci-
mens of mammalia obtained during the operations. ‘These were as-
sociated with the remains of Chelonians, but no indications of the
existence of saurian animals were discovered till the shelly clay and
carbonaceous bed were passed through, and from the lower conglo-

6

merate no mammalia were obtained. In drawing any conclusions,
however, the limited space examined, the diameter of which was not
more than six inches, must be borne in mind.

Lieut. Smith remarks the correspondence of the succession of the
strata in the Gangetic Delta, at a depth of from 350 to 480 feet,
with that observed by Captain Cautley at the base of the Himalaya.

The nature of the fossil remains and the dimensions of the gravel
found at 480 feet from the surface of the ground, the greatest depth
hitherto attained, were such as to lead Dr. M‘Clelland to the con-
clusion, that when these were originally deposited bold rocky moun-
tains existed in close proximity to the present site of Calcutta; and
taking his data from the results of personal observation on the trams-
porting power of rapid currents, he estimates the distance of these
mountains at not greater than twenty or thirty miles. Resting on
the bed of coarse conglomerate, the entire depth of which is un-
known, although it cannot be less than eighty feet, the bore having
pierced it to that extent, there are beds of carbonaceous matter and
lacustrine clay bearing the clearest evidence of having been quietly
deposited on a marshy surface clothed with vegetation. Ere this
could have taken place, the powerful currents indicated by the gravel
must have been arrested, and as this could only be effected by a great
lowering of the inclination of the bed of the river, we may infer the
check arose from the entire subsidence of the range of hills above
alluded to. The extent to which this took place it is impossible for
us to estimate, but the deposits which the river continued to make
would repose upon the depressed masses, and were boring operations
to be carried on successfully in such localities they would ultimately -
expose these again to our observation. Supposing then, as without
impropriety we may do, that the rocks of which these hills were
composed stretched away beneath the conglomerate bed formed by
the large gravel borne along by the torrent issuing from them, we

- are led to believe that had the Fort William boring operations been
successfully carried through the entire depth of the conglomerate,
the auger would then have impinged on the solid rock, and if so,
would the experiment have terminated favourably ?

‘«* When we remember,’ observes Lieut. Smith, ‘‘ that the con-
glomerate was almost entirely composed of debris from primary rocks,
admitting of the inference that the chain of hills itself was formed of
members of this series, there can be but little hesitation in replying
in the negative.”

“On Pipes or Sandgalls in Chalk.” By Joshua Trimmer, Esq.,
F.G.5.

In a former paper (Proceedings, vol. ii. p. 185) the author de-
scribed two detrital deposits in Norfolk, which appear to have been
produced by powerful currents of water. The lowest of these is
marked on the surface with numerous furrows and penetrated by
cylindrical and funnel-shaped cavities like those of the chalk, though
in general of smaller dimensions. If these have been caused by the .
mechanical action of water, they indicate a pause between the two

7

deposits of sufficient duration to allow of the consolidation of the
lower bed before the other was thrown down upon it. Therefore,
- to learn the true history of the beds, we must discover the cause of
the pipes; the action is so similar in the chalk and the detrital de-
posits that the one will explain the other,

From recent study of the pipes or sandgalls in the chalk of a part
of Kent, Mr. Trimmer has arrived at the conclusion that they are
due to the mechanical, not to the chemical action of water; and that
this action was the breaking of the sea on a low shore antecedent to
the formation of the eocene strata. ‘This opinion he bases on the
following grounds.

Having had an opportunity of observing the removal of its cover-
ing from the chalk near Faversham, Mr. Trimmer found that the
pipes were but the terminations of furrows from six to twenty-four
inches deep in the shallowest parts exposed, but widening and deep-
ening as they approached the pipes till they were lost in them.

The diluvial covering spread over the chalk is a strong loam of a
reddish brown colour, with numerous unabraded flints dispersed
through it. The pipes were filled with loam of a more sandy nature
and of a much lighter colour. The few pebbles found in them con-
sisted of chalk flints much water-worn, and contrasting strongly with
the unabraded flints of the diluvium. ‘heir sides were lined with
clay; tinged black. ‘The lower part of the diluvial deposit, near its
junction with the chalk, had in many places the same black tints.
None of the pipes terminated downwards in a point, the apices of
the inverted cones being three or four inches broad. ‘These facts
the author considers indicative of the mechanical action of water.

He observed certain blocks of siliceous sandstone, derived from the
sands of the London clay, marked with similar pipes and furrows,
though of smaller dimensions, which could not have been formed by
the action of acidulated water. In these the pipes occasionally com-
menced from the opposite sides of the same block, perforating it,
therefore not formed by rain. On the sea-shore near Reculver he
saw similar blocks, presenting pipes in miniature. The waves charged
with small pebbles and sand, wearing the surface with furrows like
those of the chalk, the softer parts of the stone then giving way,
first hollows are formed, then the rotatory motion of the contents
of the hollows, set in action by the influx and reflux of the waves,
drills the pipe.

The pipes and furrows in the sandstone blocks Mr. Trimmer con-
siders as having been produced by the same agency, and their perfo-
ration, as caused in consequence of their reversion by a violent storm
and the drilling operation then going on at the opposite side.

The examination of a chalk bed near Canterbury convinced Mr.
Trimmer that the same causes had produced the pipes and furrows
in the chalk. He remarks, that the sand with which the pipes were
filled contains much calcareous matter, and that it appears impossible
that acidulated water, percolating from above, could have acted on
the chalk without first removing all carbonate of lime from the sand.

In all cases observed by Mr. Trimmer the sandgalls were confined

8

to the edges of channels which are either now traversed by tidal
currents like the trough of the Thames, or appear, like the dry
combes, to have communicated with the sea at some remote period.

From the above facts, Mr. ‘Trimmer infers that the pipes in the
chalk of the part of Kent examined were formed by the action of the
sea on alow shore; that they mark the boundaries of the ante-eocene
sea, and that they were subsequently submerged and covered by the
London clay.

“On some remarkable Concretions in the Tertiary beds of the
Isle of Man.” By H.E. Strickland, M.A., F.G.S.

The north extremity of the Isle of Man consists of an arenaceous
pleistocene deposit, occupying an area of about eight miles by six,
bounded on the west, north and east by the sea, and on the south
by the mountains of Cambrian slate which occupy the greater por-
tion of the island. The arenaceous formation attains in some parts
a height of about 200 feet above the sea, though the undulations of
its surface prove that considerable portions of the deposit have been
removed by denudation. ‘This district, comprising about fifty square
miles, furnishes perhaps the most extensive example in the British
Isles of a marine newer pliocene or pleistocene deposit. In the Isle
of Man the sea-cliffs on each side of this tertiary district afford a
good insight into its structure and composition. On the north of
Ramsey the cliffs average about 100 feet in height, and consist prin-
cipally of irregularly stratified yellowish sand, sometimes clayey, with
interspersed bands of gravel and scattered pebbles. The gravel is
chiefly composed of slate-rock, quartz, old red sandstone, granites,
porphyries and chalk flints, all of which occur 2 situ in the island
except the two last, which may have been drifted, the former from
Scotland, and the latter from the north of Ireland. About four miles
north of Ramsey the cliffs attain 150 feet. Here the lowest portion,
only visible at intervals, is a brownish clay loam, and the remainder
of the cliff is sand and coarse gravel, less distinctly stratified than is
the case near Ramsey, and containing rudely rounded boulders, some
of which are upwards of a ton in weight. They consist of granite,
and occasionally of carboniferous limestone.

Organic remains are sparingly diffused in this deposit: Mr. Strick-
land enumerates twenty species. Of these five, viz. Crassina mul-
ticostata, Natica clausa, Nassa monensis, Nassa pliocena, and Fusus
Forbest are not known in the British seas. Crassina multicostata
and Natica clausa are found living in the Arctic ocean, but the two
species of Nassa and the Fusus are unknown in a recent state*.

* Mr. Strickland gives the following characters of three species of shells
found in the newer pliocene beds of the Isle of Man; specimens of which
have been examined by several eminent conchologists in London, who all
concur in believing them to belong to extinct species.

«1, Nassa monensis, Forbes, in Mem. Wern. Soc., vol. viii. p. 62. Small;
volutions about six, rounded; suture deep; ribs, nine on the first volution,
straight, rather distant, strong, subacute, and slightly oblique. The first
volution has thirteen, and the second six, distinct, regular, thread-like, spiral

9

Between three and four miles north of Ramsey, the beds of this
deposit occasionally exhibit a very remarkable concretionary struc-
ture. The sand has here been cemented into masses, which are ex-
tremely hard, and even sonorous when struck, though the sand in
which they are imbedded is perfectly loose. ‘The cementing imgre-
dient, which the application of acid proves to be carbonate of lime,
seems to have been influenced in its operations partly by the planes
of stratification, and partly by the direction in which the sand has
been originally drifted by currents. In the former case the concre-
tions are in the form of flat tabular masses parallel to the stratifica-
tion, often mammillated on their surfaces, or perforated obliquely by
tubular cavities. In the latter case they assume a subcylindrical
or spear-shaped form, and occur parallel both to the stratification
and to cach other. A pebble is frequently attached to the larger
end of the concretion, which springs from it as from a root, to the
length of a foot or more, and gradually terminates in an obtuse flat-
tened point. All these varieties are sometimes combined together

striz, crossing alike the ribs and their interstices. Aperture orbicular-oyate,
canal very short and oblique, pillar-lip simple, outer lip with about five
slight marginal denticles on the inside, and an external rib slightly more
developed than the ordinary ribs. Total length, 7 lines; first volution,
32 lines; breadth, 44 lines; angle of spire, 40°.

“¢ Obs. Resembles the recent NV. macula, but is larger, more ventricose, has
fewer ribs, and the terminal rib is less suddenly developed.

“2. Nassa pliocena, Strickland, 1843. Large; volutions about seven,
rather flat, with a distinct thread-like suture; ribs, twelve on the first volu-
tion, straight, distant, rounded, very slightly oblique; the interstices flat,
exceeding the width of the ribs by one-half. The first volution with thir-
teen, and the second with about nine fine spiral strize, only visible in the in-
terstices, the ribs being smooth ; but this may be due to attrition. Aperture
ovate; canal very short and oblique; pillar-lip with about five obscure den-
ticles, and a spiral groove immediately behind the canal, continued into the
interior of the shell. Outer lip with about eight internal marginal denticles ;
no rib at the back. ‘Total length, 1 inch 8 lines; first volution, 8 lines ;
breadth, 9 lines; angle of spire, 40°.

“3, Fusus Forbes, Strickland, 1843. /usus nov. sp. Forbes, Malacologia
Monensis, pl. 3. f. 1. Middle-sized; volutions about six, slightly rounded,
suture distinct; ribs, eleven on first volution, straight, rounded, smooth
(perhaps from attrition); interstices concave, and hardly wider than the
ribs. First volution with about fifteen, and second with about seven distinct,
rather irregular spiral striae, of which those on the first volution are alter-
nately large and small. They are only visible in the interstices of the ribs.
Aperture ovate, double the length of the canal, which is straight, and rather
oblique to the left. Pillar-lip smooth, with one obscure denticle at the pos-
terior end. Outer lip with about ten small linear denticles within, conti-
nued a short way into the mouth, and a well-marked external rib remote
from the margin. ‘otal length, 1 inch 3 lines; first volution, 7 lines;
breadth, 8 lines; angle of spire, 43°

“ Obs. This species belongs to a group of Fusus which seems closely allied
to Nassa. First described by Mr. E. Forbes, from a worn specimen found
on the coast of the Isle of Man, and supposed by him to be an existing spe-
cies, but the discovery of additional specimens im siéu proves it to be a
genuine fossil.”

10

into vast clusters of several tons weight, resembling masses of sta-
lactite, the component portions being nearly parallel to each other.
Mr. Strickland supposes that currents of water (or possibly of wind,
operating during ebb tide), flowing in a certain direction, may have
disposed the sand in ridges parallel to that direction, and the car-
bonate of lime may have afterwards been attracted into these ridges
in preference to the intermediate portions. ‘This view is confirmed
by the fact, that these concretions have frequently a pebble attached
to the larger end, as though it had protected a portion of sand from
the current, and caused it to accumulate in a ridge on the lee side,
a circumstance which: may frequently be observed where sand is
drifted by the wind or water.

Noy. 30.—William Baker, Esq. of Bridgewater, Andrew Roos-
malecoeg, Esq. of King’s College, Dr. Lyon Playfair of Primrose,
near Blackburn, Lancashire, and John Buckman, Esq. of Pittville
Street, Cheltenham, were elected Fellows of this Society.

“‘On the Bala Limestone.” By Daniel Sharpe, F.G.S.

Before entering upon his own views, the author quotes the opinions
published by others upon the age of the limestones of Bala and Coni-
ston ; previous to the labours of Professor Sedgwick and Mr. Mur-
chison, these two calcareous bands were thought to be of the same
age, and to be nearly the oldest fossiliferous beds in this country ;
but the first definite arrangement of them was made by Professor
Sedgwick, whose views will be found in our Proceedings (vol. ii. p.
675), placing both these limestones in the Upper Cambrian system,
which he stated to lie below the Silurian system of Mr. Murchison,
and above the Lower Cambrian system, or old slate series of Car-
narvonshire, Cumberland, &c., a view adopted by Mr. Murchison in
his work upon the Silurian system, upon the authority of Professor
Sedgwick. }

In 1839 Mr. James Marshall classed the Coniston limestone
with the Caradoc sandstone, upon the evidence of fossils examined
by Mr. J. Sowerby, and pointed out that it rested upon the Lower
Cambrian rocks ; thus omitting the Upper Cambrian system in the
North of England (Reports of the British Association, vol. viii. p. 67.)

The second edition of Mr. Greenough’s Map adopts Mr. Marshall’s
view of the age of the Coniston limestone, and omits the Upper
Cambrians in the district of the Lakes; but retains them in North
Wales, under the name of Upper division of the lower Killas, in
which is included the Bala limestone, thus placed in a different system
from the limestone of Coniston.

Professor Sedgwick’s memoir of November 1841 follows the same
view (Proceedings, vol. ili. p. 545); and in a note, p. 551, that author
removes all doubt as to his opinions by apologizing for having for-
merly placed the Bala and Coniston limestones on the same parallel.

Notwithstanding the agreement of our best geologists in placing
tne Bala limestone in the Upper Cambrian system, Mr. Sharpe was
induced to doubt the accuracy of this classification, by observing that

ll

everyone admitted that the Bala fossils agreed, as far as they had
been examined, with those of the Lower Silurian beds, and that there
was no clear line of separation between the Lower Silurian and Up-
per Cambrian groups: but his attention was particularly drawn to
this district by Mr. Bowman’s observations on Denbighshire, laid -
before the British Association in 1840 and 1841, and since published
in the first volume of the Transactions of the Geological Society of
Manchester, p. 194, which Mr. Sharpe regards as the first indication
of the true structure of this part of North Wales; Mr, Bowman
classes as Upper and Lower Silurian many beds before mapped as
_ Upper Cambrian, showing that the previous classification of the racks
of North Wales could not be relied upon.

Mr. Sharpe quotes largely from Mr. Murchison’s Address from

the-Chair in February 1842, to show that the Upper Cambrian can-
not be separated from the Lower Silurian beds by the help of organic
remains, as “‘ Lower Silurian species range through the Upper Cam-
‘brian rocks, and throughout the whole of North Wales,” and <‘ pre-
vailed during that vast succession of time which was occupied in the
accumulation of all the older slaty rocks previous to the Upper Silu-
rian period.”
_ Mr. Sharpe points out, that up to the moment of his taking up the
subject no one of the authors quoted had expressed a doubt of the
existence of a great thickness of fessiliferous beds below the Caradoc
sandstone and Llandeilo flags, although it was admitted that these
supposed beds could not be distinguished by their fossils from the
Lower Silurian; and he states that the object of his communication
is to show the error of this view as relates to the Bala rocks,
which he proposes to prove to be the equivalent of the Lower
Silurian beds described by Mr. Murchison, and not part of an older
series ; and he infers from-analogy that the same will be found to be
the case in other parts of North Wales which he has not visited, where
he conjectures that all the rocks containing shells of Lower Silurian
species will also prove equivalents of the Lower Silurian beds. In-
stead of continuing the Silurian system downwards through a vast
thickness of slate rocks, Mr. Sharpe proposes to strike out one of its
original members, regarding the Caradoc sandstone and Llandeilo
flags as one and the same formation which has received different
names according to its mineral character; he observes, in confirma-
tion of this view, that both formations are never equally developed
in the same district, and that the fossils found throughout are too
nearly the same to warrant the separation of the lower beds under a
separate name. Still Mr, Sharpe believes that there are in Wales,
as in Westmoreland and Cumberland, vast accumulations of slaty
rocks below the Silurian system, in which no fossils have been found,
and which must retain the appropriate name of Cambrian rocks.

Mr. Sharpe did not map the district in detail, but he traced two
sections to show the position of the Bala beds with regard to the
Berwyns, as he considered the question to turn upon the accuracy
or error of the statement of Mr. Murchison, p. 308, ‘‘ that the Bala
limestone dips under the chief mass of the Berwyns.”’

/

12

The first section begins westward, at the igneous chain of Arenig
Mawr, the natural boundary to the district ; it crosses the town of
Bala, and ends eastward at the Calettwr, where a dark slate, the
upper bed of the Bala series, abuts unconformably against the clay-
- slate of Moel-halog, which is referred to the Cambrian system. This

section places the Bala beds in a detached trough, and shows that
they do not dip under the Berwyns : but their succession is not well
shown, owing to the disturbed state of the surface.

The other section is in two parts; from the head of the lake of
Bala up the Twrch to Bwlch y Groes, and across the Dyfi by Dinas
Mowddy and Mallwyd, which line the author recommends to
those who wish to study this series, as the rocks are well exposed in
the upper part of the valleys of the Twrch and Dyfi: on the west it
begins at the northern prolongation of the igneous chain of Arran
Mowddy, and continues eastward through a conformable succession
of beds up to the Upper Silurian ; each section shows the whole of
the Bala series, the upper bed of blue slate, which on the Calettwr
rests unconformably against the Cambrian clay-slate, bemg the same
which is overlaid conformably beyond Mallwyd by an Upper Silurian
series of soft blue or liver-coloured shales alternating with hard, grey
grits, without cleavage or fossils, dipping east-south-east, which Mr.
Sharpe identifies with the No. 2. of Mr. Bowman’s lower division of
the Upper Silurians, the probable equivalents of the Wenlock shale.

Mr. Sharpe then describes the Bala series of rocks, beginning
with the uppermost beds.

1. Dark blue slate—Worked at Craig Calettwr for good roofing-
slates and flags; in one quarry the beds dip W.N.W 35°, and the
cleavage planes dip W.N.W 65°; in another the beds dip W. 70° and
the cleavage W. 80°. Between Dinas Mowddy and Mallwyd it is
largely quarried for good slate and flags ; the beds dip 8.E. or E.8.E.
about 30°; the cleavage is perpendicular, and strikes $.8.W. The
lower beds pass into a soft argillaceous slate of no value. The whole
is not less than 300 or 400 feet in thickness.

2. Upper Bala limestone.—A dark blue bed ten feet thick, accom-
panied by calcareous slates and soft brown shales, with many fossils,
among which are Orthis canalis and O. compressa, and several new
species. Mr. Edward Davis, who accompanied the author, discovered
this bed at Pen-y Dall Gwm, four miles south-east of Bala, dipping
W.ZS. 70°: it is supposed to follow a line bearing N.N.E., much
broken up by faults*.

3. Rotten argillaceous schist and indurated shale-—Light grey,
weathering to brown, with many joints and few fossils ; well exposed
in the valley of the Dwm-lach, above its junction with the Dyfi: 400
feet thick.

4. Bala limestone.—A dark blue rock similar to No. 2, thirty or
forty feet thick, with calcareous shales and grits full of organic re-
mains, among which are Orthis pecten, anomala, vespertilio and bi-

* Mr. J. B. Morris has since met with the same bed in the valley of the
Dyfi at Blaen-y-Pennant.

13

lobata, Leptena sericea, duplicata and depressa, and Spirifer radiatus.
This bed is much broken, and difficult to trace, but its general direc-
tion from Y-Garnedd, 15 mile east of Bala, to the upper valley of the
Cowarch, is nearly N.N.E. The line of limestone laid down, both
in Mr. Murchison’s and Mr. Greenough’s Maps, is compounded of
the beds No. 2. and No. 4.

5. Grey slaty grits.—Occasionally streaked or passing into brown,
very hard; well seen on both sides of the lake of Bala and in the
upper part of the valley of the Twrch; usual dip E.S.E. 45°, but
much disturbed about the foot of the lake; the upper bed contains
Orthis canalis, anomala and vespertilio. In the lower part is a bed
thirty or forty feet thick of impure grey limestone with many frag-
ments of Trilobites and other organic remains, among which Mr.
Sharpe recognised Bumastus Barriensis, Trinucleus Caractaci, Illenus
crassicauda, Orthoceras approximatum, and Lituites cornu-arietis. This
bed was only seen near Rhiwlas and Llan-y-ci, on the north-west of
Bala. ‘The grits below the limestone are similar to those above, and
contain Orthis canalis and vespertilio, Leptena sericea and Asaphus
tyrannus. The whole exceeds 500 feet in thickness.

6. Rotten grey clay-slate, weathering to brown, forming the
moor between Bala and Arenig, and exposed where Cwm Croes joins
the valley of the Twrch: supposed to be 500 feet thick.

7. Dark blue slate, of poor quality, covers the eastern flanks of
Arenig and Arran Mowddy, quarried at Blaen-y-cwm, where the
beds dip N.E. 35°, and the cleavage dips E.N.E. 55°: the lowest bed
of the series.

As the Bala beds are quite unconnected with the Cambrian rocks
of the Berwyns, and are only overlaid by Upper Silurian deposits ;
as most of their organic remains are known Lower Silurian species,
and as the total thickness of the whole series is about the same as
has been assigned by Mr. Murchison to the Lower Silurians, Mr.
Sharpe concludes that they are the exact equivalents of the Lower
Silurian formation, and do not carry the series down below the beds
described by Mr. Murchison. Mr. Sharpe considers it as easy to
prove their identity with the Caradoc sandstone as with the Llandeilo
flags, and again endeavours to show that these must be regarded as
the same formation under different names. This classification re-
places the dark blue limestones of Bala and Coniston, on the same
parallel from which they were separated when Professor Sedgwick
adopted Mr. Marshall’s view of the Silurian age of the Coniston
limestone, but left the Bala limestone in its erroneous position as
part of the Upper Cambrians.

Mr. Sharpe adds comparative tables of the Silurian system as ex-
hibited in three different districts :—in Westmoreland, as observed
by himself; in Denbighshire and Merionethshire, the upper part
taken from Mr. Bowman’s memoirs, the lower added by himself ;
and in Shropshire, &c., as described by Mr. Murchison; but he de-
fers the full comparison of these till he lays before the Society the
conclusion of his remarks on Westmoreland. ©

Mr, Sharpe hopes that he has done away with an objection often

made to the Silurian system, that‘it wanted ‘a definite base, and was
not distinctly separated from the Cambrian system ; this was not over-
looked by Mr. Murchison, who states that the line drawn between
the two systems was provisional. ‘The difficulty arose from classing
with the Cambrian system many beds belonging both to the Upper
and the Lower Silurians, and it will vanish when this is corrected ;
the lower boundary of the Silurian system will then prove as distinct
in North Wales as in Westmoreland and Cumberland; but to pro-
duce this result, the country west of Llangollen and Welsh Pool
must beremapped. Of the district now coloured as Upper Cambrian
a small share will be given to the Ludlow and Wenlock formations,
a larger portion to the Lower Silurians, and certain central bosses
of older rocks will remain for the Cambrian system: but the Upper
_ Cambrian of Professor Sedgwick, and its representative in Mr.
Greenough’s nomenclature, the upper division of the Lower Killas,
must be struck out of our tables, and the Lower Silurians made to
rest on the true Cambrian rocks.

The igneous rocks of Arenig and Arran Mowddy are described as
varying compounds of felspar and quartz. The two chains bear
nearly north, and their eruption is supposed by the author to have
modified the face of the country, and to have caused much of its pre-
sent complication, the prevailing strike previously having been N.N.E.
In the absence of direct evidence on the subject, Mr. Sharpe en-
deavours to prove that Arenig and Arran Mowddy are at least as
modern as the Ludlow rocks, by showing that the upheaving of
these chams has broken up the parallelism of the cleavage planes
of the slaty rocks resting on them: assuming that these planes had
originally a constant direction in each district, their dislocation at
any spot would show. that it had been disturbed subsequently to the
cessation of the cleavage process, and we may thus class igneous
eruptions as prior to, or posterior to, the cleavage; and may then
connect them with the deposition of the formations, by observing
at what epoch the cleavage ceased in the district. In North Wales
and in Westmoreland, the cleavage only reaches into the Lower
Ludlow formation; in Devonshire and Cornwall it continued later :
therefore Arenig and Arran Mowddy must have been upheaved after
the epoch of the Lower Ludlow shale.

The memoir concludes with a general list of the species of fossils
found near Bala.

‘«‘ Notice on the discovery of the Remains of Insects in the Lias
of Gloucestershire, with some remarks on the Lower Members of
this Formation.” By the Rev. P. B. Brodie, F.G.8.

The lower beds of the lias, in which these orgamic remains occur,
are extensively developed in the neighbourhood of Gloucester and
Cheltenham, and occupy the greater part of the vale. In the upper
part of the lower beds, in a hard blue limestone, was found the ely-
tron of a coleopterous insect of the family Buprestide, apparently a
species of Ancylocheira of Escholtz. ‘This was the only fossil of the
kind met with by Mr, Brodie in this portion of the lias. With this

me

15
exception, the numerous fossil insects he has obtained occur in the
bottom parts of the lower beds near the base of the lias, which are
seen at several points in the neighbourhood of Gloucester. At
Wainlode Cliff, the lower beds of lias, resting on red marl, form a
bold escarpment on the south bank of the Severn, and afford the
following section in descending order :—

1. Clay: 8 ft.

. Blue limestone, with Ostrea, &c. (the ‘‘ bottom bed’’): 4 in.

Yellow shale with fucoid plants: 6 in.

. Gray and blue limestone, termed by Mr. Brodie “insect lime-
stone ” from its characteristic fossils, passing into yellow shale
above, where it is nearly white, and has the aspect of a fresh-

. water limestone: 3 to 5 in.

5. Marly clay: 5 ft. 3 in.

6. Hard yellow limestone, with small shells like Cyclas, plants and

Cypris: 6 to 8 in.

7. Marly clay: 9 ft. 6 in.

8. Bed with fucoid bodies: 1 in.

9. Shale: 1 ft. 6in.

10. Pecten bed: 4 in.

Nine feet below this is the bone-bed, 20 feet above which is the yel-
low Cypris limestone, and 26 feet 2 inches the insect limestone. The
total height of the cliff is about 100 feet.

The insect remains consist chiefly of elytra belonging to the seve-
ral genera of Coleoptera, which are not very rare; and a few wings,
not unlike the genus Tipula, which bear a close resemblance to some
Mr. Brodie had previously found in the Wealden; the latter are
much rarer than the former. The elytra are generally of a light
brown colour and small size ; in some cases both the elytra are at-
tached. With these were found abdomens of some insects and larva
apparently of the gnat tribe. Shells are not common, but Ostrea,
Unio, and a small species of Modiola are the most abundant. The
fossils from the yellow limestone, No. 4, bear a close resemblance to
those from the Wealden. The real genus of the bivalve resembling
Cyclas is undetermined. ‘The plants belong to a species of Fucus,
apparently an inhabitant of fresh water. At Combe-hill Mr. Brodie
also observed both the insect limestone and that containing the small
bivalves. To the south-west of this point the insect limestone is well
seen, and yielded the greatest number and variety of insect remains.
Here the yellow limestone was not traced, and the bone-bed was want-
ing. The fossil insects are, as at Wainlode Cliff, for the most part re-
mains of small Coleoptera, sometimes tolerably preserved, and in one
specimen the eyes were visible. None of the beetles resemble those
of the Wealden, but some wings of insects, allied to Tipula, are very
simular. A few imperfect but large wings of Libellula occur: there
are also numerous singular impressions of a doubtful nature, many
of which may however owe their origin to the partially decomposed
bodies of various insects. With these are numerous small plants,
some resembling mosses, but very different from those in the yellow
Cypris limestone, a few seed-vessels and leaves of fern, A small spe-

we Co bo

from the Solenhofen slate.

- Near Gloucester the same strata occur at a much lower level.
At Westbury, eight miles below Gloucester, the following section is
presented :—

1. Bottom bed with Ostrea, equivalent to that at Wainlode and
other places: 3 in.

2. Insect limestone with numerous small shells (here character-
istic): 4 in.

3. Clay: 5 in.

4, Green, yellow and gray sandy stone, in places becoming a
limestone, with the small Cyclas-like bivalve, plants and Cypris,
identical with those at Wainlode, about 1 ft.

5. Shale and clay: 10 ft.

6. Hard grit, bone-bed: 3 or 4 ft.

A little further to the north the beds below this are more developed
and are seen resting upon the red marl.

If the Cypris found in these beds be of freshwater origin, it forms
a new and highly interesting feature in the history of this deposit ;
at any rate the occurrence of the remains of such delicate creatures
as insects, many of which are well-preserved, and could not, there-
fore, have been long subject to the action of the waves, or have been
carried far out into the water, gives a greater probability to the sup-
position that this part of the lias may have been formed in an estuary
which received the streams of some neighbouring lands, perhaps nu-
merous scattered islands, and which brought down the remains of
insects, Cypris, and the plants above referred to. he shells usually
found in the insect limestone are Modiola and Ostrea, both of which
frequently inhabit estuaries, and are capable of living in brackish
water as well as in the open sea. The shells, however, so abundant
at Westbury in the same stratum are exclusively of marine origin ;
the wing of a dragon-fly from Warwickshire is a solitary instance of
its kind. Mr. Brodie observes, that such stray specimens had pro-
bably been carried out to sea, which might also have been the case
with a small wing he discovered in the upper lias at Dumbleton near
Tewkesbury ; which also proves the existence of insects during the
deposition of the upper portions of this formation.

Thus it will be seen that the remains of insects are of very rare
occurrence in the upper beds, and in the higher portions of the
lower ones in the lias, while at the base near its junction with the
red marl they are abundantly distributed. The discovery of small
elytra of coleopterous insects and portions of the wings of Libellula
in the lower division of the lias near Evesham, by Mr. H. E. Strick-
land, shows that these fossils are characteristic of the same beds in
distant parts of the system.

«¢ On certain impressions on the surface of the Lias bone-bed in
Gloucestershire.” By H. E. Strickland, M.A., F.G.S.
The singular markings described, which the author in a former

17

communication suggested might be caused by the crawling of erus-
tacea, but which further opportunities and observations have induced
him to refer to a different cause, have been noticed only at Wain-
lode Cliff on the Severn. There they occur on the uppermost sur-
face of the band of micaceous sandstone which represents the “‘ bone-
bed,” and which appears to have consisted of a fine-grained muddy
sand, capable of receiving the most minute impressions, while the
pure black clay which forms the superincumbent stratum has pre-
served this ancient surface in the most unaltered condition. The
ripple-marks produced by currents on the surface of this bed of sand
are very interesting, from their perfect preservation, and from often
exhibiting two sets of undulations oblique to each other, indicating
two successive directions in the currents, such as would result from
a change of tide. ; :

. The impressed markings were evidently produced by living beings,
probably by fish or invertebrate animals. ‘To determine their nature
Mr. Strickland observed the progression of two species of Littorina
among Gasteropodous Mollusca, and of Carcinus Menas among Crus-
tacea, but the impressions produced. were very different from those
under consideration.

The fossil impressions are of four kinds :—
lst. Lengthened and nearly straight grooves, about one-tenth of

an inch in width, and several inches long, very shallow, with a
rounded bottom. These, Mr. Strickland considers as caused by
some object striking the surface of the sand with considerable impe-
tus. They may often be seen to cut through the ridge of one ripple-
mark, and after disappearing in the depressed interval, they are again
seen pursuing their former direction across the next ridge. They
may have been caused by fish swimming with velocity in a straight
direction, and occasionally touching the bottom with the under part
of their bodies.

2nd. Small irregular pits averaging one-fourth of an inch wide

and one-eighth of an inch deep. ‘These might have been caused by .
some small animal probing the mud and turning up the surface in
quest of food. Mr. Strickland conjectures that some of the numerous
species of fish found in the bone-bed may have produced them, the
heterocene form of tail common to most of which, Dr. Buckland has
suggested, enabled them to assume an inclined position with the
mouth close to the ground.

3rd. Narrow deep grooves, about one-twelfth of an inch in width,
the sides forming an angle at the bottom, irregularly curved and
often making abrupt turns, apparently formed by a body pushed
along by a slow and uncertain movement, such as might arise from”
the crawling of Mollusks. Mr. Strickland refers them to the loco-
motion of Acephalous Mollusca, and supposes that the only shell
found in this bed, a small bivalve named by him Pullastra arenicola,
might have produced them*. , :

* Mr. Strickland describes this species as follows :—“ Its form is nearly

a perfect oval, depressed, nearly smooth, but with faint concentric striations

VOL. IV. PARTI. Cc

18

Ath. A tortuous or meandering track consisting of a slightly raised
ridge about one-tenth of an inch wide, with a fine lmear groove on
each side. These tracks are analogous to those formed by the
crawling of small annelidous worms, as may often be seen on the
mud. of the’sea or fresh water. |

‘About eleven feet above the stratum which presents the impres-
sions above described, a second ossiferous bed occurs at Wainlode
Cliff, which escaped Mr. Strickland’s notice in the section formerly
given (Geol. Proc. vol. iii. p. 586). It is a band of hard, grey,
slightly calcareous stone, about an inch thick, containing a plicated
shell resembling a Cardium; and scales and teeth of Gyrolepis tenut-
striatus, Saurichthys apicalis, Hybodus Delabechei, Acrodus minimus,
and Nemacanthus’ monilifer, all of which occur in the true “‘ bone-’
bed” below. On the upper surface of that bed are numerous im-
pressions, termed by Mr. Strickland fucoid, consisting of lengthened
wrinkled grooves; variously curved, about three quarters of an inch
wide, one-eighth of an inch deep, and of variable length. ‘The
bone-bed seems to be a local deposit, not being met with in the
other localities examined by the author, and being confined to a
portion only of Wainlode Cliff, where it constitutes No. 9. in the
following corrected section.:—

4 Ft. in.
1. Blaekish digs elay!. codogs -eemes Saee <5 op HG
2. Limestone, with |Ostrea and.Modiola mini-
| ma (the bottom bed) .......... ee Sars Qe
80 ¥ellowish shale! nowy Seis. 559i b stele kyr
4. Limestone, with remains of imsects ...... O 4
5. Marly shale and clay......:5... litae eee Coe
6. Yellowish limestone nodules, with occasional
remaing Of Oypr7s 3 aictilag s+ $fls@ eins 59 One
7. Wellowish marty clays 0". 22942), .'0). oe 5 diac 6.4 48
8, Black laminated clay.) <a) ome es «4? HS
9. Stone, with scales and bones of fish, and on
the upper surface fucoid impressions..... 0. 1
10,::Bldeklamimated iclayp iis cas hin beetle ods Lat eH
11. Slaty calcareous stone, with Pectens...... On. 4
12. Black laminated clay ..... PORTERS Ligh RM athe
13. Bonz-BED and white sandstone, with casts
of Pullastra arenicolass 2). 4 ieee te Oo pad
14, Black laminated clay,.......... BS es i Oe arg
_ 15. Greenish angular marl ...........- A Saino ba
|16. Red marls with greenish zones ........ he aa 0
OS! Naz

towards the margin. The apex is about halfway between the middle of the
shell and the anterior end. The general outline closely resembles that of
the recent Pullastra aurea of Britain. Maximum length 7 lines, breadth
4% lines, but the ordinary size is less.” ; . = i

19

_ December 14,—John Samuel Dawes, Esq:, of West Bromwich,
Staffordshire, Ironmaster;, andthe Rev. Robert Wallace, of 2 Caven-
dish Place, Manchester, were elected Fellows,of this Society.

A memoir, entitled ‘‘ On the Ridges, Elevated, Beaches, Inland
Cliffs and Boulder Formations, of the Canadian Lakes and Valley, of
St. Lawrence,” by Charles Lyell, Esq., V.P.G.S., F.R.S:; was. com+
meneed. ‘

January 4, 1843.—The Rev. William Wilson, B.D, Oxon., Vicar
of Walthamstow ; James Edward Davis, Esq., of the Middle Temple, ©
Barrister ;, John Moreton, Esq., of Chester Hill, near Uley, Glouces-
tershire ; and Sir George Lefevre, of No.2 Porchester Place, Oxford
Square, were elected Fellows of this Society.

The reading of Mr. Lyell’s memoir, commenced on the 14th. of
December, was resumed. Sled
_ After adverting to his former paper on the Recession of the Falls
of Niagara, and the, observations which he made jointly with Mr,
Hall. in the autumn of 1841*, Mr, Lyell gives.an account of, addi-
tional investigations made by him in June 1842; in the course of
which he found e fluviatile deposit similar to that of,Goat Island, on
the right bank of the Niagara, nearly four miles lower down than
the great Falls. . The freshwater. strata of sand and gravel, here
alluded to.occur at the Whirlpool. . They are horizoutal, about forty
feet thick, plentifully charged with shells of recent species, and are
placed on the verge of the precipice overhanging the river. They
are bounded on their inland side by a steep bank of boulder clay,
which runs parallel to the course of the Niagara, marking the limit
of the original channel of the river before the excavation of the great
ravine. Another patch of sand, with freshwater shells, was detected
on the opposite or western side of the river, where the Muddy Run
flows in, about 14 mile above the Whirlpool.. From the position of
these strata it is inferred that the ancient bed of the river, somewhere,
below the Whirlpool, must have been 300 feet higher than the pre-
sent bed, so as to form a barrier to that body of fresh water in which
the various beds of fluviatile sand and gravel. above-mentioned were
accumulated. ‘his: barrier was removed when the cataract cut its
way back to a point further south.,The author also remarks, that the
manner in which the freshwater beds of the Whirlpool and Goat Island
come into immediate contact with the subjacent Silurian limestone,
no drift intervening, shows that the original valley of the Niagara was
shaped out of limestone as well as drift. Hence he concludes that
the rocks in the rapids above the present Falls had suffered great
denudation while yet the Falls were at or below the Whirlpool. _,,

Mr. Lyell thinks that the form of the ledge of rock at the Devil’s
Hole, and of the precipice which there projects and faces down the,
river, proves the Falls to have, been once at that point.. An ancient

* See Proceedings, vol. ili, p. 595.
c2

20

gorge, filled with stratified drift, which breaks the continuity of the
limestone on the left bank of the Niagara at the Whirlpool, was
examined in detail by the author, and found to be connected with
the valley of St. Davids, about three miles to the north-west. This
ancient valley appears to have been about two miles broad at one
extremity, where it reaches the great escarpment at St. Davids, and
between 200 and 300 yards wide at the other end, or at the whirl-
pool. Its steep sides did not consist of single precipices, as in the
ravine of Niagara, but of successive cliffs and ledges. After its de-
_ nudation the valley appears to have been submerged and filled up
with sand, gravel, and boulder clay, 300 feet thick.

A description is next given of certain modern deposits, containing
freshwater shells, on the western borders of the Niagara, above the
Falls, and in Grand Island, in order to show that the future reces-
sion of the Falls may expose patches of fluviatile sediment similar to
those in and below Goat Island.

The author then passes to the general consideration of the boulder
formation on the borders of Lakes Erie and Ontario, and in the
valley of the St. Lawrence, as far down as Quebec. Marine shells
were observed in this drift at Beauport, below Quebec, as first pointed
out by Captain Bayfield, and also near the mouth of the Jacques
Cartier river, and at Port Neuf and other places; also at Montreal,
where they reach a height probably exceeding 500 feet above the sea,
the summit of Montreal mountain being 760 feet high, according to
Bayfield’s trigonometrical measurement, and the shells being sup-
posed to be 240 feet below the summit. These shells, therefore,
being more than 300 feet above Lake Ontario, we may presume that
the sea in which the drift was formed extended far over the territory
bordering that lake. ‘The most southern point at which the author
saw fossil shells belonging to the same group as those of Quebec was
on the western and eastern shores of Lake Champlain, viz. at Port
Kent and Burlington, in about lat. 44° 30'. Here, and wherever
elsewhere the contact of the drift is seen with hard subjacent rocks,
these rocks are smoothed, and furrowed on the surface, in the same
manner as beneath the drift in northern Europe. ‘The species of
shells occurring in the drift, to which Mr. Lyell has made some ad-
ditions, are not numerous, and are all, save one, known to exist, but
are inhabitants, for the most part, of seasin higher latitudes. Many
of them are the same as those occurring fossil at Uddevalla and other
places in Scandinavia, and they imply the former prevalence of a
-colder climate when the drift originated. At Beauport there are large
and far-transported boulders, both in beds which overlie and under-
lie these marine shells.

The author next describes the ridges of sand and gravel surround-
ing the great lakes, which are regarded by many as upraised beaches.
He examined, in company with Mr. Hall, the ‘‘ Lake ridge,” as it is
called,’ on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, and other similar
ridges north of Toronto, which were formerly explored by Mr. Roy*,

* See Proceedings, vol. ii. p. 537.

21

and which preserve a general parallelism to each other and to the
neighbouring coast. ‘Some of these have been traced for more than
100 miles contmuously. They vary in height from ten to seventy
feet, are often very narrow at their summit, and from fifty to 200
yards broad at their base. Cross stratification is very commonly
visible in the sand ; they usually rest on clay of the boulder forma-
tion, and blocks of granite and other rocks from the north are occa-
sionally lodged upon them. ‘They are steeper on the side towards
‘the lakes, and they usually have swamps and ponds on their inland
side ; they are higher for the most part and of larger dimensions
than modern beaches. Several ridges, east and west of Cleveland
in Ohio, on the southern shore of Lake Erie, were ascertained to
have precisely the same characters. Mr. Lyell compares them all
to the osars in Sweden, and conceives that, like them, they are not
simply beaches which have been entirely thrown up by the waves
above water, but that many of them have had their foundation in
banks or bars of sand, such as those observed by Capt. Grey running
parallel to the west coast of Australia, lat. 24° §., and by Mr. Dar-
win off Bahia Blanca and Pernambuco in Brazil, and by Mr. Whit-
tlesey near Cleveland in Lake Erie. ‘They are supposed to have been
formed and upraised in succession, and to have become beaches as
they emerged, and sometimes cliffs undermined by the waves. The
transverse and oblique ramifications of some ridges are referred to the
meeting of different currents and do not resemble simple beaches.

The base-lines of the ridges east and west of Cleveland, are not
strictly horizontal according to Mr. Whittlesey, but inclined five
feet and sometimes more in a mile. Those near Toronto are said
by Mr. Roy to preserve the same exact level for great distances, but
Mr. Lyell does not conceive that our data are as yet sufficiently
precise to enable us to determine the levels within a few feet at
points distant several hundred miles from each other. No fossil
shells have been obtained from these ridges, and the author concludes
that most of them were formed beneath the sea or on the margin of
marine sounds. Some of the less elevated ridges, however, may be
of lacustrine origin, and due to oscillations in the level of the land
since the great lakes existed, for unequal movements, analogous to
those observed in Scandinavia, may have uplifted freshwater strata
above the barriers which divide Lake Michigan from the basin of
the Mississippi, or Lake Erie from Ontario, or the waters of On-
tario from the ocean. Considerable differences of level may have
been produced im the ancient beds of these vast inland bodies of
freshwater, while the modern deposit and the subjacent Silurian
strata may to the eye appear perfectly horizontal.

The author then endeavours to trace the series of changes which
have taken place in the region of Lakes Erie and Ontario, referring
first to a period of emergence when lines of escarpment like that of
Queenstown, and when valleys like that of St. Davids were exca-
vated ; secondly, to a period of submergence when those valleys and
when the cavities of the present lake-basins were wholly or partially
filled up with the marine boulder formation ; and lastly, to the re-

22

emergence of the land, during which rise the ridges before alluded
to were produced, and the boulder formation partially denuded. He
also endeavours to show, how during this last upheaval the different
lakes may have been formed in succession, and that a channel of the
sea must first have occupied the original valley of the Niagara,
which was gradually converted into an estuary and then ariver. The
great Falls, when they first displayed themselves near Queenstown,
must have been of moderate-height, and receded rapidly, because the
limestone overlying the Niagara shale was of slight thickness at its
northern termination. On the further retreat of the sea a second
fall would be established over lower beds of hard limestone and
sandstone previously protected by the water ; and finally, a third fall
would be caused over the ledge of hard quartzose sandstone which
rests on the soft red marl, seen at the base of the river-cliff at Lewis-
town. ‘These several falls would each recede further back than the
other in proportion to the greater lapse of time during which the
higher rocks were exposed before the successive emergence of the
lower ones. Three falls of this kind are now seen descending, a
continuation of the same rocks on the Genesee River at Rochester.
Their union, in the case of the Niagara into a single fall, may have
been brought about in the manner suggested by Mr. Hall*, by the
increasing retardation of the highest cataract in proportion as the
uppermost limestone thickened in its prolongation southwards, the
lower falls meanwhile continuing to recede at an undiminished pace,
having the same resistance to overcome as at first.

Mr. Lyell considers the time occupied by the recession of the Falls
from the Whirlpool to be quite conjectural, but assigns a foot rather
than a yard a year as a more probable estimate; thus he shows the
Mastodon, found on the right bank near Goat Island, though asso-
ciated with shells of recent species, to have claim to a very high an-
tiquity, since it was buried in fluviatile sediment before the Falls had
receded above the Whirlpool.

«< Notice on a Suite of specimens of Ornithoidicnites, or foot-prints
of Birds on the New Red Sandstone of Connecticut.” By Gideon
Algernon Mantell, LL.D., F.R.S.

These specimens were accompanied bya letter from Dr. James Deane
of Greenfield, Massachusetts, the original discoverer of the Ornithoi-
dicnites, of which more than thirty varieties had been found, bearing
a striking resemblance to the foot-prints of birds. In this letter Dr.
Deane gives an account of his discovery of the impressions eight or
nine years ago, and which he then communicated to Professor Hitch-
cock. He remarks, that ‘‘the footsteps are invariably those of a
biped, and occur on the upper surface of the stratum, while the cast
or counter-impression is upon the lower.. In some instances we may
follow the progress of the animal over as many as ten successive
steps.” He has seen a course of steps twelve inches in length by
‘eight in breadth, extending several rods. The intervening space

ii Boston Journ, of Nat. Hist., 1841.

23

was uniformly four feet. One impression of a foot was fourteen
inches in length. The enor are accompanied by those of
rain-drops.

Extract of a Letter from W.C. Redfield, Esq., on newly dis-
covered Ichthyolites in the New Red Sandstone of New Jersey.
Communicated by Charles Lyell, Esq., V.P.G.S.

Mr. Redfield has found two distinct fish-beds in the new red
sandstone of New Jersey, both containing ichthyolites of the genus
Paleoniscus. In the sandstone between the fish-beds he discovered an
Ornithoidicnite, and observed numerous slabs exhibiting impressions
of rain-drops and ripple-marks. The rain-marks appear as if the rain
had. been driven by a strong wind, andthe direction of the impres-
sions indicated that the wind blew from the west, a quarter from
which violent squalls or thundergusts are still prevalent in these
latitudes.

A Letter was read from Mr. Charles Nicholson, accompanying
some fossil bones found imbedded in the banks of the Brisbane River
(New South Wales).

_ Also an extract of a Letter from his Excellency George. Grey,
Governor of Adelaide, to Mr. Lyell, accompanying a section of the
country between the eastern shore of St. Vincent’s Gulf and Lake
Alexandrina (New South Wales), and noticing some fossils obtain-
ed from that district.

January 18th.—Henry Hope, Esq., of Deep Dene; William Ste-
vens Richardson, of the Temple, Barrister-at-Law; and Thomas Page,
Esq., Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and Acting En-
gineer at the Thames Tunnel, were elected Fellows of this Society.

‘On the Silurian Rocks of the South of Westmoreland and
North of Lancashire.’ By Daniel Sharpe, Esq., F.G.S.

This communication is in continuation of a paper read by the au-
thor on the 2nd of February, 1842*, a second visit to the district
having enabled him to correct some errors committed on his first
examination, and to extend his observations into Lancashire.

On both occasions Mr. Sharpe took for his base-line the bed of
Coniston limestone described by Professor Sedgwick, being con-
vinced that Mr. Marshall has rightly considered that limestone as the
lowest bed of the Silurian system in this district}, and in all his
descriptions he adheres to the ascending order.

Ist. Coniston Limestone.—It is doubtful whether this bed is
continuous at its western extremity, or occurs only in detached
patches. ‘The two western portions of limestone at Water Blain
and, Low House are a mile and a quarter south of the bearing of the

* See Proceedings, vol. iii. p. 602.
+ Geol. Trans. Second Series, vol. iv. p. 47.
{ Report of the British Association, 1839, Sections, p. 67+

24

line of the bed cast of the latter place, but are exactly on a line
with the strike of the bed beyond Coniston ; a great fault between
Low House and Greystone House being counterbalanced by the
whole of the smaller faults between that spot and Coniston, which
are pointed out in Professor Sedgwick’s memoir. Mr. Sharpe gives
a list of fossils collected in this bed and the shales above it at Torver
Fell, Coniston, Long Sleddale, &c., in which are several of the spe-
cies of Orthis, Spirifer, and Leptena, found by Mr. Murchison in
the Lower Silurian deposits, and several undescribed species.

Qnd. Slates, Shales, and Flagstones.—These are well exposed on
Torver Fell, where the following series may be seen:—

a. Brown shale.

b. Dark blue slate of good quality; the beds dip E.S.E. 40°, and
the cleavage dips 8.8.E. 80°; it contains many fossils, much’ com-
pressed and distorted, nevertheless a few Lower Silurian shells are
made out.

c. Indurated brown shale.

d. Blue flagstone rock, a bed well known in the district, and
mentioned by Professor Sedgwick and Mr. Marshall; at Torver,
where it gives good roofing-slate as well as flags, the beds dip
south-east 45°, and the cleavage south-east 80°. To the eastward
of Windermere this bed and the lower bed of slate 6 run together,
and the whole of the Lower Silurian formation diminishes in thick-
ness.
~-e. Indurated shale.

f. Shear Bed, which supplies brownish-blue flags, taken along the
bedding of the rocks, which is free from slaty cleavage.

This series of slates, flagstones, and shales, may be traced above

the Coniston limestone from the Dudden to Shap Fells, although
the separate beds cannot always be distinguished.
- 8rd. Grey Slaty Grits, described in Mr. Sharpe’s former paper
as the “‘ Lower division of the Windermere rocks,”’ but now classed
as part of the Lower Silurian formation ; they consist of a great
thickness of hard gritty grauwacke, variously affected by cleavage,
and may be traced from the Dudden, below Broughton, to Shap
Fell.

Ath. Blawith Limestone, ‘‘ the second band of calcareous slate ”’
of Professor Sedgwick; a bed only found in two localities, at Meer
Beck and a wood behind Low Hall, on the east of the road from
Ireleth to Kirkby Ireleth, where it is a dark-blue limestone very
like that of Coniston, dipping east 40°, of which only about a thick-
ness of twelve feet is laid open; and at Turtle-bank Heights, south-
west of Blawith, where it has been quarried near the top of the
south-east face of the hill, and is a dark gray limestone, twenty feet
thick, striking north-east and dipping perpendicularly; from this
‘spot it runs by Cockin’s-hill to the side of Coniston Water, half a
mile north of Water Gate. The fossils found by Mr. Marshall’ in
this bed near Blawith were identified as Lower Silurian species.

5th. Flagstones and Slates of Kirkby Ireleth.—These are placed
by Professor Sedgwick below the Blawith limestone, No. 4, but

25

as Mr. Sharpe considers erroneously: nevertheless, although no
fossils have been found in them, he considers them to be the upper-
most bed of the Lower Silurian series, because they are always con-
formable to the undoubted Lower Silurian beds below them, and are
not equally conformable to the bedsabove. As this southern edge forms
the boundary line of the Lower Silurian formation, Mr. Sharpe traced
them carefully along their whole course, from their first appearance
rising from under the mountain limestone, on the east of Ireleth, till
they are hidden by the old red sandstone of Birkbeck-beck. . Near
Ireleth it is only used. for building-stone, but at Kirkby Ireleth are
quarries extending for a mile and a half along the range of the bed,
supplying dark-blue slates of very good quality. At Horse Spital
Quarry the beds dip south-east 80°, and the cleavage dips south-east
55°, both sets of planes striking north-east: this coincidence in the
strike of the bedding and cleavage planes is common in all this
district; yet at Lord Quarry, close to the last-mentioned, the beds
dip N.N.E. 20°, while the cleavage dips S.S.E. 70°. Further east
the rock is of inferior quality, and is rarely worked for roofing-slate:
its usual course is north-east, passing by Suberthwaite, Blawith,
Nibthwaite, at the foot of Coniston Water, where much building-
stone has been quarried, and the rock is well exposed, being a dark-
blue flagstone streaked with gray: between Oxen Park and Satter-
thwaite it dips north 50°, and N.N.W, 70°, and is lighter and more
striped than usual; at Force Mill it strikes E.N.E. and dips N.N.W.
65°, and the cleavage has the same strike but is perpendicular: at
Satterthwaite the dip is north 45°: between Esthwaite and the
Ferry on Windermere the road runs near the upper edge of the bed,
which is well exposed close to the Ferry House, north of which spot
it reaches more than a mile up the shore of the lake. On the east
side of the lake it has been quarried north of Bowness.

Eastward of Bowness, Mr. Sharpe corrects an error which he
committed in laying down this line too far south: he now traces it
nearly E.N.E. by Ing’s Chapel, Row Gill, and Hugill Hall, dip
south-east 60° ; Monument Hill on the west side of Kentmere, dip
S.S.E. 80° to Fellfoot in Kentmere. ‘The flagstone crosses Long
Sleddale at the Chapel, where it was found not worth working for
slate: at Bonnisdale-head Farm it gives a slate of fair quality, the
beds dip south-east by south 65°, and the cleavage dips in the same
direction 80° ; from here it crosses into High Borrowdale half a mile
above High House, dipping south-east by south 50°; a fault down
this valley throws the bed below High House on the east side of the
valley: in the next Fells it is much concealed by the vegetation,
but it is seen at a cutting of the road from Shap to Kendal on Hurd’s
Brow, between the ninth and tenth mile-stone, dipping south-east
75°, and the cleavage dipping north-west 85°. Near the Borrow
the beds are thrown into several anticlinal ridges bearing north-east,
by faults which disturb the cleavage planes as well as the bedding
of the rock: this slate has also been worked in the upper part of
Bretherdale. _The boundary thus laid down nearly corresponds with
that given in the new edition of Mr. Greenough’s map.

26

The lowest beds of the slate in High Borrowdale are calcareous,
and may perhaps represent the Blawith limestone, which has not
been found in conjunction with the slate eastward of Blawith.

In High Furness, the district of Lancashire consisting of Lower
Silurian rocks, the principal valleys run from south-west to north-
east, parallel to the strike of the beds, each ridge of hills repre-
senting the outcrop of a particular bed: this is not the case with
the same formation’ in Westmoreland, where the valleys of Coniston
Water, Esthwaite, Windermere, Troutbuk, Kentmere, Long Sled-
dale, Bannisdale, High Borrowdale, and Brethesdale, all follow great
faults across the’ strike of the stratification: these faults are con-
tinued through the Windermere rocks, and sometimes into the Lower
Ludlow rocks, but are lost before entering the Upper Ludlows.

It isin High Furness that the Lower Silurian formation is best ex-
posed to observation, and has a greater thickness than in Westmore-
land, the beds gradually diminishing in their course eastward. In
the same district of Lancashire the slaty character of the rocks is
more developed than we find it in Westmoreland; it is especially
between Coniston, Old Mere and Kirkby Ireleth, that the crystal-

lizing agency which has changed the rocks into slate has acted most
powerfully, many beds in that district supplying good slate, which
will hardly split up at all elsewhere. !

- From the prevailing parallelism long known to exist between the
planes of slaty cleavage over considerable areas, Mr. Sharpe considers
it nearly certain that these planes had a uniform direction in each
district, and that the cases of exceptions which are found are due to
disturbing forces acting after the cessation of the cleavage action.
In the district under’ consideration the mean dip of the cleavage
planes is considered to be S.S.E. 70°, and the cleavage action is
thought to have ceased before the formation of the Upper Ludlow
rocks.

Windermere Rocks:—The beds formerly classed by the author as
the lowest division of this series are now placed in the Lower Silurian
formation, and the middle and upper divisions are thrown together,
for want of any distinct line of division between them, and some
considerable corrections are made in their geographical boundaries.
They rise, near Ulverston, from below the mountain limestone of
Low Furness, dipping E.S.E. at high angles, and disappear in West-
moreland beyond Bannisdale, during which course they rest on the
Kirkby Ireleth slate ; but theirsouthern boundary can only be under-
stood from the map, as to the west of Windermere they are over-
laid by large patches of mountain limestone, and in their range east-
ward are gradually covered up unconformably, and concealed by the
Lower Ludlow rocks. In some places the similarity of the rocks of -
the two formations, and the absence of fossils m both, makes it difi-
cult to determine the boundary between them, the best guide being
the dip and strike of the rocks. In Mr. Sharpe’s first map a portion
of the Lower Ludlow rocks on the north-east of Kendal was errone-
ously coloured as belonging to the Windermere series; the error
was pointed out by Cornelius Nicholson, Esq., of Cowan Head, who

27

assisted the author materially in mapping the neighbourhood of his
residence.

The upper boundary of the Windermere rocks begins on the south-
west at the lower point of Witherslack, and is marked by a great
fault which crosses the valley between that hill and Whitbarrow,
- and appears to pass under the mountain limestone of Whitbarrow,

then runs north-east through Underbarrow, by the Chapel, to Mount-
joy: on the west side of this fault the Windermere rocks form high
ridges of hard slaty grits of dark grey colour, with lighter streaks;
dipping N.N.W., while on the east side of the fault is a gritty rock
of uniform grey colour dipping E.S.E., overlaid with beds containing
the fossils of the Ludlow beds. From Mountjoy the line turns to
the north-west, and passes round Crook Chapel, which stands on a
ridge of the Windermere grits; at Crook Common it turns to the
north-east, and follows that direction to near Borrowdale, where the
formation is lost, being completely hidden by the Ludlow rocks,
which there rest on the Lower Silurians. Crook Common is thrown
into great confusion by the meeting of two lines of elevation, one
comciding with the E.N.E. strike of the Lower Silurian rocks, the
other coming up from the 8.S.W. through Cartmel Fell.

‘At Backbarrow, below Newby Bridge, the upper beds of this
series are slaty, with a wavy cleavage dippmg N.N.E. 80°, the beds
dipping south-east 80°; these beds contain irregular calcareous
nodules in great abundance, and Orthoceras articulatum was found
in them.

' Mr. Sharpe refers to his former memoir for the description of the

Windermere rocks on the east of the Lune, which extend to Grey-
rigg Forest, Whin Fell, and Howgill Fell; in these Fells are several
axes of elevation which require further examination.

Ludlow rocks. —These were described in the author’s former paper ;
the area covered by them is larger than was there stated, their lower
boundary being now carried more to the north, and their eastern
portion being extended in a sort of trough between the Lower Silu-

rian slates of Shap Fell and the Windermere rocks of Whin Fell,
crossing Barrowdale between High and Low Barrowbridge.

In the lowest beds of the series in Fawcett Forest were found
Leptena lata and Turritella conica, in a slaty rock. ‘The Terebratula
navicula is found thinly scattered throughout all the lower part of the
formation, and occurs in vast numbers in a bed which forms about
the middle of the Ludlow series. Mr. Murchison has told us that
this little shell is usually found in such numbers as to form a bed
whigh lies above the Aymestry litnestone, and it serves to mark the
place of that rock where it is wanting: and Mr. J. E. Davis informed
the author, that at Stapleton, near Presteign, where there is no
Aymestry limestone, this species is found throughout the whole of
the Lower Ludlow shales. Mr. Sharpe has made use of this shell
in dividing the Upper from the Lower Ludlow rocks in Westmore-
land, classing all the beds containing it in the lower series. ‘The
bed in which it occurs in greatest abundance was traced through
Underbarrow, by Tullithwaite Hall and High Cray, across the west

28

end of Rather Heath and a little south of Cowan Head, and also in
Lambrigg Park; it is usually accompanied by Atrypu affinis, Spirifer
octoplicatus, Leptena lata and depressa, Orthis lunata, and Terebratula
nucula: the T. navicula seems to have died out suddenly, as it is not
found in the Upper Ludlow beds.

The same division of the Ludlow rocks may be obtained by attend- °
ing to the direction and dip of the beds; the lower series partakes
of the north-east strike, which runs through the older Silurian rocks
in these counties, and is traversed by many of the same faults as
those formations, but the Upper Ludlow beds are thrown up in anti-
clinal ridges with a different direction.

Mr. Sharpe gives a list of the organic remains found in each. divi-
sion of the formation, which includes forty-four of the species de-
scribed in Mr. Murchison’s work from the old red sandstone and
Upper Ludlow, fourteen of those from the Aymestry limestone, and
twenty-two of those from the Lower Ludlow beds. Of the species
of shells placed by Mr. Murchison in the old red sandstone*, all
but two have now been found low in the Ludlow beds, proving that
the red beds containing these species in Herefordshire must be classed
with the Upper Ludlow formation.

Old Red Sandstone.—The only addition to the former paper which
relates to this formation, is in mapping it in the upper valley of the
Lune, where the tile-stones reach above the hamlet of Langdale,
dipping N.N.E. 10°.

The age of the large masses of gravel of a brown or red colour
noticed in the valley of the Lune between Sedberg and Casterton,
and of the Kent and Sprint, was before left uncertain; the author
now regards them as a modern surface drift. .

Mountain Limestone.—The description of this formation did not
enter into Mr. Sharpe’s plan, but he examined the portion of it which
occurs in Low Furness, to ascertain the geological position of the
Ulverston iron ore.

The ore occurs in veins usually perpendicular, and bearing
W.N.W., which cut through the limestone, but are not continued
into the Silurian rocks. The following veins are mentioned :—

Plumpton Hall ; now abandoned.

Lindal Moor vein; an exception to the usual condition, as it runs
between the mountain limestone and the Windermere grits, striking
north-west and dipping south-west 45°; it is the principal and most
profitable vein of the district.

Stainton ; three veins separated by a em Lae of clay, spar, and
limestone, perpendicular, and bearing W.N.

Lindal Court ; several perpendicular veins near together, bearing
W.N.W.

Crosthwaite; a poor vein bearing W.N.W., thought to be the
continuation of that at Stainton.

Wet Flat ; the rocks near are much disturbed, and the vein, after
running W. N, W., turns down a fault in the limestone to N.N. W.,
but soon thins out.

* Silurian System, p. 603. and t. 3.

29

Trap Rocks.—These are rare in the district ; Professor Sedgwick
has laid down some masses of igneous rocks at Shap Fells, on the
south side of the high road; one of them consists of red felspar with
some mica, quartz,and hornblende. The slate rocks are much disturbed
in the neighbourhood, and the faults have broken up the cleavage
planes as well as the bedding of the rocks, from which Mr. Sharpe
infers that the trap is more modern than the eruption of the Shap gra-
nite, which took place before the cleaving of the slates, as the cleavage
planes run through all the faults connected with that eruption.

At Biglands, south of Newby Bridge, there is a trap dyke running
north-east, which has also disturbed the parallelism of the cleavage,
and must be considered as of a modern date: it is not well exposed
on the surface.

The author concludes by a comparison of all the beds with those
described by Mr. Murchison in the border counties of Wales, and
adopted as the types of the Silurian system, and with those of Den-
bighshire and Merionethshire, to which his attention was directed by
Mr. Bowman’s papers on Llangollen; he points out the closest re-
semblance between the Silurian formation in North Wales and in
Westmoreland, while in mineral character they differ most mate-
rially from those of Siluria: nevertheless the principal divisions of
the Silurian system laid down by Mr. Murchison can be traced in
each district by the evidence of the organic remains.

“On the Stratified Rocks of Berwickshire and their imbedded
Organic Remains.”” By Mr. William Stevenson, of Dunse. Com-
municated by the President.

In this memoir the author gives an account of the characteristic
features, the order of succession, and the nature of the organic re-_
mains of the stratified rocks of Berwickshire. ‘The lowest of these
are greywacke and greywacke slate, forming an extensive system of
arenaceous and argillaceous strata of various colours, gray predo-
minating, found almost everywhere among the Lammermuirs, of
which chain they constitute the fundamentalrock. In the rocks of
this system no undoubted organic remains have been found, but
some curious markings occur on slabs, for which it is difficult to ac-
count without supposing the influence of organic agency. 'The grey-
wacke presents the uniform appearance of a deep sea deposit, per-
haps laid down upon the bottom of a wide-spreading ocean of great
profundity, and therefore removed from the disturbing action of
wind and tides. The thickness of these strata, as displayed among
the Lammermuirs, is very great, but the series is far from being com-
plete, there being no appearance of the older strata on the one hand,
and on the other their junction with the newer formations is always
unconformable. ‘The materials of which they are composed were pro-
bably derived from the disintegration of the granites and primary
schists to the westward.

2. The formation next in order is the upper division of the old
red sandstone, the members of which rest unconformably upon the
upturned ends of the greywacke. The lowest member of it is an

80

old. red. sandstone conglomerate, consisting of fragments of grey-
wacke and felspathic rocks, cemented by a paste which is generally
’ arenaceous, sometimes calcareous. It varies much in thickness.

3. Red and greenish white sandstones succeed .with soft red ar-
gillaceous strata. Part of these seem to have been formed ina shal-
low sea, since they exhibit ripple-marks, and contain remains of
Holoptychius and. Dendrodus.. Another portion contains few: traces
of fossils, and was probably deposited in deeper water. Some curious
spindle-shaped concretions and the impressions. called Kelpie’s feet
occur, also traces of Fuci. Two localities near Preston-Haugh, and
one at the foot of the Knock-hill, are all in which organic remains
have as yet been found.

4. After the deposition of the strata containing the remains of
the Holoptychius, &c., a subsidence to a considerable extent took
place, after which a succession of strata of great thickness was de-
posited above them. ..These rocks seem, to have been formed in
deeper water than the ichthyolitic beds. «They consist of red and
greenish white sandstones interstratified with beds of a softer and
more argillaceous character, and of a deep red colour. They seem
to contain no organic remains except vegetable impressions (Alge ?)
which occur in ‘abundance in a bed of red sandstone, perhaps 100
feet above the strata containing the animal remains.

5. Above the soft, red and panied sandstones are caleareous scien
sandstones and cornstones, or impure concretionary limestones, with-
out fossils., The junction of these with the sandstones is not seen,
being cut off by faults and trap dykes.

6. The lower portion of the coal-measures succeeds, consisting of
shales, marls, clays, and sandstones containing ironstone bands and
gypsum, and abounding in vegetable fossils, consisting of! Conifere,
Stigmarie, Lepidodendra, and other coal plants. ‘This formation is
well developed over the greater part of the Merse of Berwickshire.

7. Next in order are some thick beds of reddish sandstone, under-
lying

8. Carboniferous strata, consisting of pemidninine sy shales, &c., in
cluding three or four coal-seams.

9. ‘Phe encrinal limestone, seen a little parth of Berwick.

Mr. Stevenson remarks that the Berwickshire carboniferous strata
appears to correspond with the lower beds of the Fife and Lothian
coal-fields, considered by. Mr. Milne and. others to belong: to the
mountain limestone, and to.be considerably lower than the New-
castle coal strata. With regard to the inquiry whether new red
sandstone exists in Berwickshire, Mr. Stevenson is inclined to
answer it in the negative. He regards the beds:at Cumledge, de-
scribed by Mr. Milne as such, as old red, and considers the soft red
elays and sands at Lintlaw, derived from the disintegration of the
old red sandstone, referred by Mr. Milne to the new red sandstone,
to be of undetermined age, from want of sufficient evidence in the
absence of organic remains. ‘The exact position of«the greywacke
strata of the Lammermuirs is for the same reason’ indeterminate.
The author concludes by pointing. out the great gap which occurs

381

between the greywacke and the upper division of the old red sand-
stone in Berwickshire, the middle and lower divisions of the old red
and the whole of the Silurian system being deficient. Another cir- .
cumstance worthy of remark is the absence of any formations more
recent than the coal-measures, if we except alluvial deposits and the
undetermined red strata formerly mentioned.

February 1.—W. Johnston, Esq., of Grosvenor Granite Wharf,
and of Richmond, Surrey; James Baber, Esq., of 1, South Place,
Knightsbridge, London; and Eyan Hopkins, Esq., were elected Fel-
lowe of this Society.

A paper was read,“ On the Tertiary Strata of the Island of Mar-
tha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.’’. By Charles Lyell, Esq., V.P.G.S.,
&e.

The most northern limit to which the tertiary strata bordering
the Atlantic have been traced in the United States is in Massachu-
setts in Martha’s Vineyard, lat. 41°, 20! north, an island about
twenty miles in length from east to west, and about ten from north
to south, and rising to the height of between 200 and 300 feet above
the sea. The tertiary strata of this island are, for the most part,
deeply buried beneath amass of drift, in which lie huge erratic blocks
of granite and other rocks which appear to have come from the
north, probably from the mountains of New Hampshire. ‘The ter-
tiary strata consist of white and green sands, a conglomerate, white,
blue, yellow, and blood-red clays and black layers of lignite, all in-
clined at a high angle to the north-east, and in some of their curves
quite vertical. They are finely exposed near Chilmark on the south-
west side of the island, and in the promontory of Gay Head at its
south-western extremity, where there is a vertical section of more
than. 200 feet in height.

Attention was first called to this formation by Prof. Hitchcock in
1823, who appears to be the only American geologist who has ex-
amined them personally. He compared the beds at Gay Head to
the plastic and London clays of Alum Bay in the Isle of Wight, to
which, lithologically, they bear a striking resemblance, consisting in
both cases of variously and brightly coloured clays. and sands with
lignite, all incoherent and highly inclined. Various opinions, how-
ever, have been put forth as to the relative age of the Martha’s Vine-
yard strata, which were assigned by Prof. Hitchcock, at a time when
the tertiary formations of the United States were less known, to the
Eocene period, while Dr. Morton supposed them to be in part only
tertiary, and that they rested on greensand of the cretaceous period.

The section at Gay Head is continuous for four-fifths of a,mile,
the beds dip to the north-east generally at an angle of from thirty-
five to fifty degrees, though in some places at seventy degrees. The
clays predominate over, the sands... In one place Mr. Lyell found a
great fold in the beds, in which the same. osseous conglomerate and
associated beds of white sand, on the whole fifty feet thick, were so
bent as to have twice a north-easterly and once a south- westerly dip.

32

In the yellowish and dark brown clay near the uppermost part of the
section at Gay Head, and in the greensand immediately resting upon
it*, Mr. Lyell found the teeth of a shark, that of a seal, vertebra of
Cetacea, crustacean remains and casts of Tellina and Mya. These
prevail at intervals through a thickness of nearly 100 feet, and are
followed by beds of sand and clay with lignite. Mr. Lyell found no
remains in the red clays. Many rolled bones were found in the
osseous conglomerate.

In the section at Chilmark similar strata to those at Gay Head
occur, but the general dip is south-west. Some of the folds, how-
ever, give anticlinal dips to the north-east as well as the south-west,
and there are many irregularities, the beds being sometimes vertical
and twisted in every direction. Several faults are seen and veins of
ironsand, which intersect the strata like narrow dykes, as if there had
been cracks filled from above. One bed of osseous conglomerate at
Chilmark, four yards in thickness, is vertical, and its strike is well
seen to be north 25° east, so that the disturbances have evidently
been so great that it would be difficult without more sections to de-
termine positively the prevailing strike of these beds. The incum-
bent drift is very variable in thickness, and large erratics, from twenty
to thirty feet in diameter, are seen resting on quartzose sand. The
author saw no grounds for concluding that any cretaceous strata
occur anywhere in the island, nor could he find any fossils which
appeared to have been washed out of a cretaceous formation into the
tertiary strata, as some have suggested.

Mr. Lyell proceeds to the consideration of the organic remains
collected by himself in Martha’s Vineyard.

Mammalia.—1. A tooth, identified by Prof. Owen as the canine
tooth of a seal, of which the crown’ is fractured. It seems nearly
allied to the modern Cystophora proboscidea.

2. A skull of a walrus, differing from the skulls of the existing
species (Trichecus rosmarus, Linn.), with which it was compared by
Prof. Owen, in having only six molars and two tusks, whereas those
of the recent have four molars on each side, besides occasionally a
rudimentary one. ‘The front tusk is rounder than that of the recent
walrus.

3. Vertebre of Cefacea, some of which are referred by Prof. Owen
to the Whalebone-whales, and others to the Bottle-nosed (Hy-
peroodon).

Pisces.—Teeth of sharks resembling species from the Faluns of
Touraine, viz. Carcharias megaladon, Oxyrhina xiphodon, O. hastulis,
and Lamna cuspidata. With these were large teeth of two species
of Carcharias, one resembling C. productus, a Maltese fossil. With
the exception of the two last, Mr. Lyell found the same species in
miocene strata near Evergreen, on the right bank of James River in
Virginia.

Crustacea.—A species considered by Mr. Adam White as probably
belonging to the genus Cyclograpsus, or the closely allied Sesarma
of Say, and another, decidedly a Gegarcinus.

* Nos. 5 and 6 of Prof. Hitchcock's section.

33

Mollusca.—1. ‘Casts of a Tellina allied to T. biplicata, a miocene
fossil, and of another near T. lusorta. 2. Cast of a Cytherea resem-
bling C. Sayana, Conrad. 3. Three casts of a Mya, one » which
bears a close resemblance to Mya truncata.

Mr. Lyell concludes, from the various evidence here given, that
the strata of Martha’s Vineyard are miocene. ‘The numerous re-
mains of Cetacea of the genera Balena and Hyperoodon are adverse
to the supposition of their being Eocene, while such fossils abound
in the miocene beds of America. The other fossils all point:to a
similar conclusion.

Letter from J. Hamilton Cooper, Esq., to Charles. Lyell, Esq,,
V.P.G.S., ‘On Fossil bones found in digging the New Brunswick
Canal in Georgia.”

Mr. Cooper prefaces his communication by a description of. the
country surrounding the locality in which the bones were found.
The portion described is that part of the sea-coast of Georgia which
lies between the Alatamaha and Turtle rivers in one direction, and
the Atlantic Ocean and the head of tide water on the other. For
twenty miles inland the land is low, averaging a height of from ten
to twenty feet, and reaching, in some instances, forty feet, and con-
sisting of swamps, salt-marshes, sandy land, and clay loam. It then
suddenly rises to the height of seventy feet, and runs back west at
this elevation about twenty miles, at which point there is a similar
elevation of between sixty and seventy feet. The whole of this
district is a post-tertiary formation, and is composed of recent allu-
vium, and a well-characterized marine post-pliocene deposit... The
recent alluvium is divided into inland-swamp, tide-swamp, and salt-
marsh. ‘The two last occupy a shallow basin having a depth of about
twelve feet, the bottom and sides of which are the post-pliocene for-
mation. ‘This the author divides into three groups, in the last of
which, constituting the elevated sand hills, no organic remains have
been found; in the two former marine shells of existing species
occur.

The fossil bones of the land mammalia discovered by Mr. Cooper:
were found resting on the yellow sand and enveloped in the recent
clay alluvium. Their unworn state and the grouping together of
- many bones of the same skeleton, render it highly probable that the
carcasses of the animals falling or floating into a former lake‘or
stream, sank to the sandy bottom, and were gradually covered to
their present depth by the sedimentary deposits from the water.
Among them were remains of the megatherium, Mastodon giganieum,
mammoth, hippopotamus and horse. T he fossil shells found in the
post-pliocene, were species at present existing on the neighbouring
shores.

The facts narrated by Mr. Cooper lead to the following birch:
sions :—1Ist. That the post-pliocene formation extends further south
than Maryland, to which it has hitherto been limited. 2nd. The co-
existence of the megatherium with the mammoth, mastodon, horse,
bison, and hippopotamus. 3rd, That the surface of the country has

VOL. IV.—PART I. D

*

34

undergone mo sudden or violent change since those animals inhabited
it, which is proved by the absence of all traces of diluvial action in
the enveloping alluvium or surrounding country. 4th. That what-
ever changes of temperature may have taken place since that time,
fatal to the existence of those maimmalia, the identity of the fossil
with the existing species of the marine shells of the coast shows that
the temperature of the ocean at a period prior to the existence of
the megatherium, the mastoden, and the hippopotamus was such as
is congenial to the present marine testacea of Georgia.

“* Description of some Fossil Fruits from the Chalk-formation of
the South-east of England.” By Gideon superteny Mantell, LL.D.,
F.R.5., &c.

The fruits Bee crived are three in number, VvizZ.—

1. Zamia Sussexiensis, Mantell,—From the greensand., A cone
allied to the Zamia macrocephala, a greensand fossil from Kent,
figured in Lindley and Hutton’s ‘ Fossil Flora,’ pl..125, from which
it differs in form and in the number, size, and shape of its scales,
which are more numerous, smaller and more oblong than in the
Kentish species. It is five inches long, and at the greatest circum-
ference measures six inches. It was s found about two years ago in
an accumulation of fossil coniferous wood in a sand-bank at Selmes-
ton, Sussex, at the junction of the Shanklm sand with the gault.
Dr. Mantell having sent'a cast of the only specimen found to M.
Adolphe Brongniart, that distinguished botanist suggested that it
might be either the stem of a young cycadaceous plant or the fruit
of a Zamia, but the situation and small size.of the stalk at the base
and the appearance of the scales, induce Dr. Mantell to refer it to
the latter.

2. Abies Bensiedi, Mantell. hase the greensand ; near Maidstone,
Kent. A beautiful, cone found by Mr. W. H. Bensted in the quarry
im which the remains of the Iguanodon were discovered in 1834,
where it was associated with Fucus Targionti, and, some indetermi-
nate species of the same genus; stems and apparently traces of the
foliage of endogenous trees allied to the Dracena (Sternbergia), and
of trunks: and branches of Conifere.’ The wood, occurs, both in a
calcareous and siliceous state. The cone found isin every respect
such: a fruit as the trees to which the wood belonged might have.
borne. It bears a close resemblance to a fossil from the greensand
of Dorsetshire, discovered by Dr. Buckland,, and figured in the ‘ Fos-
sil Flora’ of Great Britain under the name of Abies oblonga (Fos. FI.
pl.1.). Unfortunately, the outer surface is so much worn. that the
external figure of the scales cannot be accurately, defined; but the
sections show their proportionate thickness... ‘There is. an opening
at the base of the cone occasioned by the removal of the stalk, and
an accidental oblique fracture exhibits the internal structure. In the
longitudinal section thus exposed. the scales, are seen to be rounded
and broad at their base and to rise gradually, and become thin at
their outer terminations. The seeds are. oblong, and one seed is
seen imbedded within the base of each scale. Mr. Morris considers:

35

it to have a great affinity to Abies oblonga of Lindley and Hutton,
but it is more spherical, and the scales are smaller, more regular
and numerous. »

»8.Carpolithes Smithie, Mantell.—From the white chalk of Kent.
An account of an imperfect specimen of this fruit was formerly given
by Dr. Mantell im his ‘ Illustrations of the Geology of Sussex.’ He
lately detected a second and more perfect example in the choice col-
lection of Mrs. Smith of Tunbridge Wells, in honour of whom he
has named it. Dr. Mantell remarks, that a slight inspection was
sufficient to determine its vegetable origin, for several seeds were
imbedded in its substance, and others had been detached in clearing
it from the chalk. Dr. Robert Brown suggested that the original
was probably a succulent compound berry, the seeds appearing to
have been imbedded in a pulpy substance like the fruit of the mul-
berry, which is a spurious compound berry, formed by a partial
union of the enlarged and fleshy calices, each inclosing a dry mem-
branous pericarp.

From the occurrence of the cones above described with the drifted
remains of land and freshwater reptiles peculiar to the Wealden,
Dr. Mantell infers that these fruits belong to the flora of the coun-
try of the Iguanodon.

“Notice on the fossilized remains of the soft parts ef Mollusca.”
By Gideon Algernon Mantell, LL.D., F.R.S., &e.

Substances presenting the same general appearance and. composi-
tion with coprolites, but destitute of the spiral structure, are thickly
interspersed among the shells which abound in the rocks of firestone
or upper greensand at Southborne in Sussex, sometimes occurring
in the state of casts of shells of the genera Cucullea, Venus, Trochus,
Rostellaria, &c., from the soft bodies of which testacea Dr. Mantell
considers them to have originated. -They abound also in the layers
of firestone which form the line of junction with the gault, and are
not uncommon in the.gault itself in several localities in Surrey and
Kent.

Dr. Fitton, in:his memoir,‘ On the Strata below the Chalk’
(Geol. Trans. vol. iv. part 2. p.11), has given an account of similar
concretions from. Folkstone; where he observed them in some cases
surrounding or incorporated with fossil remains, and filling the in-
terior of Ammonites. Dr. Mantell bas observed, them also, in the
Shanklin sand in Western Sussex, in Surrey, near, Ventnor in the
Isle of Wight, and in Kent, and they especially abound in the Igua-
nodon quarry of Kentish rag near Maidstone, belonging to Mr. W.
H. Bensted. [RBS
'Mr. Bensted having long paid attention. to. this subject, more
than two years -ago. submitted to Dr. Mantell specimens of fossil
shells, the cavities of which were filled with a dark brown substance
im every respect identical with the nodular and irregular concretions
of coprolitic matter which abound in the surrounding sandstone.
Mr. Bensted expressed his belief that the carbonaceous substance
was derived from the soft bodies of the Mollusca, and that the con-
bp 2

36

cretionary and amorphous portions of the same matter dispersed
throughout the sandstone of this bed, were masses of the fossilized
bodies ‘of the animals which had become disengaged from their shells,
and had floated in the sea till enveloped in the sand and mud, which
is now concreted to the coarse sandstone called Kentish Rag. In
proof of this opinion reference is made to an account published in
the ‘ American Journal of Science’ for 1837, of the effects of an epi-
demic among the shell-fish of the Ohio, which, killing the animals,
their decomposed bodies rose to the surface of the water, leaving the
shells in the bed of the stream, and floating away covered the banks
of the river... Mr. Bensted points out that nearly the whole of the
shells in the Kentish rag of his quarry appear to have been dead
shells, and infers that their death might have been owing to a similar
cause with that which destroyed the Uniones in America; while their
bodies intermingling with the drift wood on a sand-bank furnished
the concretions described in this communication.

The Rev. J. B. Reade submitted some of the substance of these
bodies to an analysis by Mr. Rigg, who confirmed Dr. Mantell’s
suspicion of the presence of animal carbon in it, and states that the
darker portion of the substance contains about 35 per cent. of its
weight of carbon in an organized state.

Dr. Mantell adds, that a microscopical examination with a low
power detects innumerable portions of the periosteum and nacreous
laminz of the shells of extreme thinness intermingled with the car-
bonaceous matter, together with numerous siliceous spicule of
sponges, very minute spines of Hchinodermata, and fragments of
Polyparia, and remarks that these extraneous bodies probably became
intermingled among the soft animal mass before the latter had un-
dergone decomposition. He proposes to term the substance Mol-
luskite, and states that it constitutes the dark spots and pasar cn in
the Sussex and Purbeck marbles.

«On the Geological position of the Mastodon giganteum and as-
sociated fossil remains at Bigbone Lick, Kentucky, and other local-
ities in the United States and Canada.” By Charles Lyell, Esq.,
V. P.G.S.

With a view to ascertain the relations of the soil in which the
bones of the Mastodon are found, to the drift or boulder formation,
whether any ‘important geographical or gevlogical changes had
taken place since they were imbedded, and what species of shells are
associated with them, Mr. Lyell visited a number of places where
they had been obtained. In this paper a gives the result of his
Tesearches.

“The most celebrated locality visited was Bigbone laiele, in the
northern part of Kentucky, distant about 25 miles to the S.W. of
Cincinnati, situated on a small tributary of the river Ohio ealled
Bigbone Creek, which winds for about 7 miles below the Lick before
joming the Ohio. A’<* Lick” is a place where saline springs break
out, generally amony marshes and bogs, to which deer, buffaloes, and
other wild animals resort to drink the brackish water and lick the salt

\

37

in summer. “lhe country around Bigbone Lick, and for a consider-
able distance on both banks of the Ohio, above and below it, is
composed of blue argillaceous limestone and marl; constituting one of
the oldest members of the transition or Silurian system. The strata
are nearly horizontal and form flat table-lands mtersected by nume-
rous valleys in which alluvial gravel and silt occur ;. but there is no
covering of drift in this region. The drift is abundant in the north-
ern parts of Ohio and Indiana, but disappears almost entirely before
we reach the Ohio.

Until lately ‘herds of buffaloes ‘were in the habit of frequenting
the springs, and the paths made by them are still to be seen. Num-
bers of these animals have been mired in the bogs, and horses and
cows have perished in like manner. Along with their remains are
found innumerable bones of Mastodon, Elephant, and other extinct
quadrupeds, which must have visited these springs when the valley
was in its present geographical condition in almost every particular,
and which must have been mired in them as existing quadrupeds are
at present. The mastodon remains are most numerous and belong
to individuals of all ages. ‘The mud is very deep, black, and soft.
In places it is seen to rest upon the limestone, and at some points
it swells up to the height of several feet above the general level
of the plain and of the river. It is occasionally covered by a
deposit of yellow clay or loam, resembling the silt of the Ohio,
which is from 10 to 20 feet thick, risimg to that height above the
creek and often terminating abruptly at its edges. This loam has
all the appearance of having been deposited tranquilly on the sur-
face of the morass and of having afterwards suffered denudation.
The Mastodon and other quadrupeds have been mired before the de-
position of the incumbent silt, for a considerable number of fossil
bones have been found by digging through it. Accompanying the
bones are freshwater and land shells, most of which have been iden-
tified by Mr. Anthony with species now existing in the same region.

Mr. Lyell observes that the surface of the bog is extremely uneven,
and accounts for it partly by the unequal distribution of the incum-
bent alluvium which presses with a heavy weight on certain parts of
the morass, from which other portions of the surface are entirely free.
He also attributes it in part to the swelling of the bog where it is
fuily saturated with water near the springs.

The author is of opinion that the fossil remains of Bigbone Lick
are much more modern’ than the deposition of the drift, which
is not present inthis district. But although the date of the im-
bedding of these: mammalian fossil remains is so extremely mo-
dern, considered geologically, it is impossible to say how many
thousand years may not have elapsed since the Mastodon ‘and other
_ lost species became extinct. They have been found at the depth of
several feet from the surface, but we have no data for estimating the
rate at which the boggy ground has increased in height, nor do we
know how often during floods its upper portion has been swept away.

Ohio.—The Ohio river immediately above and below Cincinnati
is bounded on its right bank by two terraces consisting of sand, gra-

38

veljand loam, the lower terrace consisting» of beds supposed to be
much newer than those of the upper. - In the gravelly beds of the
higher terrace teeth both of the Mastodon and elephant have been
met with. Mr. Lyell was assured that a boulder of gneiss, 12 feet in
- diameter, was found resting on the upper terrace, about 4 miles north
of Cincinnati, and that some fragments of granite had been found in
a similar situation at Cincinnati itself. These facts show that some
large erratics have taken up their present position since )the older al-
luvium of the Ohio valley was deposited. In travelling northwards
from Cincinnati towards Cleveland, Mr. Lyell found the ‘northern
drift commence in partial patches 25 miles from the former city and
about 5. miles N.E. of Lebanon, after which it eonannally increased
in thickness as he proceeded towards Lake Erie. |.

New York—Niagara Falls.—In a tormer paper Mr. Lyell alluded
to the position of the remains of Mastodon, 12 feet. deep, in a fresh-
water formation on the right bank of the river Niagara at the Falls.
He remarks that if we had not'been able to prove that the cataract
had receded nearly four miles since the origin of the fluviatile strata
in question, we should have been unable to assign any considerable
duration of timeas having intervened between the inhumation of the
Mastodon in marl full of existing shells and:the present period. The
general covering of drift between Lakes Erie and Ontario is consi-
dered to be of much higher antiquity than the gravel containing the
bones of the Mastodon at the Falls.

Rochester.—In the suburbs of this city remains of the Mastodon
giganteum were found associated with existing species of Mollastea
im gravel and marl below peat.

Genesee.—Here remains of the Mastodon Baca abiy were found
with existing shells in a small swamp in a cavity of the boulder for-
mation, so that the animal must. have sunk after the period of the
drift when a shallow pond fed by springs was inhabited by the same
species of freshwater mollusca;:as now live on the spot.

Albany and Greene Counties. —Mr. Lyell examined, in company with
Mr. Hall, two swamps west of the Hudson River, where the remains
of Mastodon occurred in both places at a depth of’ four or five feet,
precisely in such situations as would yield shell marl, and_peat,
with remains of existing animals in Scotland. Cattle have recently
been mired in these swamps.

‘According to Mr. Hall the pacateat elevation at which Mastodon
bones have been found in the United States is at the town of Hins-
dale, situated on a tributary of the river; Allegany in Cattaraugus
county in the State of New York, where they occur at an elevation
of 1500 feet above the level of the:sea;

Maryland.—In the museum, at Baltimore, Mr. Lyell was shown
the grinder: of a Mastodon, distinct from. M.giganteum, and which
had. “been recognised and: labelled by Mr, Charlesworth as M. lon-
girostris, Kaup. It was found at the depth of 15 feet from the sur-
face in a bed of marl near,Greensburgh, in Carolina County, Mary-
land, and is considered by Mr. Lyell asa -miocene fossil.

Atlantic border.—Between the Appalachian mountains and the

39

Atlantic there is a wide extent of nearly horizontal tertiary strata,
which at the#base of the mountains are 500 feet and upwards in
height, but decline in level nearer the ocean and at length give place to
sandy plains and low islands skirting the coast, in which strata con-
taining marine shells of recent species are met with, slightly eleva-
ted above the sea. Occasionally deposits formed in freshwater
swamps occur, below the mean level of the Atlantic or over-
flowed at high tide. In this district Mr. Nuttall discovered, on the
Neuse 15 miles below Newburn, in South Carolina, a large assemblage
of mammalian bones, including those of the Mastodon giganteum, rest-
ing on a deposit containing marine shells of recent species. Mr.
Conrad presented Mr. Lyell with the tooth of a horse covered with
barnacles, from this locality. Professor Owen has examined it and
could find no corresponding tooth of a recent species, but considers
it as agreeing with the horse-tooth brought by Mr. Darwin from the
north side of the Plata in Entre Rios in South America.

South Carolina.—Remains of the Mastodon were found in dig-
ging the Santee Canal, in a spot where large quadrupeds might now
sink into the soft boggy ground.

Georgia.—Bones of the Mastodon and Megatherium occur in
this district in swamps formed upon a marine sand containing shells
of species now inhabiting the neighbouring sea.

Mr. Lyell in conclusion offers the following observations :—

1. That the extinct animals of Bigbone Lick and those of the At-
lantic border in the Carohnas and in Georgia belong to the same
group, the identical species of Mastodon and elephant being in both
cases associated with the horse, and while we have the Mylodon and
Megatherium in Georgia, the Megalonyx is stated by several authors
to have been found at Bigbone Lick.

2. On both sides of the Appalachian chain, the fossil shells,
whether land or freshwater, accompanying the bones of Mastodons,
agree with species of Mollusca now inhabiting the same regions.

3. Under similar circumstances Mr. Darwin found the Mastodon
and horse in Entre Rios, near the Plata, and the Megatherium, Me-
galonyx and Mylodon, together with the horse, in Bahia Blanca in
Patagonia; these South American remains being shown by their
geological position to be of later date than certain marine Newer
Pliocene, and Post-pliocene strata. Mr. Darwin also ascertained
that some extinct animals of the same group are more modern in
Patagonia than the drift with erratics.

4. The extinct quadrupeds before alluded to in the United States
_ lived after the deposition of the northern drift, and consequently the
coldness of climate which probably coincided in date with the trans-
portation of the drift, was not as some pretend. the cause of their
extinction.

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a a a iy i

PROCEEDINGS
re OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Vou. IV. Parr J. - 1843, No. 93.

AT THE
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING,
17th of February, 1843.

Tue following Report from the Council was read :—

In presenting their Annual Report on the state of the Society, the
Council have to notice as one of the most gratifying occurrences of
the past year, the addition of His Majesty the King of Prussia to
the number of royal personages Members of the Society. The gra-
cious manner in which His Majesty condescended to take his place
as a Member of this Society, was noticed by our President in his
Address at the last Anniversary.

In calling attention to the present state of the Society, the Coun-
cil have the satisfaction of being able to announce a continued in-
crease in the number of its Fellows. At the end of 1841 there were
784 Fellows, 28 Honorary Members, 50 Foreign Members, and 3
Personages of Royal Blood, making a total of 865. During the year
1842, 26 new Fellows were elected and admitted, and 3 Fellows were
admitted who had }een elected in former years, making, with the ad-
_ mission of His Majesty the King of Prussia, a total addition of 30

new Fellows. On the other hand, there have been 17 deaths, 7 re-
signations, and 1 removal, besides 1 Honorary Member and 1 Foreign
Member deceased, making a loss of 27, to be deducted from the in-
crease of 30, leaving a total increase of 3.

The income of the Society during the year 1842 has exceeded
the expenditure by the sum of £297 3s. 5d., but in the year’s expen-
diture a considerable portion of the cost of the Second Part of Vol.
VI. of the Transactions, amounting to £558 4s., has not been in-
cluded.

In consequence of the great expense attending the publication of
the last Volume of the Transactions, the Council have deemed
it expedient to delay funding the compositions of the three Fellows
who compounded during the year 1842; the value of the funded
property of the Society has therefore only increased by the varia-

VOL. IV. PART i E

42

tion in the price of stock from £2410 (the calculated value last
year) to £2544. The number of existing compounders at the close
of 1842 was 118, and thé‘amouht of ‘compokitions received from them
in lieu of Annual Contributions was £3717, making a difference of
only £1173 between the amount received from existing compounders
and the value of the funded property.

_ The Cotincil! have’ further! to\ anhounee) that the! Second’ Part of
Vol. II. of the Transactions has been published during the past year,
and that the Third Vol.-of the Proceedings has-been completed.
The Index to the latter is printed, and will be ready: for Eee
in a few days.

It is with much regret that the Council have to announce » the re-
tirement of Mr. Lonsdale, whohas been compelled during the last year,
by the state of his health, to resign his office of Curator to the So-
ciety. It is unnecessary for the Council here to enlarge on the se-
rious loss which’ the Society has inéurred by ‘this évent, “put they are
unwilling to forgo this opportunity of testifying the high opinion
they entertain of his valuable services’ and great scientific merits.
In recording the election of his successor, the Council cannot omit
to congratulate the Society on having secured the services of such a
distinguished Naturalist as Mr. E. Forbes.

‘In consequence of events which occurred during the last year, the
Council have found it necessary to change their Collector of Annual
Contributions, and have to announce that. Mr, H.T. Woodfall has
been appointed inthe room of Mr. J. W. Hamond.

The Council have resolved that a Wollaston Gold, Medal he: pre-
sented to M. Pierre Armand, Dufrénoy, Inspector of the School of
Mines, and another to M. Elie de Beaumont, Professor of Natural
History in the Cellege of France,. both Members of the Institute,
and Foreign Associates of the Society, for their contributions to the
ad vaneement of Geological: Science, more especially, for their joint
w ork, the Geological Map of France, and the Memoirs that accom-
pany it; and that the sum of £1120s.11d,, the balance of the Annual
Beneneds of the Fund, ;be granted. to Mr. ‘Mor ris, to assist him in:his
intended publication oli tabular. view of Hoitish(Onganie Remains.

_ Report of iit atte’ 1848) eer
alt has evri the duty of hai Museum, Committees to reaitent to
the Council on the additions .and general progress in arrange-
ment, which may have been made in the; Society’s collections during
the intervals between.'the Annual: General, Meetings; | but these
duties have'in the present instance been somewhat-lightened, owing
to. the limited. time which elapsed) between the unusually, full exa+
mination made by your last Committee and Mr. Lonsdale’s retirement;
since which the Museum has remained; with the following exception s,
in. the state,in which the energy, zea and admirable method of your
late ‘Curator’ placed it.

The Minute of the Council of ce 6th of, December, 1841, hes

been partly carried into effect : four boxes of:sock specimens from

he

43

Mexico, Bolivia, Peri and Chili; and three boxes'of British granitic
and: trappean, rocks» have been arranged, whereby 40) additional
drawers have been gained for the fossil collection; we recommend
that Mr. Woodward should continue’to carry out this arrangement,
and that the Australian collection be removed from the Cal paete; that
the fossil be separated from the rock specimens, and the former
placed in the Foreign Museum.

Owing to the size of the boxes in which these rock specimens have
been placed, and the nature and close arrangement of their contents,
their weight is very great: your Committee : acre of opinion that some
caution will be requisite as to the. position in which all'such boxes
should be placed ; and that four, which now occupy the centre of
the floor of the upper Museum, should be immediately removed, as
that portion of the building is evidently not calculated to carry them.

The donations made to the Society’s collection during the past
year have been fewer than usual; under a suggestion made by Mr.
Lonsdale, an account of the fossil shells so presented has been given
in the last Numbers of the Society’s Proceedings; all the specimens
there recorded have been incorporated with the general collection :
of these is an interesting suite of shells from the faluns of Touraine
(in which the collection was deficient), presented by Mr. Lyell.

As the present Report is the first which the Council will receive
from a Museum Committee since the retirement of an officer under
whose direction the Museum had continued for so many years, we
feel that we should be greatly remiss did we not call attention to the
very important nature of your late Curator’s arrangements in this
particular department.

During Mr. Lonsdale’s: connexion with this Society the bearing
of fossil organic remains on many points of geological inquiry was
of a kind which imparted to them a new value, and gave a, perfectly
different character to many of its investigations ; it was towards this,
and especially in the vast subject of fossil conchology, that he ren-
dered most valuable services to this Society : in reporting, for the
first time, on the general result of these labours, we confidently state
that the assistance which the Museum collection can offer to those
who may consult it, cannot be too highly estimated ; by such it will
be found that, our cabinets contain an enormous number of species
accurately determined, and that whenever the means at his disposal
would admit, he has not only presented them under various aspects,
but exhibited their geographical distribution, together with those
variations which result from age and local conditions.

(

EQ

44

The following table represents with tolerable accuracy the rela-
tive and gross numbers of named species contained ip the Society’s

collection :—

ne, iv 3
a a nm
a 3 :
2! 3/4 3 3 S :
leelg) 21 2 gig 3
A |S|al<q| oO = |0| A lm &
Wiages..c-ceseer OMAR E A AEE Se ae ate 400*
Upper freshwater formation . Eietelaleallee 1 11 12
Upper marine formation......| ... |...J..)...) 2 12 - - 14f
Lower freshwater formation .| 1 ]...)...|...) 6 11 Wie. ad
London clay ......2-.2ssessesee sar lecateon| 2|. 40:91 100 LelesshgiSin wl) 1 Loos
Chalk and chalk marl......... ... | 8/18} 5} 2146) 5410) 1/15-+1)...| 89
| Upper green sand ...........- 12) °1)7'8) $9}! 23 10 8. NOESY 45
Gault ......05. by Jen cboed lias. ws} 1} 1} 1) 16 37 Alea 9}; 61
Lower green Sand. ss...--++0+ 1j...| 2) 47 TOMA ceeligees 60
Green sand, black i teréatois 1}...| 2} 39 V4 auricle, Peele OS
Weald Clay ......-.cseccessesees Ponies es laa pO sy Marah | Rape ae pore 9 3
Hastings sand .....2....2-++0: nelle 11 dis isileate ieee
Purbeck stone .............0.002 Eeetalackilbele lS 5 Bi 2G] SMO,
Portland oolite..........sseesees SEA) 3) TP ELS Oley eE aan | 24
SANG a ose. teelllosotes Feel berocah det Le} 4 bee dleeat zy 18
Kimmeridge clay............++- Sev (teleet eh 3 BA ee she iuilee 8
(Choral JR pecagsdoondaadescandde sco) |} ZI Hip Ble Bz 10)» |eall|wse. 42
Calcareous grit ..........e.ee Hoe mese 2) dipediy) 3). |paolh cos 29
Oxford clay .........cssce.ecee GH ee eb? Dm ERGLGII 18
Kelloway rock..........ccceeees de) lsdileeatect 5 Silk ‘By 8
Cormbrasiy cos. .assccnasasceeee SE A NP a} 2. lech pastes 31
Forest marble ...............00+ 2) 1) 1 6 Daler oe 11
Bradford clay ............ss000. 3) 3] 3} 9 padi sal ecié 14
Great Oolite ¥.....2...ececeeee ees ..-| 6] 4) 29 8 |...) 7 | 2) 56
Fuller’s earth .........ce.ecee0s foal Bless] Se 2% IRR ERO 27
| Inferior polite. ../.....-cserseone ..-| 4| 6], 38 28y) |etelicees Head 6
PA UTNISINALE! settee nncs clone sistance asic agale 2 Ge lieicllgassctae be 8
Wiarl@StOMe” Secscssccstececentsces sale 14 Boece la accu leer bee
PERSIA ae Meaterecnsees Stale pates|a payed il Wey pis
Coal measures ..........0.00s00 120 }...)... 2 PLT DOG 2A!
Carboniferous limestone...... 10/14 38 23 WA 43 eee BOF
Upper Ludlow......... Seep si A) 3) 1) 26 iss |saeln/2. 5 aed
‘Aymestry limestone..........+. 6)... 11 £5 NS NO SSE a PPS
Lower Ludlow................-: illaleioe 11 24 | 3} 1 ' Al
Wenlock limestone............ 43]... 18 Tal) Get 30
— shal Gai. iidpaies «chefeh 6d meet lee. 24 5 Won. 36
Caradoc sandstone ..........+ Sop te Slece 48 Lies bid): sige 75
{Tinea flagstone ............ 6}... 13 AV) ces jes], 20

* Vide S. Wood’s Catalogue.
+ Many drawers not named.

+ Includes the Bagshot sand.
§ These should not be kept distinct.

45

In addition to these, the British collection also includes a large
number of specimens, to which no specific names are affixed: there
are notes attached to some of these, showing that Mr. Lonsdale has
ascertained them to be new and undescribed: in most instances the
localities are recorded. Your Committee have to recommend with
respect to this portion of the Society’s collection,—

First. That all the new species be described and named by Mr.
Forbes, and the account published in the Society’s Pro-
ceedings. cd

_ Second., Considering that the Museum, of this Society is the only
one which can be considered as fairly available to those engaged
in Geological inquiries, that a Catalogue should be published
of all the species named, and. arranged with reference to the
cabinets, and to the localities from whence procured ; asithey
feel confident that such a list will be of great use to members
of the Society and geologists generally, and tend much to
Jessen the difficulties and doubts which most must have expe-
rienced with respect to the identification of fossil species, of
which the descriptions are spread through numerous and
expensive works: separate portions of such a Catalogue could
be published from time to time.

Besides the reasons assigned above, the Society’s collection is
well fitted to be made one of general reference, owing to the great
eare which the late Curator'devoted to the determination of species,
as also from the results which may confidently be expected from
Mr. Forbes’s labours ; because it also contains many of the original
specimens from which the characters of species have been taken,
such as of some of those of Sowerby’s ‘ Mineral Conchology,’ and
also all those which are described and figured in Mr. Murchison’s
‘ Silurian System.’

Your Committee are aware that it may be objected to this sug-
gestion, that the Geological collection is very rarely consulted ; but
this, they are of opinion, arises mainly from a. disinclination to
undertake the trouble of an examination of so large a collection,
without some-guide as to what it contains. The cost and labour
of such a catalogue as we now recommend would be very trifling,
for which we feel assured that the Society would be amply com-
pensated: it is well known that many parts of the collection present
great deficiencies; the most certain way by which these may be
supplied, is by making known, indirectly, wherein they consist.

The state of the collection of foreign fossils contained in the
upper Museum is very unsatisfactory when compared with the
order and arrangement of the British suite; it is rich in interesting
specimens, which at present are wholly unconsultable. We there-
fore recommend that Mr. Forbes should be particularly requested
to direct his attention to this portion of the Museum.

The only remaining point upon which your Committee are aware
they have anything to which to direct the attention of the Council,
is to that of the duplicate specimens ; these have become exceedingly -

46

numerous ; your Committee recommend that. these should not be
allowed any longer to remain buried in the cellars.of the Society's
apartments, but should be carefully examined. and catalogued ; that

a; selection be made forthe Society, with ultimate reference to a
pie Thatien aswell, asa stratigraphieal, collection; and that the .
Curator be empowered to) effect, exchanges with the remainder, to
supply deficiencies in the Society's collection, either with the ma-
nagers of public institutions at, home or abroad, or even with private
persons.

The Library has been increased by the donation of about two
hundred volumes’and pamphlets: The Board of Ordnance continues
to’ present to the Society the maps of the Trigonometrical Survey
of Great Britain’ and of the Townland Survey of Ireland. The
charts published by the Admiralty and the Dépot Général de la
Marine of Paris, respectively, nave likewise been received.

eg bated byl ald Oi ur
H. T.. DE LA BECHE.
“ROBERT A.C. AUSTEN.

Comparative Statement of, the Number of the Sosiehs ait ‘thes close ak
the years 1841 and 1842.

_ Dec. 3i, 1841. Dec. 31, 1842,

Compoungers sap. tp. oa Al eee a Ble
RUE Weta lt: “gust FAS A 8 Jt doe
Non-residents... cle. wale '.. Mal ke eae
em: hae “788
Honorary Members .... 28 SANE IA OF hats.
Foreign Members ©... OO 4 rr, 4G
. Personages of Royal Blood Be Ae yt tee Ue Nt *
—— 5l _—— 80,

AT

General Statement explanatory of the alteration: in the Number of
Fellows, Honorary Members, &c. at the close of the years BG
and 1842.

Number of Fellows, Compounders, Contributors, and Non-

a

residents, 3lst December,/184) 0.0. .oc8 0000s 000 8. v. '784
Add, Fellows elected during former! Residents. . Wes osast=s
eats, and. es in be vi, 218 a residents Di ) tit
F allows élected during 1842, and Pacsinherftebi Byron)
NV OG EC Le gO NO Ne yD it Non-residents. 18 flo
di ytea} ane | 813°
Deduct, Compounders deceased .........- 020005 At Teg
Residents =e amin Reape A phe ac Sac biel tem 4:
Non-residents. ,, KhS SeKe RMee ee RKC Tl.
BECG MOCO Rt tan cece ce as vices cere Sper
PCM VEG, veg cea ate oe ee ake oer ie
> 3 : " : , er 95

Total number of Fellows, 31st Dec. 1842, as in last page 788

—_———

Number of Honorary Members, Foreign Members, and } " 8]
Personages of Royal Blood, 31st’ December, 1841.. wea be
- Add, Personage or Royal Blood elected... scan or, ey
82
Deduct, Honorary Member, deceased ..... AUS alban 1
- Foreign Meimber, deceased Seva ce itteE oe sa
' i . A ayy 2

Total as in last page.... » 80

Number of Fellows liable to ner Contr ibution at the close of 1842,
with the Alterations during. the Yeen,

“Maihber at thezcloseiof U84sleoi.2 4u5). ta yinaieus A to 251
Add, Elected in previous years and paid in EBOQo osu? ot
‘Elected during 1842 and paid... 2... y ee. aeftd OD! 8
Non-residents who became Residents........4. pe A,
Hl ipen Viok Jd bas 9,90 nel of IGA
Deduct, Deceased... 4... 00.6 00 eel Mee aver) 4asd2
Resigned .\:) . silse Lopes 2 mutha) alga Shae Alle

Compounded ofl .paihdisa, comnd sul Yan BI ann!

\ Become: Non:resident ov.cA sor} ealiaslies ai6e ons!
Removed: ..4 tedide ecw. Math «oa etdatoteoo veto di)

: et 2 ned donee es OL pecans @bhv

Total as in last page. igh 243°

48

Deceased Fellows :— yea
pi se C2) Sir William Alexander; Alexander Melville,

Esq.

Residents (4): Richard V. Barnewall, Esq.; Rev. E. T. Se
William Harrison, Esq.; Earl of Munster.

Non-residents (11): James O. Anstie, Esq.; Rev. T. Arnold, D-D. ;
Sir Charles Bell, K.C.H.; Francis Ellis, Esq. Thomas Edington,
Esq.; Alexander eeucton: Esq.; Armand "Levy, Esq.; Rev. J.
M’Enery ; David Pennant, Esq.; J. D. Phelps, Esq.; John Yel-
loly, M.D.

Honorary Member 1): Francis Lord Gray.

Foreign Member (1): Don J. B. de Andrada y Silva.

Fellow removed from ‘the Society (1): James Haliburton, Esq.

Personage of Royal Blood elected during 1842: His Majesty the
— of Prussia.

The following Persons were elected Fellows during the year 1842.

January 5th—Charles Tremenheere, Esq. of the Bombay Engi-
neers ; William Kennett Loftus, Esq. of Caius College, Cambridge;
and John Scandrett Harford, Esq. D.C.L., F.R.S., Blaise Castle,
Bristol.

February 2nd.—Captain William E. Delves Broughton, Royal En-
‘gineers, New Kingston, Surrey; and George O’Gorman, Esq.
Baker Street, Portman Square.

February 23rd.—Alexander Busby, Esq. Cassilis, Hunter's River,
New South Wales; and Hugh Falconer, Esq. A.M., M.D., Super-
intendant of the East India Company’s Polanic Garden at Saha-
runpore.

March 9th.— Benjamin Best, Esq. Corngreaves.

March 23rd.— William Wroughton Salmon, Esq. Devizes, Wiltshire;
Henry Stevens, Esq. Duffield, near Derby; Francis Downing,
Esq. of the Priory, Dudley ; aad Thomas W. Fletcher, Esq. F.R. 5»
P.S.A., Dudley.

April 6th .—Joseph Dickinson, Esq. Mining Engineer, Dowlais, in
the county of Glamorgan ; Colonel Alexander Fisher Macintosh,
K.H. of Antermoney, near Glasgow ; John Birkett, Esq., Demon-
strator of Anatomy at Guy’s H ospital ; and Josiah Rees; Esq. of
the Ordnance Geological Survey of Great Britain.

April 20th.—Alexander John Sutherland, M.D. Fludyer Street,
Westminster.

May 4th.—Arthur Marshall, Esq. PH diaeleaa near Leeds; William
Stutfield, Esq. Montague Place; and H. L. Pattinson, Esq. Ben-
sham Grove, Gateshead.

May 18th.—Joseph Colthurst, Esq. Parliament Street.

June 1st.—William Ghrimes Kell, Esq. Bedford Row.

June 29th.—Charles Turton Kaye, Esq. Beelyavell Park, Andovers-
ford, Gloucestershire.

November 16th,—Albert Hambrough, Esq. Steep Hill Castle, Isle
of Wight.

49
November 30th..—William Baker, Esq. Bridgewater; Andrew Roos-
malecoeq, Esq. of King’s College; Dr. Lyon Playfair, Primrose,
near Blackburn, Lancashire ; and James Buckman, Esq. Pittville
Street, Cheltenham.
December 14th. —John Samuel Dawes, Esq. Westbromwich, Staf-

fordshire; and Rev. Robert Wallace, 2 Cavendish Place, Man-
chester.

The following Donations to the Museum have been received
since the last Anniversary :—

British and Irish Specimens.

Fossils from, the Kelloway Rock of Wiltshire, and Inferior Oolite of
Burton, near Bridport, and. Vertebra. of Ptychodus from the Chalk
near Maidstone; presented by E. H. Bunbury, Esq. Sec. G.S.. .

Ammonites falcifer, Hildensis and annulatus from the Alum Shale,
and Pecten equivalvis from the Marlstone of minster, Somerset ;
presented by Charles Moore, Esq.

Casts of Crinoideans and Trilobites from Dudley ; presented by John
Gray, Esq. of Dudley.

Remains of Crustaceans from the Lias of Lyme Regis, and a Litho-
dendron from the Carboniferous Limestone on the shores of
Lough Gill, County Sligo; presented by the Earl of Enniskillen,
F.G.S.

Group of three Basaltic Columns from the Giant's Causeway ; pre-
sented by John Wiggins, Esq. F.G.S.

Fossils from the Chalk, Upper Greensand and Oxford Clay of Wilts ;
the Greensand of Faringdon, Berks; the Great Oolite of Min-
chinhampton ; and the Carboniferous Limestone of Whatley, near
Frome, Somerset ; presented by Miss Benett of Norton House.

Graptolites from the County of Fermanagh, Iveland ; pies by
Captain Portlock, R.E., F.G.S.

Crystals of Greenockite from near Bishopton, Renfrewshire; pre-
sented by Lieut.-Gen. Lord Greenock, F.G.S.

Fossils from the Carboniferous Limestone of Ireland ; presented by
W. J. Henwood, Esq. F.G.S.

Series of Rocks from Jersey ; presented by H.C. White, Esq. F.G.S.

Fossils from the Inferior Oolite of Leckhampton Hill, near Chelten-
ham, and a Specimen of Stromatopora concentrica from the Wen-
lock Limestone ; presented by W. V. Guise, Esq. F.G.S.

Cast of Asaphus Buchii from Snowdon ; ; presented by G. W. Or-
merod, Esq. F.G.S. _

Ammonites sublevis and Callovicensis from the Kelloway Rock of
Christian Malford, Wilts; presented by Thomas Weaver, Esq.
F.G.S.

Fossils from the Great Oolite near Bath; presented by W. Walton,
Esq.

Specimens of the Ludlow “ Bone-bed” from beneath the Downton

50
- Castle HoniMlingsstone;| oe nob ater Je ES Lis - ov!

Lewis.)

Fossils from the Inferior Oolite | near Gieand presented by R.
B. Grantham, Esq. F.G.S.

Goniatites Gebsoni trom. the Carboniferous ‘Shales aft the Vale of

. Todmorden; presented by Mr. S: Gibson of Hebden Bridge:

Devonian Fossils from Whitesand Bay near Plymouth; presented
by the Rev. W. S. Hore, F.G.S.

Clay containing small bones from a superficial deposit near Duffield ;
presented by H. Stevens, Esq. F.G.S.

Crioceratite°from: the’ Kelloway Rock, and’ other Fossils from the
Oxford Clay near Chippenham ; presented by Mrs. Lowe: ©
Caryophyllia centralis and Terebratula plicatilis from the Norwich

Chalk ; presented by Mr. T. G. Bayfield. 3

Valvata antiqua and Unio Pictorum fromthe Pleistocene deposit
at Grays, Essex ; presented by Edward Stock, Esq: of Poplar.

Fossils from the Carboniferous Limestone and Silurian Rocks in the
Legh ani of Kendal; presented by Daniel Sharpe, Esq.
E.G.S.

aps Buchit from the Llandeilo Flags and Potites from the
7 Wenlock Limestone; presented by William: Day, ‘sips of Shrews-
bur

Land ad Freshwater Shells from the Pleistocene deposit at Copfora

‘near Colchester ; presented by John Brown, Esq. F.G.S:

Remains of Insects and other Fossils from the’ Lower Lias ‘near
Cheltenham ; presented by the Rev. P. B. Brodie, F.G.S.

Specimens of Producta gigantea from the Carboniferous Limestotre
near Hexham ; presented by Gilpin Gorst, Esq. F.G.S.

Specimens of Voluta Lima from Hordwell; ‘Orthis canalis and Cy-
clolites from the Wenlock Shale; and casts of vertebree of Strep-_

: -tospondylus Cuviert from the Lias of Whitby, and two ungual
phalanges of Iguanodon from the Wealden formation at Beebe
presented by Mr. James Tennant, F.G.S.

Schist with tortuous impression from Killarney, and Galéaredus
‘Earth from Lough Derg; presented by Joseph Parker, Jun., Esq.
E.G.S.

Graptolites and Rock Specimens from Scotland; presented by the
eae of SEES F.G.S8.

Foreign Specimens.

Specimens. from the Islands of the Southern. Pacific petinet ‘Baster
island and) New,Caledonia; presented by Wi H. Cunningham)
Es

fee collected at Bermuda by Vice- haere Sir Charles Adaib,
and Specimens from the Falkland Islands; presented by Captain
’ Beaufort, R.N. Hon. Mem. G.S., by direction of the Lords of the
Admiralty.

Graptolites from the neighbourhood af eae presenigd by
_G. W. Norman, Esq. F.G.S8.

51

Fossils from the Lias at Fontaine Hiosee 8 near Caen ; ase
by; Ashurst Majendie, Esq. F.G.S.\...05)

Shells of recent Species from the nipratced beds at Usidergallay spe-

cimen of Nautilus plicatus frony Trouville, and Fossils from Les.
Moutiers, near Caen; presented by, BH. H. Bunbury; Esq. See.G.8.

Fossil Corals from Paros; presented by Captain Graves, R.N.

Fossils from South Australia; presented by Lieut.-Col. Gawler.

Casts from Specimens of ‘Sandstone ‘discovered at Bajntz in Tran-
‘sylvania,;and of sthe Footsteps of Testudo Mydas ;) presented by
‘the Rev: Prof: Buckland; D.D., F.G:S. |

Specimens of two Species of Ctania: from the Chalk of the cal § :
presented by the Rev. W. Bilton, F.G.S.

Specimens of Anthracite and Bituminous Coal, Iron, Coiper and
Lead Ores, Fluviatile Shells, &e. from Pennsylvania and Cuba ;
presented by R. Ci Taylor, Esq. F.G.S.

A Fragment from‘one of the Columns of'the Temple at Puzzuoli,

path Specimens of Lithodom, Fossils, &e. from saeel- ; aeeciue
by Sir Woodbine Parish, K.C.H., F-G.S.

Slab: of Limestone with Oithoceras from’ Lake Champlain, United
/ States; presented by Captain Nelson, R.E. -

Fossils from‘the Western. part of Ohio; presented by John Locke,
‘> Esq. of Cincinnati.

Sand- tubes formed by Lightning, from South America; presented
by Charles Darwin, EsqeF.G.S. y ©

Recent Freshwater and Land Shells from Chiisans presented by
Dr. Cantor of Caleutta. > 26911

A Series’ of\- ‘Specimens of . Obsidian ; presented by Capt! J. Vetch,
R.BS FIGS. 0°

Specimen of Paleonisas Brongniarti (Milne Edwards) frat the
Tertiary of Le Puy, Auvergne; presented by the Profs. Admini-
strateurs of the Jardin du Roi.

eta from North America’s presented by Charles Stokes, Esq.
‘E.G.S.

Speeinen: found ‘on ‘the Sandbanks of the rivers Essequibo and Ta-

‘kutu ; presented by R. H. Schomburgk; Esq.

Spirifer from the Kupfer Schiefer of Mansfield ; ee by ue
Earl of Enniskillen, F.G.S.

Specimens from the Falkland Islands 3 presented by Capt. Beaufort
R.N.; Hon. Mem. G.S.

@dllvetion of Rock-specimens, Minerals, ‘and. Fossils, from the Gre-
taceous Deposits, and Carboniferous and Paleozoic Strata. of
Ohio: also specimens of recent Unios and Lepidosteus osseus from

the Wabash River ; presented by Dr. Dale Owen of New Harmony.

Infusorian earth and bricks made ‘of the same material from Berlin ;
presented by A. Krantz, Esq.

Collection of eee Minerals and Fossils, from the Coast of China,
\ California, &e.; presented by Capt. Edw. Belcher, R.N., F.G.S.
Palieozoie Fossils from the banks of a Rivulet near St. Petetsburg ;
» presented by Sir John:Lubbock.

Fossils from America; presented by the Earl of Selkirk, F.G:8.

52

MiscELLANEOUS.
Cone of Encephalartos horridus; presented by the Horticultural
Society.
Model of Mount Etna by M. Elie de Beaumont; presented by M.
Elie de Beaumont, For. Mem. G.S.

Cuarts anp Maps. 1450)

Sheets Nos. 80, 81 and 90,.of the Ordnance Map, in continuation
of the Trigonometrical Survey of Great Britain ; presented by
the Master-General and Board of Ordnance.

_ Ordnance Townland Survey of the Counties of Kilkenny, 49 sheets ;
and of Clare, 77 sheets; presented by Col. Colby, by direction of
the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

The Charts, &c. published by direction of the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty during the year 1841; presented by Capt.
Beaufort, R.N., by direction of the Right Honourable the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty.

Pilote Frangaise, 5*™° partie; Carte de l’Entrée de la Mer Rouge;
Cartes des Cotes d’Arabie et de Perse ; Carte des Cotes de l’Hin-

.doustan ; Carte du Golfe du Bengale; Carte de la Partie du
Grand Archipel d’Asie; Carte des Hes Philippines Célébes et
Moluques; Carte des Cotes Orientales des Chine; and Carte des
Mers Australes; presented by the Director- General of the Depot
for the Marine of France.

Map of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, coloured geologically by M.
Leopold Von Buch; presented by R.1. Murchison, Esq. Pres.G.S.

Geological Map of Denmark, in 2 sheets, by Dr. George Forchham-
mer; presented by Dr. Forchhammer, For. Mem. G.S.

Sections XVIII. and XIX. of the Geological Map of Saxony ; pre-
sented by the Council of Mines of Freyberg.

A Coloured Map of Switzerland, by M. G. Bauerkeller, and one in
relief; a Coloured Map of the Mont Blane, by M. J. Dubois,
and one in relief ; presented by M. G. Bauerkeller.

Gardner's Geological: Map of England and Wales (second edition);
presented by Mr. J. Gardner.

The Diametric Section of the Principles and Theories of cakes,
by Charles Moxon; presented by Mr. C. Moxon.

Impressions of 4: Plates of Trilobites and Crinoidea from specimens
in the Cabinet of John Evans, Esq., of Worcester; presented’ by
John Evans, Esq.

Grundplan und Langenprofil des Kanales von der Donan zum Ma-
rine. Entworfen von dem K. B. Oberbaurathe Freyherrn von
Pechmann, in 4 sheets; presented by the Royal Commission of
Public Works of Bavaria.

Four Lithographic Impressions of a Fossil Jaw, found in the Black
band Ironstone at Cleland, Lanarkshire ; presented by Lieut. -Gen.
Lord Greenack, F.G.S.

Puits Artésien del’ Abattoir Grenelle; presented by R. Hutton, Esq.
E.GiSi x

3

The following List contains the Names of all the Persons and
Public Bodies from whom Donations to the Library and Museum
were received during the past year.

Academy of Sciences of Paris.
Admiralty, The Right Hon. the
Lords Commissioners of the.

Agassiz, Prof. L., For. Mem.
G.S.

American Philosophical Society
held at Philadelphia.
Athenzeum, Editor of.

Bauerkeller, M. G.

Bayfield, Mr. T. G.

Beaufort, Capt. R.N., Hon. Mem.
G.S

Belcher, Capt. R.N., F.G.S.
Benett, Miss.
Bilton, Rev. W., F.G.S.
Birmingham Philosophical Insti-
tution.
Boston Society of Natural Hi-
story.
Bouchard-Chantereaux, M.
Bowerbank, J. S., Esq., F.G.S.
British Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science.
Brodie, Rev. P. B., F.G.S.
Brongniart, Prof. A, For. Mem.
G.S.

Brown, John, Esq., F.G.S.
Buckland, Rev. Prof.,D.D.,F.G.S.
Bunbury, E. H., Esq., Secs G.S.
Busk, G. Esq.

Cambridge
ciety.
Cantor, Dr.
Charpentier, M. Jean de.

Cooper, D., Esq.

Craig, John, Esq.

Crane, G., Esq., F.G.S.
Cunningham, W. C., Esq.

Philosophical’ So-

Darwin, Charles, Esq., F.G.S.
Daubeny, Prof., M.D., F.G.S.
Day, W., Esq.

De Koninck, M. L.

/

Depot Général de la Marine de
France.

Des Moulins, M. Chas.

Desor, M. E.

De Tchihatchoff, M. Pierre.

D’Hombres-Firmas, M. le Ba-
ron.

D’Orbigny, M. Alcide.

Dumont, Prof. A. H., For. Mem.
G.S.

East India Company.

Egyptian Society.

Elie de Beaumont, M. L., For.
Mem. G.S.

Enniskillen, Earl of, F.G.S.

Evans, John, Esq.

Ewing, W. C., Esq.

Fischer de Waldheim, M.G., For.
Mem. G.S.

Fitton, W. H., M.D., V.P.G.S.

Forbes, E., Prof.

Forchhammer, Dr. George, For.
Mem. G.S.

Franklin, Sir J., F.G.S.

Freyberg, Council cf Mines of.

Gardner, Mr. J.

Gawler, Lieut.-Col.

Geneva, Natural History Society
of.

Geological Society of France.

Gibson, W. S., Esq., F.G.S.

Godeffroy, M. Ch.

Gorst, Gilpin, Esq., F.G.S.

Grantham, R. B., Esq., F.G.S.

Grateloup, Dr.

Gray, J., Esq.

Gray, J. E., Esq., F.G.S.

Graves, Capt. R.N.

Green, Charles, Esq.

Greenock, Lieut.-Gen. Lord,
F.G.S.

Guise, W, V. Esq., F.G.S,

ba

Hall, J., Esq.

Hamilton, We, Ji. : Est ove MPa

_ See. G.S.

Hausmann, Prof. ip ibe ais “For..
Mem. G.S

Henwood, W. J. Esqs 8-G.S.

Hopkins, W., Bege F.G.S,

Hore, Rev. W. S., E.G.S.

Horticultural Society. :

Hoskins, S. E.,.M.D.

Hunt, Robert, “Esq.

Hutton, Ronen. Esq., F.G.S.

Treland, The. Lord Lieut. of,

Jardin du Roi, ep tece oie Ad-
ministrateurs of the.

Johnston, Prof. J. F..W., £.G,S.

Jukes, J. B., Esq. F.G.S.

Krantz, A., Esq,

Lance, E. J., Esq.

Lea, Isaac, Esq.

Lewis, Rev. T.

Leymerie, M. Alexander.

Liebig, Professor Justus, M,D.

Linnean Society of London.

Literary Fund Society.

Literary and Philosophical So-
ciety of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. |

Locke, J., Esq.

~ London ‘Alles va Society.

London Library.

Lowe, Mrs. ..

Lubbock, Sir, John.

Lyell, Charles, Esq., V-P. G.S.

Majendie, YA. Esq. F .G.S.

Martins; Charles, M.D.

Michelotti, Sig. Giovanni. ,

Moore, C., Esq..,

Morton, S. G., M.D...

Moscow, Imperial Society of,

Moxon, Charles, Esq.

Munster, Count, For. Mem. G. S.

Murchison, Roderick, Impey,
Esq., Pres. G.S.

Museum Histoire Naturelle de
Paris.

Hd

Nattali, Mir. M. A.
, Natural History, Sheistyt oft Bie or-

thumberland... ida
"Nelson, Capt. R. Ei avionat §
Newbold, Lieut. T.
Newman,, Edward, Esqiniy 99!
Norman, G. W: sg plan Bob
Nyst, My Be oizeiitm

G
Ordnance, Master: Cael ofthe.
Ormerod, G. Ws, Esq... G. S.
Owen, Dr. Dale, rite Oe
} Bi Gths teehee oe f

Parish, Sir W., KHL. E.G.S.
Parker, Joseph; Jun,; Esq.)
Phelps, J. D., Esq.,,.FéGiSort 1st!
Portlock, ;Capt.:R.E., F-G.8i.9%)
Pritchard, Andrew, Esq.

Quetelet, M. A.

Raulin, M.

Repertory of Patent Inventions,
the Proprietor of.

Richardson, G. F., Esq.,. F: G. Se

Ritter, Herr. C.

Royal Academy. of Berlin.

Royal Academy of Brussels,

Royal Academy of Munieh.,

Royal Agricultural. Sficioti of
England. ti iol

| Royal Asiatic Society.

| Royal Astronomical Societys!

Royal College of Surgeons. |)

Royal, Commission, of ,,Rublie
Works of Bavaria. |;

Royal Geegraphical Society ‘of
London.

Royal Gocleeial Society ue
Cornwall. }
Royal _ Institute / afi ‘Brisigh
Architects. . )

Royal Institution. of baskeralln

Royal Polywehnied Saoiegys of
Cornwall.

Royal Society of Copenianens

Royal Society | of aw

Royal Society of London.»

Scarborough, Philosophical Sos
ciety of.

Schomburgk, Rv Hi. Esqsbicos”) | Van Voorst, Miz J. dpb yshf
Selkirk; Harl.of, F.GwSii9) 11 (|) Veteh, Captidi, Re Bi E.Gise
Sharpe, Daniel, Esq., F.G.S. Von: Bueh,: Herr. Leopold, ne
Silliman, Prof.,. M. Ane For. Mem. | oMMemiG.8.e0%
iG. Sard v1 : bid

Society of Arts. Waltore WwW, ei
Stevens, H.,. Esqi-F.GiSiy oy: Washington, pees Institution
Stock, Mr. Edward: wi ats
Stokes, Charles, Esq., F.G. S, io Weaver; Thomas, rah 5 E, GS. -
Sutherland, A..R.,.M.D:, F.G.S: White, Hi CG, Esq., BiG.S.
| Wiggins, ‘Taian Esq.,' FB. G.S.
Taylor, R.\C., Esquy:F.G.S. |) Wilme; By Pay Esq. af y
Taylor, Richard, ‘Esqs F.GsS. op-Wood,'S.|V., Esq., F.G.S.
Tennant, Mr. James, E.G, Ss.
Tenore, Sig.,.:).. | Zoological Society, of London.

List of PArers read since the last Annual meting February 18th,
1842.

February 23rd.—Report on the Missourium, now oubifeititio at the
Egyptian, Hall, with an inquiry into the claims of the Tetracaulo-
don to generic distinction, by Richard Owen, Esq., Hunterian
Professor in the Royal College of Surgeons, F.G.S.

March 9th.—On the Salt Steppe south of Orenburg, and.ona re-
markable freezing Cavern, by R. 1. Murchison, Esq.s Pres. G.S.
A ese from Sir John Herschel to R. I. Murchison,
_, Esq., in explanation of the Phenomena exhibited by the freezing

Cavern.

On some Phenomena observed on: Glaciers, and on
the internal temperature of large Masses of Ice or Snow, with some
Remarks on modern Ice Caves which occur below the limit of
perpetual Snow, by Sir John Herschel, Bart., F.G.S. ,
— On Rock-Basins in the.Bed of the Zoombuddra, in
-Southern India, between 15° and 16° of latitude, by Lieut. New-
bold of the Madras Army..
oF ——- Notices on.a great Cavern near the Ellie of .Caca-
euamilpas ; on, the remains of an Elephant found near the Ha-
cienda of Chapingo ; and on six.specimens of pumice and obsidian
from.a, Well mear,Perote .in’ Mexico, by J. Phillips, ae Com-
/ municated by, J. Taylor, Esq, Treas. G.S.
March 23rd——On the Coal-fields of SN TE) and Nowa Sachin.
by W. Logan, Esq., F.G.S8. ;
On the Tehornoi Zem, or Black Hah of the Central
_ | Regions.of Russia,.by/R.I. Murchison, Esq., Pres, G:S.
April 6th:--Observations on the genus Tetracaulodon, by Mr. Koch.
Communicated by, the President... ,,
: —+— On the Central and Southern aglost of Russia, by.
Tne ‘IT. Mur chison, Esq. .. Pres. G.S., M. E. de Verneuil, and Count
Keyserling.

56

May 4th.—Letter addressed to the President, by William Ick, Esq.,
of the Birmingham Philosophical Institution, on some superficial
deposits near Birmingham.

Postscript to the Memoir on the occurrence of the

Bristol Bone-bed in the neighbourhood of Tewkesbury, by H. E.

Strickland, Esq., F.G.S.

On the High Temperature of Wells in the neighbour-

hood of Delhi, by the Rev. Robert Everest, F.G.S.

On the Tertiary Formations and their connexion with

the Chalk in Virginia and other parts of the United States, by

. Charles Lyell, Esq., V.P.G.S.

May 18th.—A Memoir on the Geological Structure of the Ural
Mountains, by R. I. Murchison, Esq., Pres. G.S., and Count
Keyserling.

June 1st.—Notice of some Experiments on the Electric Currents in
Pennance Mine, near Falmouth, by R. Were Fox, Esq. Com-
municated by the President.

On the Structure of the Lake District, by William
Hopkins, Esq., F.G.S.

June 15th.—On the packing of Ice in the river St. Lawrence ;
the occurrence of Landslips in the modern deposits of its valley ; :
and the existence of Marine Shells in them and on the mountain
of Montreal, by W. E. Logan, Esq., F.G.S.

On the Structure and History of the Mastodontoid
Animals of North America, by R. E. Grant, M.D., Professor of
Comparative Anatomy and Zoology in University College, Lon-
don, F.G.S.

June 29th.—Notices connected with the Geology of the Island of
Rhodes, by T. A. B. Spratt, Esq., of H:M.S. Beacon. Commu-
nicated by Charles Stokes, Esq., F.G.S.

On the minute Structure of the Tusks of extinct

Mastodontoid Animals, by Alexander Nasmyth, Esq., F.G.S.

On the Discovery of Insects in the Wealden of the

Vale of Aylesbury, by the Rev. P. B. Brodie, F.G.S.

————On the Geology of Egypt, by Lieut. Newbold, of the

Madras Army. Communicated by the President.

Letter addressed to the Secretaries, by C. Kaye, Esq.,

F.G.S., on the Discovery of Organic Remains near Pondicherry,

Trichinopoly, and Terdachelinn

On the Fossil foot-prints of Birds and Impressions of
Rain-drops in the Valley of the Connecticut, by Charles Lyell,
Esq., V-P.G.S.

—_——__—— Note respecting the Ochil Hills, by Capt. Pringle,
F.G.S.

November 2nd.—On the Geology of the Western States of North
America, by Dr. Dale Owen. Communicated by the President.

November] 6th.—On the Structure of the Delta of thé Ganges, as ex-
hibited by the boring operations in Fort William, by Lieut. R. B.
Smith, Bengal Engineers.

—

57

November 16th.—On Pipes or Sand Galls in Chalk, by Joshua Trim-
mer, Esq., F.G.S.

On some remarkable Concretions in the Tertiary
Beds of the Isle of Man, by H. E. Strickland, Esq., F°.G.S.

November 30th.—On the Bala Limestone, by Daniel Sharpe, Esq.,
F.G.S.

On certain Impressions on the Surface of the Lias

Bone-Bed in Gloucestershire, by H. E. Strickland, Esq., P.G.S.

Notice on the discovery of the Remains of. Insects
in the Lias of Gloucestershire, by the Rev. P. B. Brodie, F.G.S.

Dee. 14th.—On the Ridges, Elevated Beaches, Inland Cliff; and ~
Boulder Formations of the Canadian Lakes and Valley of St. Law-
rence; with additional Remarks on the Recession of the Falls of
Niagara, by Charles Lyell, Esq., V.P.G.S.

Jan. 4th, 1843.—Notice on a Suite of Specimens of Ornithoidicnites,
or Foot-prints of Birds, on the New Red Sandstone of Connecti-
cut, by G. A. Mantell, LL.D., F.G.S.

Extract from a letter from W. C. Redfield, Esq., to

Charles Lyell, Esq., on newly discovered Ichthyolites in the New

Red Sandstone of New Jersey.

Letter from Dr. Nicholson of Sydney, on Fossil

Bones recently discovered at Moreton Bay.

Extract from a letter from His Excellency George
Gray, Esq., to Charles Lyell, Esq., on the Geology of the Country
lying between the Eastern Shore of St Vincent's Gulf and Lake
Alexandrina.

Jan. 18th.—On the Silurian Rocks of the South of Westnorcland
and North of Lancashire, by Danial Sharpe, Esq., F.G.S. :

On the Stratified Rocks of Berwickshire, and their

imbedded Organie Remains, by William Stevenson, Esq. Com-

municated by the President.

Notice on the Fossilized Remains of the soft ase of

Mollusca, by G. A. Mantell, LL.D., F.G.S.

Description of three Fossil Fruits from the Chalk
formation of the $.E. of England, by G. A. Mantell, LL.D.,
F.G.S.

Feb. 1st.—On the Tertiary Strata of the Island of Martha’s Vine-
yard in Massachusetts, by Charles Lyell, Esq., V.P.G.S.

Letter from J. Hamilton Couper, Esq., to Charles

Lyell, Esq., on Fossil bones found in digging the New Brunswick

Canal in Georgia.

On the Geological position of the Mastodon gigan-

teum, and associated fossil remains at Big-Bone Lick, Kentucky,

by Charles Lyell, Esq., V.P.G.S.

sd

VOL. IV. PART I. F

58
‘pyileol.vd olled «Sums actually Received and Expended

folfovoro! Reonrrrey eT
net Dy 'l Dvr ae CEE} O O98? Quest: OVS? ds

_ Banker} including 34/, 10s. Wollaston ,
Fund and 12/. 2s. Map Account.. 126 10 11
Accountant to'meet current expenses’) 40 0 0

— 166 10 11
Arrears : ; Acted : Brielle
MISSION GN EDS cs ols taal cote Sn epee + 2 a af 0 0
AMM Ual CMe OULIOWS, as 0. spicc si, ncaie LAS NS RE)
A A SeG WUE 2 av cePiak ctiase cs re p's ougan F 2,40... 0
; ————— 158 19, 0
Ordinary Income: ; Lito es
Annual Contributions. .. 0.4.0.5. 699.6. 0
Admission Fees : #. (8.1, tl. :
; Residents (8)y7- exo’ oO) oui
Non-Residents (18),.,.,189, 0.0
—— 239). 8.0
ipe0"t —_ 938 14 0
Compositions :
Dhree atl BbiolOsl eae, soitel # wmort IpSTLAst 94 10 0
Foc Se une
DUCMSACULONS (SOLU) on iiicgiiahs oleae Oop Le fat
ITOCE ROIS (SONG iw eeu EE ace d 102
; | a ae 10 U
Geological Map. joiweotl- kr eda hl ola itideittt adh, dons BAe] Orestl>
Wollaston Donation Fund, 12 months’ intersat on
10841. 1s. ld. Reduced 3 Hat oaohiewitl od apd 32, O.d1
Dividends : £29 ds
Six months on 25651. 1I's.8d. Consols 38 9 8 ,)
Ditto, 27060. 19s. 1d, Consols ,... 39 8 5
u) ———— 77 18 1
£17960 2 11

We have compared the Books and Vouchers presented to us with
these Statements, and find them to be correct.

Signed, R. HUTTON,
AUDITORS.

A. AIKIN,
Feb, 8, 1843. WILLIAM TITE,

59
during the year ending December 31; 1842.

PayMENTS.

Bills outstanding : Go) Sa, de Rp
Scientific Expenditure ......:.. Je psGsoesosrEcdae do 316 6
Houses xpenditwye hs... ie veces ue ace clstm ars «dee ep 2> 1056
Legal Expenses........0....-.sese0ee SP base uot Book 24 1 0

29

General Expenditure: > Se a
Repairsyot) Pouseye:.. sc sscesieens- aes Aedcogmecicoses Oy 1,
House Expenses .0...20..2-. cessvsecceonssorscers oS) aie Ll
axes, Assessed iiih- sis csiyeisiats drinte« seca BPs PERE OD 29 .7 -8
THO GINS JRETICS coouqaoonsdeecoacose (oabenpreneceonooes cog © i)
Parochial Rates ciacaseaeeoian sen saee eta ceatis sacs ars 816° 8
Household Furniture’ 22.5... .sassesasdoicossse00> & L4 1O

236

TA SMEANCEA yo, .te eur eye Sh shapes 48 AS eps a ae ee sve a9

Salaries and Wages : Se S$. a
@urratori pre noaes scene se acer eens «otal om tie 5 els aaa 148 11 O
Sub= Curator eats: cs secssccs ce ake seee aetna 100 0 0
(OIG eegcondcocobrebcoKDoNHoeeanoeee ee cocuodbodeoer 84 0 O
Porter and Housekeeper ..........ccecue eoeeee 3: 580 20 30
SeKV an tigie cise san erates s Meese oc sccm Mane «senna 32 (4 =O
Collectors Poundaveey.. ccc. Seseeeceues-seceet 320 8 -9

477

SEETNITTEVOMI Ops DSTA Ga HR uy le an a Cle ae Pen 76

Stationery and Miscellaneous Printing.:............ 49

MeaMOm NICCLN ES. Miles Bs ok Af ahaa Yes PP Peon 48

Cost of Publications : ae east
Transactions .....ea...0. “30960 <0 Pap pnope: Sperboel. 169) 1 m2
Proceedings. ......+0+5 70. : CbBSRBEGC co ge00e Le co OAOOOe 165 14 °3

339

Tei Be eres Gi ct SBA eat 2 fe a es Be See

Contribution repaid . by poy) ach RRs 288 Bw 3

Award of Wollaston Doma eid. £. s.(d.

M. kL. von Buch, Gold Medal............ eee te on 10 10 0
Mr. J Morris eficacoane cnoaradencor = G0n8bO SdoesnoD ont ee O18)
34

Balances in hand : &. s. cds
Banker, including 321. Os. ld; Nesllacton Fund

and 34/. 16s. 6d. Map Account............ Boe on 448 19 "9
Accountant to meet current expenses............ 40 O O
: A483

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‘62

After the Reports had-been read, it was-resolved,—

_~ That they be received and entered on the Minutes of the Meeting ;
‘and that such parts of them as the Council may think fit, be printed

and distributed among the Fellows.

GENTLEMEN, . | oO % ;

Tue Report of the Council having acquainted you that the Wollaston
Medals have this year been adjudicated to MM. Dufrénoy and Elie de
Beaumont, I beg to preface their delivery by a very few observations.

With liberal and enlightened views, Dr. Wollaston left the Council
of this Society perfectly. unfettered in the selection of persons qua-
litied to receive the: proceeds of a fund, which he bequeathed to us
for the purpose of encouraging geological researches, or of reward-
ing these who may successfully complete them. In founding a medal
which bears on it the likeness of that great philosopher, we recog-
nised the principle of reward for eminence in geological labours,
whilst the surplus interest of the fund was to be annually bestowed
on some man.of science employed in the accumulation of facts. In
the course of the Address which I am about to read, the useful
application of one of these donations will be pointed out, and in the
mean time I will briefly advert to the destination of the two Gold
Medals, which have been voted to M. Dufrénoy and M. Elie de
Beaumont, for their Geological Map of the kingdom of France.

Of the peculiar excellences of this splendid work, as creditable to
the French Government who fostered it as to the geologists who exe-
cuted it, I expressed unqualified approbation in my Discourse of last
year, soon after the map was sent to us; and I dwelt with great satis-
faetion on the assurance of its authors, that they had pleasure in offer -
ring it to us, as, in our own islands, when young geologists, they first
acquired that knowledge of the classification of sedimentary deposits
which led them to embark in their great national enterprise.

To treat of all the merits of our distinguished Foreign Asso-
ciates, would be to enter, not only upon the geology of France, but
also on the structure of other tracts of the surface of the globe on
which their labours have shed so much light. I will therefore simply
express my sincere belief, that the Council of this Society never
made an award more creditable to its just appreciation of high
geological merit. :

In heartily congratulating you, Gentlemen, in having done ho-
nour to yourselves by adding the names of Dufrénoy and de Beau-
mont to the list of those foreign philosophers who have won the
meed of your applause, you have, [am convinced, raised the value
of our medals in the estimation of all cultivators of geology; and in
handing them to our Foreign Secretary, for transmission to our
French Associates, I beg he will express to them, that in this award
we view them, not as foreigners, but as friends and leaders, from
whose writings we have received both instruétion and delight, and
whose successful career we have thus endeavoured to honour by
the choicest gift we have it in our power to bestow. ;

63

In presenting the Medals to Sir H. De la Beche, Mr. Murchison
rose and said,— Dit + oaoontti4 id

‘Sir Henry, I have to request you to make known to our eminent
French Associates, how highly we prize their services; a task which
may indeed be well confided to you, as, by your long-continued and
active labours in the same departments of our science, you are better
qualified than any member of this Society to appreciate the high
order of merit of the Geological Map of France.

Sir Henry De la Beche, in reply, expressed the sincere gratifica-
tion it afforded him to receive the Medals on behalf of his friends
MM. Dufrénoy''and Elie de Beaumont.’ It would be superfluous,
he said, in any assembly of geologists to advert to the labours of
such men; they were known and fully appreciated by the world,
and the Geological Map of France spoke for itself. MM. Dufrénoy
and Elie de Beaumont had'desired him to express to the Society the
high estimate they entertained of the honour conferred upon them ;
and he felt assured that the Society could not but experience great
gratification in thus endeavouring to show its deep sense of the im-
portant benefits which, in common with the geologists of all nations,
it had derived from the works of these distinguished men.

The President then handed the balance of the Wollaston Fund to
the Secretary, Mr. W. J. Hamilton, to promote the publication of
Mr. Morris’s tabular work, the merits of which were adverted to
last year. i

It was resolved :-—

1. That the thanks of this Society be given to Roderick Impey
Murchison, Esq., retiring from the office of President.

2. That the thanks of this Society be given to Prof. Daubeny,
Dr. Fitton, and Charles Lyell, Esq. retiring from the office of Vice-
President.

3. That the thanks of this Society be given to John Taylor, Esq.,
retiring from the office of Treasurer.

4. That the thanks of this Society be given to E. H. Bunbury,
Esq,, retiring from the office of Secretary. '

5. That the thanks of the Society be given to Arthur Aikin, Esq.,
Sir W. J. Hooker, Joseph Prestwich, Esq., the Earl of Selkirk, and
Prof. Daubeny, retiring from the Council.

6. That the special thanks of this Annual Meeting be given to
Mr. Lonsdale, our late Curator and Librarian, for the unremitting
zeal, talent, and efficiency with which he discharged the duties of
those offices during a period of; nearly fourteen years. That he be
assured that the Society regards his exertions as having been advan-
tageous in the highest degree, not only to our Institution, but to the
advancement of Geological Science; and that he takes with him on
his retirement, the respect of all our members, and their earnest
wishes for his welfare and amended health.

64

After the Balloting Glasses had been duly closed, and the lists ex-
amined by the Scrutineers, the following gentlemen were declared
to have been duly elected the Officers and Council for the ensuing

year :—

OFFICERS.

—

PRESIDENT. ;
Henry Warburton, Esq., M.A., F.R.S. and H.S.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

Rev. W. Buckland, D.D., F.R.S. and L.S. Professor of Geology and
Mineralogy in the University of Oxford.

Charles Darwin, Esq. F.R.S.

G. B. Greenough, Esq. F.R.S. and L.S.

John Taylor, Esq. F.R.S.

SECRETARIES.

Robert A. C. Austen, Esq.
William John Hamilton, Esq. M.P.

FOREIGN SECRETARY.
Sir H. T. De la Beche, F.R.S. and L.S.

TREASURER.
John Lewis Prevost, Esq.

Thomas Bell, Esq. F.R.S. & L.S.
Edward Herbert Bunbury, “Esq.
M.A.

Sir P. Grey Egerton, Bart. M.P. |

F.R.S.
W. H. Fitton, M.D. F.R.S. and
L.S.
Leonard Horner, Esq. F.R.S. L.S.
Robert Hutton, Esq. M.R.LA.
Charles Lyell, jun. Esq. F.R.S.
LS.

| J. Forbes Royle, M.D. F:R.S.

COUNCIL.

Gideon A. Mantell, LL.D. F.R.S.
R. I. Murchison, Esq. F.R.S. LS.
Samuel Peace Pratt, Esq. F.R.S.
LS.
L.S.
Rev. Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S.L.S. °
W oodwardian Prof. in the Uni-
versity of Cambridge.
Daniel Sharpe, Esq. F.L.S.
H. E. Strickland, Esq. M.A.

CURATOR.
Edward Forbes, Esq.

65—

ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT,
R, I. Murcurson, Esq. F.R.S. fh

GENTLEMEN, F
Tuer past year has been favourable to the duration of the life of
geologists, for we have Jost no one working member. Some, how-
ever, of our Associates have passed from this stage of existence, and
I will briefly allude to three, whose position and literary talents, or
connexion with our pursuits, seem to me to claim notice.

In the first place, | have to pay a tribute to the late President
of the Royal Asiatic Society, the EARL or Munster, the compa-
nion of my boyhood and the friend of maturer years. Educated
at the Royal Military College, and with no other advantages than
those which fall to the lot of other young soldiers, George Fitz-
clarence early shared in the bitter hardships and final triumph
of the Corunna campaign; and, taking an active part in the Penin-
sular war which followed, he was repeatedly wounded and once
taken prisoner, owing to the gallant exposure of his person. The
esteem of his great commander, thus won in the field, attended Lord
Munster to the close of his life. Without tracing the career of my
friend in India, where he served on the staff. of the Governor-Gene-
ral, or following him through his travels in Egypt, where he explored
the pyramids with Salt and Belzoni, I may say that with his acute
and observant mind, he there imbibed a taste for Eastern art and
story; and, taking a comprehensive view of those countries and their
people, he laid the foundation of that acquaintance with Oriental
subjects which formed the chief object of his subsequent researches.
The military annals of the nations of the East naturally attracted so
enthusiastic a soldier, and fifteen years have now elapsed since he
first conceived the plan of a history of Oriental Castrametation or
the science of encampments from the earliest ages. With the pro-
gress of his inquiries, however, and with fresh materials, his views
enlarged ; and another work on a gigantic scale was commenced,
which was designed to embrace the tactics and warfare of all Ori-
ental nations, interspersed with ethnical notices from the earliest
records down to the wars of British India. Some idea may be formed
of the vastness of this undertaking, unhappily arrested by the death
of its projector, from the fact, that the materials he had already
collected with unwearied industry, and sometimes at great expense,
in the libraries and archives of Europe and Asia, fill 2000 quires of
folio paper; exclusive of a vast store of rare: plates and detached
memoranda bearing on his subject. Let us hope that the accom-
plished young scholar, Dr. Sprenger, whom his Lordship selected
to translate many of these documents from the Arabic and other
Eastern languages, or, some fitting member of the Asiatic Society,
may be found to prepare for publication the most important of the
results at which he had arrived. So widely were his correspondents
distributed, that they extended to Orenburg and Astrachan, the
remotest limits of the Russian empire; and in the University of
Kasan, where, I would observe, more knowledge of the East is to

66

be obtained, both in historical and in numismatic lore, than perhaps
in any other city of Europe, it was truly gratifying to me to find
the name of my friend occupying a high place in the estimation of
learned Oriental Professors.

As a member of this Society, Lord Munster took a warm ‘in-
terest in our progress. - So persuaded was he of the practical value
of geology, and so desirous of communicating a knowledge of it to
his children, who were his constant companions, that he ingeniously
devised a model of the ‘crust of the globe, which served to convey
a good elementary notion of the succession of the principal strata,
and the derangements to which they have been subjected by the
eruption of intrusive rocks. This anecdote will, I trust, not be
considered ‘irrelevant in addressing associates who can discern the
merits of the man in his’ domestic relations; and in these Lord
Munster was most exemplary. I cannot better terminate this brief
sketch of one whom I loved, than by referring you to the eloquent
panegyrics which have been paid to his memory, both by the Royal
Asiatic Society, over which he presided, and by a gallant brother-
soldier and respected Fellow of this Society, who, like myself, had
been through life the attached friend of the Earl of Munster*.

The blank which has been left in the world of letters by the
death of Dr. AnNnoxp has been deeply felt, and the loss of a man of
such profound erudition and high moral excellence is justly be-
moaned by an eminent contemporary as a national calamity}. It is
not for the President of this Society to attempt even a sketch of the
broad lights in the character of this fervid lover of truth, nor to fol-
low him in his tseful career during the thirteen’ years in which he
was the chief master of the great school at Rugby; but, admiring
the vigour and independence of his mind, and reverencing his stre-
nuous efforts to enlarge the bounds of education, I cannot omit to
place on record, that the enrolment in our ranks of Dr. Arnold is
a testimony borne by a good man, and an eminent scholar, te the
usefulness and importance of geological inquiry, in the advancement
of which, at the University of Oxford, under his friend Dr. Buckland,
he cordially rejoiced. Though not a practical geologist, he held the
pursuit in high honour; and more especially estimated its value as
the true basis of physical geography.

Mr. Tuomas BortrieLp of Hopton Court, a much-respected and
very old member of this Society, came among us when geology was
held at a low public estimate, and when its importance was ill under-
stood, even by cultivators of other branches of physical science.
Endowed with a very sagacious mind, he not only took an interest
in our speculations and theories, but was strongly impressed. with
the practical beneficial results to be obtained from a cultivation of
the positive departments of our science; and of this he gave the
strongest proof, by selecting the Titterstone Clee Hill in Saropshire

* See Trans. Royal Asiatic Society, Anniversary 1842 ; and a short eulo-
gium in the United Service Journal, 1842, vol. i. p.565; written by Major
Shadwell Clerke. batons

¢ Edinburgh Review, No. 154.

67

as the seat of his mining operations. Aware that this little elevated
and detached coal-field was surrounded ‘by older rocks, and that no
similar mass was to be found between it and the heart of the adja-
cent country of Wales, he saw that by piercing the basalt by which
it was covered, and by opening out the mountain in ‘a scientific
manner, he would render himself, to a great extent, the supplier of
fuel to a large region. By this successful enterprise he amassed a
considerable fortune, which he employed in hospitality and bene-
volence during a long and well-spent life.

OFFICIAL CHANGES.

The official change occasioned by the retirement of Mr. Lonsdale
having been adverted to in the Report of the Council, and the warmest
thanks of this Meeting having been voted to him, I would now ex-
press imy own sense of the meritorious services of that officer.

Fourteen years, Gentlemen, have elapsed since his appointment
was made; during which time your collections and your volumes at-
test the arduous and-successful labours of your Curator and Libra-
rian. -Reorganizing our Museum, and naming a multitude of spe-
cies after most elaborate comparisons with foreign and British types,
he, at the same time, undertook and performed nearly the whole of
the scientific duties which were formerly discharged in great mea-
sure by our honorary secretaries; and this too at a period when
currents of fresh knowledge were rapidly setting in, and when our
literary machinery had been rendered much more complex than in
the early days of. our body, through the addition of long and well-
digested Proceedings, which were chiefly prepared by him.

All these duties were executed with a fidelity and singleness of
purpose, an ability, and a consummate knowledge of the whole subject
confided, to him, which entitle him to our deepest gratitude, and
fully justify me in-saying that, our Transactions, Proceedings, and
Collections of the last fourteen years are the real monuments of Mr.
Lonsdale’s labours.) Alas! such efforts are more than one man can
continuously sustain ; and the loss of health which ensued, compelled
our Curator to sever those ties by which he had been connected
with us.

It is not, however, to official duties only that I must now’ advert ;
for the various works of Mr. Lonsdale, also published during the
same period, prove clearly how much science might have received at
his hands, had they not been bound by the trammels of official duty.
His new arrangement of certain strata in the Oolitic series,—his
important and original suggestion of the existence of an intermediary
type of Paleozoic fossils, since called Devonian,—and his masterly
deseription of the Silurian Corals, are alone sufficient proofs of the
vigour and accuracy of his researches. Placing in him the most
entire confidence, and. committing to his use, for a season, the
_proceeds of the Wollaston fund, this Society was amply repaid by
the elaborate survey of a long range of the oolitic esearpments from
the south-western country, with which:he had long been familiar,
to the Humber—a survey, from which, I venture to say, Sir Henry

68

De la Beche will derive the greatest advantage, when he turns his
attention to these districts, in a large portion of which the boundaries
of the different oolitic formations were laid down upon the Ordnance
Map by Mr. Lonsdale.

The enumeration of all these duties and labours—many of them
of most difficult execution—still leaves unrecorded, what every work-
ing Member of this Society must feel, that in the secession of Mr.
Lonsdale ‘we have also lost our wise and friendly adviser on every
obscure and difficult point. Who among the active promoters of
our science has not derived from him willing and devoted assist-
ance? How often, when balancing difficulties inseparable from our
subject, have we not benefited by his sound opinions! And with
what disinterestedness and real kindness were they not offered !
Where is the memoir in our Transactions, or the separate works
recently published by our Members, which has not been materially
improved by his suggestions? In short, I am certain I speak the
sentiments of all when I say, that, from the moment of his appoint-
ment to the day of his retirement, Mr. Lonsdale infused a truly gene-
rous and highly philosophic spirit into every act and every proceed-
ing with which he was connected. No expression, therefore, of our
gratitude can be too strong when we record his labours as a
geologist, the value we entertain of his official services, and
the pang of deep regret we experience in his retirement from this
Society.

For a while the vacancy occasioned by the retirement of Mr.
Lonsdale was not filled up; but the value which was attached
to the office was attested by the fact, that nine candidates
claimed our suffrage. The selection of Professor E. Forses
leads me naturally to report 10 you the principal geological results
at which our new Curator has arrived during his recent researches
in the Meditérranean seas, as they are distinctly connected with
the award of the Wollaston fund: during a former year, to assist
him in prosecuting his inquiries in the Mediterranean or Red
Seas.

Mr. Forbes observed marine tertiary strata abounding in shells at
an elevation of 4000 feet in the Lycian Taurus, and he fixed the age
of two distinct tertiary groups in.the Greek islands. He also deter-
mined that the freshwater deposits of Asia Minor and the Sporades
belong to two separate groups, the relations of which with the marine
tertiary strata prove that there were two eras of submergence and
elevation, in that region, during the Tertiary period. He instituted a
careful comparison between the organic remains of these beds and
the living inhabitants of the adjacent sea, noticing the conditions
under which each are found, and thus learnt that in the newest of
these tertiaries (Newer Pliocene), the remains of such species as
have ceased to exist in the Mediterranean are, for the most part,
at present living in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean ; and hence he very
logically infers, that the former conditions of the Newer Pliocene
period, which imply a similar and continuous submarine area, were
interrupted by that elevation of land which separated the Egean and

69 :

adjacent portions of the Mediterranean from the Red Sea, the faunas
of which are materially distinct from each other.

Mr. Forbes explored a submarine tract of 300 miles in width,
dredging in all depths between 1 and 230 fathoms. At more than
100 fathoms, the bottom often consisted of white chalky sediment,
which extended throughout the Egean, and was invariably inhabited
by the same species of Foraminifera. At a depth of 200 fathoms
Mollusea only, of the genera Tellina, Corbula, Arca, and Dentalium
were found, but associated with Annelides, Star-fishes, Crustaceans,
and Zoophytes. Lastly, he ascertained the range and charac-
ters of 500 species of existing Mollusca and of numerous associated
Radiata. Among the former were species which live indifferently
at all depths between i0 and 150 fathoms, and several of them
(including Buccinum semistriatum, Dentalium quadrangulare, and
Pleurotoma crispata) which had hitherto been known only in a fossil
state. By this examination he also arrived at the important fact,
that such species as are abundant in a fossil are extremely rare
in a living state, and vice versdé; and thus he lays before us the
last remnants of a former state of the surface of whose existence we
were ignorant, accompanied by the descendants of animals, which,
first appearing in small numbers in a pre-existing period, are now
attaining their maximum of numerical development.

Such discoveries, Gentlemen, are most impertant to the progress
of true induction ; and when these researches of Mr. Forbes are pre-
sented to you 7” extenso, as is his intention, each of us will, I doubt
not, find in them some illustraticn of the stony deposits with which
we are more familiar.

I may well, therefore, congratulate the Society on having ob-
tained the services of such a naturalist as Mr. Forbes, of whom it
has been said by a distinguished foreign contemporary, that “ his
anatomical knowledge, the accuracy of his thought, and the vigorous
precision with which he can estimate the minute differences on which
the distinction of species depends, render him a worthy successor of
Mr. Lonsdale, and ensure to us that he will render important services
to the advancement of Geological Science *”’.

Having spoken of those changes in the Society which have taken
- place through the demise of Members and through official changes, I
now proceed toconsider the progress of our Science, not merely within
the British Isles, but also, as far as I am able, in other parts of the
world to which geological researches have been extended. In so
doing I shall follow the arrangement of last year, and treat of the
rocks of each country in the order of their antiquity, commencing
with the most ancient. First dwelling upon the British Isles, I will
next advert to Russia, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Turkey and the
Alps, and then in succession to works upon America, the East In-
dies and Egypt; and after an analysis of the recent progress in
Paleontology, I will take leave of you with a brief réswmé of the
principal geological results.

* Professor Agassiz, Letter to Mr. Murchison.

- 70
. -PALOZOIC, ROCKS OF THE BRITISH ISLES.101) | 99) )8

Silurian Rocks.—In the Address of last year I plainlv expressed
my belief, founded not merely on researches in the British Isles, but
also on examinations of large portions of the Continent, that the
Lower Silurian group contained the most ancient fossiliferous type.
This view now rests upon still firmer support, established by the
labours of our geologists at home, and the doubts respecting the
true zoological base of the Paleozoic rocks have been entirely dis-
pelled. In South Wales this point has been worked out with extra-
ordinary fidelity of research, founded both on geometrical measure-
ments and a close search after fossils; and to these investigations I will
' presently advert, when speaking of the labours of Sir Henry de la
Beche and his assistants of the Ordnance Geological Survey.

In illustration of the structure of the Lake Country of the North
of England, Professor Sedgwick has recently given a short sketch
in three letters addressed to Mr. Wordsworth; and I beg you to
consult this little work, which is embodied in a Guide to the Lakes
published ‘by his friend the celebrated poet, both as a specimen of
the author’s vigorous style of communicating popular geological
knowledge, and to obtain from it a clear general perception of the
configuration of that remarkable region, and of the changes it has
undergone. In regard to the older Palzeozoie rocks, referring to a
memoir which he read before this Society in 1832, he still adheres
to the threefold division of the slate-rocks of Cumberland proposed
by Mr. Jonathan Otley. With the two lowest of these, the Skiddaw
slate and the green slate and its associated porphyry, we need not
now concern ourselves, for they contain no organic remains. The
third division, or the Upper Slaty rocks, is considered by Professor
Sedgwick to represent the Silurian series. He separates it into three
groups, the uppermost of which he compares with the Ludlow rocks,
the second is an ill-defined hard siliceous mass, with no good fossils,
and the lowest consisting of the Ireleth slate and limestone, inclu-
ding the Coniston, is proved by its fossils to be of the age of the Lower
Silurian rocks. This view is, in short, that which has been for some
time entertained by Professor Sedgwick*, and is essentially the same
as that taken by Mr. James Marshall. AT

During the preceding year our attention was also attracted to the
district by the labours of Mr. Daniel Sharpe, who had commenced a
more detailed inquiry into the subdivisions of this series. He has
since presented us with the results of additional’ researches made
during the last summer, which have led to some corrections of the
Map formerly prepared, and to some changes in lines of fault as well
as in the order and subdivision of the stratified masses. Describing
the formations in ascending order, he enumerates several additional
Lower Silurian fossils as occupying the Lower Coniston limestone
with its overlying series of shale, slate and flagstone ; and he amends
the arrangement which he proposed last year, by also including in
the Lower Silurian division certain grey slaty greywacke grits
which he had left in the undefined group called by him “ Winder-

* See Proceedings Geol. Society. Vol, ili, p, 545 et seq.

an

Th “

mniere Rocks.” Another, bed of limestone, that of Blawith, which
Mr, Marshall had also shown to contain organic remains of the
Lower Silurian type, is stated by Mr. Sharpe to underlie the Iveleth
flags and slates ;, and he considers all this series, from the Coniston
Lower limestone upwards, to form the representative of the Lower
Silurian rocks, in which the Kirkby Ireleth slates are included; not
from. any fossils they contain (none having been found, in them),
but because they are strongly affected by a slaty cleavage, and though
invariably conformable to the other Lower Silurian beds, are not
equally conformable.to those above them. After tracing the de-
marcation of these slates, Mr, Sharpe then adverts to the fine deve-
lopment of the Lower Silurian rocks in High Furness (Lancashire),
where the formation has a north-easterly and south-westerly strike, in
perfect parallelism with the ridges and valleys, which. direction is
strongly contrasted with the outline of the same rocks in West-
moreland and among the lakes, where the valleys are in the line of
extensive faults, transverse to the strike; and it is in this region
of greater disturbance that the rocks are in the most erystalline state
(slaty cleavage, &c.). The Windermere rocks having been deprived,
as above stated, of their lower member, by the admission of our au-
thor, and having been found to contain a species of Orthoceratite
unknown in the Lower Silurian rocks, it is I think now more than
ever probable*.that they represent the Wenlock shale of the Silu-
rian region ; the more so as, resting on a great thickness of admitted
Lower Silurian rocks, they are surmounted by unequivocal Lower
Ludlow rock. In working out the exact relations of the Ludlow
rocks of , Westmoreland to those of Shropshire and Siluria, Mr.
Sharpe has very considerably added to his memoir of last year, both
by the addition of many species, and by distinguishing the Upper
from the Lower Ludlow rock by fossils peculiar to each; and from
what I know of the value of the Zerebratula nawicula as a guide, I
completely approve of the arrangement, by which all the strata con-
taining that shell are considered to be Lower Ludlow rocks.

It is indeed very remarkable, that a tract containing so little cal-
careous matter as the neighbourhood of Kendal, where the Lower
and Upper Ludlow rocks, including in the latter the red tilestones,
are strikingly displayed, should have afforded so many as eighty
species of fossils which. are identical with those published from the
same formations in the Silurian region. Having myself visited this
tract for the second time, and since Mr. Sharpe completed his last
survey, | am sure he will unite with me in expressing the great
obligations of all,southern geologists like ourselves to the indefati-
gable industry and quick eye of Mr. John Ruthven of Kendal, who
is the great, purveyor of fossils both from the Silurian and Carbonife-

_rous rocks of the neighbourhood of his native place, and who, con-
tributing largely to the Museum of Kendal, so ably directed by two
gentlemen of that town t, is acquiring for himself a reputation in the
North scarcely inferior to that which has been assigned to Miss

* See Discourse of last year, ¢ Mr, Gough and Mr, Danby, |

« 72

Mary Anning in the South. The general conclusion of an independ-
ent and close observer like Mr. Sharpe cannot but be very gratify-
ing to myself; for in stating that in mineral characters these Northern
rocks differ most materially from those of Siluria, he points out
that in each district the principal divisions of the Silurian system
are distinctly maintained.

Transferring our view from the Lake Region to North Wales, we
there find Mr. Sharpe applying the knowledge he had acquired in
the Northern districts. In his memoir on the Bala limestone he
shows, that, since that rock and its associated strata contain the same
fossils as the Coniston limestone, it is of the Lower Silurian age and
not Upper Cambrian, as it was formerly named. He is not however
content with merely instancing a similarity of fossils and lithological
succession in the Bala rocks, as compared with other well-known
Lower Silurian strata, but he also proves by a transverse section,
that they occupy a trough, supported on one side by older nonfos-
siliferous schists (part of the Berwyns) and on the other by igne-
ous rocks (Arran Mowddy).

I am not prepared to oppose the accuracy of Mr. Sharpe’s sec-
tion; but when he quotes me as having stated that the Bala lime-
stone dips under the chief mass of the Berwyn mountains, I must
be allowed to state, that I visited the locality but on one occasion,
with Professor Sedgwick, and the limestone beds which I then saw
seemed to me to be overlapped by the Berwyn rocks upon the
east. Mr. Sharpe has no doubt accurately examined the whole ter-
ritory around Bala, for he states that the limestone, of which there
are two bands, is on the whole thrown off from the Berwyns with a
westerly dip*, and is again brought up on the edges of Arran
Mowddy with an easterly and south-easterly inclination. In another
section, from the head of the lake of Bala to Dinas Mowddy and
Mallwyd, he proves that these Lower Silurian rocks, folding over to
the east and south, are surmounted by Upper Silurian strata. The
whole descending series beneath certain dark blue slates, referred to
the lowest part of the Upper Silurian beds, consists of an upper
limestone, rotten schist, a second Bala limestone, grey slaty grits,
rotten grey clay-slate, and dark blue slate. In all these beds, with
the exception of the two lowest, Mr. Sharpe has discovered fossils ;
and in addition to well-known British Silurian forms, including the
Trinuclei, so characteristic of the Lower Silurian rocks, he has dis-
covered the lienus crassicauda, a Trilobite, eminently characteristic,
I would observe, of the inferior strata of the same age in Scandinavia
and Russia. The beds of this group are stated to rest against an
unconformable mass of clay-slate forming a portion of the Berwyn
chain; and to this rock, which is void of fossils, and all that lie be-
neath it, our author would restrain the application of the word
** Cambrian.”

This reasoning is clear, but the author must excuse me if I re-

* Professor Sedgwick still contends that the chief band of Bala limestone
dips to the east. ‘

73 “

mind him that no definite base-line of the Palzeozoic rocks can be
established by one transverse section: only, which terminates in
the centre of a very complicated region. He must know, that
deposits which have no existence in a given territory set on and
expand in adjacent tracts. Although, then, the structure of the
Lake Country naturally gives him confidence in defining the base
of the Silurian system by.the comparison of the Bala rocks with
those of Coniston, still it remains to be proved, whether. the
north-western tracts-of North Wales do not contain other. fossili-
ferous bands inferior to those of Bala. As Mr. Sharpe has not
examined this part of the country, the question must be answered
by others; and I rejoice to say that the reply is about to. be made
by the geologist, who, above all others, is most conversant with that
region.

You are aware, Gentlemen, that this is the very tract in which
Professor Sedgwick has so long worked, and from surveys of
which he gained that intimate knowledge of slaty structure, which
is now considered, thanks to his masterly memoir, an essential ele-
ment in practical geology. I dwell upon this point with peculiar
pleasure, because I well recollect the day when the truth of those
lessons, which I first learnt from my friend, were opposed by many
and accepted by few, though they now form part of the text-book
of the field surveyor. To a re-examination of this country, then,
Professor Sedgwick has devoted portions of the two last summers,
with the distinct object of ascertaining, first, whether he was correct
in his original opinion, on which I steadily relied, that great masses of
the slaty rocks of North Wales, sometimes containing fossils, dipped
under the Silurian rocks described’ by myself; and if so, secondly,
what zoological distinction could be established between such rocks
and those described as Lower Silurian. We were both aware, and
the point was fully commented upon in my own work, that the Bala
limestone fossils agreed with the Lower Silurian* ; but depending
upon his conviction that there were other and inferior masses also fos-
siliferous, we both clung to the hope that such strata, when thoroughly
explored, would offer a sufficiency of new forms to characterize an
inferior system. The results of Professor Sedgwick’s recent re-
searches would have been communicated to the Society before this
Anniversary, had not his other avocations prevented his visiting
London; and as the memoir will shortly be read before you, I will
now so far allude to it only as to enable us to draw conclusions
respecting the base of the fossiliferous slaty rocks of North
Wales.

Professor Sedgwick has reassured himself that there are fossili-
ferous slaty masses, of great vertical thickness, which rise out from
beneath the lowest Silurian rocks of North Wales hitherto described,
and occupying the region of Merionethshire and Snowdonia, ulti-
mately rest upon chloritic and micaceous schists (Menai Straits),
into which they do not pass. The lowest of these fossil bands,

* See Silurian System, p. 308.
VOL, [Y. PART I. G

" 74

forming thesummits and flanks of Moel Hebog and Snowdonia, are;
he conceives;!several thousand feet below the Bala limestone.
»Thehope, however, whieh was entertained by my friend, of finding
these:vastly expandéed'and: lower members characterized by peeu-
lidr groups of fossils hasbeen frustrated, and whatever may be: the
thickness of this lowest/paleeozoic division, in which he has collected
aigreat number of species, he now fully’ admits,'that zoologically it
is from top to bottom a Lower Siluriamseries*i- Charged as it is with
characteristic Orthide and Trilobités; including the: Asaphus tyran-
nus, so characteristic: of thes lowest Silurian rock, there are; as
night be expected, afew new and undescribed species}: and, among
these, an Ophiura (an (animal whoseremains had not previously
been ‘found in» strata-of higher antiquity than:\the Lias) will not
appear the least extraordinary. MOM
~The ‘baseof the paleozoic deposits; as founded om the sdistine-
tion of organic remains, may/now therefore be considered to be
firmly established ; for the Lower-Siiurian type ‘is thus. shown by
Professor Sedgwick himself to-beithe oldest which can be detected
in’ North! Wales, the ‘country of yall others) in Kurope: in which
there isa: great development of the inferior strata. But if classifiea-
tion«is settled, there still: remains much to |be:done before North
Wales can be as accurately laid down upon aymap as) the parts of
South. Wales to ‘which: 1 will: presently allude; though’ when the
operations!of the Ordnance surveyors are extended to this com+
plicated: region, we shall learn, by. distinct. geometrical admeasure~
ment, the exact thickness of these-stberystalline rocks on the flanks
of Snowdon. gis howi My ; loot voce ont
» In reference to the terms Caradoc Sandstone-and Llandeilo Flags,
as occasionally applied to the divisions of the Lower Silurian: rocks;
I. must) express my dissent from a proposal made by Mr. Sharpe
to.strike out one of ‘these names from British nomenclature. He
believes from what he has seen, that on the whole the type is the
same: throughout all theseslower rocks; but I think Mr. Sharpe
would not have offered this suggestion had he surveyed the whole
of the Silurian region.’ If, forexample, he had commenced his re-
searches where Sir Henry Dela Beche has béen accurately fixing
the limits’ of each formation, he would,at all events have admitted |
the value of the term; of Llandeilo flags, which the Director of the
Ordnance Survey has:informed me he considers to be a remarkably
clear and swell+defined: formation, having a thickness. of between
2000. and: 3000» feet; and tobe’ plainly separated from the Caradoe
sandstone. If Mr. Sharpe supposes that by such a term as Llan-
deilo | flags ‘inteidéd, to restrict this or any other formation to
a mass having» one mineral: character only, he has misapprehended
inyiimeanings and J refer hinvto.a-deseription of the strata, as seen
between. Llandeilo and: Llandovery, where. sandstone, schist and ~
limestone;:,octcurring in. repeated alternation,|form the)“ Llandeilo
flags.” | In the-first years of my! tesearches:in the Silurian ‘region; I

* See an expression of the same opinions; Geol.PYoc. vol. iii. p. 5, p. 549.

75

was for a moment induced to think, that itiwould be better to:merge
the two lower formations’ under ‘one local name; but the clear sec.
tions of South Wales; and those on the eastern flanks of the Berwyns,
where the slaty calcareous rocks with large Asaphi are seen to dip’
under great masses of Caradoc sandstone; confirmed me inthe re-
solution to adhere tothe two local names. I trusted) that as' dee
tailed surveys were made, the’ truth of? their’ relations would be
confirmed (under those limitations which are common ''to ‘all’ depo-
sits): whilst:in the tracts where the caleareous matter thins out,
atid no clear lithological. or physical differences’ exist, 1 urged
that the whole’of ‘the inferior type should be distinguished from the
Superior by the name of Lower Silurian.’ Ihave myself, therefore,’
provided for the cases when'the local types are merged’; but I any
glad they were proposed, because they have already served’as useful
horizons for the labours of the Ordnance pp ae Survey, to
which I‘now call ‘your attention.

Ordnance Geological Survey of England.—The' progress whiclt
was confidently expected at the hands of the Ordnance Geological
Survey; directed by Sir Henry De la Beche, has recently been so
effectively extended to a country with great partof which I am well
acquainted, that; whilst we are’ considering the subject of the Pa-
leozoie Rocks, I take the opportunity to add my ‘tribute to the large
share of public approbation which such labours must earn for their
authors. If my few comments on this subject involve reference to
my own work, I trust the Society will believe that such allusions are
made solely to:explain the subsequent progress of other geologists. —

In my last Address I alluded to the valuable researches of the
Ordnance Geological Survey in South Wales, particularly in the
great coal-basin; and I have now to speak of them amid the older
rocks of Pembrokeshire and: Caermarthenshire, forming the‘south-
western tracts of the country termed the Silurian region.’ In the’
survey of that region, my chief object, as you know, Gentlemen,
was simply to ascertain the general classification and right order of
certain fossiliferous strata beneath the Old Red Sandstone. Having
worked out the succession ‘in typical districts im Shropshire, Here-
fordshire, Radnor and Montgomeryshire, 1 afterwards traced them:
to the ‘south-west, until I equally determined their relations to the
superior deposits in the coast-sections of South Wales.) Although*
the labours in the latter country were thus auxiliary only to those of
thearena on which the classification was. established, I ‘have had:
great satisfaction: in finding, that my chief boundary lines) of Old
Red Sandstone and Upper: and Lower: Siluriam Rocks ‘are pretty:
nearly these which have resulted-from the’ very systematic Ordnance’
Survey; the first corrected field-sheets of which Sir Ho Dela Beche
has allewed me to view.) This observation has’reference' only,‘ how~'
ever, to the development of what may: be‘called oneyzone of Silurian:
rocks,,or that to which,/as ‘contiguous to the Old Red Sandstone; DP
gave my chief attention. Of the ‘existence (of trite Silurian rocks’ -
to the west and north of a certain line which was set up as a de-
scending limit in’ South Walés, I was, I confess, entirely ignorant.

GZ

76

Finding no fossils in the few visits which I made to the west of that
barrier in Caermarthenshire, which was provisionally agreed upon,
and to the north and west of which all the country was ultimately
to be explored by my friend Professor Sedgwick, we both of us be-
lieved, that such tracts, for the most part oaehont fossils, were of
higher antiquity than the Silurian districts, and that, rising up from
beneath, they might hereafter be found to contain other and distinct
forms of animal life.
’ The inquiry of Sir H. De la Beche has dispelled our ignorance.
Instructing a number of intelligent young surveyors how to apply
trigonometrical mensuration to stratified rocks, and patiently follow-
ing up each mineral mass through its change of conditions upon its
strike and throughout every contortion, the Director of the Survey
has now clearly ascertained that the rocks to the north and west
of the Towey in Caermarthenshire, as well as those to the north of
Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire*, instead of being an undefined
assemblage, to which the term Cambrian had been applied, are in
truth nothing but the very same Lower Silurian rocks which had
been pointed. out on the east and south, and which (the Llandeilo
flags being much more important than the Caradoc sandstone) are
repeated in great folds and undulations to the north and west. Often
parting with their calcareous matter, these strata, often assuming
a crystalline slaty cleavage, are in some tracts highly altered by
the intermixture of trappean -rocks, both of contemporaneous
origin and subsequent intrusion. But in these altered rocks the
Ordnance surveyors have detected true Lower Silurian fossils, and
have thus, by zoological evidence as well as by geometrical admea-
surements, convinced themselves that the rocks so very different in
aspect, are nothing more than repetitions of the same fossiliferous
strata which have. been described upon the south and east. Such
results, obtained amid strata so obscured by change, is one of the
very highest triumphs of geological field-work ; and I therefore wish
to be foremost in recognising the deserts of the labourers who have
obtained them, among whom the Director particularly cites Mr.
Ramsay, already so favourably known to us by his geological map
and model of the Isle of Arran.

In looking at the Ordnance Maps of North Pembroke, which have
recently been coloured, and will shortly be issued to the public, it is
surprising to see how symmetrical order has been obtained out of
such a labyrinth, and how the fragments and pieces of such a
patch-work are brought together. I have the authority of Sir
H. De la Beche to state, that in some districts the convolutions
are so rapid as to reproduce the same band of contemporaneous
trap, in perfectly parallel lines, no less than ten or twelve times in
the width of a mile, whilst bosses of eruptive trap are so numerous
as to defy analytical research. Although I only passed quickly
over the tract of North Pembroke, and ought therefore, never to
-have added it to those portions of my work which were more care-

* See Observations in Address of last year on Mr. M‘Lauchlan’s researches.

77

fully executed, I have still sufficient recollection of it to admire
the beauty of the new delineations. If I may be allowed to sug-
gest a parallel between it and districts which I have more mi-
nutely described, I am greatly mistaken if North Pembroke does
not present phenomena almost completely analogous to those of the
mineralized Lower Silurian rocks north of Builth in Radnor-
shire, and at Cornden and Shelve in Shropshire, where numerous
lines of contemporaneous trap alternate with Llandeilo flags and
Caradoc sandstone, and where the strata on the flanks of erup-
tive rocks are the seats of lead and copper ores, the sandstones being
often converted into quartz rocks (Caradoc, Stiper Stones, Wrekin,
&c. &c.). Combining the evidence of these tracts with those laid
open by the extensive transverse sections which I formerly made in
Montgomeryshire, in the north-western parts of the Silurian region,
where the masses have been shown to roll over in great undulations
from S.E. to N.W., I am fully prepared to admit the existence of a
similar configuration in North Pembroke, West Caermarthenshire
and Cardiganshire, districts with which I was very imperfectly ac-
quainted, and where the aspect of rocks is at first sight, it must be
admitted, very forbidding to those who search after fossil evidences.
The greater, however, the difficulty, the greater is the merit of those
who have solved the problem, and have thus established in parts
of South Wales the precise relations of what were previously con-
sidered to be anomalous masses. The result of this Survey, up to
the present moment, is, that in one small part only of North Pem-
broke is there any development of rock older than the strata con-
tainmg Lower Silurian fossils, and this occurs in the promontory of
St. David’s, with which T am familiar: this rock, I can confidently
say, is mineralogically undistinguishable from the close-grained purple
greywacke of the Longmynd and Haughmond Hill in Shropshire ;
and in both these localities it has hitherto been found as void of
fossils as in the similar rocks of the Lammermuir Hills in the South
of Scotland.

In the south-eastern parts of the Silurian region, to which the
Ordnance Geological Survey has also extended its labours, the ac-
curacy of the chief lines which had been laid down, whether in
May Hill, Usk, Woolhope, and the Malvern Hills, has been con-
firmed ; and, under the vigilant eye of Mr. Phillips, some new spe-
cies have been added to the former lists, both in the Lower and in
the Upper Silurian rocks. Among the latter the Pentamerus Knightii
has been found in a new locality, in the southern prolongation of
the axis of Woolhope, thus showing how persistently the place of
the Aymestry limestone is maintained ; whilst a species of that re-
markable shell, the Pleurorhynchus, has been detected in true Wen-
lock limestone.

In relation to the west flank of the Malvern Hills, Mr. Phillips
has, by very close researches, come to an important conclusion.
Certain specimens of a peculiar conglomerate or breccia having
been found by his sister Miss Phillips, in which the Pentamerus
levis and other Caradoc fossils are associated with fragments of

erieniiien a further search. was instituted, and a small boss of this rock
was laid. bare|on the,.very edge of the syenite and in a vertical posi-
tion, like, most of the beds of the same formation along the north-
western prolongation of these hills. . ‘The,conclusion drawn by Mr.

Phillips is, that a, portion at least, of the crystalline Malvern chain
-was/in existence, when the Caradoc sandstone was formed, an infer-
ence which is strengthened by the) finer-grained adjacent and regu-.
larly. bedded varieties of the sandstone containing similar minutely
triturated, igneous materials. At the same time it is certain, that, the
great upheavals of the syenite and trappean, rocks took place long
after the deposition of the Silurian strata, and even after that of the
old red sandstone and coal-measures, which at. various ;points along
this ridge, and particularly at the Abberley Hills, have been violently
dislocated injcontact with such intrusive rocks. The discovery on
the west of the Malverns is, however, analogous to what has been
observed along the flanks of the granitic axes in the Highlands, of
Seotland (Ord of Caithness, &c. ay ‘where fragments of rocks derived
from them are imbedded in the old red sandstone conglomerates,

thus showing an original crystalline nucleus, followed by other gra-
nitic,eruptions.. The Isle of Arran offers proof of such a period
of activity, which it has been inferred, was posterior to the conti-
guous red conglomerate, in which no granitic fragments are im-
bedded.

When.he pursues his researches to the northern parts of the
Silurian region, Mr. Phillips will, then see, on the flanks of the
Breidden Hills, evidences nearly analogous to those which he has
so. well described in the Malvern Hills, and:.where it has been
shown, that along a very ancient fissure of eruption, molten matter
was consolidated before the existence of the Silurian rocks ; that
other eruptions) followed, and were in, continuous activity during
the formation, of the Lower Silurian strata ;, that again other up-
heavals took place by. the rise of intrusive trap, which threw the
previously formed contemporaneous plutonic deposits upon. their
edges; that the coal-measures deposited unconformably on such
uplifted strata were afterwards deranged ; and finally, that along the
very same line of eruption, igneous; matter, undistinguishable | in:
mineral composition from that which had affected the ancient rocks,
has cut its way imirregular dykes through the new red sandstone,
and, from, the isolation of a deposit of lias, was probably ejected
subsequent to the accumulation of that, deposit*.

Such facts are, it seems to me, miniature counterparts of the up-
raising at successive periods of mountain chains; and the grand
phenomena of the Caucasus, the Alps, and the Pyrenees may nearly
all be studied in our small English ridges, and some of them pecu-
liariy well upon the fanks of the Malverns, and their continuation
the Abberley Hills,

In the sequel I shall have occasion to speak of other important
researches of Mr. Phillips. For the present, then, I take leave of

- * See Silurian System, p. 294.

79

the Ordnance Geological Survey, assuring! this Society, that having
during the past year, for the first time, seen the practical application
of the admirable method of field-survey which’ has been instituted
by Sir Henry De la Beche, I am convinced that it: will not only act
directly as a great national benefit, in making more correetly known
the structure of the subsoil, in a manner beyond the reach of private
enterprise, but that it will materially tend to elevate Geology.) by
connecting it in a permanent manner with Physical Science.
| Roeks of the Scottish Border-—A memoir by Mr, W., Stevenson
on the Geology of Berwickshire appears to me to be worthy, of com-
mendation, from the perspicuity: with which. he treats: a:diffienlt
subject in this his first production.» In consequence of a, notice in
the work of Mr. Hugh Miller onthe Scottish Old Red Sandstone,
that Mr. Stevenson bad discovered \ichthyolites in) that, reck near
his native town of Dunse, I made an excursion thither during the last
summer, from the east coast. of Berwickshire, which I was examining
in company with my friend Count Keyserling. .. Having visited the
localities of the Old Red fossils, and made the acquaintance of Mr,
Stevenson, I perceived that he had. clearly, worked out the leading -
phenomena of the border country, and I therefore urged. him. te
prepare the paper which has been! read before you. é ee
Notwithstanding the memoirs of Mr, Winch, Mr..N, Wood, and
Mr, Witham; on. the Carboniferous rocks, of, Northumberland. and
the borders, and of the excellent work of Mr. D, Milne on Berwick-
shire, no portion of the British Isles more required surveying, than
the tract on both sides of the river Tweed, from its mouth upwards,
The very clear section laid open by. lowering ‘the high road in ,its
descent from, Belford, to the town of Berwick, had,.it is,true, com-
pletely satisfied every one who. had seen it, that of, the Berwick-
shire coal-seams (seven of whichjare worked), someare, subordi-
nate to the lewest beds, of the, mountain limestone series, and that
others are far below it. . Having confirmed the views of Mr, Witham,
my fellow-traveller and myself worked ont this point. further, by
following the: coast from Berwick northwards to Bourne Mouth,
and. by ascertaining that the, coal-beds beneath the Lamberton
Cliffs (and others are still lower) are at considerable depths. under
the lowest band of limestone, containing, Producti, and shells,,of
the carboniferous limestone; in short, that they form part, of a, red
sandstone group, in which the plants of the Carboniferous system
prevailed. _Unluckily, the regular descending.sequence from these
lowest ved coal-fields into the depesits.of old red sandstone, pro-r
perly so ealled, has not yet been noticed on the sea-coast, nor is it
probable that such passage can there be detected, owing to a great
dislocation which has thrown the lower carboniferous strata into a
vertical position against metamorphic greywacke and trappean rocks,
Unaequainted with these coast-sections, Mr, Stevenson has, how-
ever, made out in the interior, and from comparatively obscure data,
a natural ascending succession from. the nonfossiliferous slaty rocks
of the Lammermuir Hills, through the old red sandstone, to the base
of the productive, coal-field above alluded. to, The old. red sand-

e

80

stone which reposes on the Lammermuir rocks, and is frequently a
coarse conglomerate, contains the scales of Holoptychius; and at a
little distance in the direction of the dip, other and newer beds
are loaded with impressions of plants, probably marine. Red and
greenish-white sandstone ‘and argillaceous red strata are followed
by impure concretionary limestone, termed corn-stones by our author,
and these pass upwards into sandstones and shale, enclosing plants
peculiar to the Carboniferous system. Occupying a great breadth
in the county of Berwick; and for the most part unproductive in
coal, some of these bands being of red colours, and containing gyp-
sum, were formerly mistaken for the new red sandstone. So long asa
too strict adherence to lithological characters, as decisive of the age of
formations, prevailed, doubts were thrown upon the age of the Ber-
wickshire coal-field; for notwithstanding the memoir of Mr. Witham,
which distinctly showed that a part of this great red coal-field lay be-
neath the mountain limestone, and contained many species of true
carboniferous plants, the influence of the red and gypseous characters
of this deposit was all-powerful. The correct view, however, has
been maintained for some years by Professor Sedgwick and several
other geologists.

Taking our earlier views chiefly from the English southern coal-
tracts, and not sufficiently attending to their far greater develop-
ment in the northern counties, we have been apt to force the larger
into too strict accordance with the smaller type. Geologists, there-
fore, who are well acquainted only with the carboniferous suc-
cession of Bristol and South Wales, must now learn, that the
lower limestone shale of these tracts (oftentimes indeed a sand-
stone) is the miniature representative of the enormously thick and
varied carbonaceous deposits of the South of Scotland. I may say
of Scotland, for it is quite evident, that some of the most productive
of the coal and iron-stone fields (many of them associated with much
red sandstone) in the centre of that country, occupy precisely the
same horizon; their upper masses being interlaced with thin cal-
careous courses in which mountain limestone fossils prevail. I
shall revert to this subject in alluding to a recent work of Mr. Grif-
fith on the Geology of Ireland, where the lower part of the carbo-
niferous system is enormously developed.

In reference to Mr. Stevenson’s effort to class the fossil beds of
the Old Red Sandstone near Dunse, I would observe, that we can
scarcely hope to separate this formation into all its true divisions,
by the aid of a very few scales of one or two species of fossil fishes
only. In Russia, for example, the very highest beds of the system
—beds absolutely in contact with overlying carboniferous strata, are
loaded with the Holoptychius nobilissimus; whilst in the same region,
strata, infinitely lower in the series, are charged with the Dendrodus
sérigatus and other forms which are associated with the Holoptychius
nobilissimus in the very same stratum at Scat’s Craig, near Elgin.

Describing the dislocations around Dunse, Mr. Stevenson connects
them with trappean dykes, and sustains the original view of Mr. D.
Milne, that the Lammermuir chain has undergone two distinct up-

8l

heavals; one marked by the felspathie nature of the igneous masses
affecting the older greywacke;* the other by the augitic nature of
the trap which has pierced the old red sandstone and coal-fields,
and thrown them into discordant positions. Thus, whilst he indi-
cates faults which traverse the whole series, he also demonstrates,
that the masses of granite which intrude upon the older felspathic
trap, have produced no alteration in the overlying red sandstone ;
the latter in fact having been deposited upon those rocks of earlier
disturbance, fragments and pebbles of which are included in the red
sandstone matrix, and even in the basaltic matter which has been
the cause of the second great elevation of the tract.

This reminds me of an old observation of Professor Sedgwick on
the flanks of the Cheviots, where he discovered that the old conglo-
merates at the base of the lowest carboniferous strata of Northum-
berland are almost made up of Cheviot porphyry ; and that where the
coal strata north of Berwick are set on edge, and in one place in-
verted, there are dykes and masses of a newer augitic trap.

Trish Ordnance Geological Survey— Tabular List of Irish fos-
sils.—A compendious volume, entitled ‘ A Report on the Geology
of Londonderry, and parts of Tyrone and Fermanagh,’ has just been
published by our associate Captain Portlock, R.E., employed in the
Irish Trigonometrical Survey. Illustrated by a geological map,
numerous coloured sections, and plates of organic remains, this
closely packed volume, of nearly 800 pages, is a sample of how
great a mass of matter may be derived from a small district. Not
having had sufficient time to study the details of this work, I must
crave the author’s indulgence if I refer only to such parts of it
as have arrested my attention. Captain: Portlock, having some time
ago discovered a small patch of Silurian rocks in the region of his of-
ficial labours, commenced a careful and systematic inquiry into the
nature of the Trilobites with which it seemed to abound, and he
now presents us with some very valuable results. In a preliminary
discourse he offers many important remarks upon the affinities and
anatomy of this group of animals, and after a very elaborate com-
parison of all the forms which he could detect in his district with
those published by British and foreign authors, citing among the
latter several works very little known to us, he arrives at the con-
clusion, that of sixty species in this paleeozoic tract, fifty-two belong
to true Silurian strata (for the greater part Lower Silurian), and
eight only to the enormously developed carboniferous limestone of
the North of Ireland. This fact is quite in accordance with what
has long been my belief, that the Silurian or oldest palzeozoic group
is the great centre of Trilobitic life. Describing many new forms,
which are figured, he establishes several new genera, among which
the Rhemopleurides, obtained from the Lower Silurian rocks, is a
very curious and apparently quite distinct trilobite. ‘There are
but small traces of Upper Silurian or Devonian deposits in this
district, the greater part of it being covered by a carboniferous
series, consisting, as the mountain limestone of Ireland is known
to do, of much sandstone and slate as well as limestone. Find-

82

ing in it several shells which are eminently characteristic of the
lower, as well as of the upper beds of that great formation, he in-
fers, and I think with perfect justice, that the mountain limestone
of the North of Ireland must be compared with the whole and not
with the upper. part only of that formation in the North of England ;
an opinion I am prepared to support, by having found last. summer
several shells (notably the Sanguinolaria undata), which are pub-
lished. by Captain Portlock from the north of Ireland, in the very
bottom beds of the limestone of Berwickshire and, Northumberland,
Confining myself to the researches of this author in the paleozoic
rocks, on which he has shown so much skill, must also request my
hearers to, consult this volume of the Irish Geological Survey; for
much information| respecting the overlying strata, among which
some new features of the Keuper formation are sketched with the
author’s usual fidelity. l bis
. From the researches of Captain. Portlock I turn to. those of
Mr. Griffith, who spent.many. years in, preparing the, Geological
Map of Ireland, and for which. he» has deservedly received much
praise. \In a very elaborate comparative table, of the fossils of the
mountain limestone series of Ireland, presented to the Manchester
Meeting of the British Association, Myr. Griffith divides that: series
into five subformations, which in ascending order are the, Yellow
Sandstone, Carboniferous Slates, Lower Limestone, Calp, and Upper
Limestone. He also shows that the two lower of these subdivisions
must, from their fossils, many of which ascend into, the overlying
strata, be classed: with the mountain limestone series, and not with
the Devonian rocks; in which case, I would observe, that they must
also be classed with the sandstone, limestones and shale of Berwick-
shire, to which allusion has already been made. I am the more in-
duced to believe in the accuracy of this comparison, because Count
Keyserling and myself have this year confirmed the observation of
Professor Sedgwick, made in 1828*, viz. that Posidoniz, similar to
those in the culm limestones of North Devon, exist in. the middle
of the mountain limestone ‘series of Northumberland, As Mr.
Griffith has shown that the Irish Calp, which also occupies the middle
place in the limestone of Ireland, contains the same peculiar fossils,
the parallel may now be considered as very well established, between.
this central mass of the mountain limestone in these distant localities,
Drawn up as this table has been under the directions of Mr,
Griffith, by a diligent young naturalist of good promise, Mr. F.
M‘Coy, there can be no doubt that it is entitled to much con-
sideration, and that its publication will be very useful. In, refer-
ence to the comparison instituted by Mr. Griffith between the
strata of North and South Devon and those of Ireland, I may
observe that it is of infinite importance to the establishment of a
true series of equivalents, that large adjacent tracts of country
should be surveyed, and their fossils compared by the same obser-
yers, for the want of which identical species may sometimes obtain

* Sée Professor Sedgwick and Mr, Murchison, Geol, Trans. vol. iii. pe 693.

83

different specific names; thus considerably interfering with a nice
discrimination of the groups.

Paleozoic Fossils:—Betore 1 quit the subject of the older British
rocks, it is my duty specially to call your notice to a memoir just
published in your Transactions, because, although inserted by order
of the Council, and throwing great light on British paleeozoie remains,
it has not yet been sufficiently alluded to from this Chair. It is the
work of MM. de Verneuil, and D’Archiae on the Fauna of the
Paleozoic Rocks. In the first instance this memoir was designed to
consist simply of adescription, by M. E. de Verneuil, of the organic
remains of the Rhenish provinces explored by Professor Sedgwick
and myself, and of which you have) now our published views. -M.
De Verneuil, who combines the attainments of a good conchologist
with those of a geologist, had accompanied us during a part of our
survey of that region, and approving the general classification, had
kindly offered to illustrate our views by the use of the very fine fossils
from the Rhine and the Hifel which his cabinet contained. While
instituting the comparisons necessary to prove, by evidences indepen-
dent of those in England, that the Devonian is a true intermediary
type, the subject became enlarged in his hands, and he was so fortu-
nate as to procure the assistance of his friend the Vicomte D’ Archiac.
By combining researches and making a variety of comparisons, their
work soon acquired great value, not merely as regards an accurate
description of beautiful organic remains, admirably lithographed,
but as containing also a general tabular list of the fossils of the De-
vonian system in Europe, as compared with the species of the Silurian
and Carboniferous deposits in the Rhenish provinces.

This table, enriched as it has been‘up to the moment of publica-
tion by additions drawn from recent researches in Russia, must be -
considered a standard acquisition, the intrinsic merit of which can
only be estimated by those who are aware of the labour and range of
study which its preparation required. Nor are the general views of
the authors, which are embodied in their preface, less worthy of
consideration, for they exhibit an intimate acquaintance with fossil
zoology and its relations to each great system of the paleeozoic rocks ;
whilst it must be satisfactory to British geologists, that the induc-
tions of these foreign naturalists are in harmony with those of Mr.
Phillips, drawn from his own observations upon the fossils of De-
von and Cornwall. As this is the first occasion on which French
geologists have presented to us a memoir illustrating the writings
of our own countrymen, I am: confident you will unite with me
in thanking them most cordially for their liberal and enlightened
assistance. Whilst considering the paleozoic classification established
in Great Britain, I have, therefore, thought it not irrelevant thus to
allude to the labours of foreign geologists which support it; and I
have the pleasure of acquainting you, that in addition to their
claims upon us, MM. D’Archiac and de Verneuil have, during the
last summer, explored parts of Normandy and Brittany, where they
have clearly recognised in that obscure tract, the same paleozoic
divisions as exist in the Rhenish provinces and the British Isles.

84

I cannot take leave of the paleozoic rocks of our own
islands without communicating to the Society a fact, which,minute
as it may seem to be, is of interest in regulating our views re-
specting the development of animal life. The Rev. P. B. Brodie, to
whose researches in the secondary rocks I shall presently allude,
informs me, that he lately discovered in the Silurian limestone on
the west flank of May Hill, Gioucestershire, two palates of fishes.
Now as the rock in question is of the age of the Wenlock lime-
stone, we learn that fishes existed in the inferior *as well as in
the superior member of the Upper Silurian rocks, in which they
had previously been noticed. No trace, however, of Vertebrata has
yet been discovered in the widely extended and enormously thick
Lower Silurian deposits.

Igneous Rocks of South Staffordshire—As connected with the
older depositary rocks of the central counties of England, I will now
direct your attention to some recent observations on the changes to
which they have been subjected by igneous agency. Besides form-
ing a most instructive museum, singularly rich in Silurian and Car-
boniferous species (including many unpublished), the Geological
_ Society of Dudley, to the establishment of which I last year alluded,
has produced a report ‘On the Igneous Rocks of the South Staf-
fordshire Coal-field*,’ not yet printed, with the results of which I
am convinced you will thank me for making you acquainted. In
the southern portion of this coal-field there are centres of eruption
where the basaltic and trappean matter, rising from the bowels of
the earth, completely cuts through the surrounding carboniferous
strata, dislocating and altering them in the manner which has been
pointed out by Mr. Keir, Mr. Arthur Aikin, and other observers,
including myself. In regard to the lateral injections of the igneous
matter among the coal strata, Mr. Blackwell, by comparing the
shaft-sections of contiguous collieries, has shown, that however a
single vertical section might seem to afford grounds for belief, that
such igneous matter had been formed as a bed, yet that in reality it
traverses various depositary strata in a slightly oblique direction,
and often thins out in the form of a wedge. From such apparently
horizontal masses, vertical dykes, with occasional lateral veins of
white felspathic rock, varying in thickness from a few inches to.
three or four yards, are seen to rise up and traverse the coal-beds
in the most irregular manner, though such dykes are not found to
produce any derangement in the regular measures. Another good
fact observed in relation to a supposed horizontal sheet of basalt in
the midst of the sedimentary strata, is, that the beds on which it
rests are less subject to faults and dislocations than those which lie
above it; the intruded mass, indeed, sometimes rising up to the
surface and forming a knoll, occasionally bare, and at other places
covered by the coal strata, which mantle round it.

The report also proves, that some of the chief faults which radiate

* The Report to which allusion is here made, including the Sections, was

drawn up by Mr. J. H. Blackwell of Dudley, assisted by Mr. W. Spencer.

85

from one of the great centres of eruption (Barrow Hill), were produced
contemporaneously with its elevation ; since the basaltic matter which
flows laterally in apparent beds, follows the line of fault, bending and
leaping up, as it were, without a break from lower to higher levels.
From this fact Mr. Blackwell infers, that the basaltic matter must
have been in fusion when it was extruded laterally along the sur-
faces of certain strata, but that the subsequent dislocation by which
these beds were moved to different levels, took place before the
igneous matter had cooled and when it was still plastic. This very
remarkable phenomenon, which is indeed similar to examples cited
by Dr. Mac Culloch, is an exception to the cases in other parts of the
district (Wolverhampton), where the beds of basalt are broken off and
change their relative places with the coal strata; and thus we learn
that in the same district the faults were not all produced at one period.

Near Wolverhampton, the underground trap, which is spread over
an area of five miles by two, is to a great extent perfectly conform-
able to the coal-measures above and below it; but when traced for
upwards of three miles, its nonconformity to the coal-beds becomes
apparent, and this is further confirmed by the giving off of white
vertical felspathic dykes, similar to those before alluded to. It is,
however, worthy of record, that no centre of eruption has yet been
discovered in this part of the district whence the flow of basaltic
matter could have been derived, though it is believed that it may
have proceeded from the distant Rowley Hills.

After minutely elucidating the distinctions and the variations of
structure and form in the various trappean rocks of this district, the
report proceeds to point out the changes which have been produced.
in the coal-measures by their intrusion. The same beds of coal, which
in parts of the field exempt from basalt are highly bituminous, are,
when in contact or in the vicinity of that rock, either converted into
anthracite or charred into cinders. In the Wolverhampton tract the
upper portion of the coal beneath the greenstone is entirely cut out,
whilst the lower part is converted into anthracite, and often fissured
by vertical joints, accompanied by veins of calcareous spar; as if,
in driving off the bituminous matter of the coal, the extreme heat
had also occasioned a contraction of the carbonaceous mass. Be-
sides these alterations of the coal, the beds of ironstone are equally
affected, the clay being rendered porcellaneous, and the sandstones,
usually much hardened, are in some cases even vitrified.

In addition to these changes, which are analogous to effects ob-
served in other countries, and are such as a high degree of tempera-
ture will readily explain, other alterations are cited, with some of
which, indeed, Mr. W. Matthews acquainted me when I examined the
tract, and the solution of which is not so easy ; viz. that beds slightly
impregnated with iron at a distance from them, become gradually
more charged with it as they approach the igneous rocks, and are
of very superior quality in their immediate vicinity. This fact, in-
deed, is perfectly in accordance with what I have lately observed in
the Ural Mountains, where masses of iron ore are crystalline and
even highly magnetic when in contact with eruptive rocks.

86

' Another point dwelt upon, perhaps still more curious, and which
also requires the consideration of the chemist, is, that wherever
igneous rock is present in the neighbourhood of beds of coal, and

yet separated from them by an intervening substance, which has.

prevented their’ being injured by intensity of heat, the coal is fre-
quently what is called “ brighter and more bituminous !”

With such facts before them, the authors of this report are aware,
that other agencies than those of mere heat, are required to account
for the production of iron concretions: and the crystalline: struc-
ture of coal; but whilst they think that electric and magnetic cur-
rents must also have operated in bringing about some of the results,
they are convinced that the presence of igneous matter, often ex+
tended laterally in the form of vast beds; must have had ‘a great
share in the production of such phenomena. | Having myself taken
no little interest in the formation of the Dudley and Midland Geo-
logical Society*, I hail this:report upon the physical-condition of

the subterranean masses of that tract as worthy of the approbation,

of men of science in all countries; for the history of Dudley is that
of many regions of the earth, which have been penetrated: by in-
trusive matter.

SEcONDARY BritTisH Rocks.

New Red Sandstone.—Our knowledge of the structure and con-
tents of the uppermost member of the New Red Sandstone has,
been considerably increased by the researches of Mr. Phillips and
the Ordnance Surveyors. In our Memoir of parts of Gloucester,
shire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire, Mr. H. Strickland and
myself pointed out the existence of a peculiar bed of sandstone sub-
ordinate to the marls underlying the Lias, and we were led, on ac-
count of the fishes and shells, contained in it, as well as from the

footmarks of peculiar saurians and its geological position, to refer this,

rock and the associated marls to the Keuper formation of Germany
and France. The more detailed researches of Mr. Phillips confirm
this view, and show that, the sandstone is far more continuous than
was believed ; winding with remarkable sinuosities over large areas,
and characterized by peculiar,fishes and other fossils. With such clear
types to guide them, the Ordnance surveyors will, I trust, be able, as

they move northwards, to show the exact line of separation between —

this deposit of Keuper marl and sandstone, and the great masses of
inferior red and yellow sandstone, which extending from Warwick
northwards, occupy large portions of the central counties, and expand
into the great formation on the banks of the Mersey, so strikingly,
characterized by the footmarks of the Cheirotherium. These lower

sandstones must, I contend, be placed.on the parallel of the Bunter.

Sandstein of the Continent, in which similar impressions occur, and
can never be confounded with the upper marls and sandstone of the
true Keuper +. te se v
-® See Address to the Dudley and 'Midlatia Counties Geological Society,
1841 7 OM Lewd od

t Since this Address was read, I have been informed by my friend Dr,

£

87

. Lias and Oolites.—W hen we consider the number of years during
which the oolitic system and the lias have been submitted to the re+
searches of geologists, it might be expected that few or no new fossils:
remained to be discovered ia them, but such is not the case.. When-
ever fresh investigations are made, undeseribed forms appear, and of
this we! have just had a striking example in the neighbourhood of
Cheltenham, where one of our members, Mr. Buckman, has collected
a vast number of new species characterizing each stratum in the Lias
and Inferior Oolite, and has published a most instructive tabular
view, illustrating much more completely than myself, the order
which I formerly pointed out to this Society. He has in short detected
many undeseribed organic remains, throughout the series from the
Lower Lias to the Stonesfield Slate inclusive, some of which will
be figured in a new edition of the outline of the Geology of the
neighbourhood: of Cheltenham.

And here; whilst speaking of detailed sections of the same forma-
tion in distant localities, I request my countrymen, who have studied
this portion of the series, and who may travel through Germany, not
to omit to visit the noble sections of lias exposed at Banz in Upper
Franconia, to which I called your attention nine years ago, and which
have since been grouped and described by M. von Buch in his ge-
neral work on the Jura formations. In mentioning this foreign lo«
eality, I specially recommend to your notice a detailed tabular view,
by M. Theodori of Banz, of the strata between the Keuper and the
Inferior Oolite. With one sandstone at its summit atid another at
its base, the great blue lias portion of the formation is separated into
no less than forty-six bands, each of which is distinguished by either
peculiar mineral or zoological characters, the upper portion being

oe
it

Buckland, that he has re-discovered among the mislaid treasures of his
museum, certain saurian remains from Guy’s Cliff to which much interest
was attached, and that Professor Owen has pronounced them to belong to
the species of Cylinzdricodon described by Jager from the Keuper sandstone
of Wirtemburg. When Mr. Strickland and myself contended that the sand-
stone of Guy’s Clif and Warwick did not represent the Keuper, we did so
from positive stratigraphical evidence, which proved that a thick formation
of marl and sandstotie was interpolated between the base of the Lias and
the Warwick sandstone. We may, indeed, have been cartied too far in say-~
ing that the discovery of the same ‘species of saurian described by Jager
must,determine the age of the rock; for we are not yet sufficiently ac=
quainted with the distribution of the fossils of the 77ias, to know whether
some species may not be. common to the whole of that group, and in Eng+
land,.where the muschelkalk is wanting, it is ne easy matter to draw the
line of zoological demarcation between the Keuper and Bunter sandstones.
In the mean time it will be admitted, that Mr. Strickland and myself
‘pointed out, for the first time, an upper stagé in the series of the New Red
Sandstone of England, which, containing peculiar organic remains, was
proved to be distinct from the underlying masses of red sandstone (Wars
wick, &c.), and. whatever,may be the, names attached to them, these two
formations must henceforward be distinguished from each other in English
geology, lov: .eeait

88

chiefly characterized by bituminous slaty marl, alternating with
Posidonia and Monotis limestone; the middle mass by consisting
of slaty clay and alum-shale with a great profusion of our well-
known lias fossils; and the lower part .by Gryphite limestone with
its underlying shale and sandstone.

I have alluded to this detailed section, not only because I know,
from personal inspection of the spot, that the author is well
acquainted with the position of the numerous fossils which he
cites, but also to impress upon you, that differing, as this section
does, in lithological features from our British types of Lias, the
agreement between the fossils of the two countries is very remark-
able, a great number of species being identical with our published
forms, whilst others are new. It remains, therefore, for good
conchologists to ascertain how many of our British unpublished
species are similar to the additional German forms; or otherwise
confusion may be introduced by employing two names for the same
shells.

The Rev. P. B. Brodie, to the value of whose minute researches
I last year bore testimony, has since discovered insects, of which
even the wings are sometimes preserved. He states that they are
extensively developed in the bottom beds of the Lias through the Vale
of Gloucester, an observation which he has rendered still more im-
portant, by showing that these creatures are associated with fresh-
water remains and terrestrial plants mixed up with marine shells, or
such, at ail events, as inhabit estuaries ; thus indicating the tranquil
transport of insects and plants from adjacent land, probably at that
period, in the form of scattered islands.

In reference to one member of these deposits, the celebrated bone-
bed at the base of the Lias, Mr. Strickland, in observing certain
hitherto uninvestigated appearances on its surface, has employed
the analogical reasoning of a naturalist accustomed to note the habits
of the lower vertebrata. Some of these markings he has sought to
explain by the action of fast-swimming fishes ; others by mud-feed-
ing fishes probing and turning up the surface, whilst narrow and
angular grooves are referred to the movements of an acephalous
mollusk, and fine tortuous tracks are supposed to have been caused
by the crawling of small annelids. This latter point was previously
adverted to by Mr. Atkinson *.

Wealden.—In enriching the fauna of the Wealden formation by
a second discovery of a number of new species of insects in the
Vale of Wardour, Mr. Brodie has again proved how much may be
done by minute and careful researches, and has shown us how
essentially our acquaintance with the former conditions of land and
water depend on such information. He observes, that next to the
Coleoptera, the most prevalent orders are the Homoptera and Tri-
choptera, the first of which now live on plants, similar to those found
fossil in the Wealden, and the existing species of the latter hover
over the surface of our present streams. From their broken condition

* Proceedings, vol. iii. p, 126.

89

he thinks it probable, that these insects were carried for some distance
down rivers before they reached the estuary of the Wealden*.

Cretaceous System.—Passing from the Wealden, I must allude
to two communications which this session has produced from Dr.
Mantell, both relating to the Cretaceous system. In one of these
he describes three species of fruit from the lower greensand and
chalk of Kent and Sussex, thus offering the most important addition
to the flora of that period since the publication of the compendious
memoir of Dr. Fitton. The other memoir is upon certain small
dark brownconcretions from the lower greensand of Maidstone, and to
which Dr. Mantell has given the name of Molluskite, in consequence
of their being supposed to be the carbonized remains of the soft
parts of Mollusca. This conimunication is the result of the re-
searches of Mr. W. H. Bensted of Maidstone, who collected slabs
full of these concretions, previously supposed to be of coprolitic
origin, but he suggested that they might be the soft portions of tes-
taceous Mollusca. When free, and where the peculiar substance had
been formed in considerable quantity and in a pure state, it was in-
ferred by Dr. Mantell that the soft parts had floated away from the
shell after the death of the animals, as often occurs at present among
living testacea. Chemical examination by the Rev. J. B. Reade and
Mr. Rigg detected animal carbon in the substance of some of these
bodies.

TERTIARY PERIOD.

The session has not added much to our knowledge of British Ter-
tiary deposits. Mr. Trimmer, well known to us by his researches in
detrital phenomena, has lately expressed his opinion that the pecu-
liar eroded surface of the chalk, in which pipes filled with sand or
gravel are of frequent occurrence, was produced by the action of the
sea during a period which preceded the deposit of the London clay.
There can be no objection to this view being applied to all those
corroded surfaces of the chalk, which are surmounted by the Eocene
deposits of plastic clay and sand and London clay, including, I would
add from the recent observations of Count Keyserling and myself, the
junction of the chalk and Lower Tertiary in Alum Bay. It would,
however, be manifestly wrong to suppose, that such a corrosion of
the surface of the chalk had not also been effected at other and sub-
sequent periods; and as proofs of a still more recent. corrosion,
the observer has only to examine the shore and cliffs near Brighton,
and see how similar cavities have been filled up by a breccia, in
which the bones of elephants are imbedded.

Some remarkable concretions in the Tertiary beds of the Isle of
Man (where the newer marine Pliocene strata were first described
by Professor E. Forbes, and shown by him to occupy perhaps a larger
area than in any one locality of the British Isles), have elicited from

* See observations on the Neocomian not being an equivalent of the
‘Wealden, p. 67. I may here also state, that Mr. Robertson of Elgin has
discovered some of the fresh water shells of the Wealden, intercalated in
the oolitic strata of Brora. His memoir will soon be read.

VOL. IV, PART I. H

90

Mr. H, Strickland the suggestion, that they were caused. by wage
of water, or by the action of wind during ebb-tide, \

b Among the terrestrial phenomena which have recently sate
notice, is the discovery by Dr. Riley of a bone-cavern in the Moun-
tain Limestone of Durdham Down near Bristol, the opening of which
has been conducted by Mr. Stutchbury, who has described its con-
tents. Distinguishing, as Dr. Buckland had formerly done, the cavities
formed by fissures in the rock, into,which bones had been washed
with detritus of rocks and soil, or into which whole animals had
fallen, from caverns inhabited by extinct species of canine animals,
Mr. Stutehbury shows, that the facts observed in this case entirely
favour the latter hypothesis, the bones (among which those of the
hyeena vastly preponderate) being fractured into small bits without
the admixture of any rolled or far-transported detritus. The most
novel point connected with this cavern is, that several of the hard-
est bones and teeth have been split across, and their parts relatively
moved, as if the detrital mass had been affected by faults posterior
to its original deposit; which movements may, Mr. Stutchbury sup.
poses, have been connected with the operations which closed the ori-
fice of the aperture *.

Geological Dynamics.—Detrital Phenomena.— Raised Bonthes
and Shingle Terraces.—Marks of Ancient Levels-of the Sea.—In
previous years Mr. Hopkins led the way in applying mathematical
and mechanical knowledge to geology, and,in a memoir which will,
I trust, soon appear in our Transactions, he shewed satisfactorily,
that the transverse fissures through the ranges which bound ellipti-
eal areas, are the necessary mechanical effects of the upheaval of
such districts. “He now lays before us a memoir on the elevation
and denudation of the lake districts of Cumberland and Westmore-
land, in which, going further, he encounters some of the most diffi-
-eult problems in geological dynamics. The first of these is to re-
construct exactly the former conditions of this district, and certain
data being assumed, to deduce a series of geological events, the oc-
currence of which would explain’ the present position of the dif-
ferent rocks, as so many fragments of a former whole, which has
been broken up ‘at two distinct periods of eruptive agency. If all
the premises which Mr. Hopkins assumes be granted, there can be
little doubt, that with his profound mathematical and physical know-
ledge, his deductions will be aceurate; but 1 confess that two of his
postulates, viz. a perfectly smoothed down surface of the older rocks
anterior to the deposition’ of the Mountain Limestone, and the former
persistence of a continuous mantle of the latter rock over the transi-
tion, metamorphic and plutonic rocks, seem to me to be very difficult
to understand. ©

- On referring to the opinions which Professor Sedgwick has pub-
lished on the structure of the Lake Country+, I perceive, that

* A similar case occurred in the gravel beds of Darmstadt, where the
Dinotherinm was found.
+ Letters to Wordsworth in the New Guide to the Lakes,

“91

whilst he agrees with Mr, Hopkins respecting the comparatively mo-
dern origin of the existing lakes and valleys, he does not. belieye
with him that the whole ef the valleys were formed posterior to
the Mountain Limestone. On the contrary, he thinks that there
are rudiments of diverging valleys of an older period. Professor
Sedgwick must also I presume reject the hypothesis of the Mountain
Limestone having at any period been deposited as a continuous ealca-
reous sheet upon the older rocks, for he has expressed his belief that
the limestone was accumulated. as an external fringe like a yast
coral reef around a cluster of more ancient rocks. °* 6

But whatever may be their differences on these points,/I have rea-
son to think that Professor Sedgwick entirely coneurs with Mr. Hop-
kins, in the necessity of calling into play enormous aqueous eurrents
(which followed elevations) to account for much of the coarse drift
which has been poured off upon the flanks of this mountain chain.
Unwilling to call in the assistance of icebergs, and opposing the hy-
pothesis of a depression of temperature, Mr. Hopkins shows, that the
propelling forces of water alone are fully adequate to produee the
transport of all the blocks and gravel around the Cumbrian chain,
and to spread them out in the great masses of drift which encumber
the adjacent northern centres, accounting for the existence of diver-
ging currents by a number of paroxysmal elevations. Assuming
moderate upheavals of certain areas of land, to a height of 50 feet
each, from beneath an ocean having a depth of 300 and 400 feet only,
he informs us that anumber of great divergent waves would be the
consequence,

In describing the motion of such masses. of water, he invokes the
aid of those waves of “translation” whose preperties have been re-
duced to laws by the ingenious and valuable researches of Mr. Scott
Russell, and who, giving us measures of their relative velocity ar
power, has brought forward exact proofs of the transference by them
of solid bodies immersed in water. Such waves have in fact. been
generated by the experiments of Mr, Scott Russell, exactly in the
same way as Mr. Hopkins supposes waves to have originated on
the great geological scale. These experiments proye, that a sudden
elevation of a solid mass from beneath the water, causes a eorre-
sponding elevation of the surface of the fluid, which infallibly pro-
duces a wave of translation of the first order. . Now this wave is
termed one of ¢ranslation, hecause it is found not to rise and fall
like common waves, but wholly to rise and maintain itself above
the level of the water. Arguing that this wave is propagated with
a velocity which varies with the square roct of the depth of the
ocean, Mr, Russell. determines the velocity of wave transmission ;
but what is of most importance to the geologist is, that the old idea
of the agitation and power of waves extending a little way down only
in the sea, is found to be not true as touching waves of translation ;
for Mr. Scott Russell has ascertained that when they are in action,
the motion of the particles of the water is nearly as great at the bottom
as at the top. We further shows, that the body moved at the bottom,
is not rolled backwards and forwards as by a common surface-wave,

H 2

92

but has a continuous forward motion during the whole transit of the
wave's length. A complete transposition does therefore result from
the wave-transit ; and the wave of translation, says Mr. Scott Russell,
may be regarded as a mechanical agent for the transmission of power
as complete and perfect, as the lever or the inclined plane.

Arguing from these remarkable data of Mr. Scott Russell, and
applying them to our geological pheenomena, Mr. Hopkins states,
that currents of twenty-five and thirty miles an hour may be easil
accounted for, if repetitions of elevations of from 160 to 200 feet be
granted’; and with motive powers producing a repetition of such
waves, our author has no ditticulty in transporting to great distances
masses of rock of larger dimensions than any boulders in the North
of England.

In bringing his mathematical and mechanical knowledge to bear
on this difficult question, Mr. Hopkins has rendered essential service
to geologists, well convinced, as they must be, that no one cause
could have been adequate to the formation of all the varieties of
superficial detritus. He has in short arrived at numerical results,
acquainting us with the exact influence of the moving power, under
certain conditions*.

Admitting with Mr. Hopkins, that nearly all the great boulders
at a distance from the mountains from whence they were derived,
were accumulated upon the bottom of the sea, which bottom was
subsequently elevated, I regret, that whilst he allows the possi-
bility of floating ice having played a part in some cases in the
transport of large blocks, he should doubt its agency in the
country under consideration; for the North of England is
full of examples of far-borne detritus, the position of which
seems to me inexplicable by calling in the power of water
alone. Many practical geologists must, I think, admit, that in
the desiccation of the former bed of the ocean, and in its conversion
into our present lands, the submarine outline of hill and dale has
been, to a great extent, preserved; and if this be granted, no
waves of translation nor any force of water can have hurled blocks
across high ridges and deep valleys which are dransverse to the
direction which the erratics have taken, and of such relations
England offers numerous examples. To a remarkable instance
of this transport in our central counties I formerly adverted, con-
tending that without the agency of floating icebergs the phesnomenon
seemed inexplicable+, and I now direct your notice to an excellent
example of this nature which was communicated by Mr. Clay at
the last meeting of the British Association, who shows that in the
narrow valley of the Calder excavated in the carboniferous strata,
there is a group of boulders of granite and other crystalline rocks,
of which there are no traces in any part of the adjacent country.
As these blocks are separated from the Cumbrian chain by the lofty
region of Lancashire, and numerous deep, transversal or east and

* See Proc, Geol. Soc. vol. iii. p. 766. See alsoa hypothesis by the present
Master of Trinity Coll. Cambridge, on this subject, Silurian System, p. 538,
+ Silurian System, p. 585 ef seq. ’

93

west valleys, it is quite manifest that no force of water could have
hurled them to this position, their detached nature seeming singu- -
larly to favour the hypothesis, that they were carried thither by a
large mass of floating ice, which, on melting, left them as an isolated
group in this remote valley, then probably a bay or frith of an
arctic sea.

Glacial Theories —The glacial theory, as at first propounded, has
now, I apprehend, very few supporters, but to any such I recom-
mend the perusal of the theoretical investigation of Mr. Hopkins,
‘On the Motion of Glaciers ;’ for he has shown, by clear mathe-
matical analysis, that the locomotion of such bodies over large and
flat continents is a theory founded in mechanical error, and inyol-
ving conclusions irreconcilable with the deductions of collateral
branches of physical science.

Having occupied so much of your time last year with observa-
tions on the theories respecting the action of ice under both terres-
trial and marine conditions, and having then so fully expressed
my opinions on the impracticability of explaining the transport
of erratic blocks to great distances, except by the medium of
floating ice, I shall no longer enter into the list of disputants
upon a question which must be long studied, and viewed under
various aspects, before good and firm conclusions can be separated
from those which are loose and dangerous. I must, therefore,
content myself with referring you to the additional communica-
tions of M. Agassiz to the Institute of France, and to the writings
of Professor James Forbes*. The new views of the subject which
are introduced by so profound a mathematician as Mr. Forbes, lie
rather beyond the compass of the practical geologist, and lead into
the domain of pure physics. As geologists, however, you must not
omit to consult that excellent work on the Glaciers of the Alps, by
our eminent foreign associate M. Charpentier, of the existence of
which I very much regret to have been ignorant when I last ad-
dressed you; for to whatever extent we may be led to agree with or
dissent from his theories, it is quite manifest that they are founded on
patient and very long-continued observation of facts. Nor will you
pass over the ingenious views of M. Hugi, long known as an Alpine
geologist ; and you will sift the value of the evidences on which he
grounds his rejection of the views of Professor Agassiz. This subject
is now, indeed, so extended, that without revisiting the Alps or some
active centre of glacial action, it would be presumptuous to advance
any further opinions of my own.

Ready as I have always been to admit the transport of blocks in
ice from any former seat of congelation, and particularly in tracts
where marine shells of arctic characters are associated with the
surrounding drift, lam here, however, bound in candout to state, that
in my desire to see established as a fundamental point of reasoning,
“the submarine condition of by far the largest parts of the surface
of Northern Europe when erratics were distributed,” I have been

# Edinburgh Phil, Journal, 1842.

94

cattied too far in my Discourse of last year, in the endeavour
to limit the number of centres from which icebergs may have been
detached. Whilst, therefore, I cannot bring my mind to advocate
that extent of glacial action in which my friend Dr. Buckland be-
lievés, and have failed, in a recent excursion, to observe any proofs
of the existence of “ moraines” on the flanks of Snowdon, I allow
that, looking to the sea-shells which lie around it at different alti-
ttides, the summits of Snowdon may; like those of Spitabergen, have
constituted icy peaks in the midst of’ an ocean, others being at the
same time in existence in the mountains of Cumberland. This is, I
am persuaded, the full extent to which we can admit the application
of the glacial theory in England, and it therefore appears to me to be
futile to look for marks of terrestrial glaciers upon the surface of the
rocks of Cornwall or on oursouthernand eastern counties, the coasts of
which exhibit beds of marine gravel and shells at different altitudes
upon the cliffs. This observation leads us away from Alpine theories
little suited to our island, and carries our thoughts to other su-
perficial phenomena, some of which we can much more satisfac-
torily explain by means of our own insular evidences *.

Raised Beaches, and proofs of ancient Levels of the Sea.—In a re*
cent report to the French Institute, our foreign Associate, M. Elie de
Beaumont, has given the substance of a inmost important memoir by
M. Bravais, ‘On the Lines of Ancient Sea-level in Finmark.’ In-
forming us that this work proceeds from the pen of a naval officer
attached to oe of those numerous scientific enterprises conducted
at the public cost, which do so much honour to the French govern-
ment, M. de Beaumont embodies the labours of M. Bravais in a lucid
analysis of many of the facts relating to the same subject, which
have been accumulated in Norway, Sweden, and the British Isles.

' Proofs of the elevation of the coasts of Norway have been brought
before geologists by Von Buch, Brongniart and Keilhau, and have
receiitly been extended by M. Eugene Robert to Spitzbergen. Mr.
Lyell has made the British public familiar with the great oscilla-
tions which the land of Sweden has undergone since thé existence
of the present marine fauna; (for Scania has been depressed beheath
the Baltic, whilst other parts of Sweden have’ been raised) and I
may be permitted to add, that the extent to which elevations have
affected the north-eastern corner of Europe has been recently pointed
out in Russia by my companions and tyself.

In the prelude to the report on the part which M. Bravais has
performed in these labours, we are put in possession of the results
of the valuable researches of Professor Keilhau, who, prior to the
French expedition, had ascertained the levels of different accumu-
lations, all supposed to be marine, from the sea-shores to altitudes
of above 600 feet in the interior of Norway. f ‘

The greater number of geologists have for some time believed,
_ that these phenomena could alone be satisfactorily explained by

* See letters addressed to Sir Charies Lemon, Bart. M.P., published in
his last Discourse as President of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall.

95

upheaval of the land, and M. Bravais ‘es, by a new method of proof,
arrived at the same conclusion.

Passing about a year in the environs of Beemer: he observed
that terraces of gravel in some spots, and marks of erosion on,the
face of the cliffs at others, indicated at least two ancient lines of
sea-level, which extended from the coast’ far into the interior along
the sides.of the sea-loeh of Alten fiord.. Availing himself of the
water-mark left by the line of sea-weeds (Fucus vesiculosus), and
estimating from that horizon.an approximate mean level of the tide,
he instituted a series of exact measurements of the altitude of both
_ the lower and upper sea beaches, or ancient water-marks upon the
rocks, at six different stations between the mouth of the fiord and
its southern extremity, a,distance of ten-to, eighteen leagues, and,
he arrived at the striking result, that the two terraces of Alten fiord,
which at first sight, or seen only to a limited extent, seemed to be
horizontal and parallel, are, when measured rigorously, found to rise
from the levels of 46 and 92 feet. (English) above the sea near the
mouth of the firth to the heights of 90 feet and 22 feet at its further
or inland extremity! .In.referring you to the Memoir for the inge-
nious and: accurate methods employed by the author to obtain these
results, and of which M. de Beaumont has given a very clear account,
I will here simply direct your attention to some of the chief geolo-
gical considerations with which they are involved,

As these lines of deposit rise towards the interior, so as to mark
that they coincide nearly with the chief axis of elevation of the
Norwegian chain, ,and as there is a want of parallelism in the two
beaches, the relative altitudes of which vary much in short distances,
so is it obviously impossible to account for,the phenomena by any
former condition of the tides ; and the hypothesis of salt water lakes
is, from the same causes, equally inadmissible,

Submarine currents dependent upon violent elevation of the chain
will, the author contends, no. better explain the phenomena, beeause
the torrential debacles which would have accompanied such move-
ments would have left confusedly assembled drifts, and not regularly
arranged terraces. It therefore seems fair to admit that these are
truly ancient sea-beaches. The measurements of M, Bravais show,
in fact, that in proceeding from the coast into the interior these beds
not only rise to higher levels, but that their elevation has been irre-
gular, viz. that whilst the sea-ward inclination.of the older or higher
of the two. terraces, taken from a station at the middle of the fiord,
is very moderate, tae rise of the same beds from, that central point
to the southera extremity of the fiord \is ata greater, angle, and
therefore; that there has not only | been a much more intense .move-
ment of elevation over one portion of this area than another, but
that this notable. change of dip indicates the greatest movements
at. the two extremities, the centre varying slightly from the hori-
zontal, _Now from these facts (independent of all the: geological
evidence) it is argued, as before observed, that no change of level of
the sea will account for such an outline.

I will pass over those ‘parts of the report which are connected

96.

with pure physics, not only on account of my own incompetency to
do justice to them, but because I would suggest, that however cer-
tain geological phenomena may be eventually proved to be connected
with the question of the density of the earth, it is obvious that un-
equal simultaneous elevations and depressions over so small an area. -
as Scandinavia can scarcely be due to such a cause. After ably
treating this subject, and showing that great terrestrial movements
only can be admitted as explanatory of the facts observed, M. de
Beaumont refers to the works of British geologists, and suggests, as
indeed Mr. Phillips has done*, that the parallel roads of Glen Roy
may, by accurate measurement, be proved not to be parallel; and
he then goes on to show, that the lines of ancient sea-level of com-
paratively modern periods, have undergone broad undulations or
great ascending and descending movements over extensive areas.
Let us see how these views are strictly applicable to our own
country. The occurrence of ancient beaches containing marine
shells of existing species at different levels above the sea has long
been observed by geologists in the British Isles. Terraces of gra-
vel have also been noted at various altitudes. In some instances
they have been referred to the formation of lakes, but in others they
have been compared to sea shingle; in many cases also they have
been merged with diluvial deposits, and latterly an endeavour has
been made to explain some of them by the action of glaciers which
are supposed to have barred up former lakes. It may be that we
should not endeavour to refer the whole of these phenomena to one
common origin; though most persons must admit that the mass of
recent evidence proves the greater number of the superficial de-
posits, to which allusion is now made, to have been formed be-
neath the sea. Wherever, indeed, these accumulations are found
to contain marine shells so imbedded in the sand or gravel as to
resemble sea bottoms, and no doubt can remain of their origin,
the only question is, why do we find these shells at such different
altitudes ? why are the same marine remains (appealing to British
examples) placed at the height of upwards of 1600 feet in North
Wales, and a few feet only above the sea in Devonshire and Corn-
wall, and at heights varying from 200 to 400 in the central counties ?
Most geologists have been satisfied to reply (and I am myself of the
number), that in these evidences they had distinct proofs, not that
the sea had stood at an indefinite number of levels, thereby making
a most broken and irregular outline within the same period (a sup-
position apparently absurd), but that the bottom of the sea had
undergone irregular oscillations, some points having been raised to
much greater heights than others. ‘The examination of the moun-
tains of North Wales and the adjacent plains of Shropshire, for ex-
ample, could lead to no other inference; there being in tracts ab-
solutely contigucus, a difference of not less than 1000 feet between
the level at which the same species of marine shells are now lying:
and as no other portion of England or South Wales offers a trace

* See Penny Cyclopedia, Parallel roads.

97

of testacea at the higher of these altitudes, it is demonstrable, that
when the sea deposited the shells in Moel Tryfane it did not stand
at that height above the whole of England, but that the local appear-
ances resulted simply from unequal elevation of the sea’s bottom.

. All the analogous phenomena in the British Isles seem to lead to
the same conclusion.. Whilst the modern marine alluvia of the cen-
tral counties are found to rise towards Snowdon as a great centre of
elevation, the banks of gravel with similar shells ascend from the
coasts of Lancashire towards the Penine chain in the interior.
Again, in the’south-west of England, the most distinct sea-beaches yet
noticed, were ascertained to rise very perceptibly from a low level
on the south coast of Devon and Cornwall, to heights of 120 feet
above the sea in North Devon, where the elevation is more in-
tense. The valley of the Severn afforded similar proofs ; the beds
of gravel with sea-shells, between Worcester and Gloucester, near
its estuary, are slightly elevated above the sea, but in ascending to
its source, the same gravel and shells occur at altitudes of 500 to
600 feet, until finally they are seen in the lofty cliffs of Moel Try-
fane, before alluded to.

Whilst such may be justly received as absolute proofs (quite
as clear as those of M. Bravais) of more intense elevation at
some points than at others, the submarine forests along our
coasts have been supposed to offer proofs of subsidence. These
evidences, however, are not of the same satisfactory nature as
those of elevation, for it may in some instances be contended, that
the forests in question grew upon low deltas, and have been over-
whelmed by irruptions of the sea, which broke down certain banks
or natural barriers, that at one period protected them from inunda-
tion. But granting these submarine forests on the east coast of
England to be really as good proofs of a depression of the land as
any which exist on the shores of Scania, where a great subsidence
has been established, it must also be borne in mind, that the rocky
western coast of our island offers equal signs of depression, since
Cornwall and Pembrokeshire, and even Cardigan, so near to the
point of intense elevation, Snowdon, have each their submerged
forests as well as Lincolnshire. Examined, then, as a whole, Eng-
land offers many evidences which to me seem conclusive, that within
avery recent period, the land has undergone great and. unequal
movements, both of elevation and depression, in relation to the level
of the sea. Scotland and Ireland present like phenomena. In the
latter country modern marine shells have been found in many localities
at various altitudes. Scotland, so rich in superficial accumu-
lations, also offers near her shores many testimonies of former sea-
bottoms laden with numerous shells, but hitherto these remains
have only been found at comparatively low altitudes. Another
class of detritus, in which, in common with England, she is rich,
consists of extensive irregular accumulations of clay, boulders and
gravel, usually called “till,” and which may be compared with the
drift of the tract extending from Bedfordshire and the eastern

‘side of Huntingdonshire, to the coasts of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.

68

A third class is composed of gravel and sand, often atranged in ter-
races, which in some cases occur at different levels, following the
sinuosities of the bays and headlands of the seacoast; in others
ramifyiiig into the interior, along the sides of deep cavities occu-
pied by freshwater lakes. .

The well-known“ parallel roads” of Lochaber offer the most
striking example of terraces at different levels above a series of ex-
isting lakes, and their explanation has been long the subject of con-
troversy. For many years it was the favourite hypothesis, based,
however, upon the supposition of their perfect parallelism, that these
lines of shinglé were the shore lines of the lakes when they stood
at higher levels, from which they have been successively let off by
the breaking down or wearing away of their barriers. Though
stipported by ‘several good observers, this view has always presented
ereat diffictilties as to the demand apon our belief in the wearing
away and destruction of enormous barriers. Very recently, indeed,
the expounders of a terrestrial glacial theory have at once obviated
all difficulty, by constructing in their imagination enormous walls
of ice 2000 feet high, by which such lakes were formerly sup-
ported, and by the sudden melting of which they have been let off.
‘> Unable to serew my courage up to the belief in this glacial expla-
nation, I will not now repeat the many objections which must be
raised against it, but will simply join those who prefer to invoke the
more rational, and, as it appears to me, perfectly satisfactory hypo-
thesis, that all these terraces of gravel (including those of the
parallel roads) are nothing more than ancient lines of beach, which
aré so many marks of the successive rise of the land. This view is,
that, as you all know, which was so ably sustained by Mr. -C. Dar-
win, who, in pointing out their analogy to raised beaches in other
countries, has also shown, that as similar materials occur in the
great chasm of the Caledonian Canal at still greater altitude (900
feet above the sea); it was impossible to refer thein to any other
cause than submarine elevation. I have too long entertained the
Same opinion respecting most of the great gravel accumulation of
our isles, to doubt that this is the true explanation. I would add,
however, that the southern’ shores of the Murray Frith, which are
of Course open to the wide ocean, offer to my eye ‘still more con-.
vincing proofs of the accuracy of this view, than the patches of
gravel along the'Caledonian Canal. The terraces of gravel, sand and
boulders which there oceur at different levels; may, in fact, be traced
from the slopes of the mountains of Morayshire and Elgin, to those
heaps which lie in the great gorge of the centre of the Highlands;
and therefore I maintain, that all these accumulations must have
been once connected, and were all originally formed under the sea.

No one who has read M. de Beaumont’s report on the memoir of
M, Bravais, can fail to be struck with the strong, nay even direct
analogy which the gravel and shingle beds of the marine bays and
freshwater lochs of the Highlands of Scotland bear to the terraces
of the Norwegian fiords; and as the latter author has now by patient
observation brought the phenomena observed among the latter under

99

the direct control’ of eéometrical: admeasurenient, and has shown
that such lines, when correctly examined, are neither horizontal nor
parallel, so is it my duty, believing that many of the Scottish gravel
terraces have been produced by similar agency, to incite my brother
geologists to apply the rigorous method of examination of M. Bravais,
and thus to render this branch of our inquiries more exact. I en-
tertain, indeed, the most sanguine hope, that before another annis
versary passes over, the Scottish phanomena will be tested in a
sitnilar manner with these of Norway ; and, that as the beds of marine
shells in England and parts of Scotland and Ireland so clearly be-
speak great irregularities of movement in the land, so shall we be
equally able to show that in the Highlands, lines of elevation acting
from different centres and with different degrees of intensity, have
raised former sea-bottoms to the different levels at which we now find
them, whether along shores or in the deep lateral depressions by
which Scotland is so fissured. Let the memoir of M. Bravais there-
fore, with the admirable commentary of M. Elie de Beaumont, be the
stimulus to those who enter upon this inquiry, which shonld not be
limited to the parallel roads of Glen Roy, but extended to the Western
Islands and shores of the lochs of Western: Ross,: among which I
have a recollection of numerous shingle terraces, including that
so well described by Captain Vetch*; and eastwards, to the great
accuinulations adverted to on the southern shores of the Moray
Frith, which in their turn should’ be connected with the elevated
shelly beaches of Banffshire, first pointed out by Mr. Prestwichy.

‘In quitting the consideration of this very interesting topic, I cannot
however occupy this Chair without saying, that albeit British geolo-
gists have not yet employed the rigorous test applied by M. Bravais,
there is no department “of our science on which their observations
have thrown more light than that which embraces the phenomena
of ancient sea-beaches. Reasoning backwards from existing causes
and the facts of yesterday; Mr. Lyell has, by a well-digested set of
observations, led us to contemplate the very period when the ocean
was beating against our inland escarpments of chalk, and when our
valleys and those of the opposite coasts of Franee may have been
fiords like those of Norway f.

I also know that my friend Mr. Lonsdale has long entertaine
similar views, derived from his intimate’ acquaintance with the
escarpmeiit of the oolitie strata; along some of which he has ob-
served as perfect lines of dunes as those upon the sea-coast of
France, whilst in others he has been struck with their resemblance
to’ many great dislocations of marine undeyrcliffs, whereby masses
of the inferior oolite have been pitched into inclined positions at the
bottom of the adjacent valleys; and as I know that this subject is
one which now occupies his attention, I have strong hopes that by
his present residence on the coast of Devonshire, he will be enabled

* Geol. Trans. vol. i. p. 416. -
+ M. de Beaumont makes full allusion to the British cases.
} Elements of Geology, vol. 11. pp, 3—8:

.

100

to add materially to the exact conclusions which have been already
drawn in this class of researches.

Russia AND THE URAL Mountains.

Having occupied your attention during the past session with me-
moirs on the Geological Structure of so large a portion of the earth
as the Russian empire, I must make a few allusions to a subject which
has to a great extent engrossed my thoughts and those of my coad-
jutors, M. E. de Verneuil and Count A. Keyserling. Employed as we
are in preparing a work explanatory of our views, in which we hope
to do justice to all previous inquirers*, and to the Imperial Admi-
nistration of Mines which supported us, I will not on this occasion
venture to occupy more time than will.be sufficient to touch upon
some of the most striking geological features of that empire, which
either sustain or enlarge our views of classification and comparison.

Silurian Rocks.—The Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous de-
posits of Russia, are each characterized by distinct organic remains ;
and these rock systems are very clearly separated from each other over
enormous spaces. Occupying (including the Baltic islands) a tract
as large as the principality of Wales, the Silurian rocks, like those
of Norway and Sweden, are unequivocally the oldest fossiliferous
strata, since they are seen to repose upon the primary crystalline
masses of Finland and Lapland. Little elevated above the Baltic Sea
and the rivers of the northern watershed of Russia, these Silurian
rocks constitute low plateaus only of limestone, clay and sandstone,
often incoherent, and on the whole of very small thickness; thus
exhibitig the most obvious contrast to their mountainous and fre-
quently sub-crystalline equivalents in Western Europe and the Bri-
tish Isles. In their small vertical dimensions they present to us, in-
deed, a very instructive lesson, for in passing: from Norway, Sweden
and Gothland into Russia, the distinguishing strata thin out, and
losing their divisionary lithological characters, part also with many
of their characteristic shells. “When followed from one region to
another, deposits of all ages exhibit like contractions and expan-
sions, dependent on the forms of the ancient bays, the nature of
the springs and currents, and the depth of the seas in which they
were accumulated t.”

Devonian Rocks.—\f the horizontal range of the Silurian rocks of
Russia be considered large as respects our terms of comparison, what
will my associates say to the expanse over which the Devonian or next
ascending group is spread, when I tell them that it is much larger
than the whole of the British Isles? Reposing upon the low Silurian
plateaus, this widely ranging deposit rises to heights of from 500 to

* During its preparation, our general map of the Russian empire has
been much improved in its north-eastern extremity, the country beyond
Archangel which we did not visit, in consequence of the observations of
the distinguished botanist M. Ruprecht.

t+ Geological Researches in Russia (in the press) by RoderickImpey Mur-
cchison, E. de Verneuil, and Count A, von Keyserling, assisted by Lieut.
Koksharof, p. 40.

101

900 feet above the sea ; and it is very remarkable by being charged in
many localities with ichthyolites, several species of which, hitherto
considered peculiar to the Scottish Old Red Sandstone, are found
associated with Mollusks, perfectly similar as a group, and often
specifically the same, as those of the limestones of South Devon,
the Boulonnais and the Eifel. The discovery of the intermixture
of Scottish Old Red Sandstone fishes and true Devonian shells in the
same strata, was, you may believe, one of the most gratifying results
of the recent explorations in Russia, as being confirmatory of the
views of Professor Sedgwick, Mr. Lonsdale and myself respecting
the divisions and equivalents of that member of the Paleozoic Rocks.
In some parts of Russia, the Devonian rocks are red sandstones and
marls; but in an extensive central tract, where they rise into a dome
which separates the northern trom the southern basin of the em-
pire, they are composed of yellow sandy marls and limestones, which
lithologically might be mistaken for the magnesian limestone beds of
our northern counties :—so inapplicable are mineralogical terms as
marks of geological epochs.

In the vastness of their undisturbed and nearly horizontal extent,
these strata afford us most instructive proofs of the intimate con-
nection between the stony condition of the rocks and the imbedded
fossils; for, when the calcareous matter is present, various mollusks
are associated with some fishes, whilst in those tracts where the lime-
stones disappear and the beds have the characters of the Old Red
Sandstone of Scotland, fishes only can be detected : thus presenting a
remarkable analogy between the distribution of this very ancient
fauna and that of existing nature; the present great receptacles of
fishes being deep sandy bottoms, whilst shelly creatures congregate
towards the shores where calcareous springs attract them. I shall
elsewhere allude to the fishes of this deposit when speaking of the
researches of Professor Agassiz.

Carboniferous Rocks.—The Carboniferous deposits, which succeed,
cover an area as broad as that of the Devonian or Old Red rocks ;
and they are throughout clearly distinguished by a decidedly di-
stinet type of animal life, presenting in some families an extraordi-
nary number of species absolutely undistinguishable from those of
our own country published in the works of Sowerby and Phil-
lips. This system is eminently calcareous, and exhibits a vast
marine succession, in which the fossils of the Mountain Limestone
prevail, whilst in no part of the empire is there a trace of the over-
lying deposits, with which we are familiar under the term of “ coal-
measures.” Coal, however, does occur at intervals, both underlying
the carboniferous limestone, as in Berwickshire, and alternating
with its central and upper members, as in Northumberland, and the
carboniferous valleys of our lake country.

Of the latter, the extensive tracts in the south of Russia, occupying
from 10,000 to 11,000 square miles, and usually known as the
country of the Donetz, offer a very striking illustration; containing
in one district as many as seven good seams of coal, subordinate
to sandstone, shales and limestones, very analogous to those rocks

102

which abound in the western dales of Yorkshire, These strata,
based upon the crystalline reeks of the southern steppes, con-
stitute a greatly disturbed region, and, owing to numberless con-
volutions, present the most remarkable contrast to the horizontal
deposits of Central and Northern Russia. It is therefore difficult to
observe the order of succession; but, owing to our previous acquaint-
ance with the types in their normal condition, we were enabled to
trace the sequence, from conglomerates and sandstones at the base
of the carboniferous limestone, up to the equivalents of the Mag-
nesian Limestone or Zechstein.

Whilst thus briefly alluding to this tract, I musf, pass, for a time,
from my own labours, and those of my friends, of the value of which
you must judge when our work is completed, in order to mention the
recent appearance of the fourth volume of the splendid work of M.
Anatole Demidoff, ‘ Voyage dans la Russie Méridionale,’ which is
entirely devoted to the description of the carboniferous region of
the Donetz. M. Le Play, an.eminent French engineer, happily
selected by M. Demidoff to ascertain the true mineral wealth of the
tract, and to describe its physical and geological structure, has pro-
duced a work so replete with well-digested details, collected, not
only from observations of the natural features of the region and the
mines which have already been commenced in it, but also by nu-
merous borings carried on by himself or his assistants during a
period of three years, that the Imperial Government will doubtless
feel grateful to the accomplished patron who, has so liberally fos-
tered these inquiries. ;

In a large geological map, in which. the demarcations of the car-
boniferous and crystalline rocks, and also of the overlying secondary
and tertiary deposits are given, M. Le Play has grouped under
darker colours-such parts of the tract as are known to be productive
of coal, to distinguish them from those in which the mineral has not
yet been discovered, This method, doubtless, carries with it a
certain amount of information, but is! deficient in stratigraphical
meaning, for some of the beds so marked, are higher than others ;
in some the coal.is interlaced with limestone, and in others it is
almost entirely subordinate to sandstone and shale ; in one tract
anthracite exclusively prevails, in another bituminous coal, , By re-
ference, however, to the explanation, and to a series of tables, this
defect is obviated. These tables are, in fact, perfect models for the
practical mining engineer; they give at one view the direction, in-
clination, thickness and quality of the coals at each locality, also
the characters of the associated strata, as well as the state of the
works, and ‘their produce at each mine, or trial-spot. To these is
added another set of tables, in which the ehemical analysis of the
coals from forty-three different places is given by M. Malivand,
another agent of M. Demidoff.

Into such details, valuable as they are, it was not our provinee to
enter, and I will now, therefore, merely offer a few remarks explana-
tory of those points in which the geological conclusions of my friends
and self either agree or are at variance with those of M, Le Play.

103

Certain fossils. which he had brought to France, and whieh we
inspected before our journeys to: Russia (1840), first led us to be-
lieve, that these coal beds are subordinate to the carboniferous
limestone. Of this, indeed, there could be no doubt, for the species
were, to a‘ great extent, the very same as those with which we
were familiar in rocks of that. age in western Europe, On in-
terrogating M. Le Play, pesepces we could not ascertain that he
had arriyed at any defined idea of a succession of strata, derived
either from the stratigraphical order of mineral masses, or from their
imbedded organic remains, In fact, he then distinetly acquainted
us with what has now appeared in. his work, that, owing to the dis-
turbed and, convoluted condition of the strata, the want of persist-
ency of mineral characters, and the apparent existence of sitnilar
species of shells throughout the series, it was impracticable to as-
sign a base line to the ‘deposits, or to trace their uppermost limits,
still less a passage into any superior formations,

Now, as we have ventured to effect these objects, with what sue-
cess we must leave others to decide, 1 will here briefly state why
I conceive M. Le Play did not arrive at similar results; although
he had in his own hands some means of proof, which, through
the short time at our disposal, we never obtained.

No geologist, however practised, can, I venture to say, explain
the structure of any complicated part of a distant country, unless
he has made himself master of the clear suceession of its. normal
formations. Long as I have been ocenpied in the study of the Paleeo-
zoic rocks, | am confident that, had. my friends and myself been
thrown suddenly into the chain of the Donetz, and had been desired
at.once to unravel its complexity, we should have reached no other
geological result than that. to which M. Le Play has attained, viz. of
stating that the coal-seams are, as a whole, subordinate te the car-
boniferous or mountain limestone. We had, however, by two years
of extensive comparative researches, obiained an intimate acquaint-
ance, not only with the older Paleozoic rocks,of Russia generally,
but, in reference to the .carboniferous system, had conyineed ours
selves, that, throughout the enormous area over which we had traced
it, the upper or coal group of western Europe was absent; and that
the calcareous or lower group, occupying the whole carboniferous
horizon, was divisible into three stages, by help of certain fossils
characteristic of each. Again, we had ascertained, by numerous
sections on both flanks of “the Ural Mountains, that, in becoming
part of a mountain mass, this system, so uniform and so peculiar
over a space as large as an ordinary European kingdom, put on
many of the features which are so well known to those who have
studied the carboniferous limestone only in the western, parts of
Europe.

We further learnt, that, in the absence of any deposits te repre-
sent our great coal-fields, the carboniferous system was sueceeded,
in ascending order, by a vast. series of red and eupriferous deposits
to which we have assigned the name of Permian, It will not,
therefore, be arrogant on our part to say, that we entered upon

104:

the examination of the territory of the Donetz, in the possession
of elements of comparison which no previous travellers had ac-
quired.

Knowing, from the maps and instructions furnished to us by the
Imperial Administration of Mines*, that the major axis of this tract
and the main direction of the strata trend from west-north-west to
east-south-east, we resolved, after terminating our researches in
Southern Russia, to examine the chain of the Donetz in parallel
lines transverse to its general strike;-and, by carrying out this scheme,
we arrived at the conclusion, that the oldest member of the series
occupies its southern frontier, and that, after a multitude of flexures,
the central strata dip under a limestone charged with Fusuline,
fossils which we had invariably found in the uppermost bands of
limestone; the whole group being surmounted in the valley of Bach-
muth by the equivalents of the Permian system. One striking de-
ficiency, however, attached to our reconnaissance, and fortunately
it has been supplied by M. Le Play himself. Those members of
the Spciety who heard our memoirs read, will recollect the import-
ance we attach to the presence of the large Productus giganteus, as
uniformly characterizing (over vast regions in Russia) the lowest
beds of the carboniferous limestone ; and, as we now learn from M.
Le Play, that this fossil, of which he collected many individuals,
occurs in the southern part of the region, our idea is thus completely
confirmed of an ascending section from south to north.

In fact, the examination of the carboniferous region of the Do-
netz is one of the best examples that can be adduced, of the
paramount importance to the practical miner of the close study
of organic remains, in reference to the normal position of the
strata; for, throughout deep sections in the northern part of the
same territory, there is not a trace of this great Productus, whilst
all the fossils of the middle and upper strata are present. Any
one, therefore, who had felt as confident as we do, that this remark-
able fossil was as clear an indication of a lower band as the Spiri-
fer Mosquensis and Fusuline are of an upper, could not have
doubted of the general relations and order of the strata in the chain
of the Donetz.

Agreeing in the correctness of the general parallel which M. Le
Play has drawn between the deposits of the Donetz and the carbo-
niferous limestones of Great Britain, Belgium and France, I do not
believe that beyond this point his comparisons can be sustained.
The coal fields, for example, of the Low Countries and of Diissel-
dorf, with which I am well acquainted, do not offer, as he supposes,
an analogy to those of the Donetz; for in the former, coal-seams are
in no instance interstratified with the Mountain Limestone series
of English geologists, but are invariably superposed to it. Again,
in the Prussian and Belgian provinces, the mountain limestone with
sands and shale but void of coal, reposes on a fine succession of

* The instructions of General Tcheffkine, the works of Captain Ivanitzki,
and a map by Colonel Olivieri. See Journal des Mines, &c.

105

Devonian and Silurian rocks, loaded with-typical fossils; whilst
the group of the Donetz, exclusively carboniferous to its base,
rests at once either on very ancient crystalline rocks, or upon por-
phyries and other eruptive masses, to the agency of Which is to be
attributed the extraordinary contortions into which the strata have
been thrown. The true analogy, therefore, of the coal of the Do-
netz, considered in reference to other deposits of the same age, is to
be found in the north-western English districts of mountain lime-
stone, in which several workable seams occur; though in this com-
parison it must be stated, that the Russian beds contain much more
coal than the British strata. But even if we admit that, to some
extent, there is a similarity in the carboniferous rocks of South
Russia and the Low Countries, in their being both flanked by cre-
taceous deposits, we must also not omit to recognise a great dis-
crepancy, through the presence in the one case of overlying strata of
the age of the Zechstein, and in the other by the total absence of
that deposit.

To considerations of theoretical importance concerning the
changes which the surface of Southern Russia may have undergone,
and which are ably put forth by M. Le Play, I will not at present
advert; reserving my views on these points for the concluding
chapters of the work upon Russia, when all the elements which my
friends and myself can bring together shall have been laid before our
readers, to enable them to see the grounds upon which the conclu-
sions are based.

For the present, then, I take leave of this volume of M. Le Play,
which, though it contains some views of positive geology from which
I differ, must still be regarded as an important addition to the re-
cords of physical science, and as possessing much more the charac-
ter of a good monographic description of a given tract in Russia,
than anything which, from the extensive nature of our researches,
my friends and myself will ever be enabled to offer.

Permian Rocks.——On its eastern frontier, far removed from the
tract to which allusion has been made, the uppermost member of
the carboniferous limestones of Northern and Central Russia, di-
stinguished by the presence of multitudes of the foraminifer Pusu-
lina, is succeeded by the most widely spread of the Russian systems ;
to which, from its occupying the whole of the ancient kingdom of
Permia, we have assigned the name of Permian. You have been
told, that this vast group is composed of limestones, marls, great
masses of gypsum, rock-salt and repeated alternations of cupriferous
strata; and that it contains a flora and a fauna of characters inter-
mediate between those of the Carboniferous and ‘Triassic periods.
The shells are, to a great extent, those of our Magnesian Limestone
or Zechstein; and, like the conglomerate of that deposit near Bris-
tol, the Permian rocks are distinguished by the presence of The-
codont Saurians. The interest attached to these vast deposits, which
have been spread out on the western flanks of the Ural Mountains,
is increased by the inferences which have been drawn, that springs
and currents holding much copper in solution must have flowed

VOL. IV. PART I. I

106

from the edges’ ofthat highly mineralized and’ metamorphic chain,
while the Permian strata were accumulating. But the great value
of having worked outa fuller:and richer type of a group of strata
between the Carboniferous and Triassic epochs than any which
exists in Western Europe; will be found in the fossil shells, the plates
of which are already far advanced ; for, with some species hitherto
known in the Zechstein of Germany: and Magnesian Limestone of
England, we'shall publish others which are identical with or analo-
gous to forms that oceur in rocks occupying ‘the same geological
position in North»America, of whieh I will speak hereafter, and
concerning the age of which great doubts: had prevailed. ~

In America; indeed, as in Russia, these beds had been compared
with every deposit, from the coal to the Keuper inclusive, whilst! in
our work they will be:shown to have no connection with the New
Red Sandstone or Triassic group, but to occupy a definite position,
truly intermediate between that system and the carboniferous. At
the same time it is manifest, that although they overlie and are, as
they ought to be, very distinct from the Carboniferous system, yet
they contain some species of shells which occur in that’ division.
Thus it will be made evident, that after all there now remains’scarcely
any real difference of opinion on this head between Mr. Phillips’and
myself (to which I alluded last year); for Iearn from’ him, that in
England the analogy between the fossils of the Magnesian and Moun-
tain Limestone obtains to afar greater extent than could be‘supposed
from any published catalogues. I trust, therefore, that the ensuing
year will not ‘be without its fruits ih the production of new works
onthe shells of the Magnesian Limestone of our own country; and
I am glad to have it:in my power to inform you, that Mr. King, the
Curator of the. Natural. History Society of ‘Newcastle-on-Tyne, ‘is
preparing some excellent materials for this purpose. id

A better acquaintance with the Permian fossils, particularly the
prevalent Mollusea, induces me, notwithstanding the arguments!I
employed last. year, to infer that this deposit, so naturally connected
through its characteristic fossils with the Carboniferous strata, must
be classed with the Paleozoic rocks*.. ‘The physical structure of
Russia is also greatly in favour of this view; for, in large portions of
that country, there is an entire absence of the great rupture between
the Carboniferous rocks and the Magnesian Limestone, which is so
prevalent in the British Isles. ‘The examination of rocks of thisage
in North America, to which T-shall hereafter advert, leads to the
same opinion ; viz., that the Permian deposits must be viewed as the
fourth or uppermost stage of the Palzeozoie series, notwithstanding
- the occurrence of Thecodont Saurians. Ly ; isthe

Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary Strata—Overlapped \as these
Permian deposits are, in certain tracts of Russia, by red and white
marls aud sands, we ‘are not positively prepared to state (in the
absence of decisive fossil evidences) whether some of them may not

* My companions, M. de Verneuil and Count Keyserling, have long en-
tertained the same views as Mr. Phillips on this point. ; bk

107

represent: the Trias; though the. fossiliferous) limestone of Monte
Bogdo, im the steppe of Astrachan, is probably of this age. . With the
Jurassic: strata, however, which follow, and »which occur at. in:
tervals from 65° north latitude to the':countries south of ‘the
Crimea, we made ourselves well acquainted. Should the’ word
Jurassic grate upon.the ears of Englishmen, it is impossible to deny
that this geographical term is much more applicable ‘to! the strata
in question than our own, word’ “ Oolitic,” which implies, 4 strue:
ture scarcely ever seen in beds. of this. age in Russia... Whether
examined at Moscow or on the Lower Volga, they consist of black
shales and ferruginous sands, ,occasionally containing calcareous
cement-stones, and thus they present a general lithological analogy
to the Lias ; a formation, however, which is not represented in Russia,
for the fossils are‘ all referable to the groups extending from the
Inferior to the Upper Oolite, and many of them are identical with
British species. rif

I must now pass over the Cretaceous deposits which occupy
such broad spaces in Southern Russia, the Lower Tertiary beds,
some of which, on the Volga, might almost be mistaken for those
of Bognor and the London, basin, and also the «strata of. the
Miocene age, which occupy: wide tracts in Volhynia and Podolia;
merely remarking by the way, how the recent discovery'in limestone
ofan herbivorous Cetacean (to which I shall elsewhere allude) is a
yery important addition to the fauna of that, period.

Superficial Detritus— Ural Mountains, §e.—The discovery of ac-
cumulations containing recent shells of Arctic species, considerably
to the south of Archangel, was important, as showing that the great
northern blocks, which overlie them, there, were brought to their
present positions during a period which differed remarkably from the
one preceding it, and also from that which has followed it, in the
very: general prevalence of a colder climate over large.spaces; thus
enabling us very safely to infer, tbat the great erratics of the North
were transported in icebergs, which floated in an aretic sea and
occasionally grated along its bottom. But this operation; gigantic
as it: was, had. its: well-defined southern limits, as is) beautifully
proved by the general survey of the Russian Empire ; in the southern
half of which allo such<erratics cease; and fine black slime (tchor-
nozem) takes their place. Wherever the recent accumulations of
the steppes indicate’ the desiccation of brackish seas, which like
the present Caspian'were inhabited by Mollusca requiring a warmer
climate, :then:is. there also.a total absence of great boulders. On
this point J would further beg to remind you, that in our examina-
tion of the Ural Mountains, even up. to 60° north latitude, my com-
panions and: myself could trace no evidence whatever of boulders
having been transported from these mountains to great. distances
upon their flanks ; although.the peaks rise to heights of 5000 and
6000 feet above the sea, and the chain extends from-north to south
through eighteen degrees of latitude. In every portion of the Ural
Mountains, and on both their Asiatic and European flanks, the
detritus is of a purely local character; and in it are occasionally

12

108

entombed the bones of the Mammoth, Rhinoceros tichorrhinus, and
other great extinct quadrupeds, mixed up with gold sand and gravel.
Transporting ourselves to the south of Russia, we find the upper
portion of the cliffs of the Sea of Azof composed of local detritus
and clay equally charged with the same remains. :

The general examination of Russia proves in the most emphatic
manner, that the central masses of her continent, though exempt
from all plutonic agency, have undergone grand but tranquil oscilla-
tions which have scarcely at all disturbed the physical outlines of
the ancient bottoms of the sea—oscillations which have operated in
a similar manner over this vast space from the remote Silurian age,
to the close of the period antecedent to the historic era. This sur-
vey has also taught us, that the great Russian continent is surrounded
by rocks of igneous origin, the eruptions of which have corrugated
and diversified certain portions of the surface at different periods.

On her eastern or Asiatic side it has been the wish of my
friends and myself to endeavour to read off in the Ural Mountains
the effects of such derangements, and to trace the sedimentary de-
posits of Russia through the mazes of that band of great disturb-
ance. Having so recently laid before you the outline of our views
concerning this chain, and being aware that you will soon be in
possession of much additional knowledge respecting it from the pen
of the illustrious Humboldt, I will confine myself to a single para-
graph, by saying that our chief object was to refer these broken and
altered masses to their normal types.

We found this highly metamorphic chain, so rich in metalliferous
masses, to consist essentially of Silurian, Devonian and Carbonife-
rous rocks, the fossils of which we traced at intervals, notwithstand-
ing the countless ridges of igneous matter and the highly crystalline
structure which has been communicated by its eruption to the con-
tiguous sedimentary strata. A short period only has elapsed, since
rocks having quartzose, micaceous and gneissose characters would
not have been admitted into the same category with strata con-
taining organic remains; but the theory of metamorphism, founded
on patient observation and comparison, has prevailed over ancient
doctrines. The sedimentary rocks of the Ural being palzozoic,
must, indeed, be viewed as among the most ancient of the meta-
morphic class... Many other crystalline chains are of much more
recent age, as long ago, indeed, shown by M. Leopold Von Buch
and other observers. Of the truth of this I will first adduce proofs
from the Caucasian chain which bounds the Russian Empire on
the south. The second illustration of metamorphism will be de-
rived from recent researches in the Western Alps.

Caucasian Chain.—We must now estimate the efforts of an ob-
server, who, in common with Agassiz, does such honour to the little
canton of Neufchatel. Though the name of M. Dubois de Mont-
pereux has escaped the notice of my predecessors, an outline of
his chief labours was laid before the geologists of France, in 1837,
by M. Elie de Beaumont. Attention having been latterly much
directed towards Russia and the adjacent regions, it becomes my

109
pleasing duty, the additional researches of M. Dubois having been
recently published, and having myself largely profited by them, in
the construction of a map of that empire, to invite your consider-
ation to his great work.

From its diversified and varied outline, and its early historical
records, no region within the reach of Europeans seemed to have a
greater claim upon the combined efforts of geologists and historians
than the Caucasus, and yet of no country were we more ignorant.
For although travellers have, from time to time, passed over it by
* one great road or another, from the thirteenth to the present cen-
tury, and though Kupffer has well described the environs of one of
its northern peaks Elbruz, and Eichwald has explored the coasts of
the Caspian, we had never had a true picture of the physical geo-
graphy and varied inhabitants, still less of the geological structure
of this chain. No one, in short, struggling with the dangers of
climate and uncivilized inhabitants, had so threaded these mountains
and defiles as to make us familiar with them*. This Herculean
task was undertaken by M. Dubois, and most successfully has he
executed it, for his work of five volumes is that of a geographer,
historian and geologist. The lovers of Homer, Strabo and Pliny
will assuredly find in it a mine of classical recollections, a correct
identification of ancient sites and vivid sketches of ancient customs,
described by Grecian and Roman writers, some of which habits pre-
vail even to this day. Regretting, as we must, that tracts formerly
illustrious in song, and many of them still blessed with the richest
gifts of nature, should, for the most part, be now tenanted by wild
and barbarous tribes, let us the more admire the zeal and energy with
which our author, surrounded by privations, has produced so clear
a picture of this extraordinary region. Not only does M. Dubois
place before us the physical features and the social condition of the
various tribes, from the Circassians on the north to the Georgians
and Armenians on the south, but he gives us geological sections,
maps and descriptions, and thus brings the rocks of these wild and
rugged tracts into a clear comparison with known European types.

No country is more entitled to the name of metamorphic than the
Caucasus, for M. Dubois proves, that the oldest sedimentary rocks of
which it is composed, are scarcely of higher antiquity than the Lias;
whilst Ararat, in great part of recent volcanic origin, exhibits on its
flanks streams of lava, which must have flowed since the land has
assumed its present configuration. So modern is this mountain in
the records of the geologist—so venerable as the cradle of the human
race.

Let us however cast a rapid glance over some of the chief results
of M. Dubois’s researches. The central ridges of this mighty chain,

* Of the scenery, antiquities and costumes of such parts of the Caucasus
as he visited, including special illustrations of Ararat and the north of
Persia, my lamented friend Sir Robert Ker Porter brought away a rich
series of beautiful sketches, a few only of which have been published. Though
not a geologist, his faithful pencil conveys an admirable idea of the character
of the highly inclined and metamorphic strata.

110

formerly supposed to be of primary age, are nothing more than beds
of Lias and other strata of the Jurassic age, often so highly altered
as to’ resemble ancient slaty rocks, and occasionally pierced by points
of granite and greenstone. These grand and strangely changed strata
of the Oolitie series are flanked by huge buttresses of the Cretaceous
system, some members of which take the form of fucoid. schists
and greensand, whilst others are pure white chalk. Often, indeed,
assuming ancient lithological aspects, and broken into striking de-
files, covered by beauteous forests, the far-famed Circassia, from one
end to the other, is simply the'representative, on a grand scale, of our
English North and South Downs, with their fringes of greensands*.
Theexplanation of the violent disturbances to which these cretaceous
rocks have been subjected; is seen insnumerous points of porphyry
and other igneous rocks ; by which agents, the strata, altered and
thrown into highly inclined positions, have been raised to heights of
10,000 feet: above the sea. On each side of the flanks of these
gigantic mountains, essentially if not entirely composed of the
younger secondary rocks, are tertiary ‘basins. To the north
they range into the desiccated Caspians, which form the southern
steppes of Russia; and to the south they lie inclosed among
numerous ridges of plutonic and igneous rocks, | Voleanic agency,
of the same extinct nature as that with which we are acquainted
in Central France, and with which English geologists are now
familiar in) Asia Minor, from. the descriptions of our asso-
ciates Hamilton and Strickland, abounds indeed throughout many
parts of this region. Of the different phases ef eruption, the por-
phyry cone, the crater and: the coulée are the evidences; whilst
the continued existence of the latent and repressed fires of an-
tiquity is ‘traceable in the naphtha springs of the adjacent lower
countries, which are still in action, upon lines running from north-
west to south-east, or parallel to the grand line of eruption on which
the Caucasus has been upheaved.. M. Dubois distinetly marks the
great period of elevation of these tracts, when the ridges on the south
of the chain began to be the centres of many distinct voleanic vents ;
and when, by the higher and lesser elevations of districts formerly
submarine, the various “amphitheatres” in Georgia and Armenia
were formed, all of which he has personally visited. This is truly -
the region in which, if it be possible, passages may be traced, from
rocks of plutonic or submarine igneous agency, to those of pure vol-
canie and subaérial operation. To decipher order throughout a tu-
multuous sea of rocks, bristling with extinct voleanoes, is no small
effort; and if M. Dubois should not have completely succeeded in
neatly separating the porphyritic and later plutonic eruptions from
those of true veleanic age, he has at all events offered proofs, that
in many instances the former were covered by the most ancient ter-
tiary accumulations (quasi uppermost-secondary ), in which vast ac-

* The botanist will find a striking analogy between the vegetation of the
western flanks of the Caucasus and the North Downs (Box Hill) in their
respective groves of Buxus.

11]

cumulations of rock-salt, almost mingled with lava of subsequent
eruption, seem to favour this hypothesis, that the accumulation of
this mineral may in some instances have heen connected with igneous
agency.

In describing the great elevation which converted hp Caucasus
from an palin into an isthmus, and desiccated large portions of
the adjacent seas, leaving them in the condition of steppes, M. Du-
bois attaches great, weight to the evidences of upheaval of the
masses in crateriform shapes; and in tracing the succession of the
tertiary strata, he shows, that, as a great depression (Colchis) for-
merly existed between the Caucasus and Armenia, so the beds! of
rivers. which. flowed into this ancient gulf, graduate into and foam
the lowest part of such tertiary basins. )

So attractive are his descriptions, that we can actually bring nl
fore our mind’s: éye,each successive mutation; either when ‘reat
and irregular elevations raised\up the ancient sea-beds to different
levels, or when volcanoes bursting forth (some submarine, and others
under the atmosphere) barred up these basins, forming brackish and
salt lakes, many of which have since been desiccated. Seeing that he
first establishes all the fundamental points of his work on sound
observation, and identifies each formation, by organic remains,..a
geologist even may revel with M. Dubois, when; after speaking of
the superb garland of volcanic cones, whose summits, ranging from
12,000. to 17,000 feet above the sea, surround the great, desiccated
basin of Central Armenia, he allows himself to speculate on the
letting off of former inland seas and. lakes, by the waters of which
our progenitors, may have been destroyed.

Receding, however,|from these, views, which connect our science
with the: history of man, I specially beg to notice the very clear. order
of the Cretaceous system, first. pointed out, by M..Dubois on the
southern shores of the Crimea; a tract very analogous to the re:
gion of the Caucasus, ‘of, which, i in faet, it is a prolongation. Of
the trachytes, trap, pumice, lava.and scoriw. of the southern flank of
the Caucasus itself, we have no traces in its miniature the Crimea;
but a perfect epitome of all the succession of its northern and Cir.
cassian, slopes, showing a Jurassic series supporting a very complete
Cretaceous system, which the author places in perfect parallel with
the beds of similar age in Europe, with which he is acquainted.

dn referring , you, to his table which marks twelve. distinct
stages in this cretaceous system, the uppermost of which contains
TLrigonia and Ostrea gigantea, and the lowest of which is an un-
doubted type of what foreign geologists call the Terrain Néocomien,
I would here suggest that the greater, part, if not the whole, of the
series may be paralleled in the south of England, and«that too with-
out consulting other sections than those described by Dr. Fitton,
and the natural phenomena which he has’so faithfully represented.
The uppermost seven divisions of the Crimea are all evidently re-
ferrible to our chalk and chalk marl, and contain many of our ‘well-
known fossils, the only striking difference consisting in the associa-
tion of Nummulites and Cerithium gigantewm, with the Trigonie and

112

Ostree of the uppermost chalk. The beds 8 and 9, Crate chloritée
and Grés vert, containing, amid Hxogyre@ and some cretaceous fossils,
the Pecten quinque-costatus and P. orbicularis, most unequivocally
represent our Upper Greensand or “malm rock.” The marly strata
which lie beneath such beds are therefore, we may fairly presume,
the representatives of the English gault ; and, lastly, the yellow lime-
stone and sand, immediately beneath it, which forms the Neocomian
of M. Dubois, may, after all, be considered the equivalent of our
Lower Greensand, or the expansion of its lowest beds which pass
into the Wealden.

I have always regretted that so few foreign geologists have ob-
tained an adequate idea of the dimensions and importance of the
third or inferior division of lower greensand as exhibited on the
southern shores of the Isle of Wight ‘(Atherfield Rocks). In France
the formation has been little recognized beyond the Boullonnais,
where it has already almost lost its distinctive characters, and where
there are no longer the divisions of upper, middle and lower beds, *
each, as shown by Dr. Fitton, characterized by peculiar fossils. In
the south and east of France, where upper greensand and gault
abound, it now appears* that the base of the Cretaceous system is
composed of limestones identical with those of Neufchatel, and which,
participating in all the flexures of the chalk, are usually broken off, as
in the Crimea, from the Jurassic system.

It has been suggested that the Neocomian limestones may re-
present the Wealden of British geologists. But this is not, so far
as I can judge, safe reasoning; for the latest researches of Professor
Owen would lead me to believe, that the Saurians of that great
estuary formation are much more nearly allied to those of the Oolitic
or Jurassic epoch than to those of the Cretaceous period}; and
Agassiz has assured us that the fishes of the Wealden are entirely
distinct from those of the chalk.

I have before expressed my opinion on the head of Neocomian,
both to French and English geologists {, and I now repeat it, more
however as a stimulus to those who have the means to settle this
point accurately, and not because I entertain any objection to the
foreign use of the word. The term may, indeed, be very well and
appositely used in reference to the deposit throughout central and
eastern Europe, where its lithological characters are so different
from what is I presume the English type; and where they have
been so well described by Swiss and French observers. I seek
merely for the establishment of the truth; and I again ask if the
Neocomian of Neufchatel and the Crimea be not the equivalent of
the lowest Greensand of England, and of the hils-thon of Romer in
Hanover? On revisiting the Isle of Wight last spring, in company

* See discourse of last year.

+ See note p. 89, on the suppesed Wealden of the Highlands.

+ In referring to an opinion which I expressed at the meeting of the
Geological Society of France in 1829 (Bull. Soc. Geol. tom, x. p. 392 et

seq.), 1 beg to say, that it is specially to the Greensand as the chief equiva-
lent to which I refer.

113

with my friend Count Keyserling, and on finding in these beds many
true Neocomian species, [ adhered to my old opinion* ; and I now
put this question in the hope that it will be completely answered
through the labours of English geologists, and particularly of Mr.
Austen, who has, I know, commenced an inquiry into this subject,
and whose acquaintance with fossil shells and habits of field-research
well qualify him for such a task.

There is yet one point connected with the researches of M. Du-
bois on which I beg to tovch, from the admiration I entertain for
any one, who pursues science for its own sake, and achieves durable
results by his own unassisted endeavours. Occupied during ten
years of his life as an instructor of youth, M. Dubois had no sooner
realized a small independence than he resolved to enter upon this
arduous undertaking. Repelled, in the first instance, by the war
with Turkey and by the plague, he fortunately retired upon Berlin,
where, passing two years in the admirable school of geologists of
which that capital boasts, he once more set forth on his grand en-
terprize, with no other recommendation than that which his good
name, and a short memoir on Volhynia and Podolia, had acquired
for him, and no other means than his own very moderate private
fortune. Disposed, as it has always shown itself to encourage science,
the Russian government was no sooner acquainted with his designs,
than it offered him conveyances in their ships of war, and subsequently
gave other encouragement. Hence M. Dubois was enabled to reach
parts of Cireassia which would otherwise have been inaccessible ; and
thus he entered upon his remarkable journey. Revisiting the Crimea
and parts of the south and north of Russia, he returned to Berlin, after
an absence of four years, laden with much precious knowledge. But
how was he to put this before the world? Not alarmed at the prospect
of publications, from their descriptive nature necessarily very expen-
sive, M. Dubois, encouraged by M. de Buch and M. E. de Beaumont,
commenced the preparation of his works, of which five volumes and
a splendid atlas have already been issued ; and as these are to be fol-
lowed by other works, it is to be hoped that all the productions of
this spirited author will be adequately and liberally purchased by
the discerning portion of the public. I have the less hesitation in
making this appeal to my countrymen, because I really believe that
the high class of merit which belongs to the researches of M. Du-
bois is yet known to very few of them f.

Asia Minor.—It is with great satisfaction I am now able to
refer you to the work of one of our own Secretaries, as having con-

* Since this Address was read I have received a letter from Count Key-
serling, dated Petersburgh, March7, in which he acquaints me, that in a mass
of shelly rock from Kyslavodsk in the Caucasus, which has been considered
Neocomian, he has detected the same species of Thetis, Trigonia, and
other fossils as those which we collected together in the Lower Greensand
of the Isle of Wight.—MWarch 31st.

+ For the general geological. views of M. Dubois, see his letters to
M E. de Beaumont, ‘ Bulletin de la Soc. Geol. de France,’ vol. viii. p. 371
et seg. His researches have been justly appreciated in France.

‘ 114

nected the region described by M. Dubois with the southern Medi-
terranean types. Mr. W. Hamilton, who, with Mr. Strickland (his
associate during a portion of his tinve spent in the Mast), has laid be-
fore you in Pontnte years a memoir on the geology of Asia Minor,
including the Catacecaumene, a tract of extinet voleanoes, has now
published an account of all his travels, Amidst a number of new
facts which he has brought together to throw light on the geography
and history of tracts held: in. veneration. both by classical and \bib-
lical antiquaries, he has added much valuable geological information
to our previous stock of knowledge. of these little- explored. coun-
tries, and for the greater part unknown to the svientifie. In Arme»
nia he shows the existence of vast basaltic plateaus within the visual
horizon of Ararat, where he found deposits of tertiary shells extend-
ing over a surface of from 50 to 100 miles, at an altitude of upwards
of 6000 feet above the sea, a phanomenon quite analogous to one
of those instanced. by M. Dubois: and they both demonstrate. to
what great distances the powerful action which elevated Ararat and
the Caucasian chain extended. . Mr, Hamilton points out that the
limestone formations, probably cretaceous, between the Caucasus
and Erzerim’ are penetrated at numerous localities by basalt and
trap ; whilst along the southern coast of the Black Sea the rocks are

shown to be chiefly igneous towards Trebizond, and cretaceous as
they approach Sinope.’ The mountains of Pontus, from the Black
Sea to Amasia, are composed, it appears; of semicrystalline lime-
stone, accompanied by intrusive igneous rocks ; but the former passes
to the west or towards Galatia into red sandstone, containing nu-
merous deposits of rock-salt. , Lastly, the central plains of Asia
Minor, oceupying a great portioa of Galatia and Phrygia, are sup-
ported by the semi-erystalline limestone, containing Numnaulites (so
well known in the Medjterranean basin, and which has been generally
referred to the Cretaceous age), accompanied by numerous igneous
outbursts, and consisting of wide expanses of white tertiary lacustrine
limestone, some portions of which advance even to the northern range
of Mount Taurus. Such extensive data are, you will agree with me,
of essential value in enabling us to form a sound geological theory
respecting the ancient condition of the crust of the globe, and in
convineing us that tertiary sediments of lacustrine origin oceupy
areas of areat extent Mr. Hamilton has furnished the most decisive
proofs that, i in such periods, the physical conditions of the surface were
fast approaching to those which now prevail. I must, however, re-
quest every geologist who wishes to obtain a correct acquaintance
with Asia Minor, to consult the well-filled volumes of our Secretary,
which, pregnant with valuable truths, worked out with energy and
fidelity under numberless difficulties, will be placed, I fear not,
among the works which have considerably extended the boundaries
of positive e knowledge.

Turkey in Europe, Servia, §e.—Our indefatigable friend M. Boue
has the merit of having united the distant regions of Asia Minor
with Western Europe. Courting, as he has always done, a line of
useful research, however difiicailt and repulsive, it was enough for

115

M. Boué to know, that all the great tracts to the south of the Danube
and beyond, the countries of Transylvania, which he had formerly
deseribed, were untrodden by geologists. Residing, I believe, more
than two years in these rude provinces, he mad¢ himself master of
their statistics aud geography ; aud, publishing a geological sketch of
Turkey in Europe, he has also furnished us with a geological map of
that country’. Of palzozoic rocks, as distinguished by their fossils,
Turkey affords few traces beyond the small tracts at Constantinople
occupied by true Silurian strata, which Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Strick-
land made known tous. Great miasses of the inferior rocks are
stated by M. Boué to be in such 4 metamorphic and erystalline state,
and to be so penetrated by a great variety of intrusive rocks, that it
is very difficult to determine their age. With some very doubtful
exceptions, no secondary rocks, in short, ean he recognized as of
higher antiquity than the Cretaceous system, which having, for the
most part, the crystalline character which it puts on in all the Me-
diterranean, countries; is still divisible into Lower and Upper de-
posits, the former consisting of schists and sandstones with fugoids,
which represent our greensands, and the latter of a white marble
with nummulitic strata, the equivalent of our chalk. Overlying
these, our author mentions and’ lays down upon his map no less than
thirty tertiary basins, thus showing a great analogy to Asia Minor,
For such marked results our special acknowledgements are due to M.
Boué, than whom no one has accumulated a greater number of facts
in many parts of Europe; his numerous and difficult journeys ha-
ving been performed entirely at his own cost, and chiefly for the
pure love of geology.

Piedmontese Alps——\n the north of Italy and the Western Alps,
_ considerable advances have been made by the labours of M. Sis-
monda, who-is engaged in the formation of a geological map of the
Piedmontese territory, which, with the map of Sardinia by the Cava-
lier Marmora, will give a complete view of the structure of the Sar-
dinian dominions. To accomplish this, M. Sismonda.has been la-
bouring during the last ten years; and I am led to believe that in
about two years his great map will be finished. In the mean time,
and in addition to various memoirs with which you were previously
acquainted, he has recently published descriptions of the Piedmontese
Alps, Diyiding the great mass of crystalline rocks, he shows that the
inferior portion may really be called primary gneiss and mica schist ;
although other rocks, which have to a great extent the same litholo-
gical characters, but which alternate with quartzose grits, and repose
unconformably upon the first series, are truly metamorphosed aqueous
deposits. Cousidering the great derangement and changes to which
these latter rocks have been subjected, the author does not, however,
attempt to fix their age. On this point I may be permitted to
observe, that Professor Sedgwick and, myself have pointed out the

- * A geological map of a part of Servia and Albania, prepared by Colonel
Lassie, from the observations of M. Visquenil, has, by the assistance of M.
Boué, completed our acquaintance with the geology of this distant part of

Europe.

116

presence of Producti and Encrinites in crystalline rocks of the East-
ern Alps; and hence it is probable that some of these masses, in
which no organic remains have yet been discovered in the Western
Alps, may occupy the place of palzozvoic deposits. Again, a third
group is, by its mineral aspect, also apt to be confounded with the
primary rocks; and yet, as has long been known, the Lias and Ju-
rassic strata are included in it.

Since the day when M. Elie de Beaumont first exhibited to the
astonished geologists, Belemnites in chloritic and micaceous schist !
these highly altered Lias rocks have excited the most lively interest ;
more particularly as the Belemnites were found associated with
plants which M. Adolphe Brongniart identified with species well
known in the Carboniferous deposits. Anxious to explain this ap-
parent anomaly, M. Sismonda, who, on a former occasion as well as
on a recent one, was the companion of M. de Beaumont, following
these masses from Mont Blane to the department of the Lower
Alps, where they are most charged with fossils, has arrived at the
conclusion, that whether crystalline limestones, quartz rocks or
quartzose conglomerates, all these rocks belong to the great Ju-
rassic series, from the Lias to the Portland stone inclusive; the re-
spective formations being more or less metamorphic as they ap-
proach to, or recede from great centres of plutonic eruption.

On the curious and long-disputed point of the relations of the
beds with Belemnites to those with coal plants, M. Sismonda,
sustaining the views of M. de Beaumont, asserts that the sections
fairly exhibit alternations, and that the difficulty cannot be set aside
by supposing one of those reversals en masse, so common in mountain
tracts, and by which older strata are often superposed on younger.
M. Sismonda agrees, therefore, with M.de Beaumont in believing
that the plants in question lived near the spots in which they are
now found, and during the same period as the Belemnites of the Lias.
It remains for naturalisis to explain how certain plants, whose forms
indicate a climate of high temperature, may have continued to grow
during successive periods in favoured spots, though their congeners
had long been destroyed in other parts of the world.

Proceeding upwards from the Lias as a base, and seizing here
and there upon remnants of the strata from: which the impress of their
origin has not been obliterated, M. Sismonda refers certain lime-
stones, grits and schists 'to the Great Oolite. Another group, com-
posed of grits, quartzose conglomerates, psammites and schists, in
some parts metamorphic and unconformable to the preceding, (and
which, extending over the Genevese and Piedmontese Alps, is also
largely exhibited in the Alps, in the Col di Tenda, and in the Tanaro)
is referred by our author to the age of the Oxford clay ; though
preceding geologists, misled by the red colour and other characters,
had referred it to the New Red Sandstone. Among the uppermost
deposits of the oolitic series of the Alps, M. Sismonda recognizes
in certain limestones highly charged with zoophytes, the representa-
tives of the Upper or coralline Oolites and Portland rock of England.
In the Apennines of Liguria he has observed the Jurassic formations

117

covered by the cretaceous rocks with fucoids; and the greensand of
Nice, formerly described by Sir Henry dela Beche, is now shown to
repose on the Neocomian limestone of foreign geologists, a formation
which, as has been stated, there is reason to think is the represen-
tative wholly or in part of our lowest greensand.

Nor has M. Sismonda neglected the Tertiary deposits ; for by the
aid of fossils he has clearly established, that two only of the great
epochs of Mr, Lyell are represented in Piedmont: viz. the Miocene,
the strata of which are extremely dislocated, and the older Plio-
cene or sub-Apennine, which is for the most part horizontal, marking
however, by partial breaks, the period of elevation of the Eastern
Alps, whilst the Miocene beds are thrown up in the direction of the
Western Alps. In reference to this point, M. Sismonda has traced
in the Alps, the signs of five distinct and well-separated periods of
revolution or upheaval; and among the agents which have effected
the changes, he particularly shows, that whatever part the serpentine
may have played in these convulsions, it existed before the accu-
mulation of the Miocene deposits, since fragments of that rock
abound in the highly inclined pebbly beds of the Superga at Turin.

Such, Gentlemen, is a very brief sketch of some of the prominent
results of the researches of M. Sismonda ; and admiring, as you must,
the ability and perseverance with which he has accomplished them,
you will, I am sure, feel gratified in seeing that the sedimentary
rocks named by the early school of British geologists in our own
little island, have served as the base-lines or types by which order
has been elaborated in a great disturbed region, where the chaotic
assemblage of rocks and their crystalline and metamorphic cha-
racters seemed to forbid the hopes of any such comparisons.

Norra AMERICAN Georoey.

"In considering this branch of my subject it will not be expected
that I should attempt to give even the slightest sketch of the la-
bours of all the men of science who constitute the enlightened
school of geologists which has arisen within the United States.
Possessed of a theatre of research in which natural phsenomena are
developed on a gigantic scale, the rapid progress of our transatlantic
brethren has been most surprising; and the triumphs which they
have achieved are doubly gratifying to ourselves, as they are
founded, for the most part, on comparisons of their own rocks with
those which have been classified in the British Isles. The past year
has been unusually prolific in such communications, and I have
therefore confined the following remarks to those researches which
have been distinctly brought before us, referring my hearers who
wish to study the subject of North American geology in extenso, to
the original works, already forming a considerable library, including
a vast number of communications which are to be found in that
excellent periodical, the ‘ American Journal of Science,’ conducted
by Professor Silliman.

Paleozoic Rocks.—The value of the remarks of Professor W. R,

118

Rogers’ ind. his brother Professor D. H: Rogers* (oné of our own
fellows), in working out the complicated folds and contortions of a
large region of palaeozoie rocks, is well known to every English
geologist: who has: visited North America. | Placed at’ the head of
the State Surveys of Pennsylvania and’ Virginia, these gentlemen
took the oceasion of the last meeting of the British Association: to
send to this country a joint niemoir,’ entitled, “On the Physical
Structure of the Appalachian’ Chain, as exemplifying the Laws
which regulated | the elevation of great Mountain ° Chains ge-
nerally.”

The Appalachian chain, including the Alleghanies, is the great
back-bone of North America, having a length of nearly 1200 miles,
with average width of about 100 miles, and it is essentially composed
of one great mass of paleeozoic deposits conformable to each other,
which these authors and others have identified with Silurian't; De-
vonian and Carboniferous deposits.

And here an acknowledgment is justly due to our able associate
and countryman, Mr. R. C. Taylor, well known to us before he left
this country for the United States, as the author not only of good
memoirs on the Crag of his native county, Norfolk, but also of an
accurate survey and model of a part of the Gianier ganshire coal-
field. Mr. R..C. Taylor has, in fact, published several valuable sec-
tions and views explanatory of one of the coal- fields of FEES I Bl
in a separate work on that country.

Extending from north-east to south-west, the older ‘rocks of the
Appalachian chain have been thrown into a number of anticlinal
ridges and synclinal valleys from 100 to 150 miles in length, and all
more or less parallel to each other, but with certain deviations Fronr
rectilinear to curved directions; and of these Professors Rogers con-
stitute nine principal groups, in five of which the axes are straight.
Describing many of them, the authors show, that as the folds @ ap-
proach to the south-east, where igneous and crystalline rocks occur,
convolutions are much more rapid accompanied by many breaks
and by complete inversion of the beds. This latter phenomenon is
identified with that which has been recognized on the flanks of the
Alps and other eruptive continental chains, where the older strata
are incumbent on younger, and on the western flank of our own
little Malvern Hills, where there is, as befere said, a complete illus-
tration of inverted dip. Seeing aiso that, in proportion as they re-
cede from the main axis the folds are less abrupt, and gradually open
‘out into broad and flattened anticlinals, which entirely die away at a
certain distance from the crystalline and intrusive rocks, or towards
the interior, the authors formed a theory which they conceive to be
applicable 'to the bending and elevation of strata generally.

Comparing the undulations which mark the axes with the undu-

* See his Report on American Geolegy,, published. in the ssélamnes of the
British Association.

+ The lowest rocks of the Appalachian chain were placed i in parallel with
the Silurian rocks, by Mr. G, W, Featherstonhaugh in 1836. See Geol,
Report. Washington, 1836, p. 101.

119

latory motion of the earth during earthquakes, they believe that all
the grand ancient-flexures of North America were produced at one
time, and at the termination of the carboniferous era, up to which
period’ they were ‘all beneath the sea, and consequently still ina
flexible condition. These sediments were, it is supposed, subjected
to flexures by the ivasion from’ below of molten matter; and the pe-
euliar and numerous convolutions are explained by callinginto play
an upheaving, wave-like oscillation, accompanied by a tangential or
lateral pressure wpon fléxiblé masses which reposed upon a semifluid
matter. English geologists will recollect that, in cur account of the
earboniferous strata of North Devon, Professor Sedgwick and my-
self distinetly referred their multitudinous flexures to lateral pres-
sure; because in’ this case we had the eruptive wedge-like chain of
Dartmoor on one flank and the older sedimentary ridge of the North
Foreland and the Quantock Hills on the other, forming a resisting
buttress, betweén which the intervening strata might very well be
squeezed into their contorted shapes.’ In the American case lateral
pressure was; it appears, applied on one side only of the bent strata ;
and hence the pheiiomena described, appear to me to indicate sim-
ply-a dying out in a certain direction of the disturbing powers.

Admiring the positive geological results which have been derived
from the survey of Pennsylvania, I regret that the theoretical in-
ductions of the authors were suddenly brought before a body at
Manchester unacquainted with the country which’the authors had
patiently worked out, and on which their reasoning was mainly
founded. Unprovided alsc with the remarkable maps whieh have
been prepared by Professor H. Rogers and his assistants, and with-
out diagrams to illustrate the mechanical principles it involved, the
geologists at’ Manchester could il judge of the inerits of the theory.
A better acquaintance with the facts as well'as with the objects of
that memoir, induce nie, however, to view it as a praiseworthy effort
to establish laws of phzenomena regarding subterranean movements ;
from a careful survey of the actual positions and relations of the
masses moved in a definite but sufficiently extensive district. The
manner in which’ these laws are expressed is perfectly (it must be
admitted) in the spirit of mductive philosophy; and the intentions
of the authors in presenting them, was truly stated to be “to eall
the attention of British geologists to analogous phenomena, which
the authors think they detect in mutually parallel axes of some of
the ‘most interesting districts of Great Britain and the Continent.”
It is therefore my duty to invite your atiention to the views which
this communication embraces; and whatever may be’ your conelu-
sions respecting thé theory, to’ request you to bear in mind, that it
was suggested by a wide and successful field-survey which is replete
with sound research, and that the memoir was generously confided
to the friendly feelings of the geologists of England.

_1 would next,advert to:the labours.of, Dr, Dale Owen, of Indiana,
who ,jhas presented, this. Society with a paper on the geology of
the Western States of North America. In this memoir Dr. Owen
comprises not only the results of his own observations since 1834,

120

but also those of Dr. Troost* and Dr. Locke, the state geologists
of Tennessee and Ohio. This memoir affords a general description
of a vast country lying between 35° and 43° north latitude and 81°
and 91° west longitude, including the States of Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee ; throughout which enormous area,
the deposits are stated to belong chiefly to the Carboniferous and
Silurian systems.

Of the exceptions to this distinction, consisting of strata of the
age of the Cretaceous system which overlap these paleozoic rocks
on one frontier, and of other overlying deposits, to all of which the
author alludes, I need now take no notice. Adverting to certain
inferior masses beyond the Cumberland mountains which dip towards
the granite (the phenomenon to which the Professors Rogers allude),
it is shown, that these dislocated bands are surmounted by a series
of strata often containing abundance of organic remains. One
group of beds of shale, limestone and marl in the great Ohio valley,
and estimated to occupy a surface of 10,000 square miles, is re-
ferred, from its fossils, to the Lower Silurian rocks. The next
overlying mass consists, in great measure, of compact limestones,

-which mineralogically might be mistaken for the Great Scar or
Mountain Limestone, but which the author now unhesitatingly
compares with the Wenlock formation, pointing out that it is co-
vered by other limestones and shales, and then again by a peculiar
sandstone, the whole of which represent the Lower, Middle, and
Upper Ludlow rocks. This vast series, characterized by Silurian
fossils, sinks under enormous troughs of strata which are referable
to the Carboniferous system, their base being composed of two bands
of limestone, one of which (containing Pentremites, and called the
Pentremital limestone) is compared with the Mountain Limestone
of England, though from the previous observations of Dr. Troost
this point may be doubtful+. Can the lower limestone and part of
the supposed Upper Silurian represent the Devonian ? Lastly, re-
posing upon these, are two carbonaceous masses of prodigious ex-
tent, one of which, as large as Great Britain, is commonly known
as the great Illinois coal-field; the other, occupying parts of six
states, covers an area of at least 50,000 square miles.

In estimating the value of this memoir, I must express on the part
of this Society our obligations to Dr. Dale Owen, not only for his
lucid description of the order of succession in those great and im-
portant limestones, and for the clear sections by which they were
accompanied, but also for the very instructive suite of fossils cha-
racterizing each stratum, which he has presented to us. I have, on
a former occasion, alluded to the value of similar contributions upon
the older Rocks from the northern portion of the United States by

* Inhis Sixth Geological Report to the General Assembly of Tennessee
(1841), Dr. Troost divides the Transition rocks of that state, and comparing
the fossils, he distinctly refers a large portion of them to the Silurian aystem,
saying that there are at least three or four divisions of that system in Ten-
nessee.

+ See Troost’s Report, 1841, p. 21.

12]

Mr. Hail; and I cannot but anticipate that the close study of the
paleozoic fossils of America and of Russia, which have found their
way into our museum within the last two years, will lead to results
highly interesting to the naturalist, by showing variations of the same
species when found in very distant localities ; and most important to
the great principles of geological classification, which, when rightly
understood, can only be based upon the admission of such variations
in widely remote contemporaneous deposits.

In presiding over the Section of geologists at the Manchester.
Meeting of the British Association, when this memoir was first in-
troduced to the notice of my associates, I ventured to commend it
for its truthfulness of research and practical value, and I was happy
to find, that it was received ina similar spirit by this Society, the
members of which will doubtless take a still deeper interest in it
when they know that its author received his geological and chemical
education in University College under the tuition of our lamented
secretary, Dr. ‘Turner.

Theory of the Origin of Coal_—American and European Fvi-
dences compared.—At the last Anniversary we were aware, from the
independent evidence of Mr. Lyell, that both the bituminous and
anthracitic coals of Pennsylvania were underlaid by Stigmaria
Jicoides and fireclay ; and we have now before us the result of the la-
bours of our associate Mr. Logan in the coal-fields of Pennsylvania
and Nova Scotia, in examining which his chief object seems to have
been to ascertain whether the facts relating to the theory of the origin
of coal, as seen in North America, were analogous to those to which
he has so successfully directed attention in England.

Availing himself of the prior researches of the American geolo-
gist, Professor H. Rogers and his assistant surveyors, who had pre-
pared the valuable map of Pennsylvania above alluded to, Mr. Logan
has laid before us a very clear sketch of the general relations of the
Pennsylvanian carbonaceous deposits, and of their chief convolu-
tions. Since that time the Governor and legislature of the Canadas
have wisely selected this well-trained field geologist to execute
a mineral survey of the whole province; and I am happy to
acquaint you that he has already commenced his task in a very ef-
fective and vigorous manner, by laying down as the base-lines of his
work some of the great anticlinals and synclinals of that region, and
by connecting them with the already described feature of the
United States. In comparing the coal-field of Pennsylvania with
those of South Wales, with which he is familiar, Mr. Logan states,
that he almost invariably detected beneath each anthracitic coal-seam
a bed of fireclay or argillaceous materials filled) with Stigmaria
ficoides. In his description of the coal-fields of Nova Scotia, which
have not yet been fully developed, but among which we hear of one
bed of clear coal twenty-four feet thick, and affording 250 tons daily,
Mr. Logan states he had also detected the Stigmaria ficoides in similar
underclay. With such extended observation spread out before
them, the evidences in which all seem to point one way, young geo-
logists may well be led to suppose that the theory which, if I may so

VOL. IV. PART I. K

122

speak, has recently been rendered fashionable, of the origin of coal
by subsidence of vegetable matter \2m sétw, must be considered esta-
blished as of. general ‘application. 1, however, adhere to the cau-
tionary remarks which Ivventured ‘to make last year, and will now
endeavour to impress upon your minds the inapplicability of such
a theory, however true under. limitations, to| large portions of the
carboniferous strata in different parts of the world. if
Since our last Anniversary statements have appeared in our own
country, both supporting and impugning the probable truth of
the theory: ‘The last meeting of the British Associationi being held
at’ Manchester, geologists were there assembled in the centre of a
tract: appealed to with great reason by the supporters of this theory
as containing: many proofs of its truth; for, in the immediate) viei-
nity ofthat town there oceur, as you all know, the beautiful examples
of vertical stems of large trees apparently in their original position,
which were formerly described before this Society. After giving an
elaborate and satisfactory account of the great Laneashire coal-field,
showing that its lowest members, formed onthe flanks of the Penine
chain, and subordinate to the millstone grit, contain marine shells
analogous to those of the Mountain Limestone series, and stating
that they are surmounted by a middle and an upper group, the former
constituting the richest: coal-field, Mr. Binney describes in great
detail the composition and contents of all the numerous roofs and
floors, as well as also of the coal-seams, which are included between
them. He shows also that.the roofs vary in their nature at different
places, even over the same seam, and contain the remains of many
vegetables, sometimes,. as near Manchester, in vertical positions,
Sigillarie being in such eases a most abundant plant; other roofs
of black shale in the lower: field are loaded with Pectens; Goni-
atites, Posidonia, and fishes. ‘The coal-floors, on the contrary, pre-
sent a much greater uniformity of\ structure, fireclay similar to the
underclay of Mr. Logan being most abundant; though it is ad-
mitted, that a different or siliceous clay also frequently occurs, and
that two instances are known where the coal rests at oneé on coarse
quartzose sandstone. Seeing, that with one exception, all the floors
throughout: an estimated thickness of near 5000, feet; contain the
plant Stigmaria ficotdes usually with its leaves attached,—that both
the roofs and floors indicate a very tranquil:method of accumulation,
—thatthe coal is free from admixture of foreign or drifted materials,
and that. large trees frequently stand upright, this author is induced
to believe that the vegetables out of which the coal has been formed,
grew upon the spot. ( Jeon ail
» At the same meeting this view was contested by Mr. W.C. William-
son; also: well. acquainted with the structure of the country around
Manchester. \His:chief arguments were, however, derived from other
tracts, and they assisted in: proving,~-Ist, the frequent association
of marine shells with coal (ast Coalbrook Dale, and in Yorkshire);
Qndly, the very triturated and broken’ condition of the plants, as
well as their great intermixture im*the sandstone and grits, coupled
with the fact that large quantities of vegetables are often matted

193

together with marine and estuary shells, phanomena indicative of
drift;'' Admitting that the floors of the coal or underclay present a
great uniformity both in'the absence ‘of other’ plants and in the
almost general occurrence of the Stigmaria, Mr.’ Williamson allows
that a plant, found so very generally'in such a position, may have
grown in estuaries into’ which the other vegetables were drifted.
Acknowledging that the drift theory is open to some’ objections, he
stated that one of the greatest of) these is, in his opinion, the ex-
tent and uniformity of some of the thin seams of coal. On this point,
however, | must be permitted to say, that, if admitted, the difficulty
must be applied to’ numberless other deposits’ of all ages, which
every one knows must have been accumulated under water.) Sub
aqueous action of a tranquil nature is, it appears’ to me, precisely
the agency by which we can satisfactorily explain the uniformity ‘of
many thin layers containing vegetables which are’ extended over
wide areas, as in the copper grits of Russia before alluded to. By
what other possible means, for example, ‘can we explain the wide
extent of the thin copper slate of Germany with its associated fishes
on the still thinner bone-bed at the base of the Lias? So far then
from being a phznomenon which invalidates the formation of coal
under water, it seems to me, that the very fact of a thin and equable
deposit is an almost impossible condition, if we insist exclusively upon
the submergence of forests or jungles 27 situ, in which considerable
irregularities of outline must in all probability have prevailed.

On my own part, and that of my fellow-travellers in Russia, I
have brought before this Society what we consider strong evidences
against the too general adoption of this favourite theory. We have
told you that in many instances the Stigmaria ficoides oceurs in
loose and ineoherent sands, as well as in’ shales, and is frequently
present where no coal is ‘seen; but what we chiefly insist upon is,
that all the coal-seams of the South of Russia, without exception,
alternate repeatedly with beds of purely marine origin. In one sec-
tion of the Donetz coal-field it has been stated, that at least twelve
beds of marine limestone alternate in one vertical section with
thirteen seams of coal and numerous bands of sandstone and shale,
in which many species of plants, besides Stigmarie, are confusedly
heaped together. But we need not go to Russia for such examples.
The whole of the mountain limestone or lower coal series of the north
of England is charged, though not to so great: an extent, with proofs
of the alternation of marine:deposits with coal and its associated

‘sandstone and shale. Ty, ORE

The coast of Northumberland, to the north of Alnwick, presents
evidences of thin seams of coal resting at once on sandstone, and
intimately connected with limestone full of sea shells... Advancing
northwards to Berwick, and to beyond the ‘Tweed, purely marine
strata re-occur, charged with still more carbonaceous matter; and,
in the same series on the north-western parts of England, we have
frequent examples of the \persistence of what must ‘be called ex-
clusively marine conditions. Throughout that vast succession’ of
beds, all the animal remains with which geologists have become

K 2

124

acquainted, occupying many distinct stages, have lived in the sea,
whilst the plants, so far as I have been able to observe them (broken
into fragments), consist of many species irregularly heaped together,
the whole, together with the sands, grits, pebbles and shale, offering
the clearest signs of the drifting action of water.

On the subject, then, of the origin of coal, it would appear, that
as our inductions can never be sound, if they repose upon one class
of phenomena only, so do some coal strata offer indications of the
truth of the hypothesis, that in large tracts of the world, the mineral
was formed from vegetables which were washed into bays and es-
tuaries, and often carried far into the then existing seas. In other
instances, flat and marshy tracts rich in tropical vegetation, being
subjected to gradual depressions, may have been converted into
lagoons and swamps without any direct encroachment of the sea;
and in this peculiar condition (subjected, however, in all cases,
to entombment beneath those waters in which the overlying sand-
stone and shales were accumulated), oscillations of the land may
have raised the beds at intervals, again to be fitted for the growth
of marshy vegetables.

In geology more than any other science, it must be our constant
endeavour to unravel phenomena which at one time seemed inexpli-
cable, and often opposed to each other; but with new discoveries
the difficulties vanish, and the apparently conflicting testimonies are
found to be in perfect harmony with the order of changes, which
the surface of the globe has undergone. I repeat, therefore, my
belief, that, whilst coal may have been formed in many localities
by subsidence of vegetables on the spot on which they grew, as first
suggested by Brongniart, MacCulloch and others, its origin unques-
tionably is also due, and over very large territories, to plants having
been washed into estuaries and seas, and there equally spread out in
successive layers with sand and mud.

Gypsiferous Rocks in North America.—Having now disposed
of all the subjects relating to the known deposits of decided Pale-
ozoic age in North America, I will endeavour to show how the ex-
amination of one continent throws light upon the structure «of an-
other, by inviting your attention to the great Gypsiferous deposits
of North America, to which, in treating of Russia, I have already
alluded.

The gypsiferous strata of Nova Scotia, with their associated sand-
stone, shale, and fossiliferous limestones, were at first referred by Mr.
Logan to the triassic period; an inference which he drew from the
general character of the fossils, and their dissimilarity, as a whole,
to those of the Carboniferous rocks of that country. This opinion,
however, is one from which I know this author receded, upon finding
that some of the shells which he had brought home were recognised
by M. de Verneuil and Count Keyserling, to be identical with species
from the Permian deposits of Russia.

This comparison with the Russian strata has, indeed, received so
- much illustration by the arrival of a large assemblage of fossils
brought from numerous localities in Nova Seotia by Mr. Lyell,’

i 125

and which he has obligingly submitted to the examination of
M. de Verneuil and myself, that I have not much doubt of these
gypsiferous deposits and associated limestones of Nova Scotia,
being absolutely the same as the Permian rocks of Russia. Even
lithologically there is the greatest similarity, whether in the large
rock-masses of gypsum, BLU. and green marls, conglomerates and sand-
stones, or in the magnesian aa sandy fmaesanes and when we
compare the fossils submitted to us, the parallelism is as firmly
established as can be, between any two groups of the same age
in distant localities. It is not merely that these American strata con-
tain a few species identical with forms which typify the Magnesian
Limestone of England, the Zechstein of Germany and the Permian
rocks of Russia, but still more that such beds immediately overlying
the carboniferous deposits, and even, according to Mr. Lyell, par-
taking of some of their flexures, should be found to contaiu exactly
the same distribution of genera, and as near as possible the same
proportions of species in each genus as in the synchronous de-
posits of Europe! Again, the fossils of this group are, for the
most part, as badly preserved and limited in species in America
as in Europe, and the striking agreement of those which can
be. detected is therefore the more remarkable. Even in nega-
tive proofs the similitude is great ; for wherever these deposits have
been traced eastward through Europe and to the confines of Asia,
they have been found to be singularly deficient in chambered shells,
and such Mr. Lyell finds to be the case in the various localities ex-
amined by him in North America. But having already sufficiently
called your attention to the striking points of agreement between
the American and Russian formations, I anticipate the pleasure you
will shortly experience when Mr. Lyell brings the subject, as he in-
tends to do, before the Society.

Seeing the great variety of lithological aspects of these strata in
Russiay and that the floralas'well as the fauna are of! a type di-
stinct from those of the carboniferous age, we proposed the name
Permian, a term which I trust may be considered more applicable
to the equally diversified deposits of North America than “ Zech-
stein” or ‘‘ Magnesian Limestone,’—names which point to one mem-
ber only of this complex series as seen in Russia, and where it oe-
cupies a region larger than the whole kingdom of France!

Mr. Logan having also stated that he found slabs in some rocks
in the bay of Fundy, which he considers to be of the same age, and
which exhibit footmarks on their surface, is it possible, I would ask,
to connect with the same formation, the red and green marls of the
valley of Connecticut, though distant 400 miles, in which Ornithich-
nites occur, and which also contain remains of Paleeoniscus, a genus
of fish very characteristic of the Permian rocks? ‘To this question
we shall again revert under the head of Paleontology, in consider-
ing the Ornithichnites. of Connecticut*.

* Since the Anniversary of the Society the fossils of the gypsiferous rocks
of Nova Scotia collected by Mr, Logan have been examined by Mr. Phillips,

126

Newfoundland.—This very ancient British: colony, viewed until —
recently asa mere fishing station, but now rising rapidly into im-
portance through its internal) sources, has recently undergone a
geological survey by one of our members, which demands notice in
this portion of my! Address, because the author, Mr. Jukes, is of
opinion, that this island, contains no strata of younger age than the
Carboniferous. ‘The-eastern parts are, it appears, composed of
very thick deposits of slaty rocks, sandstones and: conglomerates,
which are divided into upper and lower masses. They are pene-
trated by different igneous rocks traced from north-north-east to
south-south-west in a number of anticlinal and synclinal lines. Great
masses of ‘the central tract are usurped by granite and various
igneous with metamorphic rocks, which are followed on the west by
a band of gneiss and mica schist with crystalline limestone*. To what
epochs any of the slaty rocks belong, has not been determined, as no
organic remains have been found in them, but on the western shores,
this ancient and crystallized series is overlapped by red sandstone,
shale, gypsum, beds of coal subordinate to shale, marl, yellow sand-
stone and grit. I here quote the ascending order which Mr. Jukes
assigns to the strata; but as he admits he never could observe con-
secutive sections, is it not possible that the great gypsiferous beds
of Newfoundland may occupy the same place in relation to the coal-
fields as in the opposite shores of Nova Scotia, and like them re-
present the Permian deposits? In fact, Mr. Jukes candidly states,
that the gypsiferous, red and inferior portion of the coal formation
(as he classes it) is so similar to the New Red Sandstone of En-
gland, that he was at first sight tempted to give it that name. Now
as these rocks are seen in one section only beneath the coal, the fol-
lowing hypothesis may be adopted: that the coal in question is not a
portion of the great old coal formation, but of the same age as the
coal in the Permian rocks of Russia, and that the strata have been
inverted where our author examined them, a phanomenon ‘easily
understood in a region so highly metamorphosed as Newfoundland,
and where rocks of the age of the Magnesian Limestone may have
been locally placed beneath true carboniferous strata. It would be
wrong, however, to attempt more than mere suggestions from any
evidence which has yet been brought before us, since Mr. Jukes
has found no traces of organic remains even in these uppermost de-
posits of Newfoundland. In truth, our associate has evidently had
to grapple with some of the most ambiguous rock-masses of North
America, in a country obscured by moss and vegetation, as yet

who is of opinion, that they bear a most striking analogy to those of the
Magnesian Limestone of England. It is satisfactory, therefore, to know
that the beds containing the footmarks are proved to be of the same age
with the gypsiferous rocks by the presence of the same group of fossils.
Mr. Logan alludes to plants which I have not seen, and the exact com-
parison of these and others collected by Mr. Lyell with Permian types is
still very desirable.—April Ist, 1843.

* See also some very interesting observations on the structure of New-
foundland in Sir R. Bonnycastle’s ‘Newfoundland in 1842,’ vol. i. p. 179.

127

impassable.to.the casual traveller, and the coasts of which are of)
very difficult aceess. He deserves, therefore, so much the more our.
thanks for having pioneered the way under many; difficulties, and.
for giving us) this outline reconnaissance of the geological structure
of a colony, to become well acquamted, with which will require
elaborate surveys; conducted, by those who have previously made
themselves masters of the keystones of succession in, the adjacent
continent. -: When, therefore, the. true, geological equivalents: of:
Canada and Nova Scotia shall have been thoroughly established by
the researches of Mr. Logan, and placed inexact relation to the.
well-developed rocks of the United. States, the obscurity which
shrouds Newfoundland, may ‘be dispelled*.

Secondary and Tertiary Rocks, and superficial deposits of North ;
America.—In my Address of last year I had. no) hesitation in pre-
dicting, that geologists would reap great instruction from the visit
of Mr. Lyell to the United States. |The earlier sketches which he
sent to us, including accounts of the Paleeozoic rocks, might be taken,
indeed, as some earnest of what was to:follow, and as. we:are
well acquainted with his powers of generalizing and habits of
faithful research, we could not well over-estimate the amount of
production at his hands. The documents which he has laid before
you have fully justified our anticipations. One of his memoirs, on
the Tertiary formations and their connexion with the chalk in Vir-
ginia, North and South Carolina, and other parts of the United
States, has a very important bearing in showing the amount) of
agreement of those deposits with the strata of similar age in Europe.
Noticing with due approbation the works of Professors W. B. and
H. D. Regers and Mr. Conrad, ‘on the Tertiary rocks of Virginia,
he shows, that certain deposits above’ the chalk are of true Eocene
character, and never contain Secondary fossils or any forms inter-
mediate between the: newer Secondary and).older Tertiary types.
These Eocene beds are surmounted by rich shelly deposits, the con=
tents of which bear a great generic resemblance to. those: of the
Suffolk crag and the tee of I ae aie and:are ther efore refer-
able to the Miocene epoch.

In North Carolina, black shales, first desenihedi by Mr. Elegies
are shown ‘to be of the eretaceous age by containing Belemnites,
Exogyre, Gryphez and Ostraex,.a few of the species being well
known in Europe, and found by myself in the distant parts of
Russia. This cretaceous deposit is covered by a peculiar. calea-
reous rock, the Wilmington limestone and conglomerate, which had
been termed Upper Secondary, and supposed to indicate a passage
from the Secondary ‘to the Tertiary periods, but.in which Mr. Lyell
could detect. no organie remains to support that opinion, the only

| regret that I accidentally omitted to call attention in my last Address
to a short memoir, read during the preceding session by Mr. Henwood,
upon the Silurian Rocks of Lockport near Niagara. Having long been
assiduously occupied in his native county Cornwall in studying “the mineral-
ization of rocks, Mr. Henwood is, 1 understand, about to publish a work on
the metalliferous deposits of Cornwall and Devon.

128

determinable species being of the Eocene age. Again, in South
Carolina, on the Santee river, a white limestone occurs, which litho-
logically so resembles one of the upper members of the cretaceous
deposits of New Jersey, that even Mr. Lyell, at a first view, had no
doubt it was a portion of the same formation: on examination,
however, of the fossils, it proved also to belong to the tertiary series.
This lithological resemblance had erroneously led to the admission
of several well-known tertiary fossils into the Cretaceous system of
America, an error which Mr. Lyell has removed. This correcticn
is valuable, and, though it tends to negative a hope which I
once entertained, founded upon what my friend Professor Sedgwick
and myself believed to be very good evidence on the flanks of the
Austrian Alps, that beds of passage would be discovered between the
Cretaceous and Eocene epochs, I am bound to say that the transat-
lantic researches of Mr. Lyell go far towards the establishment of
an extensive, though I still incline to consider not a general break
between those periods; for he prudently admits, that evidences dif-
fering from those he obtained, may be found in the Southern states
bordering the Atlantic, of which he explored but a small part. Re-
ferring you to the abstracts of his memoirs, and knowing that you
will soon have from him more complete details, I will not occupy your
time in attempting to give what would convey an imperfect idea of
the succession of the widely spread tertiary deposits, which occupy
nearly all the portion of Georgia and South Carolina between the
mountains and the Atlantic. Illustrating the observation of Mr.
Maclure, that the first falls of the Savannah and other rivers of this
region are at the junction of the tertiary strata with granitic and
hypogene rocks, Mr. Lyell shows, that at some points, as near Au-
gusta in Georgia, where the former have been made up of the de-
tritus of the primary rock, they have the aspect of gneiss; a fact
quite analogous to that which I had the pleasure of observing in his
company many years ago in Central France, where the oldest ter-
tiary and freshwater beds repose at once upon the granites of the
Puy en Velay. After a laborious comparison of a profusion of fos-
sil shells from the American strata, in the determination of which he
acknowledges the liberal assistance and co-operation of Mr. Con-
rad, Mr. Lyell sees fresh and strong grounds for adhering to his
former views respecting the value of testing the age of tertiary
strata, by the smaller or greater per-centage of existing species
which are to be detected in each deposit ; for he finds the same pro-
portions which had been established between the fossils of European
basins and the living mollusca of adjacent bays, to hold good in the
Eoeene and Miocene deposits of the United States, when compared
with the existing fauna on their shores. '
In supplying us with new evidences of the recession of the Falls
of Niagara, which he deseribed last year, Mr. Lyell has also given
us a sketch of the ridges, elevated beaches, inland cliffs and boulder
formations of the Canadian lakes and valley of St. Lawrence. After
referring to the researches of Capt. Bayfield at and around Montreal
and Quebee, he enters upon a general survey of the great boulder

129

formations on the borders of the Lakes Erie and Ontario; and
states that in the valley of the St. Lawrence, as far down as Quebec,
marine shells of arctic character have been found associated with
coarse detritus. As‘some of this shelly and boulder deposit lies at
about 500 feet above the sea, and as Lake Ontaric is at a much
lower level, it is inferred that the sea in which the drift was formed
extended far over the territory bordering that lake. That the same
sea extended as far south as 44°, 30! north latitude, is proved by
the presence on the shores of Lake Champlain, of marine shells ;
which, in their Arctic forms and close agreement with those of
Uddevalla in Sweden, formerly described by himself, are supposed
to imply, like those of the St. Lawrence, the former prevalence
of a cold climate when the drift origmated. In regard to the far
transported boulders, they have in one locality (Beauport) been found
both above and below the sea-shells.

The parallel and continuous ridges of sand and gravel, which by
Mr. Roy and other authors had been considered to be the shores
of an enormous lake, successively let off, are said to rest on clay of
the boulder formation, and yet to be occasionally capped by blocks
of granite and other hard rocks. Comparing them with the Osars
of Sweden, and stating, from the evidence of Mr. Whittlesey, that
their base-lines are not so horizontal as had been supposed, Mr.
Lyell inclines to the belief, though no shells have been found in
them, that they were all formed under water, and probably beneath
the sea, as banks or bars of sand, admitting at the same time that
some of the less elevated ridges may be of lacustrine origin. |

The last observation seems to open out the whole question of
whether vast freshwater lakes, extending far beyond the area of
those which now exist, may not, at one period, have covered the
interior of America. i

This opinion has been long entertained by our associate, Mr.
Featherstonhaugh, who, in his researches eight years ago, amid the
western and untravelled tracts, where the sources of the great rivers
are separated from each other by very slight elevations, discovered
fluviatile and lacustrine shells, wherever excavations existed or pits
had been sunk, and at great distances from the courses of the present
streams. I have the more pleasure in making this allusion to the
geological labours of Mr. Featherstonhaugh, because he near fifteen
years ago pointed out some of the chief phenomena connected with
the retrocession of the Falls of Niagara. He was among the first
persons, subsequent to his survey of large tracts of the far-west coun-
try of Arkansas, to assist in the introduction into the United States
of an acquaintance with the most modern school of English geology ;
and who, after popularizing the subject by public addresses in 1828
and 1829, urged upon the government of that country that geologists
should always accompany geographical surveyors *.

The view adopted by Mr. Roy, Mr. Featherstonhaugh and

* See Monthly American Journal of Geology, 1831, by Mr. Featherston-
haugh. ;

130.

others, of the former presence of inland lakes in North America
larger than those which: now prevail, has recently been sustained
by the Rev. Mr, Schooleraft, an American geographer,/in a memoir
which ‘he, read before the Geological Section of the: British As-
sociation at Manchester.’ This author, who. has passed nearly
twenty years of his life in theix vicinity, believes that the 'former
great lakes have been lowered by ancient dislocations. As examples
of the bottoms and edges of these former sheets of water, he adduces
large belts and traets of sandy plains, which, from their scanty vege-
tation and undulated surfaces, have all the appearance of recent desic-
cation; and as proofs of the water having stood at various levels, he
states, that it: has left marks of erosion.on the mural faces of the
harder rocks. But the most original part of this communication, and
which may indeed serve to explain the origin of some of the ridges
respecting whose origin Mr. Lyell) differs from the writers before
alluded to, is the actual production of sand-storms by causes associ-
ated with these lakes, Indicating some of the most extensive energies
of this nature proceeding from Lake Superior, and the powerful
action of storms upon sandstone and grauwacke rocks, Mr. School-
craft is of opinion, that by a union of powerful currents and furi-
ous gales, dunes have been formed which rise to 300 feet above
the water. The sand, being first worked up in great bars, has since
been transported by the wind over wide tracts, which are thusiren-
dered sterile; stagnant pools are formed in adjacent depressions,
once highly preductive, and prostrated and buried trees are there
associated with freshwater shells ; and thus by actual causes, forma-
tions of considerable thickness are accumulated. Geologists have
long been aware, that wind has been an agent in heaping up some
of the deposits whose origin they endeavour to explain, and very
striking examples of this operation were adduced by Lieut. (now
Capt.) Nelson, R.E., in his account of the modern shelly and sandy
limestone of the Bermudas. As no one, indeed, has.a better aequaint-
ance with this class of phenomena than Mr, Lyell, it is enough for me
to have attracted his notice to the vivid descriptions of Mr. Schoel-
craft, which may, I think, aid in explaining some of the superficial
appearances in the lake country of North America. rad

Let us return, however, to the memoirs of Mr. Lyell. Reviewing
the series of changes which have taken place in the Canadian and
Lake region, Mr. Lyell conceives, that after an early period of emer-
gence, during which lines of escarpment and valleys of denudation
were excavated in solid rocks, the surface of the country was
submerged, and the cavities filled with the marine boulder forma-
tion ; and that during the last elevation of the land, the parallel sand
ridges were produced, the boulder formation partially denuded, and
the different lakes probably formed in succession, leaving a partial
sea channel, which, contracting first into an estuary, was eventually
converted into the river Niagara. Reaching this point in his order of
events, our author succeeds most happily in developing his views
concerning the retrocession of the falls of this river ; bringing for-
ward arguments to show that during the re-emergence of the land

131

from. the sea, a succession of falls must first have been established
near Queenstown. The first or uppermost fall, he argues, must
have been of moderate height, when the land was’ sufficiently raised
to wear away the Niagara shale, and undermine the incumbent lime-
stone, which is of slight thickness at its termination near Queens-
town. |,/Lhis, upper fall, having thus cut its way backwards, while
the remainder of the escarpment was still protected from denudation
by submergence, the second fall would next display itself on a further
upheaval of the land, the river being thrown over a lower ledge of
hard, limestone ; finally the land continuing to rise, a third cataract
would be caused over the hard quartzose sandstone, which rests on
the soft red marl at Lewistown. These several falls would, at first,
each recede farther back than the one immediately below it, their
distance being greater or less in proportion to) the slow or rapid
rate at which the land emerged, but they would all at length be
united into one fall, the uppermost limestone becoming thicker in
its prolongation up the river, and thus retarding the retrogression
of the highest, cataract, while the two lower falls would continue to
recede at an undiminished pace, until each had in its turn over-
taken the uppermost.

In describing the coast sections of Massachussets, and in trans-
ferring our attention to the interior of Kentucky—localities already
rendered classie by American geologists and’ palzontologists—
Mr. Lyell has placed before us a clear view of other leading points
of the changes which that great continent has undergone.

The tertiary deposit at Martha’s Vineyard, on the coast of Massa-
chussets, had, indeed, been described by Professor Hitchcock, who
seeing the highly-inclined position of the beds, the great variety of
structure as well as colour of the strata, and the obscure casts of
shells which they contain, was much impressed with their apparent
similarity to the Lower Tertiary beds, or Plastic and London clay
of the Isle of Wight described by Mr. Webster. By a careful ex-
amination however of these strata, and by collecting a larger and
more varied suite of organic remains than was known to Professor
Hitcheock, Mr. Lyell has come to the conclusion, that so far from
being of the Eocene age, this formation is at most of no higher
antiquity than the Miocene. This result has been obtained by
finding the teeth of several specimens of fishes which belong to species
obtained by Mr. Lyell in the Miocene “ Faluns” of Touraine, and
determined by Agassiz; together with vertebre, referred by Mr.
Owen to two species of whale, the teeth of! a seal, and the skull of
a walrus; an association which cannot fail to convince geologists
that the materials of this island, off the coast of New England, were
accumulated at no very distant geological epoch. The high inelina-
tion of these party-ccloured sands, clay and conglomerates, and the
curvatures which some of them have undergone, probably through
great lateral pressure, are clear proofs that they have been power-
fully upheaved and dislocated ; whilst the gravel and boulder forma-
tion which covers their edges horizontally, compels us to conclude,
that the disturbed beds were submerged during the boulder period,

132

and subsequently elevated to the position in which we now sce
them. ; ,

The presence at Big Bone Lick, on the Ohio, in Kentucky, of
great quantities of bones of buffaloes near the spot where salt sources
issue through marshy lands, and the existence of the beaten tracks
by which these animals approached this spot, render it highly pro-
bable that they were allured thither during certain seasons in extra-
ordinary numbers, and that many of them were engulfed and de-
stroyed in the marshy ground.

Mr. Lyell endeavours to show that what occurred within the
historic zra to the buffalo, in all probability occurred also to the
extinct mammals, whose bones are found in the subjacent clay
and marsh to a depth of twenty-five feet, and are associated with
modern fluviatile, terrestrial and lacustrine shells, showing that floods
of the Ohio have drifted and re-arranged buffalo bones at higher
levels than the comparatively ancient marsh. Mr. Lyell suggests,
that no great physical revolution of the surface has taken place
since the Mastodons died and were buried on the spot, and at a period
not very remote from that in which we live. All these remains of ex-
tinct quadrupeds, including a horse, which from the ineurvated form
of its teeth Professor Owen believes to have been of a different spe-
cies from that which is now living, are said to have existed, as far
as the author can judge, all over North America*, at a later period
than the deposit of the great boulder drift when the continent was
submerged beneath the sea which contained shells of modern species.
In connexion with this subject, allusion is made to the observations
in South America, of Sir W. Parish and Mr. Darwin; who found
that the great Megatherioid quadrupeds lived at a very modern
geological period.

The same conclusion respecting the relative age of these fossil
quadrupeds and the recent molluscous fauna, is fully substantiated
by a clear section andan interesting memoir by Mr. Hamilton Couper
of Georgia, recently read before this Society. This author acquaints
us, that a shelly post-pliocene deposit, which extends far along the
coast, and embraces exclusively marine shells of existing species,
is covered by a swampy accumulation, in which the tusks of mam-
moth and mastodon, often in excellent condition and little abraded,
are grouped with the remains of the megatherium, horse, &c.
All this indicates a very tranquil deposit, a slow and gradual
emersion of the bottom of the sea, and a long-continued elevation of
the land during the period of those great mammals which have since
passed away and given place to man and the present races.

In bringing before us such a number of clear proofs of successive
oscillations of the continent of America, drawn from his own ob-
servations and those ef other authors, and in yeneralizing on them
with his usual skill, Mr. Lyell further deduces a very important
corollary from the Arctic character of the shells in the most recent

* Has any comparison been yet made between the teeth of the American
and the European fossil horses?

133

marine or boulder formation of the northern part of the Americaii
continent. For, as there can exist no doubt, that whenever and
wherever these shells were deposited, whether at Uddevalla in Swe-
den, near Archangel in Russia, in Great Britain or in Ameriea as far
south even as Lake Champlain, a very cold climate must have pre-
vailed; and as such submarine accumulations were elevated and
formed land before the great mammals in question appeared; so it
is manifest, as Mr. Lyell remarks, that these creatures could not
have been destroyed by the same cold as that which gave rise'to the
Arctic shells, and with them to the correlative phenomenon of the
transport of great boulders and the scratching and scorings of rocks.
This clear reasoning appears to me to be an unanswerable refutation
of a leading feature of the glacial theory as propounded in its widest
sense. At the same time 4t must be admitted, that the surface of
Great Britain does not offer the same neat division between a for-
mer submarine state and beds containing the remains of extinet quad-
rupeds, as the continent of America. In some cases, it is true,
as at Market Weighton, described by Mr. W. Vernon Harcourt,
there are accumulations of bones which lay in fine shelly clay,
with gravel below and gravel above the ciay, indicating changes
from. terrestrial and freshwater to submarine conditions.. The
Brighton breccia of Dr. Mantell is a fine example of a thick
detrital mass, of whose grandeur, and of the powerful agents by
which it was heaped up, any one who looks at its composition and
at the extraordinary erosion ‘of the surface of the chalk on which it
rests, will be convinced; and the bones of elephants are impacted
in the very heart of this mass.

Nay, nearly the whole of the cliffs of the eastern shores of En-
gland, and large tracts in Norfolk and Holderness in Yorkshire, ex-
hibit, as you know, boulder and detrital accumulations of very tu-
multuary characters, in which the remains of these great mammals
are entombed, sometimes, indeed, mixed up with broken fragments
of the same species of shells which in America, it would appear, lie
always beneath such bone deposits. |

Seeing, therefore, these great differences in the character of the
evidence, to what other conclusion can we come, than that the de-
struction of these great animals commenced at earlier periods in
some regions than in others; and that, whilst in America a gradual
and steady elevation of the land has preserved records of tracts,
which, never since submerged, have been inhabited by succes-
sive races of quadrupeds, Aenee eountries have been affected from
earlier periods by unequal and perhaps more intense oscillations, by
which the relations of these animals to submarine and terrestrial
conditions have been rendered much more obscure? In a word,
the surface of the earth exhibits, in some of its last phases, num-
berless proofs that no simultaneous general destruction of any such
lost races can have taken place ; but that each great region, when
studied in itself, presents, in the extended sense of the word, local
phenomena of accumulation, destruction and renewal.

134

SoutH AMERICA... abivod +o Ane

This year is marked’ by a great accession to’ our hoc inane
with South America, by the appearance of the splendidly illus-
trated work ‘of M. Alcide d’Orbigny, published at the expense of
the French government, and for which geologists have ‘been long
waiting with impatience. During eight years of research, this sifted
naturalist’ successively examined the coasts of Brazil; the Republic
of Uruguay, the Argentine Republic from the frontiers of Paraguay
to Patagonia, the eoasts of Chili, Peru and Bolivia ; and by a long
residence in the last-named country he was enabled to survey, in
many directions, a ‘large region from the coast to the interior.
The details of his labours form a’ first ‘part of the work, ‘illus-
trated’ by many sections and by one of most beautifully coloured
geological maps which ever fell under ia) observation. In his ge-
neral observations M. d’Orbigny remarks, that his’ own observa-
tions extend from 12° to 42° south latitude; and from 45° to 80°
longitude west of Paris; a surface comprised ‘between thé coast of
thie Atlantic Ocean in Patagonia to Lima ou the Pacific; whilst,
by ‘collecting the observations of other travellers and examining
fossils from more distant localities, his’ general views may be said
to apply to all the vast continent between Colombia on the north
and the Straits of Magellan! This author reviews in chronological
order the different rocks, and indicates'each change which they
have undergone; describing the granitic, porphyritic and trachytie
_ masses in relation to their extension, composition and elevatory
agency. He then considers in an ascending order of date the sedi-
mentary deposits, which he classifies as Gineasis or Primary, | ‘Silu-
rian, Devonian, Triassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary and Diluvial or De-
trital ; showing the dislocations: which they have undergone at
successive epochs, and the causes of these disturbances.

After an enumeration of all the facts, M.d’Orbigny, under the
head of conclusions, sketches out all the ereat revolutions of which
South America has been the scene; a subject on which ‘he seems
to display much vigour of thought, but which I cannot: now
attempt to analyse, without doing injustice to him, not having, in
truth, had time to study his work. One only of his inferences I
will advert to, as being clearly established by the order of the evi-
dences; viz. that, asthe increment of fresh matter has successively
taken place from east to west, so the ancient beds of the sea have
been: heaved ‘up successively on lines trending from north to south,
and to the west of that«primary, or original ahaa Ga on doe Bos
ee shores.

EASTERN COUNTRIES. —

Tindostan, Affghanistan and China.—Long as Hindostan has been
attached to the British) Empire, vast laeunee remain to be filled up
before a general geological map of this, peninsula can be published ;
and yet, in no part of the earth over which British rule extends, , is
an adequate acquaintance of the subsoil more required. Viewing
it as the great centre of civilization of the East, I should hail the day

135

when its governors, employing competent: geologists, shall direct a
comprehensive inquiry to be made into the whole .of its mineral
structure, the result of which must prove to be of ‘the highest na-
tional value.’ Let me not, however, do injustice to the able men who
have, from time to time, thrown light on this great subject; for in
Cautley and Falconer we have recognized geologists whose researches
in the northern parts have claimed our highest rewards ;° whilst
Christie, Franklin, Sykes, Maleolmson, Grant and: others, have been
arduous and successful explorers of the central and southern tracts.
Botanical science, warmly fostered by the Indian government, at
home and in the Kast, has flourished under the researches of Wallich
and of Royle; and much indeed even in geological inquiry has been
accomplished by the latter, who is about to give us other proofs of
his geological powers in a memoir on the Tin Mines of Senasserin.
Rejoicing in such progress, I should, however, be better satisfied if
alittle more public encouragement were extended to our science, and
that systematic geological surveys were patronized. It was, therefore
most gratifying to me to receive the first volumes of the Calcutta
Journal of Natural History, instituted by Dr. M’Cleliand ; because
it is evident, that a work so ably conducted, and acting upon the
intelligent classes in the metropolis of our Asiatic empire, must rouse
the Indian government to combine the desultory efforts of a few
geologists, who, to their great praise, have acquired their knowledge
by their,own labours, supported chiefly by the exertions of the la~
mented,,Mr. Prinsep*. The examples of the governments of the
United States and of Canada may well be taken as models; and the
truly valuable results which will follow from them, must fully satisfy
those even who Jook to science only when it can be brought into .
useful operation.

1 may here be allowed-to express a hope, that our late occupation
of Affghanistan, the travels of our.envoys, and the marches of our
gallant troops through gorges of such surpassing grandeur, have not
been made without ebtaining some gleanings of the structure of a part
of the globe which we are not likely to be able soon to look upon
again. . Alas! these wars, with all their crowning glory, have de-
prived us of one on whom, we might have depended for some recital
of the natural. history of those inhospitable defiles. When the adven-
turous Burnes explained to us, a few years back, within these walls)
the outlines of the structure of, the wild countries of Bokhara, he
taught us what we might expect from him, when he returned from
the extensive missions into the lands beyond, the Indus,.to which the
seryices of his country called him. Cut off in the midst,of his, bril-
liant career, and falling under the daggers of those in whom he placed
implicit confidence, we have lost. in; him, if, not the tutored. geole«
gist, at least the vivid delineator of natural phenomena, whose me-
mory will ever be held dear to those who had the happiness to know
him. ,Let,us hope, however, that,some. officers, of the gallant army |
which has so nobly avenged the death of Burnes and, our, other
slaughtered countrymen, may be able to give us some record of the

* See also the Madras Scientific Journal.

136

structure of that diversified region. But if we should be disappointed
in this wish, to China I trust we may turn with well-founded confi-
dence, that so vast a region may not be laid open to British enter-
prise without bringing to us some accession of natural knowledge.
Already, indeed, we learn that the quays of Nankin are stored with
the finest native coal (as if stationed there to supply our invading
steam-vessels), whilst from our former casual intercourse with the
mouths of the southern rivers, we knew that tertiary deposits oc-
eur in their vicinity. We have now to ascertain whether the
coal of Nankin is derived from a central ridge in that wide coun-
try, or whether, through the innumerable canals by which it is
intersected, the mineral is transported from the Pekin or northern
coalfield, to which I last year directed your notice. In short, by
acquiring (that which is indispensable for a people like _our-
selves, whose commercial and maritime advancement depends so
essentially upon the application of steam power,) a thorough ac-
-quaintance with the carboniferous sites in China, we shall.at the
same time obtain a general insight into the physical and geolo-
gical relations of her rocks. I would even suggest, that agents,
possessing sufficient knowledge of coal-fields and mining wealth,
should be attached to those permanent stations which are to be oc-
cupied by our forces; whence, if a friendly spirit of intercourse
is continued, excursions could be made into the interior. Thanks
to the diffusion of knowledge, our rulers can now have no diffi-
culty in procuring much useful geological information, even: by di-
recting their own officers to make the inquiries within their reach ;
and if consuls cannot be found, who to a familiarity with statistics
add the powers of scientific research, it is at all events well known,
that our highly instructed corps of Royal Engineers contains within
it several good geologists. Let therefore British statesmen en-
courage our science; and, casting their eyes around our vast
colonies, apply to them some measure of that geological research
which they are so judiciously and liberally patronizing in our own
islands.

From these anticipations of the exploration of China, we may turn
with pleasure to the recent advances which have been made in Hin-
dostan. Notwithstanding all previous researches, a great portion of
the peninsula was helieved to be slightly interesting to palzeonto-
logists, and to contain very few traces occupied by secondary strata,
as interesting as those of the Run of Cutch described by Captain
Grant. This opinion has, it appears, been much over-stated ; for
under the modest announcement of “a collection of fossils disco-
vered by the writer in rocks in Southern India,” Mr. Kaye has re-
cently made known to us the presence of considerable masses of
limestone near Pondicherry charged with Nautili, Ammonites, Ba-
culites, and Hamites, with numerous genera of conchifers and mol-
lusks,as well as with remains of Polyparia, Echinidee, and Ichthyolites.
Judging from this beautiful collection, which was exhibited at our
rooms, there can be no doubt that the fossils belong to the Creta-
ceous system, of which we have hitherto had no account in southern

137

India; whilst other remains obtained from the neighbourhood of
Trichinopoly and Verdachellum may possibly belong to intermediate
and younger deposits, and thus a strong additional incentive is sup-
plied to prosecute researches in Southern India, by the discovery of
singularly well-preserved chalk fossils, where their existence had
never been suspected.

Lt. Baird Smith, E.L.C., has furnished us with a faithful re-
cord of certain boring operations at Fort William; curious and
instructive in showing the varying nature of the deposits which
have for ages been accumulated to form the great Gangetic delta.
The lower parts 350 to 480 feet below the surface, were found
to consist of rolled pebbles and gravel of crystalline rocks, very
analogous to those described by Capt. Cautley at the base of the
Himalaya range, whilst the overlying beds were composed of clay and
sand, including some hard detritus, and much of the peculiar sub-
stance termed Kunkur, and the uppermost strata contained portions
of peat and fragments of trees.

Another short memoir on India, by the Rev. R. Everest, is upon
the high temperature of wells in the neighbourhood of Delhi.
Giving tables of the temperature of numerous wells around three
different localities, the most remote being about ninety miles
from Delhi, he finds in all a sensible increase of warmth from
the surface downwards. The author endeavours to explain the
higher temperature of these wells as compared with those of Sinca-
pore, by supposing, that in this sandy tract, entirely devoid of rivers,
rivulets, or even springs, the water is exclusively derived from the
hot south-west monsoon, which, blowing nearly from the equator,
transports and lodges a vast quantity of aqueous vapour having a
temperature of 77° to 81°; and as little or no rain falls in the cooler
seasons, this fact alone would, he supposes, account both for the
high temperature of the surface and that of the interior. Applying
this to geology, Mr. Everest says, “it may be easily conceived,
that, when a much greater portion of the globe was covered with
water and the evaporating surface was consequently larger, currents
of air charged with aqueous vapour prevailed still more and modi-
fied the ancient climate, even in still higher latitudes.”

Egypt.—Let us now consider what amount of information has
recently been laid before us concerning the structure of Egypt.
Prefacing his sketch of the geology of that country with a view of
the physical features which divide it into productive and sterile
tracts, and which are intimately connected with the nature of the
rocks, Lieut. Newbold* shows, that the horizontal position of the
great masses of depository strata affords no traces of dislocation ex-
cept in Upper Egypt, where inclined beds, fissures, and altered rocks
attest the agency of eruptive matter. An account of the hypogene
rocks, and of the peculiar “‘ breccia di verde,” is followed by a sketch
of the great sedimentary masses in ascending order, and these con-
sist of three formations only, viz. a lower sandstone, a marine lime-

* Of the East India Company’s Service.
VOL. IV. PARTI. L

138

gtone, and an upper sandstone. On the age of the first of these
rocks (much used in statuary by the ancient inhabitants), Mr. New-
bold, not having acquired fresh information, simply states that
Ehrenberg has referred it to the “Quader Sandstein,” whilst
the French author, Lefevre, has classed it with the “ Keuper,”
or “Marnes iriseés.” The next, or the marine limestone, is the
well-known building stone of the pyramids, which, from the remains
it contains, has, I believe, been classed with the calcaire grossier,
though the list of fossils given in this memoir points to Cretaceous
and Miocene as well as Eocene’ages. This limestone is inclined
and altered inthe proximity of the plutonic rocks. In the upper
sandstone, which extends into the Numidian and Libyan deserts,
and evento Abyssinia, our author founda few casts of marine shells,
but too imperfect to enable him to speculate on the precise age of
the tertiary rock. Much interest is attached, however, to this de-
posit, in consequence of its being the matrix of the trees which
constitute the petrified forest of which this Society formerly received
specimens from Lord Prudhoe, and of which my noble friend gave
mea very clear verbal description, stating that the trunks of the
trees were occasionally in a vertical position, their whole aspect con-
veying to him the idea of their being in the place of their growth.
Lieut. Newbold describes the stems as chiefly resembling those of a
fallen or prostrated forest, the trees being generally directed to
the north-west... On clearing away, however, the sand from one of
the few. stems which are vertical, he found no traces of an ancient
soil, like the dirt-bed of our Portland Cyeadez, but, on the contrary,
the end of! the trunk was imbedded in the: conglomerate which is
associated with the sandstone *. Ks

‘From ‘the remains in the limestone: and*sandstone Mr Newbold
infers, that those parts of Egypt around the country of petrified
trees had twice ‘formed the bed of) the ocean, and twice been
elevated into dry land; and that the trees in question lived in the
period between the two submergences. | Posterior to those'move-
ments of oscillation, which, from the horizontality of the strata, was
probably very gradual, the land has undergone additional elevation
around the head of the gulf of Suez, and between the Red Sea
and ‘the cliffs: which skirt: its western shores:as evidenced by a
fringe, in parts about fifty:feet high, of calcareous shelly deposits,
charged: with the‘ remains of! Radiaria, 'Testacea, and Corals which
now inhabit the Red Sea.

However ‘comparatively recent, this elevation may be, Mr. New-
bold contends, that the great dissimilarity of the faunas of the Red
Sea andthe Mediterranean,» renders it probable, that there was
an ancient barrier: of separation, and that therefore the isthmus of
Suez has not been:formed in a recent era. On this point, how-
ever, we have gained still) moredefinite information by the re-
searches of our Curator, Mr. E. Forbes, and to these I have already
alluded. :

* Myr, Robert Brown has pronounced these trees to be dicotyledonous.

139

For an account of the various intrusive rocks, and for much in-
formation respecting the alluvial accumulations, including the mud
of the Nile and the changes of the Delta of that river, as well as of
the sand-drifts which have sterilized such large tracts, I must refer
you to the Memoir itself, which indicates great assiduity on the part
of the author, and who seems to have neglected no sort of informa-
tion which could be brought to bear upon the illustration of his
subject.

After all, it must be allowed that, with the exception of the fossil
forest, and the recent elevation of her shores which separated the
Mediterranean from the Red Sea, Egypt presents fewer pheeno-
mena to interest the geologist than any region of similar range over
which researches have extended; for this mass of land seems to have
been above the waters during the whole of the ancient periods of
which other regions afford such long registers in the contents of the
Paleozoic and succeeding deposits.

We have, however, but to advance northwards to the Lycian
Taurus, where Mr. E. Forbes has made known to us the elevation
to great heights of tertiary marine shells ; or north-eastwards to Syria,
where the Dead Sea, as now computed, lies upwards of 1300 feet
below the level of the Mediterranean, and we are furnished with
the most remarkable proofs of the mighty oscillations to which the
surface has been subjected, even in recent epochs. In receding
from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, the Lake of Tiberias marks
the first depression, being 328 feet beneath the sea, and from this
lake to the Dead Sea the declination is nearly 1000 feet! A few
years back only and we were startled at the announcement, that the,
level of the Caspian Sea was 300 feet below the Mediterranean ; and
more accurate measurements have, indeed, reduced the depression
to 82 feet; but that any cavity on a portion of the present surface
should be 1300 feet beneath the level of the adjacent seas, proves
an amount of vibration within a limited area, which is truly asto-
nishing*,

PAL#ONTOLOGY.

Ichthyology.— Geologists who have commenced their career since
the glacial theory has been in vogue and have read the numerous
memoirs and heard the exciting discussions to which it has given
rise, are chiefly acquainted with Professor Agassiz as one of its
most ingenious expounders. I have now the pleasure to acquaint
you that M. Agassiz is once more completely absorbed in his great
work on fossil fishes—that work which you so justly honoured, in
the ‘year 1835 to 1836, with your Wollaston Donation and Medal.
Of his progress in this arduous undertaking, he has recently given
substantial proofs, in the description of many ichthyolites of the Old

* See the last discourse of Mr. W. Hamilton, the President of the
Royal Geographical Society, who points out this admeasurement as
being at length fixed by the admirable trigonometrical survey of Lieut.
Symonds, whose calculations of 1311 feet approach very nearly to the still
higher estimate of M. Berthou, who, from barometrical observations, placed
it at 1332 feet,

L2

140

Red Sandstone of Scotland ; and, in addition to this, he will shortly
publish a series of fossil fishes, exclusively illustrative of the tertiary
basins of London and Paris, from which an enormous number of
species has been collected.

In reference to the geological researches of my friends and myself
in Russia, I must here state, that as it is our one great object to
place in correct parallel the Paleozoic types of Russia with those of
the other parts of Europe, we could not hesitate in referring all
our Russian ichthyolites to Professor Agassiz ; for whilst it must
be acknowledged that Russia contains naturalists of great merit,
and that among them M. Pander and Professor Asmus had com-
menced inquiries into the nature of these fossils, it was obvious that,
skilful as they undoubtedly are, they could not, for want of compa-
risons, afford us the knowledge of which we stood in need. Pro-
fessor Agassiz, who has at his disposal fossil fishes from all those
parts of Europe, the geological structure of which has been well
explained, was alone capable of answering the followmg query ;
To what extent do the ichthyolites of Russia, which lie in beds
superior to the Silurian rocks, and which are surmounted by the
Carboniferous limestone, resemble those with which we are so well
acquainted in Scotland and England? His reply has indeed been
most satisfactory.

So complete, says he, is the identity of about’ ten species of the .
Scottish and Russian strata, that the specimens from the two coun-
tries may be confounded. Among them the Holoptychius nobilis-
simus, three species of the Dendrodus (Owen), Diplopterus maeroce-
phalus, are forms which might strike any good observer, as they have
been previously published by M. Agassiz ; but from the more perfect
specimens of other species which we brought from Russia, he has
been enabled to recognize the presence in Scotland of the species
of acommon Russian genus, the Glypiosteus, and also of that gi-
gantic genus the Chelonichthys, to whose remains I have before
directed your attention as having been recognized to be of ichthyie
character by Professor Asmus. To this enormous fossil fish,
some of whose thoracic bones are as large as the breast-plate of a
well-grown warrior, and a single bone of which measured nearly
three feet in length, Professor Agassiz has given the name of Che-
lonichthys Asmusii; and he now informs me that he possesses frag-
ments of the same creature from the north of Scotland. The know-
ledge of this fact will doubtless lead to redoubled activity on the
part of Mr. Hugh Miller and those Scottish naturalists who inhabit
the shores of the Cromarty and Murray friths, to produce a rival of
the Russian giant; a hope which I cannot express without deeply
lamenting the death of a most successful explorer of these remains,
whose loss geologists have to deplore, in common with every one
who could appreciate her range of thought, her accomplishments,
and her goodness*.

The results, however, of the examination of the Russian ichthy~
olites go still further; for, on submitting to the microscope of

* Lady Gordon Cumming.

141

Professor Owen some teeth similar in outline to those of his genus
Dendrodus, he discovered in them precisely the same dendridic
disposition of the vascular canals as that which led him to establish
the genus from Scottish fossils. Nor does the value of this appli-
cation of the microscope stop here, for Professor Agassiz has in-
formed me, that availing himself of the weapons which Professor
Owen had so skilfully wielded, he has commenced a series of re-
searches, not only into the teeth but also into the structure of all
the hard enamelled bones of the Russian fossil fishes, by which he
will be able to show the same distinction in the other bones of the
genera of this class, which Professor Owen has successfully esta-
blished in relation to the hard parts of the higher order of animals.
In such hands, therefore, the microscope has become an instrument
of great utility in identifying fragments apparently obscure ; and, as
it has been applied to the shells of Mollusca, and even to the lowest
links in animal life,as well as to fossil plants, the geologist has thus ac-
quired a new and powerful auxiliary. I am here, however, treading
on ground now fortunately occupied by the Microscopical Society,
the active promoters of which are well entitled to our gratitude.

_Ormithichnites—To American geologists we are indebted for our
acquaintance with this new class of phenomena. The existence of
the fossil bones of birds of ordinary size had, it is true, been ascer-
tained by Dr. Mantell in the Wealden strata, but great was our
astonishment, and I may add our incredulity, when Professor Hitch-
cock first announced, that in rocks of considerable antiquity (the
exact age of which is still uncertain), there existed mmumerable im-
pressions in successive layers, which must have been formed by
birds, some of them of gigantic size, and to which he boldly assigned
the name of “ Ornithichnites.” Various opinions were entertained,
and much scepticism prevailed concerning these impressions; but
it is due to Dr. Buckland to state, that he never doubted that the
views of Professor Hitchcock were founded on true natural analo-
gies, and he accordingly published this opinion, with illustrative
plates, in his Bridgewater Treatise. The recent visit of Mr. Lyell
to North America, and a memoir he has read, as well as a com-
munication from Dr. James Deane of Massachusets, have neces-
sarily brought this highly interesting subject again before us ; whilst
a very remarkable discovery in natural history has at all events almost
entirely dispelled scepticism regarding the true bird-like character of
even the largest of the footsteps, however difficult it may be to ima-
gine the presence of such highly organized creatures at a very early
period. The observations of Mr. Lyell completely support the views
of Professor Hitchcock as to the littoral nature of the footstep de-
posit in Connecticut, and that the prints in question were left by
birds on the mud and sand of former estuaries, the bottoms of which
were gradually submerged, and by the increase of fresh matter were
permanently preserved.

Mr. Lyell illustrates the ancient phenomena by reference to im-
pressions which he saw forming at low water on the mud of the sea
shore of Georgia by racoons and opossums, and covered by blue

142

sand before the flow of the tide, as well as by the recent footsteps
of birds in the red mud of the Bay of Fundy, which if submerged
would realize a complete analogy to the fossil footsteps through
many successive laminz of deposit*. He also believes with Pro-
fessor Hitchcock, that the strata in question had been elevated and
tilted since their original deposition, and he connected these move- .
ments with the evolution of trappean rocks, which in some places
invade the Ornithichnite beds. In regard to the age of these beds ‘no
decisive opinion has yet been expressed, though they are referred
to one of the older secondary rocks. . However this point may be
determined, and I will presently allude to it, the great question re-
mained to be settled ; how induce us to believe that the largest of
these footmarks were made by birds? Is it not unsafe to call in
the presence of creatures of such high organization when researches
all over the world have taught us that in rocks of far less anti-
quity no traces of the bone of a bird or mammal have been found?
May not the impressions after all be those of some singular Sauroid
animal with trifid feet, of which we have no links in existing nature ?
Looking to such a possible explanation, and reflecting on the
striking interference with the opinion heretofore very generally
received, that a succession from lower to higher orders of creatures
was invariably evidenced in ascending from lower to higher depo-
sits, I candidly confess, that nearly up to the present moment, de-
spite of the clear and faithful descriptions of the facts, I have clung
to the idea, that the markings would not eventually be referred to
the action of birds. My scruples as a geologist have, however, I
confess, been much shaken, if not entirely removed, by a discovery in
natural history, which I do not hesitate in characterizing as one of
the most remarkable of modern times.

From the examination, in 1839, of a single fragment of a bone
brought from New Zealand, Professor Owen, though at first startled
by its enormous size, at length pronounced it to belong to a giganti¢
form of ‘the lowest, organized bird, analogous to the diminutive
Apteryx of the same island, in which the lungs approach more
closely than in any other bird to the structure of those in reptiles.
To this monstrous winged animal he assigned the name of Dinornis,
and many of its bones, in a very perfect condition, having been sub-
sequently found in New Zealand and deposited in the museum of
the College of Surgeons, his opinion has been completely confirmed+.
When it is known that the tibia of this bird is so huge that the
femur of the Irish giant is of pigmy dimensions when compared with

* A striking explanation of appearances, respecting which we were at
first equally incredulous when pointed out on the surface of the Red Sand- —
stone of England as fossil rain-drops, is given by Mr. Lyell in the actual
formation of similar markings produced by rain on the mud of the shores
of Long Island.

{+ The inhabitants of New Zealand believe that the Dinornis was in ex- ~
istence with their progenitors. On this point, however, doubts may still be
entertained, as we know that in many uncivilized countries, where the bones
of extinct quadrupeds occur, the natives connect them with their ancestors.

143

it, some conception may be formed of its entire size, which must
have far exceeded that of the ostrich*: ia othe

Now to apply: this discovery to our Ornithichnites, one of the
great difficulties which many of us had to overcome was the gi-
gantic size of the largest American footsteps, which measured
fifteen inches in length; and it isa most curious. faet, that upon
placing the fossil east alongside of the metatarsal bone and tibia of
the largest individual of Dinornis, Professor Owen’ is of opinion,
that if the feet of this great tridactyle bird be found, they will, from
the usual proportions maintained in such animals, be fully as large
as those of the American Ornithichnite.. From this moment, then,
I am prepared to admit the value of the reasoning of Dr. Hitchcock,
and of the original discoverer, Dr. James Deane, who it appears, by
the clear and modest paper lately brought before us by Dr. Mantell,
was the first person who called the Professor’s attention to the phe-
nomenon, expressing then his. own belief, from what he saw in‘ ex-
isting nature, that the footmarks were made by birds. Let.us now
hope, therefore, that the last vestiges of doubt'may be removed by
the discovery of the bones of some fossil] Dinornis ; and.in the mean-
time let us honour the great moral courage exhibited by Professor
Hitcheock, in throwing down his opinions before an incredulous
public+. :

Still, however, comes the question, what is the age of the rock on
which the Ornithichnites have been impressed. Consulting what Mr.
Lyell has recently written, we find that he does not decide this point
further than by saying, that they were formed between the carboni-
ferous and cretaceous epochs, the only remains hitherto found in the
deposit being ichthyolites of the genera Paleoniscus and Catopterus,
with some fossil wood. ‘The presence of a Palzeoniscus would lead
me to suspect that the deposit might be of the age of the Zechstein
or Magnesian Limestone; for in Russia, wherever the caleareous
matter which represents that rock thins out, vast tracts are occu-
pied by mazrls, sandstones and conglomerates of red, green and
white colours, which form the Permian system, and in these beds
Palzeonisci occur. If the fossil fishes from both localities. be placed
in the hands of Professor Agassiz, and a comparison be made of the
fossil wood from Russia and North America, the query may be satis-
factorily answered. In the meantime I cannot read the descriptions
of this American deposit, and carry the Russian. types in my recol-
lection, without surmising, that in the sequel the Ornithichnite and
Palzoniscus beds of Connecticut and the gypsiferous .vocks of Nova
Scotia, distant as they are from each other, will be found to belong
to one natural group—the 'Permian ; and if this view be borne out,
it follows that a bird analogous to the Dinornis lived at a period when
Saurian animals first began to appear upon the surface, and when

* See a most graphic sketch of this monstrous bird and its analogies
from the pen of my friend Mr. Broderip, Penny Cyclopeedia (Unau),
+ See Geol, Proceedings. January 1843, Dr. James Deane ‘On Ornithoi-

dicnites.’

144

the last links of primeval or paleozoic life were not obliterated *.
In this ease the value of the philosophic caution given by Mr. Lyell
will be very apparent, viz. that we ought not to infer the non-ex-
istence of land animals from the absence of their remains in con-
temporaneous marine strata.

Saurians, Cetaceans, §c.—I am not aware that researches of the
past year have added much to our acquaintance with new forms of
vertebrata in the secondary deposits, though it must not be unre-
corded, that our zealous contributor M. Hermann Von Meyer, has
added to the list of Saurians of the Muschelkalk a new genus, which —
he describes under the name of Simosaurus.

In Russia a very curious discovery has been made by Professor
Brandt, of which I have been just informed by my friend Count
Keyserling. Pallas had spoken of a locality among the cliffs of Ta-
man, in the southern steppes, where remains of whales were found ;
Rathke had mentioned the head of an animal of which the vertebree
were known, and which he described as approaching to'a whale;
and more recently Professor Eichwald considered this fossil as be-
longing to the Dolphins and named it Xiphias priscus. Obtaining
possession of the specimen for the museum of St. Petersburgh, Pro-
fessor Brandt worked the head of the colossal creature out of the
rock in which it was imbedded, and pronouncing it to belong to a_
new family of whales, described it under the name of Cetothertum
Rathkii. This fossil whale forms a new link in the animal king-
dom, and is more nearly allied to the herbivorous cetaceans than
to: the Dolphins. Its position in the geological series is also. most
remarkable; for the rock in which it occurs contains shells similar to
those of the tertiary deposits of the Miocene age, which extend from
Volhynia and Podolia to the Crimea and Taman. It is also very
remarkable, that along with this herbivorous cetacean the other
organic remains (among which, however, banks of corals oceur)
have more the character of the inhabitants of a brackish sea than
those of the subjacent rocks, whose fauna more resembles that of the
Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

These relations are in accordance with modern conditions, and
ave, indeed, explained by an analogy in our own country, for an ac-
quaintance with which I am indebted to our Curator, Mr. E.
Forbes. The lake of Stennis, in the Orkney Islands, cele-
brated by Sir Walter Scott, has been converted, whether by
elevation of the land or other cause, from a saltwater loch
into a freshwater and marshy tract, and with this great but
gradual change, certain marine genera have continued to live
on amid their new associates of land and fresh water, whilst others
have perished. That which is taught on a.small scale in the Scottish
lake has occurred over a vast area in the case of the Caspian Sea;
which, in consequence of separation from the Black Sea has passed
into a brackish state, and the same hardy and time-serving marine

* This view has been strengthened by the researches of Mr. Logan, see
note, p. 546.

+ Geol. Proceedings, vol. iii. p. 796.

145

genera as in Scotland have continued to exist in their new abode !
The Miocene deposit of ‘Taman, therefore, with its herbivorous ce-
taceans, brackish and marine shells, is only an example, in an earlier
period of the world, of the formation of a true Caspian, the creatures
in which necessarily ditfered from those of the pure marine period
which went before them.

MASTODONTOID AND MEGATHERIOID ANIMALS.

For a season our metropolis contained within it a magnificent
skeleton of a Mastodontoid quadruped, which, in common with alk
geologists and paleontologists, I hoped to see permanently esta-
blished in our national Museum. This gigantic animal was discovered
by a persevering Prussian collector, M. Koch, who for some time
resided in the United States, and who disinterred it, together with a
great profusion of heads, teeth, and numerous bones of similar animals,
from amid the alluvia of a tributary of the St. Louis river, where
the chief remains had probably been an object of superstitious tra-
dition on the part of the Indian tribes. It does not appear
whether the zealous Prussian had any scruples to overcome ;
but I presume they must have been considerable, if I were to
judge from my own experience in other wild countries. \ In tra-
velling along the eastern flanks of the Ural Mountains, it was my lot
to visit many sites of gold alluvia in which bones of the mammoth
and other extinct quadrupeds are found, and for these remains the
poor Bashkirs, the original inhabitants of the tract, preserved so
deep a veneration, that in freely permitting the search after the
true wealth of their country which they were incapable of extract-
ing, their sole appeal to the Russian miners was, “ Take from us
our gold, but for God’s sake leave us our ancestors.”

Overcoming, however, all difficulties, M. Koch succeeded in ex-
tracting, and afterwards in setting up, the most complete specimen
of the species which has ever been seen. Applying to it the pro-
visional name of ‘‘ Missourium,” he exhibited it for some time in
the United States, and then brought it with many of the associated
bones to London, in the hopes both of having the remains perfectly
described and of obtaining for them a price worthy of the British
nation.

The arrival of such a collection could not fail to excite the most
lively interest and curiosity among our naturalists, and the bones
having been attentively examined by many members of this Society,
produced a diversity of opinion respecting the generic character
of the chief remains. North America had long been a fertile
mine of such reliquiz, and the naturalists of the United States
had not been backward in studying and describing them. It is not,
therefore, a little remarkable that the same difference of opinion as
to the generic and specific identity of the animals that prevailed
across the Atlantic, is presented in the Memoirs which have recently
been read before us; Dr.. Harlan and Mr. Cooper having main-
tained opinions, with which, to a great extent, Professor Owen con-
eurs, whilst Dr. Grant and M. Koch have supported the views of the
late Dr. Godman.

146

Citing the American authorities on his side of the question, in-
cluding Dr. Hayes, and enumerating no less than thirteen species of
Mastodon and six species of Tetracaulodon, Dr. Grant has made a
vigorous effort to vindicate the true generic characters of the Te-
tracaulodon as founded on the presence of a tusk or tusks in the
lower jaw and certain variations in the form of the crowns of the
molar teeth.

This view has been sustained by Mr. A. Nasmyth in an elaborate
paper “On the Minute Structure of the tusks of extinet Masto-
dontoid animals.” Microscopical examination of portions of the tusks
believed to belong to five distinct species, viz. Mastodon giganteus,
Letracaulodon Godmani, T. Kochti, T. Tapiroides and the Mis-
sourium, has ‘also led this author to the same inference as Dr.
Grant ; and he concludes with the remark, that, if it be established
that specific differences positively do exist among all these animals,
the value of such microscopic researches is great; but if the five
animals are grouped as one, then such mode of observation is of no
value. in paleontological seience.

Professor Owen had previously expressed opinions at variance
with those of Drs., Hayes, Godman and Grant and Mr. Nasmyth,
and his views have been supported within these walls by my pre-.
decessor,; Dr. Buckland. | Pointing out certain mistakes in the set-
ting up of the Missourium, as éxhibited!in the Egyptiar Hall, he
compares the fossil with all forms with which he was acquainted ;
and, showing that it must have belonged to the Ungulata, he judges
that the enormous tusks of the upper jaw constitute it a member of
the proboscidian group of pachyderms, and that the molar teeth
prove it to be identical with Zetracaulodon or Mastodon giganteus.
He argues that the genus Tetracaulodon was erroneously founded
upon dental appearances in the lower jaw of a very young pro-
boseidian, and that Mr. W. Cooper was correct in suggesting. that
the Tetracaulodon was nothing but the young of the gigantic Mas-
todon, the tusks of which were lost as the animal advanced in age.
A comparison of the whole of M. Koch’s collection produced the
result in, Mr. Owen’s mind, that, with the exception of a few bones
of the Elephas primigenius (Mammoth), all the other remains of
proboscidean pachyderms in it belong to the Mastodon giganteus.
The remains of other animals found by M. Koch are referred by
the Hunterian. Professor to Lophiodon, Mylodon Harlani, Bos,
Cervus, &c.; and in respect to the Mastodon giganteus he expresses
his conviction that it had two lower tusks originally in both sexes,
and retained the right lower tusk only in the adult male. Although
unable to form a correct judgement on the probable structure of
those extinct quadrupeds, | may call your attention to a recent
work of Mr. Kaup, whose striking discovery of the Deinotherium
is familiar to you, and who now seems to advocate, from perfectly
independent sources of evidence, the same views as Professor Owen
concerning the osteology and generic characters of the Mastodon
founded upon the comparison of a series of bones and teeth belong-
ing to the Mastodon longirostris; more numerous and complete than
even those of the Mastodon giganteus.

147

Mylodon.—-One of the most brilliant, and, I venture to say, not
the least durable of the researches in paleontology, remains to be
mentioned in the description of the Mylodon robustus, a new species
of gigantic edentate animal, accompanied by observations on the
affinities and habits of all. Megatherioid animals. After a sketch
of the labours of Cuvier, who first described the huge Megatherium
and pointed out its analogy to the family of Sloths and Armadillos,
of the succeeding writings of Jefferson and Harlan upon the genus
Megalonyx, of Dr. Lund on the Ccelodon and Sphenodon of Brazil,
and of his own researches which established the Mylodon and Sce-
lidotherium, Professor Owen proceeds to describe the megatherioid
animal which he has named Mylodon robustus.

_ Of the purely anatomical descriptions, it is not my province to

speak, and referring you to the work in which, through the en-
lightened munificence of the College of Surgeons, all the necessary
illustrations have appeared, I pass to the generalizations, and learn
that the Mylodon, in common with the Megatherium and Megalo-
nyx, are genera of the family of Gravigrada, as distinguished from
the Tardigrada in the order Bruta.

Professor Owen then proceeds to a comparison of the anatomy of
the Mylodon with that, of all analogous creatures, and after an able
analysis, he satisfies himself, and also; J] am persuaded, every one
who has followed his close reasoning, that he has at length ascer-
tained the true habits and food of this family of mammifers., From
their dentition, it is inferred that the Megatherium and Mylodon must
have been phyllophagous, or leaf-eating animals; whilst, from
their short necks; the very opposite extreme to the.camelopard,
they never could have reached the tops of even the lowest trees.
Cuyier, on the contrary, suggested that they were fossorial, or dig-
ging animals; and we all-recollect the animated manner in which
Dr. Buckland attracted us, whilst he described the Megatherium asa
huge beast, which, resting upon three legs, employed one of its long
fore-hands in. grubbing up whole fields. of esculent roots; a habit
which procured for it the significant popular name of “ Old Seratch.”

Dr. Lund, a Danish naturalist, had considered the Megatherium
to be a scansorial or climbing. animal; in short, a gigantic Sloth.
After a multitude of comparisons, Professor Owen rejects the
- explanation of all his predecessors. He shows that the mon-
strous dimensions of the pelvis and sacrum, and the colossal
and heavy. hinder legs, could never have been designed, either
to support an animal which simply scratched the earth for food,
or one which fed by climbing into lofty trees, like the diminutive
Sloth ; and he further cites the structure of every analogous creature,
either of burrowing or climbing habits, to prove, that in all such the
hinder legs are comparatively light. What then was the method by
which these extraordinary monsters obtained their great supplies of
food?. The osteology of the fore-arm has, it appears, afforded
answers which are valuable, chiefly for their negation of erroneous
conjectures, such as that the animal was an ant-eater, rather than for
the habits which it directly elicits. It is, therefore, to the organi-

148

zation of the hinder limbs that Professor Owen mainly appeals to
ascertain the functions of the forefeet and the general habits of the
Mylodon.

Arguing that the enormous pelvis must have been the centre
whence muscular masses of unwonted force diverged to act
upon the trunk, tail and hind-legs, the latter, it is supposed, formed
with the tail a tripod on which the animal sat. Professor Owen
supposes that the animal first cleared away the earth from the roots
with its digging instruments; and that then seated on its hinder
extremities, which with the tail are conjectured to have formed a
tripod, and aided by the extraordinary long heel as with a lever, it
grasped the trunk of the tree with its forelegs. Heaving to and
fro the stateliest trees of primeeval forests, and wrenching them
from their hold, he at length prostrated them by his side, and
then regaled himself for several days on their choicest leaves and
branches, which till then had been far beyond reach. After show-
ing that from the natural inversion of the hind-feet the Mylodon ap-
proached to the scansorial animals, and thence inferring that it might
have had climbing powers necessarily much limited by the other
parts of its frame, Professor Owen states, that the inversion of the
soles of the feet is least conspicuous in the Megatherium, whose
bulk and strength would be adequate to the prostration of trees too
large for the efforts of the Mylodon, Megalonyx and Scelidotherium.
The Megatherium, in short, was the mighty tree-drawer, and had
therefore no need of the adventitious aid of any climbing appa-
ratus. Allow me to add, that, amongst other reasonings, those
which lead to conclusions that one class of megatherioid animals
was furnished with a hairy coating (like the Mylodon), whilst
another, like the great Megatherium, was devoid of it, as evi-
denced by slight modifications of the bony structure of the hind-
feet, appear to me to be not the least original and interesting.

Wholly incapable, as I am, to do justice to this masterly inquiry
by the necessarily brief allusion which is imposed upon me by the
nature of this discourse, I shall best execute my task in quoting
the words with which Professor Owen sums up his reasoning.

«“ On the Newtonian rule, therefore, this theory has the best claim
to acceptance ; it is, moreover, strictly in accordance with, as it has
been suggested by, the ascertained anatomy of the very remarkable
extinct animals, whose business in a former world it professes to
explain. And the results of the foregoing examination, comparisons
and reasonings on the fossils proposed to be described, may be
summed up as follows. All the characteristics which exist in the
skeleton of the Mylodon and Megatherium, conduce and concur to
the production of the forces requisite for uprooting and prostrating

trees; of which characteristics, if any one were wanting, the effect
could not be produced: this, therefore, and no other mode of
obtaining food, is the condition of the sum of such character-
istics, and of the concourse of so great forces in one and the same
animal.”

This, Gentlemen, is the true Cuvierian style, in which, as in num-

149

beriess parts of his works, Professor Owen has continued te breathe
out the very spirit of the founder of palzontelogical science.

It is by such labours that geology is steadily gaining a higher
plave among the sciences. Comparative anatomy has truly been
our steadiest auxiliary, and well may we do honour to those
Who impart to us such truthful records; for, whilst the histories of
the earlier beixgs of our own race are shrouded in obscurity, whilst
the first chronicles of ancient Rome and Greece are now admitted
to be exaggerated, and often even fabulous, we turn back the leaves
of far more antique lore; and, not trusting to perishing inscriptions,
mutilated by successive conquerors, and assuming a hundred meanings
under the eyes of doubting antiquaries, we appeal only to the proofs
in nature’s book, and find that their reading is pregnant with evidences
which must be true, becausethey are founded on unerring general laws.

In concluding this Address, I can assure you, Gentlemen, that,
although not prepared without some labour, its composition has af-
forded me both gratification and instruction. Had 1 not felt a
strong obligation to fulfil my duty, I should necessarily have been
absorbed in the preparation of the work upon Russia to which I
have alluded, and could not therefore have been imbued with an
adequate sense of the vast progress which our science has recently
made in all quarters of the globe.

The chief aim of this Society has been to gather sound data
for classification ; and, following out this principle, I have en-
deavoured to show, how the order of successicn established in our
own isles, is now extended eastwards to the confines of Asia, and
westwards to the back-woods of America. From such researches,
and by contributions from our widely spread colonies, we have at
length reached nearly all the great terms of general comparison.

Besides ascertaining where the great masses of combustible
matter lie, we can now affirm, that during the earliest period of life,
conditions prevailed, indicating a prevalence over enormous spaces
—if not almost universally—of the same climate, involving a
very wide diffusion of similar inhabitants cf the ocean. We have
learned, that in the earliest of these stages of animal life, no
vestige of the vertebrata has yet been found, whilst in the succeed-
ing epochs of the Paleozoic age singular fishes appear, which,
in proportion to their antiquity, are more removed from all
modern analogies. In each of these early and long-continued
periods, the shells preserving on the whole a community of
character, differ from each other in each division—and in that
later formation, where a very few only of the same types are visible,
they are linked on to a new class of beings, the first created of
those Saurians, whose existence is prolonged throughout the whole
Secondary period; whilst we have this year seen reason to admit
that even birds (some of them of gigantic size) may have been the
‘cotemporaries of the first great lizards. With the close of the Palez-
ozoic era we have also observed a gradual change in the plants of the
older lands, and that the rank and tropical vegetation of the Carbo-
niferous epoch is succeeded by a peculiar flora. In the next, or

150

Triassic period, we have another flora, whilst new forms of fishes
and mollusks indicate an approach to that period when the seas were
tenanted by Belemnites and Ammonites, marking so broadly these
secondary deposits with which British geologists have long been
familiar, and which, commencing with the Lias, terminate with the
Chalk. And lastly, from the dawn of existing races, we ascend
through successive deposits gradually becoming more analogous ‘to
those of the present day, until at length we reach the bottoms of
oceans so recently desiccated, that their shelly remains are undistin-
guishable from those now associated with Man, the last created in
this long chain of animal life in which seareely a link is wanting !—
all bespeaking a perfection and grandeur of design, in contem-
plating which we are lost in admiration of creative power.

Such results, grand as they are+nothing less in short than the
records of creation—are however but a portion of the labours of
geologists. They have also struggled to explain the causes
of those great revolutions. In some continents, it is true, the
pages in the book of nature are, as it were, unruffled; for, by
whatever agency effected, it is certain that beds of vast ancient
oceans have been so equably elevated and depressed, and again so
steadily elevated from beneath the sea, that the continuity of their
rocky deposits over areas larger than our kingdoms of Western
Europe is unbroken, and their original condition almost entirely
preserved. In other regions, on the contrary, the sediments in the sea
and the masses of the land have been pierced by numerous: out-
bursts of igneous and gaseous matters, accompanied by violent
oscillations and breaks, whereby the chronicles of succession have
been sorely defaced, and often rendered more illegible than the most
carbonized of the papyri found under the lava of Vesuvius. | Nay,
so intensely has this metamorphism operated, that obliterating all
vestiges of former life, and concealing them from us, we have been
sorely puzzled to ascertain by what powerful physical agency such
mighty changes can have been accomplished,—changes by which
the strata have been convoluted into forms grotesque as the serpent’s
coil, inverted in their order, or shivered into party-coloured and
crystalline fragments. And yet in these broken and mineralized
masses, as another branch of our science teaches, are found the
precious ores and the metals most useful to mankind.

Such complicated relations and such changes in original structure
call forth the application of the highest powers of physical science;
not only involving the agency of that great central heat, to which
geologists have willingly referred, but also invoking the aid of
agents, some of them still mysterious, by which electricity and mag-
netism are bound together in the cycle of. terrestrial phenomena.’
To few of us is it given to venture with firm steps ito that region ;
and, though I hope to live to see some of these questions answered,
Tam well satisfied to have been among you when such solid ad-*
vances have been made, in deciphering the mutations of the sarface
of the earth, and in the compilation of a true history of its earlier

inhabitants.

asa)

Having now, Gentlemen, completed the term of my service, I
bid you farewell, as friends in whose society, whilst acquiring know-
ledge, I have passed the happiest “-< of my life. Large as our
numbers are, and branching out, as "our inquiries do, into all the
paths of philosophic research, the Geological Society has always
held firmly together by a principle of good and high feeling among
its active members. I have, indeed, deeply felt the honour of pre-
siding over men who, in the course 6f a quarter of a century, have
demonstrated, that there is no such thing as “ odiwm geologicum,” and
whose members, rivals as they must be, have only sought to excel
each other in their ardent search after truth.

By the choice of my successor you cannot fail to perpetuate this
good feeling, for in him you recognize the philosopher, who, passing
through other phases, returns to the object of his first leve. In him
you applaud one of the founders of your Society, a munificent sup-
porter of geological works requiring assistance, one of your earliest
eancnioaiarss ant one, I will add, of the best Secretaries you ever
had—whether as respected the performance of his own duties or the
singleness of mind and integrity of purpose with which, abjuring all
personal considerations, he improved the Memoirs of various writers
which found their way into your Transactions. His fitting reward,
therefore, is this Chair, which I resign to him in the full persuasion
that he will view it, as I have done, in the light of the highest honour
to which a geologist ean aspire ; and that as one of our old and sin-
cere friends, he will ever be imbued with the strongest motives for
preserving the harmony and prosperity of the Geological Society.

‘geist doueon-af eran
nd Space yout Gov ald
sim pi oa slew

sit ail to oe He men
eptokoo® wnuroyy: 4 i eobe

emcee racoter Birts? ais pm
sits at ncaa ayaa Tr

Tae ate ban aes oat conan
yepttorade ohediie vont od now! ive alin

a peli nett es Se

wit aa) ae te
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; Baw men's Luh

Arita ke cen
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am setiteneetnaltieas’ aa
- . “iphit bi ih sadness

PROCEEDINGS

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Vou. IV. Parr I. 1843. No. 94.

February 22.—James Baber, Esq. was elected a Fellow of this
Society.

A paper was read ‘‘On some new species of Fossil Chimzroid
Fishes, with remarks on their general affinities,” by Sir Philip Grey
Egerton, M.P., F.G.S.

The number of described species of Chimzra—soft-boned fishes
of singular forms—is very small, whether existing or extinct. They
were first recognised in a fossil state by Dr. Buckland in 1835.
The original memoir comprised descriptions of four species ; two
others were added by Professor Agassiz. The list was soon after-
wards augmented by two species from the Stonesfield slate, con-
structed by Dr. Buckland from some enigmatical specimens forwarded
by the author under the impression that they had some resemblance
to the subjects he was engaged upon. A ninth species came from
the Caen oolite. A tenth has been described by Professor Owen in
his ‘ Odontography’ from specimens in the Hunterian collection, and
Professor Agassiz has named an eleventh in the museum of Lord
Enniskillen, from the gault. Sir P. Egerton, in the present memoir,
doubles the number. With one exception he founds his characters
on the lower jaws of the animals, avoiding the risk of ascribing spe-

-elfic differences to teeth derived from one and the same species,
varying in form according to their position in the mouth.
' The characters of the new species are as follows :—

1. C. neglecta.—Maxillary plate, left lower jaw : length 6 lines ;
depth at the symphysis 2 lines; ditto at the medial angle of the
dental edge 3 lines; length of the dental edge 3 lines ; anterior
division of ditto 1J line; posterior ditto ditto 12 line; length of the
heel 24 lines; exterior convex; exposed surface slightly furrowed ;
base expanded and vertically striated; two depressions, the anterior
one broad, the posterior narrow and deep. Stratum, great oolite:
locality, Stonesfield.

2. C. bucklandi.—Maxillary plate, right lower jaw (imperfect) :
length 2 inches 1 line; depth at the symphysis 1 inch 2 lines; ditto
at the medial angle of the dental edge 9 lines; length of the dental
edge linch 6 lines; anterior division of ditto 1 inch; posterior ditto
mutilated ; exterior smooth and flat; inner surface rounded, dimi-
nishing in diameter towards the base; symphysis oblique and
rounded ; texture dense. Stratum, great oolite. locality, Stones-
field.

3. C. psittacina.—Maxillary plate, right lower jaw: length &
VOL, IV, PART I. M

154

lines; depth at the symphysis 4 lines; ditto at the medial angle of
the dental edge 4 lines; length of dental edge 4 lines; anterior
division of ditto 12 line; posterior ditto 24 lines; heel 33 lines;
exterior flat; marked by horizontal undulating bands on the base,
with a few vertical striz near the heel; two depressions, broad and
shallow ; anterior outline abruptly curved upwards to the point.
Stratum, great oolite: locality, Stonestield. _

_ 4. C. curvidens.—-Maxillary plate, right lower jaw: length 1 inch;
depth at the symphysis®4 lines; ditto at the medial angle of the
dental'edge 5 ies ;’dental edge 7 lines; anterior division of ditto
3 lines; posterior ditto ditto 4lines; heel 3 lines; exterior convex,
curving rapidly inwards to the symphysis ; exposed portion invested -
with a thick lustrous enamelloid coating, 3 limes in depth at the
symphysis; base expanded and closely striated ; one elongated depres.
sion near the heel; anterior division of the dental edge concave,
posterior ditto straight: Stratum, great oolite: locality, Stones-
field.

5. C. falcata. —Maxillary plate, left lower jaw: length 1 inch;
depth at the symphysis 3} lines; ditto at the medial parts of the
dental edge 4 lines; heel 4 lines; dental edge 6 lines; tooth elon-
gated, falcate, the point curved upwards; base shallow anteriorly,
expanded and traversed by a broad depression near the heel; ver-
tical striz indistinct; horizontal bands broad and undulate; cutting
edge concave, forming a single curve without any medial angle from
the point to the heel. Stratum, great oolite: locality, Stonesfield.

6..C. emarginata.—Maxillary plate, left lower jaw: length 2 inches
5lines; depth at the symphysis 1 inch 8 lines; ditto at the medial
angle of the dental edge 1 inch 1 line; dental edge 1 inch 7 lines ;
anterior division 1 mch; posterior division 7 lines; heel (mutilated)
7 lines ; exterior flat, marked by fine vertical strize; depression at
the heel circular, deep and broad; dental edge deeply indented in
the form of two semicircles; symphysis straight. Stratum, great
oolite: locality, Stonesfield.

7. C. rugulosa.—Maxillary plate, left lower jaw : length 1 inch ;
depth at the symphysis 4 lines; ditto at the medial angle of the
dental edge 3 lines; dental edge 64 lines ; anterior division 3 lines ;
posterior ditto 34 lines; heel 34 lines; exterior rugose; one strong
depression near the heel striated vertically ; anterior division of the
dental edge concave; posterior ditto ditto nearly straight. Inner
surface : triturating tubercles placed very obliquely. Stratum, great
oolite: locality, Stonesfield.

8. C. helvetica.—Maxillary plate, right lower jaw: length 2 inches
5 lines; depth at the symphysis ] inch 4 lines; anterior division of
the dental edge linch 4 lines; breadth of ditto 8lines. ‘This spe-
cimen being much mutilated, the measurements are incomplete.
It approaches more nearly to C. mantelli than to any other species,
Stratum, molasse: locality, Gitmaringen, canton of Argovie.

9. C. dutetrii.—Maxillary plate, left lower jaw: length 4 inches ;
depth at the symphysis 2 inches 2 lines; breadth of ditto 7 lines;
depth at the medial angle of the dental edge 2 inches 2 lines; dental

155}

edge 3 inches 6 lines; anterior division of ditto 1 inch 8 lines; ‘width

of ditto 8 lines; posterior division of ditto 1imch @lines.. This tooth

is broad and strong; the exterior is marked with indistinct undu-'
lations ; the depression at the heel is nearly horizontal. Inner sur-

face : symphysis rather oblique; the triturating tubercles broad, and

worh down less obliquely than in C. townsendi, to which species this

most nearly approximates. Stratum, Kimmeridge clay: locality,

Boulogne. Bee byt

10. ©. beaumonti. —Mazillary plate, right upper jaw: length of
the outer margin 3 inches 5 lines; length of the inner ditto 2 inches
8 lines; breadth at the base 1 inh 6 ires*: ; depth of the symphysis
5 lines; breadth of the principal tubercle 6 lines ; the upper surface
is marked by a deep sulcus, 7 lines in width, running parallel with
the symphysis; the inner surface has four triturating prominences,
one anterior, two basal, and one intermediate. Stratum, Kimme-
ridge clay: locality, Boulogne.

11. C. dufrenoyt. Maxillary plate, left lower jaw : length 2 inches
4 lines; depth at the symphysis 1 inch lline; ditto at the medial
angle of the dental edge 1 inch 4 lines; dental edge | inch 5 lines ;
anterior division of ditto 7 lines; breadth of ditto 5 lines; posterior
division of ditto 8 lines; heel 1 inch; exterior slightly concave and
uneven ; inner surface contracts rapidly in diameter in the direction
of the base; anterior tubercle 1 inch 6 lines in length by 6 lines in
breadth, placed very obliquely; posterior tubercle small and narrow.
Stratum, Kimmeridge : locality, Boulogne.

The author then enters into a detailed comparison of the fossil
Chimeeroids with the recent genera Chimera and Callorhynchus, and
after pointing out the discrepancies both of form and structure which
they present, suggests the propriety of withdrawing them from the
genus Chimera, under which they have hitherto been arranged.
The remainder of the memoir is devoted toa comparison of the fossil
species with each other, and the author concludes by proposing to
class them under three poeta es shown in the following tabular
arrangement.

(l. ) Ischyodus (icxvs robur, ddovs dens).

Two intermaxillary and two maxillary plates in the upper jaw ;
two maxillary plates in the lower jaw; intermaxillaries thick and
strong, truncated more or less obliquely at their extremities. Struc-
ture : horizontal lamine inclosed by parietes of coarse fibrous dentine.

Upper maxillaries: triangular plates articulating with each other
and the intermaxillaries on the medial line of the palate; upper sur-
face provided with a deep sulcus parallel to the symphysis for attach-
ment to the jaw; under surface with four triturating prominences,
one in advance, one on the outer margin, and two side by side near
the base, the larger one occupying the inner position; structure of ,
the tubercles coarse and tubular; the remainder of the teeth fibrous
and bony. Lower maxillaries: large and broad, formed for crushing
rather than cutting ; two tubercles, one at the heel, the other im ad-
vance ; symphysis broad; the base invested by the membrane of the
mouth, the crown by a coat of hard enamelloid dental substance ;

mM 2 Pais

156 r

structure of the anterior angle as in the intermaxillaries, of the re-
mainder as in the upper maxillaries; position of the plates more or
less oblique.

SPECIES. STRATUM. LOCALITY.
Iscuyopvus, Egerton.

agassizi, Buckl. ......| Chalk-marl...... Hamesey.
beaumonti, Egert. ....| Kimmeridge clay. .| Boulogne.
brevirostris, Agass.....| Gault ........ -. | Folkstone.
bucklandi, Hgert. ....| Great oolite......| Stonesfield.
Coli, Buckles. «attire 3.5 GiEtOs Ss oes Ibid.
curvidens, Mgert...... dittos ane tojcese Ibid.
Gubetril, PAGEL 5 cy e000 Kimmeridge clay | Boulogne.
duvernoyi, Hgert. .... GittOn an one she Ibid. .
egertoni, Buckl....... Chon Oe sea Shotover.
emarginatus, Mgert....| Great oolite...... Stonesfield.
falcatus, Egert....... CiGhOs ch. apeusis Gusts Ibid.
helveticus, Higeri......),Wlolasse 2.5... 0. Argovie.
mantelli, Buckl. ...... Chak ogo aaveteys eis Lewes.
neglectus, Hgert...... Great oolite...... Stonesfield.
OWED, BUCK. osteo: CNEEO ss gcecnee eats Ibid.
psittacinus, Egert..... GIEEOR ss Bae Ibid.
rugulosus, Egert. .... CIEE Ones che erage Ibid.
HESSOMI MUCK. <a. eae Oolifer iret ease Caen.
townshendi, Buckl. ..| Portland ........ Milton.
sedgwicki, Agass. ....| Greensand ...... Cambridge.

(2.) Elasmodus (€\acpa lamina, ddovs dens).

Two maxillary and two intermaxillary plates in the upper jaw ?

Two maxillary plates in the lower jaw; lower maxillary thick and
strong; tubercle single, composed of a dental substance resembling
in structure a tritor of Psammodus; in advance of the tubercle the
tooth is composed of several series of laminz, arranged in juxta-
position and inclined downwards and outwards ; behind the tubercle
the dental edge is notched, in consequence of a columnar structure
pervading this region of the tooth. The outer surface is enveloped
by a coat of dentine.

SPECIES. STRATUM. LOCALITY.

Exasmonpvs, Egerton.
1. greenovi*, Egert.
2. hunterit, Egert. ..| London clay.

A single’specimen in the Hunterian collection affords the type of
a third genus.
(3.) Psaliodus (badis forfex, and édovs dens).
Upper jaw ? Two maxillary plates in the lower jaw. Lower max-

* Chimera greenoyii, Jgassiz. | Chimera hunteri, Owen.

157

illary like Chimera, but without a triturating tubercle; structure
homogeneous ; outer surface reticulated. Sp. Psaliodus compressus,
Egerton. It is supposed to be from the London clay.

*« On the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Bayonne.” By Samuel
Peace Pratt, Esq., F.R.S.

After noticing the published descriptions of the geological struc-
ture of the neighbourhood of Bayonne, by M. Dufrenoy, M. le Conte
D’Archiac, and M. de Colligno of Bordeaux, the author proceeds
to detail the result of his own observations in that locality in 1842.

Bayonne, situated at the junction of the rivers Adour and Nive,
about four miles from the coast, is nearly surrounded by low hills of
sand and gravel, those on the north side of the river being appa-
rently a prolongation of the beds of pudding-stone and gravel which
form a ridge extending from Tarbes to Pau, in a direction nearly
east and west to the coast. The gravel and alluvium on the south
differs in mineralogical character, and forms a thin coating to a suc-
cession of deposits of sand, clay and impure limestone which rise to
the south-west towards the coast. The sandy limestone, which is
composed almost entirely of Lenticulites complanatus and Nummulites
biarritzana (N. elegans ?), with a few fragments of shells, chiefly
Pectens, forms for a short distance the north bank of the river
Nive, rising at an angle of 20° or 30°. It is for the most part
covered up by beds of sand and variously coloured clays, resembling
the plastic clay. The gravel is very variable in thickness and con-
tains no flint, but is chiefly composed of rounded and irregular
masses of sandstone very like the Bagshot sandstone. The country
in this direction has been much disturbed.

About four miles in a south-west direction from Bayonne is the vil-
lage of Biarritz, near which there is an excellent coast section. The
sands and clays have nearly thinned off before reaching the cliffs
which rise from beneath the dunes, about a mile and a half to the
north-east of the village, and vary in height from 20 to 80 feet. In
a small bay called the Chambre d’Amour the beds are well seen, con-
sisting of strata of sandy argillaceous limestone, from a few inches
to five or six feet in thickness, all containing fossils in greater or
less abundance. Several faults occur between the first rise of the
strata and the village, by which the upper beds are repeatedly
thrown to the level of the shore. The organic remains vary con-
siderably in the several beds throughout the series, but lenticulites
and nummulites characterize the whole; corals are numerous, but
shells more rare. In the disturbed strata at Biarritz all the Echino-
dermata, which are very numerous, have been found.

Among the fossils at the Chambre d’Amour are, besides the fora-
minifera before mentioned and numerous corals, the following mol-
lusea :—Pholadomya margaritacea, Venus transversa, Pinna marga-
ritacea, Spondylus radula, Gryphea vesicularis ? Pecten arcuatus
and tripartitus, Solen strigilatus, and Teredo articulata; also Turri-
tella carinifera, Pyrula nevilis and Triton appeninum, Ditrupa subulata
and several Serpule accompany them.

158

Passing the disturbed beds, strata of calcareous rock, more or less
argillaceous. or arenaceous, alternating with a bluish clay or marl,
rise regularly at).an angle of 60° or 70°, and are continuous for
nearly a mile, forming cliffs above 120 feet high. The uppermost
of these beds is chiefly composed of ntmmulites and lenticulites, the
arenaceous strata contain numerous and well-preserved corals, the
species of which have not.as yet been determined, though referred
by D'Archiac to cretaceous forms. In the lower beds the best iden-+
tified tertiary forms were found mingled with species hitherto. re-
garded as cretaceous, such as Serpula ampullacea and S. rotula.
Among the mollusca occurred Spondylus rarispina, Ostrea spathu-
lata, Dentalium grande, Turritella carinifera; Scalaria semicostata and
acuta, Cerithium turritellatum and cinctum, with several undetermined
species of various genera.

The cliffs cease for a quarter of a mile, being terminated by a
fault, when the strata again rise at a small angle in the same direc-
tion. Their mineralogical character however is different, as they
consist of a marly light-coloured limestone, abounding in fossils
which are mostly distinct from those of the preceding beds, with
the exception of the corals. The protrusion of igneous rocks has
changed this limestone in places into a hard. crystallme marble
or dolomite. In this part of the series were found Terebratula bisi-
nuata and striatula. Another fault throws these beds beneath the
shore, and at an interval of a few hundred yards they are succeeded
by a series of cretaceous beds resembling chalk marl, the general
inclination and direction of which, on account of frequent disturb-
ances, are difficult to determine, but appear to be the same with
the last-mentioned strata. The cliffs formed by the cretaceous
strata rise to a height of from 50 to 150 feet. ‘Three or four species
of Nautilus and Ammonite, and a few bivalves, chiefly Jnoceramus
Cuvieri, are found in them, but there is no fossil common to the beds
separated by the last-mentioned fault.

The beds overlying these undoubted cretaceous strata have been re-
ferred by the French geologists, quoted by Mr. Pratt, to the upper
part of the cretaceous system, both on account of the superposition
and direction of the strata and of the contained fossils, which they
regard as cretaceous species. But a closer examination of the or-
ganic remains shows that such as may be identified with known
species are mostly tertiary forms, while such as appear to be creta-
ceous, belong to genera and species of variable and. uncertain cha-
racter. The Echinodermata, as identified by, Dr. Grateloup, do not
agree with the references, except one, which is a tertiary species.
The variation in the mineralogical character of the beds sufficiently
accounts for the gradual change of species observed from the first
rise of the strata to their termination. Certain species were common
to all the beds preceding the second fault. The deposit is appa-
rently covered in its upper part by the plastic clay, to which it
approaches nearest in mineralogical character.. At Dax and at

Royan similar deposits under similar circumstances were observed
by Mr. Pratt.

159

On the whole, the author concludes»that>the characters of the
deposits in question are tertiary, and that they may probably be
placed earlier m the series than any described Hocene beds: (unless
we except the Diablerets and some other deposits-allied to them in
position and paleontological characters). ‘The whole of the Biar-
ritz beds have apparently been elevated at a period posterior to the
elevation of the chalk, the elevating causes disturbing at the same
time the neighbouring cretaceous beds.

March 8.—Rey. John Barlow, M.A., F.R.S., of Trinity College,
Cambridge, Secretary of the Royal Institution, and Captain James,
of the Royal Engineers, were elected Fellows of this Society.

A paper was read ‘On the Locomotive and Non-locomotive pow-

ers of the Family Crinoidea.”’ ~By J.C. Pearce, Esq., F.G.S.
_ The author is induced, from an examination of the various modes
of attachment among the Crinoidea, to separate those animals into
two great groups, the Non-locomotive and the Locomotive. 'The
former, when once attached to any solid substance by their base or
foot, were immoveably fixed ; the latter possessed the power of grasp-
’ ing with the foot any substance, and again relaxing their hold at —
pleasure. The non-locomotive Crinoidea he subdivides into solid-
footed and root-footed. In the solid-footed the foot is formed like
an irregular cone with the base downwards, and is composed of suc-
cessive laminz, which envelope the inferior part of the column and -
increase in number as’ the animal advances in age. . This base or
foot is generally found firmly adhering to the rock in the fossil state, —
although specimens are sometimes found detached which appears to
have been caused by violence during life. The columns of all the
species which Mr. Pearce has examined are very short and destitute
of side-arms. He enumerates Hncrinites moniliformis from the Mus-
chelkalk, Apiocrinites rotundus from the Bradford clay, and Cyatho-
crinites tuberculatus from the Dudley limestone, as examples of this
group. In the non-locomotive root-footed Crinoids the base is com-
posed of many root-like branches, radiating in a more or less hori-
zontal or downward direction from the lower part of the column,
each branch bifurcating several times in an irregular manner. |The
branches are perforated by a central foramen, and appear to be com-
posed in individuals of all ages, of a solid calcareous substance in-

capable of motion.

Mr. Pearce divides his locomotive Crinoidea into two sections,
Branch-footed and Sucker-footed. The branch-footed are charac-
terised by the organ of attachment, or foot, being composed of a
number of jointed branches, in some species simple, in others bifur-
cating, or dividing in an irregular manner, and generally terminating
in a minute blunt point. Each joint has a central foramen, and is
articulated by alternate radiating ridges and grooves, admitting of
the- greatest degree of flexibility, forming an organ which the author
regards as well adapted to crawl along the bottom of the ocean, or
to steady the animal against the motion of the water. The columns
of this group are generally furnished with side-arms, extending to a

ea

160

greater or less distance from the foot, and sometimes the whole
length of the column. Examples are, Apiocrinites ellipticus from the
chalk, Pentacrinus Briareus from the lias, Actinocrinites tessellatus,
Platycrinites gigas, and several undetermined species from the moun-
tain limestone; also Cyathocrinites goniodactylus, and several unde-
termined species from the Dudley limestone.

The sucker-footed locomotive Crinoids have the column destitute
of side-arms, and terminating at its inferior extremity in a blunt
point. Mr. Pearce subdivides them into Crinotdeform and Comatu-
liform.

The following table exhibits Mr. Pearce’s views of the classification
of the family Crinoidea.

Crinoidea.

Fam.| Group. Division. Subdivision. Genus. Species.
Apiocrinites _ |rotundus.
Encrinites moniliformis.
Solid-footed .,.|....... sedones Cyathocrinites |tuberculatus.
Non-loco- Eugeniacrinites|nutans.
motive ———_ |quinqueangularis.
Root-footed......|, celeeeitcaalnielawcteic Cyathocrinites |rugosus.
Apiocrinites _ jellipticus.
Pentacrinus __|briareus, jun.
Branch-footed...|..sceseereesees Actinocrinites |tessellatus.
Platycrinites gigas.
locomotive |Cyathocrinites |goniodactylus.
Crinoideform jActinocrinites |moniliformis.
Hb Rea Ne { Comatuliform. /Apiocrinites _ fusiformis.
“On an entirely new form of Encrinite from the Dudley Lime-
stone.’ By J. Chaning Pearce, Esq., F.G.S.

The fossils described in this communication were discovered by
Mr. John Gray of Dudley. Mr. Pearce regards them as constitu-
ting a new genus which he proposes to name Pseudocrinites, inclu-
ding two species both having ‘‘the arms and fingers inserted in
bands, which commence just above the column and pass over the
plates of the head to its summit.” The one form has two, the
other four ranges of ‘‘ fingers.’ They resemble each other in
having ‘‘ the columns at their superior part composed of rings, gra-
dually increasing in size towards the head. ‘The plates of the head
are thin and broad, and marked on their outer surface by lines of
growth, and radiating ridges resembling the plates of the marsupite.
They are also furnished with four orifices of a lozenge shape, most
singularly inserted in the plates of the head, and their arms and
fingers are exceedingly short. The fingers are composed of two
rows of bones, each bone on the one side being inserted between
two of the opposite. These fingers appear to be placed in four rows
on each of the hands, and pass off from the head in a radiating di-
rection, commencing at the column and uniting at the summit.”
Mr. Pearce names the first species Pseudocrinites bifasciatus, and the
second P. qguadrifasciatus.

161

“On a Fossil Pine-forest at Kurrur-kurran, in the inlet of
Awaaba, on the eastern coast of Australia,” by the Rev. W. B.
Clarke, A.M., F.G.S.

Awaaba is one of those inlets which occur at frequent intervals
along the eastern coast of New South Wales, and which, from their
sea-entrance being usually narrow and blocked up with drifted sand,
are by the colonists termed “ Lakes.’’ Awaaba is called Lake Mac-
quarrie, and is the largest of the inlets of that description between
Port Stephen and Broken Bay. Its sea-entrance lies fourteen miles
to the south of the mouth of the Hunter river, nearly in 33° south
latitude.

. \)) { fi Za
\ Z ) Noblys Is¢

AO Nirritin Is?

li

This inlet occupies a portion of that formation of conglomerate
and sandstone, with subordinate beds of lignite, which extends from
the Hunter river southwards towards Brisbane Water. The lignite
constitutes the so-called Australian coal. This formation, owing to
its beds along the shores of the inlet being placed horizontally, and
being divided by nearly vertical joints, gives rise to regular lines of
coast, both in a longitudinal and transverse direction. It forms
along the coast a high range, which, except at the entrance, divides
the lake from the sea. Within the lake a series of extensive bays,
bounded to the water’s edge by steep cliffs, run out like fingers,
far up into the country. ‘The water of the inlet is for the most
part very deep. if

On the western side of the lake, and nearly opposite its sea-
entrance, a promontory, bounded on either side by a bay, is formed
by the Tirabeenba mountain, which stretches from the S.E. to the

162

N.W., and in the latter direction ends abruptly m a lofty but not
very precipitous escarpment: this sudden termination is occasioned
by a fault. This mountain range then turns to the W., and after-
wards to the S.W.; between it and the next range a wide valley
intervenes.

The north-eastern flank of the north-western extremity of this
range swells out into a hill of low elevation, from the base of which
to the water’s edge a low flat extends; the flat is about fifty yards
broad, and is, in point of level, within a foot of the surface of the
water; it continues along the base of the slope for the space of about
half a mile: it is called by the aborigines Kurrur-kurran. To the
- south and west of this flat the slopes of the mountain come down to
the margin of the lake. The surface of the flat is composed of black
sandy vegetable mould, and of detritus thickly interspersed with the
roots of plants and grasses; trees of large growth, which are prin-
cipally Hucalypti and Casuarinee, together with some others of smaller
dimensions, stand at intervals upon it, and grow even close to
the water. Beneath the alluvial matter the rock occurs in situ: this
is a sandstone, which is for the most part of a compact and semi-
crystalline texture, approaching to chert ; its strata run out to some
distance, at a small depth below the surface of the water, and render
the lake in that part very shallow.

Throughout the whole of the alluvial flat, stumps and stools of
fossilized trees are seen standing out of the ground, and one can
form no better notion of their aspect, than by imagining what the
appearance of the existing living forest would be if the trees
were all cut down to a certain level. In the lake also, where it ad-
joins the flat, to the distance of from 80 to 200 feet from the shore,
numerous points are seen, like those of a reef of rocks, just peeping
above tne surface of the water; these points are the fossilized stools
and stumps of tree, similar to those which are found on shore. ‘The
greater part of these stems, both of those on land and in water, stand
vertically ; many of those on shore have remains of their roots in the
sandstone rock beneath the alluvial matter; and of those which stand
in the water, one at the distance of three feet from the shore has
portions of its roots imbedded in the sandstone on which it rests.
The rock immediately round the roots is not of so harsh a texture as
it is in other parts; in it, in the neighbourhood of the roots which
are in the water, there appear numerous white spots, which give the
stone a mottled appearance: this arises from a multitude of small
cavities which contain powdery silex, similar to what is often found
in the cavities of chalk-flints. On the shore, the surface of the rock
near the stems is worn into a number of little holes, which are owing
to the decay and removal of this powder. Mr. Clarke sees no other
explanation of these specks, than that they mark the situation of the
fibres which proceeded from the roots. The roots of the trees are
in some instances surrounded by an accumulation of sandy rock,
which forms a mound of a higher level than the rest of the stratum.
The roots do not descend, so far as has been ascertained, very far
into the substance of the rock. nor is there any appearance of a

163

dirt-bed: . The stools stand from two to three feet above the surface
of the ground, and vary from two'to four feet in diameter; but one in
thelake is at least four feet above the level of the water; and five or six
feet in diameter. In several of the stumps from 60 to 120 concen-
tric rings of growth may be counted: a few of the stools are hollow
in the centre, but others are solid throughout: the wood appears to
be coniferous. Veins of chalcedony traverse the substance of the
trunks between the concentric rings, and also in the direction of the
radial lines.

Many of the stems at Kurrur-kurran have the bark adhering firmly
to the trunk, and the bark in one instance was of the thickness of
three inches. Its appearance in one or two cases was such as to
show that it had been partly torn from the tree while yet standing,
as if it had been broken down and the bark had been rent by the
fall.

The colour of the substance of the stems within varies from a
greyish white to a clouded grey, but their surfaces, when exposed to
the air, have become yellowish by weathering ; many are overgrown
by lichens, and have then exactly the appearance of the stumps of
recent trees. The upper extremities of the fossil stumps present
clean horizontal sections, which shows that they were not broken off
while recent, since no mode of fracturing recent pinewood could have
occasioned such neat, plain and parallel sections as the summits of
these stumps exhibit.

In a fragment of the sandstone from the base of one of the fossil
stumps, the silicified impression of part of the leaf of a Glossopteris
was found.

Immediately below the flinty stratum in which the trees are found
is a bed ef lignite; above the level at which the trees occur,
there are found, imbedded in the sandstones and conglomerates,
immense quantities of broken fragments of trees, apparently stripped
of their boughs and branches. These fragments are generally di-
vested of their bark, and appear to have been drifted.

Fossil trees are found in this formation at other places, and nearly
at the same level above the sea as at Kurrur-kurran; they occur in
sandstone similar to that of Kurrur-kurran, at the southern extre-
mity of the Tirabeenba mountain, immediately above and below a
bed of lignite. At the spot referred to, pits have very recently been
opened for working the lignite, at the level of about four feet above
the surface of the lake. At the south head of Reid’s Mistake, which
is the name for the sea-entrance to the inlet of Awaaba, similar beds
of sandstone occur, and these are traversed vertically by the trunks
of trees, while other trees lie horizontally in the same beds. Lines
of division, which appear to be owing to the contraction of the whole
mass, intersect both the trees and their matrix: these trees are found
at a somewhat higher level than the sea. At nearly the same level
in Nirritinbali (or Mutton-bird Island), off the entrance to Awaaba,
large stools and stems of trees occur in conglomerate, which conglo-
merate reposes on beds of lignite. Fossil trees are also found in
conglomerate reposing on lignite on the coast north of the entrance

164

to Awaaba, at Redhead, at Newcastle, and at Nobby’s Island, off the
mouth of the Hunter river. At Nobby’s Island the treeslie in a
pebbly grit, passing into conglomerate, and are mineralized by hydrate
of iron ; they are from 10 to 150 feet long. At none of the above
places, however, do the trees occur in such profusion as at Kurrur-
kurran.

Fragments of roots and of the boughs of trees, divested of their
bark, are found at Munniwarrée, Wollogong and Mulibinbak, im-
bedded in beds of sandstone at a higher level than the beds which
contain the fossil trees. Similar fragments are found spread over
the surface at Wollon Hill, at Holworthy Down, and elsewhere in
the colony; it is probable therefore that the bed of sandstone con-
taining trees in a vertical position, which is found nearly at the same
level above the sea at Kurrur-kurrén and the other places above-
mentioned, is the true geological position of that ancient forest from
which the enormous quantities of the fragments of wood which occur
either spread over the surface, or imbedded in the sandstone above
and below the lignite, have been derived.

The sandstones of this formation, and in this vicinity, have been
powerfully affected by the action of intrusive rocks; they are tra-
versed, at Nobby’s Island and on the coast near Neweastle, by trap
dykes. The author refers to the ‘ Voyage’ of Flinders, page 131,
for an account of mineralized fossil wood found in Bass’s Straits, at
Reservation Island, which is composed of granite and of schist, tra-
versed by granite veins and trap dykes. He also refers to the ‘ Tasma-
nian Journal,’ vol. i. p. 27, for an account, by the surgeon of H.M.S.
Erebus, Dr. M’Cormick, of silicified wood found in association with
trap rocks in Kerguelen’s Land; and to the same volume, p. 24, for
an account by Dr. T. D. Hooker, assistant-surgeon to H.M.S.
Erebus, of fossil wood found at Macquarrie plains, in Tasmania.

The author infers, from the present position of the fossil trees at
Kurrur-kurran, that the land must have been alternately depressed
and elevated. He makes mention in the course of his paper of two
beds of lignite, one above the bed of fossil trees and one below it;
but he does not describe the relative position and distance of these
two beds.

March 22.—Major-General W. Morison, C.B. M.P., of the Ma-
dras Army, F.R.S. L. and E., 10 Grosvenor Street; Thomas Old-
ham, Esq., A.B., T.C.D., 7 Suffolk Street, Dublin; Thomas Falconer,
Esq., Putney Hill, Putney; and Henry W. Bristow, Esq., of the
Ordnance Geological Survey of Great Britain, were elected Fellows
of this Society.

A paper was first read “On some Pleistocene Deposits near Cop-
ford, Essex,’ by John Brown, Esq.

The order of the component beds of these deposits was taken from
a cutting made for the Eastern Counties Railway. The lowest bed
noticed consists of blue clay, which the author refers to a great
detritic accumulation called ‘till,’ and which occurs extensively

165

over the northern portion of the county of Essex. The till varies
considerably in character and composition; at the N. extremity of
the section which the author exhibited, it was described as consist-
ing of a stiff tenacious clay, but within a short space it changed
to a sandy gravel, containing fishes’ teeth and corals in great abun-
dance: the rock fragments have been derived from basaltic and se-
condary beds ; the latter afforded the fossils contained in the follow-
ing list, for the identification of which the author states that he
has been indebted to Mr. J. de C. Sowerby. Serpula illium, L. ;
S. tetragona, L.; S. articulata, G.S.; S. granulata, C.; Terebratula
rigida, U. Ch.; T. pisum, Ch. M.; T. striatula, L. Ch.; Gryphea in-
curva, L.; G. dilatata,K.C.; Inoceramus,C.; Avicula inequivalvis, L.;
Exogyra virgula, K.C.; Crania striata, C.; Pollicipes maximus, C. ;
Ammonites Leachii, K. C.; A. annulatus, L.; A. dentatus, G.; A.
spinosus, K.C.; A. serratus, O.C.; Belemnites acutus, L.; B. pistil-
liformis, L.; Littorina carinata, G.S.; Pentacrinites basaltiformis, L.;
Encrinites moniliformis,O. The remains of fishes were, Otodus appen-
diculatus, C.; Galeus pristodontus, C.; Notidanus pristis, C.; Odon-
taspis rhaphiodon,C.; Hybodus, U.O., which were determined for the
author by Mr. S. P. Woodward.

The Pleistocene deposit at the Copford brick-field consists, in an
ascending order, of a bed of black vegetable matter, or peat, from
six inches to one foot in thickness, resting immediately upon the
“till:” from this stratum the following shells were procured, which
were named for the author by Mr. S. P. Woodward :—Vertigo pa-
lustris; V. edentula; V. pusilla; V. pygmea; V. substriata; Azeca
tridens ;; Acme fusca; Carychium minimum; Zua lubrica; Clausilia
rolphii; Cl. nigricans; Cl. bidens; Succinea pfeifferi; S. putris;
Aplesus hypnorum; Limnius palustris; L. truncatulus; Planorbis
spirorbis; P. vortex; Pisidium pusillum; Heliz nemoralis; H. hor-
tensis; H, arbustorum; H. lapicida; H. rufescens; H. hispida; H.
pulchella; H. lamellata; H. spinulosa; H. fulva; Zonites rotunda-
tus; Z. ruderata; Z. cellarius; Z. radiatulus; Z. nitidulus; Z. lu-
ridus; Z.crystallinus; Pupa anglica; P.umbilicata; P. marginata.

Above the peat is a bed of clay and detritus about one foot thick,
containing many of the land and freshwater shells cited above; next
above this is a second layer of peat with shells.

At the southern extremity of the author’s section, the order of the
beds was as follows:—1. Diluvial clay, 3 feet. 2. White sand with
shells, 3 feet. 3. White calcareous marl with shells, together with
the bones of the elephant, ox and deer. 4. Peat with shells (Val-
vata piscinalis), 6 inches. 5. Blue clay with freshwater shells.

The author suggests that this deposit is the bed of an ancient
pond, which occupied a depression on the surface of the till.

A paper was afterwards read “‘ On the Tin Mines of Tenassirim
Proyvince.”’ By Prof. Royle.

The author commences by observing that though tin is found in
few parts of the world, yet that it can be clearly proved to have
been employed from very early historical times: he next enters

166

into various interesting inquiries respecting the names under which
it was known by the several nations of antiquity, and the country
from whence it was procured, considering it more probable that the
Greeks and Romans were supplied from the East, than that com-
merce should have extended in very early times to such a remote
country as Cornwall.

After some short notices of the old geographers and travellers
who have spoken of the tin of India, the author enters into an ac--
count of the several localities in which it has been discovered, the
situations in which it usually occurs, the methods of extracting and
smelting it.

The island of Banca, situated at the eastern extremity of Sumatra,
is the most celebrated of the Indian tin districts. The surface of
this island presents short ranges of granitic hills, flanked by imferior
ones which abound in red ironstone. ‘The tin. occurs in the low
alluvial deposits at the base of the granitic hills, and about twenty-
five feet from the surface. The ore is a peroxide of tin yielding
about 60 per cent. of metal. From 1813 to 1816, whilst the island
was in possession of the East India Company, three millions of
pounds were raised annually, and since that time the quantity is
believed to have increased. It is stated on the authority of Captaim
Tremenhere, that some of the tin of Banca is extracted from the
side of a hill about 300 feet high.

The island of Lingen, at the southernmost point of the peninsula of
Malacca, particularly in the neighbourhood of Palemberg on the east
coast, also produces tin, as does the island of Sumatra at various points
along the eastern coast, and near Bencoolen on the western coast.

The whole peninsula of Malacca on its west side is also a stanni-
ferous district. A range of lofty granitic hills: runs from north to south
through this country : the lower ridges of the neighbourhood of Ma-
lacca consist of conglomerate, with clay ironstone, which agrees m
character and composition with a rock common on the Malabar coast,
described by Dr. Buchanan under the name of Laterite. Severe shocks

_of earthquakes are occasionally felt in Malacca ; and there are several
springs with temperatures of 110° and 180° F. The tin ore is ex-
tracted from the low alluvial plains at the base of the granitic range,
and is not unfrequently mixed with gold. ‘The exported quantity of
the latter amounts to about 19,800 oz. annually. ‘The ore occurs
in the horizontal.seams of considerable extent, and from six to
twenty inches in thickness, at a variable depth from the surface.

The author next describes the native processes for working and
smelting the ore, and states that about 70 per cent. of metal is ob-
tained at a cost of twenty-three shillings the ecwt.: on the author-
ity of Capt. Newbold, the gross annual quantity of tin raised in the
peninsula of Malacca is given at 4,325,000 lbs.

The British provinces on the coast of Tenassirim contam about
30,000 square miles, having a north and south range of mountains
for their eastern boundary. ‘The mineral products of these provinces
are tin, iron, and coal. The north and south range is stated by
Dr. Helfer to be composed of granite and gneiss; and the northern

167

and middle parts of the country to consist of transition slates and
limestones. The country south of the Maulmain river, the province
of Ye, towards Tavoy, is a sterile slate district covered with bamboo,
Amherst province presents isolated ridges of limestone with fertile
land at their bases: to the south are sandstones and conglomerates.
Tertiary formations, chiefly argillaceous, occupy the higher parts of
Amherst and Ye provinces, the plains of Tavoy and Kalleevung, those
between T'avoy and Poilon, the valley of Jaun-biank and of the Te-
nassirim river, and the elevated land of Meta-mio.

In 1837 Dr. Helfer discovered tin near lake Loadut, about 110
miles N.N.H. of Maulmain, and in 1840 he reported the country to
the north of the Pakehan river to be the richest stanniferous district
within the Tenassirim provinces: the ore is found in the debris of
primitive rocks, and the range is stated to be a continuation of the
Siamese tin district of Rinowng. Domel island and the banks of
the Boukpeer are also cited as localities yielding tin.

Capt. ‘Tremenhere’s account of the tin of the Tenassirim provinces
is, that it occurs chiefly in the beds and banks of those rivers which
issue from the primitive mountains: on the Thengodong river, in
the immediate vicinity of the coal mines on the Great Tenassirim
river, 11,889 grains of peroxide of tin were collected in an hour and
a half. Along the courses of the streams which flow into the Little
Tenassirim river it occurs in thin beds, in gravel; and Capt Tremen-
here calculates, from a short trial he made, that two men could ob-
tain by washing the gravel about 5 lbs. 2 oz. 464 grs. of tin per day.

At Kahan, on the right bank of the Great Tenassirim river, eleven
miles from Mergui, Capt. Tremenhere found a vein of tin about
three feet and a half wide, nearly vertical, and included in a white
decomposing granitic rock. ‘The ore is described as equal to that
from Banca. It is conjectured that tin may ultimately be found in
the small isolated granitic hills which rise out of the alluvial plain
in the neighbourhood of Kahan.

April 5.—Edward Scott Barber, Esq., of Newport, Monmouth-
shire, Assoc. Inst. C.E., and Charles Crompton, Esq., Barrister, of
No. 10, Endsleigh Street, Tavistock Square, were elected Fellows
of this Society.

A paper was read “‘ Onthe Geology of the South-east of Surrey.”
By R. A. C, Austen, Esq., Sec. G.S.

The obseryations embodied in this paper relate to certain points
regarding the structure of the district on either side of the North
Downs of Surrey, to the number and order of the component forma-
tions, and the eyidences which they present of the conditions under
which they were formed.

Mr. Austen regards the steep walls of the chalk formation as
forming amore obyious physical boundary of the Wealden formation,
especially on the south, than the great escarpment of the greensand.
He remarks that the subdivisions of the eocene tertiary present lines
of escarpment corresponding to the secondary series. He maintains

168

that the Wealden in its present state is not a valley of elevation,—
that at some former period it has been an elevated area, but that
subs equent changes in the relative positions of the earth’s crust have
reduced the elevation which this particular portion must have had at
a given time, and with reference to other circumjacent areas,

Numerous sections show that the lowest tertiary strata in the
vicinity of the chalk escarpment are composed of rounded pebbles,
fine sand, and beds of oyster-shells, the whole corresponding exactly
with the Reading and other equivalent deposits. Mr. Austen infers
from these facts that the movements of the earth’s crust, which have
been considered as having been confined to the Wealden district, can
be traced into the tertiary area of Surrey and Hants, and that these
movements and the process of removal did not commence until after
the completion of the lower tertiary series.

Creracreous SERIES.

The general character of that portion of the chalk which is exhi-
bited in the range from Farnham to Dorking, as regards the distri-
bution of animal remains, is as follows. Greatas is the still remain-
ing thickness of chalk in the south-east of England, we must always
bear in mind that in every place in which we observe it, it has been
extensively abraded and reduced. ‘To what extent this has taken place
we can only conjecture from such loose calculations as those made on
a comparison of the beds of uninjured flints (such as occur over the
surface of the North Downs), and the relative proportion of the flint
seams to the beds of pure chalk.

If we compare the flints which are collected in heaps, either from
the fields or dug near the surface along the North Downs, with such
as are to be found in every quarry of the upper chalk, the difference
is very striking. In the former every single specimen affords proof
that it has been formed round some spongiform body, and this too
is evident from the external form. With the flints 7x situ such forms
are rare, and warrant the conclusion that these curious productions
were much more abundant in the cretaceous ocean towards the
close of that period than they had been in any other portion.

A curious fossil, to which Mr. Mantell has given the name of
Spongus, is also not unfrequent in the flint and gravel beds, but
has never been observed by the author in beds iz situ.

The most abundant remains contained in the beds, which are now
the highest, are Belemnites mucronatus, Pecten nitidus, Ostrea vesicu-
laris, Inoceramus cordiformis, Terebratula plicata, Marsupites ornatus,
Ananchytes ovatus, together with some undescribed Pectens and other
bivalve shells.

Below these beds are found others, with Jnoceramus latus, Ventri-
culites radiatus, and Coscinopora infundibuliformis in extraordinary
abundance, the Catillus concentricus being the most common and
characteristic shell.

Throughout this upper portion of the chalk it is very evident that
the layers of flint are the equivalents of the partings between strata
in other deposits ; and sufficient time seems to have elapsed between

169

the completion of one stratum and the commencemeut of another,
to allow the lower one to become compact. The irregularities of the
flints are always on the upper side; one seam in a pit near Merrow
consists entirely of the silicified remains of Ananchytes. Vhese were
evidently all dead crusts which had lost their spines before they were
drifted over the bed where we now find them. ‘This species however
is not’ confined to such layers, but is found in extraordinary numbers
in each separate bed; and in another instance an Astrea had time
to spread itself out over the surface.

Considering the small number of animal remains we yet possess
from the chalk formation, when viewed with reference to its vast
thickness, there being not more than four or five species to 100 feet,
it seems hazardous to refer the whole of this wide-spread mass of cal-
fcareous matter to the destruction of animal structures; but the im-
pression constantly produced by a microscopic examination of the
white chalk in every place has been, that it was the deep sea deposit
of a wide ocean, which in parts teemed with animal life, but of which
the localities have long since disappeared in the extensive destruction
which it has everywhere experienced ; and that all we have to judge
from is such portion as was not generally calculated to support animal
life, with the exception perhaps of Forarninifera and Brachiopods :
the specific gravity of shells and corals is in favour of the wide dis-
tribution of their materials when pounded.

Nor is this purely hypothetical; there are some remarkable beds
a little below that portion of the deposit last described which bear
it out: they are beds which were apparently deposited when the
waters could drift rather coarser materials than usual; so that the
greatest portion consists of broken branches of corals, shells and
Echinoderms, cemented by the usual comminuted matter of the or-
dinary chalk strata. Escharo cancellata, E. pyriformis, Cellepora bi-
punctata, Cerioporu madreporacea, Retepora truncata, Serpule plexus,
and Cidaris vesiculosa are the principal species met with.

For a very considerable depth below this, through that portion
where the seams of flint are most regular, it is almost in vain to
search for any traces of animal life. This condition of things is con-
tinued downwards as far as the chalk without flints, where Inocera-
mus mytiloides and cuvierit, Lima hoperi, Plagiostome and Terebratule,
‘become abundant, together with the remains of fishes; and which
beds are succeeded by others which afford a grey limestone, and con-
tain Ammonites rhotomagensis, A. mantelli, A. lewesiensis, A. varians,
Turrilites tuberculatus, Scaphites equalis, Pecten beaveri, and Anan-
chytes radiatus.

This lower chalk, which through a considerable thickness had
been gradually becoming more compact, thick-bedded and dark-co-
loured, suddenly changes to a rock, exactly resembling the upper
white fragmentary beds. This portion of the series, taken in a de-
scending order, slowly acquires an admixture of sand and green
earth, so as to become first a craie chloritée, till by the further di-
minution of the calcareous matter we reach the bright green beds of
the upper greensand with Plicatula inflata: below these strata of

VOL, IV. PABT I. N

170

white, blue, calcareous matter again occur, containing Ammonites
rhotomagensis and mantel, offermg a-striking contrast to the beds
above them and the rock gault immediately below: through, this
portion again traces of animal life are hardly to be found.

The gault clay contains Ammonites splendens, A. interruptus, A,
‘auritus, Baculites and Inoceramus grypheoides, in. considerable num-
bers, which are continued down into the beds of marly green earth
below.

This terminates a long-established division in the cretaceous series ;
and the abrupt manner in which some of the changes in mineral cha-
acter, as from clays to sands or limestone, takes place, is very re-

~markable. z

GREENSAND SERIES.

Dr, Fitton remarks *, that the tract on the south and west of Guild-
ford forms one of the most extensive surfaces of the lower greensand
to be found in England ; and he illustrates the succession of the strata
in this district by a section from Farnham across Hindhead to the
Weald. This line, however, which is taken near the western extre-
mity of the major axis of the Wealden denudation, does not exhibit
the disturbance to which the preservation of this larger area of lower
greensand is due; and a better line for this purpose is one which
may be taken due south from the town of Guildford, and which will
cut across the small valley of denudation, which occurs within the
‘said area of the greensand formation, between the chalk range of the
North Downs and the escarpment of the Weald valley.

This denudation has cut through all the beds of the greensand
series, as represented, and has laid bare, in the lower parts of the
valley, the clays of the Wealden series.

These clays are noticed by Dr. Fitton}, who states that his atten-
tion was first called to them by Mr. Murchison. The discovery of
Wealden fossils has enabled the author to confirm Dr. Fitton’s con-
jecture as to the age of the lowest clays of the Pease marsh, which,
even without such aid, is sufficiently established by the general ar-
rangement of the greensand series which succeedsit. ‘This structure
of the Pease marsh valley had been long known and mapped by Mr.
H. L. Long.

This valley of denudation is rudely elliptical, and like that of the
Weald, has its larger axes extended due east and west. The out-
ward.dip of the beds is most clearly marked, and the general nature
of the disturbance can be easily traced by a series of transverse sec-
tions, along which the beds of the greensand will be seen to be raised
on the north and depressed on the south of the line of disturbance.

. The author considers that an interesting and important member of
this group has been overlooked in England, and proposes to adopt (for
the south-east of England at least) the following subdivisions ;:—

a. Upper, ferrugimous. _,

. 6. Middle, containing Bargate and Kentish Rag.

ce, Argillaceous [Neocomian of Leymerie and D’Orbigny].

‘* Geol. Trans., vol.iv, p..143: + Ibid, p. 149,

171

a. Upper [ ferruginous] division. —This section, though founded on
an artificial character, is so decidedly marked, both as constituting
an independent range of hills parallel with the chalk, as also by the
absence of any useful vegetation, as to be most obvious /of all the
three divisions of the lower greensand. As a mineralogical division
it is clearly defined. A clear line without any alternations separates
it from the dark-coloured beds of the gault, and, though less clearly
marked below, yet its range across the country and numerous: sec-
tions show that its thickness is uniform. A diagonal arrangement
of the bedding is very evident in a portion of it. Organic remains
are very rare. Mr. Austen has received one curious specimen from
Mr. H. Long,—an ironstone cast of the umbilical portion of an am-
monite, Fossil wood also occurs.

b. Middle division.—Next below the ferruginous division of the lower
greensand strata are sands with subordinate bands of hard siliceous
building stone, which have been fully described, first by Mr. Mur-
chison and subsequently by Dr. Fitton. Mr. Austen confines his
remarks to the indications which they afford of the condition of
things at the period of their deposition. ‘These sands, which at, first
sight appear non-fossiliferous over large areas, are found on closer
examination to contain numerous minute corals of undescribed spe-
cies, broken spines of Echinoderms and fragments of bivalve shells ;
all these are most abundant in the lines of the Bargate stone. Large
specimens of Nautilus radiatus and Ammonites nutfieldiensis occur
occasionally, and casts of a species of Mya are constantly found at
right angles with the beds, and in the position in which they live.

Throughout the middle division of the lower greensand the com-
ponent beds present a diagonal structure. Many of the changes
which have taken place since the deposition of the strata, such as
the consolidation of the Bargate nodulates and ragstone, have been
in the lines of the cross-stratification. Mr. Austen regards this struc-
ture as indicatmg a moving power which acted constantly in one
direction; and as in this case the inclination of the transverse beds
is always southerly, the materials of the middle green deposits appear
to have been, during a vast period of time, accumulated in a given
direction, and consequently derived from an opposite one,

c. Argillaceous division (Neocomian).—The beds which rest im-
mediately upon the blue Wealden shales of the valley of the Pease
marsh consist of brown and yellow clays. The range of these strata
at the base of the hills which bound this area is clearly marked,
either by several brick-fields or by the prevalence of oal timber ; and
sections showing the place in the series which it occupies may be
seen near the ford at East Shalford, and the Artington brick-field.
These clay strata often run out at the base of the lower greensand,
which gives them an appearance of greater thickness than they really
possess.

Though the general character of this portion of the cretaceous
series 1s argillaceous, it contains subordinate nodular concretions in
the lines of bedding, of great size and thickness, and cemented
into an exceedingly hard rock by calcareous matter, Corals and

N 2

172

shells are abundant in these nodules ; indeed these beds seem richer
in organic contents than any other portion of the cretaceous series :
good specimens however are difficult to obtain, as the outer surfaces
of the shells adhere very strongly to the matrix.

Besides the fossils contained in the calcareous nodules, the inter-
mediate clay-beds contain in great abundance a large oyster, with a
coarse foliaceous structure. These beds form the lowest portion of
the cretaceous series in this part of England, and are either peculiar
to this locality or have been overlooked elsewhere.

A like argillaceous division occurs at the base of the greensand
escarpment of the great valley of the Weald, where also it advances
in the shape of an under terrace. At Parkhatch, near Hascomb,
these beds were cut through in digging a well, and found to rest
upon blue Wealden shaies.

Strata have been described by some of the French geologists,
which correspond exactly in position, mineralogical character, and
included: fossils with the argillaceous group above noticed. The
French strata occur at the base of the cretaceous series of the Paris
basin, and are described by Mons. Leymerie and Cornuel under the
names of the argile ostréenne, and the calcaire a Spatangues, and
belong to their Neocomian group. On this subject Mr. Austen has
the following remarks :—

In thus comparing the lowest argillaceous division of the green-
said of the south-east of England with the Neocomian group of con-=
tinental geologists, it may be well to consider what is the value
of that group, and how far it has hitherto been recognised in this
country. ‘The fossils of the upper Neocomian beds of Vassy and the
department of the Aube are forty-two, of which only one (the Cor-
bula punctum of Phillips) is regarded as an English species, and even
that is quoted with a doubt. So far, then, the establishment of an
additional group to the cretaceous series, as described by English
geologists, has been strictly in accordance with the principles on
which most recent divisions have been made in older rocks; and in
the absence of figures and descriptions of some of the remarkable
shells which this group contains, the continental geologists very na~
turally concluded that it was wanting in the English series, an
inference which has led to some erroneous generalisations.

The grounds on which this subdivision is proposed are the fol-
lowing :—

1. Distinct mineralogical characters, in a constant position in the.
series ; in which respects it is of the same value as mist other penlen

gical arrangements.
2. Agreement in this respect with the nearest portions of the cre-

taceous series in France.
3. Its position beneath the lowest portion of the series which is
to be found described in works on the subject.
4. A distinct and peculiar suite of organic remains.—
Ostrea, n. s. common. Corbula punctum.

Pholadomya neocomensis. Astarte beaumonti.
solenoides. substriata. I

Astarte transversa.
Thetis minor.
Cardium hillanum.

subhillanum.

Cuculleea raulini.

Modiola archiaci.
lanceolata.

Trigonia scabra.
palmata?

—— fittoni.

Pinna sulcifera.

Perna mulleti.

’ Gervillia anceps.

Pecten interstriatus.
Hinnites leymerii.
xogyra, sinuata. var.
subsinuata.
Ostrea leymerii.
Terebratula biplicata.
elegans.
sella.
Auricula incrassata.
Natica.
Turritella levigata.
dupiniana.
Rostellaria ———— ?

aliformis. —- E
Avicula so Nautilus pseudo-elegans.
ys prevosti. SSS

rhomboidalis.
Lima elegans? Pycnodus —?

There is still direct evidence in the Isle of Portland that a part of
the south of England rose into dry land at the close of the oolitic
wera: and other considerations make it very probable that at that
time the extent of dry land in the northern latitudes was very con-
siderable. The range of the Neocomian deposits along the south of
Europe shows the aout of submersion, next after the oolitic epoch,
and we see in the Boulonnais, in the Pays de Bray, in the Paris
basin, Franch Cerate, Neufchatel, and part of Germany, how very
close the upper marine Neocomian beds approach to our own fresh-
water or tertiary Wealden: so that consistently with the views of
the continental geologists, we seem to have ascertained some inter-
esting points in the physical geography of a part of the surface of
the earth during the secondary period; such as the direction from
which the waters of the vast Wealden stream flowed, and the line
where (approximately at least) they joined those of the sea. No
one who has either traced the cretaceous series in the range along
the southern portion of England, has seen it abroad, or studied the
numerous fossil remains which the formation contains, together with
their geographical range, can entertain the least doubt but that the
sea which deposited it was brought from the south northwards by a
gradual process of overlap. For this reason it is that the cretaceous
series of the continent, and of the south of Europe in particular, is so
much more fully developed than our own; and it becomes of interest
to ascertain at what precise period it was that its waters reached our
latitudes ; in other words, how much of the series is represented here.
The groups of this country must cease to be the measure and type
of the cretaceous epoch, of which they only represent a part.

*«‘ Notice of the occurrence of Beds containing Freshwater Fossils
in the Oolitic Coalfield of Brora, Sutherlandshire.’” By Alexander
Robertson, Esq., F.G.8.

Among the reefs of shale and coal opposite the old salt-pans at

174

Brora, Mr. Robertson has discovered two beds abounding in Cyclas
and other freshwater fossils, approachable only at low water. The
rise of the tide on the occasion of his visit to the locality, prevented
a minute examination of their relations. Their position was however
satisfactorily made out, and is, in the descending order, as follows :—

a. Beds of calcareous sandstone, considered by Mr. Phillips to re-
present the gray limestone of Cloughton and other localities in York-
shire.

6. Shale and coal, several feet.

c. Shale with fossils about an inch.

d. Shale and coal similar to the beds 6, two or three feet. .

e. Clay with fossils about thirteen inches.

jf. Shale with a few plants.

The bed c has yielded,—

Fishes:—Scales of a species of Lepidotus, strongly resembling L.
jimbriatus, Ag. Scale of Megalurus?

Mollusca, Paludina, several new species. Cyclas, one or two new
species.

Crustacea.—Cypris, new species. Plant, obscure impressions:

From the bed e the followimg have been obtained :—

Fishes.—Scales of two or three species of Lepidotus. Teeth of
Acrodus minimus, Ag.? Teeth of Hybodus minimus, Ag.

Mollusca.—Paludina, same species as in the upper bed. Two or
three species of Perna, some of which are probably new. Unio, one
new species. Cyclas numerous, new species chiefly belonging to
Lamarck’s genus Cyrena*.

Crustacea.—Cypris, same species as in the upper bed.

Plants.—Minute fragments of carbonized wood.

Nearly the whole mass of both beds consists. of fossils. No ma-
rine fossils (with the exception perhaps of the scales of Lepidotus)
are found in the upper bed, and it seems therefore to be properly a
freshwater deposit. ‘The mixed nature of the fossils of the lower
one conclusively point out its estuary character.

“« Observations on the occurrence of Freshwater Beds in the Ooli-
tic Deposits of Brora, Sutherlandshire ; and on the British Equiva-
lents of the Neocomian System of Foreign Geologists.” By Rode-
rick Impey Murchison, Esq., F.G.S.

In this communication the author confirms the interesting disco-
very announced by Mr. Robertson in the preceding paper, and re-
marks, that as the reefs of rock exposed at low water at the mouth
of the river Brora unquestionably lie beneath the Oxford clay, and
are not far above the roof of the coal, there can be no doubt that the
beds containing the freshwater shells, being fairly intercalated with
the other strata, are thus inclosed in the heart of the oolitic series.

* Among the specimens sent to the Society by Mr. Robertson were se-
veral examples of Cyclas media, identical with the Wealden shell. The
Perna referred to is altogether new, and will probably form the type of a
genus, bearing a relation to Perna analogous with that which Dreissena
bears to Mytilus.

175

They had escaped. the notice of Mr. Murchison, probably. from ha-.
ving been covered by sea sand at the time of his visit,

An examination of the freshwater specimens collected by Mr.
Murchison and Professor Sedgwick at Loch Staffin, in the Isle of
Skye, has identified the principal forms with Mr. Robertson’s spe-
cimens from Brora, and has led the author to adopt a different view
respecting the position of the beds from which they were derived.
Instead of supposing that the oolitic series of the cliffs near Portree
was overlaid by a true equivalent of the Wealden*, the freshwater
beds of Skye will it is now believed be found, like those of Inver-
brora, to be interstratified with the middle oolite, a conclusion ren-
dered probable by the natural sections and form of the coast, and
by the circumstance that the fragments not found in situ which
contained freshwater shells were collected near the escarpment and
not on the dip of the oolitic strata. Mr. Murchison is inclined to
take a similar view of the freshwater deposits near Elgin, compared
by Mr. Malcolmson to the Purbeck beds of England.

The author remarks, that with the terrestrial evidences in the plants
of Portland, Scarborough, Stonesfield and Brora, we might naturally
expect at any day to hear of the associated lacustrine or river shells.
But Mr. Robertson’s discovery further compels us to believe, that the
same species of freshwater shells prevailed, not only during the whole
of the Wealden epoch, but that they were in existence at periods
long antecedent, when the adjacent lands poured forth rivers into the
sea in which the middle and lower oolites were accumulated, and
thus we acquire a new element to enable us to reason upon the
former conditions of the surface.

The facts stated by Mr. Robertson tend to confirm the idea, that
the Wealden is more naturally connected with the Jurassic than
with the cretaceous system, and must also have an influence in de-
ciding that the Neocomian formation of foreign geologists ought not
to be placed on the parallel of the Wealden. Mr. Murchison has for
some years been of opinion that the Neocomian system is little more
than an equivalent of the lower greensand of British geologists, a
view which he upheld at the meeting of the Geological Society of
France at Boulogne in 1839, on the ground of the identity of their
stratigraphical relations and typical fossils. Further researches du-
ring last May along the coast of the Isle of Wight, in company with
Count Keyserling, led both that gentleman and the author to the
same conclusion. Among the numerous fossils they there collected
were many identical with, or analogous to, Neocomian species, par-
ticularly in that portion of the coast section so minutely described
by Dr. Fitton and Sir John Herschel, viz. between Black Gang
Chine and Atherfield rocks. Mr. Murchison observed that there
seemed to be a gradual zoological as well as lithological passage from
the Wealden beds below into the greensand and shales above them ;
for although the shale with Cypris occurs immediately beneath the
marine deposit of Atherfield rocks, as remarked by Dr. Fitton, |
another band of flagstone with marine shells (Ostrea and Terebra-
tula) also occurs beneath these uppermost beds of Cypris. In the
* Geol. Trans. vol. ii. p. 366.

176

still lower strata, however, we lose all traces of such marine alter-
nations, and the whole becomes one great freshwater deposit. A
similar phenomenon is seen in the southern part of the sectiom at
Red Cliff, extending into Sandown Bay, where beds with Cypris are
intercalated between oyster beds. These alternations are indeed
what we might expect to find, provided a former depression of the
surface had conyerted a lake into an estuary, and subsequently into
a marine bay. But notwithstanding the natural connexion. be-
tween the Wealden and the lower greensand, it does not follow that
the two formations ought to be merged in one system or naturat
series. Dr. Mantell as long ago as 1822 pointed out the analogy
between the animals of the Wealden and those of the Stenesfield
beds; and more recently Professor Owen has carried it out much
further. Professor Agassiz has pronounced the Ichthyolites of the
cretaceous system to be entirely dissimilar from those of the Wealden,
Mr. Murchison inquires, where are we to draw the line of sepa-
ration which shall indicate precisely in our own country the base of '
the Neocomian of foreign geologists, or in other words, the base of
the great continental Greta eeous system? On this point he remarks
that some small amount of compromise may eventually be found de-
sirable; for whilst we have on the one hand full right to infer that
the larger portion of the Wealden must be classed in the oolitic
series, further inquiry may convince us that its uppermost part is of
the same age as the lowest Neocomian strata; and thus we may
connect that portion of it with the cretaceous system. In the mean
time it is quite clear that a great part of the Neocomian is absolutely
the lower greensand itself. This view is confirmed by Count Key-
serling, who has identified fossils from the Neocomian strata of Kys-
lavodsk in the Caucasus, with specimens collected by him in com-
pany with Mr. Murchison in the lower greensand of the Isle of Wight.

April 26.—Lieut.- Col. Dundas, C.B., Royal Artillery, Woolwich,
and George Grote, Esq., M.A., 4 Eccleston Street, Belgrave Square,
were elected Fellows of this Society.

A paper was read “On the upright Fossil-trees found at different
levels in the Coal strata of Cumberland, Nova Scotia.” By Charles
Lyell, Esq., F.G.S., &e.

The first notice of these fossil trees was published in 1829 by
Mr. Richard Brown, in Haliburton’s ‘ Nova Scotia,’ at which time
the erect trunks are described as extending through one bed of
sandstone, twelve feet thick. Their fossilization was attributed by
Mr. Brown to the inundation of the ground on which the forest
stood. Mr. Lyell in 1842 saw similar upright trees at more than
ten different levels, all placed at right angles to the planes of stratifi-
cation, which are inclined at an ‘angle a 924° to the S.S.W.. The
fossil trees extend over a space of from two to three miles from north
to south, and, acccording to Dr. Gesner, to more than twice that
distance from east to west. The containing strata resemble litho-
logically the English coal-measures, being composed of white and
brown sandstones, bituminous shales, and clay withironstone. There

177

are about nineteen seams of coal, the most considerable being four feet

thick. The place where these are best seen is called the South
Joggins, where the cliffs are from 150 to 200 feet high, forming the

southern shore of a branch of the Bay of Fundy, called Chignecto

Bay. ‘The action of the tides, which rise sixty feet, exposes con-

tinually a fresh section, and every year different sets of trees are

seen in the face of the cliffs.

The beds with which the coal and erect trees are associated are
not interrupted by faults. They are more than 2000 feet thick, and
range for nearly two miles along the coast. Immediately below them
are blue grits used for grindstones, after which there is a break in
the section for three miles, when there appear near Minudie beds of
gypsum and limestone, and at that village a deep red sandstone, the
whole having the same southerly dip as the coal at the Joggins, and
being considered by Mr. Lyell as the older member of the carbo-
niferous series.

Above the coal-bearing beds, and stretching southwards for many
miles continuously along the shore, are grits and shales of prodigious
thickness, with coal-plants, but without vertical trees.

Mr. Lyell next describes in detail the position and structure of
the upright trees at the South Joggins. He states that no part of
the original tree is preserved except the bark, which is marked ex-
ternally with irregular longitudinal ridges and furrows, without any
leaf-scars, precisely resembling in this respect the vertical trees
found at Dixonfold on the Bolton Railway, described by Messrs.
Hawkshaw and Bowman. No trace of structure could be detected
in the internal cylinder of the fossil trunks, which are now filled
with sandstone and shale, through which fern-leaves and other plants
are scattered. Mr. Lyell saw seventeen vertical trees, varying in
height from six to twenty feet, and from fourteen inches to four
feet in diameter. The beds which inclose the fossil trees are usually
separated from each other by masses of shale and sandstone many
yards in thickness. The trunks of the trees, which are all broken
off abruptly at the top, extend through different strata, but were
never seen to penetrate a seam of coal, however thin. They all end
downwards either in beds of coal or shale, no instance occurring of
their termination in sandstone. Sometimes the strata of shale,
sandstone and clay, with which the fossil trunks have been filled,
are much more numerous than the beds which they traverse. In
one case nine distinct deposits were seen in the interior of a. tree,
while only three occurred on the outside in the same vertical height.

Immediately above the uppermost coal-seams and vertical trees
are two strata, probably of freshwater origin, of black calcareo-
bituminous shale, chiefly made up of compressed shells of two
species of Modiola, and two kinds of Cypris.

Stigmarie are abundant in the clays and argillaceous sandstones ;
often with their leaves attached, and spreading regularly in all direc-
tions from the stem. The other plants dispersed through the shales

-and sandstones bear a striking resemblance to those of the European
coal fields) Among these are Pecopteris lonchitica, Neuropteris

178

flewuosa ?, Culamites canneformis, C. approximatus, C. Steinhaueri,
we: nodosus, Sigillaria undulata, and another species.

' The genera Lepidodendron and Sternbergia are also present.
The same plants occur at Pictou and at Sydney in Cape Breton, ae-
companied with Trigonocarpum, Asterophyllites, Sphenophyllum,
and other well-known coal fossils.

The author then gives a brief description of a bed of erect Ca-
lamites, first discovered by Mr. J. Dawson in the Pictou coal-field,
about 100 miles eastward of the Cumberland coal-measures berors
described. They occur at Dicksou’s mills, 14 mile west of Pictou,
in a bed of sandstone about ten feet thick. They all terminate
downwards at the same level where the sandstone rests on subjacent .
limestone; but the tops are broken off at different heights, and
Mr. Dawson observed in the sate bed a prostrate Lepidodendron,
with leaves and Lepidostrobi attached to its branches.

From the facts above enumerated, Mr. Lyell draws the following
conclusions :—

1. That the erect position of the trees, and their perpendicularity
to the planes of stratification, imply that a thickness of several thou-
sand feet of coal strata, now uniformly inclined at an angle of 24°,
were deposited originally in a horizontal position.

2. There must have been repeated sinkings of the dry land to
allow of the growth of more than ten forests of fossil trees one above
the other, an inference which is borneoutby the independent evidence
afforded by the Séigmaria, found inthe underclays beneath coal-seams
in Nova Scotia, as first noticed in South Wales by Mr. Logan.

3. The correspondence in general characters of the erect trees of
Nova Scotia with those found near Manchester, leads to the opinion
that this tribe of plants may have been enabled by the strength of its
large roots to withstand the power of waves and currents much more
effectually than the Lepidodendra and other coal plants more rarely
found in a perpendicular position.

Lastly, it has been objected, that if seams of pure coal were formed
on the ground where the vegetables grew, they would not bear so
precise a resemblance to ordinary subaqueous strata, but ought to
undulate like the present surface of the dry land. In answer to this
Mr. Lyell points to what were undoubtedly terrestrial surfaces at .
the South Joggins, now represented by coal seams or layers of shale
supporting erect trees, and yet these surfaces conform as correctly
to the general planes of stratification as those of any other strata.

He also shows that such an absence of superficial inequalities,
and such a parallelism of successive surfaces of dry land, ought to
be expected, according to the theory of repeated subsidence, be-
cause sedimentary deposition would continually exert its leveling
action on the district submerged.

«* On changes in the Temperature of the Earth, as a mode of ac-
counting for the subsidence of the Ocean, and for the consequent
formation of Sea-beaches above its present level,” By Robert.
Harkness, Esq.,; Ormskirk.

179

The formations which are referrible to a period that succeeded the
most recent tertiary epoch, and preceded the period when the earth
was inhabited by man, and which the author terms the post-tertiary
formations, may be divided into the so-called diluvium, the erratic
blocks which have been transported by the action of glaciers, and
the remains of ancient sea-beaches.

The so-called diluvium usually consists of clay and erratic boul-
ders, of which the latter are often identical in substance with the
rock of some more or less distant mountain-chain; and in such cases
may be considered to have been derived from the chains in question.
Since deep valleys, of anterior date to the diluvium, often intervene
between the rocks in situ and the districts over which the derivative
boulders are spread, the transport of these masses has in later times
been attributed by geologists to the action of floating icebergs, an
action which, according to the observations of Scoresby and others,
is fully adequate to remove from the Arctic to more temperate re-
gions great masses of earth and rock, and actually operates every
year in the manner stated to an incredible extent. Were the bed
of the ocean in which these icebergs, on melting, have deposited,
and continue to deposit, their rocky freight, to be now elevated above
the sea-level, it would present a striking resemblance to the so-called
diluvium. What further tends to confirm this theory is, that the
diluvium is often found to contain the remains of Mollusca, partly
of arctic origin; and these are frequently in a state of perfect pre-
servation ; a fact which renders it probable that these remains have
not been removed to any great distance from their native habitat.

The consequence of supposing numerous icebergs to have floated,
at a former period, into latitudes in which icebergs are never seen at
present, is, that the temperature of these regions and of the whole
earth at that period was lower than it is at present; and the less
the distance to which the icebergs were floated from the glacier they
were originally launched from, the further must the then frigid have
encroached on the now temperate zone.

‘The erratic blocks which are found at various elevations on the
declivities of the Alps, and which sometimes form large mounds
placed transversely to those declivities, resemble in that respect the
morains formed by glaciers; and. hence it has been inferred that it
is by the action of glaciers that these alpine boulders have been
transferred to their present sites. Supposing that to have been the
ease, the ancient glaciers must have extended to a much lower level
than the modern glaciers; and the temperature of the Swiss valleys
must have been lower than it is at present. The glacier theory
therefore leads to the conclusion, that when these ancient morains
were formed there existed a frigid climate in the now temperate
zone.

There have been observed in many and very remote parts of the
world, at considerable elevations above the present sea-level, ex-
tending through great distances of country, long terraces of trans-
ported materials, such as sand, clay, and pebbles; and these terraces
geologists have agreed in considering as the remains of ancient sea-

180

beaches. ‘These beaches sometimes contain sea-shells, which belong
partly ‘to arctic species. b pated
‘In the great majority of instances these terraces are horizontal ;

and when that is the case, and more than one of these terraces form
continuous lines in the same district, they are all of course parallel
to one another. Brongniart, in the year 1829, was the first to call
attention to terraces of this description, the origin of which he attri-
buted to the subsidence of the waters of the ocean. This supposition
has by some geologists been considered as at variance with physical
probabilities; and the more generally received hypothesis now is,
that these terraces owe their present position to elevation by subter-
ranean agency. 5

- This explanation at first sight appears very probable; and’ the
more so as there are some ancient beaches which are not horizontal
but are inclined to the horizon. Of this description are the two
observed in Norway, between the 70th and 71st degrees of north
latitude, by Mons. Bravais; of which the upper descends from its
summit level of 222 feet above the sea to its lowest level of 94 feet ;
and the lower descends from its summit level of 91 feet to its lowest
level of 46 feet. The present position of these Norwegian beaches is
probably owing to the same cause which has-raised, and still con-
tinues to raise, a part of the Scandinavian peninsula above the level
of the ocean, and which has given rise to the ancient sea-beaches in
Sweden. It appears, however, from the discovery of a human ha-
bitation in connexion with these beaches in Sweden, that they be-
long, not to the post-tertiary, but to the historical epoch ; and it is
to the latter epoch, therefore, that we ought to refer the inclined
beaches observed in Norway by M. Bravais.

|The fact that the post-tertiary sea-beaches:are, in the great ma-
jority of instances, horizontal, strongly militates against the notion
that they owe their present position to elevation from beneath; as
does also the fact of their wide-spread geographical distribution,
which is so extensive indeed as to be almost universal. Were we to
admit that wherever these beaches are found the land has been ele-
vated, we must admit that in the post-tertiary period the elevating
of the land was almost universal; a conclusion in itself so impro-
bable, that we ought to seek to explain the difference of level between
the post-tertiary beaches and the present ocean in some other manner.

The author then propounds a new theory to account for the post-

tertiary horizontal sea-beaches. This theory he bases on the above —
stated conclusion, derived from the appearances which the diluvium
and the alpine boulders present; namely, that during the post-ter-
tiary period the temperature of the earth was lower than it is at pre-
sent. From the observations of Kotzebue, Sabine and Scoresby, he
infers, that at the depth of about 800 fathoms from the surface the
temperature of sea water, whether near the equator or in high
latitudes, is not very remote from 40 degrees of Fahrenheit, the point
of temperature at which the density of fresh water is the greatest:
and asithe mean depth, according to Laplace, of the Pacific Ocean
is about four miles, and of the Atlantic about three miles, and the

181

mean depth, therefore, of the two oceans about 3000 fathoms (of
which 800 fathoms is little more than a fourth part), he considers
that the mean temperature of the whole of the seawater taken to-
gether, is not far remote from 40 degrees. He infers from the ob-
servations made by Captain Sabine on sea water in high latitudes,
that sea water follows nearly the same law as fresh water in expand-
ing with a reduction of temperature below 40 degrees of Fahrenheit.
Hence he reasons, that if, during the post-tertiary period, the mean
temperature of the earth was lower, the mean temperature of the
sea was also lower than it is at present; and this reduced tempera-
ture of the sea below 40 degrees would cause it to occupy a greater
volume than it now occupies, and consequently to rise on all the
sea coasts to a higher mean level than it now rises; though not
exactly in proportion to its expansion, since it would then not only
be deeper but would occupy a greater surface than before.

The author seeks to account for the increase which he supposes
to have taken place in the mean temperature of the earth since the
post-tertiary period, by the extent of land within the tropics which
since that pericd has been raised from beneath the ocean by subter-
ranean agency, and which, since its upheaval, has been heated by
the sun’s rays.

He notices the fact, that in the south-west of Lancashire the dilu-
vium is found resting only upon level, and not on inclined surfaces.

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PROCEEDINGS
OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

VoL. IV. Parr I. 1843. No. 95.

10,— | , of the Middle
Temple, Barrister-at-law, Sothernhay, Rete De Billing, M.D,,

of Park Lane ; Lieut. 'Thos, A. B. Spratt, of the Royal Navy, Assist-
ant Surveyor H. M.S. Beacon ; and Gabriel Hamilton Lang, of Over-
_ ton, Dumbartonshire, were elected Fellows of the Society.

A paper was read ‘‘On some new Ganoid Fishes.” By Sir Philip
Grey Egerton, M.P., F.G.S.

The specific Ghavacters of the fishes described are as follows :——

1. Semionotus pentlandi, Egerton.—Body deep; pedicle of the.tail
thicker proportionally than in Semionotus latus. Anal fin long, with
5 or 6 rays, articulated, subdivided, and decreasing in length from
the first. Bases distant; 3 or 4 fulcral rays on the margin, Caudal
fin large; upper lobe invested with scales for some distance. . Mar-
gins fringed by elongated imbricated scales. Rays: 20, articulated,
subdivided. Bases at greater intervals near the centre, Scales
rhomboidal, smooth, with entire margins. Stratum, Lias.

Found by Mr, Pentland in a black bituminous schist at Giffoni,
near Castella Mare. In the cabinets of the Earl of Enniskillen and
Sir Philip Egerton.

Of the six species of Semionotus described by Professor Agassiz,
one is from the quader-sandstein, the other five from the lias of
Lufeld, Boll, Lyme Regis, and Schoven in Sweden. From a com-
parison of Mr. Pentland’s specimens of this and the two following
species with, all those described, Sir Philip Egerton considers they
approximate more nearly the species of the lias than those of the
greensand, and infers from this zoological evidence that the Giffoni
beds belong to the former. ©

2. Semionotus pustulifer, Egerton.—Fish large; operculum arenated;
humerus and scapula pustulated ; scales thick and lustrous; surfaces
slightly uneven ; upper and lower margins deeply undulate. Stratum,
Lias ; found with last. Cab. Egerton.

3. Semionotus minutus, Egerton.—- Fish small ; body slender ; cau-
dal pedicle thick; scales extended over the upper lobe of the tail.
Stratum, Lias; found with last, Cab, Egerton.

4. Lepidotus pectinatus, Egerton.—Fish oblong, subfusiform; length
9 inches; depth 23; head small; fins small ; scales. marked with
delicate radiating striz; posterior margin finely pectinate; upper
edge convex, lower one concave; dorsal, anal and caudal scales

VOL. IV. PART I. )

184

rhomboidal, with entire margins. Stratum, Lias. Locality, Whitby.
Cab. Enniskillen.

5. Pholidophorus hartmanni, Egerton. silt of Pholidophorus
latiusculus. Head rounded; orbit laree ; upper angle of operculum
striated; preoperculum marked with few moniliform inequalities ;
humerus plicated ; scales small, serrated on the posterior margin ;
its serrations decrease im number and increase in size on the pus-
terior parts of the body. Stratum, Lias. Locality, Ohmden, in Wur-
temburg. Cab. Enniskillen, Egerton.

6. Pholidophorus crenulatus, Egerton.—Rather larger than Pho-
lidophorus latiusculus. Head rather pointed; humerus obliquely
plaited ; pectoral fins large, with 22 rays; caudal fins strong; the
upper lobe bordered full two-thirds of its length with fulcral scales ;
rays 28-30; scales ribbed vertically on their bases, furrowed hori.
zontally on their exposed surface, and crenulated on the posterior mar-
gin ; the ventral scales deeply incised. Stratum, Lias. Locality, Lyme
Regis. Cab. Egerton.

* On the Coai-formation of Nova Scotia, and on the age and rela-
tive position of the Gypsum and accompanying marine limestones.”
By Charles Lyell, Esq., F.G.S., &e.

The stratified rocks of Nova Scotia, more ancient than the car-
boniferous, consist chiefly of metamorphic clay-slate and quartzite,
their strike being nearly east and west. ‘Towards their northern
limits these strata become less crystalline and contain fossils, some of
which Mr. Lyell identified with species of the upper Silurian group,
or with the Hamilton group of the New York geologists.

The remaining fossiliferous rocks, so far as they are yet known,
belong to the carboniferous group, and occupy extensive tracts in
the northern part of the peniasula, resting unconformably on the pre-
ceding series. T hey may be divided into two principal formations,
one of which comprises the productive coal-measures, agreeing pre-
cisely with those of Europe in lithological and paleontological cha-
racter; the other consists chieffy of. red sandstone and red marl,
with subordinate beds of gypsum and marine limestone; but this
series is also occasionally associated with coal grits, shales, and thin
seams of coal.

A variety of opinions have been entertained respecting the true
age of the last mentioned, or gypsiferous formation ; and it is the
purport of this paper to show, first, that it belongs to the carboni-
ferous group ; secondly, that it occupies a lower position than the
productive coal-measures. ‘These last. are of vast thickness in Nova
Scotia, being largely developed in Cumberland county and near
Pictou, and recurring again at Sydney, in Cape Breton. In all these
places they contain shales, probably deposited in a_ freshwater
estuary, in which several species of Cypris and Modiola abound.
The plants of these coal-measures belong to the genera Calamites,
Stigmaria, Sigillaria, Lepidodendron, Pecopteris, Neuropteris,
Sphenopteris, Neggerathia, Palmacites, Sternbergia, Sphenophyl-
lum, Asterophyllites and Trigonocarpum, with which are the trunks

185

and wood of coniferous and other trees. Upon the whole nearly 5@
species of plants have been detected, more than two-thirds of which
are not distinguishable from Kuropean species, while the rest agree
generically with fossils of the coal formatiou in Europe.

- The internal cylindrical axis of petrified weod in the Stgmaria of
Nova Scotia exhibits the same vascular structure, and the same
sealariform vessels, as the English specimens.

Mr. Lyell next describes the gypsiferous formation, especially the
marine limestones of Windsor, Horton, the elifts bounding the estuary
of the Schubenacadie river, the district of Brookfield, and the cliffs
at the bridge crossing the Debert river, near Truro. Several species
of corals and shells are common to all these localities, and recur
in similar limestones in Cape Breton. In this assemblage of organic
remains we find a Crustacean intermediate between the Trilobite and
Limulus, Orthoceras (two species), Nautilus, Conularia, Encrinus,
Cyathophyllum, besides some species of the carboniferous limestone
of Europe, such as Euomphalus levis, Pileopsis vetustus?, Avicula
antiqua, Pecten plicatus, Isocardia unioniformis, Producta martini,
P. scotica ?, Terebratula elongata, Fenestella membrunacea ?, Cerio-
pora spongites, Goldt. For assistance in determining these, the
author has been greatly imdebted to M. de Verneuil.

The plants associated with these limestones consist of several
species of Lepidodendron, Calamites, and others agreeing with ear-
boniferous forms..- With these Mr. Lyell found in Horton Bluff
seales of ‘a ganoid fish, and in the ripple-marked sandstones of the
same place, Mr. Logan discovered footsteps, which appeared to
Mr. Owen to belong to’: some unknown species of reptile, constitu-
ting the first indications of the reptilean class known in the carbo-
niferous rocks. Several of the shells and corals of this group have
been recognized by Messrs. Murchison and. de Verneuil as identical
with fossils of the gypsiferous deposits of Perm in Russia, and it had
been successively proposed * to refer these gypsiferous beds of Nova
Scotia to the Trias, and to the period of the magnesian limestone.
That they are more ancient than both these formations, Mr. Lyell
infers not only from their fossils, but also from their occupying a
lower position than the productive coal-measures of Nova Scotia and
Cape Breton. In proof of this inferiority of position three sections
are referred to, first, that of the coast of Cumberland, near Minudie,
where beds of red sandstone, gypsum and limestone, are seen dipping
southwards, or in a‘direction which would carry them under the pro-
ductive coal-measures of the South Joggins, which attain a thickness
of several miles. |

Secondly, the section on the East river of Pictou, where. the pro-
ductive coal-measures of the Albion mines repose on a formation of
red’ sandstone, mcluding beds of limestone, inswhich Mr. J. Dawson
andthe author found Producta martini, and other fossils common
to the gypsiferous rocks of Windsor, &¢c. Some of these limestones
are oolitie like those of Windsor, and gypsum occurs near the East

»* See Proceedings, vol. iii. p. 712, and vol. iv. p12).
E ; 02

186

river, fourteen miles south of Pictou, ‘so situated as to lead to the pre-
sumption that it is an integral part of the inferior red sandstone groups.

Thirdly, in Cape Breton, according to information supplied by
Mr. Richard Brown, the gypsiferous formation occupies a consider-
able tract, consisting of red marl with gypsum and limestone. \ In
specimens of the latter Mr. Lyell finds the same fossils as those of
Windsor, &e. before mentioned. Near Sydney these gypsiferous
strata pass beneath a formation of sandstone more than 2000 feet
thick, upon which rest conformably the coal-measures. of Sydney;
dipping to the north-east or seaward, and having a thickness of
2000 feet.

To illustrate the gypsiferous formation, the author gives a parti-
oular description of the cliffs bordering the Schubenaeadie, for a
distance of fourteen miles from its mouth, to Fort Ellis, whieh he
examined in company with Mr. J. W. Dawson and Mr. Duncan.
The rocks here consist in great part of soft red marls, with subordi-
nate masses of crystalline gypsum and marine limestones, also three
large masses of red sandstone, coal-grits and shales... The strike of
the beds, like that at Windsor, is nearly east and west, and there are
numerous faults and flexures. The principal masses of gypsum do
not appear to fill rents, but form regular parts of the stratified REriCss
sometimes alternating with limestone and shale.

The author concludes by deseribing a newer and unconformable

‘red sandstone, without fossils, which is seen to rest,on the edges of
the carboniferous strata on the Salmon river, six miles above Truro.

** A Geological Map of Nova Scotia, with an accompanying

Memoir,” by Abraham Gesner, M.D., F.G.S., was presented to the
Society.
' The surface of the province of Nova Scotia is for the most part
very uneven, much of it being traversed from south-west to north-
east by long parallel ridges of rock. The height of the hills seldom
exceeds 800 feet. The geology, as represented in Dr. Gesner’s pe
is as follows :—

1. Granitic rocks.—The south-eastern coast of the peninsula pre-
sents an almost continual, though narrow band of granite, syenite,
and other granitic rocks. A second band of very unequal breadth
commences about the middle of the south-west coast of the penin-
sula, and ends near the course of the Ohio river. A third appears
in the isthmus forming the Cobequial mountain; a narrow ridge
extending from east: to west. The granitic rocks of the province
frequently send off dykes and veins into the stratified Taal incum-
- bent on them.

2. Stratified non-fossiliferous rocks.—- A belt ecueane of ,mica-
slate, hornblende slate, chlorite slate, greywacke slate, greywacke
and quartz rock, intervenes between the first and second of the above-
mentioned granitic bands. It is m the district occupied by these
older schistose rocks that the long parallel ridges, running. from.
south-west to north-east, are most clearly exhibited.

3. Silurian group.—The stratified non-fossiliferous rocks are suc-

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187

ceeded by stratified fossiliferous clay slate, greywacke, and grey-
wacke slate. Fossils of a Silurian character occur in the latter. ‘The
lowermost of these deposits, where they have ceased to afford organic
remains, may be regarded as Cambrian. A complete zone of Silurian
beds encircles and immediately covers the Cobequial granitic range.
~The non-fossiliferous slates and the Silurian beds of the province
agree in the circumstance, that their strata dip away from the ad-
jacent ridges of granitic rock at angles of high elevation.

4. Old red sandstone, or Devonian group.— Above the Silurian beds
there occurs, in several parts of the province, a bright red. micaceous
sandstone or conglomerate, accompanied by thin beds of red shale
and marly clay, and in some places containing seams of fibrous gyp-
sum. Hitherto no organic remains have been found init. At Advo-
cate Harbour and on the Moose River this sandstone is seen lying
unconformably beneath the coal-measures. At the latter locality the
sandstone dips W. 21°, and the coal-measures dip N.N.E. 60°. It
is from a joint consideration of the mineral character of this forma-
tion, and its relative position as compared with the coal-measures,
that the author has regarded it as the equivalent of the old red sand-
stone,

5. Coal-measures—Unless the calcareous deposits of the districts
of Pictou and Stewiack should be found te belong to the carbonife-
rous limestone of New Brunswick and of Great Britain, the author
is not aware that there are any beds in the province which are refer-
rible to that formation. The coal-field which skirts nearly the-whole
of the northern coast of Nova Scetia, and which occupies the greater
part of the isthmus, is a small part of that extensive coal-field of
which the remainder is situated in the province of New Brunswick.
In Nova Scotia, the commencement of the coal-field towards the east
is near Pomket Harbour, between the 45th and 46th parallels of north
latitude and the 61st and 62nd meridians of west longitude. Hence
it extends along the whole northern coast of the province of Nova
Scotia to Bay Verte, where it enters the province of New Brunswick.
The area of the coal-field in Nova Scotia is about 2500 square miles,
and that of the coal-field in New Brunswick about 7500 square
miles, making the total area of the coal-field in the two provinces
10,000 square miles, and in this computation is not included the
coal-field of Cape Breton.. The above coal-field may therefore be
considered as one of the most extensive on the face of the globe, and
as of great value to Great Britam and her North American colonies.
The-strata occupying this extensive area consist

1. Of gray, red and chocolate-coloured sandstones and conglome-
rates ; ;

2. Of red, blue and black shales ;

3. Of shelly limestones ;

4. Of clay ironstone ;

_ +» 5. Of coal, of which the bituminous variety occurs throughout
the district.
All the strata abound in the remains of the plants that are usually

found in the coal-measures.

188

The coal-measures usually lie in long parallel troughs or in cir-
‘cular basins, towards the bottoms of which troughs or basins the
strata dip in opposite directions. The prevailing strike of the strata
is from south-west to north-east, which is also that of the more an-
cient slate rocks of Nova Scotia. The dip of the coal-measures varies
from 5° to 45°. Throughout the whole of the coast-line, from
Pomket Harbour to Point Miscou, the coal-measures undergo scarcely
any fault or dislocation.

From Pictou Harbour, in Northumberland Strait, a belt of coal-
measures, about six miles broad, runs in a westerly direction across
the isthmus, passing between the southern flank of the Cobequial
mountains and the southern coast of the isthmus, along the Basin of
Mines, and thence running further westward to Advocate Harbour. —
The length of this belt is about 100 miles: the strata which compose
it rest along the northern margin of the great part of the belt, on
the fossiliferous slates of the Cobequial mountain; it is along its
southern margin, that at ‘Moose River'and Advocate Harbour, the
coal strata rest unconformably on old red sandstone. At Moose
River the coal-measures contain a thin bed of marine limestone,
and like the old red sandstone which they rest upon, thin beds
of gypsum. ‘The coal-measures lap round the eastern extremity,
and pass along the northern flank of the fossiliferous slates of
the Cobequial range; whence they pass nearly due west to Apple
River on Chigtecto Bay. All the isthmus north of this ee consists
of coal-measures.

The Nova Scotian or south-eastern eoast of Ghinneets Bay runs
nearly at right angles to the direction of the coal str ata, and presents
an admirable section of them nearly thirty-five miles in length. Along
this length of coast the strata lie in a trough, the base or synclinal
point of which is Little Shoolie; and from this point, as you recede
further in a north-eastern direction, the strata rise to the north and
north-north-west, with am increasing dip. At the Joggins, twelve
miles north-east of Little Shoolie, where the = sandstone is ex-
tensively worked for grindstones, the dip is from 25° to 35°. _In'the
opposite direction, as you recede from the base of the trough, the
strata rise towards the south, until on approaching the intrusive
rocks of Cape Chignecto the inclination is 45°.

In making a careful examination of the entire’ of this coast of
thirty-five miles, only one fault was observed, and that occasioned
a dislocation of only a few feet. By measuring the horizontal di-
stances between the strata and making allowance for their inclination
at a number of places, the author estimated the total thickness of
the coal-measures on this coast at not less than three miles.

The chief part of the workable seams of coal is probably exposed
on the Chignecto shore, and it is near the middle of the section that
most coal-seams are seen. At the South Joggins, in the above coast-
section, in the horizontal distance of three quarters of a mile and in .
a thickness of strata amounting to 1800 feet, nineteen seams of coal
are seen, from six inches to four feet thick. Outcrops of coal have
been observed to the south-west of the Joggins, on the Apple River,

189

and to the north-east on the river Hebert; also on the Macan River,
where one seam is ten feet thick and of good quality ; and also near
the river Philip. In the eastern part of the northern coast of the
province coal first appears at Pomket ; then at Fraser’s mountain and
at the Albion mines, and other places near Pictou. In the belt of
coal-measures which lies south of the Cobequial mountain, two seams
of coal have been discovered in the forest, ten miles north of Truro,
dipping from that range. Outcrops of coal appear also in the same
belt at Jolly River, at Debert River, at Economy River, and at Parr’s
Borough. ~

Along the northern coast which borders on Northumberland strait,
and aleng the courses of the rivers which fall into that strait, coal-
plants are very abundant. Among these are many large trees which
were branching at their tops.. The bark is generally converted into
coal, and sometimes, the whole trunk; and then the woody fibre
remains. very distinct. Several of these trees are four feet in dia-
meter, and some have been seen six feet.in length. Along this
coast the trees are‘all prostrate, whether in the sandstones or shales,
and they do not appear to lie more in one direction than another.
On the coast of Chignecto Bay fossil trees also abound; and in
most places they lie in all. positions, parallel to the strata, or across
them obliquely. They always increase in number in the proximity
of a seam of coal. In one part, however, cf the Chignecto coast,
ealled. South Joggins, where the nineteen seams of coal already
mentioned occur for the space of three-quarters of a mile, and ina
thickness of strata amounting to 1800 feet, the fossil trees which
occur are all perpendicular to the strata. In tracing these seams of
coal along the ravines to the distance of six, miles from the coast,
trees have been observed in the same vertical position in respect of
the strata... The cliffs at this spot are from 80 to 100 feet in height,
and consist of grey and reddish sandstone, bituminous blue shale,
shelly limestone, clay ironstone and coal. The strata are rapidly
degraded, so. that at every successive visit which.the author has
made to the spot during the last ten years, he found that trees which
he had originally observed had disappeared, and that others were
exposed. in their stead. At the last visit he made, which was in
July last, in company with Mr. Lyell, seventeen trees were exposed
to view, and this number was rather less than he had seen on former
occasions. The ordinary length of these trunks is from 10 to 30
feet, but some have been cbserved that were 50 or even 70 feet
long. They vary in. diameter from 6 inches to 3 feet; but one
was 4 feet 6 inches across. Most frequently their lower extremities
are situated in shale; but sometimes they spring from the coal
itself, and when that is the case, they never pass through the seam
of coal. Sometimes their roots branch out into the shale or sand-
stone they rest upon.

At the place above referred to, ten miles north of Truro, the
strata above and below the coal abound in trunks, branches, and
leaves of large fossil trees. The exterior of the trunks is coai; and
the interior is usually sandstone and fine clay. In one tree ‘the

i 190
_whole trunk was coal, except a flattened portion resembling the pith
and extending through the centre of the tree from one extremity to
the other. At the spot on the Moose River, where the coal-mea-
sures rest on old red sandstone, a fossil tree 80 inches in diameter is
seen in black shale and dark-coloured sandstone.

Besides the coal district already described there is an area near
Falmouth and Windsor of seventy square miles, in which though
the coal has not been discovered, yet the ferns, Stigmaria, and other
fossil plants whieh the sandstones and shales of that area contain,
sufficiently establish the point that it belongs to the coal-measures.

6. New red sandstone.—At the Jolly and Debert Rivers the eoal-
measures are overlaid by a red sandstone, associated with gypsum
and limestone. In the districts of Windsor, Rawdon, and Douglas,
to the south of the Basin of Mines, and in that of Truro on the east
of that basin, a bright red micaceous sandstone prevails, alternating
with strata of red shale and indurated clay, and containing calea-
reous, gypseous, and red argillaceous marls. It is characterised by
containing thick beds of compact gypsum and limestone, and by its
being the seat of salt springs.’ The author regards it as agreeing
m geological position with the sandstone above-mentioned.

7. Intrusive Igneous. Rocks.—The whole north-west coast of the
peninsula next the Bay of Fundy, from Briers’ Island to Cape Blow-
me-down, is one continuous narrow belt of trap, greenstone, and
amygdaloid. This belt is bounded to the south-east in its southern
part by St. Mary’s Bay, and from the head of that bay to the Basin
of Mines, by the old red sandstone formation already described. ‘The
trap overlies and pierces the sandstone at several points in its
course along the Bay of Fundy. At Cape Blow-me-down it forms
a perpendicular cliff 400 feet high, and rests on strata of sandstone.

If the axis of the Cobequial ridge be prolonged towards the west
until it meets the head of the Bay of Fundy, that axis, after pursuing
the Silurian zone which encircles the Cobequial granite, will enter
a trappean ridge composed principally of red felspar and porphyry,
about seven miles broad. The western extremity of the axis
on the Bay of Fundy is at Cape Chignecto, to the north-east of
which ties Chignecto Bay. The trap of Cape Chignecto is of two
varieties, the red and the green. ‘The red contains several large
veins of sulphate of barytes. Near Shoolie, and at a place called
Cranberry Point, a conglomerate appears which consists of masses
of trap and of sandstone. It is near Apple River that the coal
strata, which extend to the north of this ridge of trap, come in con-
tact: with it. The trap forms the axis from which the coal-measures
dipaway until they become horizontal at Little Shoolie.

May 24.—William Cubitt, Esq., F.R.S., V.P. Inst. C.E., was
elected a Fellow of this Society.

A paper was read :—‘‘ On the Geology of some points onthe West
Coast of Africa, and of the Banks of the river Niger.” By W. Stan-
ger, M.D.,F.G.S, |

1. Sterra Leone.—The predominant rock is a highly ferruginous

191

sandstone, not distinctly stratified, rendered vesicular by removal
of the iron on exposure to the weather. The iron occurs in con-
centric. laminz, and is found in masses occasionally powerfully
magnetic. Under the sandstone is-seen, at several places, a stiff
aluminous clay containing fragments of wood. At a section at
Kingstown the sandstone is forty feet thick. Hyperstene rock forms
the side of the fort-hill and the tops of the hills around Sierra Leone.
Neither volcanic nor granitic rocks were observed in the neighbour-
hood.

2. Liberia.—Monrovia.—The rocks in the neighbourhood of the
Mesurada river are greenstone. Ferruginous sandstone, similar to
that at Sierra Leone, occurs near the government house. |The author
saw fragments of gneiss, but none in situ, and was shown a spe-
cimen of large granular granite, said to be found forty miles up the
country.

3. River Sinoo, lat. 5 N., long. 9 W.—On the south side of the
Tiver are small hills of gneiss, cut through in places by veins of
granite running in all directions, and in one place by a vein of trap
two feet wide, running W.N.W. and E.S.E. The author found
greenstone in the neighbourhood passing into hornblende rock, but
did not see its connection with the gneiss. The north bank of the
river is low land covered with sand, in which was found a fragment
of ferruginous sandstone like that at the preceding localities.

4. Cape Coast Castle-—The castle stands on a mass of granite,
which is small, granular, and contains imbedded masses of horn-
blende slate. The felspar is flesh-coloured and in many places mixed
with the quartz, forming a beautiful variety of graphic granite.
About a mile north of the castle mica slate is seen in contact with
and dipping under the granite to the south at an angle of 40°. The
slate is not altered but much decomposed. Both granite and slate
are cut through by veins of quartz ; and in the town, a mass of mica
slate is seen imbedded im the granite, which sends veins into the
slate. In one place a greenstone vein, four yards wide, was seen
traversing the granite, itself again traversed by a vein of granite.
The mica slate is worn into valleys, and the granite stands up in
masses which have been erroneously regarded as erratic blocks.

5. Accra.—The town is built on sandstone which dips to the
S.E., and has joints running W.S.W. and E.N.E. In mineral cha-
racter it resembles the new red sandstone of Liverpool. The surface
of the country about the Salt Lake, which is to the north of the
town and about thirty feet above the level of the sea, is a sandy
clay or loam containing great numbers of shells of the genera Achatina,
Arca, Cytherea and Cerithium. At the farm on the hill, fourteen miles
from Danish Accra, the rock is quartz rock, white and red, dipping at
40° to the S.W. and traversed by joints at right angles to the dip.
The joints are redder than the general hue of the rock, which the
author regards as a metamorphic sandstone.

The gold which is met with at Cape Coast Castle, Anamabre
and Accra, is procured from the sand by washing. ‘This sand is
usually white, and contains iron and hornblende. ‘The felspar at

192

Anamabre is green, and in some places between Accra and Cape
Coast Castle it is decomposed into a clay containing sparkling par-
ticles of mica, which are not unfrequently mistaken for gold.

6. Grand Sesters.—The rocks here are gneiss cut through by gra-
nite, as at the river Sinoo. ‘The felspar of the granite is opalescent.

7. Niger.—The Delta is a flat swampy tract composed of clay, sand,
and much vegetable matter, extending to Eboe, a distance of 120
miles from the sea. The banks of the river are elevated only a few
feet above its level. From Eboe to Iddah, a distance of 100 miles,
there is a gradual rise of the country, but ‘still swampy and similar
in constitution to the Delta. At Iddah the first rocks appear. ‘They
are 185 feet high (barom. measure) and are composed of sandstone,
the strata of which are for the most part horizontal, but occasionally
dip at an angle of 3° to the S.E. Thissandstone is fine granular,
and composed of transparent particles of white quartz. ‘Thesupper
beds are highly ferrugimous. ‘The strata are cut through by. joints
running in all directions. After the most careful search; one fossil
only, and that a very obscure one, was met with in: the sandstone.
It resembled a Pollicipes. ‘The cliffs of Iddah are formed by the
outcrop of a ridge of hills running N.E. and $.W... From Iddah> to
Kirree the country is composed of sandstone of the same character,
more or less ferruginous in places. The character of the country is
that of elevated table lands, edged by cliffs, bordered by debris. At
Kirree, strata of mica slate, dipping 85° due west, appear standing up
in high masses on the right bank of the river, in which bank, opposite
to Kirree, is the Bird rock, composed of a mass'of quartz evidently
imbedded in the mica slate. ‘The mica’ slate rests upon the granite
composing Mount Soracte and the neighbouring hills, attaining ‘a
height not exceeding: 1200 feet. Beaufort Island: is::formed of gra-
nite which is decomposed so as to leave the surface very -rough,
from the projection of felspar crystals. | It contains little mica, and
is composed of felspar and quartz with a small quantity of horn-
blende. The soil between the blocks of granite is a rich vegetable
loam. . The blocks are piled one upon another like masonry. At
Okazi the granite is more largely crystalline, and contains very beau-
tiful opalescent felspar. The granite extends to Adda Kudda, and
at that place it is mixed up and complicated with gneiss which dips
at an angle of 60° tothe S. The gneiss contains veins of granite
running in all directions. Further on, the granite again contains
imbedded masses of gneiss. From Adda Kudda, up the river, as
far as was explored, the country is composed of horizontal sandstone,
generally more highly ferruginous than lower down. At Mount
Stirling the iron occurs in the form of pea-iron ore. The granite
appears to be the central axis, mica slate and gneiss occurring on
both sides, or dipping at great angles. The granite is the line of the
so-called Kong mountains, which in no case were observed higher
than 1200 feet. The sandstone lies unconformably upon the mica
slate. Dr. Stanger considers the phenomena observed on the Niger
to indicate three geological periods :—I1st, the eruption of the gra-
nite and elevation of mica slate and gneiss; 2nd, the deposition, of

£93

the sandstone unconformably on the flanks of the mica slate and
granite; and 3rd, the upraising of the whole country, and the
cutting through, by water, of the granite, slate and sandstone, and
the formation of the Delta by the consequent debris.

“On the Classification of Granitic Rocks.” By Robert Wallace,
Esq.

Assuming that granite, syenite, and other granitoid rocks, as they
exist in nature, agree with the definitions of those rocks respectively
given by mineralogists, that is, in being aggregates, though in va-
riable proportions, of certain determinate mineral species; and taking
for granted the accuracy of the analyses which have been made, by
the chemists in highest repute, of the minerals which enter into the
composition of these aggregate rocks, the author directs his atten-
tion more particularly to the alkaline and alkalino-earthy ingredients
of those minerals; and, inferentially, of the aggregate rocks into
the composition of which these minerals enter; and finding that in
certain of these aggregates the alkalies exist without any admixture
of alkaline earth, whereas in others both alkalies and alkaline earths
are contained, he proposes to classify granitoid rocks according to
the above distinction in their chemical ingredients.

Among the alkalies, in addition to potash and soda, he places
lithia; ‘the alkaline earths which fall under his notice, are magnesia
and lime. In subdividing his two principal classes of the aggregate
rocks, the author also takes into account the fluoric and boracic acids,
which appear to be essential to the constitution of certain of the
component minerals.

Ternary granite, consisting either of quartz, binaxal mica and
felspar, or of the two former minerals and albite, is the first of the
aggregate rocks that comes under the author’s consideration. Of
binaxal mica the alkaline ingredients are potash and lithia; and one
of the essential ingredients of this mineral appears to be also fluoric
acid. Of common felspar the alkaline ingredient is potash; of
albite*, soda; of glassy felspar, a mixture of potash and soda. Of
ternary granite, therefore, the alkaline ingredients are limited to
potash, soda, and lithia; the alkaline earths, magnesia and lime, not
entering into its constitution.

The different binary combinations of some two of the three mine-
rals, quartz, binaxal mica and felspar, belong to the second division
of the author’s first class of aggregate rocks; that is to say, of those
which contain an alkali, but not an alkaline earth. The binary com-
binations which he mentions, are—

1. Common felspar and binaxal mica.

2. Compact felspar and binaxal mica, called eurite, whitestone,
and felspathic granite.

3. Common felspar and quartz, which may be either an uniform
mixture of the two minerals, or may consist of imperfect crystals of

* Albite has been found to contain a very small variable proportion of
lime, not exceeding 5 parts in 1000.

‘194

one, or the other, or of both of them, and is then called esi:
or graphic granite.

4. Quartz and binaxal mica; which, if the mica is regularly widen
spersed, is called avanturine; but if it occurs in parallel layers;
forms a passage into mica-schist.

The second class of the author contains those aggregate rocks,
into one or more of the component minerals of which magnesia or
lime enters as an essential constituent; and in the first division of
this class he places syenite and the other rocks cuntaining some of
the ingredients of ternary granite, with the addition of hornblende,
on the ground that in all the varieties of the latter mineral a trace
has been found of fluoric acid; and in respect of the presence of this
acid the rocks of this division are allied to the rocks of the first class.

Hornblende contams neither potash, soda, nor lithia} but. it
abounds in magnesia and lime. !

The principal granitoid rocks into the composition of which horn-_
blende enters, are the following :—

1. Anaggregate of quartz, mica, felspar, and hornblende, or syenitic
granite.

2. An agyregate of quartz, felspar, and hornblende, or syenite.

3. An aggregate of felspar, mica and hornblende.

4 An aggregate of felspar and hornblende. Quartz and horn-
blende is only an incidental variety. Actinolite or hypersthene
sometimes replaces hornblende, and is sometimes superadded to it.
Hornblende is the characteristic mineral of the granitoid rocks of
Scotland.

The second division of the second class of the author consists of
ternary granite, of which the binaxal mica has been replacedi by
tale, ouiertie: or steatite (which rock has been termed protogine),
or by uniaxal mica. The latter aggregate occurs principally among
volcanic rocks. 3

Neither talc, chlorite, nor steatite contain lithia, nor fluoric acid ;
but the predominant alkalino-earthy ingredient is magnesia. Uniaxal
mica contains magnesia, but no lime.

The third division of the author’s second class of granitoid rocks,
consists of those into the composition of which tourmaline enters,
and this is the characteristic mineral of the granitoid rocks of Corn-
wall. With quartz, felspar and mica it forms the schorly granite ;
and with quartz and felspar, or with quartz alone, it forms the schist-
rock of some mineralogists.

Tourmaline contains nearly equal quantities of silica and alumina ;
and oxide of iron is an ingredient of most of its varieties. It con-
tains a trace of one or other, or of both of the alkalies, potash and
soda, with a small but variable portion of magnesia, and occasionally
a trace of lime. Boracic acid is its characteristic ingredient.

The author enters into some theoretical views respecting the
origin of the various forms of granitoid rock.

T emary granite, composed of quartz, felspar (or albite) and
binaxal mica, constitutes, according to his view, the lowest accessible
rock of the earth’s original crust.

195

It;has been uplifted and protruded through sedimentary strata at
different periods, from the earliest to the latest age of igneous’ dis+
turbance.' It may have been elevated in a solid state, or in a state
of partial or imperfect fusion. It may have changed its original
character, either by being heated a second time, and again cooling,
under circumstances different from those which attended its first
consolidation ; or by entering into fresh combinations with the rocks
above it, or with those beneath it. The further the rock is removed
from the reach of any such influences, the nearer does it approach
in character, in respect of its mechanical and chemical structure, to
true ternary granite. Even when granite has been so altered as to
assume the character of porphyry or trachyte, the original character
of the granite out of which those rocks were formed may often be
traced in the gneiss with which those rocks are flanked.

The fine-grained varieties of ternary granite, which are often
found in veins, have probably been fused a second time. The seat
of the binary granites was probably below that of the ternary rock,
but higher than that of the granites which contain alkalino-earthy
substances. Granite containing other substances than quartz, felspar
(or albite) and binaxal mica, has probably been again fused, and
has derived the foreign matters intermingled with it, either from the
sedimentary rocks through which: it has been protruded, or from
regions below that of ancient ternary granite. Hence the variations
in modern granite are almost as numerous as the localities in which
they are found... Thus the granite of Devonshire and Cornwall,
which has been uplifted and protruded through all the stratified rocks
that were incumbent upon it, not. excepting even the culm, was in a
fused state in its upper portion when in contact with those stratified
rocks ; and it probably brought up with it extraneous matters from
beneath. Hence the:granite of these counties no longer exhibits the
characteristics of ancient granite; but in some parts porphyritic
granite occurs; the granitic dykes, or elvans, consist mostly of
eurite; in other parts we have talcose granite, or protogine, which
produces the China clay; and schorly granite is generally found
near the contact of that rock with the slates.

The fact that ancient granite sometimes graduates into syenitic
granite, renders it probable that the latter is a modification of the
former.. ;

The substances which invaded the territories of ancient ternary
granite, were probably those which occupied the regions immediately
subjacent to it, while those which lay nearer to the earth’s centre
remained comparatively undisturbed.

In general, the conclusion of the author is, that the absence of
mica, or the presence of minerals abounding in magnesia or lime,
or that of metallic-oxides, or a transition into syenite, porphyry,
basalt, or volcanic, rocks, are indications of an origin of later date
than that of ancient granite,

(196

8 Additional note on the Geology of the South-East of Surrey. %
By R. A. C. Austen, Esq., See. G-S.

The subdivisions of the beds below the ie chalk have cot
founded on differences of mineral character or colour, or the acci-
dental presence of certain minerals, such as oxides or silicates of
iron, seams of chert or flints, &c. ; and though they may hold good
and prove very useful in the south-eastern parts of England, they fail
when applied to the whole area of the chalk and its subjacent beds,
and will be found to interfere with the grouping of the remains of
the animals which range through this system. Hence it is there
have been so many doubts respecting the positions im the series
which the depesits of several: localities should occupy ; as, for in-
stance, those of Blackdown ‘and Halden in the west of riskande and
the Speeton clay of Yorkshire.

Again, the subdivisions founded on mineral character, even when
they are sufficiently marked to produce distinct physical features
over the surface of a district (and which has been much insisted
upon by geologists), will often be found to interfere most inconve-
niently with those derived from a consideration of the included or-
ganic remains: thus no contrast’can be greater than that between the
upper and lower chalk; the latter abounding in huge and varied
forms of Ammonites, Scaphites and Turrilites,—which are altogether
wanting higher up, where the Cephalopods are represented by one .
or two species of Belemnite only (passing over the differences which
the other classes present); so that seven may nearly represent the
number of species common to the two.

In this instance a great change in the conditions of’animal life is
unaccompanied with any very obvious change 1 in 'the character of the
deposit.

The grey calcareous beds of the lower chalk are undewhid by wail
careous sands and bright green siliceous strata, forming a well-defined
mineralogical ‘group, and which has been formed into: the upper
greensand > but subordinate to these are beds of firestone and thick
bands of limestone, and in these all the Cephalopods of the lower
chalk reappear; so that here a change of some sort, sufficiently
great to produce very different deposits, was not attended with ny
sensible change in the form of animal life.

The topographical arrangement of these several groups in an as-
cending order is as follows :—

The Neocomian group, or the equivalent of that for which ‘the
French and Swiss geologists have adopted that name, is found only
within the Wealden denudations, and rests everywhere, in the south-
east of England, on the blue Wealden clays, which were the Eeubed
deposits of that ancient estuary.

The Speeton clay of Phillips has been referved to the eaults tbat
cause it contains a greater number of species in’ common’ with that
group than with any other; but the number is very small.’ Of the
species supposed to be peculiar the Corbula punctum is generally
quoted from the lowest beds of the French cretaceous group; and
in addition, M. D’Orbigny has ascertained that the Hamites pli-

197

catilis belongs'to the genus Crioceras, whilst the Hamites intermedius
and beanii are both species of Ancyloceras, a genus which is cha-
racteristic of the lowest beds of the cretaceous series. To these
we may add Spatangus retusus; so that it becomes very probable
that the Speeton clay may also be the equivalent of the lowest ar-
gillaceous Neocomian strata of the chalk series of the south-east of
England.

The lower greensand of the south-east of Buglaria, as round the
Weald and in the Isle of Wight, rests on the Neocomian group; and
it is when so placed that it attains its greatest thickness: it does not
extend westward, but thins away beneath the great expanse of chalk
of the counties of Hants and Wilts... It reappears a little south of
Tetsworth, and increases in: thickness in its extension to.the north-
east through Cambridgeshire. In this part of its course it out-
spreads the freshwater deposits, and rests unconformably upon sub-
divisions of the oolitic series.

The gault, though inferior in thickness to some of the other
groups, is the best horizontal line by which they may be severally
arranged; both on account of the well-defined: lines. by which it is
separated from’the groups both above and below it, and also from
the peculiar fossils it contains. It occurs round the western district
and in the Isle of Wight; immediately above the ferruginous sands. It
reappears from beneath the chalk at its escarpment at Shaftsbury, and
in the Vale of Wardour, where it has been fully traced out by Dr. Fit-
ton, but cannot be identified beyond there. Inthe Vale of Wardour,
instead of following upon the lower greensand, it occurs upon the
marginal beds of the Wealden as well as upon Portland and Kimme-
ridge strata. As was noticed with respect to the lower greensand, the
gault also seems wanting»along a considerable interval, but reappears
about Tetsworth, and acquires’ its greatest thickness in-Cambridge-
shire:

‘Reliance upon the mineral cheivactex of the gault, or rather of one
particular ‘portion of it, viz. the argillaceous, has caused it) to be
overlooked in’ itsextension westward, over the counties of Dorset
and Devon. The lower beds of the’ sands which cap the hills from
Lyme to Sidmouth belong to the gault, and the shingle bed, which
the author has notieed:as occurring ‘mm this portion of the gault series,
and which may easily ‘be seen in Salcome Hill near Sidmouth, marks
its upper limit. The pebbles he believes have been derived from the
Portland sands of Dr. Fitton.

The interval along which neither the gault nor lower greensand
are to be found is not owing, as is sometimes the case, to the sub-
stitution of one set of beds for another, but will be found to corre-
spond exactly with the rise of the older strata from Frome westwards,
and which elevation is of earlier date than any portion of the creta-
ceous series.’

Everywhere intermediate between the chalk and the gault is the
complex group (the upper greensand) noticed in the preceding page.
In its extension west, this group becomes wholly siliceous, and forms

198:

the upper portion of the Blackdown range, and the entire thickness
ofthe Halden greensand; and the other deposits to the west. | |

Observations on part of the Section of the Lower Greensand, at
Atherfield, on the coast of the Isle of Wight,” By W.H. Fitton,’
M.D., &c.

The author having hel present during the reading of Mr. Aus-
ten’s paper ‘‘On the South-east of Surrey,’ on the 5th. ultimo,
stated verbally his belief thatthe deposits which that gentleman there
proposes to distinguish as the ‘‘ argillaceous or Neocomian”’ division
of the subcretaceous series, must be the same as that. which he himself
had described*, as constituting the lowest portion of the lower green-
sand at Athertield, in the Isle of: Wight: but not having seen the
place for more than sixteen years/(1826), and at a time when the
section was in a great part concealed by masses of ruin, he was
desirous of examining it again. This paper contains an account of
what he has recently observed there.

The time of the author’s, late visit to Atherfield was very fortu-
nate. The sea, during severe gales having previously cleared away,
not only a great part of the ruin which formerly concealed the base
of the cliffs, but having entirely removed the shingle of the beach
to a most unusualextent; so that the junction of the Wealden with
the lower greensand was distinctly exposed for several hundred yards,
while a very large surface of the adjacent strata, washed pertaily
clean, was visible’ at low water, on both sides of it.

§. The strata composing the section thus beautifully exhibited,
were the following :—

1. Weald clay, with the usual characters ; jozieel it is not the object
of this paper to describe in detail. The very uppermost beds here
consist -of slaty clay, and contain some characteristic fossils of the
Wealden, especially Cyclas media, and small Paludine ; and along
with these, at the top of the freshwater strata, were Cerithia, probably
of a new species, with one or more thin-shelled oysters or Gryphee
in comparatively smaller number. . These fossils occur within a very
few inches from the junction with the sand above the Wealden; so
that it would be possible, with care, to obtain portable masses, in-
cluding both the Weald clay with its characteristic species, and
part also of the incumbent mass with its marine shells.

2. The junction, which here occupies not more than six or eight
inches in vertical thickness, is formed by an alternation or interjec-
tion of greenish-grey fine sand among slips or slices of the dark Weal-
den shale. The lowest portion of the next bed (3) which rests upon
this sand includes a large quantity of a kind of eeamel, containing
numerous fragments of fish-bones.

3. The beds immediately above the sand at the junction (2), con-
sist of a tough, greenish mudlike- mass, which becomes grey in
drying; and seems “to be an intimate mixture of clay and sand. | It
is not more than from 2+ to 3 feet in thickness; and at the top it is

* Geol. Trans., 2nd Ser. vol. iv. p. 196, &c.

199

very closely connected with the lower part of the indurated stratuh
(4) : but after exposure even for a short time to the air and sea, the
soft matter of (3) is rapidly removed, leaving the firm mass of (4)
detached and prominent; and this being undermined, appears upon
the shore in rudely quadrangular detached blocks.

The fossils of the lowest clay (3) appear to be the same, though the
species are less numerous, with those of (4) above it. The most re-
markable amongst them is Perna Mulleti. Mya and Panopea, pro-
bably of more than one species, are especially numerous, even close
to the very junction of the Wealden: and with these were Arca
Raulini, Mytilus lanceolatus, Pinna sulcifera, Pecten le
and P. striato-costatus (Goldfuss). ‘

4. The bed of firm, subferruginous and somewhat calciferous stone
which next succeeds, formed, when the author first examined this
place (in 1826), the most prominent feature of the cliffs: everything
beneath, to a depth of about ten feet, being deeply concealed by
ruin. It was now distinctly seen that the bottom of this remarkable
bed is not more, at the utmost, than three feet from the top of the
Wealden. By its greater firmness it contributes to sustain the cliff,
the mass of which it traverses obliquely in rising westward; and
from the base of the projecting land or point of Atherfield it runs
out into the sea, declining very gradually, and forming a dangerous
reef called Atherfield ledge. Thoug) its average thickness is not
more than 24 feet, this bed abounds very remarkably in fossil remains,
among which are several of the species figured by M. Leymerie in
his memoir on the geology of the Aube, and of those found by Mr
Austen at Peasemarsh, in Surrey.

Ostrea (new species). Pecten quinquecostatus,
Spatangus (three or more species). striato-costatus.
Mya mandibula. — obliquus (interstriatus

Pholadomya acutisulcata (Leym :). Leym :).
Prevosti (Leym:). Gryphea sinuata.

Corbula striatula. Terebratula sella.
Sphera corrugata. a (three or more other sp.).
Thetis minor. Orbicula levigata (Deshayes).
Trigonia dedalea. Natica (Ampullaria) levigata

— Fittoni. (Leym.).

(two new species). Pleurotomarie gigantea.

Gervillia aviculoides. Nautilus radiatus.
Pinna sulcifera. Ammonites Deshayesii (Leym :).
Perna Mulleti. (four or five species).

aleformis. with many other genera.

5. Immediately above the stone-bed (4), is a thick mass of nearly
uniform clay, with many of the properties of fuller’s earth. It is di-
vided apparently into two principal strata, each not less than fifteen
feet in thickness: and these seem to be succeeded upwards by other
argillaceous beds, which were so much obscured by debris as not
to be traceable. The fuller’s-earth is either of a lavender-blue or of
a drab colour; it contains concretional portions (not scen in situ),

VOL. IV. PART I. P

200

almost composed of fossils, including Thetis minor, Rostellaria bica-
rinata, with several small univalves. Other masses, also of uncertain -
place, occur in the fuller’s-earth, containing numerous Crustacean re-
mains, especially of Astacus, of more than one species. Pinna sulci-
fera abounds near the bottom of the lower bed, and Ammonites Des-
hayesti, with other Ammonites, is frequent.
_.§. From the preceding lists, it is evident that an accumulation of
fossils, very remarkable for their number and variety, exists at
Atherfield, in what has hitherto been considered as the bottom of
the lower greensand. But while some of these fossils have been
found, in England, only at Peasemarsh and at this place, they are
* here accompanied by others, which have a considerable upward range
in the subcretaceous strata.

§. The cliffs on the shore between Atherfield and Rocken End, on
the east of which latter place the lower greensand first rises, contain
comparatively a much smaller number of fossils than the lowest
strata just mentioned. Those which are found here, occur chiefly in
concretions, due probably to the presence of the organized remains
which they include; but lines of such nodules appear to be distri-

buted at intervals throughout the whole series, as far at least as the
middle of the cliff at Blackgang Chine. Of these ranges the follow-
ing are some of the most prominent,—

a. A conspicuous group, composed of two parallel ranges of nodules,
rises on the shore about half a mile east of Atherfield point, and there
forms a slight prominence called “‘ the Crackers,” (from the sound
caused by the sea during rough weather beneath the undermined
cliffs). These nodules consist of a rough concretional calcareous
rock (like coarse Kentish rag), which includes in great numbers,
Gervillia aviculoides, Thetis minor in beautiful preservation; a pro-
fusion of Terebratule, especially T. sella, Ammonites Deshayesii,
Trigonia dedalea, and other fossils ;—most of which, it is supposed,
occur also in the quarry-stone of Hythe.

5. Exogyra sinuata, with some of the principal varieties of that
species figured by M. Leymerie, is of frequent occurrence, both in
detached clusters, and in somewhat continuous ranges, throughout
the cliffs between Atherfield and Blackgang Chine.

c. Very large and beautiful specimens of Crioceras (Ancyloceras,
D’Orbigny), Scaphites, and Ammonites, have also been found in
the face of the cliffs, or within the Chines, on this part of the shore.
Of these, Crioceras Bowerbankiit* was found in Ladder-chine; Sea-
phites gigas loose upon the shore, its precise situation not having
been ascertained fT.

§. The author points out, as deserving of especial notice, the rapid
and remarkable reduction in the proportion of calcareous matter in
the lower greensand of the Isle of Wight and of Surrey, when com-

* Sowerby, Geol. Trans. 2nd Series, vol. v.

+ Some fine specimens of these large fossils are in the lawn of Capt. Peter-
son, near Blackgang Chine; in the museum of Mr. A. J. Hambrough, at Steep-
hill Castle; and in the splendid collection of Isle of Wight fossils, deposited

by Capt. Ibbetson in the museum of the Polytechnic Institution,

201

pared with the calciferous district of Kent, from the coast to the
west of Maidstone. No continuous beds of limestone occur in the
Atherfield section; while the Kentish rag in the quarries at Hythe
and Maidstone cannot be far short of a hundred feet in thickness.

§. Sandown Bay.—A section corresponding to that of Atherfield,
is visible on the east of Sandown Bay, between the fort and the
chalk of Culver Cliff. The author had formerly seen there a bed
of concretional stone immediately above the Wealden and subjacent
to a bed of fuller’s earth; and on examining the place recently, in
company with the President (Mr. Warburton), the resemblance of
the two sections was confirmed, and some of the Atherfield fossils
obtained from the Sandown bed. The President has since been
there alone, and has been very successful in obtaining from the stony
masses exposed at low water, specimens of the most characteristic
fossils, especially of Perna Mulleti, with some new species of other
genera:—Panopea, Astarte Beaumontii (Leymerie), Gervillia anceps ?,
Perna Mulleti, Perna aleformis, Sphera corrugata?, Sphera (new sp.?),
Gryphea sinuata, &c. Beneath this bed at Sandown Bay, as at
Atherfield, is a thin stratum of marine fossiliferous clay.

§. Since the recent examination of the coast at Atherfield, the
author has obtained information respecting the corresponding strata
in some other places.—

Surrey.—Mr. Murchison, in crossing the section of the lower
greensand, exposed by the cuttings on the Dover railway, near
Redhills in Surrey, perceived that the junction of the greensand with
the Wealden must have been traversed near that place*; and having
mentioned this observation to the President and Dr. Buckland, these
gentlemen were so fortunate as to detect there several large con-
cretional masses, brought out during the progress of the works, and
evidently corresponding in situation with those of Peasemarsh dis-
covered by Mr. Austen. This latter gentleman, with the President
and the author, have since visited the place again; and from these
united labours a collection has been obtained, including some of the
most characteristic of M. Leymerie’s Neocomian species, with a few
belonging also to the quarry-stone of Hythe.—Arca Raulini, Pano-
pea depressa, Pholadomya acutisulcata (Leymerie), Pecten obliquus
(tnterstriatus), Pinna sulcifera, Gervillia aviculoides, Perna Mulleti,
P. aleformis, Trigonia dedalea, T. Fittont, Gryphea sinuata, Nau-
tilus radiatus.

Vicinity of Pulborough, Sussexr.—Mr. Martin, of Pulborough, has
mentioned the occurrence at Stopham brickyard (where the junction
with the Wealden was to be expected), of certain fossils, in a bed, of
clay at the bottom of the lower greensand. A collection of these,
which he has recently sent to the author, includes Arca Raulini, Pho-
ladomya acuticostata, Panopea piicata, Pleurotomaria gigantea, Os-
trea carinata, Nautilus radiatus, fossil wood with Gastrockena,
vertebre and skin of a Lamna.

* The precise spot is on the top of the southern bank of the railway,
south-west of a bridge over which a road crosses to Roberts-hole farm, of the
Ordnance map.

P 2

Bd

202

‘Hythe, in Kent.—The section of the subcretaceous groups on the
coast from Folkstone to Hythe bemg one of the most complete
hitherto discovered, it is a matter of great interest to ascertain
the relation of the component strata to those of Atherfield above
referred to. The junction, however, of the Wealden with the green-
sand,'so distinctly exposed at Atherfield, is unfortunately concealed
at Hythe by debris of unknown depth, and everywhere covered
with vegetation *.
' The only intimation hitherto received by the author of the exist-
ence of any lower stratum containing fossils differing from those
of the Hythe quarries, has come from Mr. Hills, now curator of the
Institution at Chichester, who has long been possessed of specimens
found near Court-at-street, his former abode in Kent, in a “blue
sandy clay below the bottom of the quarry stone.” Amongst these are
a large Ostrea, or Hinnites, like a species found at Atherfield, and
Pholadomya acuticostata (of Leymerie). ;

Under these cireumstances it beeame a question of great interest
to determine the nature of the unknown interval at Hythe; and on
going to the place with that object, the author found that Mr. Simms,
who conducted the works upon the South Eastern Railway, espe-
cially the tunnel at Saltwood, had been for some time engaged in
borings and measurements, with a view to a complete section of
the country through which the railway and tunnel had passed. Mr.
Simms was induced to extend his operations to the bottom of the
suberetaceous groups; and finally determined on sinking a shaft
from the bottom of the deepest quarry, continuously down to the
Weald clay, for the purpose of obtaining a more satisfactory view
of the fossils of the lowest beds. This undertaking was in progress
when the present paper was read, and the results will be laid before
the Society.

§. From the facts above stated, it is evident that the deposit of
Atherfield, in the Isle of Wight, like that which contains the fossils
of Peasemarsh enumerated by Mr. Austen, belongs to the lower
greensand :—both being unequivocally superior to the Wealden clay.

-* The nearest point to the stone quarries, where the author had seen
the Wealden beds (in 1823), is thus mentioned in Geol. Trans., 2nd Series,
vol. iv. p.124.—‘ The shore beneath the town consists of soft bluish. clay,
‘ which has the character of river mud, and differs much from the uniform
‘slaty clay of the Wealden. But the latter (Weald clay) has been cut
“into in sinking wells above the main street of Hythe, which in some in-
“stances have gone to the depth of seventy-five feet, entirely in clay. In
“one of these wells the succession was thus :— beginning at a point about
“sixty feet beneath the bottom of the lower greensand.

FA wOoil hse o's: vee 2 ft. 6 in. :
<Qoaheddish toushoelay ack asses Se eA 6 to 7 fé.
‘3. Greenish sandy clay in thin beds, alternately of dark 5 to G
amd ‘lighter nies 4a0.: SRE ee Seat che taber
‘4. Blue, uniform, slaty clay, containing Cypris about a
nope ivotn testopees cise sehen Lidia ddngagnapage

Bee ses e tee e ee esnceene

~ “5. A band composed of argillaceous iron ore, abounding es
in Paludina elongata and Cypris k

203

If, therefore, these fossils are characteristic of the Terrain Neocomien,
the hypothesis which supposes that formation to be SS Ee s2
with the Wealden can no longer be maintained.

The author, however, is far from denying that a marine equivalent
‘of the Wealden may exist*. But whenever such an equivalent shall
be discovered,—since it must be distinct from the Lower greensand
and the Neocomian,—he thinks it ought to be regarded as a new
deposit, and to receive a peculiar name.

The paper was ilustrated by a section and a sketch of the coast
near Atherfield; and it concludes with an expression of acknow-
ledgement to Mr. Austen, for the new impulse which his inquiries
have given to the study of the subcretaceous series in England.

June 7.—George Tate, Esq. of Alnwick, and Nicholas Wood,
Esq., of Killingworth, Newcastle-on-Tyne, were elected Fellows of
this Society.

A note was read from W.C. Trevelyan, Esq. F.G.S., ‘On scratched
surfaces of rocks near Mount Parnassus.”

On the way from Megara to Corinth the road descends to the
border of the sea at a part named, on account of its badness, cake
oxaXda (the ancient Scironian rocks). It then runs along the base
of the cliffs where the limestone bed is nearly vertical ; and for above
200 feet in length and about 50 in height, wherever it is protected
from the weather, it is highly polished and scratched, several of the
scratches extending for several feet, so as to be nearly parallel with °
each other and vertical. Where they are not weatherworn, Mr,
Trevelyan compares their aspect with those on the polished limestone
of the Jura near Neufchatel, which they also resemble in texture and
colour. Not having succeeded in detecting glacial phenomena at much
higher elevations on Mount Parnassus, Mr. Trevelyan considered,
that in this latitude, and at such a low level, the scratches could not
be attributed to that cause or to floating ice. Having found a portion
of rock apparently in its original situation in contact with the polished
surface, he was led to conclude that this was a case of “‘ slickenside,”
‘perhaps the effects of an earthquake; and that the scratches may have
been produced by particles of sand or chert between the two surfaces
when they were put in motion.

The only place in Greece where the author observed apparent
marks of glacial action was at the opening of a gorge on the south-
east flank of Mount Parnassus, above the town of Daulia (the an-
cient Daulis), where there are extensive mounds of gravel, debris and
boulders, evidently derived from the upper part of the gorge, and
resembling in form both longitudinal and transverse moraines, and
including occasionally small lakes or pools. Not finding however
any evidence of glaciers, Mr. ‘lrevelyan concluded that the cause
might be found in storms, melting of snow and avalanches, of which
numerous recent evidences were seen in the neighbourhoad.

* See Geol. Trans., 2nd Series, vol. iv. p. 396.

204

«On Ichthyopatolites, or petrified trackwings of ambulatory fishes
upon sandstone of the Coal formation.” By the Rev. W. pith ej
DED. GS:

These impressions were discovered by Miss Potts of Chester, on
a flagstone near the shaft of a coal-pit at Mostyn in Flintshire, and
were communicated by her to Dr. Buckland, with a remark on the
novelty of footsteps in any stratum older than the new red sand-
stone. As they present no trace of any true foot to which long
claws may have been attached, Dr. Buckland rejects the notion of
their having been made by a reptile. They consist of curvilinear
scratches disposed symmetrically at regular intervals on each side of
a level space, about two inches wide, which in his opinion may re-
present the body of a fish, to the pectoral rays of which animal he
attributes the scratches. They follow one another in nearly equi-
distant rows of three scratches in a row, and at intervals of about
two inches from the point of each individual scratch to the points
of those next succeeding and preceding it. ‘They are all slightly
convex outwards, three on each side of the median space, or supposed
place of the body of the fish. Each external scratch is about one inch
and a half in length; the inner ones are about halfan inch, and the
middle one about an inch long. These proportions are pretty constant
through a series of eight successive rows of triple impressions on the
slab from the Mostyn coal-pit. The impressions of the right and left
fin-ray are not quite symmetrically opposed to each other on a straight
line of progression; but the path of the animal appears to have been
curvilinear, trending towards the right: each impression or scratch
is deepest on its supposed frontal side, and becomes more shallow
gradually backwards. All these conditions seem to agree with the
hypothesis of their having been made by three bony processes pro-
jecting from the anterior rays of the pectoral fin of a fish. They are
not consistent with conditions that would have accompanied the im-
pressions of claws proceeding from the feet of any reptile.

Dr. Buckland refers to the structure of existing Siluroid and Lo-
phoid fishes, and of the climbing perch (Anabas scandens), and Has-
sar (Doras cosiaia), as bearing him out in the conclusions he has
come to regarding those markings. He also refers to the observa-
tions of Prof. Deslonchamps, on the ambulatory movements under
water of the common Gurnard, as confirmatory of his views. He
has been informed of a slab of coal sandstone bearing similar mark-
ings in the museum of Sheffield; and remarks, that there are several
fossil fishes of the carboniferous system approximating the characters
of Gurnards, and capable of making such markings as those described.

‘«« Observations on certain Fossiliferous beds in Southern India.”
By C. T. Kaye, Esq., F.G.S., of the Madras Civil Service.

The beds described in this paper are found at three localities ; viz.
Pondicherry, Verdachellum and Trinchinopoly.

1. Pondicherry.—This town, like Madras, is situated on a very
recent formation of loose sand, which extends for a considerable di-
stance along the eastern coast of India, and which in many places

205

contains marine shells in such abundance that they are dug up and
burnt for lime. They are all species which now inhabit the Indian
seas, such as Pyrula vespertilio, Purpura carinifera, Cardita antiquata,
Arca granosa and Arca rhombea. 'The sand is usually bounded by
granite, which appears at the surface at Sadras, Madras and other
places. Immediately beyond the town of Pondicherry, however, the
recent beds rest upon some low hills of red sandstone. A bed of
limestone containing numerous fossils succeeds, and at the distance
of four miles due west the red sandstone is again met with and there
abounds with silicified wood. At about sixteen miles from the sea
the sandstone is bounded by hills of black granite.

The surface of the country does not offer any section exhibiting
the relative positions of the limestone and sandstone. In the former,
numerous fossils in a high state of preservation were discovered by
Mr. Kaye, including species of Baculites, Ammonites, Nautilus, Ha-
mites, Ptychoceras, Ancyloceras, Voluta, Cyprea, Conus, Tornatella,
Rostellaria, Pyrula, Aporrhais, Trochus, Solarium, Natica, Eulima,
Scalaria, Cerithium, Turritella, Dentelium, and Calyptrea; Ostrea,
Exogyra, Spondylus, Pecten, Trigonia, Mytilus, Pinna, Arca, Pectun-
culus, Nucula, Cardium, Isocardia, Anatina, Cytherea, Solen, Phola-
domya, Clavagella, Lutraria and Terebratula. Aliso some fishes’ teeth,
Echinodermata and corals, accompanied by wood (calcareous) bored
by Teredo.

~The fossil wood found in the sandstone exhibits no traces of worm-
borings, and occurs in the form of trees denuded of their barks, some
of them as long as 100 feet, and all apparently Conifere.

2. Six miles from Verdachellum in Southern Arcot, about forty
miles from the coast and fifty from Pondicherry, the valley of the
river is formed of a limestone which underlies the sandstone and con-
tains marine fossils, including species of Ammonites, Nautilus, Mela-
nopsis ?, Pleurotomaria, Natica, Pecten, Arca, Artemis, Modiola, Exo-
gyra, Lima, Cardita, Cardium, Lutraria and Terebratula.

3. Trinchinopoly.—In this district, at about thirty miles from the
town of the same name, one hundred from Pondicherry, and sixty
from the sea, is a limestone formation which Mr. Kaye was unable
to visit in person, but from which he procured a quantity of fossils
belonging to twenty-seven species of various genera, including Na-
tica, Turritella, Triton, Fusus, Pyrula, Voluta, Melanopsis ? (same spe-
cies as at Verdachellum), Aporrhais, Strombus, Mactra, Psammobia,
Arca, Pecten, Ostrea, Cytherea and Cardium. A fragment of an
Ammonite accompanied them.

None of the species appear to be common to the three deposits.
Three species are common to Trinchinopoly and Verdachellum.
From the latter locality there are 28 species of mollusca identical
with lower greensand fossils found in Britam. A single species
appears to be identical with one of those from Pondicherry ; but none
of the testacea from the last mentioned locality agree with those
from Trichinopoly. The greater part of those from Pondicherry
appear to be undescribed forms. Accompanying the very remarkable
assemblage of molluscan genera at the latter locality was a single

206

vertebra of a Saurian, which Professor Owen regards as most nearly,
resembling that of Mososaurus.

Mr. Kaye presented to the Society a series of the fossils from the
several beds, all in the most beautiful state of preservation.

A paper was read, entitled ‘‘ Account of a Section of the Strata
between the Chalk and the Wealden Clay in the vicinity of Hythe,
Kent.” By F. W. Simms, Esq., F.G.S.

The section here described begins on the top of Tolsford Hill, the
summit of the chalk escarpment, about 600 feet above the sea at low
water, and about two miles immediately north of Hythe. It strikes
nearly due south, passing very near to Saltwood Castle, and close to
the church at Hythe, and reaches the sea beyond the low ground on
the south of thattown. This line cuts the strata, which successively
rise towards the south from beneath the chalk, nearly at right angles.

The author, in directing the works of the South-Eastern (Dover)
Railway, had caused borings to be made, with a view to the con-
struction of one of the principal tunnels on the main line of road, at
Saltwood. He afterwards extended his researches upward, for the
purpose of illustrating the stratification; and ultimately sank a
shaft, from the bottom of the quarries at Hythe, down to the Weald
clay. The account of these operations is illustrated by large sectional
drawings, without the aid of which it is difficult to convey a distinct
notion of them; but the following summary includes some of the
most important results.

§ The division of the subcretaceous series adopted by the author is
that proposed in the Geol. ‘Trans., 2nd ser. vol.iv. pp. 105-115 ;
and his object was to ascertain the thickness, inclination, and general
character of the successive groups, in a descending order. He found,
however, unexpected difficulty in tracing the different strata to their
outcrop, from the interference of ruins fallen from above, and still
remaining even on the faces of the escarpments. ‘Thus the top of
the Gault was obscured by a mass of subsided chalk, which, if the
measure had been taken on the surface, would have caused an error
in the thickness of more than 44 feet; the upper division of the
lower greensand would have given 41 feet in excess; the middle bed
would have been diminished by nearly the same amount; ‘‘ and the
whole of the clay beds between the quarry-rock and the Wealden
would altogether have escaped notice, as they are covered by the
ruins of the superior beds, and their existence was until now un-
known.” The author therefore could not attain his purpose without
having recourse to boring and levelling ; the mode of conducting
which processes, and the calculations connected with them, hg has
explained.

1. The upper greensand. was found to be entirely, wanting on | the
principal line of the section, the only trace of it being some grains
of sand mixed with chalk-marl over the gault. A second. boring,
about half a mile eastward of the principal line, gave the same
negative result; but at Folkstone Cliff, six, miles distant, there ne
in a corresponding place, a true greensand, 15 feet thick, indurated

207

to the condition of stone, with much pyrites, and passing gradually
upwards into the .chalk-marl through a thickness of 17 feet more.
The junction between the upper greensand and the top of the gault
below is decided and abrupt.

2. The borings through the Gault, at its lower part; were unat-
tended with difficulty, and the limit between it and the lower green-
sand was very well defined.

3. Lower greensand.—a, ‘The uppermost division of this group,
rising and running out beyond the bottom of gault, disclosed a sur-
face inclined at the same. angle, and continuous with that beneath
the clay, which appeared to have been removed by denudation. , The
beds of this upper division are enumerated in detail, and the places
of some of the fossils specified.

b. The Saltwood tunnel being driven directly chriough the upper
part of the middle division of the lower greensand, this portion of the
series became an object of great interest to the author, and is fully
described. In one boring, after ten feet of somewhat sandy yellow
clay, came a very dark green, tough and adhesive mass, almost black
when first brought to the surface, and containing very little sand.
This, which the author calls clay, he considers as the chief character-
istic of the middle division. Ata depth of 53 feet sand was mixed
with it ; and at 56 feet a ‘‘ rock”’ of limestone was reached, which the
author regards as commencing the next lower division of this group.

c. The thickness of the third (or ‘‘ quarry-stone’’) division of the
lower greensand was ascertained by combining the results of several
different borings. At this period the author was induced, by a com-
munication with Dr. Fitton, to change the boring for a shaft, in
order to bring up more extensively, and to preserve, the fossils of the
unknown strata between the quarries and the Weald clay. | This
shaft was 5 feet by 4 in dimensions, and it was found necessary to
support it throughout with timber. The strata thus cut through may
be considered, in a general view, as consisting of clay, whieh was
found to be 49 ft. 6in. thick: andthe bottom of this clay was sepa-
rated from the uppermost beds of the Wealden, containing the usual
freshwater fossils, by a layer of soft sand only one inch in thickness.

§ The measures of the several groups between the chalk and the
Weald clay, thus ultimately obtained, were as follows; the general
dip being due north, at an angle of about 1° 19!.

Upper greensand;—on the principal line of section, wanting. ft. in,

(AG Motstone clifiod ai (los, IRMA MAE PoTBl 15 0
adi 68 TU, NG QAR NGO, ROR TAGES, 10 BOLO IOIS F968
Lower greensand :— ft. in.

Upper .divisiony.92 J9oHt, YaST, LEE F 70 0

Middle division)... s:2dc7.efaniicl, dn. oat 158 0

Quarry-stone, &e. : ft. in. 406.6

Sand above the quarries ,....:.. 67 0
Quarry “rock”... 1 Pe SRN OA STS. GB

Sand and stone previously concealed 14 0
Clay beneath the sand and stone.. 49 6

Total thickness from the chalk to the Wealden Py Pea ey ey ng
VOL, IV. PART I. Q

208

§. The lowest sand and stone, occupying 14 feet beneath the
quarry-‘‘rock”’, are stated by the author to contain the same fossils
as the calcareous beds above.

The clay beneath the sand and stone appeared to consist of two
principal portions :—the upper, about 34 ft. 6 in. thick, composed
chiefly of a sandy greenish-grey clay, which in some places had the
properties of fuller’s earth ; in this were two thin beds of brown sandy
clay, and of clay indurated to the condition of soft stone.

The lower part of the clay, about 10 ft. 6 in. thick, was greenish-
brown, apparently containing more fuller’s earth, and becoming
darker and more argillaceous as it descended ; at 2 ft. 6 in. from the
top of this division was a bed, more marly than fuller’s earth, and two
feet thick, which contained a greater number of fossils.

§. The fossils from this clay, which had been placed apart, and
numbered during the sinking, occurred in the following order, be-
ginning at i top :—

ft. in. in.

0 0 to 36 6. Plicatula, Pecten obliquus (interstriatus), Phola-
domya, n.s.?, Arca Raulini, Terebratula, Pleuro-
tomaria gigantea.

31 6 to 34 6. Plicatula, Arca Raulini, Pholadomya acuticostata ?

Perna Mullett.

37 0 to 39 0. Corbula, and Pinna, numerous; with a Mytilus.

39 0 to 49 6, Curbula, Lima, two species; Nucula, Pinna, Teredo,
—the bottom of | Cypricardia ?, Venus ?, Ammonites Deshayesii?,

this clay.

Beneath was the Wealden clay, with Cyclas, small Ostrea and Paludina.

§. Subjoined to the principal section, are sectional drawings of the
Saltwood tunnel, and of a trial shaft sunk near it, illustrating parti-
cularly the junction of the upper and middle groups of the lower
greensand. ‘The summit of the tunnel is a few feet above the top
of the middle group, and there was a constant discharge of water
along the line junction, in such quantity as to cause great difficulty
in its construction. ‘This middle division, near its upper part,
afforded some fine specimens of fossils, chiefly in ferruginous con-
cretions, among which is Nautilus radiatus, with fossil coniferous
wood eroded by a Gastrochenu. Another remarkable product was
a new and beautiful fossil resin, found about 10 feet below the junc-
tion above-mentioned, A statement of a chemical examination of
this substance by Mr. Edward Solly is here given in full : it partakes
of the properties of amber and of retin-asphalt, and is principally
marked by its clear red colour, its infusibility, and the difficulty with
which it is acted upon by many chemical solvents.

“« Comparative remarks on the Lower Greensand of Kent and the
Isle of Wight.” By Wm. Henry Fitton, M.D., &c.

§. The author having, since the last meeting of the Society, seen
the result of the operations at Hythe described “by Mr. Simms in the
preceding paper,—and subsequently examined one of the kee
quarries at Maidstone, belonging to Mr. Bensted, here mentions,

209

the authority of the latter gentleman, some facts which indicate a,re-
semblance between the lower part of the section there and at Hythe.

In sinking a well about six years ago (1837), at Barming Heath, on
the south-west of Maidstone, Mr, Bensted found the whole thick-
ness of the stone and hassock (after passing through about 20 feet

of loose stone and red clay), to be about.............. 130 feet.
Immediately below was dark greensand, including a Venus, Gervillia,
Ammonites, and other fossils, about 10 feet. . .... Total 140 feet.
And finally clay, “‘ not that of the Wealden,” about........ 30 feet.

at which depth the sinking was discontinued.

Mr. Simms’s section gives for the total thickness of the calcareous
quarry-stone and hassock, at Hythe, 115 feet; beneath is sand
and stone, supposed to belong to the calcareous group, 14 feet.

Total 129 feet.

And then, down to the Wealden, a succession of clays which include

peculiar marine fossils, amounting to 49 feet 6 inches ; exceeding the

thickness of the clay sunk into beneath the quarry-stone at Barming

Heath by about 30 feet.

The sinking therefore near Maidstone accords, so far as it goes,
with that of Hythe, in exhibiting a considerable thickness of marine
clay between the quarry-stone and the Wealden.

§. The author remarked, in passing from the railway at Paddock
Wood to Maidstone, through Nettlestead and Wateringbury, that a
tract of very irregular heights projects beyond the line which he had
coloured as greensand ; and extends from East Peckham towards Lo-
dington, in some places to more than a mile beyond what seems to
be the plateau of the Kentish rag. Mr. Bensted has since informed
him that, near Wateringbury, a bank of blue clay crops out, above the
Wealden and below the greensand. This region therefore offers
a point for inquiry; and there is great probability of its affording
sections of this lower clay.

§. An examination of the fossils, and of the substances which in-
clude thein, brought up from the shaft sunk by Mr. Simms beneath
the lowest stone-beds at Hythe, leaves no doubt of the very strong
resemblance of this part of the Kentish series, to that which has
been described at Atherfield in the Isle of Wight. The principal
difference between the lowest clay at the two places, consists in the
absence, at Hythe, of any bed of stone, like that at the bottom of
the Atherfield section, which abounds so very remarkably in fossils.

§. Although the section of the lower greensand on the Kentish
coast is more full and complete than that between Blackgang Chine
and Atherfield, the latter has the great advantage of being perfectly
disclosed and continuous, from the top to the bottom, so that the
whole succession can be readily examined in detail: while it is
evident, from the perfect conformity of the beds and their general
consistency of character, that their deposition was not only unin-
terrupted by stratigraphical disturbance, but probably unaccompa-
nied by any great change in the conditions of the fluid by which
they were deposited.

§. The absence, in the Isle of Wight, of limestone resembling that

210

of the Kentish quarries, which is the chief point of contrast between
the sections there and in Kent, is deserving of great attention. ‘The
rag, though very unequally distributed (as is not unusual with beds
which have so much of a. coneretional character), extends without
material interruption from the Kentish coast to the neighbourhood
of Godstone ; its greatest expansion being at Maidstone, where the
thickness ecg 120 feet; while Mr. Simms’s section proves that
the Hythe quarries are nearly of equal thickness. The decrease,
therefore, in the proportion of calcareous matter, in receding from
what may be called this central region of the limestone,—either
inland, through Surrey and Hampshire, or westward, by the coast
of Sussex to the Isle of Wight and Dorsetshire, is very rapid ; and
is the more deserving of notice in the Isle of Wight, as the total
thickness of the lower greensand (both near Shanklin, on the east,
and westward from Blackgang Chine to Atherfield), cannot be Jess
than 400 feet,—the thickness of the groups below the gault at Hythe,
according to Mr. Simms.

This reduction of the calcareous matter between Maidstone and
Surrey is the more remarkable, as the sands throughout that in-
terval are absolutely continuous: the distance from Maidstone to
Redhills, where there is no appearance of limestone, being only 30
miles ; that between the central. limestone at Hythe and Atherfield
being about. 115 miles. ‘The equivalent of these calcareous beds
must be sought for in Surrey and Hampshire, in those ranges of
concretional stone which are there distributed irregularly, but in a
somewhat stratigraphical arrangement, through the lower green-
sand; as in the ‘‘ Bargate stone ;’’ the chert of Leith Hill, &c.; and
generally, the sands of all that region ought to be examined atten-
tively, with a view to their comparison with the cliffs between Black-
gang Chine and Atherfield.

§. The separation of the lower greensand from the other subcre-
taceous groups, was founded on its obvious stratigraphical distinc-
tion, from the Gault on the one hand, and from the subjacent Weal-
den on the other: and the subdivisions were derived, from the pro-
minence of certain natural features of the surface, evidently corres-
ponding to the composition and succession of the strata. ‘The ex-
pediency of these subdivisions in the coast section at Hythe appears
to be confirmed by Mr. Simms’s survey; his section, when reduced
to the natural scale of height and distance, showing that the features
of the country agree with the division of the strata between the
ot and the bottom of the calcareous beds into three groups; and

the clay newly discovered beneath the quarries be added to the
series, it will form another subdivision, accordant with the principle
of arrangement. aboye mentioned. The chief question remaining
with respect to this lowest group of marine clay is, whether it will
be necessary to detach it altogether from the other divisions of the
lower greensand ; and this cannot be decided without a deliberate
review 9 the subcretaceous fossils,—and of the strata which. afford
them.

PROCEEDINGS

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Vou. ITV. Parr I. 1843. No. 96.

June 21.—The following papers were read :—

1. “Supplement to a Memoir on the Fossil species of Chimera.”
By Sir P. Grey Egerton, M.P., F.G.S.

Since the author’s former memoir was communicated to the So-
ciety, he has seen in the coll.ction of Mr. Dixon a new and striking
addition to the genus Ischyodus. The specimen is from the chalk
of Southeram, and presents two dental plates only slightly dislocated
from their natural juxtaposition. At first sight these would appear
to be the dental armature of the lower jaw, corresponding nearly in
size to the lower mandibles of Ischyodus mantelli. A closer exami-
nation has satisfied Sir Philip Egerton that they are in reality the
intermaxillary plates of the upper jaw of a most gigantic chimzroid.
They exceed in size the corresponding teeth of Ischyodus townshendi,
the largest species hitherto found by one third. As compared with
the intermaxillaries of that species they are broader, more compressed
and less robust in antero-posterior diameter, and less hooked at the
extremity. The form of the cutting edge is not truncate, as in the
recent Chimera, but prolonged to an acute angle, and bent down-
wards like the upper mandible of a bird of prey, The symphysis is
smooth and slightly hollowed. The thin polished investing lamine
of compact dentine is seen adhering to the surface of the tooth. On
the interior surface this is marked with broad transverse irregulari-
ties similar to, although less distinct than, those seen in the recent
Chimera. A fragment in Mr, Dixon’s collection gives evidence of
having belonged to an individual of much larger size than that which
furnished the specimens here described. Sir Philip Egerton proposes
to name this species [schyodus gigas.

2. “‘On the occurrence of the remains of Insects in the Upper Lias
of the county of Gloucester.” By James Buckman, F.G.S.

The remains described in this paper were discovered by Mr. Buck--
man in a thin seam of argillaceous limestone in the upper lias beds
at Dumbleton, a village twelve miles from Cheltenham, to which his
attention had been directed by Mr. Brodie, who had suspected the
existence of insect remains in the stratum. The section of Dum-
bleton Hill, which is a liassic outlier, presents the following beds.

VOL. IV. PART 1. R

212

1. Sandy debris from the oolite, about .......... act 10 O
2. Upper lias shale: this is traversed at twelve feet from
its base by the thin bed of fissile limestone five inches

im ‘thickness |. (ete SAO hs Paani die. s oe REN 60 0

32 Laas marlstone; abouts eugene BA. oO

90 0

The thin seam of limestone included in No. 2 is remarkable for
containing many organic remains not found in any other part of the
lias, and most of them new, comprising land as well as marine ani-
mals and traces of plants. Among them are two undetermined
species of fish with numerous fish-scales and coprolites, two species
of Crustacea, the one allied to Astacus (Fabr.), the other to Hippo-
lyte (Leach). A species of Loligo, a new Belemnite, a new Ammo-
nite (which Mr. Buckman has named A. murleyi), A. corrugatus
and ovatus, a small univalve in great abundance, and Jnoceramus du-

-bius. The remains of insects comprise one species of Libellula,
which, from the reticulations of the fine wings, seems to belong to
the genus A’schna, Fabr., and has been named by Mr. Buckman.
44. brodiei, in honour of Mr. Brodie ; two species of Coleoptera of
undetermined genera, and a wing supposed to belong to Tipula.
None of these are of the same species with the insects found by Mr.
Brodie in the lower lias.

From the presence of a similar band of stone with that containing
the above mentioned fossils at Churchdown and Robin Hood Hill,
liassic outliers presenting the same section as that of Dumbleton
Hill, Mr. Buckman supposes that this thin seam is of constant oc-
currence in the upper lias of the neighbourhood. He concludes that
the period, which the state of things which produced it continued,
was not of long duration, and that its deposition was of a quiescent
kind.

3. “ Outline of Geological Structure of North Wales.” By the
Rey. A. Sedgwick, F.G.S.

§ 1. Introduction.

The author here describes in considerable detail the geographical
limits of the country under notice. For the structure of the Isle of
Anglesea he refers to a paper by Prof. Henslow, published in the
Cambridge Transactions. The carboniferous series of Denbighshire
and Flintshire is passed over with a slight notice, and without any
detailed sections. His chief details are confined to the counties of
Denbigh, Carnarvon, Merioneth, and Montgomery ; and the southern
limits of his survey is defined by an irregular line drawn from the
Severn, near Welch Pool, to the coast near Aberystwith. The
southern boundary is purely arbitrary, marking only the limits of his
survey, and not any physical separation of the older rocks, which
are continued in great undulations through all the higher parts of
North and South Wales. He then describes the several connected

213

traverses by which he was led to the general views now laid before
the Society; and to the modifications his views have undergone
in consequence of traverses made by him in 1834 and 1842 along
the line of the Holyhead road, and from that line to the mountain
limestone ridges of Denbighshire and Flintshire..

As a general conclusion from these details, he states that the older
stratified rocks (including all the formations of the region inferior
to the mountain limestone) may be separated into three great phy-
sical groups or primary divisions.

(1.) Chlorite and mica slate, &c., occupying the south-west coast
of Carnarvonshire, and a considerable portion of the Isle of Anglesea.

(2.) Greywacke, roofing-slate, &c. (alternating with masses and
beds of contemporaneous plutonic rocks), spread out from the Me-
nai to the edge of Shropshire, occupying all the high ridges of Car-
narvonshire and Merionethshire ; to the south blending themselves
with the system of South Wales; and to the north nearly bounded
by the line of the great Holyhead road.

(3.) A great overlying (and sometimes unconformable) deposit of
flagstone, slate, &c. (Upper Silurian), extending through the hills
north of the Holyhead road, and overlaid by the mountain limestone.

These three primary divisions the author represents by three co-
lours on a geological map; and the same system of colouring may
be extended through all the older formations of South Wales. The
middle group is however of enormous thickness, and may hereafter
be further subdivided. Its lower part contains no fossils, and in its
upper part they abound; but between its upper and lower parts
there is no true physical separation, and the fossils seem gradually
to disappear in the descending sections. He could indeed represent
the fossiliferous and non-fossiliferous slates of Carnarvonshire by two
colours; but in extending these colours through other counties of
North Wales, he would be compelled, in the present state of his in-
formation, to adopt arbitrary, and perhaps inconsistent, lines of de-
marcation. Hence he has been induced, for the present, to adopt
a more simple system of colouring than he at first attempted.

§ 2. Physical structure of the county under notice.—Strike and undu-
lations of the strata.—-Structure and relations of the threé great divi-
sions, &¢.

South Carnarvonshire.—Carnarvonshire is divided into two physical
regions,—one to the south-west and the other to the north-east of
the road from Carnarvon through Llanllyfni to Tremadoc. In the
south-western. country, the coast, from Porthdinlleyn to the end
of the great promontory, and to Bardsea Island, is composed of chlo-
rite and mica slate. It forms a band on the average not two miles
in breadth, but it is evidently the prolongation of a formation which
is widely expanded in the Isle of Anglesea. At its north end it is
associated with a mass of brecciated serpentine (like that subordi-
nate to the same rocks in Anglesea), and it is here and there pene-
trated by veins of calcareous spar, sometimes so abundant as to re-
place the ordinary rock, which in such cases passes into great irre-

R 2

’

214

gular masses of white crystalline limestone. Near its north end it
is cut through by five or six nearly transverse vertical dykes of au-
gitic trap of a later formation.

The other parts of the promontory are composed of greywacke,
(sometimes passing into a coarse arenaceous rock), and greywacke
slate, often of a dark colour and rather earthy structure; and these
rocks are pierced and broken through by many great bosses of sye-
nite (represented on a geological map), which rise into hills of re-
markable and irregular outline. That the syenites are posterior to
the slates the author shows by the evidence of sections: but the
slates are little altered, except near the places of contact. Their
prevailing strike is nearly parallel to the mean direction of the pro-
montory (about north-east). Near the bosses of syenite these beds
are sometimes almost vertical, and they contain one or two bands of
organic remains, the most remarkable of which are found in a ver-
tical ridge of coarse greywacke near Bodean*.

In the promontory near St. Tudwal’s Island the rocks are thrown
into low undulations, are traversed by mineral veins, and intersected
by one or two trap dykes.

The author here notices five or six dykes of augitic trap which
cross to the west side of the Menai near Bangor. They appear like
great ribs locking together the mineral systems of Anglesea and
Carnarvonshire. Similar dykes appear in three or four places in the
higher parts of the Carnarvon chain; and all dykes of augitie trap
above noticed are considered of nearly the same epoch, and of a later
date than the mountain limestone and new red sandstone of the
Menai Straits.

Near the line of road above mentioned the country is at a low
level, and much concealed by drifted matter ; it is however marked
here and there by erupted masses of felstone porphyry, which in one
or two places are finely columnar}. Near this line are some enor-
mous faults which have thrown the south end of the Carnarvon chain
about 2000 feet above the level of the road. Near Tremadoc the
continuation of the same lines of fault have torn mountain masses
of rock from the end of the chain, and placed their beds nearly at
right angles to the beds of the great chain. The enormous disloca-
tions are traced through Merionethshire beyond the mouth of the
Barmouth estuary, but their description could not be understood

without the help of sections.

North part of Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire. as far east as the
line of the Bala limestone, &c.

On the north side of the county last mentioned commences the

* Among these fossils are,—1. many encrinital stems; 2. Extomostracites
punctatus; 3. Leptena sericea; 4. Orthis flabellulum, O. pecten, O. canalis,
O. testudinaria, &c.

- + By the word felstone the author defines many rocks commonly called
compact felspar ; an incongruous name he wishes to replace by a name
(Feldstein) occasionally used in Germany. ‘

215.

great Carnarvon chain, prolonged, in fine serrated ridges, to the
neighbourhood of Great Ormeshead. In the low country east of
the Menai are slate rocks alternating with trappean conglomerates,
and with great masses of porphyry ranging very nearly with the beds
of slate. One of the larger masses of porphyry appears to have
been protruded after the deposition of the slates: other masses are
contemporaneous with the slates. ‘To the east of the largest elon-
gated mass of porphyry, which. strikes with the beds for about fif-
teen miles, commences a system of undulations affecting the whole
chain, the anticlinal and synclinal lines ranging very exactly with
the strike of the beds, i. e. N.N.E. or N.E. by N. The same pre-
vailing strike and the same undulations are continued into Merio-
nethshire ; but in the southern parts of that county the stmke de-
viates to the north-east and south-west. One great anticlinal line
is traced from the county about three miles east of Festiniog to a
point on the coast a little south of Barmouth. Beyond this line is
an ascending section (very little interrupted by undulations), as far
as the Bala limestone. These facts are described by the author in
detail, and are illustrated by parallel sections at right angles to the
mean strike of the country.

The rocks occupying the region are chiefly composed of felstone,
(compact felspar) and felstone porphyry, trappean conglomerates,
plutonic silt (exactly like chloritic varieties of German Schaalstein),
and other erupted or recomposed igneous products: and the above-
named rocks alternate indefinitely with fine masses of roofing-slate,
and with great masses of greywacke; and with greywacke slate,
often calcareous, but rarely containing beds and masses of limestone.
Three or four subordinate masses of such limestone are found near
Great Arenig, and one or two on the flanks of Cader Idris. The
author describes some sections where the igneous rocks predominate
over the aqueous; others in which the aqueous almost exclude the
igneous: but the two classes of rock are so interlaced that they
cannot be separated, and are regarded as of contemporaneous origin.
Among them are however masses of greenstone (sometimes syenitic,
and more rarely basaltic), and other trappean masses among the
slates which are considered of a later date.

Nearly all the slate rocks are affected by a cleavage, which often
obliterates all traces of stratification, and very seldom coincides with
the true beds. In the fine quarries of Nant Francon and Llanberris,
the cleavage planes (as in the great quarries of Cumberland) strike
exactly with the beds, but are inclined at a greater angle. The
strike and inclination of these planes is not however governed by
any fixed law; for cases are pointed out where cleavage planes are
much less inclined than the beds, and others in which these planes,
even in fine quarries, deviate one or two points from the strike of
the true beds. Five cases are exhibited in the sections where the
cleavage planes continue their strike and dip through all the con-
tortions of the beds; and a few cases are given of a good second
cleavage plane. From all the facts the author concludes that clea-
vage planes are true crystalline phenomena, produced by the mutual

216
action of the elementary particles of the rock while passing into a
solid state.

Jointed structure is also discussed at some length: and joints are
divided into four classes, called dip, strike, diagonal, and tabular joints.
The two former are most constant, often highly inclined, and divide
the slaty beds into great rhombohedral masses. ‘They are supposed
to have been formed by mechanical tension while the rocks passed
into a solid state. Cleavage planes are not parallel to them ; and they
cannot arise from molecular or true crystalline action; because, as
shown from examples in North Wales, they cut through the pebbles
of beds of conglomerate : sometimes however, among the accidents
of structure, true cleavage planes and joints become confounded.

Bala limestone.—System of the Berwyns,—Fossiliferous beds on the
line of the Holyhead road, &c. :

This limestone ranges through Cader Dinmael to Glyn Diffwys on
the Holyhead road, a few miles east of Corwen. Thence it is pro-
longed towards the south ; but its continuity is broken, and for some
miles its range has not yet been made out. Exactly on the line of strike
(N.N.E. and 8.S.W.) it breaks out again near Bala, and ranges
thence to the neighbourhood of Dinas Mawddwy, dipping steadily
to the E.S.E.

From this limestone there is an ascending section to the very crest
of the Berwyn chain, south of the road from Bala to Llangynog.
In this ascending section are higher calcareous slates, which in one
or two places have been burnt for lime. But on the east flank of this
part of the chain there is a synclinal line, beyond which for several
miles the beds dip to the N.W.,; and aseries of slate rocks, alternating
with a few bands of porphyry, are again brought up to the surface.
Some of these are only a repetition of a portion of the slates and
porphyries on the east side of the range of the Bala limestone. These
older rocks abut against, and, in consequence of enormous convul-
sions, in one or two places seem to overlie the Silurian rocks (among
the tributaries of the Severn) described by Mr. Murchison.

The synclinal line above noticed appears to strike about N.N.E.;
but the mean direction of the water-shed of the Eerwyns is about
N.E. : hence the synclinal line, and the calcareous slates overlying
the Bala limestone, are, near the Llangynog road, brought to the west
side of the chain; and the crest of the ridge, extending beyond Ca-~-
der Ferwyn, is composed of the older slates and porphyries dippmg
towards the N.W. Still further north, either from a great flexure
or (more probably) from an enormous fault, we have for several
miles a great series of beds dipping to a point a few degrees east of
north. They alternate here and there with porphyry, contain many
fossils, and in their highest portion near Llansaintfraid Glyn Ceiriog,
contain two bands of limestone. At this place they seem to form a
regular ascending section, conducting without a break to the over-
lying Upper Silurian flagstone.

The author then notices the undulating country east of the Ber-
wyns, extending from the Severn, near Pool, through the ramifica-

aL

tions of the Vyrnwy and the Tanat. Calcareous slates, with many
fossils nearly resembling those of the Bala limestone, are repeated
again and again by rapid undulations: the facts are illustrated by
sections.

The beds have a prevailing strike about N.E.; butit is frequently
interrupted, and they are twisted out of their course so as in some
tracts to strike east and west ; and in ocher places the strikes and dips
are entirely anomalous. The whole system in some places seems to
dip under the older rocks of the Berwyns, in others it is placed side _
by side with them, the junction planes being vertical ; and again the
same system is seen to be thrown off with an eastern dip from the
flank of the older chain. Everything indicates great derangement,
of a later date than those which gave the impress to the Carnarvon
chain, and probably contemporaneous with the movements which
placed the beds of the north end of the Berwyns in the anomalous
position above described. Part of the system here noticed has been
described by Mr. Murchison, and is classed in the Caradoc sand-
stone.

Lastly, the author notices a comparatively low country near the
line of the Holyhead road, extending westward to the neighbourhood
of Bettws y Coed, in which the strike of the Carnarvon chain(N.N.E.)
is but feebly impressed. The beds undulate, and are sometimes
almost horizontal ; but here and there they are thrown into ridges
with the N.N.E. strike ; and in all these different positions they are
overlaid by the Upper Silurian ridges. These beds are at the northern
limit of the Merioneth and Carnarvon ridges, are high in the ascend-
ing sections, and near Penmachno, Bettws y Coed, &c., contain many
fossils.

Upper division of the slate rocks.—Denbigh flagstone, &c.

The author traces in detail the line of demarcation between the
rocks of this and of the preceding division. From Conway to a
point a few miles south of Llanrwst, this demarcation is represented
by a great fault ; afterwards by an irregular line (traced on a map),
partly south and partly north of the great Holyhead road. A few
miles below Corwen it crosses the valley of the Dee, passes over the
crest of the hills, and strikes down the valley of the Ceiriog, in the
lower part of which it is cut off by the mountain limestone. The
strike of this upper group is affected by great breaks and undulations,
but on the whole is about west by north, and east by south; and
its prevailing dip is towards the north. Its structure is explained in
detail, and illustrated by three sections: the first (commencing with
the slates, porphyries and calcareous slate of the older division, south
of Llansaintfraid Glyn Ceiriog) passes through a peculiar mass of
dark roofing-slaté, and is thence continued through Llangollen and
Dinas Bran to the terrace of mountain limestone. The second,
commencing a few miles to the west of the former, crosses the upper
groups of flagstone, which are contorted, and in some places nearly
vertical; and it is prolonged to the tabular hills of the Denbigh
flagstone, south-west of Ruthin. The third (commencing with ridges

218)

of sandstone and conglomerate at Garn Brys near Pen Tre Voelas).
1s carried over the whole group, nearly north and south, to the es-
carpment of the mountain limestone near Abergele.

The two first sections give the following ascending series :—

1. Hard quartzose slates alternating with greywacke and beds of
porphyry : it is fossiliferous and of great, thickness.

2. A great mass of calcareous slates with two subordinate beds of
limestone and with many fossils.

3. Dark roofing-slate with a few Graptolites.

4. A great thickness of Denbigh flagstone, &c., extending to the
mountain limestone. This is separated into three subdivisions :—(a.)
Lower flagstone series passing into hard quartzose bands and into
earthy semi-indurated shales. It has impressions of Orthoceratites,
and numerous compressed traces of fossils mistaken for Orthoceratites,
but considered by Mr. Forbes as a species of Pteropoda (Criseis).
Some of its beds exhibit many impressions of Graptolites ludensis-
(6.) Beds resembling the former, but more indurated, also contain
here and there many fossils, among which Cardiola interrupta and
Terebratula wilsoni are enumerated. (c.) Softer beds, more or less
slaty, with few fossils, surrounded by harder and more quartzose
bands with very numerous fossils (e. g. the summit of Dinas Bran).

In the preceding section Nos.1 and 2 belong to the older division ;
No. 3 is considered doubtful; but the whole of No. 4 is unequivo-
cally Upper Silurian.

The third section gives the following ascending series :—

1. Ridges of old rock with Caradoc sandstone fossils.

2. Great masses and beds of conglomerate and coarse sandstone
unconformable to the preceding. The conglomerates disappear in
the ascending section, and the coarse sandstones pass into a finer
structure, and alternate with bands of dark coarse slate, here and
there with a true cleavage. Among these beds are a few Upper Si-
lurian fossils.

3. A great thickness of Denbigh flagstone, generally agreeing
with No. 4 of the preceding sections,

4. Great ridges of roofing-slate alternating with thick beds of
coarse greywacke. The group is contorted and traversed with a few
mineral veins, which are worked near Bronhaulog. These beds
contain fossils described in a memoir by Mr. Bowman (see the Pro-
ceedings of the Geological Society, vol. ii. p. 667).

5. A thick mass containing beds like those of the lower groups,
but often passing into a rotten slate or mudstone.

6. Mountain limestone.

This last group (No. 5) is overlaid further to the west by red
conglomerates described by Mr. Bowman. Red sandstones and
conglomerates also appear under the mountain limestone near Ru-
thin, which the author refers to the old red sandstone.

He concludes that the groups of this upper division cannot be
brought into any close comparison with the well-defined Upper Si-
farian groups of Mr. Murchison; neither do they closely resemble
- in mineral structure the Upper Silurian groups of Westmoreland :

219

but he compares the Denbigh flagstone with the fossiliferous slates
and flagstones of Horton and Settle in Yorkshire. —

§ 3. Classification of the three preceding divisions of the Welsh slates. —
Organic remains, &c.

The group of chlorite, slate, &c. contains no organic remains,
and forms no passage into the rocks of the other division ; it there-
fore offers no sure means of classification ; but it seems to be inferior
to the other slate rocks m the southern promontory of Carnarvon-
shire.

_ The age of the middle division is decided by the organic remains,
None have yet been discovered in the low country east of the Menai,
but it is much concealed by alluvial drift.

Commencing with the line of the Nant Francon and Llanberris
slate quarries, the author describes a series of regular ascending sec=
tions, continued through a horizontal distance of three miles, and
intersecting beds without a single flexure, inclined more than 50°.
In this great mass of strata are no described fossils. But at its top,
fossil bands appear containing Orthis flabellulum and canalis in abun-
dance; together with corals (Turbinolopsis ?) and stems of Encrinites:
These bands are traced on the east side of the highest summits of
the chain from Moel Hebog to Carnedd Llewelyn. All the country
east of that range might be represented by a peculiar colour; but
it is in physical structure identical with the eastern parts of the
chain ; and the author wishes not to separate it on supposed nega-
tive evidence, which may be upset by new observations.

After two rapid undulations, there is again 2 regular ascending
section to Capel Curig; and thence over the shoulder of Moel Siabod
to the bottom of the valley near Dolwyddelan. ‘The ascending sec-
tion (interrupted enly by one very short undulation), measured on a
horizontal base at right angles to the strike, is more than five miles
long, and is through highly inclined beds. The thickness of this
fossiliferous system must therefore be very great. But in the hills
east of Penmachno, and south of Bettws y Coed, are calcareous
beds (with more numerous fossils), which are placed in a still higher
part of the ascending section. ‘These calcareous beds (sometimes
burnt for lime) the author places nearly on the parallel of the Bala
limestone; though on general analogy, and not on any direct evi-
dence of sections.

Again, from the great Merioneth anticlinal (above described) to
the Bala limestone, there is a great ascending section; on two or
three parts of which are found organic remains, far below the paralle}
of the limestone. And above the Bala limestone, to the crest of the
southern Berwyns, is a series of beds, some of which contain many
Lower Silurian fossils, and at least one miore calcareous band.

Lastly, the fossiliferous groups south of Llansaintfraid Glyn Cei-
riog, are (at least provisionally) brought into comparison with the
Bala limestone and other fossiliferous beds in the trough of the
southern Berwyns.

The author then gives the subjoined lists of fossils from different

localities on the lines of the sections above noticed.

220

It is a mere

synopsis of the fossil evidence, but has been carefully made out by
Mr. J. Sowerby ; and by Mr. J. W. Salter, who accompanied the
author in his last examination of the country along the line of the

Holyhead road.

List of Fossils from several localities in the middle division of the

I.

Penmachno and Conway
Falls.

Trinucleus caractaci.

Asaphus tyrannus.

Leptzena sericea.

Orthis canalis.

testudinaria.

alternata.

actoniz.

Tentaculites scalaris.

Il.
Hills opposite Bettws-y-
7 coed.

CRUSTACEA.
Trinucleus caractaci.

HETEROPODA.
Bellerophon bilobatus.

BRACHIOPODA.

Leptzna sericea.
Orthis canalis.
testudinaria.
alternata.
actoniz.
flabelluium.
new (very convex),
(half a mile above Con-

way Falls).

, Ill.

Cerrig y Druidion.
Orthis alternata.
new (abundant)
Ophiura salteri.

IV.

Glyn Diffwys and Cader
Dinmael Limestone.

CRUSTACEA
Tails of a Calymene.
Asaphus powisii.
- tyrannus.
Trinucleus caractaci.

BRACHIOPODA.
Leptzna tenuistriata.
sericea (abundant).

Cambrian Slates.

Spirifer crucialis (new).
Orthis actoniz (do).
vespertilio (do).
virgata (abundant).
canalis.

RaDIATA.
Favosites polymorpha.
Round coral.
Hemispherical coral

(new ?), and several
other species of corals
and shells.

We

‘Sandstone bed on Cader

Dinmael (scarcely ex-
amined).

CRUSTACEA.
BRACHIOPODA.
Orthis flabellulum (abun-

dant).
canalis.

CONCHIFERA.
Avicula, n.s.
VI.
Bala Limestone.

CRUSTACEA.
Tails of a Calymene.

BRACHIOPODA.
Leptena tenuistriata(none
of sericea).
Spirifer crucialis.
Orthis actoniz (do.).
vespertilio (do.).
canalis.
virgata (abundant).
RADIATA.
Round coral.
Hemispherical coral.
Tentaculites annulatus.

VII.
Calcareous Slates of Bala,
Gelli Grin, 5c.

CRUSTACEA.
Trinucleus caractaci.

BRACHIOPODA.

Leptena tenuistriata.
sericea (very large).
Spirifer radiatus, M. C.
crucialis ?
Orthis flabellulum.
vespertilio.
canalis.
alternata.
virgata.
MOLLUSCa. ~
Turbo prycee.
angulatus ?
Euomphalus sculptus ?

RADIATA.
Ophiura salteri (pelvis)

VIII.

Slates. South of Llansaint-
fraid Glyn Ceiriog.
CRUSTACEA.
Trinucleus caractaci.
Calymene (tail).
Asaphus caudatus ?
powisii.
BRACHIOPODA.
Leptena tenuistriata.
sericea,
Orthis inflata (new).
canalis.
alternata.
actoniz.

RADIATA.
Turbinolopsis bina
(abundant).

IX.
LlansainitfraidLimestones
and Shales.

Leptzena sericea.
Orthis canalis.
actoniz.
Euomphalus (new).

RADIATA.
Catenipora escharoides
(abundant), and many
others.

221

_ The fossiliferous series above described is called the great proto-
zoic group of North Wales. It is stated, that there is no good fossil
evidence for its separation into distinct formations; and that its in-
ferior beds, although far below the Caradoc sandstone, contain com-
paratively few species undescribed in the work of Mr. Murchison.
It is therefore neither Silurian nor Cambrian in the limited sense in
which the words were first used; but it represents both systems,
inseparable, as they are in nature, from one another.

The upper division of the Cambrian slate series is so obviously
Upper Silurian, that the anthor adds very few details in illustration
of those given in the previous parts of the paper. He however sub-
joins the following list of fossils, chiefly derived from the beds of the
third section from Garn Brys to Abergele through this division.

1. In the highest beds near the north end of the section,—Encri-
nites, Graptolites ludensis, Orthoceras virgatum, Leptena lata, L.
- depressa, Terebratula lacunosa, Orthis orbicularis, &c.

2. South of Bettws Abergele, and rather lower in the series,—

_Asaphus caudatus, Orthis orbicularis, Leptena lata, Terebratula lacu-
nosa, Atrypa affinis, Cardiola interrupta, &e.

3. In the valley of Llanfair Talhaiarn and Bronhaulog mines,—
Encrinites and branching corals, Bellerophon trilobatus, Leptena lata,
Spirifer ptychodes, Or this or bicularis, Atrypa affinis, Turbo corallii, &c.

4. Plas Madoc quarry near Llanrwst, under the great mass of the
Denbigh flagstone, and therefore low in the descending section.

Corals :-—Fenestella, &c., Calymene blumenbachii, Asaphus sub-
caudatus, Bellerophon globatus, Leptena euglypha, L. lata, Atrypa affnis,
Spirifer ptychodes, Orthis orbicularis, O. lunata, Terebratula navicula,
T. lacunosa, &c.

5. To these lists the author adds the following from Dinas Bran
near Llangollen, the upper-part of the Denbigh flags.

Calymene (?) (in small fragments), Lituzti (in fragments), Angi
ceras striatum, O. ibex, O. ludense, Bellerophon expansus, Terebratula
navicula and lacunosa (in great abundance), Orthis lunata, Nucula
ovalis, Cypricardia retusa, Cardiola interrupta (?), Turbo carinatus, &c.

The Denbigh flags contain impressions of Orthoceratites; but
some which have been referred to that genus are considered by Mr.
Forbes as species of Criseis, a genus of "Pteropoda. They occur in
the middle of the group associated with Graptolites ludensis, and
sometimes with Leptena lata, Cardiola, and other fossils.

From these lists it appears that the fossils of the upper division of
the great Welsh series agree very closely with the fossils figured by
Mr. Murchison, from the Wenlock shale to the tilestone at the base of
the old red sandstone inclusive. But the mineral structure of the
rocks being almost entirely different from that of the upper system
of Siluria, the distribution of the species is also different; so that
they are incapable of being arranged into distinct groups marking
the successive parts of an ascending or descending section, so as to
agree with the subdivisions of Mr. Murchison. The author confirms
this remark by stating, that he now possesses more than ninety:
species of the Upper Silurian fossils of Westmoreland, that nine-

222

tenths of them agree specifically with those described in the ‘ Silu-
rian System,’ and that their arrangement in the actual sections ad-

mits of no rigid comparison with the subordinate groups of the
system,

_ § 4. Other formations over the preceding.—Successive dislocations
of the Welsh system, &c.

After briefly noticing one or two masses of red sandstone and
conglomerate (referred to the old red sandstone), the author de-
scribes the extraordinary position of the mountain limestone in the
Vale cf Clwyd, and infers that it underwent its greatest dislocation
before the period of the new red sandstone, which is found appa-
rently in a great bay of the dislocated limestone. He then gives, in
the following order, a synopsis of the principal movements which have
affected the different formations within the limits described in the
paper.

1. The oldest movements of which we have any distinct trace, .
were those which gave the north-eastern strike and threw the moun-
tain masses into undulations.

The highest points of the Carnarvon chain (measured along the
strike from Conway) are upon an arch, the crown of whichis the top
of Snowdon; and the south end of the arch is broken off by the
Tremadoc fault. At what time this position was effected does not
appear; but the tension by which it was produced broke the back of
the chain in three places, producing the rudiments of the three great
passes across the Carnarvon chain.

2. Afterwards, a series cf movements gave the W.N.W. impress
both to the older system at the north end of the Berwyns, and to
the upper system in Denbighshire. ‘The author considers that the
extraordinary confusion in the position of the beds in some parts of
the Berwyn chain to be caused by the intersection of the two lines
of principal elevation, viz. the old movement to the N.E. or N.N.E.,
and the subsequent movement to the W.N.W. Probably after this
period were formed the conglomerates at the base of the mountain
limestone of Denbighshire.

3. At a later period was formed the great trough of the Vale of
Clwyd. About the same time (and probably before the period of
the new red sandstone ) was formed a line of great dislocation,
marked by a patch of mountain limestone near Corwen, affecting
the dips of all the intermediate country as far as the great mineral
veins of Minera; and lastly, bringing up a great mass of mountain
limestone near Caergwrle in Flintshire. :

4, The great break of the Menai Straits appears to have taken
place after the new red sandstone: and probably about the same
time was formed the fau/t, ranging up the lower part of the Conway.

5. Lastly, all the external inequalities of the country must have
been altered, again and again, since the successive periods of im-
press, produced by the above lines of great movement. The whole
country has, at very recent geological periods, undergone great
changes of level. And the author confidently affirms, that the

223

mountain streams of North Wales, as far as he has examined them,

have been flowing in their existing channels, and producing the effects
of diurnal erosion (marked by deltas gradually filling up lakes, and ~
by other alluvial accumulations) only during a few thousand years.
He accepts the evidence of comparatively recent glacial action in
the higher valleys of North Wales (e. g. near Llyn Ogwen, &c.),
but enters on no details.

§ 5. General conclusion.

From a review of the facts stated in this paper, combined with
the facts stated in a former communication (Nov. 1841.), the au-
thor suggests the following classification of the British Paleozoic
rocks. ‘They are considered zoologically as forming one great sys-
tem separable into four primary divisions, as follows :—

1. Carboniferous, subdivided into four principal groups.

(a). Magnesian limestone and lower red sandstone, zechstein and
rothe-todte-liegende. In this group are the drifted coal plants of
the lower red sandstone of England, and the coal-beds of the
Hartz, associated with the rothe-todte-liegende.

(0). Great coal formations of England, Scotland, Belgium, West-
phalia, &c., freshwater beds, and many beds of plants not far
drifted ; sometimes unmoved from the spots where they grew.

(c). Millstone grit and shale, limestone, &c., with drifted plants
and beds of coal; great scar limestone; culm-measures of
Devon (?); great coal-fields in the West of Ireland.

(d). Lower limestone and limestone shale, &c.; imperfectly re-
presented in England, but probably here and there replaced by
the conglomerates at the top of the old red sandstone; lower
limestone and carboniferous slates of Ireland; lower coal for-
mations of Scotland. In this group are placed a part of the beds
of North Devon under the culm- measures, and containing fossils
like those of the carboniferous slates of Ireland.

2nd Division.— Devonian and old red sandstone. In this division
are placed the older fossiliferous slates, &c. of Devon and Corn-
wall; the beds below the carboniferous limestone of Belgium and
Westphalia, as far as the Eifel and great Westphalian limestones in-
clusive; all the old red fish-beds, &c. of Scotland; all the central
part of the old red sandstone series of Herefordshire; old red sand-
stone, &c. of Ireland.

3rd Division.—All the Upper Silurian rocks of Mr. Murchison,
from the Wenlock slates to the lower part of the “ tilestone” inclu-
sive; Denbigh flagstone ; upper division of the fossiliferous slates of
Westmoreland and Lancashire; many portions of the fossiliferous
rocks of the Flemish provinces, and various parts of France; some
small fossiliferous groups in the south of Scotland (?); a part of
the fossiliferous series in the north and south of Ireland (?)

4th Division.—Great protozoic group; all the older fossiliferous
slates of North and South Wales ; Coniston limestone; lower part
of the “ Silurian system” of Mr. Murchison; oldest fossiliferous

224
slates of Scotland and Ireland, and of various parts of the conti-
nent, &c.

It is stated that the great difficulty is to draw clear on consistent
lines of demarcation between these great primary divisions. ‘They
pass into one another, and interchange some fossil species, especially
near their limits. Were it not for the magnificent sections of the old
red sandstone in the British Isles, and also in the north-eastern
parts of Europe (as now shown by Mr. Murchison and his fellow
labourers), the author asserts, that the second and third divisions
would probably be confounded and eventually pass under one common
name (including Upper Silurian and Devonian). In Belgium and the |
Rhenish provinces the demarcation between them is quite arbitrary.
We there find Goniatites and long-winged Spirifers and other organic .
types (first supposed to characterize the ‘‘ Devonian system’”’) abun-
dant in the Silurian rocks: and there is nothing in the physical
structure of those countries to suggest the separation of these two
divisions. By help of the British sections, combined with new facts
brought to light in Russia and America, the second division must
however maintain its place.

Between the third and fourth divisions there appears to be a much
better marked separation, both physically and zoologically, than be-
tween the others. These two divisions (at least in North Wales)
differ in structure, interchange hardly any fossil species, and through
large districts are unconformable. Hence they belong to two systems,
and not to one, if the word system be used in a definite sense, and be
applied to the successive divisions (such as the Devonian). ‘To avoid
incongruity of language, the author uses the word system in a ge-
neral sense; and under the name Paleozoic System describes the
whole series of formations comprehended under the four divisions
above described. In this great descending series the “ Silurian
system” (in the sense in which the words were first used) stands
in the place of the third, and the upper part of the fourth primary
division.

~

MAP ano SECTIONS

~ of the o
LLTESE ISLANDS.

SCALE OF BRITISH MILES.
4 2 3 4

Lines of Section

Ts of Fault. cis

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VOL. IV. PART II.

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MALTESE ISLANDS

SCALE OF BRITISH MILES.

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PROCEEDINGS

OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Vou. LV. Parti. 1843—1844. No. 97.

Nov. 1, 1843.—‘‘ On the Geology of the Maltese Islands.” By
Lieut. Thomas Spratt, R.N., of H.M. surveying vessel Beacon, F.G.S.
The axis of the chain of the Maltese Islands runs from south-east
to north-west, and is about twenty-nine miles long. Malta, the
southernmost of the group, is nearly seventeen miles long ; and its
‘greatest breadth, measured transversely to the axis, is nearly nine
miles. Gozo, the northernmost island, is nearly nine miles long,
and its greatest transverse breadth is a little more than five miles.
The mineral depesits of which these islands consist, are all stra-
tified, and disposed in parallel layers. They seldom deviate much
from the horizontal position ; but the prevailing dip, which is very
gentle, varies from north-east to east by north; and consequently
the prevailing strike of the deposits coincides nearly in direction with
the axis of the chain.
_ None of the deposits are wholly devoid of organic remains; ana
some of the softer strata contain them in great abundance and ina
state of excellent preservation. Many of these fossils are charac-
teristic of certain strata, and all are of marine origin.
Of the strata of these islands the author forms four groups, which,
taken in their descending order, are the following :—
1. Coral limestone.
2. Yellow sandstone and blue clay.
3. Freestone.
4. Semi-crystalline limestone.

No. 1.

The “Coral Limestone”’ (A) consists of a reddish-brown or
whitish calcareous rock, which is mostly of a compact, hard, and al-
most flinty texture. It contains cretaceous nodules, and is sometimes
interstratified with soft calcareous sandstone. Its organic remains
are particularly abundant in the cliffs abutting on the different Days
on the north-west coast of the island of Malta. In the cliff at the
west end of the Gianhina Valley, on the south-west coast of the
island, the coral limestone is nearly 100 feet thick ; but on the dif-
ferent hills which, in other parts of the island of Malta and in Gozo,
are capped by this deposit, it now presents a thickness only of from
twenty to sixty feet. Near Casal Garbo, towards the north-western
angle of Gozo, the only remains of the coral limestone which origi-
ginally formed a continuous upper crust over that part of the island,
are detached masses of this deposit, lying on the surface of denuded

VOL. IV. PART II. s 2

226 [Nov. 1,

freestone. Similar masses are seen in, other parts of the island.
Some of these fragments at Casal Garbo are variegated with yellow
and white, and are used for ornamental work under the name of
“* (ozo Marble.” ¢

No. 2.

Next to the coral limestone occur two beds, which the author
groups together under the name of “ Yellow Sandstone and Blue
Clay.”’ The upper of these two beds (B), which is about twenty
feet thick, consists of yellow sand or sandstone, with greenish-black
particles intermixed. It abounds in organic remains, many of which
differ from those of the coral limestone. One of its most characte-
ristic fossils is a small, very thin Nummulite, which sometimes is in
such quantity that it forms a third part of the bed to which it belongs.
It occurs most abundantly in the cliffs of the Bay of Ramella, on the
north-west coast of Gozo. These shells usually lie with their flat
sides parallel to the plane of stratification. Associated with the
Nummulites are sometimes layers of oysters. Wherever a section of
the yellow sand is visible, the teeth and bones of species of shark
may be obtained. These are very abundant in Malta, in the cliffs
of the north-west coast, and in Gozo ; in the eastern hills. and in
the cliff beneath Fort Chambray, towards the south-eastern corner
of the island. (See catalogue, p. 230.) The yellow sand contains
also the bones and teeth of Cetacea; but these are comparatively
rare. The lower of the two beds (C) consists of blue clay or
marl, from 100 to 120 feet thick. It contains two or three thick
layers of a lighter colour than the rest, but is not much disposed to
separate into thin layers of stratification. Imbedded init are crystals
of gypsum, and occasionally nodules of sulphur. The clay contains
a few organic remains. ‘The Testacea are mostly species of Mitra, &c.
A Nautilus is found, but rarely, under Fort Chambray. With the
shells has been found the bone of a small Sepia. The fossils of the
clay generally serve as nuclei to irregular nodules of iron pytites,
and the substance of the fossils is also frequently converted into hy-
urated peroxide of iron.

No. 3.

To the blue clay succeed five beds, of which the author forms one
group, denominated by him “ Freestone.”

The clay passes into a white caleareous sandstone (D) from twenty
to thirty feet thick ; and below this is a bluish-grey or fawn-coloured
marl (E) about twenty feet thick. These two deposits contain seve-
ral species of microscopic chambered shells.

Next are found from twenty to thirty feet of a pale yellow or
white ealcareous freestone (F) separable into thin strata. It contains
nodules of flint, and the fossils of this bed are found in a silicified
state on the north-west side of Bengemma hills. This stone is some-
times used for building, but it exfoliates by exposure to the weather,
and more particularly when -acted on by the sea. It contains a
Sealaria and other forms. ;

Below the upper bed of freestone is a bed, from two to eight feet
thick, of calcareous sandstone (G), of a pale chocolate colour and

1843.] ; 227

flinty hardness, which consists almost wholly of the casts of organic
remains (see Mr. Forbes’s catalogue), and mixed with the casts are
shapeless nodules of the sandstone of the same colour and texture.
This deposit preserves its peculiar character wherever the freestone
group of beds is found. It is best exhibited in the island of Gozo, in
the Bay of Marsa el Forno on the north-west coast, and at the base
of the cliffs under Fort Chambray, when it forms rocky ledges two
or three hundred yards broad, extending along the coast, and rising
only a foot or two above the sea-level.

The lowest bed of the group is a yellowish-white calcareous free-
stone (H), from forty to fifty feet thick. This is the stone which is _
commonly used for building in the two islands. From the facility
with which it may be cut by the hatchet, or formed by the lathe,
this stone, both in the rough state, in the state of slabs, and when
turned into pillars, balustrades, vases, and other architectural orna-
ments, is used extensively in all the public and private edifices of
Malta and Gozo, and is an article of considerable export to all parts
of the Mediterranean. A fossil turtle was found in this bed, near
Casal Luca, south of the city of Valetta.

No. 4.

The lowest of the four deposits of the Maltese Islands is a yel-
lowish-white semi-crystalline limestone (I) of very considerable
thickness, since nearly 400 feet of it in perpendicular depth are
visible on the north-west coast of the island of Gozo. From its dura-
ble properties it is extensively quarried for building in various parts
of the island of Malta, more especially to the west of the city, near
the village of Musta, and on the denuded flat to the west of Valetta.
The author has made a detailed examination of only about twenty
or thirty feet of the uppermost strata of this deposit. Owing to the
hardness of the rock it is difficult to detach from it perfect speci-
mens of the fossils.

Malta is divided into two parts by a great fault, which cuts
the island transversely to the axis of the chain, and to the north-
west lets down the strata about 300 feet. Gozo also is divided, a
little way inland from the strait which separates it from Malta, by a
fault running also transversely to the axis of the chain, and producing
to the south-east nearly the same amount of depression in the strata
which is occasioned, in the opposite direction, by the fault of Malta.
The joint effect of these two disturbances is, to let down the deposits,
in the space between the two faults, to the depth above-mentioned,
that being about half the height above the sea-level of the most ele-
vated points in each of the two islands. In the sunken tract lie the
Straits of Frieghi which separate Malta from Gozo, and midway be-
tween the two principal islands, the small island of Comino.

The Maltese fault is clearly displayed by a vertical section in the
sea-cliff, on the south-west coast of the island, near the west end of
the Gianhina valley. (See Section 4.) From the coast the fault
passes beneath the northern face of the Ben-gemma hills, along the
line of that valley, its course being indicated by the different levels
at which the respective strata crop out on its opposite sides. It

228 [Noy. 1,

crosses the plain of Nasciar, and meets the sea on the north-eastern
coast between the two bays of Maddalena and St. Marco. (See Map.)

The Gozo fault, emerging from the gorge of Highin Selim, which
enters the Straits of Frieghi near the south-west corner of the island,
passes to the north of Fort Chambray, and to the south of Casal
Nadur ; and it meets the sea on the north-eastern coast in the Bay
of Silek. (See Map and Section 2.)

In Malta, to the south of the great fault, the strata dip gently east
by north, so that at Marsa Scirocco, on the south-eastern, and at
Valetta, on the north-eastern coast, the semi-crystalline limestone
is submerged. It becomes visible at the water’s edge, to the north-
west of Valetta, near Scliema; and further north, near St. George’s
Bay, it is quarried for building. It rises considerably above the sea-
level near Cape Benhisa, the extreme south-eastern point of the lon-
gitudinal line of section. (See Section 1.) In the whole breadth of
the island the level of the strata is depressed in the line of dip about
200 feet. The semi-crystalline limestone and the superincumbent
freestone stretch across the island to the south of the fault from
coast to coast. The hard and durable quality of the limestone,
which constitutes the lower stage of the inaccessible cliffs that
encircle the island to the south-west and south, account for the
straight and unindented configuration of that part of the coast.

The eastern side of the island to the south of the fault, as far west
as a line drawn through Casal Siggieni and Citta Vecchia, consists
wholly of this lower limestone and its superincumbent freestone, the
newer deposits, that is to say, the coral limestone, the yellow sand-
stone, the blue clay, and even some of the upper strata of the free-
stone, having been swept off by denuding agents. This denuded
district is almost a flat; and though naturally sterile, it has been
rendered productive by spreading over the rocky surface an artificial
soil, and carefully supporting the same by terraces.

On the western side of the island to the south of the fault, the
coral limestone, the yellow sandstone, and the blue clay, have escaped
the denuding action ; and owing partly to their presence, and partly
to the freestone and the subjacent limestone standing at a higher
level on the western side of the island south of the fault than they
do on the eastern, the western side is considerably the loftiest. The
above newer deposits form a chain of table-topped hills, called the
Ben-gemma hills, which rise considerably above the rest of the island,
their highest point, which is to the north-west of Citta Vecchia,
being 600 feet above the sea.

Gozo, to the north of its great fault, in respect of the character
and arrangement of its deposits, and of their fossil contents, is an
exact counterpart to the southern partof the islandof Malta. In Gozo,
however, the deposits are somewhat more developed, and their fos-
sils are more various and abundant. In Gozo, north of the fault, the
strata dip gently to the north-east, in consequence of which, on the
north-western coast, the semi-crystalline limestone is submerged ;
whereas, along the whole of the south-western coast it presents a
straight and unindented line of precipitous cliffs, rising, in some
parts, perpendicularly 400 feet above the sea, and descending as ab-

ee iam

1843.] 929

ruptly, and apparently to as great a depth beneath the waves. This
is the deepest section of the limestone that is to be seen anywhere
in the Maltese Islands.

In Gozo, to the north of the fault, the coral limestone, the yellow
sandstone, and the blue clay have not been so much degraded as
they have in the south-eastern part of the island of Malta. On the
south-western side of Gozo, however, there is a considerable tract
from which these upper deposits have been entirely swept away.
Throughout the remainder of the island, north of the fault, it is these
deposits which form the crests of a number of detached flat-topped
hills, rising from 180 to 200 feet above the valleys, these valleys
being excavated down to the level of the inferior deposits. The
highest level above the sea which any of these crests attain, is about
640 feet. All these table-hills have steep, escarped sides, and present
perfect sections of the newer series of deposits. Their number and
abruptness gives a more diversified and picturesque character to the
island of Gozo than belongs to the scenery of the island of Malta.

It remains to speak of that portion of the two islands which lies
between the two faults. To the north of the fault in Malta, it is
only the coral limestone, the yellow sandstone, and the blue clay
that are visible, with the exception of some of the upper strata of the
freestone deposit, which appear in some places on the western coast
just above the sea-level. (See Sections I]. and IV.) In whatever
parts of the sunken tract the softer strata of the above-mentioned
newer deposits are exposed to the sea, the coast becomes indented
with bays and inlets. It is by this action, partly, that the two deep
bays of St. Paul and Melleha, in the north-eastern corner of the
island of Malta, have been formed; but these bays, and also the two
valleys that open into these bays respectively, owe their origin prin-
cipally to undulations in the strata, the valleys following the course
of the troughs in the strata occasioned by the undulations in question.

Most of the valleys in the Maltese Islands follow the course of
the dip of the strata. Among the Ben-gemma hills lie the valleys
of Boschetto and Entahkleb, which are noted for their picturesque
scenery, and also for their fertility. Their fertility is owing to the
springs which break out at the outcrop of the blue clay, in conse-
quence of its retaining the moisture which fails on the porous sub-
stance of the superincumbent coral limestone and yellow sandstone.
From one of the springs in the valley of Entahkleb the water is con-
ducted by an aqueduct to Valetta. There are no springs in Malta
or Gozo, but when there is clay to retain the water.

The longitudinal gorges of Siggieni in Malta, and of Highin Selim
in Gozo, are exceptions to the ordinary direction of the valleys in
these islands; but these hollows appear to be owing to natural rents -
in the substance of the hard semi-crystalline limestone. On the
precipitous sides of these gorges, and at different levels, horizontal
markings are seen, which appear to be the effects of the sea, acting
at different epochs of the progressive elevation of the land. Beiter
evidence, however, of these epochs is afforded by the succession of
natural terraces which line the face of every hill in these islands,

230 [Nov. 1,

wherever the strata were of such a nature as to yield readily to the
action of the waves. :

«Note on the Fossils found by Lieut. Spratt in the several beds of
the Tertiary Formation of Malta and Gozo.” By Prof. E. Forbes,
Curator G. Soc.

Bed A. Spondylus quinquecostatus, Deshayes, identical with the
Greek species. Ostrea Boblayei, Desh., Ostrea Virleti, Desh., a
variety. /ecten Pandora, Desh., P. squamulosus, Desh., P. burai-
gaiensis, and P. Beaudanti ? Clavagella ?

Casts of Cytherea ? and Arca.

Terebratula ampulla, and T. bipartita, Brocchi. Orthis detruncata
(Terebratula, sp.), Gmelin, identical with the existing species.

Echinus, sp. Cidaris, sp. Nucleolites, sp. Brissus, 2 sp., and
Spatangus, sp. i

Eischara monilifera. Escharina, sp.

Nullipora.

Remains of Crustacea.

Bed B. Ostrea Virleti, O. navicularis, Desh. ? and another spe-
cies. Pecten cristatus, Bronn?, P. squamulosus, P. burdigalensis,
and two other species.

Casts of Thracia ? Isocardia ? Arca, Venus, 2 species, and Tellina.

Scalaria retusa, Brocchi.

Casts of Cyprea, Conus, 2 species, Oliva, Natica, Turritella, Turbo ?
Pleurotoma, Pyrula, Phorus, and Trochus.

Clypeaster altus and marginatus ; Brissus, 3 species.

Lenticulites complanatus.

Cellepora mamillata, Myriapoda, sp. Retepora, sp.

Cetacean remains (according to Prof. Owen, of more than one
species of Delphinus, and the bones apparently of a Manatee).

Fish-teeth (determined by Sir Philip Grey Egerton), Coraz adun-
cus, Carcharias megalodon, and C. productus, Oxyrhina xiphodon, O.
hastilis ? O. Mantelli ? Hemipristis serra, and H. paucidens, with other
Squalide.

Bed C. Sepia, sp. Nautilus zigzag, identical with the London clay
fossil.

Scalaria, sp. Pleurotoma, sp.

Cast of Mitra, Rostellaria and Columbella.

Pecten burdigalensis, Ostrea, sp.

Cardita. Lucina.

Spatangus, sp.

Caryophyllia, sp. Cellepora mamillata, Fungia ?

Bed D. Vaginula depressa, Daudin.

Cristellaria, sp. Nodosaria, sp.

Fossils common to Beds C, D, E, F, G.

Ostrea navicularis, Pecten cristatus. Casts of Conus, Natica, and
Cyprea, Spatangus, and 2 species of Brissus.

Bed F. Two species of Brissus, and a Nucleolite.

Beds G. and H. Pecten burdigalensis, Scalaria, sp.

Scutella subrotunda, Spatangus, sp., and two species of Brissus.

1843.] 231

Bed H. Nautilus, sp.

Beds H. and 1. Pecten.

Casts of Lucina, Solarium, Conus, Phorus, Natica, and Cyprea.

Balanus (Lepas, sp.) stellaris, Brocchi ?

Scutella subrotunda, Clypeaster, sp. Two species of Brissus, Nu-
cleolites, Cidaris. ,

Mem. The species of Brissus found in the lowest beds are identi-
eal with those found in bed B. Such is also the case with the
Pectens.

«Report on the collections of Tertiary Fossils from Malta and
Gozo.” Presented by Lieut. Spratt, J. W. Collings, Esq., and Miss
Attersol. (Read March 20, 1844.) By the Curator.

The Maltese collection includes between eighty and ninety species
of animal remains, belonging to the classes Vertebrata, Mollusca,
Crustacea and Cirrhipeda, Foraminifera, Echinodermata and Zoo-
phyta. Many of these are in a very perfect state, others are casts.

The Vertebrata consist of the remains of Cetacea and of fishes,
chiefly sharks. The former have been examined by Prof. Owen, and
the latter by Sir Philip Egerton. They are considered by those
naturalists as tertiary, probably miocene.

A great part of the collection consists of Molluscous remains.
Of these three are Cephalopoda, viz. a Sepia and 2 species of Nauti-
lus, one of which is the Nautilus zigzag, identical with the London
clay fossil. One is a Pteropod, the Vaginula depressa of Daudin.

Of Pectinibranchous Mollusca there are numerous species, but
mostly in the state of casts. Among the perfect shells of this order
are three species of Scalaria, including the Scalaria retusa of Brocchi,
a miocene fossil. The casts belong to the genera Conus, Cyprea,
Natica, Oliva, Turritella, Turbo, Pleurotoma, Pyrula, Phorus and
Trochus.

Of Brachiopodous Mollusca there are 4 species belonging to the
genus Terebratula. Three of these are known species, viz. Tere-
bratula ampulla and bipartita of Brocchi, fossils of the subapen-
nine beds, and Terebratula detruncata of Gmelin (Orthis Phillipp1),
a small species still existing in the Mediterranean Sea.

Of Lamellibranchiate Mollusca there are 17 perfect species and
numerous casts belonging to the genera Thracia, Isocardia, Arca,
Venus, Cytherea, Lucina and Tellina. Among the perfect species are
3 species of oyster, which have been described by Deshayes in the
_ Geology of the Morea, viz. Ostrea Boblayet, O. Virleti, and O. na-
vicularis. Also Spondylus quinque-costatus, Pecten pandora, and P.
squamulosus, figured in the same work. Pecten cristatus of the
Italian beds, Pecten burdigalensis, P. scabrellus ?, and P. Beaudantz,
are also present in this collection. The remainder of the species of
this genus, which appear to be very characteristic of the Maltese
formation, I have been unable to name, from want of materials for
comparison. Besides the above-named shells, there are perfect
specimens of a Lucina, a Cardita, and a Clavagella.

The remains of Crustacea and Cirrhipoda consist of a few frag-
ments and a good specimen of a Balunus, apparently the species

232 [Nov. 1,

figured by Brocchi under the name of Lepas stellaris. Also a
species of Pollicipes presented by Mr. Greenough.

The Foraminifera include the Lenticulites complanatus (which ap-
pears to be found in those beds in vast numbers), and species of
Nodosaria and Cristellaria.

The Echinodermata in this collection are numerous, and of re-
markable beauty. They include all the Maltese species figured in
the work of Scilla, besides several apparently undescribed. They
belong to the genera Cidaris (1 species), Echinus (1 species), Nu-
cleolites (3 species), Galerites (1 species), Spatangus (8 or 4 species),
Brissus (8 species), Clypeaster (4 species), and Scutella (1 species).
Among the species of the last 2 genera are Clypeaster altus, mar-
ginatus, Tarbellianus and scutellatus, and Scutella subrotunda, seve-
ral of which are found in miocene beds in the South of France, and
in Italy.

The Zoophyta include species of Fungia, Caryophyllia, Cellepora,
Escharina, Eschara, and Retepora. ‘They have been submitted to
Mr. Lonsdale, who has recognized among them Cellepora mamillata,
and Eschara monilifera, both French miocene fossils.

There is no reason to believe that the fossils in this collection
came from more than one tertiary formation.

As far as can be judged from the examination I have made of
them, they belong to a tertiary formation of a later date than the
London clay and Paris basin, and older than the Sicilian and other ~
pliocene strata. Certain beds in the South of France and North of
Italy, which have been referred to the miocene period, appear to
agree in age with the Maltese beds, though they may possibly be
older than the Touraine faluns and the English crag.

“On the Fossil Remains of Starfishes of the order Ophiuride,
found in Britain.” By Prof. E. Forbes. Communicated by R. I.
Murchison, Esq., President of the Royal Geographical Society.

In Mr. Morris’s catalogue of British fossils (p. 55), four species of
Ophiura are enumerated : viz. Ophiura Egertoni of Broderip*, from
the inferior oolite; O. Milleri of Phillips, from the marlstone, at
Staithes; an unnamed species, from the London clay, recorded by
Mr. Wetherell in the Geological Proceedings; and a species from
the upper chalk, also unnamed, in the cabinet of Mr. Fitch. In the
ninth volume of the Magazine of Natural History (p. 437), Mr.
Williamson figures and describes a fossil Ophiura under the name of
O. loricata, from the marlstone at Staithes; and in a paper read before
the Geological Society during the session 1842-43, Professor Sedg-
wick has recorded an Ophiura in the Cambrian slates of North Wales.

Of such of the above species as have already received names, the
first two will now fall under the genus Ophioderma of Muller and
Troschelf, as Ophioderma Egertoni, and Ophioderma Milleri; since
they present the peculiar forms of ovarian shields, and the superior
genital openings distinctive of that genus. Ophiura loricata of Wil-
liamson appears to be the upper surface of Ophioderma Milleri.

* For references to the works in which this and the other species mentioned are
described, see table. + Wiegman’s Archives, 1840.

1843.] 233

—— aq Ds
AF Ms
LSD i eee

1. Ophiura Murravit, inferior surface (n.s.).

2. Ophiura serrata. a. part of arm, n.s. 6. joints of arm magnified.

3. Amphiura Pratti. a. part of disk and arm, n.s. 4. joints of arm magnified.
4. Section of arm of Ophioderma Egertoni.

5. Ophioderma tenuibrachiata, part of disk and arm. a. Section of arm.

The following Ophiurites are either new, or hitherto uncharacte-
rized as British :

1. Ophioderma tenuibrachiata, F.—The disc is similar to that of
O. Egertoni, but the rays are much longer in proportion, and less ta-
pering. They have a more flexible aspect than those of the O.
Egertoni, and present in their section, a different form of the central
ossicula; for these, instead of being trilobate, are oblong with a tri-
angular central anterior lobe. Discovered in the lias at Bridport
by Dr. Murray of Scarborough and communicated by Mr. Bower-
bank. Mus. Murray.

2. Amphiura Pratti, F.—The specimen presents the under surface
of the animal, the disc, which was probably soft or cartilaginous,
having disappeared, though its limits are well-marked by the forms
of the ossicula composing the bases of the arms, which were inserted
into it. There are traces of a few smooth, imbricated scales on the
intermediate plates beneath. The arms are nearly six times as long
as the diameter of the disc, and are slender and flexible, but not ta-
pering. The inferior ray-scales are quadrangular, with oblique sides.
Each lateral ray-plate bears a row of slender, conic, diverging, smooth
spines, which are about as long as the breadth of the ray. There is
also a very small spine at the inferior angle of each.

This curious star-fish, which presents most of the characters of the
genus Amphiura (Linnean Transactions, vol. xix. pt. il. p. 150), was
discovered by Mr. Pratt in the Oxford clay. Mus. Geol. Soc.

3. Ophiura Murravii, F.—The disc is large in proportion to the
arms, and appears to have been covered by large scales. The ova-
rian plates are scutiform and rather small, projecting on the disc ;

234 [Nov. 1, 1843.]

and the converging ossicula, at their bases, are comparatively large
and broad. The rays are short, broad and tapering. The inferior
ray-plates are very small and triangular. The lateral cnes encroach
on those below, and unite with them beneath. Of the spines, which
were probably numerous and small, some obscure traces only remain.
This is a true Ophiura. It was discovered by Dr. Murray of Scar-
borough, in the marlstone at Staithes. Mus. Murray.

4. Ophiura serrata, Roemer, Kret. Geb. tab. vi. f. 23.—The infe-
rior ray-plates are petaloid, rounded above, tapering and subtruncate
below. The lateral ray-plates do not touch, and they bear upon
their upper margins strong conic spines, which do not quite equal
the plates in length, and appear to have been six or seven in a row.
The species appears to have borne a close resemblance to the recent
Ophiura albida of the European seas. It appears to be identical
with the Ophiura serrata, described by Roemer as occurring in the
chalk-marl of Northern Germany. The fragment of an arm in white
chalk is preserved in the Geological Society’s Museum, to which it
was presented by Mr. Tennant. It is possible that Mr. Fitch’s
Ophiurite belongs to this species. I have seen several loose ossicula
of Ophiura serrata from the chalk.

5. In Sir Philip Egerton’s collection, there is an Ophiurite from
the Oxford clay, which may possibly be distinct from any of those
described. The spines are very short, slender and acute; the rays
are long. It appears to belong to the genus Amphiura, but the re-
mains are too imperfect to warrant the constitution of a species until
better specimens are procured.

The following table exhibits all the instances of fossil Ophiuridz
known to the author, arranged in ascending chronological order.
From it it will be seen that this tribe of animals is present in the
earliest fossiliferous formations, as well as in those of the several sy-
stems up to the newest strata. ‘The generic forms do not appear to
have materially varied from those now existing.

TaBLE oF Fossit Orniurip 2.

(Acroura, Ag.)......
Aspidura, Ag. ......
Ophioderma, M. & T.
Ophioderma, M. & T.|Milleri, Phill............... England. |Lias ....
Ophiura, Lam.......
Ophioderma, M. & T.
Amphiura, Forb.....
Amphiura? ........
Ophiura, Lam.?....
Ophiura, Lam. ?
Ophiura, Lam.......
Ophiura, Lam.?....

Ophiura, Lam.......

Ophiura, Lam.?....
Ophiura, Lam.......

GENUS. SPECIES. CountTrRy.| ForMATIon. REFERENCE.
Ophiura? 0.20.6... Salteri, Sedgwick .......... Wales....|Cambrian slates . Sedgw. G. P.iv.pt.1.p.220

risca (Ophiura, sp.), Munst. Germany |Muschelkalk ..|Goldf.t. lxii. f. 6.

loricata(Ophiura, sp.), Munst. Germany |Muschelkalk ..|Goldf. t. Ixii. f. 7.
tenuibrachiata, Forb. ...... England. . |Lias

oonoor Phil. Geol. Y.i.t. 13. £.3
Murravii, Forb. ............ England. ./Marlstone......

Egertoni (Ophiwra, sp.), Brod.|England. .|Inf, oolite...... Brod. G.'T. 2.ser.y, t. 12,

Pratti, Forb. .............. England. . |Oxford clay f. 5,6.

lo cs cdoorbonooodoadssoueus England. . |Oxford clay

speciosa, Munster .......... Germany |Solenhofen slate.'Goldf. t. xii. f, 4.

carinata, Munster.......... Germany |Solenhofen slate.'Goldf. t. Ixii. £. 5,

Cunliffei, Forb. MSS........ IS. India... |Greensand ----{(in Mus. G. Soc.)

granulosa, Roemer ........ Hanover. .|Lower chalk.... Roemer, K. G. t, vi, f. 22.
Hanover. . |Lower chalk. . c

Mee scresebae {England i White ebale } Roemer, K. G. t. yi. f. 23,

SPH OV er vetcist ta eee eee England. -|London clay.... Wetherell, G. P.i. p. 417

hibanotica, Koenig.......... Syria Seas \Miocene Oonddao Koenig, Ic. Sect. p. 2. f. 26

PROCEEDINGS

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.
Vou. TV. Parr ii. 1843—1844. No. 98.

Noy. 15, 1848.—G. T. Vigne, Esq. of Woodford, Essex, was
elected a Fellow of this Society.

“On some Fossil Remains of Anoplotherium and Giraffe, from the
Sewalik Hills, in the north of India.” By H. Falconer, M.D., F.G.S.,
and Capt. P. T. Cautley, of the Bengal Artillery, F.G.S.

In continuation of their former researches on the fossil remains of
the Sewalik Hills, the authors, in their present communication, esta-
blish, on the clear evidence of anatomical comparison, certain disco-
yeries which, in previous publications, they had either merely an-
nounced, or had supported by proofs professedly left incomplete.
They now demonstrate that there occur in the remarkable tertiary
deposits of the Sewalik range, together with the osseous remains of
various other vertebrate animals, bones belonging to the two genera,
Anoplotherium and Giraffe: the former genus determined by Cuvier

from parts of skeletons dug out from the gypsum beds of Paris ; the
latter genus known only as one of man’s contemporaries, until, in the
year 1838, the authors gave reason for believing its occurrence in
the fossil state.

The specimens now figured and described form part of the collec-

tion which was made by the authors on the spot, and is now deposited
in the British Museum. They were found, together with remains
of Sivatherium, Camel, Antelope, Crocodile, and other animals, in the
‘Sewalik range to the west of the river Jumna.
The bones are found imbedded either in clay or in sandstone.
| When clay is the matrix, they remain white ; and, except in being
deprived more or. less completely of their animal matter, they have
) undergone little alteration. The bones in this state the authors
‘have elsewhere designated as the “soft fossil.”” When sandstone
jis the matrix, the animal matter has completely disappeared, and the
bone is thoroughly mineralized and rendered nearly crystalline by
the infiltration of siliceous or ferruginous matter, and acquires a
corresponding hardness, or tinge of iron, with increased specific
gravity. The matrix in contact with the bone is rendered compact
‘and crystalline in texture. The remains in this state have been
|designated by the authors as the “ hard fossil.”

The remains of Anoplotherium and of the larger species of Giraffe,
described in the present communication, belong to the ‘ soft fossil ;”’
those of the smaller species of giraffe to the ‘‘ hard fossil.”
| VOL, IV. PART II. a

236 [Nov. 15,

Anoplotherium.—The occurrence, in the Sewalik deposits, of bones
belonging to this genus, was announced by the authors in their ‘ Syn-
opsis of the fossil genera from the upper deposits of the Sewalik
hills,’ published in the 4th volume of the Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal, in the year 1835; and the same fact was after-
wards referred to in the 6th volume, p. 358, of that journal. In
these communications the species was not described, but was named
provisionally, 4. posterogenium. In a communication made to the
Geological Society in the year 1836, descriptive of a quadrumanous
fossil remain, and published in the 5th volume of the 2nd series of
their Transactions, the same species was mentioned under the name
of A. Sivalense, aterm which the authors propose to retain; in ac-
cordance with the principle they adopted in the cases of the horse,
camel, hippopotamus, &c., of connecting the most remarkable new
species of each fossil Sewalik genus with the formation itself.

{n their present communication the authors purposely abstain from
entering on the anatomical characters of this new species further in
detail than is barely sufficient for its determination ; and they there-
fore confine their notice to two fine fragments of one head, one
fragment (Pl. II. fig. 1.) belonging to the left upper jaw; the other
fragment (Pl. II. fig. 2.) to the right upper jaw.

By a happy chance the teeth are beautifully preserved. The age
of the individual, which was just adult, was the best that could be
desired to show the marks characteristic of the genus ; for the teeth
had attained their full development, though the two rear molars had
hardly come into use.

Pl. Il. fig. 1. p is a horizontal view of the left upper jaw, comprising
the six back molars. These teeth were subjected to a rigid compa-
rison with a cast from the jaw of Anoplotherium commune, figured by
Cuvier in the 3rd volume of the ‘ Ossemens Fossiles,’ (pl. 46. fig. 2),
and also with casts from the corresponding molars of Chalicotherium
Goldfussi, figured by Kaup in the 2nd livraison of his ‘ Ossemens
Fossiles,’ (pl. 6. fig. 3-5 and 8-10), between the teeth of which two
extinct quadrupeds those of the Sewalik fossil are intermediate in
size. In general form and in the principal distinctive marks they
agree closely with the teeth of the typical European species of Ano-
plotherium, as described by Cuvier; but they differ from those types
in some particulars requiring special notice: they are closely allied
to the teeth of the Chalicotherium of Kaup.

The three rear molars considerably exceed, in all their dimensions,
the corresponding teeth of A. commune; and the two rear molars
also differ from the corresponding teeth of A. commune in the fol-
lowing respect, that their width is greater than their length. This
proportional compression lengthwise belongs to the last two pre-
molars of the Sewalik fossil, and it holds algo with the back
molars of the Chalicotherium. The outer surface presents, both
vertically and horizontally, the usual double chevron, or W-form of
Anoplotherium, with the three salient vertical bulges swelling up
from the base to the crown; but with this difference from Anoplo-
therium, that the surface of the re-entering angles is more inclined

1843.] 237

inwards. The latter point is one of agreement with Chalicotherium,
in which the outer ridge of the crown is so inflected as to be brought
into the middle of the plane of the tooth. The interspaces forming
these re-entering angles are more unequal than in A. commune, the
anterior one being much the broader. ‘The posterior one in the last
molar is placed very obliquely, sloping backwards and inwards. In
these respects also the fossil agrees closely with Chalicotherium.
The vertical bulges, more especially the rear one of the last molar,
are slightly notched near the apex into a lobule of the enamel, but
much less so than in Chalicotherium. In consequence of the pro-
gress of wear being more advanced in the two other back molars,
they show no indications of this notch.

From the great inflexion of the outer surface, the longitudinal
ridge of the crown is strongly zigzaged. The apex of the anterior
re-entering angle gives off a transverse ridge, which is much inclined
downwards, and joins on with the base of the isolated conical cusp
(a, a’, a’') in the anterior and inner corner of the tooth, a cusp cha-
racteristic of Anoplothertum. In the Sewalik species, as in Chali-
cotherium, this cusp is much larger, more pointed, surrounded by
deeper hollows, and more in relief than it isin A. commune. It is
even more developed than in Chalicotherium. The apex of the
posterior re-entering angle gives off a like transverse ridge which
sweeps round into the posterior side, and forms in the germ a sort of
three-sided pyramid, connected by a low ridge with the cusp. ‘The
anterior border of the crown is formed of a similar low ridge, sweep-
ing round to the inner side of the cusp, upon which it terminates
near the middle of the cusp. ‘This ridge is less developed than in
A. commune.

_ The penultimate and antepenultimate are so like the last molar,
that the authors deem it sufficient to refer to the figures. The pe-
nultimate is the largest of the three, and the antepenultimate consi-
derably the smallest. There is in all the three molars a strong
development of the cusp ; though, from the different stages of wearing,
it shows differently in the several teeth. In the back tooth it is
intact and has a sharp edge; in the penultimate the point is just
worn off into a slight oblique facet; in the antepenultimate it is
ground low down into acircular depressed disc, surrounded by a ring
of enamel.

The other teeth in the specimen (PI. II. fig. 1.) are the last three
false molars. What was the entire number of this series, whether
it extended to four, as in A. commune, or was limited to three, the
specimen affords no certain indication. If there was a fourth tooth
(which is most probable), it must have been in a rudimentary or
reduced state, as in the rhinoceros, and must have been disconnected
from the rest of the series by being placed somewhat forwards in a
diasteme ; for no indication is obtained, from the appearance of the
anterior tooth, or from remains of any alveolus, that there was an-
other tooth close in front of the sixth. These three premolars, taken
in succession from rear to front, diminish rapidly in size ; and in the
aggregate are much shorter than the same three teeth in 4. commune,

T2

238 {Nov. 15,

the joint length in the Sewalik fossil being 1:8 inch, whereas in
the smaller jaw of 4. commune it is 2°3 inches. In the latter, as is
the case in the ruminants, the anterior premolars are narrow and
elongated ; in the Sewalik fossil they are short and wide. This
general condensation of the premolars adds to the probability of the
existence of a vacant diasteme. All the premolars exhibit, in a well-
developed form, the characteristic cusp. The posterior two have
their outer surface flat or slightly convex ; and they contract inwards
towards the cusp in a subcuneiform shape, the cusp and inner side
being bounded by a low basal ridge.

The antepenultimate premolar of the Sewalik fossil is somewhat
different from the two others, being much smaller, and contracting
upwards into a trenchant edge. The cusp is connected by a trans-
verse ridge with the main ridge of the crown, and the basal ridge
is reduced to a small mammilla in front of the cusp.

Pl. Il. fig. 2. represents the outside of the right upper jaw.
comprising the four back molars, and is an exact counterpart, so
far as it goes, of the left upper jaw.

There is little else shown by this specimen than what regards the
teeth. The muzzle appears to have fined off rather abruptly in front
of the malar protuberances, and the orbit to have been advanced
more forward on the face, and to have been more depressed below
the brow than in A. commune*. ‘The upper orifice of the suborbi-
tary canal is seen opening behind the anterior angle of the orbit,
the floor of which appears to have extended behind the post-orbitary
processes.

The dimensions, as compared with those of A. commune, and Cha-
licotherium Goldfussi, are as follow :—

A. Sivalense. | A. commune. |Ch. Goldfussi.

Inches. Inches. Inches.
Length of the series of 6 molars ...........5 5°5 5° 5
Ditto 3 true molars ...... |
Ditto 3 premolars.......0-
Length of the last true molar .........000.+.
VAG Ws? GUANO AcoonocanqdoHesbeonodHDBeano0eacd||
Length of the penultimate true molar......
Width Of ditto’ .............sccecccessrssncerees
Length of the aera true molar.
WGI, OF GIR) aconcodoosoooasq9acdsunbadKsNK006
Length of the last premolar. 3190000000000000000
\Wiielalin, OF GIRO) coocboobneponcsooDOoO000 40000000
Length of the penultimate premolar ......
Width Of ditto .......c:.cscccscncssesceeserears
Length of the antepenultimate premolar. .
Width Of ditto ....0..... ccc... ss ecneeenenese 505
Height of the last molar ........2...seseevees

enmmr9on d
© 00
rs

Or

Oonona cn
SSSSSSSH HHH HEMET

MOS OS SS terete
ot Ot CO SCO SS SB eh 0 OD

AAAS OWS
NTommonn

0:87

These measurements show the Sewalik species to have been larger
than A. commune, and smaller than Ch. Goldfussit. One of the most

* See Ossemens Fossiles, tom. 3. tab. 57. fig. 1.

1843.] 239

striking points in which it differs from the two latter terms of com-
parison, is in the dimensions of its back molar, which, with the
same amount of wear, is about half an inch higher than in A. com-
mune, and in this respect considerably exceeds even the longer and
wider tooth of the Chalicotherium.
Length. Width. Height.

A. Sivalense ....++... 1:3 1°5 al

Al, COMMUNE ...00-00+ 1-2 1:2 0°65

Ch. Goldfussi ...... 1:8 1°94 0°87

On the whole, the Sewalik species appears to be most closely allied
to the Chalicotherium Goldfussi. The existence of a vacant diasteme
in front of the anterior tooth would constitute a difference from the
Anoplotherian type of some importance. The characters generally
show a return from the ruminant tendencies of the Cuvierian species
back to a more pachydermatous type, and a closer affinity with the
rhinoceros, between which and A. commune it may ultimately prove
to be an intermediate form. Until the evidence for separation is
conclusive, the authors suggest leaving it with the genus Anoplo-
therium. ‘The A. commune was determined by Cuvier to be of the
size of a small ass; the A. Stvalense would rank in dimensions be-
tween a horse and the small Sumatran Rhinoceros.

Remarks on Chalicotherium.—Kaup appears to have founded this
genus, as distinct from Anoplotherium, on real or supposed differ-
ences, lst, in the rear molars ; 2nd, in the incisors ; 3rd, in the canine.
The difference in the rear molars consists in the size of the lobule of
the enamel into which the vertical bulges, near the apex, are notched ;
this character indicates, as he conceives, an affinity with the Tapir
and Lophiodon. But this lobule, even if constant, does not appear
to the authors of sufficient importance to constitute the basis of a
generic distinction. ‘The general form of the rear molars of both
the upper and lower jaws is only an enlarged and less rectangular
representation of those of Anoplotherium. Moreover, in the direc-
tion of the ridges of the crown, and in the insulation of the conical
cusp, the accordance between Chalicotherium and Anoplotherium is
complete. As to the second distinction, drawn from the supposed
form of the incisors, the detached tooth which he figures and de-
scribes as a lower incisor (Oss. Foss. livraison ii. p. 30. pl. 7.),
judging from the figures and from a cast which the authors have
examined, very closely resembles, both in form and in the develop-
ment of the crown, the penultimate premolar of the 4. Sivalense.
The channeled sides and the bifid extremity of the fang, indicating
two confluent fang roots, and the complicated form of the crown
with three mammillz on the inside, appear to the authors strongly to
militate against regarding the tooth as an incisor. They therefore
consider this tooth as an upper premolar (and probably as the penul-
timate one) of the right side.

As to the third distinction, drawn from the canine teeth, judging
from a cast of the detached fragment which Kaup describes and
figures as the canine of Ch. Goldfussi, the authors consider that
determination as problematical. It seems to them to bear a resem-

240 [Nov. 15,

blance in form rather to the lower incisor of an animal allied to
Rhinoceros. ‘They advance these doubts with the utmost deference
to the distinguished author.

Remarks on the Genus Anoplotherium.—The true Anoplotheria of
Cuvier (of which A. commune may be regarded as the type), together
with the A. Sivalense and the Chalicotherium (Anoplotherium ?)
Goldfussi, are allied, by their dentition, to Rhinoceros. The Dicho-
bunes, A. Leporinum, A. murinum and A. obliquum, Cuvier arranges
with considerable doubt, and provisionally only, among the Anoplo-
theria. He considers it not impossible that the two latter species were
small ruminants. The A. cervinum of Professor Owen (Geol, Trans.
2nd ser. vol. vi. p. 45), obtained by Mr. Pratt from Binstead in the
Isle of Wight (Idem. vol. ili. p. 451), is admitted on all hands to be
exceedingly like a musk deer. Such heterogeneous materials are too
much for the limits of any one genus. Cuvier imagined the separa-
tion of the two metacarpal bones to be a character limited to the
Anoplotheria exclusively. He has also regarded the union of the
metacarpal bones as holding without exception in all the ruminants ;
and this law with respect to ruminants, though empirical, he regards
as equally certain with any conclusion in physics or morals, and as
a surer mark than all those of Zadig (Disc. Prel. p. 49).

The authors, having had an opportunity of examining the skeleton
of an African ruminant, the Moschus aquaticus of Ogilby, described
in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society by that gentleman from
a living specimen, found it wanting in the above supposed essential
character of the ruminants, and possessing the above supposed di-
stinctive character of Anoplotherian Pachyderms. Its metacarpals are
distinct along their whole length; its fore leg, from the carpus
downwards, is undistinguishable from that of the peccary; and its
succentorial toes are as much developed as in the last-mentioned
animal.

The deviation from the ordinary ruminant type, indicated by the
foot of this Moschus, is borne out by a series of modifications in the
construction of the head and in the bones of the extremities and
trunk, all tending in the direction of the pachyderms.

The authors believe the present to be the first announcement of
the existence of such an anomaly in any living ruminant: they had
previously ascertained the occurrence of the same structure in a
fossil ruminant from the Sewalik hills. As the Dorcatherium of
Kaup breaks down the empirical distinction between the ruminants
and pachyderms, as regards the number of the teeth, so does the
Moschus aquaticus as regards the structure of the feet.

Giraffe.-—In the 7th volume of the Journal of the Asiatic Society
of Bengal (pp. 658-660) is acommunication dated ‘‘ Northern Doab,
July 15, 1838,” and intituled, ‘‘ Note on a Fossil Ruminant Genus
allied to Giraffide, in the Sewalik hills, by Capt. P. T. Cautley.”
The specimen referred to in that paper was the third cervical yertebra
of aruminant, which, for the reasons therein assigned, was supposed
to have been a giraffe. At that time the authors of the present
communication had not access either to drawings of the osteology

1843.] 241

or to a skeleton of the existing giraffe: but the grounds for referring
the vertebra to that genus were, that it belonged to aruminant with
a columnar neck, the type of the ruminants being preserved, though
very attenuated in its proportions: that the animal was very distinct
from any of the camel tribe: that it was in the giraffe that there
existed such a form most aberrant from the mean in respect of its
great elongation. That the bone belonged to a giraffe was put forth
at the time as only a probable inference, and chiefly to serve as an
index to future inquiries.

The authors, having since the former period obtained additional
specimens, and had access to the fullest means of comparison, are
now able to place on the record of determined Sewalik fossils, one
very marked species of giraffe, and also indications of a second species,
which, so far as the scanty materials go, appears to come near to that
of Africa.

‘The first specimen to which they refer is the identical vertebra
noticed by Capt. Cautley in 1838. (See Pl. II. fig. 1-5.) It is an
almost perfect cervical vertebra. It were needless to enter on the
characters which prove it to have belonged to a ruminant. Its
elongated form shows that it belonged to one with a columnar neck ;
that is to say, either to one of the camel and Auchenia tribe, or to
a giraffe, or to some distinct and unknown type. The fossil differs
from the vertebra of a camel, Ist, in the position of the vertebrary
foramina (a, a’); 2nd, in the obsolete form of the upper transverse
processes. According to the masterly analysis of the Macrauchenia
by Professor Owen, the Camelide and Macrauchenia differ from all
other known mammalia in the following peculiarity ; that the trans-
verse processes of the six inferior cervical vertebra are without per-
forations for the vertebrary arteries, which enter the vertebrary canal
along with the spinal chord, then penetrate the superior vertebrary
lamine, and emerge on the canal again close under the anterior
oblique processes. This structure appears on the cervical vertebre
of the Sewalik fossil camel. In the vertebra now under considera-
tion, on the contrary, the foramina (qa, a’) maintain their ordinary
position, that is, they perforate the transverse processes, and appear
on the surface of the body of the vertebra.

Since the bone therefore does not belong to a camel, is it the bone
of a giraffe ? There is preserved in the museum of the Zoological
Society the skeleton of a young Nubian giraffe which died at the
Society’s gardens. When its third cervical vertebra is placed in ap-
position with the fossil, the two are found to agree in every general
character, though they disagree in some of their proportions, and in
certain minor peculiarities. In this young and immature giraffe the
length of the third cervical vertebra is 74 inches ; what, then, is the
length of this bone in the adult Nubian giraffe? The authors, from
their not having had under their examination this vertebra of an
adult animal, have been unable to ascertain this point directly; but
they are able to infer it, from the length of a detached bone preserved
in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of London, which
is the second cervical vertebra of a giraffe, nearly, but not quite full-

242 [Nov. 15:

grown*. ‘The length of this bone is 11} inches. Now in the ske-
leton of the young giraffe belonging to the Zoological Society the
2nd and 3rd cervical vertebre are exactly of the same length. The
authors infer, therefore, that in an animal nearly full-grown, such as
was that to which the detached bone at the College of Surgeons
belonged, the length of the 3rd cervical vertebra is 114 inches ; and
consequently, that the length of the same bone in an animal which
has reached full maturity, is about 12 inchest.

That the fossil vertebra belonged to an adult which had long
attained its full size, is shown by the complete synostosis of the
upper and lower articulating surfaces, by the strong relief of the
ridges and the depth of the muscular depressions. But the length
of this bone is only a little more than eight inches. As the other
dimensions of the fossil and recent vertebrz that the authors placed
in apposition, are nearly in proportion to their respective lengths, it
follows that this fossil species of giraffe was one-third shorter in the
neck than an adult of the existing Nubian variety.

But it was not only in size that the two giraffes differed ; they
differed also in their proportions. In the young giraffe at the Zoo-
logical Society the vertebra, which is 73 inches long, has a vertical
diameter of 3°8 inches; whereas in the fossil species the vertebra,
which is 8 inches long, instead of having a vertical diameter exceed-
ing 4 inches (as it ought, if its breadth were proportional to its
length), has a vertical diameter of only 3°6 inches. This goes to
prove that in this fossil giraffe the neck was one-tenth more slender
in proportion to its length than the neck is in the existing species.

The inferior surface of the body of the vertebra is more curved
longitudinally in the fossil than it is in the recent bone; the height
of the arc in the former case being to the height in the latter as 3 is
to 2.

On the under surface of the fossil vertebra a very distinct longi-
tudinal ridge (6) runs down the middle, and this ridge is wanting
in the recent bone; but this difference, probably, is chiefly owing
to difference of age.

In the fossil vertebra the upper articulating head (c) is very con-
vex; for with a transverse diameter of 1°4 inch it has a vertical
height of 1 inch: laterally itis a good deal compressed. (See Pl. III.
fig. 4.

oe posterior articulating surface (d) forms a perfectly circular
cup, two inches in diameter; and this diameter, in the immature
Nubian giraffe, is one-tenth greater, although the vertebra is one-
sixteenth shorter. ‘This affords a further proof of the comparative
‘slenderness of neck in this fossil species.

In regard to the apophyses, the inferior transverse processes (i, 7)
are sent off downwards and outwards from the lower part of the

* This appears from the detached state of the upper and lower articulating
heads of the bone.

+ The height of the skeleton of the young giraffe in the museum of the
Zoological Society is 1035 feet; that of a full-grown Nubian giraffe is 16 feet.

1843.] 243

anterior end, exactly as in the recent species, and they are deve-
loped to nearly the same amount of projection. There is, however,
this considerable difference, that whereas in the recent species they
do not run half-way down the body of the vertebra, in the fossil they
are decurrent along the whole of its length in well-marked laminar
ridges, which are confluent with the nearly obsolete ridges of the
upper transverse processes, the united mass near the posterior end
being dilated into two thick aleform expansions (e, e).

In the fossil, as in the recent bone, the superior transverse pro-
cesses are seen only in a rudimentary state; in the former, however,
they run forwards across the body with less obliquity, and conse-
quently make the canals for the vertebrary arteries twice as long as
they are in the recent bone. In the fossil the orifices (a, a') of these
canals divide the length of the vertebra into three nearly equal por-
tions; whereas in the recent bone the orifices are both included
within its anterior half.

The anterior oblique processes (f, f) have the same general form
and direction both in the fossil and recent species; but in the former
they are considerably stouter and larger, and their interspace is less.
The articular surfaces are convex, and are defined exactly as in the
recent species.

The posterior oblique processes (g, g) of the fossil differ in form
very little from those of the recent bone; in the fossil, however, the
articular surfaces are considerably larger; and the ridges in which
they are continued along the side of the upper vertebrary arch, are
much less convergent than in the recent bone ; so that in the latter
this part is somewhat heart-shaped; whereas in the fossil it is nearly
oblong, and “looks squarer,” so to speak.

The spinous process (4) in the fossil is the same thin triangular
lamina that is seen in the recent species; and it differs only in
having its most prominent point lower down on the arch.

The spinal canal is very much of the same form and dimensions
in both the fossil and the recent vertebra. At this point some of
the matrix remains attached to the fossil bone, and prevents any very
precise measurement.

As a minor point of agreement between the fossil and recent

bones, it may be noted that, in both, the foramen (4) for the
small nutritious artery on the inferior side of the body of the ver-
tebra is on the right. In the other cervical vertebre of the recent
skeleton, this solitary foramen is on the left.
_ From the above comparisons it appears that the fossil vertebra,
while it is very distinct from that of a camel, fulfils all the conditions
required for a strict identification with that of a giraffe; that its
peculiarities are not of greater than specific importance ; and con-
sequently do not warrant its being referred to a distinct and un-
known type among the ruminants.

The following are the dimensions, in detail, of the third vertebra
in the adult Sewalik fossil and in the immature Nubian Giraffe,
104 feet high, in the museum of the Zoological Society :—

244 [Nov. 15,

Sewalik Nubian
Fossil. Recent.

Inches. Inches.

Length between the ends of the oblique processes ,...++++e.ssseeere wn St 75
Length of the body of the vertebra between the articulating heads 7:8
Greatest width at the posterior end of the body, between thetrans- 3+] 28
GED ROGERS), pootidonasnodbooe npoSsadonosnodsHODSdoqHoHaBaGANBOACHOKOOOS | *
Least width at the middle of the body, between the Bue 1°65 16
transverse processes ..... qn dnanAgSBaNHSONAnhOG aAADORNNS AAPA AoA
Width between the outer margins of the upper oblique Pencesies-, + 2:65 2°55
Width of sinus between the upper oblique processes .,.....++,.++. i 12
Width between outer edges of posterior oblique processes Bonedbopdcas 2°3
Least width of spinal arch between the ridges connecting the upper i. 1:25 1-0
and lower oblique processes .......sseeeeeeseens crinoanoanosqosooNsadt aie
Vertical diameter, posterior end of vertebra......... nonARoorANpoDHARAEEC 3'6 3'8
Vertical diameter, anterior end, between the inferior border arti- 26 a7
culating head and upper margin spinal canal ...... pAnAgodasHOsS no
-Antero-posterior diameter articulating head ...........sssecerseeeees day 8) 1°55
Transverse diameter articulating head at the middle .................. 1:4 15
Greatest diameter articulating head...........ssssseesseeres Anpeorsconanen Ly! 1:8
Vertical height articulating head ...,... SendeinanoARanABnenan SannAnnAGAn . 10
Length of articulating surface, lower oblique process......... nagaacane 16 1:2
Width of ditto .......c...cccseeen eee poohoounaDOADACADNEOoAOAbOAOOROAOOoS nnnna) LU) 0°8
Length of articulating surface, upper oblique process.................. 1:2 0°85
Width GE iGtars fix Sh Gomesa nae te cuins so gba ca eee nee aha Cee eee ees 07
Vertical diameter, spinal marrow, posteri TOTP BAC looa5ssnocs090b90000009° » 1:28
Vertical diameter, articulating cup, posterior end ..... Pasweagaehuieasne 2:0 2-2
Transverse diameter...... CittO.........006 Gli GooooneqroooRaneaR Aan se 230 2:3
Diameter wpper transverse PYOCESSCS .........seseeveeececenseceenseass 0°8 0°7

Hence the authors conclude that there belonged to the Sewalik

fauna a true well-marked species of giraffe closely resembling the
existing species in form, but one-third less in height, and with a
neck proportionately more slender; and for this small species they
propose the name Camelopardalis Sivalensis.
' Second Fossil Species of Giraffe-—The fossil specimens next to be
described have been in the possession of the authors ever since
1836, ‘They are fragments from the upper and lower jaws of an-
other fossil species of giraffe, in which the teeth are so exactly of
the same size and form with those of the existing species, and so
perfectly resemble them in every respect, that it requires the ealipers
to establish any difference between them.

The largest specimen (PI. II. fig. 3.4. 36.) is a fragment of a left
upper jaw containing the two rear molars. The back part of the
maxillary, beyond the teeth, is attached, and clearly proves that
they belonged to a full-grown animal. ‘These teeth were compared
with the teeth, in the same stage of wearing, contained in the head
of an adult female giraffe belonging to the museum of the College
of Surgeons, and the fossil and recent teeth were found to agree
together in the most minute particulars. The following are the
corresponding dimensions of the fossil and recent teeth :—

Fossil. Recent.
Inches. Inches.

Joint length of the two back molars, upper jaw..........se.0 ooahoo das 2°5 2°55
Greatest width of last molar.......... qAnAONONAA0 sqngopagadonnoocneananaar 1:4 13
Ditto ditto of penultimate molar ....+5.,.+++ee05 Ar ngosonIo3900 . 145 1:35

The second specimen (PI. II. fig. 4.) is the rear molar of the right

1843.] 245

upper jaw, corresponding exactly in size and form with that of the
left side, but if anything, rather more worn, and belonging therefore,
probably, to a different individual. ‘The agreement extends down
to the small cone of enamel at the base of the hollow between the
barrels on the inside. Its dimensions are :—

The third specimen (PI. II. fig. 54.56.) is a fragment of the left
lower jaw, containing the last molar. It has precisely the form and
proportions of the corresponding tooth in the left lower jaw of the
female head referred to, and the same development of its third
barrel or heel, which is always found in this tooth in ruminants.
Its dimensions are :—

Wienotl sragreesescassbsgeqecs@ 1‘7 inch.
Greatest Width........+++++0. 10

The fourth specimen (Pl. II. fig. 6.) is the last false molar of the
left lower jaw, detached. It agrees closely with the corresponding
tooth in the recent female head above referred to, This tooth is
thicker in proportion to its length in the giraffe than in other rumi-
nants, and this constitutes one of the most distinctive characters of
the giraffe’s premolars. ‘he anterior semibarrel appears a trifle
longer than the corresponding tooth of the recent animal; but this
is owing to a difference of wear, and is not borne out by measure-
ment. ‘The dimensions are :—

Leenetie hated 1Oinch. 1-0 inch.

The authors are possessed of the same tooth of the right lower jaw,
detached; but have not thought it necessary to figure it.

The fifth specimen (PI. II. fig. 7.) is the penultimate false molar
of the right upper jaw. It is of the same size and form with the cor-
responding tooth in the recent female head, with this difference, that
it has three tubercles at the inside of the base. On a sixth specimen
of the first false molar of the right upper jaw, which is not repre-
sented among the figures, there are three similar tubercles similarly
placed. It would require an extensive comparison of recent heads
to determine what value attaches to this peculiarity; whether the
tubercles are constantly absent from the teeth of the recent species,
or appear occasionally as a variation on those of individuals. The
dimensions of the penultimate false molar of the upper jaw are :—

Fossil. Recent.
Ten gt es5-.+c¢eeree 10 inch. 0°95 inch.
BTCA IN «conetesene 112 1-12

There is a peculiar, finely reticular, striated and rugose surface to
the enamel of the teeth of certain quadrupeds, the appearance of
which the authors compare to that of a fine net, forcibly extended,
so as to bring the sides of the meshes together. This texture they
formerly described as existing on the surface of the molars of the
Sivatherium. It is found also on the teeth of the recent giraffe,

246 [Noy. 15,

and is more or less conspicuous on those of the hippopotamus. It
is not observed in the camel, the moose deer, or the larger bovine
ruminants ; or if ever present, it is but faintly developed. This tex-
ture is well marked on the enamel of the teeth of this second species
of giraffe. A magnified representation of it is given in Pl. IL. fig. 3 c.

The series of teeth last described, excepting the fifth and sixth spe-
cimens, are all but undistinguishable from those of the Nubian giraffe;
and the authors have sought in vain for any distinctive character by
which to discriminate them. There is no good evidence to show
that this fossil species and the living are even different; but in
putting the case thus, the authors are far from advancing that the
species are identical. The materials are far too scanty to warrant a
conjecture to that extent.

Since the neck of the C. Sivalensis was one-third too short and
slender to sustain the head that would have suited the teeth last
described, the authors consider it a necessary consequence that these
teeth belonged to a distinct species. Had the difference been less
considerable, they might have hesitated regarding this conclusion ;
but the difference between 8 inches and 12 inches in the length of
the same cervical vertebra of two adult animals of the same genus,
admits, in their opinion, of no other construction than distinctness
of species. For the present, until sufficient materials shall be ob-
tained to determine the relationship between the African giraffe and
the second Sewalik species, in reference to their supposed resem-
blance, the authors propose to mark the latter by the provisional
name of Camelopardalis affinis.

General Remarks.—In a former communication to the Society,
(Geol. Trans. 2nd ser. vol. v. p. 503) the authors noticed the re-
markable mixture of extinct and recent forms which constituted the
ancient fauna of Northern India. An extinct testudinate form,
Colossochelys Atlas, as enormous in reference to other known Chelo-
nians as the Saurians of the lias and the oolite are to their existing
analogues, is there associated with one or more of the same species
of crocodile that now inhabit the rivers of India. The evidence
respecting one of these species of crocodile, resting as it does on nu-
merous remains of individuals of all ages, is considered by the
authors as nearly conclusive of the identity of the fossil with its
recent analogue. ‘These reptiles occur together with extinct species
of such very modern types as the monkey, the camel, the antelope,
and (as has now been shown) the giraffe: and these are met by
species of the extinct genera Sivatherium and Anoplotherium. As
regards the geographical distribution of the true Anoplotheria, those
hitherto discovered have been confined, as the authors believe, to
Europe; and as regards their geological distribution, to the older
and middle tertiaries. In India this genus continued down to the
period when existing Indian crocodiles and probably some other
recent forms had become inhabitants of that region.

It might be expected that in a deposit containing Anoplotherium,
Paleotherian remains also would sooner or later be discovered.
However, among the very large collection of fossil bones from the

1843.] 247

tertiary sub-Himalayan range, made by the authors during ten years
in that part of India, they have never found a single fragment of a
head or tooth which they were able to refer to Paleotherium. This
is merely a negative result, and only proves the rarity of that form*.

Although there occur among the Sewalik fossils abundant re-
mains of almost every large pachydermatous genus, such as the
elephant, mastodon, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, sus, horse, &c., yet
no remain has been found referrible to the Tapir, a fact the more
remarkable, inasmuch as one of the only two existing species of that
genus is now confined to the larger Indian islands and a part of the
adjoining continent.

The finding of the giraffe as a fossil, furnishes another link to the
rapidly increasing chain which (as the discoveries of year after year
evince) will sooner or later connect extinct with existing forms in a
continuous series. The bovine, antelope, and antlered ruminants
have numerous representatives, both recent and fossil. The camel
tribe comprises a considerable fossil group, represented in India by
the Camelus Sivalensis, and is closely approached to in America by
extinct Pachydermatous Macrauchenia. The giraffe has hitherto
been confined, like the human race, to a single species, and has
occupied an isolated position in the order to which it belongs. It is
now as closely represented by its fossil analogues as the camel;
and it may be expected that, when the ossiferous beds of Asia and
Africa are better known, other intermediate forms will be found,
filling up the wide interval which now separates the giraffe from the
antlered ruminants, its nearest allies in the order according to
Cuvier and Owent.

The giraffe throws a new light on the original physical characters
of Northern India; for whatever may be urged in regard to the
possible range of its vegetable food, it is very clear that, like the
existing species, it must have inhabited an open country, and had
broad plains to roam over. In a densely forest-clad tract, like that

* Mr. M‘Clelland in his paper on Hexaprotodon (Journ. Asiatic Society
of Bengal, vol. vii. p. 1046) casually mentions a species of Palzotherium
as occurring among the Sewalik fossils. But he does not describe or figure
the specimen. Messrs. Baker and Durand in their remarks appended to
their catalogue of the Dadoopor collection (Idem, vol. y. p. 836), mention
four specimens containing teeth of the upper and lower jaws belonging to
what they provisionally designate “‘ Cuvierian genera:” in regard to one of
which, having the upper and lower jaws in contact, they state that, “although
it affords some analogies both to the Paleotherium and Anoplotherium,
its essential peculiarities are sufficiently remarkable to cause it to be
separated from either genus.” Till these specimens are either figured or
described, the point must remain undecided in regard to Paleotherium
being represented in the Sewalik fauna.

+ M. G. de St. Hilaire, in his zeal for the mutability of species, ima-
gined that he had detected in the Sivatherium the primeval type which
time and necessity had fined down into the giraffe. Anatomical proofs
were all against this inference ; but if a shadow of doubt remained, it must
yield to the fact, that in the Sewalik fauna the Giraffe and the Sivatherium
were contemporaries.

248 [Nov. 15,

which now skirts the foot of the Himalayahs, it would soon have
been exterminated by the large feline fers, by the hyenas, and
large predaceous bears which are known to have been members of
the old Sewalik fauna.

Postscript.—Since the above remarks were submitted to the Society,
M. Duvernoy’s paper, embodying two communications read to the
Academy of Sciences on the 19th May and 27th November last, has
appeared in the January Number of the ‘ Annales des Sciences Na-
turelles.’ These notices were published in the ‘ Comptes Rendus,’ but
were unknown to the authors at the time. M. Duvernoy describes
the lower jaw of a fossil giraffe found in the bottom of a well, lying
on the surface of a yellow clay, along with fragments of pottery and
domestic utensils, in the court of an ancient donjon of the 14th cen-
tury in the town of Isoodun, Département de ’Indre. Considerable
doubt remains as to the bed and source whence the fossil was de-
rived. M. Duvernoy attributes the jaw to a distinct species of
giraffe, which he names Camelopardalis Biturigum. Professor Owen,
from the examination of a cast, confirms the result, expressing his
conviction ‘‘ that in the more essential characters the Isoodun fossil
closely approaches the genus Giraffe, but differs strikingly from the
(single) existing species of the south and east of Africa, and that the
deviations tend towards the subgenus Elk.”

M. Duvernoy also mentions the discovery of a tooth in the mo-
lasse near Neufchatel, by M. Nicolet, determined by M. Agassiz to
be the outer incisor of a fossil giraffe.—(Duvernoy, Annales des Sciences
Naturelles, No. for January 1844.)

References to the Figures in the Plates.

Plate Il. Fig. 1. Anoplotherium Sivalense ; left upper jaw with the

teeth seen from above; (a a! a'') the conical cusp.

2. Ditto; upper jaw, right side, with the four back
molars and part of the orbit.

3a. Camelopardalis affinis ; the last two upper molars ;
left side seen vertically.

3 6. Ditto, ditto; horizontal view of the crown.

3c. Rugous reticulated surface of the enamel, magni-
fied to twice the natural size.

4. Last upper molar of ditto, right side.

5 a. and 6. Last molar of ditto ; lower jaw, left side.

6. Last false molar of ditto; lower jaw, left side.

7. Second false molar; upper jaw, right side.

Plate III. Figs. 1-5. Camelopardalis Sivalensis ; third cervical ver-
tebra.
aa'. Orifices of the arterial canals.
b. Longitudinal ridge, underside of the body.
ec. Upper articulating head.
d. Lower articulating surface.
ee. Aleeform expansions of the transverse processes.

1843.] - 249

ff. Superior oblique processes.
g g- Inferior ditto ditto.
h h. Spinous processes.
ii. Inferior transverse process.
k. Foramen of the nutritious artery.
N. B. The figures in both plates are drawn to the natural size,
excepting fig. 3 c. of Plate II.

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PROCEEDINGS
OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Vou. LV. Part II. 1843—1844, No. 99.

November 29, 1843.

Joseph Travis Clay, Esq., and Francis W. Jennings, Esq.;
were elected Fellows of this Society.

The following communication, a part of which had been read at
the previous meeting, was concluded : —

On the Over Patmozoic (Protozoic) Rocks or Norru WaAters.
By the Rev. A. Sepewicx, M.A., F.R.S., Woodwardian Pro-
fessor of Geology and Fellow of Trinity College in the Univer-
sity of Cambridge.

§ 1. Introduction.

In a paper read before the Geological Society in June, 1843,
and intituled, ‘‘ An Outline of the Geological Structure of North’
Wales,” * the author gave a description of those stratified rocks
in the northern counties of the principality which are of anterior
date to the mountain limestone. ‘Those rocks he separated into
the following three principal groups : —

1. Chlorite-slate and mica-slate. These form a band along the
north-western side of the promontory of Wommigxv onsite from Porth
Dilleyn to Bardsea island.

2. Greywacke and roofing slate, often containing calcareous
bands, and alternating with Plutonic rocks of cotemporaneous
formation : and these rocks the author terms, in his present paper,
the Protozoie, group. They extend in an east and west direction,
from the borders of Shropshire to the western coast of Carnarvon-
shire; and their north-western boundary, from the confines of
Shropshire to Yspytty Evan, coincides nearly with the Holyhead
road ; and from Yspytty Evan to Conway, with the Conway river.

3. An overlying and sometimes unconformable deposit of flag-

* Proceedings of the Geological Society, vol. iv. p. 212.

VOL. 1V. PART Ii. U

252 [ Nov. 29,

fone, &c., coterminous along the Holyhead road and Conway rivers
with the last-mentioned principal group; but bounded towards
the north-west by an overlying range of mountain limestone.

_ The present paper communicates the results of new researches
which, in the company and with the assistance of his friend, Mr.
J. W. Salter, the author made, during the summer of 1843, in the
eastern portion of his former field of observation: his remarks on
the present occasion being directed principally to the geological
position and organic remains of the fossiliferous slates which lie
to the east of the great Porphyry range of the Arenigs.

During these excursions, besides correcting the north-western
boundary line of the rocks belonging to the second principal group,
the author determined their southern boundary. That boundary
follows a very sinuous course from the mountain limestone of
Llanymynech hill, on the east, to the Dyfi near Mallwydd, on the
west ; whence it runs in a south-western direction, down the right
or northern bank of that river for several miles. The boundary
line of the protozoic rocks, both in the north and in the south, was
laid down by the author and his companion on the Ordnance Map,
from which they have been transferred to the small map annexed
to the present Abstract.

The author has also materially improved the details of the sec-
tions which he formerly exhibited to the Society, and has greatly
extended his lists of fossils. For the determining of these fossils,

_for the lists of them appended to this abstract, and for the general

observations* which an examination of these lists has given rise
to, he expresses himself indebted to Messrs. J. C. Sowerby and
J. W. Salter, of whom the latter examined most of the localities
where the fossils were obtained.

§ 2. On the Calcareous Slates and Limestone of Glyn Dyffws on
the Holyhead road, West of Corwen and of Rhiwlas, North
East of Bala.

In an endeavour to determine the position of the limestone of
Glyn Dyffws, a series of.calcareous and fossiliferous slates was
traced from Cader Dinmael, on the north, through Glyn Dyffws
and Pen-y-Cerrig, southward, to the hills on the left bank of the
Merddwr brook, near Llwyn Onn. Here the strike was inter-
rupted by enormous dislocations.

Caleareous slates, passing into limestone, again appear, to the
south and west, at Llwyn Jolyn, Craigian-buchan-isaf, Llwyn-y-ci,
and again, on the same line of strike, in the high grounds of the
Rhiwlas estate N.E. of Bala, and lastly, about a mile above Bala,
in the bed of the river Tryweryn. A part of this limestone band
has been noticed by Mr. Sharpe. t

* In this Abstract the observations of Messrs. Sowerby and Salter are an-
nexed to Professor Sedgwick’s description of the geological position of the
fossils; and, for distinction’s sake, are printed in smaller type.

+ Proceedings of the Geolegical Society, vol. iv. p. 10,

1843. ] | 253

The above calcareous rocks, which may be termed those of Glyn
Dyffws and Rhiwlas, might be supposed, from their proximity and
almost uniform strike, to belong to one deposit; but no proof of
such a connection is obtained by the evidence of sections, the in-
terval between the above two series of localities being much
disturbed and broken. Moreover, the fossils of the Rhiwlas beds,
considered as a whole, appear to differ from those of Glyn Dyftws,
which agree with those of the limestone band, known by the name
of the “ Bala limestone,” on the eastern side of the lake. It is
clear that the Rhiwlas limestone lies far below that of Bala; for
the strike of the former passes a mile to the west of the western
shore of the lake; and in that line of strike calcareous beds are
found, though not in the form of limestone, agreeing, in respect
of their organic remains, with the Rhiwlas series.

The fossils of Glyn Dyffws and Rhiwlas will be treated of in
describing the first line of section.

Fossiliferous bands, which occasionally pass into limestone, are
also found at several places a little to the north-west of the locali-
ties which afford the Rhiwlas limestone. Those places are, 1. the
valley above Pentre Cwmda; 2. a spot east of the mountain road
between Garw fynydd and Moel Emoel; and 3, Eglws Anne in
the forks of the Nant-y-Coegnant. Unless there be an inversion

-of the beds in all that district (and of such an inversion the
author could perceive no indications) these last-mentioned calca-
reous bands must lie considerably below the Rhiwlas limestone.*

§3. Transverse Sections across the Southern End of the Berwyn
Chain.t

Secrion 1.

Artnia Fawr to the Tanat River at Luancynoe.

fforizontal base 15 miles.

W. 30° N. E. 50° 8.
Arenig Moel-y- Kala Rhiwae- Aber Llangy=
Fawr. Garnedd. Lake. dog: Hirnant. Hogs
“a PR AN
i nt
i A BN

a 6b € ddd! e Sf h € oj bod #2

* At a still lower level, apparently, lie the non-fossiliferous bands of limes
stone, which occur at the following places : —

1. To the S.W. of Arenig Fawr, in the upper branches of the Lliw.

2. Near Hengwrt Uchaf, on the road from Dolgelly to Bala; the lmestone
forming three bands, which were at one time worked for lime.

3. On the east flank of Cader Idris.

4. Qn the road from Dolgelly to Dinas Mowddy.

These non-fossiliferous bands are all crystalline; and appear to have been
much altered by igneous rocks.

+ The lines of section, with their numbers attached, are laid down on the
Map, which accompanies this Abstract.

u 2

254 ' [Nov. 29,

1. Immediately to the west of Arenig Fawr slates occur (a),
dipping eastward. They contain Asaphus Buchii, and a few other
fossils.

2. Next occur the Porphyries of Arenig (6), which are regarded
by the author as old eruptive or recomposed trappean rocks, of
cotemporaneous date with the slates with which they are associ-
ated. They form, therefore, no determinate base for the protozoic
rocks of North Wales.

3. Upon the Porphyries rests a thick deposit of dark earthy
slates (c) dipping eastward, and extending in that direction about
a mile. Towards the upper limit of this bed numerous fossils
occur; viz. Asaphus Powisii, Trinucleus Caractaci, Leptena
sericea, Encrinital stems, &c.

4. Immediately over the preceding is a still thicker bed of grey
slate (d, d’, d’), which, including the very fossiliferous band, d’,
supposed to be the equivalent of the Rhiwlas limestone, extends to
the western shore of Bala lake. Measured in a direction transverse
to the strike, the horizontal distance to the lake exceeds two miles;
and as the dip, with one very limited exception, is steadily towards
the east, and at a very considerable angle, the thickness of this
bed must be great. The whole of the bed is fossiliferous. Near
Moel-y-Garnedd were found an Asterias, Orthis flabellulum, Kin-
crinital stems, &c. Further eastward are the very fossiliferous
slates, the supposed equivalent of the Rhiwlas limestone; and
close to the margin of the lake, still higher, fossil bands appear.

The total thickness of these fossiliferous beds west of Bala lake,
without including the masses of interbedded Porphyry, is estimated
by the author at not less than 2000 feet. .

[ The series of the Rhiwlas limestone, and of the fossiliferous beds west of
Bala lake, is characterised by an abundance of Orthoceratites, and by Asaphus
Buchii, Illenus Bowmanni (a new species), and other Trilobites. To these add
Asterias primeva. Notwithstanding the considerable number of species of Bra-

chiopoda contained in the list of fossils of the Protozoic rocks of North Wales
(vide List I.), the number of such remains in the Rhiwlas series is very small. |

4. The breadth of the lake is supposed to be occupied by a group
of hard quartzose slates (e); since further to the south such slates
are seen to rest on the beds associated with the Rhiwlas limestone.
Their thickness is not less than six or seven hundred feet.

5. ‘The first group on the east side of the lake consists of a se-
ries of hard grey slates (f), which contain some highly fossiliferous
bands. Some of these are much contorted on the line of strike
but their aggregate thickness is computed at not less than 500 feet.

6.. Next occurs the Bala limestone (g), a complex group about
100 feet thick, containing two bands of impure limestone, one only
of which, about 12 feet thick, is worked for lime. In one place it
contains a bed of schaalstein.

[The Bala limestone and the Glyn Dyffws beds are marked by multitudes of

_ Orthides, particularly O. Actonie and O. Vespertilio, besides Leptena tenuistriata,
and, in some places, an abundance of Asaphus tyrannus and A. Powisii. They
contain few species of coral, but specimens are very abundant, and these belong

1843. ] 255

principally to the genus Favosites. (The Chetetes petropolitana is also very
common.) The Ophiura Salter has been found both in the Bala limestone and
at Cader Dinmael. The series, moreover, furnishes two or three species of
Cypricardia, a genus not previously found in Lower Silurian rocks.}

7. Next comes a series of slates (A), of very varied colour and
texture, which alternate with bands of greywacke. As these beds
dip steadily towards the east at a very high angle, and are more
than a mile broad, their thickness must be very great.

8. The Hirnant limestone (7) follows, and has a remarkable
pisolitic structure ; but, as a limestone, it is very impure. ‘This
group is of considerable thickness. The beds are highly inclined,
and dip to the east, a few degrees south. The group was traced by
the author from Aber Hirnant southwards, in the direction of the
strike, to Bwleh-y-Groes*, and was laid down on the Ordnance Map.

[The Hirnant limestone is characterised by its containing only a few species
‘of Orthis ; in which respect it differs in a remarkable degree from the limestone
of Bala, Of those which it does contain, two or three (which are new species+,
and very flat) are found in great abundance. It abounds in a new plaited
Terebratula, and in Encrinital stems; but contains only a few corals].

9. With the same easterly dip, and at a high angle of elevation,
follows a very thick group of slate rocks (7). Some are dark and
earthy, others grey and siliceous, others glassy and chloritic.
They alternate with a few bands of cotemporaneous Porphyry.

[ Over the preceding, near the synclinal of the South Berwyns, fossils, resem-
bling those of the Bala limestone, appear here and there, but in no great
abundance ; and the peculiar species of the Hirnant limestone are lost. These
beds seem to possess scarcely any Conchifera or Gasteropoda, and not any
Orthoceratites. The fossils belong principally to Brachiopoda, and Leptenu
sericea is abundant, but so also is T'rinucleus Caraciaci. Some of the sandy beds
contain Encrinital stems, but corals are very rare. |

10. More than a mile to the east of the Hirnant limestone is
a synclinal line («), beyond which the beds dip towards the west.
The lower beds, which were found to the westward, are therefore
again brought to the surface, and the Bala limestone (2) reappears
in two places near the top of the descent leading to Llangynog.
Both these places are on the eastern side of the watershed of the

* Tt has been stated by Mr. Sharpe, in a paper read before the Geological
Society (see ‘“ Proceedings of the Geological Society,” vol.iv. p. 13.), that the
line of the Bala limestone, as laid down in Mr. Murchison’s map of the Silurian
formations, is composed of the Bala and the Hirnant limestones, ‘The Bala
limestone, along its whole line of strike, and its several quarries, were examined
by Professor Sedgwick in the year 1832; and were laid down by him in
colours on Evans's half-inch map of North Wales. The Hirnant limestone
was seen by him in the same year, and recognised as a distinct bed, He
supposed it to be continued to the east side of Bwlch-y-Groes, but did not
mark its course upon any map. Mr. Murchison, in representing the course of
the Bala limestone, merely transferred Professor Sedgwick’s coloured representa-
tion to his own map; and in this transfer from a map in which the physical
features of a country are very ill represented, te another map in which they are
well represented, it is possible that some errors may have beea committed,
But for these errors Professor Sedgwick states that he is not responsible. ~

+ Some of these resemble the new species which were found at Cyrn-y-
brain, N, of Llangollen.

; u 3

256 [ Nov. 29,

Berwyns; and, consequently, on this line of traverse, the Bala
limestone dips under the Berwyns, as Mr. Murchison * has cor-
rectly stated. Further northwards that is not the case.

[The series of fossils on the line from Llanwddyn to the head of the Pennant

valley, and thence to the top of the pass west of Langynog, is the exact counter-
part of the list from the limestones of Bala and Glyn Dyffws. ]

11. The limestone is followed in descending order, Ist. by fossi-
liferous slates (2); 2dly, by slates without fossils alternating with
beds of Porphyry (m). These are supposed to represent a part
of the series between the Bala limestone and Arenig at the
western end of the section ; and they are cut off, near Llangynog,
by a complicated series of faults. The author here takes occasion
to remark on the very great aggregate thickness of the fossiliferous
beds which are traversed by the line of section just described ;
although, on the one hand, the section has no determinate base,
and, on the other, does not reach to the highest of the protozoic
rocks ; since it is impossible to tell how many hundred feet may be
wanting to connect the highest beds which are traversed in this
section, with the base of the Denbighshire flagstones.

Section II.
The Arenics to Lranwppyn.

Horizontal base 20 miles.

Marchnant S
Brook.

~~" Crest of the
tes Lianwddyn. ~

é ie

Sata

Es

5 £
&

=I FE

aa’ b ec’ c” d (eye Ho ap z h

This section, like the former, commences on the west side of
Bala lake, and with a ridge of porphyry (a a’); but the por-
phyry appears at a higher geological level than in the former
section. The section passes through the grey slates (6) on the
west side of the lake, and on the east side, through the Bala
limestones (c ¢’ ce’), which, on this line, are very much contorted.
It then traverses the strike of the Hirnant limestone (d), and ex-
hibits in great perfection the beds (e), above that limestone. The
synclinal axis (c) lies here considerably to the east of the moun-
tain crest; and, to the west of that axis, the same beds are again
repeated; but they are now much faulted and broken (e’). -The
beds (f), supposed to represent the Bala limestone, reappear in
the hills near the village of Llanwddyn; from whence they may
be followed northwards in the direction of their strike, through
the head of the Pennant valley, and thence to the top of the pass

* See “ Proceedings of the Geological Society,” vol. iy. parti. p. 11.

1843.) O57.

between Llangynog and Bala, dipping westward beneath the chain
of the southern Berwyns.

Below the village of Llanwddyn there continues a prevailing
westerly dip; but the derangements are enormous, and, at the
great bend in the Fyrnwy river, the lower Silurian rocks (g) are
seen resting upon the upper (/) in a reversed position.

In this section, as in the former, the protozoic series is of great
thickness.

Secrion III,

Arran Mownny to Lianiinancet.

Direction of the Section, W. 10° N. to E. 10° §,
Horizontal base 17 miles.

Lanwddin R.

Arran Carreg
Mowddy. y big.

ad bY Bb” 6 d de ef

This section commences with cotemporaneous porphyries
(a a’); but they break out at a still higher geological level than
in Section IJ. The porphyry is succeeded by grey slates (b b”)
containing the Bala series (6’), which may be followed southward
in the direction of the strike, down the western bank of the Dyfi.
The beds dip east by south, except to the extent of a faulted in-
terval (c) on the east side of Carreg-y-big. We have in this line
of section a great thickness of the fossiliferous portions of the
protozoic series, but not the whole thickness ; since these beds are
_ succeeded in the line of section by a trough of overlying and un-
conformable Upper Silurian rocks, dd’. These rocks accord with
the type, not of the Denbigh or Montgomery flagstones, but of the
coarse-grained greywacké and flagstone which form the base of
the upper system near Cernioge.

Beyond this trough, the older beds (e e’) again rise out, but with
a reversed or northwesterly dip, and at a very high angle of incli-
nation. At the east end of this, as of the former section, the Upper
Silurians (f°) pass under the Lower (e), owing to inversion.

In following the fossiliferous beds of the southern Berwyns to
the neighbourhood of Mallwydd, the author found those beds over-
laid by Upper Silurian rocks of the Cernioge type ; a fact which
had previously been noticed by Mr. Sharpe. Mr. Sharpe, how-
ever, considers that these Upper Silurians rest conformably on the
Lower, and that the entire upper part of the Lower system is here
displayed.* The author considers that the upper system wraps
round the southern end of the Berwyns unconformably ; and that
the upper part of the lower system is incomplete. +

* Proceedings of the Geological Society, vol. iv. p. 13,
+ The errors committed in certain parts of Mr. Murchison’s map, in the
neighbourhood of Mallwydd, by spreading the Cambrian colour over an area

258 [ Nov. 29,

§ 4. On the Structure of the Berwyn Chain.

1. This chain is cansidered as commencing, on the south, in the
ridges above Mallwyd, to the east of the river Dyfi, and as
stretching from thence in a north-westerly direction to the hills
which overhang the Dee below Corwen.

2. If a line be drawn from the summit of the mountain pass
between Llangynog and Bala to the great bend in the valley of the
Dee between Llandrillo and Bala, the south-western portion of the
chain, extending as far to the north-east as that line, constitutes a
great trough. The subordinate groups of this southern portion of
the chain are made up of the fossiliferous rocks of Bala; but its
crests consist of beds far above the Bala limestone. On the
eastern side of the trough the beds are partly vertical, and partly
inverted; and on the south-eastern extremity of the chain, for
several miles along the boundary between these disturbed rocks of
the lower system and the co-terminous upper Silurians, the in-
version affects also the upper system of rocks.*

3. A longitudinal fault, with a great upcast to the west, ranges,
on the eastern side of the chain, from the vertical and inverted
beds above-mentioned to the northern end of Cader Ferwyn; in
consequence of which, the Berwyn chain, for the distance of more
than 4 miles north of the Llangynog pass, is no longer in a trough
of rocks belonging to the Bala series; but the crest of the chain
consists of rocks which are lower than the Bala limestone, but not
lower than the fossiliferous slates on the east of Bala lake.

4. The strike of the higher ridges of the Berwyn chain varies
from N. and S. to N. E. and S. W.; but N.N. E. and S. S. W. is
about the mean strike.

s

which is actually covered by Upper Silurian rocks, has been pointed out by
Mr. Sharpe. The same observation may be applied to a district extending along
the south end of the Berwyns as far as the tributaries of the Severn. Professor
Sedgwick observes, that since he had never either examined, or professed to have
examined, this part of North Wales until the year 1843, he does not hold him- ~
self responsible for the colouring adopted in that part of the map in question,

* The following diagram has been prepared by the author, in illustration of
his views respecting the structure of the North Berwyns.

Part of the Berwyns, N. of
Pass to Llangynog.

A. System of the North Berwyns. C. Line of fault, North Berwyns.
B. Line of fault, North end of the Berwyns. D. Llanrhiadr, anticlinal,

ees. 259

5. The beds, on the two opposite sides of the great upcast
fault, are in a most’anomalous position. On the west side, they
strike about N. by E.; but on the east side, nearly E. and W.

6. At Bwleh Maengwynnedd, above a mile north of Cader Fer-
wyn, is another great fault or flexure. To the north of that point
all the beds, to the further extremity of the chain, dip either N.,
or N. by E., and strike either E. and W., or E. by S., and W. by
N. This strike is continued towards the east, as far as the
mountain limestone on the confines of Shropshire; and, towards
the west, to the hills north-west of Llandrillo, on the left bank of
the Dee, between that river and the brook, Nant Ffrauan.

This position of the strata on the eastern side of the Berwyn
chain gives a regular ascending section from the lower series to
the upper, in advancing towards the Dee from south to north,
along a meridian passing to the east of Llangynog.

§ 5. Sections East of the Berwyns.
Section IY.
Wetcu-poot on the Severn to LLANsAINTFRAID on the CrtrR1I0G.

Mean Direction of the line of Section, 8. to N.
Horizontal base 24 miles.

N. S.] N.E. S.W. | N. S.| N.W. S.E.
BS S 3
; zs & 2 :

= in BE, a s = z

= : Zen 9 = 9 5 = g z
os od @§> 8 fee a a See x >: =
a8 =aeg & i 23 = A Se é 34 8 a Spa:
2265 ea ep eee oS 3 = aS ce =| 2 a
= ene ast fe Aas > iS = cD & EI Z .
Sp S85 en i il le) Eps 2 4 6 §
eH S23 8 #85 @ 8 2 z ee 2 5 3 a 2
£3 S E6o o LS a £ ss Oo ae £5 = & So 23
AOO CAA & OHO Oo 8 S) =| mn, = S = TH

@

SS

/,

iS
SS
<
te
if

d
ERATAST x AA

1. At the southern extremity of Section IV., we have the Upper
Silurian flagstone of the Severn (a), which formation, after two
intervening portions of lower Silurian rocks (6 0’), re-appears in
the Broniarth hills (@”).

2. Then occurs a great undulating series of Caradoc sandstone
(0, b”), with innumerable fossils ; but among these the author dis-
covered no trace of Asaphus Buchii, nor of some of the other cha-
racteristic species of the lower rocks in the Bala sections. These
beds extend as far as the Tanat river, where the strike is nearly

east and west.
3. From beneath the Caradoc sandstone, there rises, north of the

* Those points where, either in the author's sections or coloured copy of the
Ordnance Map, calcareous beds are marked as occurring, are denoted by the
letter A; those points where porphyry is marked as occurring, are denoted by

the letter 7.

260 | Nov. 29,

Section IV. a.

Craic-y-Gtyn, three miles and a half to the west of the line of Section TV, at
the point marked @.

Horizontal base 2} miles.

a

cI

Ss. Liarnarmon N.
Craig y Mynydd Mynyda =

Cefnyrodfa. Glyn. = Mawr. Mawr. 4

GY ECS Watcs ae

Tanat, a series of slates (0), not differing in their mineralogical
character from the slates of the higher Berwyns; and in these, at
a great depth as measured from the Caradoc sandstone, are found
calcareous bands, full of fossils, among which are Asaphus Buchit,
&e. The Craig-y-Glyn limestone (vide Section IV. a.), which
appears to the north of Llanrhaiadr, at the distance of nearly
four miles to the west of the line of Section IV., the author regards
as belonging to these bands.

[The Craig-y-Glyn limestone has most of the species of the Rhiwlas lime-
stone; but the abundance of Asaphus Buchit, of Orthis compressa, of a new
species of Orthis, and of Encrinital stems, give it a peculiar character. ]

4. Still lower in the series are similar slates; but they are
without fossils, and, after several breaks or undulations, the beds,
about two miles further to the north, are found to have acquired a
steady northern dip.

5. South of Pont Meibion, on the Ceiriog, fossils again appear,
conforming to the types of the lower portion of the protozoic
group.

[The lower part of the series near Pont Meibion may be only a repetition of
the Craig-y-Glyn series, with a reversed dip. But the higher part of the series,
which ranges over the crest of the Berwyns by Bwlch Llandrillo, contains only
Bellerophons, particularly a new species, B. nodosus, found also at Soadley, in
Shrepshire, by Mr. Salter. At Bwleh Llandrillo, a new Orthis, O. cambriensis,
which is also found in the Bala series, is abundant; and to this may be added
many other species of Orthis, which that series contains. ]

6. Then follows, in the ascending section, a great series of beds
full of fossils, and these beds alternate with bands of cotempo-
raneous porphyry, schaalstein, &e.

7. Lastly, there is a well-defined thick group, whose width,
measured transversely to the strike, is about a mile. It is com-
posed of calcareous slates, and contains two bands of limestone,
both of which have been worked for lime. It passes upwards into
pale-coloured earthy slates (d), and these seem to pass, without a
break, into the overlying Denbigh flagstone (e), which just appears
on the southern bank of the Ceiriog, and extends northward from
that river towards the vale of the Dee. The fossils both of para-
graphs 5 and 6, are entered in the list of the Ceiriog fossils.

1843. ] 261

[The Llansaintfraid series, including the slates and two bands of limestone,
lies above the porphyries of the Teirw river, and, consequently, far above the
fossiliferous beds of Pont Meibion. It is distinct from any other part of the
series, with the exception, perhaps, of the beds on the western bank of the
Fyrnwy river, above Meifod. (Vide Section VI.) It is loaded with shells of
the Wenlock limestone; among which are Orthis sinuata and O. inflata;
Spirifer crispus, Terebratula crispata, Atrypa affinis, and Evomphalus funatus.
It also contains nine or ten Wenlock corals, such as Catenipora, &e. Among
the Orthides is a new species, which is found also at Coniston. Several of
the corals belong to new species. Besides the above, are several well-known
Caradoc sandstone species of shells.

In addition to the above positive characters, the group is distinguished by the
following negative one — that it contains apparently none of the species which
are characteristic of the lower parts of the Protozoic series, such as Asaphus
Buchii, Agnostus pisiformis, Menus Bowmanni, Spirifer crucialis, &c.

This group, then, seems to form a kind of passage between the lower and
upper systems.

To judge from the fossils only, the Coniston limestone appears to be interme-
diate between the Llansaintfraid and the Bala limestones. |

On the evidence of this Section and of the lists of fossils which
belong to it, the author concludes : —

1. That the highest or Llansaintfraid group cannot be identified
with any of the groups in Sections I., IL, and II].; and that if it
ever be brought into comparison with any group in those Sections,
it must be with the highest group, namely, with that which is
found near the crest of the southern Berwyns; and, therefore, that
it lies far above the Bala limestone.

2. That the rocks from Pont Meibion southwards, and those of
Craig-y-Glyn, may be brought into comparison with the lower parts
of the Bala series, to the west of the lake, and with the slates east
and west of Arenig, which contain Asaphus Buchit.

The preceding conclusions the author proposes, subject to the
modifications which they must necessarily undergo, when his
sections and lists of fossils come to be compared with those ob-
tained by the gentlemen employed on the Ordnance Geological
Survey, from an examination of the mountains of South Wales
west of the district surveyed by Mr. Murchison. *

* The sections of Cumberland and Westmoreland are not of a nature, in the
author’s opinion, to throw light on questions having reference to minute points
in the classification of the different members of the Protozoic series of rocks,
for, in those countries, the Lower Silurian rocks, containing fossils, are of com-
paratively small thickness, and have a well-defined base, which the author bas
formerly described. See “ Proceedings of the Geol. Soc.” vol. iil. p 551. They
exhibit no traces of the lower beds such as occur in North Wales, containing
Asaphus Buchii, &c.; and they disappear when the Porphyries begin. The
Coniston limestone appears to be very little lower than the limestones of the
Ceiriog, and is therefore probably higher in the series than the Bala limestone.
In North Wales, on the contrary, the fossiliferous series has no well-defined
base, since fossiliferous beds of vast thickness, extending far below the Bala
limestone, there alternate with porphyries.

pee [Nov. 29,

Section V.

The Vyrnwy River, | mile 8S. W. of Meifod, to Hirnant, about 2 miles S. of
Llangynog.

Mean Direction of the line of Section, S. 40° E. to N. 40° W.
Horizontal base 10} miles.

N.W. S.E. N. 250 W. S. 25° E.
é 4 z
& g e
E : F
q =< Alt-y-goeth. S

ec ofr

This section commences with the upper Silurian rocks (a), which
extend southward from the Vyrnwy river to the Severn. It is fol-
lowed by rocks of the lower series (6, 6’, 6’’), containing calcareous
bands (A, X’, AX”, X”). The lower fossiliferous bands near Meifod
agree generally in their fossil species with the limestone of Bala,
and with the fossiliferous beds on the line of the Teirw river oc-
curring below, and associated with the porphyries, as described in
Section IV. The line of section afterwards again cuts the over-
lying upper Silurian rocks (ce, ec’, c’’), a little within the line of
their northern boundary. The lower system appears to the south
of Llangynog, alternating with beds of cotemporaneous porphyry.

Section VI.

Pen-y-Craic, 3 miles S.W. of Meifod, across tuz Brecuan River to Doto-
’ BRANUCHAF.

Horizontal base 12 miles.

$. 15° E.

Dolobran-
uchaf.

f.
b a’ fe

N. 159 W.

Bechan R.

Pen-y-Craige

At Pen-y-Craig, south of Mathyrafal, just at the base of the
overlying upper Silurian flagstone (a), there is a higher fossilifer-
ous group (4) than any which has yet been described. The upper
part of this passage group consists of calcareous shale, and the
lower part of conglomerate, sandstone, and limestone. Further to
the north we have the lower series of the ordinary type in the
neighbourhood of Meifod, with two calcareous and fossiliferous
bands. :

[Note on the Fossils of the Limestone of Pen-y-Craig. — Leptena tenui-
striata, which was abundant in the lower fossiliferous group (A), is not seen in
the limestone. Corals are very abundant, and are nearly the same with those

1843.] 263

of the upper limestone bands on the Ceiriog (vide Section IV.), but are very
different from the corals of the lower group of the Meifod country. There
are very great numbers of Turbinolopsis bina, of Favosites polymorpha and F.
alveolaris, of Cyathophyllum, and Stromatopora. :

On the Fossils of the calcareous shale of Pen-y-Craig. — In the very remark-
able list of fossils (List I. column 13.) obtained from this shale, we have
Terebratula marginalis, a Wenlock shell, associated with Leptena duplicata,
Atrypa undata, A. globosa, and Orthis lata, shells which have been considered as
characteristic of the Llandeilo flags. ]

From a review of all the preceding facts, the author concludes
that the Protozoic series of North Wales is of enormous thickness ;
that it has no defined base, the fossils disappearing in the de-
scending section, not suddenly, as in Cumberland and Westmore-
land, but gradually ; that many species are found in every sub-
ordinate group from the top to the bottom; and that some species,
especially certain Trilobites, characterise the lower group.

§ 6. Upper Silurian Roeks of Llangollen, Cernioge, &c.

The geological structure of this part of North Wales the author
illustrates by three sections, which he exhibited to the Geological
Society on a former occasion ; but which, with the help of Mr.
Salter, he is now able to present in a more accurate shape.

Section VII.

Luansaintrraip Gryn Ceirioc, across the valley of the Dee, to Cyrn-y-Bratn,
near the head of the vale of the Clwyd.

Horizontal base 12 miles,

N, 35° W. 8, 35°. E. NPE S.17° W.
g *
a 8 Eats
gm & ae 2
B38 se 3 $e
Cyrn-y-brain. pee AAR = is) Pont Meibion,

This Section may be considered as a continuation, northwards, of
Section IV. To render clear the position of the upper Silurian flag-
stones of the Dee (0 0’), lying as they do in a trough which is
bounded, both to the north and to the south, by a mass of palzeozoie
rocks (a and cc’), a portion (a) of the older series of rocks, which
lie to the south, and were before represented in Section IV. is here
repeated. On the northern side of the trough, at Cyrn-y-brain,
the existence of a mass of older rocks (¢c’), which was before
suspected by the author, has been ascertained; with the help of
Mr. Salter, its extent has been laid down upon the Ordnance Map;
and it has been inserted in the section.

In his paper, read in June, 18438, the author described the
occurrence, in the valleys of Llansaintfraid Glyn Ceiriog, of a pecu-
liar mass of dark roofing slate (6), containing (though not abund-
VOL. IV. PART II. x

264 [ Nov. 29,

antly) Graptolites ludensis, a fossil which occurs throughout the
whole of the upper series. He was then in doubt whether to refer
this slaté to the protozoic or Upper Silurian rocks; but he now
regards it as the lowest of the Upper Silurian rocks in the Llan-
gollen district. On the southern flank of Cyrn-y-Brain, that is,
on the northern edge of the Llangollen trough, this slate re-
appears. 7

To the north of the Llansaintfraid valley, on the present line of
section, is a great thickness of Denbighshire flagstone, which the
author, now as before, separates into three subdivisions.* The
lower of these consists of flagstone, passing into bands which are
hard and quartzose, or into earthy semi-indurated shale. The
middle subdivision resembles the lower, but is more indurated.
The upper flags consist of softer beds, which are more or less slaty,
and contain only a few fossils; but these are surrounded by other
beds, harder and more quartzose, which are very fossiliferous. An
example of these fossiliferous beds occurs at. the summit of Castell
Dinas Bran.

All the above subdivisions of the Denbigh flags contain impres-
sions of Orthocerata. The lower and middle subdivisions afford
numerous compressed traces of the fossil, determined by Professor
E. Forbes to be a Creseis; and associated with the Creseis are
found Graptolites ludensis, and sometimes Leptena lata. The
middle and the upper subdivisions, of which the latter has been
considered by Mr. Bowman (Trans. Manchester Geol. Soc. vol. i.
p- 203.) as non-fossiliferous, yield Cardiola interrupta and Tere-
bratula Wilsoni, although rarely. In the upper subdivision, at
Castell Dinas Bran, Terebratula navicula and T. semisulcata are
very abundant. (For the other fossils of Castell Dinas Bran, see
Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. iv. p. 221.). From the abundance of the Creseis
which, taken as a whole, the Denbigh flags contain, the name of
“ Creseis flagstone” might serve as a good local name to give to
this group.

These upper Silurian rocks are overlaid by unconformable and
nearly horizontal beds of mountain limestone (dd’); and these are
crowned at Cefn Fedw by a capping of millstone grit (ee’). At
the north-western base of Cefn Fedw, the upper Silurian rocks
(6’) again appear, and are succeeded by the paleozoic mass of
Cyrn-y-Brain, full of Caradoc sandstone fossils. On the north-
western flank of this mass the mountain limestone, crowned by
millstone grit, again appears, and in an inclined position.

* Mr. Bowman has separated this part of the Upper Silurian rocks of North
Wales into subdivisions, which he has compared with those of the entire Ludlow
series of Mr. Murchison: to these views of Mr. Bowman the author signifies
his dissent.

1843.}, 265

Secrion VIII.

from the Tzirw River, across the valley of the Dee, to Cricor: Mawr, near
the head of the Vale of the Clwyd.

Mean. direction of the line of section, S: 20° E, to N. 20° W.
Horizontal base 11% miles,

W. 30° W. 8S. 30° E. N. 5° W. 5. 5° E.
re
Fi :
= Liansaintfraid, oD
£ Cricor Mawr. Moel y Gamelyn. (=) Glyn Ceiriog. &

This Section is nearly the counterpart of Section VII. and runs
nearly parallel to it: it passes the Dee about 3 miles W. of Llan-
gollen. At the southern extremity, on the Teirw river, we have the
limestones (A A’), and porphyries (7) of the Paleozoic series (a).
Then fellows a trough containing the dark roofing slate and
the flags. (6 6’), of the upper Silurian series. Towards the
northern extremity of the trough, a mass of the older rocks (ec),
abounding, like the similar mass of Cyrn-y-brain, in fossils of the
Caradoc sandstone, breaks out at Cricor Mawr. This mass is
covered, on its north-western flank, by upper Silurian rocks; and
these are overlaid by mountain limestone (d), a range of which
bounding the vale of Clwydd on the S.E. runs from the point
represented in the Section, beyond Abergele. The mountain lime-
stone is followed by new red sandstone (/).

Section IX.
From Garn Brys, S. W. of Cernioge, to ABERGELE.

Horizontal base 20 miles.

[=]
Ba)
Mwdwi =
Garn Brys. Eithin. g

a b @ Ob c d Sol Farts

In this Section, we have, near Cernioge, first, the rocks of the
older series (a), abounding with fossils of the Caradoc sandstone ;
and secondly, lying unconformably on the preceding, are the con-
glomerates and sandstones (6) which there constitute the base of
the upper Silurian series. These conglomerates, &c., the author
compares to the coarse greywacké and flagstone which constitute
the unconformable base of the upper series at the south-eastern
extremity of the Berwyns. ‘These coarse mechanical rocks do not
appear in any distinct form in the country traversed by the twe
former lines of section. The conglomerates pass into sandstones
(c’) of a finer structure, which alternate with bands of dark coarse

x2

266 [Nov. 29,

slate, having occasionally true slaty cleavage; and these slates the
author compares with the dark roofing slates which form the base
of the upper series in the Llangollen district. -

In this part of the Section, the author interpolates a fault, by
overlooking which, he was led, when he first exhibited this Sec-
tion, to estimate the conglomerates and sandstones at too great a
thickness. To the north of this fault, the finer sandstones (c’)
are repeated.

To the sandstones succeeds a thick mass of Denbighshire flag-
stone (d), generally agreeing with that of the Llangollen district ;
and this is followed by the coarse greywacké and slate of Bronhaulog
(e); whereupon the author takes occasion to remark that, in
North Wales, slates arising from transverse cleavage extend to
a higher geological level than they do in Westmoreland, and to a
still higher level in Devonshire than they do in North Wales;
and, consequently, that such cleavage does not define the age of
any rock, but serves only, like other peculiarities of structure, to
mark the existence of certain physical conditions.

At the end of the Section occurs a thick mass (f) in which
are a number of beds like those of the lower groups, but often pass-
ing into rotten slate or mudstone. ‘The last bed (g) in this Section
is mountain limestone.

On the fossils of these Upper Silurian rocks, as a whole,
it may be remarked, that they agree very nearly with those from
the upper Silurian rocks of Mr. Murchison ; but that the distribu-
tion of species is somewhat different. Thus, in the list of fossils from
the Lower Flags (vide list of fossils from Plas Madoc, Proc. Geol.
Soc., vol. iv. p.221.), species are found which were once supposed
to be characteristic of the tilestone of Shropshire, a bed above the
upper Ludlow mudstone. This may be accounted for by the cir-
cumstance, that both the tilestones and the Plas Madoc beds belong
to an arenaceous deposit ; and hence, though widely separated by
intervening slates and flagstones, they have in common some
species not found in the intermediate beds,

BY Messrs. J.
ending Order. See Sec. IV.
elie
Pont-y-
b Meibion to
Bwlch Llan-
——— drillo.
Agi
Tila +
Par
Tri
a
Asa
+?
+
+
+
Caly +
| Ent
‘Nau
Litu
Aa
Ort
Bell
++
++
| Con
Pleu
Mur

+++

| a | ng

( To face p. 266.)
W. SALTER AND J. DE CARLE SOWERBY.

[ern to those Columns are to be found in Column 4. [E.]

Ascending Order. See Sec. VI.|Extracted from the next

List of Fossils.

| 13. 5,

|

OBSERVATIONS.

Of the foregoing Species
the following are
found also in the Upper
Silurian rocks 0

N. Wales.

Pen-y-Craig

Pen-y-Craig.
Limestone.

Calcareous Shale.

poqtiosapun Aueyy
snyepnuue
SLIv[eas
snyeaio sozpNovzway,
2 stuiouqe eiodi| [101,10 A.
SLIB[OOA[e ;
sa}1suods
eydiow sjod sayIsoae yg
euvjjodo.jed sajaj}2yqQ
soploreyasa viodiueye—
stusojtihd saztiog
(str)

= = -

Neue
ST ks ican
TOMA AME LS
i

.

-

Taste L —Fossits or tHe Oper PaLzozoic (Protozorc) Roces 1y Nort WALES.
Nore. — Columns 1. 2. and 3.

(To face p. 266.)
DRAWN UP BY Messrs. J. W. SALTER AND J. DE Carte Sowersy.

are added to this List on the authority of Professor Sedgwick’s paper : other Fossils belonging to those Columns are to be found in Column 4. [Ep.]

In

7 A 5 a In the Ascending Order. See Sec, Iv. ees |
Voce ken nthe Ascending Ore. Se Seton I. Deceaind Oe, fom So “Eas
‘ } Ser See
] | |
Telgegee [tae | Paige? ol 7 Nas: 9 | 10. 11, | 12. ] 18. | S|
AND) SPECIES. | Feel 4 | { OxseavaTions.
ata es pee ee ee a ee aes eae ead
Slates’ Dark | | | } Pass | - j Pont-y- foregoi
| Wee | | “Sisto 7) Gray Fas | pots! porate tke! He Hirmant |to Liangy- Liangynog. | craig-y- Meibion to ipe lie Pen-y-Craig. | gogtht ouowing are
larenig) sceth, | Zot | 3- Gameid, | and | toBwich- | | to | nog and | ° | Gim_| Burlch Llan-| Ceitiog. | Limestone." (Calcareous Shale| PUM also in the Upper
|Fawr.| Fawr. | Pawre| Bal “Late. | Dittwus. &c. oe ESE wargor. | Llanwddyn. N. Wales.
ted a | | =i
Crustacea. | |
Agnostus pisiformis - - - on | | es + ++ +
Ilanus Bowmani (n.s. ) - - + ++
Paradoxides (n. 8. 2) - - fe. | |
Trinucleus Caractaci - - - } a af cfs enraD + + + +
fimbriatus ~ - - is + + : +
Asaphus Buchii - - -| + fe 4? et a) +e
tyrannus . - - re + + + Gtenstancte + +
Powisii - = os + 4 + + + +
caudatus = - - a are +
(n. 8.) a - C + + st a
Calymene Blumenbachii - - | + +
(n 6.) . = + + + +
-n.6.? with granulated head - 4 :
Entomostracites punctatus — - - +
Mollusca, — Ciphatonod
Nautilus primwyus - + ar
Lituites cornu arietis = - - +
Phragmoceras ? (n. 8. ?) - - in
Orthoceras, smooth and distant septa - | + +
smooth and close septa - +
smooth and conical - 46
Heteropoda.
Bellerophon bilobatus - - 4 + + Fy fk 4
nodosus = - - a le
Pteropoda.
| Conularia quadrisulcata - = te
Gasteropoda, j
Pleurotomaria (n.s. angular) - + a a i a
Murehisonia (de Vern. ) - -
(n.s8.? large) - - +
Turbo Prycew - - - a:
Littovina striatella - = 4 +
Huomphalus funatus ~ - . a
(a8) - - a
Conchifera,
Aven Bastnori? - - - +
Nucula ? (n. 8.) - - = + Are
Cypricardia (n.s.) - - a as im
(1.8) = - - ie
(a. 8.) - = - ab
Brachiopoda,
Lingula (a. 8.2) - - = -
‘Perebratula decemplicata - - / a ae
tripartite - < zn a 5
crispata ~ - | | H
marginalis* (imbricata) “ A ira % Wenlock Lime-
(ns) - - : | stone.
(aa.) = « - . j
(ns). = : s /
rs 2
Awypa affinis . = - " tat id ir i

* ‘The names marked with an asterisk are names substituted for those given in the Silurian system, in consequence of the examination of a collection from Sweden, in the possession of Mr. Murchison.

NAMES OF GENERA AND SPECIES.

———_———————————————

Atrypa undata - = z

globosa - = 2

(3 new species) - s

(2 or 3 new species) - =

Spirifer erucialis - ~ A

Cyrtena* (radiatus) - -

crispus - - 5

Orthis clegantula* (canalis) - <

testudinaria = - = =

alternata - = é

Vespertilio = = C

Actoniz - - =

flabellulum = - - =

Cambriensis (n.s.) = S

virgata - o =

compressa - = ©

sinuata - ss 5

inflata (n.8.) = - 5

lata - c o o

(2 new species) a =

(n. 8.) - - C

(n. 8.) - . 6

(3 new species) = ©

Leptana sericea - o S

tenuistriata (rugosa Dal.) -

duplicata — - = 2

transversalis - - 3

depressa - O 5

(n. 8.) - = =

(n. 8.) - co =

‘(n. 8.) 2 5 =

(n. 8.) - ci ©

Orbicula (nm, s. large) o o

Radiaria.

Ophiura Salteri - - =

Asterias primieva - cl 6

Enerinites (stems) — - *

(pelvis) = 2 <
Pentacrinites ?

Polyparia.
Stromatopora (n. s.) a 5

Retepora (with large meshes) - -
(1. s.) - - =
Fenestella? (branched) . me
(a.s.) = - =
Turbinolopsis bina - = o
(n.s. 2) - =

Cyathophyllum dianthus - C

(1. 8.) - =

Porites pyriformis — - - o
Catenipora escharoides - -
Chwtetes petropolitana - C
Fayosites polymorpha = =
spongites = - =

§ alveolaris — - = =
Verticillipora abnormis ? S a
Tentaculites ornatus - - >
senlaris = - am

annulatus - =

Many undeseribed = « =

Taste I.—Fossizs or THE OLDER Patzozorc (Protozorc) Rocks IN

NortH WALES — (contin ued).

|

Localities taken in the Ascending Order. See Section I. wee hes from| Inthe Ascending Order. See Sec. IV. Ascending Order. See Sec. VI. Extracted from the next) |
| Col. 8. “See | List of Fossils. }
3. 4. 5. | 6. [Spe | 9. 10. iis | 12: | TGs te aueat acer et | 15. .
| | OpssRVATIONS:
yes | bs Areata Pra PEE | ater le Ete Hinent es ieees-| From Llangynog to ASS } jee the forepelng Succes
of | £.of |£-of | y-Gamedd,| and | toBwlch- || to | nogand | Pennant — Craig-y-Glyn. | Meibionto | Glyn- | Ben-y-Craig Pen-y-Craig | found alsoim mneUpper
Arenig Arenig Arenig) W. of | Glyn- y-Groes, |_ Llan- Rhi- | and Lilanwddyn. ‘drillo. OS: | nestone. Calcareous Shale,| Silurian rocks of |
Fawr. Fawr. ES IS Bala Lake. } Diff wus, &c. Mowday. | wargor. | N. Wales.
| | |
| | ) ttt Llandillo Flags.
~ | Llandillo Flags.
Gs j
| # |
+ + ++ + +
+ +
+
+ + - + + + - + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + & 42
+ + + + + + + + a
+ + + + + + +
+ an ats ap + +
+ + + + # + +
+ + + + ++
+ + + +
+++
+
++ |
’ + Llandillo Flags.
+ |
++
se
} +
+ + + ++ + + + +
+ + + + + +
++ Llandillo Flags.
2 ts ++
4 + +
+ + +
ct
+ +
+
+
+ Gr
+
+) +44 + + + + ++ + +
+
++
++
+
++ +
+ +
+ ++ ++
+
+
- ae ++ +
++ +++
++ ++
+ +
+ + + ++
+ + ? + : +
+
+ +
ae
Ae

VALES — (continued).

he

See Sec. IV. |Ascending Order. See Sec. VI.! Extracted from the next
List of Fossils.

12. 13. Ne 15.

OBSERVATIONS.

NAMES OF ( ? 5
ts Of fhe free OIE Species
. : the following are
ito | Glyn- | Pen-y-Craig | Pen-y-Craig_| found also in ie are
jan-| Ceiriog. | Limestone. |Calcareous Shale. Silurian rocks of

N. Wales.

See ee +++ | Llandillo Flags.,

Atrypa ae 2 Llandillo Flags.
obos

+ |

(3 nev |

@ or: i |

Spirifer crucia
Cyrtx |

crispu

Orthis elegant
testudii
alternat
Vesper
Actoni
flabellu
Cambr
virgata
compre
sinuata ;
ve + Llandillo Flags.

i
(2 new |

(n. s.)
(nm. s. )

(3 new
Leptzna seric
dual a a Llandillo Flags.

up
trans
depre
(1. s.
(ns.
‘(. s.
(n. s.
Orbicula (n. s

t++ttets
+

+

Ophiura Salte
Asterias prim
Encrinites (st

(Pp

Pentacrinites

Stromatopora
Retepora (wit

(nu. s
Fenestella? (I

Turbinolopsis

Cyathophyllu

1843.1 267
TABLE IL.

Fossils of the Denbigh Flagstone and Sandstone Series, found in
various Parts of North Wales.

[Drawn up by Messrs, J. W. Satren and J. pz Carte Sowersy. ]

Crustacea. * Cardiola interrupta.
Calymene Blumenbachii. * Cardium?
Downingiz. Cypricardia (several imperfect).

one or two new species.

Asaphus caudatus. Brachiopoda.

re condense. Terebratula navicula.

sb ae + semisulcata.
(subcaudatus), (lacunosa. Sil. Sys. p.5.)
Annelida. earns
Serpulites longissimus. Baga
Orthis lunata.
Cephalopoda. orbicularis.

Lituites. Ibex.
Orthoceras striatum.

two or three new species.
Spirifer ptychodes. *

articulatum. interlineatus.
virgatum. Atrypa affinis.
i annulatum. two or three new species.
* Creseis tenue + ( Vahl). Leptzna lata.
(primeva), $ euglypha.
* a conical species. depressa.

Orbicula rugata?

Heteropoda. z
Bellerophon carinatus. Radiata.
aaa’ Crinoidal remains abundant.
ae j * Actinocrinites (n. s. highly orna-
ar mented, — Llangollen),
Gasteropoda. ; :
Turritella obsoleta, Eolyporite
conica. Stromatopora.
Fenestella.

Natica parva.
Trochus helicites.

Cyathophyllum (several species).
Favosites (several species, one very

Conchifera. slender).
* Avicula (fragments). * Graptolites ludensis.
Nucula.
Cucullza antiqua.
a large n. s.

* Denotes the species characteristic of the Denbigh flagstone series.
+ Names substituted for those given in the Silurian system, in consequence
of the examination of a collection from Sweden, in the possession of Mr. Mur-

chison.

+ Denotes the species which have hitherto been found only in the more cal-

eareous beds at Plas-Madoc, Llanrwst.

| [ Nov. 29,

268

BRETT
saddq

(pofient
fo “ms
NT)
-f-uag )
“ayeus
snoo.1eo
-[eo pue
Quo {SUIT |
Jo purq
@ YyIMA
‘auoyspues
asivog

(Bonz | (-Bo2ua9 (-oyjuup 7
“299 ulyE)) |ayzoqus Bug | -unyy yong ;
auoys |-nf Suaany |‘uorquayy-zuog ) ‘sukatog
-sUll] JO Muay, )| ‘s[Issoy pue PyMoN ou} |
spueqyjim | ‘somAyd | sptteq soe | Jo oprsyseny
‘soyejs |-aod puey | -euere qyTM
snodieo]eg | 27e[S esre0|D| ‘soyeys AqIreq, ‘soye[s Ay}Aea Jog : |
Cp | Camp 7
lay 32090 -fi-bdg )
“a fmushy, ) | ‘ayets sno
*oul0}s -arevoleo
“oul, Beg jo sseur ;
2} JO S[ISSoy Otte eee
oy} Ya e pue Gag css
yied iaaoy ‘spueq ~
ay} * saqrys snosoeu
Ayres dre. yyTAt
pue souojs ‘soqeys |
-puvs. asavog | Ayjave yog | “se7¥[s Ay31%e yyOSg J
(aynT nog Cuan Bou sauzysuoa |)
fO aps 4sna -alp JO ) = M0ULDD
C-ysaig shngig wipy)| (8 “‘Tryong, fo “M's
ayn fo ‘ayeis | ‘sojnayaz ) snydesy ay, Ur
ysva pup snoaivoyea, ong _ _|*ra Sy Issoy “‘punjsy as Su kige
‘suiniag e ‘ouojs | snydesy (umngy | moze pue |(‘pataaoo | -pung 02 | > Sue
ULaynog! (‘taart -aull] Jo : S[ISSOF Bmuaup) | ouojsount |-stip yA | whayuy SH SOAS Ah
ayz fojsaly )| qununzy) |pueq ve pue | Aueurpue *dyeIS JO OUTT[e} | S[ISSOF. ONT) Y ploy
‘s[Is |ouojsouny | ‘spueq ued |fouojsoun, jspueqmay | -Sh10 yt. ‘Sort WOLT )
-soyj maze |jo pueq | -des, mez [jo spueq eyyia |*€ahydaod -Aydaod "Oz
Yai ‘sozefg | pue oyeg |e qr ‘oyeig | yITA ogeg | ‘SertMydsog| pue ayeig | pue oze[g] esoTyD |J

‘TopiQ Surpussse oy? Ul ‘GSH IVM HLYON JO SHOOU OLOZOLOUd 4} JO MATA UV TINAVL
TW WIaVviL

hi Rhajddltam \

>

Botyweil” A »

Wines

«

7 ~~

2 4
; =

Nase
RSS
ew)

RS
&

S

4

SS —
SD rs
=

AND pues
See ened 2S
ue a cm

iN

yo) ht SN

1

i
(te

\

f Oswestry

™M-
or ~
it

f RN \ ; . ’ ;
- ; ¢ Re, =
% YF AWELESEA Se ow se Xt

Hoty weil’ ee ‘

\
\
_

Lluné 3. : ,

hn fy ee Zeanmeares,
WR a t
SOO =
a — ee

: ; ‘ ny Giver
7 aCe eee f

N Mali

2D enki gs L
VR

rn

te S<. Capel Caria

CAERWARFON

5 J
aes
Mork Hamo,

Havlech \ r,

Mamloaw 5
) "=

{

Csweslvy

ve Laas ra
* “Col

EIN ‘
7 NV edy ee
Ce ae

/ o ; f om
= - y; ff bihitca Tettaaa 5 Se S
nf ie if / / Ve Ove > tis \

: BAY int ca SS \ ore

of 7 Barmouth sete ot bh / Dinas f cB aes

~ ss i PR or NZ JL 7 Mowddly i 2 “SS
HNorth CWales 9/ Ge A, re a ioe
~ * ee Ye ¢ ‘Ma,
| to cllastrate Frotetsor Sedgwocks Memow * ot Ne Ye ‘
on yo A Z

The Geology of that district. ra

Co Courbonvtivouws Limestone.

sl Upper Silurian |
Les Lower’ Sulemvasy / Butoxorc/
3 Mica & Chlorite Stale.

EES) Pphyritic Rocks. <> Antiolinal... Fault Rods. fi
-Synclinal. Dip. — Strke.. Imes of Section.._D°’ not described. 3

ee i

s se a a Soman “Printed by Reeve Brothers

all

ie

ree
i

; a wae passes Arh

1843.] 269

DECEMBER 13, 1843.

The Rev. Thomas Image, M.A., was elected a Fellow of this
Society.

The following communications were read : —

1. On the Grotoey of Carr Breton. By Richarp Brown, Esq.*

In a letter to Mr. Lyell, dated Sydney Mines, Cape Breton, Oct.
20. 1843, the author-stated —

“JT have made a survey of some forty miles of coast on the
eastern side of our coal-field ; and have since devoted a few days
to the examination of the shores of the Island of Boularderie, which
is four miles wide, and twenty-six miles long, and exhibits natural
sections on both sides from end to end. Nothing can be more defi-
nite than the position of the masses of gypsum in this island. I
have examined them this summer in four different places, scores of
miles apart, and find the following, with little variation, to be a
section of the accompanying strata :

Section I. (Ideal).

General sequence of the Coat Mrasures and Gyrsirrrous Formations near
. Sypnery, Care Breton.

a b clay ies facolas

} g- Coal measures. ec. Soft red shale.
f. Coarse sandstone with coal plants b. Coarse concretionary limestone
—Sha!e. and. shales.
e. 1 imestone in thin beds—Fossils. "a. Coarse conglomerate, highly
d, Gypsum. inclined.

«Wherever I have had an opportunity of making observations,
they have confirmed your views as to the relative age of the

gypsum.”
Subjoined is the Memoir received from Mr. Brown.

Tue following is a sketch of the north-western end of the
Sydney coal-field. On the W. side of Sydney Harbour, the coal-
measures can be traced transversely, without interruption, for 5200
yards, dipping to the N.E. at an angle of 7°, which gives a thick-
ness of 1900 feet. The coal-measures, generally speaking, are
very free from faults.

* This paper and the next (Mr. Dawson’s on Nova Scotia) are both illus-
trated by the map of Nova Scotia appended ; but the map was originally prepared
by Dr. A. Gesner to illustrate the paper of which a notice has already appeared
in the “ Proceedings,” vol. iv. p. 186. One portion of the map is repeated, and
coloured according to Mr. Brown’s survey.

+ These references are continued throughout the paper in the other Sections.

270 | [ Dec. 13,

The coal-measures are underlaid by a series of sandstone beds,
with some beds of shale. The thickness of the sandstone, in some
places, exceeds 2000 feet; but to the west of the Little Entrance
it is much thinner ; and, finally, when it approaches the granite
ridge that lies between the Great Entrance and St.-Anne’s Harbour,
it has thinned out. The sandstones, with their superincumbent
coal-measures, are very uniform in their dip to the north-east.

Next to the sandstone is the limestone; and this accompanies
the sandstone very uniformly, along the whole course of its out-
erop, from the southern branch of Sydney Harbour to the Granite
ridge west of the Great Entrance. On both branches of Sydney
Harbour, and at George’s River, the limestone dips distinctly be-
neath the sandstone. The shore, from George’s River to Long Island,
gives the following Section,

Section If.

Lone Istanp to the Coat Measures East of Gzorcn’s River.

George’s River.

Long Island. Round Island.

7 tur h E \ Se SSS SS = ~<z
Porphyry Micaceous Beds. é S £

First we have the limestone (e); then a low, flat space of half a
mile, where the stratification cannot be observed; then beds of a
red and brown micaceous slaty rock, dipping at high angles in
various directions between south and west.

The base of Round Island is of the same kind of rock; but the
Isle is capped with a limestone which, to judge from its fossils,
is quite different from the limestone * above described beneath the
sandstone. Long Island, on its eastern side, is 200 feet high, and
very precipitous; but, in a westerly direction, it slopes gradually
to the water. It is composed principally of Porphyritic rocks.

On the opposite side of the channel, the shore exhibits the
following section : — .

Section ITT.

First, the sandstone (f) which underlies the coal-measures, and
can be traced to within a few hundred yards of Roe’s Point.

At Roe’s Point the limestone (containing here Productus Lyelli)
shows itself, having an easterly dip. ‘This limestone, both in its
local position, dip, and general appearance, corresponds with the
limestone on the other side of the channel, at George’s River ;

* This limestone contains Terebratula elongata, and a Modiola.

ise 271

and these circumstances lead to the supposition that in both in-
stances it dips under the sandstone. Between Roe’s Point and
Campbell’s Cove, on the western shore of the Island of Boularderie,
the strata are very much broken and disturbed by faults. It would
be difficult to describe these disturbances by words; but the Section
will give the most distinct idea of them. Gypsum appears along
this line in two places, which are shown in the Section.

First, to the N. W. of Roe’s Point, we have solitary pinnacles of
gypsum appearing on the beach. Next, three beds of limestone,
with two of sandstone interposed, these beds all dipping in an
opposite direction to those at Roe’s Point. The middle bed of
limestone contains Productus spinosus. 'The third and upper of
these limestones is cut off by a vertical fault, which is succeeded
by a flat arch of limestone, resting upon sandstone. This again
is cut off by a vertical fault, which is succeeded by a horizontal
bed of limestone.

This is followed by a level space ; and beyond that we have a series
of beds dipping in the same direction with those of Roe’s Point.

1. A thin bed of limestone. 5. Rich marl, 6 feet.

2. A bed of sandstone. 6. Green sandstone, with veins of gyp-

3. A thick bed of coarse limestone. sum, 2 feet.

4. Gypsum, 18 feet thick. 7. Red marl, with grains of gypsum, 12
feet.

This is followed by a level space, when no beds are seen, and
beyond that we have limestone, dipping in the same direction with
the gypsiferous marls.

Section IV.

Camrset’s Cove, near Lime Point.

N.N.W. SS.E. pies

XOF SPD
RES SERS

ESOL SII ee FS
e fe Mess peeaecte £

Proceeding from Campbell’s Cove along the shore of the Island
of Boularderie in a south-westerly direction, we have similar lime-
stones, lying in a horizontal position, for the space of two miles,
until we arrive at Lime Point, where a small cove exhibits three
beds of limestone with two interposed beds of sandstone dipping
to the 8. S. E., and apparently underlying the sandstone with coal-
plants ; but separated from it by a space which affords no section.
The lowest of the three beds of limestone contains Spirifer glaber
(Lyell); the middle bed contains shells.

The writer mentions in his letter to Mr. Lyell that, “ on the
eastern side of the Sydney coal-field, he has found below the coal-
seams, in every instance, beds of fire-clay, containing the long
fibrous leaves of Stigmaria, matted together.

“Tn the black bituminous Shale, which lies about twenty yards

272 ' [Dee. 18,

above the Main Coal at Sydney, he has found the scales of dif-
ferent kinds of fishes, as hard and bright as enamel ; one tooth, and
a number of Coprolites; also the Cypris in great abundance, and a
Modiola.”

2. On the Lower Carsonrrerous Rocks, or Grrstexrous Form-
ation ef Nova Scorm. By Joun Wintiam Dawson, Esq., of
Pictou, Nova Scotia.*

Tue coal formation of the eastern part of Nova Scotia consists of
a great thickness of sandstones, shales, and conglomerates, of va-
rious reddish and grey colours, the former being most penta
The lower part of ‘the series is distinguished by the presence of
limestones with marine shells’ and gypsum. Its central portion is
characterised by a greater previ alence of grey and dark colours,
and by containing an abundance of vegetable fossils and beds of
bituminous coal. The upper portion of these productive coal
measures appears to pass into a thick deposit of reddish sandstones
and shales, containing few fossils, either animal or vegetable. _To
examine the structure and relations of the lower, or gypsiferous
part of this series, is the object of the present paper: it will, how-
ever, be proper in the first place to notice the general disposition
of the rocks of the Carboniferous system, in the region more par-
ticularly observed, which extends along the shores of the Gulf of
St. Lawrence, from Tatmagouche to Antigonish Harbour.

The coast section. between these points cuts at acute angles
across two great coal troughs, the one beginning at Pictou, and
thence stretching to the west along the northern shore of the
Basin of Mines; the other beginning at Antigonish, and thence
extending westward to the Stew iacke and Shubenacadie Rivers.
These two troughs are separated by a hilly range composed of
igneous rocks and of disturbed lower-carboniferous and Silurian
strata. This range beginning at Cape St. George extends west-
ward to the East River of Pictou; ; and beyond this it is continued
along the outcrops of the oldest carboniferous rocks in the di-
rection of Truro.

The southern boundary of the Antigonish trough is formed by
the region of Paleozoic, metamorphic, and Plutonic rocks which
occupy the southern side of the province. A chain of hills, similar
in structure to the range of Cape St. George, but of greater eleva-
tion, separates the Pictou trough from a region belonging to the
coal strata which extends beyond Tatmagouche in a northerly di-
rection.

The chain in question commences at the New Annan Hills, and
extends westward through the Cobequid Mountains to the Bay of

* See the map of Nova Scotia.

+ Dr. Gesner, many years since, deseribed the Cobequid chain as forming a
ridge separating the coal-formation of the north side of the Basin of Mines from
that of Cumberland county. Mr. Logan first noticed the existence of a trough
of carboniferous strata between Antigonish and Windsor.

‘s
f

1843.) 273

Section I.
Larnacoucuz to Tnuno, 24 miles.

N. Tatmagouche, New Annan Hills. Pictou Trough. Truro. &,

mri

d, “Yorizontal red sandstone.

c. Red and grey sandstones and shale, with coneretionary limestone, con-
taining copper ore, lignite, Endogenites, and footmarks of birds ; dip near the hills,
30° ; at ‘Tatmagouche only 10°.

b. Sandstone and coal —coal-plants.

a, Limestone, dark slate, shale, and grits, with shells and encrinites — In-
truding bands of granite, syenite, amygdaloid, &.

Fundy. To the eastward it does not reach the coast of Nor-
thumberland Strait, though its underground continuation in that
direction is indicated by an Anticlinal line which traverses the
newer members of the coal formation that lap round the eastern
extremity of the Annan Hills.

These trough-shaped arrangements of the strata are subject to
many irregularities. ‘The hilly region of Mount Thom is placed
nearly transverse to the Pictou trough. In consequence of the
separating ridges and anticlinal lines having been elevated, either
during the carboniferous period, or at a still Jater epoch, the car-
boniferous strata are traversed by numerous faults and minor lines
of disturbance, the prevailing direction of which is from east to

west. In spite of these disturbances, however, the strata in the

troughs have a general synclinal arrangement which can be traced
in the hilly regions, such as that of Mount Thom. This will be
seen by examining the accompanying map. a

East River.

Sxcrion IL. The gypsiferous formation ap-

Valley of the eastern branch of Easr pears in several places on the south
Riven. side of the Pictou coal trough. In

4 Piipn Teeeh 5, noticing its appearance at these

points, I may begin by stating some
, facts respecting the section on the
a s East River of Pictou in addition
é ‘ e to those already described by Mr.

sc Sep PG Lyell. ‘The members of the gyp-

b. Gypsiferous formation, with beds siferous formation See ae that BeC-
of limestone and gypsum alternating, tion consist of hard, brownish-red
and drifts overlying. Shales and sandstones (¢), with beds

a. Silurian slate. of marine limestone and masses of
gypsum(b). These latter are seen in the valley of the river between
the sandstones and the Silurian strata(a); but there are no good

274 [Dec. 13,

sections to be found in the neighbourhood. With the view of ascer-
taining their true relations, I examined two gypsum rocks, within
three miles of that seen by Mr. Lyell. The first of these consisted
of white granular gypsum, containing, like most similar beds in
this province, minute disseminated grains of carbonate of lime,
and having, in one part, large rounded masses of anhydrous
gypsum, enclosed in the common species, an appearance which
I have not elsewhere observed. No other rock was seen in
connection with this bed, which appeared to be upwards of
100 feet thick, and to have a strike corresponding with that of
the nearest visible sandstones and limestones. The other bed
examined was on Lime Brook, a tributary of the East River.
Here there is no good section, but the gypsum may be seen in
connection with soft sandstones mostly white, and having lime-
stones both below and above, separated, however, by intervals
without section, which have probably once been occupied by soft
sandstones removed by denudation. The limestone, underlying
the gypsum at Lime Brook, is without fossils, and rests uncon-
formably on the edges of slates with Silurian fossils, angular
fragments of the slate being included in its lower portion. The
limestone above the gypsum is of a lighter colour, and more pure
than any other limestone on the East River, and is also distin-
guished by containing a species of coral, not found in the other
beds. These limestones are seen at several other points, appa-
rently resting on the older slates; and in some places appear to be
penetrated by fissures containing hematite and other ores of iron,
peroxide of manganese, and sulphate of barytes. *

The limestones and gypsums thus resting on the Silurian strata
at the East River are separated from the productive coal measures
by hard reddish sandstones and shales, apparently of great thickness,
and containing (especially in their lower part) beds of marine
limestone. Where they approach the coal measures, however,
the sandstones are very much disturbed, and for this reason I was
anxious to obtain some additional evidence of the actual super-
position of the coal measures. I therefore examined the section
shown by the Middle River, and found there a series of beds
dipping in the same direction with those at-the Albion mines,
though at a higher angle, and beginning at about 5000 feet below
the main coal at the Albion mines. The uppermost of these rocks
is a thick bed of hard grey sandstone; underlying this are alter-
nations of grey and reddish sandstones and shales, containing in
one place a bed of bituminous shale, with Calamites above, and
cylindrical leaves or roots, perhaps of Stigmaria, below. Beneath
these are several hundred feet of red and variegated sandstone,
with shale and conglomerate. Here there is a break in the section,

* The balls of hematite scattered over the country, near the gypsums of the
East River, have been derived from these fissures in the gypsiferous rocks;
and their abundance is an additional evidence of the denudation which these
rocks have suffered.

1843, ] 275

and these rocks are succeeded, farther up the river, by disturbed
sandstones and limestones, which I was unable to examine, but
which I believe to correspond with those of the East River.

From these observations, in connection with those formerly
made by Mr. Logan and Mr. Lyell, it is apparent that the lowest
members of the Carboniferous series seen on the East River consist
of limestones, gypsum, and soft sandstones, above which are hard
reddish sandstones and shales, with limestone; and lastly, red and
grey sandstone, shells, and conglomerate, with carboniferous plants,
and probably these beds pass into the productive coal measures.

On the south side of the West River of Pictou, limestones, having
the same fossils with those found on the East River, are seen in
several places, and are associated with reddish sandstones, hard
grey shales, and white and purple sandstones. Farther westward,
near the Salmon River, there are sandstones, limestones, and
gypsum, identical in fossils and mineral character with those of the
East River, and like them connected with productive coal measures,
which they appear to underlie. Still farther westward, the gyp-
siferous formations of Onslow and the De Bert River probably
form a continuation of the Pictou lower carboniferous deposits,
being, like them, succeeded to the northward by the middle and
newer members of the coal formation. *

Merigonish.

Section III.
MenriconisH to Marticnant Cove, 20 miles.

Ww. M‘Cara’s Brook. Arisaig. E.

e. Coloured sandstones and shales, with occasional bands of ironstone and
concretionary limestone in the upper part—Calamites and other coal plants.
Coal ?.

d, Limestone and conglomerate — fossil shells.

c. Amygdaloid and conglomerate overlying sandstones and containing plants.

b. Dark shales with thin beds of limestone, a little conglomerate, and reddish
grits—marine shells, Encrinites, Trilobites, &c.

a. Altered red sandstone and conglomerate with dark shales, beds of amyg-
daloid, and intruding masses of greenstone.

Eastward of the East River, the band of carboniferous rocks
included between the shores of the gulf and the hills to the south-
ward, shows a series of beds, amounting to 10,000 or 12,000 feet in
thickness, and dipping to the north-west at an angle of 20 degrees.
The upper part of this section, beginning at the entrance of Meri-

* The salt springs of the West River rise from lower carboniferous rocks,
those of Salmon River from the productive coal measures. In both instances
they rise from vertical strata on lines of fault.

276 [ Dec. 13,

gonish harbour, shows grey and brownish-red sandstones and
shales, buff-coloured: sandstones, impure iron-stone, and coarse con-
cretionary limestone, these beds containing Calamites, coniferous
wood, and one or two small beds of coal. This part of the section
is, however, very imperfect, though, wherever the rocks can be
seen, there is a perfect conformity of dip. Their general aspect
and fossils correspond with those of the middle part of the coal-
formation, and they occupy about six miles of the coast section.

Eastward of the rocks last described, the section is better, and
shows a great thickness of brownish-red sandstones and shales,
with some grey beds, in which I could not find any fossils, except
some carbonised fragments of plants. These strata occupy about
three miles of the section, and are underlaid by reddish conglo-
merates, containing two beds of dark grey limestone, having an
agereeate thickness of about 80 feet.. These limestones contain
numerous fossils, among which are Productus Martini, Spirifer
glabra, and other shells, all common to these beds and the lime-
stones of the East River. These. conglomerates and limestones
are succeeded by a few hundred feet of thinly stratified, reddish
and grey sandstones, with a few fragments of fossil plants in bad
preservation. Beneath these, red conglomerates again appear,
associated with amygdaloidal trap. The latter is of a grey colour
and earthy aspect, and has its cells filled with white carbonate of
lime. It constitutes two conformable beds, whose lower sides are
more compact than their upper. Their upper surfaces: are also
partially broken up and intermixed with conglomerate. At this
point the carboniferous rocks are cut off on the coast section ;
some hard brownish grits, however, seen in a neighbouring brook,
called M‘Cara’s brook, probably underlie the rocks last mentioned.

The section between. M‘Cara’s brook and Arisaig is occupied
by dark shales and thin layers of limestone, with a few beds of
reddish shale and conglomerate. These rocks dip S. W., but
become much fractured as they approach Arisaig. They contain ~
numerous fossils, including species of the genera Tentaculites,
Graptolites, Trilobites, Orthoceratites, Modiola, Productus and
Conularia, and remains of Encrinites. Though mostly Silurian,
afew of these species appear to be the same with those of the slates
of the East River. Rocks having the appearance and fossils of
the latter are, however, found’ a short distance inland, to. the
southward of the shales.

There can be little doubt that, in the sandstones, limestones,
and conglomerates of this section, we have the representatives of
at least a part of the Gypsiferous formation of the East River,
and, resting conformably upon these, an equivalent of the coal-
measures.

Arisaig.
At Arisaig, 15 miles from Merigonish harbour, we enter on

the disturbed district, separating the coal-trough of Pictou from
that of Antigonish. From Arisaig to Malignant Cove, the shore

1843.] 277

displays hard brownish-red quartzose and jaspery rocks, with
thick beds of hard grey shales, red conglomerates, and coarse pur-
plish grits. Associated with these, are beds of amygdaloid, which
are evidently interstratified with the accompanying rocks, and are
probably, like those of M‘Cara’s brook, of contemporaneous origin.
The whole of these beds are vertical, and are, without doubt,
lower carboniferous rocks (perhaps a little lower in the series
than those last seen at M‘Cara’s brook), but in a much altered
condition. Beyond Malignant Cove, syenitic greenstone is seen
on the shore, and, is said to appear in different places as far as
Cape St.George. Eastward and southward of Malignant Cove,
the hills, in many places, show masses of compact felspar and
other igneous rocks, accompanied by altered and disturbed grits.
After passing this disturbed region, we enter on the Gypsiferous
rocks of the northern side of Antigonish harbour, having.a ge-
neral dip to the southward. Of these rocks, I examined two in-
teresting sections.

. Antigonish.

Section IV.

Rucnt’s River, ANTIGONISH.

d. Gypsiferous beds— gypsum, limestone, and sandstone.

ce. Limestone.

b. Red conglomerate and coarse red sandstone, dark sandstone and shale.
a. Dark and grey sandstones and shales, reddish sandstone : — plants.

The first of these sections is that represented above, and is
seen extending about five miles. Near the mouth of this river,
at the head of Antigonish harbour, is a thick bed of white
gypsum, dipping to the south-west. Succeeding this; in de-
scending order, after a small interval (which appears to have
_ been occupied by sandstones, now nearly removed by denuda-
tion), is a bed of dark-coloured limestone, in which, at different
points where it appears, I found Productus Martini with other
shells also occurring on the East River; and Productus Lyelli,
a shell not yet met with in the East River limestones, but very
characteristic of the gypsiferous formation in other parts of the
province. Below this limestone there is another break, also show-
ing traces of sandstones and a bed of gypsum, and then a thick bed
of dark limestone, partly laminated and partly brecciated without
fossils, and containing in its fissures thin plates of copper ore.
Beneath this limestone is a great thickness of reddish conglomerate,
composed of pebbles of igneous and metamorphic rocks, and vary-
ing in texture from a very coarse conglomerate to a coarse-grained
sandstone. In one place it contains a few beds of dark sandstones
and shales. These are succeeded by red, grey, and dark sandstone
and dark shales, in a disturbed condition, but probably underlying —

278 [Dee. 13,

the conglomerate ; they contain a few fossil plants. This section
on Right’s River includes a thickness of probably 8000 feet.

Srection V.

OcpeEnw’s Lake to Sourn Laxe, near AntIconIsH (4 miles).

d. Grey sandstone, and red conglomerate.

c. Soft red sandstones and clays; lignite, calamites, &c.

a. Altered dark sandstones and shales; intruded greenstone.
b. Grey and soft red sandstones and shales.

e. Limestone.

f- Gypsum.

Another section, near the mouth of Antigonish harbour, displays
a series somewhat similar. At the north side of the outlet of
Ogden’s Lake, about eight miles from Antigonish, is a bed of gyp-
sum, probably nearly 200 feet in thickness. Its upper part is
composed of white granular gypsum, in thick lamin, and with
disseminated particles of carbonate of lime. Beneath this is a con-
siderable thickness of foliated red gypsum, in its lower part alter-
nating with layers of a grey argillaceous non-crystalline limestone,
on which it rests, and which is penetrated by small veins of white
fibrous gypsum in its upper portion, while below it becomes brec-
ciated, and then laminated. It is probably 100 feet thick, and ap-
pears to contain no fossils. These great beds of gypsum and lime-
stone dip to the S. S. E. at an angle of 25°, and rest unconformably
on soft red sandstones and shales, with some grey sandstones and
reddish conglomerate, dipping nearly in the same direction, but at
an angle of 50°. Following this underlying series in the descend-
ing direction, it becomes more highly inclined, and is finally ver-
tical, resting against a mass of altered and contorted dark shales
and sandstones, with veins of greenstone containing much epidote.
This part of the section is connected with a ridge of igneous
rocks running in an east and west direction, and which a few miles
farther inland attains a considerable elevation. It consists of a
reddish syenite, quartz, compact felspar, and greenstone. After
passing these disturbed rocks, there is a break in the section, which
is next occupied by thick beds of brownish-red sandstone and clay,
supporting a thin bed of conglomerate and some thick beds of grey
sandstone, containing Calamites, Sternbergia, Endogenites, Carpo-
lites, and pieces of lignite. The relations of these beds to the other
parts of the section I could not determine. They dip to the north-
east, and probably belong, either to the upper part of the gypsi-
ferous formation, or to some newer member of the coal series.

These sections differ from that of the East River of Pictou, chiefly
in the presence of large masses of sandstone and conglomerate be-
neath the limestones, and in the non-appearance of the thick series
of sandstones above the gypsum, so conspicuous in the Pictou
sections.

1843. ] 279

Shubenacadie.

Having thus described the Lower Carboniferous rocks, as they
appear in some of the best sections near the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
it may be interesting to compare their arrangement and lithological
character with those of the Gypsiferous formations of the central
part of the province, formerly supposed to be newer than the coal-
formation, but referred by Mr. Lyell, principally on the ground of
its fossils, to the lower part of the Carboniferous system. The
rocks seen on the estuary of the Shubenacadie furnish a good spe-
cimen of these deposits for the purpose of comparison. ‘The sec-
tions on this estuary show several extensive masses of stratified
deposits, differing considerably in their mineral character, and
separated by faults in such a manner that their true relations do
not appear. Most of these masses consist of Red sandstones and
marls, with beds of gypsum and limestone. These, when compared
with the corresponding rocks in the Pictou and Antigonish sec-
tions, appear to differ only in their apparently greater mass, and
especially in the thickness of the deposits of red sandstone and
marl. ‘The upper bed of gypsum on Right’s River is succeeded by
a level tract affording no section ; and from the two sections, repre-
senting the outline of the surface near the gypsum of Ogden’s
lake and the East River, it will be seen that the present outline of
the surface is caused by a great removal of the softer beds.

Section VI.

Near Ocpen’s Laxz, Anriconisu (showing denudation).

tip
. a! re RE '
Tete

c. Gypsum and limestone.
b. Grey and soft red sandstones,
a. Syenite and greenstone.

One of the most remarkable rocks on the banks of the Shubena-
cadie is a great bed of compact and laminated non-fossiliferous
limestone, near the mouth of the estuary. This bed has its upper
surface broken up into a kind of breccia, and supports a great
thickness of soft red sandstone and conglomerate, with beds of
gypsum. It is also traversed by fissures filled with hematite and
ores of manganese. It rests upon a great thickness of hard,
brownish grits and shales, which appear in different places on the
road from Shubenacadie to Truro. The horizontal red sandstone
of Truro rests on the edges of these grits, which, near Truro, be-
come either vertical or dip rapidly to the north-east, and perhaps
also underlie some of the gypsiferous rocks of the Onslow hills.
From a consideration of all these circumstances, it appears probable
that these hard grits are the equivalents of the lower grits and
conglomerates of Antigonish; and that the bed of limestone which

VOL. IV. PART II, x

280 Weer
they support is a representative of the lower limestone at Anti-
gonish and Pictou. To the lower grits I would also refer the
mass of dark red- sandstones and shales at Eagle’s Nest, three miles
from the mouth of the estuary of the Shubenacadie. ‘The mass of
contorted dark sandstones and shales at Five-mile River resembles
some parts of the productive coal formation more nearly than any
of the lower carboniferous rocks : and the horizontal red sandstone,
a few miles farther up, is analogous to many of the beds both
above and below the gypsum at Antigonish and Pictou.

From a comparison of the appearances of the lower carboniferous
roeks in the various sections which I have examined, I have drawn
out the following table, which, I think, exhibits very nearly their
general arrangement. It commences with the productive coal
measures.

(

Lower Carboniferous or Gypsiferous Formation.

Rocks.

Fossils.

Where seen.

1.

Brownish-red, mottled and
grey sandstones ; brownish-red
shales; some conglomerates ;
the beds containing small quan-
tities of copper ores.

Brownish-red hard sandstones
and shales, often rippled ; some
grey sandstones, conglomerates,
and limestones ; copper ores in
small quantity.

Endogenites, Cala-
mites, Lepidoden-
dron.

Fragments of plants
and fucoidal mark-
ings; Productus
(especially P. Mar-
tini), Terebratula,
Spirifer, and other
shells.

Merigonish, East
River, Middle R.,
Shubenacadie ?

East River, Merigo-
nish, West River,
Middle River,
Economy, Ward-
robe’s, on Shube-
nacadie ?

3. Reddish and white sandstones | Productus _(espe- | East River, Antigo-
and marls, usually soft; beds| cially P. Iyelli),| nish, Shubenaca-
of gypsum and limestone (the | Terebratula, En-| die, Onslow Moun-
lowest bed usually a non-fossi- | crinites, Corals, | tain, De Bert R.,
liferous limestone); veins and Spirifer, Pecten, | Windsor, Pugwash,

fissures with ores of iron, man-
ganese, copper, &c.

Avicula, &e. &c.

Wallace, &e.

4. Reddish-brown conglomerates | Various plants. Antigonish, Shube-
and hard grits; some dark and nacadie, Truro,
grey sandstones, and brown and Salmon R.

dark shales.

Newer Coal Formation, Sandstones, Sc.

Tn several parts of the eastern section of Nova Scotia, there are
extensive deposits of sandstones and shales, principally of a
brownish-red colour, and including some thin beds of concretionary
limestone and grey sandstone. ‘They contain a few calamites and
other carboniferous plants. These beds constitute, I believe, the
newest member of the carboniferous series, and are connected with
the productive coal measures by a thick series of reddish-brown
and grey sandstones, shales, and conglomerates, often abounding in

ue gical Alay

PART or NO ad st OTL ue

BY J.W. DAWSON, ESQ®:

ni Lines indicate
wailing stetRe.
:

|__| =
|_| Red Sandstone ‘horizontal ) age unknown
—— Coal measures
ree | Carboniterous System (ie olp aytral Map
[eect] Lower Limestone a OF

a a] Go - = * Dee ae ae as \

ae Wallace HI? I) Stluvian System hina OF NOW 4) St OTL f )
a | Igneous & altered locks. BY JW. DAWSON, ESQ®®:
ees iI" Cav® sche NB. The broken Lines indicate
3 LY 2 the prevailing sti the
<< Le Vag *
Ly o

ND.

QU yp ticeou he

Cape

Currier S! Geor ve

9

‘
-

OS ahe

Cadens

0
oe Lake

== New Glas Sow

ALB E Ss Py ones
Xx ON MINE ne
WN

oe

ae King Milam Street Strand

|

1843. ] 281

fossil plants. As these upper red sandstones have, however, been
confounded with the gypsiferous formation, some of whose sand-
stones they often much resemble, I may shortly describe a section
on the Waugh’s and French rivers of 'Tatmagouche, exhibiting a
portion of them, and at the same time illustrating the str ucture of
a part of the Cobequid chain.

At the mouth of the French river are grey sandstones and
shales, containing a few endogenites, calamites, and pieces of lignite, .
impreonated with copper ores. Beneath these appears a series of
brownish-red sandstones and shales, with a few grey beds, occu-
pying, in a regular descending series, about six miles of the river
section. They contain, in a few places, nodules of copper glance,
they are often rippled, and contain branching fucoidal marks. On one
of the rippled slabs I found marks consisting of four foot-prints of
an animal. These were three inches and a-half apart, and each
exhibited three straight marks, as if of claws. *

The dips of these sandstones gradually increase in approaching
the hills, and the lowest seen is a bed of grey sandstone, dipping
at an anele of 30°. There is then a small break in the sections,
sticceeded by hard dark shales and slates, and hard brown evits,
with a bed of limestone in which I could find no fossils, except
a fragment of a Productus and a few fragments of encrinital stems
in bad preservation. These rocks are much disturbed, but gene-
rally appear to dip at high angles to the northward. They are
associated with masses of ereenstone, amygdaloid, reddish syenite,
and other igneous rocks. They appear to rise unconformably from
beneath tHe sandstones of the low country; but whether they
belong to the lower carboniferous or to some older system, I cannot
at present determine.

I hope, at some future time, to be able more particularly to state
the structure and relations of the newer members of the coal
formation, but have not yet collected a sufficient quantity of facts
to determine accurately their relations.

The horizontal red sandstone of Truro, which skirts the Basin of
Mines, has no connection with the red sandstone of Tatmagouche,
but is probably newer than any part of the coal formation. It is
destitute of the grey sandstones and shales, and in several sections

of it which I have examined, I have not found any fossils.

3. On ConcRETIONS in the Rep CraG at Fetrxstow, SUFFOLK.
_ By the Rev. J. S. Henstow, M.A., F.G.S., Professor of Botany
in the University of Cambridge.

I PLace on the table a selection from a large assortment of a

| peculiar description of concretions obtained from the Red Crag at
\

* These tracks resemble the marks of the claws of an animal running over a
moderately firm surface, or climbing up an inclined plane. They are not unlike
the marks left by the claws of small individuals of the River Tortoise on the
sides of mud banks, but differ from them in showing traces of two feet only.

Y

282 [Dec. 13,

Felixstow, in Suffolk. In 1842 I was much puzzled to account for
the nature of these concretions. At a cursory glance one might
almost be inclined to pass them by as waterworn pebbles, as they
lie abundantly interspersed among the comminuted shells which
form the upper parts of the cliffs. J found more than one eminent
geologist disposed to agree with me in considering them to be
rolled masses of London clay which had been indurated subse-
quently to their deposition in the crag. On my again visiting
Felixstow during the summer of the present year (1843), I deter-
mined to give them a particular examination ; and although a form-
ation which has been so thoroughly worked as the crag is not
likely to afford a casual visitor the opportunity of gleaning much
of novelty, I believe I have satisfactorily ascertained the origin
of these concretions, and have added to the list of crag fossils
the petro-tympanic bones of at least four species of Cetaceans.
These latter, I am persuaded, have been overlooked among the
many concretions of this formation. ‘They are, however, of a dif-
ferent composition, and closely resemble, in this respect, the silici-
fied fragments of bone so abundant in this locality. I believe the
specimens I have procured will range under two types, each con-
taining at least two species. I am not competent to the task of
throwing any osteological light upon these fossils, but am happy to-
state that Professor Owen has undertaken their examination ; and
we may therefore expect before long to be in possession of all that
can be said about them. It seems to me not a little remarkable,
that all these specimens should have been procured within a very
narrow compass, for I found none beyond the limits of two con-
tiguous indentations in the cliff, a short distance to the north of
Felixstow.

But, to return to the concretions to which I am more particu-
larly desirous of directing attention. They exhibit a very great
variety of forms. Many are more or less spheroidal, fusiform, and
cylindrical; many are perfectly amorphous. They appear to be
composed of a fine-grained compact ferruginous claystone, of a
dark chocolate brown colour; but the surface, which is very
smooth, and even polished, becomes pale by exposure. They often
separate by natural flaws into three or more fragments, which are
bounded internally by nearly plane surfaces. Many of them offer
traces of organic association; and the result of an extensive ex-
amination has convinced me that they must all be considered as of
coprolitic origin. I am not aware whether any analysis has ever
yet been made of them.

I will now direct attention to the following peculiarities observ-
able in some one or other of the specimens referred to : —

1. Two spiral masses.

2. A large perforated one, with traces of spiral or annular transverse convo-
lutions.

8. Other smaller ones, the convolutions being longitudinal.

4. Common character of the cylindrical and fusiform ones, seen, by fracture,
to be formed of longitudinally coiled folds, with a perforated axis,

1843.] . 283

5. Containing more or less distinet traces of fossils, apparently from macerated
subjects.
Ex. gr. Vertebre of cartilaginous fish.
Ex. gr. Crustacea, very numerous. N. Bb. Their remains in the Crag are
never thus fossilised unless under coprolitic associations.
Ex. gr. Two echiniform masses.
6. Various forms, more or less amorphous.
7. With vermicular-like traces (Algz?), as in the nodules from Green
sand and Gault.
8. With pitted surfaces, as if from the escape of bubbles of gas.
9. Ditto on fragments of cetaceous (?) bones highly polished, and perhaps
half digested.
10. Another description of nodule, less common, larger and more gritty, often
containing organic matter, as shells, &c.

4, Apprnpix to Professor Henslow’s Paper, consisting of a De-
scription of the Foss. Tympanic Bones referable to four
distinct Species of BAL@NA. By Ricuarp Owen, Esq., F.R.S.,
Hunterian Professor in the Royal College of Surgeons.

Tue fossils from the Crag at Felixstow, which have been sub-
mitted to my inspection by Professor Henslow, are the tympanic
portions of the petro-tympanic bones of large Cetacea.

The tympanic adhering to the petrous portion by only two small
surfaces is easily detached, and may be recognised by its con-
choidal shape and peculiarly dense texture ; the recent bone break-
ing with almost as sharp a fracture as the petrified fossils.

None of these are entire: the thin brittle outer plate which
bends over the thick, rounded, and, as it were, involuted part, like
the outer lip of such simple univalves as the Bulle and Lepto-
conchi, is broken or worn away in the best specimens, all of which
are rolled and waterworn.

We are led by the size of the specimens to the largest of the
existing Cetacea for the subjects of comparison, as the Grampus,
the Hyperoodon, the Cachalots (Physeter), and the true whales
(Balenoptera and Balena).

Two or three of the specimens are fortunately sufficiently entire
to show the form of the tympanic cavity bounded by the over-
arching plate, with the proportion and direction of its anterior or
Eustachian outlet, and most of them have the opposite or hinder
extremity entire. We are thus enabled to determine that the
ma‘ority differ from the tympanic bones of the Delphinide, includ-
ing the Grampus and Hyperoodon, in having the hinder extremity
of the bone simple and not bilobed ; and some of them, in having
the anterior outlet of the cavity partially enclosed by the extension
of the outer plate around that end.

With regard to the Cachalot (Physeter), I regret that I have had
no opportunity of comparing the Felixstow fossils with the tym--
panic bone in that genus, which I know only by the figures given

284 . . [Deenaey

by Camper* in his usual sketchy style. Cuvier, who founds his
notice of the tympanic bones of the Cachalot on the same figures,
states that they most resemble those of the Delphinide ; but are
less elongated and less bilobed posteriorly. The figures show still
more clearly that the tympanic cavity is continued freely forward
out of the anterior end of the bone, and terminates by a rela-
tively wider outlet than in the Delphinide.

If the idea thus given of the form of the tympanic bone of the
Cachalot be correct and conformable to nature, the comparison of
the Cetacean fossils becomes limited to the true whales (balenide),
in the few known species of which the distinctive characters of
the tympanic bones are afforded by their relative size and the shape
of their inferior surface.

In Balenoptera the tympanic bones, according to Cuvier, are
very small in proportion to the head, and are equally convex at
their inferior surface.

As none of the fossils in question have been found in situ, with
any part of the cranium, their size in proportion to that of the
animal cannot be judged of; but in the specimens that have been
least injured and water-worn, the inferior surface shows the flat-
tened or gently concayo-convex undulation which characterises the
tympanic bone in true Balene.

In regard to the differences which are observable in the tym-
panic bones of the two known species of Balena (Bal. mysticetus,
and Bal. australis, capensis, or antarctica) Cuvier} merely ob-
serves that “though slight they add to the motives which led him
to believe the Arctic whale and that of the Cape to be specifically
distinct.” This remark at least encourages us to regard the cha-
racters derivable from the tympanic bone as sufficiently deter-
minate to be a guide in the distinguishing of species ; and with this
conviction I have proceeded to compare the fossils in question
with the recent tympanic bones of the two existing species of
Baleena.

In them the thick convex involuted portion of the tympanic
bone is slightly and unequally raised above the level of the cavity
formed by the over-arching wall, but in the Bal. antarctica it
gradually decreases in thickness to the anterior or Eustachian
angle; while in the Bal. mysticetus the thicker posterior part is
defined by an indentation from the thinner anterior part. In both
species the thinner part of the convex border is distinctly continued
to the anterior limit of the cavity; in both the extent of the invo-
luted convexity, inwards, is not well defined, but it gradually sub-
sides, and the convexity is exchanged for the concave curve of the
overarching wall. I purposely omit the mention of the slight
difference in other parts of the tympanic bone of the Balena
mysticetus and antarctica, since the condition of the fossils would
not admit of the application of those differences in the determina-
tion of their affinities.

* Anatomie des Cetacés, Pls. xxiii. xxv.
+ Ossemens Fossiles, 4to., v. pt. 1. p. 376.

1843. ] 285

Petro-tympanic bone of Balena affinis.*

One of the most complete of the fossil tympanic bones, which
measures five inches in length, resembles the Bal. antarctica in the
slight elevation of the posterior part of theinvoluted convexity and its
gradual diminution to the Eustachian end of the cavity: it resembles
both Balene in its traceable continuation to that end, and in the
gradual continuation of the concave outer wall from the involuted
convexity; this convexity is indented also, as in both recent Ba-
lene, by vertical fissures narrower than the marked indentation
which distinguishes the Bal. mystecetus: these fissures are almost
worn out by friction in some of the specimens. The more perfect
one under consideration is not, however, identical with the Bal.
antarctica,

The upper surface of the bone maintains a more equable breadth
from the posterior to the anterior end, the outer angle of which,
being well marked in the fossil, is rounded off in ‘the recent speci-
men; the under and outer surfaces of the tympanic bone meet at
an acute angle. ‘The above characters are sufficiently marked in
the specimens of the fossil tympanic bones to justify their being
recarded as belonging to a species distinct from the known exist-
ing Balene, but nearest allied to the Bal. antarctica, and which
I propose to call Balena affinis.

A second species is more unequivocally indicated by the distinct
definition of the involuted convexity ; and the extent of the slightly
concave surface extending from it to the commencement of the
overarching wall; the anterior extremity of the involuted convexity
is equally well defined, and a wide concavity divides it from the
anterior extremity of the Eustachian cavity. The thickest part of
the involuted convexity is not very prominent. ‘The under and
outer surfaces of the bone meet at a right angle.

The species indicated by the tympanic bones of this form may be
termed Balena definita.

A third form of tympanic bone differs from the first in the
shorter and more convex form of the involuted part, the anterior

* This engraving is one of a series (illustrating each of the four species)
prepared for Prof. Owen’s work on the “ British Fossil Mammalia and Birds ”
now in course of publication. The cut was very kindly lent by the publisher
(Mr. Van Voorst) to illustrate this paper in the “ Proceedings.” — Ep.

286 [Jan. 3,

end of which is divided from the anterior end of the cavity by a
coneave border one inch in extent; the internal border of the in-
voluted convexity is also better defined than in Bal. affinis ; but
the overarching wall begins to rise close to it, divided from it only
by a deep and narrow rugged fissure instead of by a broad and
gently concave tract, as in Bal. definita.

Both the outer and under surfaces of these specimens are more
rounded than in the two preceding species; but being more muti-
lated and water-worn, the characters derivable from the external
parts of the bone are of less value. The characters above specified,
which are furnished by the involuted convexity, are decisive as to
the specific distinction of the present fossils, which therefore indi-
cate a third species of extinct whale, which I propose to call Balena
gibbosa.

There is a fourth form, which differs from the last in the less
degree of convexity of the involuted part, but more particularly in
its outer border being notched or indented, as in Balena mysti-
cetus, by a vertical angular impression deeper and wider than the
smaller vertical fissures.

The comparative shortness of the involuted convexity- distin-
euishes this species from the existing Balene and the Bal. affinis,
the notched and less convex involution from Bal. gibbosa, and the
immediate rising of the overarching wall beyond the inner bound-
ary of the involution from the Bal. definita. I propose for this
species the name of Balena emarginata.

JANUARY 3d, 1844.

Major Thomas Austin, of Bristol, and George Harcourt, Esq.,
M.P., of Newnham Court, Oxfordshire, were elected Fellows of this
Society.

The following communications were read : —

1. On the Occurrence of the Genus PaysETER (or Sperm Whale)
in the Red Crag of Felixstow. By Epwarp CHARLEsSWorRTH,
Esq., F.G.S.

Some years since, whilst looking over a collection of fossils in the
possession of Mr. Brown of Stanway, I was struck by the appear-
ance of a cylindrical nodule from the Red Crag of Felixstow, which
seemed to me to exhibit indications of an organic structure unlike
that of any fossil body which had previously come under my notice.
With the permission of its owner I had a section made of this fossil ;
but the characters which it presented upon being cut did not en-
able me to arrive at any determination respecting its real nature.
At a subsequent period, I learned from Mr. Brown that the
nodule in question had been submitted by Professor Owen to mi-
croscopical examination, and identified as the tooth of a Cachalot.

1844.) 287

In the reports of the British Association for 1842, this tooth is
included in the list of British Fossil Mammalia; but Mr. Owen,
through mistake, has there assigned it to the “ Diluvium of Essex.”
I am informed by Mr. Brown, that he procured the specimen from
a man at Felixstow, who stated that he picked it up on the beach ;
and as several of the rarest known Crag fossils have been obtained
at this spot under similar circumstances, there is no room to doubt
its being a genuine fossil of the Crag formation. The mineral
condition of the tooth is likewise so very remarkable, and so totally
unlike that of the Mammalian remains which occur in the diluvial
or lacustrine deposits, that this alone, in the absence of all other
evidence, would have sufficed to determine its geological antiquity.

The valuable communication submitted to the last meeting of the
Geological Society by Professor Henslow, upon the discovery of
Cetacean remains in the Red Crag of Felixstow, immediately
brought to my recollection the existence of this Cachalot’s tooth in the
cabinet of Mr. Br own; and that gentleman having, within the last
few days, been so good as to forward the specimen to me, I am now
enabled to submit it to inspection. ‘Through the kindness of Mr.
Nasmyth I have had the opportunity, upon this occasion, of com-
paring the structure presented by the fossil with sections of recent
Cachalot’s teeth, and the result has been to satisfy me of the cor-
rectness of Professor Owen’s determination.

A species of the genus Physeter may therefore now be added to
the four species of Red Crag Balena already enumerated by Pro-
fessor Owen, and the occurrence of this genus must, I think, be
regarded as a very interesting addition to the list of Cetaceans dis-
covered by Professor Henslow in the Felixstow cliff.

2. On a Fossiz Forest in the Parkfield Colliery near Wolver-
hampton. By Mr. Henry Becxerr.

Tue fossils alluded to in the following notice, occur in an open
work, that is, the superincumbent strata have been pared off, and
we find the coal (which belongs to what is called the “ bottom
coal,” ) well exposed to view. ‘The bed has been bared for upwards of
two years, but the fossils do not appear to have attracted attention,
till Mr. William Sparrow and myself, whilst tracing the great
faults of the South Staffordshire coal-field, ac cidentally stumbled
upon them, and were struck with their number and their evident .
resemblance to trunks of trees.
Since that time, by the kind permission of the Parkfield Com-
“pany, and with the assistance of Professor Orlebar, of the Royal
Bengal College in Bombay, I have carefully removed the coal at-
tached to the roots of one of the trees.
We found the stump to be perfectly bituminized, but broken off
about two inches above the level of the coal measure, the inner

288 [Jan. 3,

part being somewhat hollowed to about the level of the coal itself :
the surface and edges of the broken part were smoothed or pro-
bably water-worn. The tree bared was not flattened, but pre-
served precisely the same appearance which I have noticed with
peat timber in Ireland, and was 4 feet in circumference. The
principal root extended southwards 22 inches, terminating ab-
ruptly. ‘The other roots spread out in a similar manner,— not in
separate forks, but in an apparently continuous mass, showing that
the plant required a broad base for its support. ‘There were no
appearances of a tap root; in fact, the nature of the tree would
not require it; neither were any fibrous filaments visible. The
trunk and roots were covered with a bark about half an inch
thick, the coaly matter of which being more brittle, though con-
siderably more compact in.its texture than either the body of the
tree or the circumjacent bed, also possessed a more smooth and
bright surface, when broken.

The bark externally was either perfectly smooth, or marked by
irregular longitudinal striz, differing altogether from Calamites
or Sigillarie. Within the bark was the hollow cylindrical trunk,
about 2 inches across the cylinder, the coal composing which was,
as before observed, more earthy in its character, but was concen-
trically lamellar in its structure; some thin laminz being of a.
brighter and better quality than the mass.

The interior of the plant was filled with a blended mass of coal
and shale.

The trees are all upright‘and bear undoubted evidence of having
grown on the spot.

The thickness of coal in which the stumps are found is only
5 inches. On breaking the coal with the grain, we met with
impressions (very faint however) of reed-like plants and Stigmarie.

Beneath the coal was the bed in which the trees must have
grown, and this (as now compressed and indurated) is 34 inches .
thick. It is composed, at the top and bottom, of a dark-brown or
brown-black bituminous shale, inclosing a band of fire clay, half
an inch thick.

The shale bed contains impressions of the Lepidodendron, Ulo-
dendron, Stigmaria, and probably other species of plants, and I
discovered one fragment proving the existence of animal life—a
solitary scale of Megalichthys Hibberti.

It is remarkable that, though our. field in general abounds with
the bivalve shells often described as Unios, I have only found one
specimen in the open work, and that in an upper bed.

There were no appearances of the roots passing into the shale ;
but from the peculiar arrangement of the central part of the trees,
Iam induced to suspect that the shale may have occupied an in-
ternal position considerably above the level of that in the bed.

On breaking through the shale, we discovered in a second seam
of coal what at first struck us as being a prolongation of the
roots; but, on further search, another forest was found below
the first. In the upper bed we counted seventy-three trees in

1844.] 289

about a quarter of an acre (as shown in exact position on the
accompanying sketch), and in the second they appeared equally
abundant, as we laid bare three trees in as many yards square.
The characters of the lower trees were similar to those described,
but longer portions of the trunks were developed, the thickness of
coal being seventeen inches in the spot opened; but this varies in
other parts of the bed. These trees do not pass through the upper
shale, but the trunks occupy the whole thickness of this second
coal-bed, and we found the substratum to consist of a shale, similar
to that above, and 5 inches thick; while below this was a bed of
fire clay, seven inches thick, reposing upon a third bed of coal in
which trees were not found.

I should perhaps add that the upper coal is capped with fire
clay, in which no traces of the trees have been observed.

3. Description of the Remains of numerous Fossa. Dicoryie-
ponous TrrEs in an Outcrop of the Bottom Coal at Parkfield
Colliery, near Bilston. By Wivu1aM Ick, Esq., F.G.S8.

At a depth varying from forty to fifty yards below the Ten-yard
stratum of the South Staffordshire coal-field, there are usually
found three deposits of coal, called the Top, the New Mine, and
the Bottom Coal. When these beds can be_readily worked, they
are scarcely inferiar in value to the Ten-yard coal, the Top and
New Mine deposit, with the intervening shales and partings, often
forming a series of strata eight yards in thickness. Below this a
few beds of ironstone occur; then a bed of fire clay about three
yards in thickness, and immediately under this the Bottom Coal.
At Parkfield Colliery, 14 miles west of Bilston, and at about
the same distance south of Wolverhampton, there is a fine outcrop
of this Bottom Coal, which is now being got in open work. In

290 [Jan. 3,°

one part the overlying fire clay has been removed, and the surface
of the coal exposed, over an area of a somewhat triangular shape,
for about 2,700 square yards.

This terrace of coal exhibits on its surface one of the most re-
markable accumulations of the fossil remains of the vegetation of
the coal period ever exposed to view.* There are upwards of
seventy trunks of trees, apparently dicotyledonous, broken off close
to the root, and several of them are more than 8 feet in circum-
ference; the prostrate trunks lying across each other in every
direction. One of these measured 380 feet, another 15 feet in
length, and several others a few feet less. They are invariably
flattened to the thickness of from one to two inches, yet both upper
and under side preserve a distinct trace of bark. The stumps, also,
exhibit a distinct ring of bark, which, as usual, has become a
bright coal, with a crystalline fracture ; while the interior or
woody part is a dead-looking coal, nearly approaching to cannel
coal.

These stumps seldom rise much above the surface. Many of
them are surrounded by a circular ridge, formed by the materials
of the bed accumulating round them. In a few cases the place of
a trunk is marked by a circular depression in the coal, the trunk
having been probably removed with the overlying fire clay. In
some of the stumps the thick diverging roots may be traced by
clearing off the coal, nearly a yard omn the circle of bark; and I
was enabled to clear away from one of the trees the surrounding
coal and shale, down to the substratum of fire clay; but no trace
of stems or of the long radicles or leaves of stigmaria were found,
either in the shale or fire clay. Impressions, more or less distinct,
of stems of Stigmaria ficoides, are found in the shale in some
parts of the deposit ; but in no case, so far as we could discover,
could any connection be traced with the adjacent trunks. Many spots
between the trunks are almost covered with impressions of Cala-
mites, two or three distinct species of which may be recognised, in
some places forming groups of six or eight square feet. The stems
of Lepidodendra with the impressions of the scales finely pre-
served, and Lepidostrobi, are also scattered in profusion over the
surface ; and mingled with these vegetable remains are occasionally
found the teeth and other fragments of fishes. There are also
found ring-shaped bodies, sometimes in pairs, which appear to me
to be identical with the bodies figured in Plates 8 and 10 of
Dr. Hibbert’s Paper on the Fresh-water Limestone of Burdie
House, in the 10th Vol. of the Trans. of Roy. Soc. of Edinburgh;
p- 169.; and said to be the scales of Megalichthys Hibberti, which
have lost their external lamellar structure.

Not the least curious circumstance, in Pomme eon with this
deposit, is, that although the whole is not more than 12 feet in
thickness, there are at least three distinct beds of coal, each of
which exhibits on its surface the remains of an ancient forest of

* See diagram, p. 43.

1844.] 291

large trees. A reference to the an-
nexed section will show the position
of these beds. ‘The upper growth
of vegetation is on a stratum of coal
10 inches thick, under which is a
band of clay 2 inches thick; this
lies undisturbed on the south end = ———

of the platform, but is removed from _ Section of the fault and fossil trees in
a few yards south of the centre to Uae Sane ee es

the northern extremity; and the second bed is there exposed,
covered, like the upper, with trunks, &c. The coal is here about
2 feet thick, and rests on a band consisting of 4 inches of shale and
8 of fire-clay. Five feet below this grew the third forest; the
surface, where the upper beds have been removed, exhibiting
similar large stumps of trees, Lepidodendra, Calamites, &c.

_ At Millfields colliery, one mile to the east, the same beds are
found at a depth of 126 yards.

In several points of view, the deposit at Parkfield must be inte-
resting to geologists. The position of the trees, in each bed of
coal, seems almost to preclude all doubt of their having grown and
perished on the spot where their remains are now found, and the
roots are apparently fixed in the coal and shale, which was the

original humus in which they grew.

_ As is generally the case with stems found prostrate in coal, these
stems are flattened. ‘The woody tissue perished before the super-
incumbent strata were deposited, leaving nothing but a tube of
bark, which readily yielded to pressure. This is well seen in a
Specimen, in which the bark is preserved, as well on the under as
on the upper side, while no woody tissue lies between ; the liber,
or inner side of the bark, from each side of the stem being crushed
into contact. It is from this cause that the ligneous structure of
coal fossils is so rarely preserved. ‘The large trunks, in nearly all
cases, have been reduced to mere cylinders of bark, probably by a
process similar to that pointed out by Mr. Hawkshaw, and now to
be seen in tropical forests, where, by a combination of causes, a
large tree is reduced, in a few months, to a hollow tube which
yields to the slightest pressure. In this state, if a stem fall, it is
flattened ; if it remain erect, the interior becomes filled up with
the ferruginous or carbonaceous materials of the surrounding bed,
which occupy the place of the rings of woody tissue.

Whatever may be our success in discovering the botanical cha-
racter of these trees by microscopic aid, the evidence is not slight
that they were most of them allied to Conifers ; and few who have
carefully compared the Lepidodendra with the leaf-bearing stems
of the yew, spruce-fir, or various species of pine, can have much
doubt of the fossil plants being allied to these recent ones.

In conclusion, I may observe that I have been induced to make
this communication to the Geological Society, because it is one of
the very rare instances of the surface of a bed of coal being ex-
posed over a large area. It is very probable that similar interest-

292 . [Jan. 3,

ing glimpses of the vegetation of a former world would be fre-
quently seen, if, instead of working in the dark and cutting down
the edges of the strata, we could remove at once the upper cover-
ing, as at Parkfield, and expose to the day the face of coal on which
the ancient forests grew.

4. Some Account of a Foss. Trex found in the Coal Grit near
Darlaston, South Staffordshire. By Joun S. Dawns, Esq.

Wiru the last few days (Jan. 1844), an exceedingly well-preserved
and extraordinary specimen of a fossil tree has been discovered in
a stone quarry near the town of Darlaston. The rock, which
also contains Calamites and other drifted coal fossils, is the White
Grit, which overlies the thin carboniferous measures, on the north-
eastern side of the South Staffordshire coal field ; the fossil, 39 feet
in length, lies in the ripple-marked stone, at a depth of 16 yards
from the surface, the nearest bed of coal being ten yards below it.
The root end is towards the deep, and in a westerly direction.
Its angle of inclination is about 6°, which also corresponds with
the dip of the strata; distinct traces of four branches may be ob-
served upon the stem, three of which, when it was found, were
still attached, and apparently in the position in which they grew,
but one of them was moved aside from its original direction.
They extended in length from 6 to 8 or 9 feet, having a diameter
varying from 6 to about 4 inches, and the upper one yet re-
mains attached, and shows a remarkable uniformity in its thick-
ness. The others were in part broken to pieces, and some of them
lost before I was aware of the specimen being in the quarry ; but
I understand that each appeared to terminate abruptly, having a
small portion of coaly matter adhering to the end. There is also
some appearance of a fifth branch projecting in a contrary di-
rection, but possibly this may belong to another specimen, still
imbedded lower in the quarry. The following are the dimensions
as nearly as can be ascertained while it remains in situ: —diameters
of stem, at the lowest part, 14 inches and 6 inches; distance to the
first branch 11 feet 6 inches ; diameters at this point 16 inches and
6 inches; distance from’ this to the second branch 5 feet 6 inches :
diameters 18 inches and 6 inches; distance -to third knot 7 feet ;
diameters 16 inches and 12 inches; distance again to the upper
branch 6 feet 6 inches; diameters 17 inches and 10 inches. From
this part to the top, the distance is 8 feet 6 inches, where the
breadth is suddenly contracted to less than 8 inches, and imme-
diately beyond the fossil is converted into a thin narrow layer of
coal, showing in a remarkable manner a gradual change from the
stony mineral into that substance. This upper part, which has been
traced about 18 inches further, still continues to penetrate the
solid rock, and the lower end has been uncovered to the further

)

1844. ] . 293

extent of 3 feet 9 inches, where this part also is found to enter
the side of the quarry ; so that the whole length of this splendid
fossil, so far as it is yet traced, is upwards of 44 feet, and its
greatest breadth is not more than 20 inches. At this point it has
evidently been the most compressed, being here only about 4
inches in depth; but from the second branch to within 8 or 4 feet
of the top, the tree maintains, in a remarkable manner, almost its
original proportions. It-will at first sight appear extraordinary
that the breadth within 6 feet of the lower end should not exceed
12 inches; this however, without doubt, arises from the greater
degree of carbonisation which is evident at this part, and indeed
marks of the original exterior may be traced upon the adjoining
stone to the extent of 19 inches. The substance of the tree,
though not silicified, is hard and fine-grained, differing entirely
in appearance from the rock which surrounds it, having become
more highly impregnated with iron, to which probably its present
state of preservation is to be attributed. It is evident that the
mineralising process must have commenced prior to any extensive
decay, for in all probability the structure has been well preserved.
Microscopic sections, which I have not yet been enabled to obtain,
will of course afford the best evidence as to its affinity with other
fossils, and with recent wood; but I may observe that there is an
appearance of concentric rings, and, moreover, a large develop-
ment of pith, but differing probably from every other described

- fossil stem. The bark, in general, has been converted into a thin

layer of bright coal, which becomes fractured, and in part sepa-
rates, on removing the overlying rock; but no trace of leaf-scars
or punctures have yet been detected either upon the stem or its
branches; the decorticated exterior, particularly of the latter,
which presents a smooth surface with broad irregular strie, hav-
ing a waved and somewhat twisted appearance. ‘These branches
show indications of cicatrices, as though other lesser ones had
formerly been attached to them; and it may be remarked that
small branches exhibiting this peculiar exterior have repeat-
edly been met with in the South Staffordshire coal district. I may
mention, in conclusion, that I have obtained some excellent sec-
tions of the wood, which show that the structure is remarkably
perfect, and prove the tree to have been coniferous.

5. On the Trap-rock of Birapon-nit1, in Somersetshire. By
the Rey. D. Wirtiams, F.G. S.

Since the author’s last communication on this subject *, the com-
pletion of the Railway cutting through the western point of
Bleadon Hill has disclosed several new and remarkable facts; and
these have so materially changed his views respecting the origin

* Geological Transactions, 2d ser. vol. vi. p. 561.

294 . [Jan. 3,

of trap and other rocks, that he has been led to draw up a sup-
plement to his former papers.

The Mountain Limestone of Bleadon Hill and that of Uphill
have been disconnected by two great downcast faults since the
lias was deposited, that on the Bleadon side ranging E. by N. and
W. by S., and that on the Uphill side N. E. and 8. W. In the
space between them, which is about a quarter of a mile broad, the
surface consists of las and new red sandstone.

In the cutting the Bleadon fault is finely exposed, and its
southern side presents a great slickenside wall of limestone and
trap, which dips to the south at an angle of 70°. On the northern
side of the fault, the lias is seen, curiously faulted, to some little
distance; it then dips considerably towards the fault, the in-
clination increasing, and the beds at last going down with the
fault, the lias inclining towards it at an angle of 45°. — The lias,
where abutting against the trap, has no appearance of having
been altered by it.

Section I,

WESTERN SIDE OF RAILWAY.

a. Mountain limestone. b. Lias.
a’, Altered mountain limestone. p. Trap.

On the western side of the Railway, not far from its northern
end, an insulated mass of Mountain limestone is seen standing
several feet in advance of the vertical cutting. Though much
altered and deprived of the usual planes of bedding, it may readily
be identified by its nodules ef chert and crinoidal stems and plates.

Little doubt can be entertained that it was once the continuation
of four thick beds, which rest on its southern flank, and in the
process of quarrying have separated from its surface. Nearly half
the base of this insulated mass of limestone has been removed, and
replaced by trap, the surface of contact between the two being
very rough and unequal; and a foot or two further towards the
north there rises from beneath this altered limestone a mass of
trap, 9 feet thick at its base, which, as it ascends, gradually tapers,
and at the height of from 20 to 25 feet is reduced to a thin string,
or enters into joints of the limestone. The limestone is highly
altered, and the limestone walls of the joint are singularly rough
and rugged throughout. ‘The limestone is traversed by a long,
narrow, irregular crack, in which are found thin seams and plates
of trap and trappean matter.

Fifty-four feet to the south of the first mass of trap, another
irregular mass of the same rock shows itself, and ascends through

ei ae

the beds of limestone diagonally, overhanging on its southern side.
Close to the northern side of this mass, a well-defined joint
cuts the limestone from its base to its summit, so that between
this joint and the trap there is a thin strip of limestone which, on
its side next the trap, is very irregularly indented.

Section II.

EASTERN SIDz.

ce ge TS
EE ZA TAL
BASEA| AIF Uetn YY

a a

Proceeding next to the eastern side of the cutting, and beginning
at its northern end, the lias (4) is first seen, dipping towards
the wall of limestone and trap. On the opposite side of the
fault, and at the base of the limestone is seen a mass of trap (p’),
the upper surface of which runs nearly parallel to the calcareous
beds above it. Further southward, however, that surface becomes
irregular, and descends more rapidly than the beds of limestone;
and near its southern end the mass of trap descends at an acute
angle below the level of the cuttings. Further southward, a
second mass of trap appears, and at a short distance a third, and
then finally a fourth.

The author next describes the alterations produced in the lime-
stone on the eastern side of the cutting.

At the northern fault, the face of the wall of limestone that lies
above the trap is eroded in places into broad shallow cavities
filled with trap and trappean matter, the trap having generally
selected the joints and fissures in the limestone, and being therefore
variable and unequal in thickness here, as on the other side of the
cutting.

Three of the beds of limestone have been affected by the in-
trusion of the trap: the lowest varies much in thickness, and is
reduced where the trap appears. The second bed is affected and
sometimes cut off by the trap, and sometimes becomes blended
with the superior bed of limestone, and towards the fault dips

down towards it. This latter bed abuts against the fourth mass
_ of trap (towards the south), the contact being rough and rugged.

The curvilinear fault above noticed has shifted the beds of
limestone. On the southern side of this fault, we find resting on
the southern flank of the fourth mound of trap a mass of altered
limestone, which, as it approaches the summit of the trap, tapers
| upwards and disappears. ‘The surface of this wedge of lime-
| stone, where in contact with the trap, presents the same pitted and
| irregularly eroded appearance which has been before noticed in

limestone similarly situated.
VOL, Iv. PART I, Zz

|

296 [Jan. 3,

Near the middle of the first or northernmost mass of trap, and
entirely insulated by it, a patch of limestone was found. This
was in some parts attenuated to a thin lamina, and in others ter-
minated in long and slender strings. It was imbedded in the
trap to the depth of about a foot.

As to the mineralogical character of the Bleadon trap, it is of a
reddish-brown, or greenish-grey colour, and is usually traversed
by veins and strings of calcareous spar, which often pass into
yellow crystalline limestone. It contains, in abundance, small
spherical kernels of calcaréous matter, which are usually coated by
red oxide of iron. Less frequently it contains steatite, and still
more rarely glassy felspar. ‘The rock is rather tough than hard,
and decomposes so freely, that specimens of it adhering to the
limestone are not readily procured. :

The altered limestone has lost its original blue tint, and, in pro-
portion to the alteration it has undergone, has become, first, light-
red; secondly, buff; thirdly, bright deep yellow; and lastly, deep-
red. In all its bright and deep-red stages, it is crystallised into
obtuse rhomboids, like calcareous spar, into which it passes. All
the above gradations are frequently seen in the same bed. From
its original state of extraordinary hardness the altered limestone
has become very crisp and brittle.

The distance from the trap to which the alteration of the lime-
stone extends, is from 5 to 25 feet.

The author is of opinion that the principal shifts, faults, and
dislocations which are observable in the limestone beds at Blea-
don, took place prior to the intrusion of the trap, and are not
attributable to that intrusion. In two instances, however, joints
are observable which run through the limestone and the trap con-
tinuously; though they are more obscure in the latter than in the
limestone.

Reasoning on the preceding facts, the author states his inability
to account for them, on the supposition that the trap was injected
or forcibly intruded into its present position.

Referring to the southernmost mass of trap, visible on the west
side of the cutting, it will be seen that the outlines of the limestone
on the southern and northern margins of the trap do not corre-
spond ; so that it cannot be supposed that the beds have been
parted asunder ; nor do the beds adjacent announce anything of the
sort. If it be supposed that the limestone, which filled the space
now occupied by the trap, has been forcibly removed, the over-
lying beds bear no evidence of any displacement at all; the deep
acute-angular indentations of the mass would be very unfavourable
to such removal ; and there is no mass of limestone visible above
or elsewhere, which in any way agrees in form with the mass of
trap.

If it be supposed that the trap was injected into some previously
existing cavities, into the hollows and inequalities of which it be-
came moulded, that would not account for the extent to which

1844.] 297

alteration is manifested in all the rocks around, nor for their un-
equally altered condition, amounting in some instances to indica-
tions of active fusion; nor will it explain the occasional spots and
irregular forms of trap which are insulated in the limestone.

Referring to the patch of limestone entangled in the northern-
most mass of trap, on the eastern side of the cutting, the author
states his conviction that no fragment of a similar limestone, of
like forms and dimension to that in question, could be separated
from its parent rock by mechanical agency of any. kind, unless
by the most elaborate design ; so thin are the plates and so slender
are the strings of this limestone patch, which is insulated in the
trap.

The explanation of these phenomena which the author has to
offer is, that the lime-rocks have been reduced im situ by tranquil
fusion, and have been converted by subsequent cooling and crys-
tallising into the trap which now replaces them, occupying the
very position before occupied by the limestone.

The patch of limestone insulated in the trap, the author con-
ceives to have been a calcareous fragment, which had escaped
entire fusion ; and he can imagine no process in nature to account
for the spots of trap, insulated in the limestone, except that of
intense heat.

The author notices that there is nowhere to be met with, in the
proximity of the trap, any extraneous matter which might be
referred to the action of liquid lava on the limestone ; but it is all
limestone, or all trap. What, he asks, can have befallen the
portions of the limestone beds which have disappeared, unless they
have been melted up, and converted into trap?

The author does not mean to question the fact that, in certain
instances, trap and other voleanic rocks have been forcibly intro-
duced among sedimentary and other rocks; but only wishes to show
that, in other instances, there is evidence that the presence of trap
is attributable to the reduction of pre-existing rocks by volcanic
agency.

These views led the author to arrange Volcanic Products under
two heads, the immediate and the intermediate; the former consisting

of such products as have been fused down and crystallized in situ,

or have been ejected from submarine vomitories, or subaerial
craters; the latter, of such rocks as have been acted upon more or
less extensively, and only partially reduced by active fusion, and
were therefore in different states of reduction when the temperature

| was finally withdrawn. In the former he comprises granite,

porphyry, the several varieties of trap, tufaceous ash, breccia,
grit, flinty chlorite, taleose and clay slates; in the latter head he

| comprises gneiss and mica-, chlorite-, and hornblende- schist.

298 [Jan. 17,

January 17, 1844.

Eaton Hodgkinson, Esq., F.R.S., of Manchester, and Lieutenant-
Colonel Sabine, R.A., F.R.S., were elected Fellows of this Society.

The following communications were read : —

1. On certain Crustaceans found at Atherfield by Dr.Fitton. By
T. Bett, Esq., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology in King’s College,
London.

[The notice of this paper in the “ Proceedings ” is postponed. ]

2. On the Occurrence of PHosPHORITE in Estremadura. By
CHartes Davupeny, M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry in
the University of Oxford; and Captain Wipprineton, R. N.,
F.R.S.

A sTATEMENT having frequently been made by mineralogical writers,
that there exists in the Spanish province of Estremadura an ex-
tensive formation of Phosphate of Lime, it was considered by
some leading Members of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
Jand an object of importance to learn the truth of these state-
ments; and the authors were, therefore, commissioned to ascertain
where and under what circumstances the substance in question was
found; what facilities existed in the country for procuring it and
conveying it to the coast; and whether, if used as a manure, it
was of a nature to serve as a substitute for the bone earth, now
employed extensively in husbandry.

The original authority for the statement, that there occurs in
Estremadura a certain mineral which, when thrown upon live coals,
becomes phosphorescent, was found to be William Bowles, who, in
his introduction * to the Natural History and Physical Geography
of Spain (2d edit. 4to. Madrid, 1782, p. 6.), relates, that, at the foot
of a range of mountains running E. and W., and called the Moun-
tains of Guadalupe, and in the immediate vicinity of a place called
Logrosan, the royal road is traversed obliquely, from N. to S., by a
vein of Phosphoric stone. This stone was said to be of a pale
colour, and without taste ; and, when sprinkled upon live coals, to
emit a blue flame, but no smell.

Proust, the distinguished chemist, in a letter to the French |
chemist, D’Arcet, dated Madrid, 12th of September, 1787 (which
letter is published in the Journal de Physique for April, 1788),
communicates the important information, that the mineral in
question, of which he had received specimens from an apothecary —
at Madrid, gives off phosphorus when heated with charcoal in a
retort. He quotes from the work of Bowles the passage above —
referred to; states that he has not been able to visit the spot where ©
the mineral is found; and, from information which he has re- :
ceived, gives the following account, varying from that of Bowles
in several particulars. :
.* 1st edit. 4to. Madrid, 1775. — French translation of do. 8vo. Paris, 1776. |

— 2d edit. of the original, 4to., Madrid, 1782.— Italian trans. of 2d edit., with
notes, by Don J. N. D’ Azara, 2 vols. 4to. Parma. 1783.

1844.] 299

“This stone is found near Logrosan, a village in the jurisdiction
of Truxillo, in the province of Estremadura. It occurs, not in
veins, but forms entire hills. The houses and the walled en-
closures of the fields are built of it.”

On reaching Madrid, the authors were informed by the head of
the Department of Mines, that the mineral formed a vein in granite.

The authors, after this introductory notice, then proceed to give
an account of their researches.

Between the tertiary table-land of the two Castiles, and the
descent of the south-eastern escarpment of the Sierra Morena, as
you enter on the plains of Andalusia, a district of country inter-
venes, over a large portion of which a formation of clay-slate, with
occasional masses of quartzite, forms the fundamental rock. In
proceeding from Madrid, it was to the south of Talavera de la
Reyna, at the village of Calzada de Oropesa, that this formation
first appeared. In the steep ravine through which the Tagus
flows near the broken bridge of Almaraz, dark blue slate appears
in vertical strata. Puerto di Miravete is the culminating point of
this formation, from which a vast table-land is seen intersected by
low flat-topped ridges, rising from three to four hundred feet
above the plain, and studded over with conical hills. The above
ridges, according to Le Play, are occasioned by beds of quartz;
and this statement agrees with the observations made by the
authors above Almaden. The quartzite is either compact, gra-
nular, or brecciated, or constitutes a fine-grained sandstone. ‘The
conical hills consist of granite, which has forced its way through
the slate. Examples of this occur at Truxillo, and a league on-
wards on the road to Logrosan. Then slate re-appears, then
granite for the space of a mile ; then slate again; which continues
to Logrosan. To the south of that village, granite again appears,
rising to the height of four or five hundred feet. With this ex-
ception, all the rocks around Logrosan, and thence as far as the
Monastery of Guadalupe, consist of the clay-slate and quartzite.

The granite is much decomposed, and divides into blocks, which
strongly resemble Cyclopean walls.

The following is a general representation of the respective situ-
ations of the slate and granite.

Truxillo. ; La Conquista. Logrosan.

Al!)

er) 1

1 = ss
PAM LALA RR a

iS Granite. Slate. Granite. Slate. a Granite.

a. Phosphorite beds of Logrosan. *
Base, seven Spanish leagues,

* The slaty beds are grouped according to the following order : —

1. Dark blue, homogeneous, and excessively hard and compact fissile slate,
intersected by veins of quartz. This is the common building-stone at Logrosan.

2. A soft and talcose slate.

3. A micaceous slate.

4. Alternating layers of tale and granular quartz.

5. Brecciated and slaty beds.

300. [Jan. 17,

The authors could not learn that, in the neighbourhood of Lo-
srosan, the slate contains any fossils, although, according to Le Play,
it contains near Almaden an abundance of Spirifer attenuatus
and of a Terebratula; and, according to the miners of Almaden,
Trilobites had been found in it. These slates are referred to the
Silurian period.

Between the granite and the slate there occurs a more erys-
talline rock, resembling mica slate, and said by Le Play to contain
ehiastolite. The authors met with this rock between Almaden
and Cordova, near the granite of Viso.

Logrosan is a considerable village, about seven Spanish leagues
8..E. of Truxillo. In the neighbourhood of the village the surface
of the slate is undulated, the difference of level between the heights
and depressions being about fifty feet. It is in the clay-slate that
the Phosphorite oceurs. See the section in the last page.

It may be traced on the surface or immediately beneath the
soil, running in the direction* of the rocks themselves, that is,
from N. N.E. to §.S. W., for the distance of nearly two miles.
It terminates southwards not far from the base, and a little to the
east of the granite hill, The summit of the hill and its north-
eastern declivity consist of granite; but the side nearest the phos-
phorite consists of clay-slate. At this point the phosphorite is
16 feet wide, and extends to an unknown depth. It has been
penetrated to the depth of only 10 feet.

As was noticed by Bowles, the seam crosses the road leading
from Logrosan to Guadalupe, and it forms an inconvenient rise
in the road where it crosses. ‘To level this, the seam had been
broken down, and its fragments had been used to repair the
neighbouring walls, and in the construction of a fence that se-
parates the road from an olive plantation, and it seemed here to be
very little altered by exposure to the weather. The rock is a
compact clay-slate, of indistinct slaty cleavage, and is disposed in
beds inclining from the granite, but nearly vertical, The seam of
phosphorite is only 7 feet thick, and it is only the middle portion,
to the width of 3 feet, that is in a state of purity. The rest con-
sists of phosphorite, alternating with layers of hornstone, con-
taining iron and a trace of phosphate of lime. Other small
seams of phosphorite proceed obliquely from the main seam, and -
penetrate the clay-slate to some distance.

The mineral is disposed in zones, after the manner of agate,
round centres of crystallisation, each zone being an assemblage of
converging crystalline spicule. Pure white zones of the mineral
are often separated, one from .the other, by their dark-brown
layers, tinged with oxide of iron. Between contiguous zones,
having different centres, void spaces often occur, and when this is
the case, the surface of the mineral next the cavity is mammillary.
Crystals of quartz also occasionally line these cavities.

From the point where it crosses the road, the deposit was traced

* Le Play speaks of the Ph: sphorite as intersecting the clay-slate.

1844, | a 301

in a 8. S. W. direction, across the olive plantation, and down a
gentle declivity, until it was lost sight of.

The following is the mean of two analyses that were made of
the purest specimens of phosphorite that could be selected : ——

Silica - - - - 1:70
Peroxide of iron - - 3°15
Fluoride of calcium - - 14:00
Phosphate of lime - - 81:15

100:00

The authors take occasion to remark that, in seven varieties of
Apatite which were analysed by Gustavus Rose, from 4:59 to 7:69
of fluoride of calcium were detected ; and they call the attention
of chemists to the association of the elements.of Fluorine and
Phosphorus which takes place in the Phosphorite of Estremadura,
as it does in recent and fossil bones and teeth.

The only practicable route at present for conveying this mineral
to the coast is by a six-days’ journey in bullock cars, or on the
backs of mules, to Seville.

3. Notes on the Cretacnous Strata of New JERSEY, and other
Parts of the United States bordering the Atlantic. By C.
Lyx, Esq., M.A., F.R.S.

Tue cretaceous and tertiary deposits of America, which inter-
yene between the Allezhany mountains and the Atlantic, bear a
great resemblance in mineral character to the sandy and argil-
laceous portion of the formations of the same age in the south-east
of England. If all the white chalk, with its flints, together with
the cherty beds of the green sand, were omitted, the remaining
cretaceous strata in our island would consist of loose incoherent
sand with green particles, red and highly ferruginous sandstones,
white sands, and (in some places) beds of lignite; the overlying
tertiary deposits, consisting of marls, clays, and variously coloured
sands occasionally exhibiting green particles, like those of the
green sand below the chalk ; and as in the bottom of the London
basin near Reading. Such, for the most part, is the succession of
the beds in New Jersey; and, further south, in Maryland and Vir-
ginia, the Eocene strata are often as full of green particles as the
cretaceous, so that they are only distinguishable by their fossils and
relative position. Even the Miocene strata are sometimes, as in
Virginia, of a blueish-green colour, and contain green particles of
a similar kind. This fact alone of the identity in lithological cha-
racter of the secondary and tertiary strata of the United States is
calculated to put us on our guard against inferring that the green
and ferruginous sands of New Jersey correspond in age to the
lower rather than the upper part of the European cretaceous

302 [Jan. 17,

system. It is scarcely possible, on recognising so many of the
common organic forms which are familiar to us in connection with
the cretaceous rocks on this side of the Atlantic, and seeing them
occur in beds which have the exact mineral type of the beds below
the Gault, not to feel a strong inclination to regard them as the
equivalents of our green sand, and to consider the white chalk as
wanting. But when we dismiss from our minds, as we ought to
do, the bias derived from the consideration of the mineral aspect
of the beds, and compare the fossils of New Jersey with those de-
rived from the European chalk, we find the agreement upon the
whole to be far greater with the beds occurring in Europe above
the Gault, than with those which are found below it. We are
indebted to Dr. Morton for having pointed out, in 1834, the general
agreement of the organic remains of the American and European
cretaceous fossils» while, and at the same time, he and Mr. Conrad
correctly observed that almost all the species were different. He
divided the strata of New Jersey into the ferruginous sand, which
he compared to our green sand formation, and the calcareous strata,
which he identified with the white chalk of Europe. Prof. H. D.
Rogers has since divided the New Jersey cretaceous beds into five
formations, which are very useful, topographically considered, but
which may be overlooked in the present paper, because only two
of them, namely, those alluded to by Dr. Morton, have as yet
yielded a sufficient number of fossils to entitle them to rank as
palzontologically distinct.

In an excursion which I made in New Jersey, in September,
1841, in company with Mr. Conrad, we went first to Bristol, on
the Delaware, next, by Bordentown, to New Egypt, and returned
by the Timber Creek, recrossing the Delaware at Camden. On
this occasion I had an opportunity of examining the strata of both
these formations, and I collected nearly all the fossil species de-
scribed by Dr. Morton, together with some few additional ones.
I shall now, therefore, briefly notice these two deposits and their
fossils, and consider them in reference to their European equi-
valents.

Although in this part of New Jersey there is no white chalk
with flints, so characteristic of rocks of the same age in Europe, it
is still impossible to glance at the fossils and not be convinced that
Dr. Morton was right, as before’ hinted, when in 1834 he referred
the New Jersey deposits to the European Cretaceous era, and re-
marked that the American species of shells were nearly all new
or distinct from those before described, and yet very analogous to
those of the chalk already known. Of the two well-marked sub-
divisions of the Cretaceous system the lower consists in great part
of green sand and green marl, and was supposed by Dr. Morton, as
already mentioned, to be the equivalent of the English green sand,
while an upper or calcareous rock, composed chiefly of a soft
straw-coloured limestone with corals, was thought to correspond
with the white chalk of Europe. But after carefully comparing
my collection, comprising about sixty species of shells, besides

1844.] 303

many corals and other remains, I have arrived at the conclusion
that the whole of the New Jersey series agrees in its chronological -
relations with the European white chalk, or, to speak more pre-
cisely, with the formations ranging from the Gault to the Maes-
tricht beds inclusive. Among the shells, in determining which I
have been assisted by Professor E. Forbes, not more than five out
of sixty seem to be quite identical with European species ; but
several others approach very near to, and may be the same as
Europeans; and at least fifteen may be regarded as good geo-
graphical representations of well-known chalk fossils belonging for
the most part to beds above the Gault in Europe. There are a
few very peculiar forms among the American testacea, such as
Terebratula Sayi Morton ; and I found among the univalves a
Bulla, but casts of the genus had previously been mentioned by
Dr. Morton, and although not yet known in the European ehalk
a species occurs on the Continent in beds of the Jurassic system.

In the upper or straw-coloured limestones, I found on the banks
of the Timber Creek, twelve miles south-east of Philadelphia, six
species of corals* and several echinoderms, chiefly allied to upper
cretaceous forms. ‘The same calcareous formation also abounds in
Foraminifera characteristic of the chalk, comprising, among others,
the genera Cristellaria, Rotalina, and Nodosaria. Besides the
shells there are also several remains of fishes, and of the series ob-
tained by myself all those referred to the genus Lamna resembled
species occurring in our chalk. They have been examined for me
by Sir P. Egerton. One of them seems to approach very closely
to Lamna appendiculata, and another comes very near to Galeus
pristodontus ; and indeed, if we may judge by so few specimens,
seem identical. ‘These are fossils of our upper chalk in Europe.
There are also several forms of Carcharias not very unlike some
tertiary species given me from the New Jersey chalk, several of
which are figured by Dr. Morton; I will not dwell upon these
however, since in Europe also there are many of the cretaceous
Squalide which can scarcely, when the teeth alone are con-
sidered, be distinguished specifically from tertiary fossils.

There are three Saurian vertebre in the New Jersey green sand
in the collection of the Geological Society, which I have submitted
to Mr. Owen’s inspection. One of these, from the green sand of
Mullica Hill, is the anterior dorsal vertebra of the Mosasaurus.
Another is the posterior cervical vertebra of a Pliosaurus, a genus
which Mr. Owen has constituted to include a portion of the Ple-
siosauri, and which approach still more nearly to the true Saurians.
The vertebra in question resembles very closely that of Pliosaurus
brachydeirus of the Kimmeridge clay. Until very lately, the Ple-
siosaurian type was not known higher in the series than in the
Oolites ; but it has now been shown to ascend to the chalk of Eu-
rope, so that its occurrence in the New Jersey strata is in strict
accordance with European analogies. The third specimen (pre-

* These have been described by Mr. Lonsdale, and the description and figures
will be given at the end of the present paper.

304 [Jan. 17,

sented, I believe, by Professor H. D. Rogers) is labelled, “ Woods-
town, New Jersey ;” a locality where those beds occur to which
the great mass of shells before alluded to belong. It is a vertebra,
penetrated by the green particles of the sand. Mr. Owen refers
this to the dorsal vertebra of a crocodile of his Procelian division,
or those which, like the recent crocodiles, have the concavity in
the forepart, and the convexity behind. This fact is important, as
hitherto the Proccelian crocodiles in Europe have not been found
in beds older than the eocene.

In concluding these remarks on the ferruginous and green sand
formation of New Jersey, I may observe that the identification
of four or five species out of sixty fossil shells with European
cretaceous fossils would give an agreement of about seven per
cent., which is by no means a small amount of correspondence,
when we consider that the part of the United States above alluded
to is distant between 38000 and 4000 miles from the chalk of
Central and Northern Europe, and that there is more than 10°
difference in the latitudes of the two districts compared, on the
opposite sides of the Atlantic. It may doubtless be true, that the
influence of temperature during the Cretaceous period was less
powerful in limiting the range of species than it is now; and that
the same forms prevailed more uniformly from India to Sweden, than
they do at present. Nevertheless, the cretaceous fossils of Northern
and Southern Europe differ sufficiently to show that the climate
had then no small influence in causing distinct geographical pro-
vinces of species ; and it seems natural that those species which
are very abundant in Europe, such ‘as Belemnites mucronatus, or
those which have a great vertical range, such as Pecten quinque-
costatus, should be the fossils found, if any, to recur in a distant
part of the globe.

Tn the next place I proceed to give some account of the upper
fossiliferous division of the New Jersey cretaceous deposit, which is
for the most part arenaceous, but contains, in many places, layers
of limestone and calcareous sand, with corals slightly aggregated
together. It has been traced by Mr. Rogers to a distance of about
60 miles in a north-east and south-west direction, from Prosper
Town to near Salem, having rarely a breadth of half a mile, and
the thickness being from 6 to 20 feet. Its importance is derived,
geologically speaking, from its fossils, and, in an economical point
of view, from its affording the only lime procurable in this district.
I saw the formation in question, on the banks of Timber Creek, a
stream which flows into the Delaware, three miles below Phila-
delphia. The principal locality is twelve miles 8. E. of Philadel-
phia, about a mile and a half south of the village of White Horse,
in Gloucester County, New Jersey. Here a bed of soft calcareous
stone, about 20 feet thick, is seen made up, in great part, of corals
of the genera Eschara, Escharina, Cellepora, Tubulipora, and
others*, together with the remains of echinoderms, such as Cidaris
and Spatangus. It contains also some shells, as Sealaria annu-

* See the description of these corals by Mr. Lonsdale, in the Appendix.

1844. ] 805

lata, Gastrochena, and Teredo, the whole indicating the sandy
bottom. of a shallow sea. I was so strongly reminded of the
coralline crag of Sudbourn, and other places in Suffolk, when
examining this rock, that I had some difficulty at first in per-
suading myself that it was not a tertiary deposit. It is, in a great
part, a mass of white calcareous sand, more or less aggregated
together, and the upper surface has been irregularly scooped out
and rendered undulating, and is covered with a newer deposit of
red clay and gravel, without fossils, the surface of which is even
and level. This white sand and limestone pass downwards into
light-green and ferruginous sand, with quartzose grains.

Near Hornerstown, I saw, on a branch of the Timber Creek, to
which Mr. Conrad conducted me, a bed of this coralline aggregate,
8 feet thick, resting on the green sand or lower deposit before
mentioned, with its characteristic fossils.

We have now to consider whether the calcareous or upper
formation has been referred with propriety to the chalk. Mr.
Forbes has examined the Echinoderms, and is of opinion that they
are decidedly analogous to cretaceous forms. One of the species
of Spatangus belongs to the same group as S. subglobosus of
Goldfuss, a group which forms the genus Holaster of Agassiz, and
which that naturalist regards as very characteristic of the upper
part of the Cretaceous system.

One also of two species of Cidaris is allied to C. vesiculosus, and
to other upper cretaceous species of Europe.

Dr. Morton had already observed, in regard to the corals, that
some of the species resemble a Maestricht fossil, figured by Gold-
fuss; and the reader is referred to Mr. Lonsdale’s comments on
this subject in the Appendix.

The fossil called by Dr. Morton “ Belemnites ambiguus,” though
probably not related to the Belemnite, is closely allied to a fossil
which I have collected myself in the chalk of Sweden, associated
with Belemnites mucronatus.

The last-mentioned, or upper of the two fossiliferous formations
of New Jersey, has been called by Dr. Morton and Mr. Conrad the
Medial Cretaceous, because there are others still higher in position
in the Southern States, which they refer to the chalk period. One
member of these, a white limestone, seen extensively on the Santee
canal, and in other parts of South Carolina, as well as at Jackson-
borough and Shell Bluff in Georgia, I have shown, in a former
communication to the Society, to be Eocene tertiary. Another
portion, called the Nummulite limestone of Alabama, I have not
examined, and can therefore offer no opinion respecting it.

Upon the whole, the collection of fossils which I made in New
Jersey confirms the principal conclusion to which Dr. Morton
arrived, that there is a remarkable generic accordance between the
fossil mo!llusca, corals, echinoderms, fish, and saurians of the cre-
taceous group, in New Jersey and in Europe. But the general
analogy of the generic, and the identity of some specific, forms,
which Mr. Forbes and Mr. Lonsdale have assisted me in comparing,

306 [Jan. 17,

has led me to refer all the fossiliferous formations of New J ersey
to that part of the European series which ranges from the Maes-
tricht beds to the gault inclusive.

North Carolina.

Of the same age are certain strata in North Carolina, at a place
called Lewis’s Creek near South Washington, forty miles north of
Wilmington, and 340 geographical miles south-west of New Jersey,
where I found Belemnites mucronatus, Ostrea vesicularis, O. sub-
spatulata (a remarkable and new species figured in the Appendix),
Cellepora tubulata, and other fossils.

The association of Cellepora tubulata, which abounds in the
upper cretaceous formation of New Jersey at Timber Creek with
Belemnites mucronatus in this locality of South Carolina, is import-
ant, as helping to show the near relation of the coralline limestone
of New Jersey to the green sand containing Belemnites.

Georgia.

Some fossils have been communicated to me by Dr. Cotting, from
Georgia, which make it probable that there are cretaceous strata
there, lower than those of New Jersey; as among them are a Pho-
ladomya and an Ammonite; both of which Mr. Forbes finds to be
closely allied to certain Neocomien species from Neuchatel.

In the collection of Mr. Conrad, from Alabama, I saw a species
of Hippurite, derived from the cretaceous strata of that State, which
I believe is the only example of any fossil of the Rudist family de-
rived from the cretaceous rocks of North America. It affords an-
other point of analogy between the cretaceous fauna co-existing on
opposite sides of the Atlantic.

It is interesting to find, as the result of this investigation, that
the marine fauna, whether vertebrate or invertebrate, testaceous
or zoophytic, was divided at the remote epoch under consideration,
as it is now, into distinct geographical provinces, although the
geologist may every where recognise the cretaceous type, whether
in Europe or America (and I might add India). This peculiar type
exhibits the preponderating influence of a vast combination of cir-
cumstances prevailing at one period throughout the globe, cireum-
stances dependent on the state of the physical geography, climate,
and organic world, in the period immediately preceding, together
with a variety of other conditions.

1844.] 307.

Apprnpix I. — On the Fosst SHELLS collected by Mr. Lyeit.
from the Cretaceous Formations of New JERSEY.

1. Description of New Species. By Professor Epwarp Forsss.

Most of the fossil shells (amounting to sixty species) collected in
New Jersey during Mr. Lyell’s excursion with Mr. Conrad have
been already described in Dr. Morton’s excellent work. The fol-
lowing, however, are new species :—

Ostrea subspatulata L. § S.

Interior of the Lower Valve.

[ Two thirds the natural size. |

1. OsrrEa subspatulata.* Lyell and Sowerby. Shell obovate
somewhat trapeziform ; generally thick ; higher than wide; nar-
rower at the dorsal than at the ventral or basal end, which is
turned downwards at an obtuse angle ; somewhat foliaceous ex-
ternally ; muscular impression placed very near the base. Lo-
cality, Lewis’s Creek, South Washington, North Carolina.

* Ostrea obovata, spatulata; valva inferiore, convexa, arcuata, posticé cras-
sissima ; superiore subdepressa.

808 [Jan. 17,

Ostrea subspatulata L. & S.

Side View of Lower Valve.
[ Two thirds the natural size. ]

2. Lima reticulata. Lyell and Forbes.
L. test& ovata, obliqua, inflata, tenui, longi-
tudinaliter sulcata, sulcis reticulatis, nume-
rosis. Habitat, Nov. Jersey.

3. TEREBRATULA Vanuxemiana. Lyell and Forbes. T. testa
suborbiculare, valvis bicarinatis, longitudinaliter costatis, costis

Terebratula Vanuxemiana L. & F.

intermediis minoribus, valva superiori convex4, area late triangu-
lare, foramine magno, valva inferiori convexiuscula, margine fron-
tali subbisinuata. Habitat, Nov. Jersey.

1844.) 309

a, Bulla Mortoni.
b. Natica.
e. Tornatella.

4, Butta Mortoni (a). (Cast.) Ovate, inflated, resembling in
form B. hydatis, spire concealed, surface spirally furrowed, the
furrows bearing traces of punctation.

5. Natica (6). (Cast.) Of a small globular species with a deeply
channelled suture, spirally sulcated, and obsoletely reticulated
whorls and depressed spire. Locality, New Jersey.

6. ToRNATELLA (c). (Cast.) Oblong, bearing traces of spiral
strise ; spire exserted, subdepressed; sides of body-whorl some-
what flattened ; columella perforate ; aperture lanceolate. Locality,
New Jersey. Allied to 7. bullata of Morton, which, however, is

a much more ventricose species.

Casts of Voluta.

7. Votuta. (Casts.) a, Shell linear, lanceolate, whorls smooth.
b, Shell ovate, whorls smooth. c, Shell ovate, whorls angular
above, distant ribs.

Note. — The figures are all of the natural size, except the Ostrea, which is
two-thirds in linear dimensions.

2. List of Species common to the American and European Cre-
taceous Systems.

Ostrea larva (O. falcata M.) Pecten quinque-costatus
vesicularis Belemnites mucronatus
Grypheea costata

310 [Jan. 17,

3. List of New Jersey Species, Representatives of which occur in
the European Cretaceous Beds.

New Jersey Species. Probable representative European Species.
Spatangus n.s. S. subglobosus . Geological locality
Cidaris C. vesiculosus aa Ee UEODE:
Terebratula fragilis M. T. biplicata ( Upper green sand)

floridana M. T. Defrancii et striatula ( Upper chalk)
Plicatula urticosa M. P. inflata (Chalk marl and upper green sand)
Tnoceramus Barabini M. I. Crippsii ( Chalk and green sand)
Cucullea vulgaris M. ?
Trigonia thoracica M. T. aleformis ( Green sand)
Pholadomya occidentalis M. P. gigantea (Lower green sand)
Phorus leprosus P. canaliculatus (Lower chalk)
Scalaria annulata S. Dupiniana ( Gault)
Natica petrosa M. N. excavata ( Gault)
Voluta Several lower chalk species.
Hamites arcuatus ?
Ammonites placenta A. clypeiformis
Baculites ovatus B. anceps,

4. List of Peculiar Forms found in the New Jersey Cretaceous
Formations.

Terebratula Sayii M. Crassatella vadosa M.
Ostrea subspatulata . s. Venilia Conradi.

Notice of the ForaAMInIFERA. By Mr. Lye tt.

a. Rotalina. (d. nat. size.)
b. Cristellaria. (c. nat. size.)

Tue above are figures of the two genera of Foraminifera from
the upper beds at Timber Creek, alluded to in the paper. ‘

I am not aware that any attention has hitherto been paid to the
fossil foraminifera of the American cretaceous strata, to which I
find no allusion in Dr. Morton’s works. ‘They are very abundant —
in the coralline rock of Timber Creek. Mr. Forbes has examined
some of them for me, and these belong to the genera Cristellaria,
Rotalina, and Nodosaria. All these genera occur in the chalk of
Europe. One of my American species of fossil Cristellaria is
specifically identified by Mr. Forbes with C. rotulata of D’Or-
bigny, which occurs in England, France, and Germany, ranging
from the upper greensand to the white chalk. It is another in-
stance of species found most abundantly in Europe, recurring in
the American chalk. There are two other species of the same
genus at Timber Creek, one of them very large. There are two
species of Nodosaria. The Rotalina, which is very abundant, is
closely allied to a species of our chalk.

1844.] en)

Apprnpix II.— Account of stx sPECIES OF PoLypartia obtained
from Timber Creek, New Jersey, and described by WiLLIAM
‘LonspALe, Esq. F.G.S.

Tue following is a list of the species :—

. Montivaltia atlantica Lonsdale (Anthophyllum atlanticum Morton).
Idmonea contortilis Lonsdale.

Tubulipora Megera Lonsdale.

Cellepora tubulata Lonsdale.

Escharina ? sagena Lonsdale ( Flustra sagena Morton).

. Eschara digitata Morton.

S Sow oto

J. MonrTiIvALTIA ATLANTICA.

a. Nearly perfect specimen, exhibiting the lamelliferous or upper portion in its
true position, and the inferior hollow cone.

b. Portion of the upper surface slightly worn down, to show the characters of
the lamelle.

Inversely conical; lower or non-lamelliferous portion nearly
equal in length to the upper or lamelliferous ; enveloping crust
extending nearly to the superior termination of the cone; lamel-
liferous portion variable in form; lamelle very numerous ; centre,
contorted plates terminating inferiorly in a distinct umbilicus or
boss ; superior termination of the cone nearly flat.

This coral is described by Dr. Morton under the name of An-
THOPHYLLUM ATLANTICUM. (Silliman’s Journ. vol. xviii. pl. 1. f. 9,
10. Essays on Org. Rem. &c., p.61. 1829. Journal Acad. Nat.
Se. Philadelphia, vol. vi. pl. viii. f. 9, 10. pp. 123, 124. 1830. Sy-
nopsis Org. Rem. &e. pl. i. f.9, 10. p. 80. 1834.)

Dr. Morton states (Essays, pp. 61, 62. Synopsis, p. 80.) that he
derived his characters of the genus Anthophyllum from Goldfuss ;
and the lamelliferous portion of the coral under consideration, as
represented in Dr. Morton’s excellent figures, bears a strong general
resemblance to some of Goldfuss’s species (Petref. pl. xiii. f. 10,
11. pl. xxxvii. f.15.). The fossil is probably generically identical
with that represented in pl. xxxvii. f.15. There is also a general

VOL. IV. PART Il. AA

312 [ Jan. 17,

agreement in Dr. Morton’s figure 10. (pl. i. Synopsis) with
Schweigger’s Anthophyllum cyathus (Beobachtungen, Tabular
Arrangement, vi.), particularly as given in Esper (Pflanzenthiere,
Madrep. tab. xxiv.) ; but the American fossil, when preserved in
its true position, clearly differs from the generic characters pro-
posed by Schweigger, and adopted with various modifications by
succeeding authors, including Goldfuss. The Anthophyllum cya-
thus, as well as the corals typical of the four other divisions of
Schweigger’s comprehensive genus, are lamelliferous throughout,
whereas the American fossil, as beautifully shown in one of the
Timber Creek specimens (a), consists of an upper lamelliferous por-
tion or nucleus, and an inferior non-lamelliferous portion or hollow
inverted cone.

This great peculiarity of structure apparently agrees with La-
mouroux’s characters of his genus Montivaltia: “Polypier....
presque pyriforme, composé de deux parties distinctes, linférieure
ridée transversalement; la supérieure presque aussi longue que
Vinférieure, ... presque plane au sommet, légérement ombiliquée
et lamelleuse” (Exposition Méthodique, p. 78.); and in his ob-
servations on the Caen specimens of Montivaltia he says, “ elles
sont géodiques” (ibid.}. This peculiar structure would agree
perfectly with the hollow inverted cone of the American coral,
and the characters of the “ partie supérieure légerement om-
biliquée et lamelleuse” accord well with the structure of the
lamelliferous portion. De Blainville (Man. d’Actinologie, p. 336.)
says, Lamouroux’s figures are “forte inexacte,” but there is enough
of resemblance in them, particularly in figure 9. (Plate 79.) to
support a generic agreement with the Timber Creek fossil, the
“partie inférieure, ridée transversalement,” being represented in
the American specimens by the cast of the hollow cone, and the
higher extension of the envelope being considered only a specific
difference. Lamouroux’s coral figured by Guettard (Mém. iii.
p- 466. pl. 26. f.4,5.), but named by De Blainville Montivaliia
Guettardi (De Bl. Man. d’Actinol. p. 336.; see also Anthophyllum
Guettardi, p. 340.), bears even a closer resemblance to the Timber
Creek specimens. Guettard graphically compares it to a “ cupule
de gland de chéne.”

Dr. Morton, in his careful researches for analogous cretaceous
fossils, refers to Faujas St. Fonds’s figures of Maestricht corals,
particularly to Pl. xxxviii. f 1. 5. (Hist. Nat. de la Mont. de St.
Pierre de Maestricht). Between those figures and the American
coral there is a great general similarity; but a rigid comparison
will show that there are important differences in the structural
details, particularly in the centre of the apparently lamelliferous
portion. The Maestricht fossils, or casts, are moreover wholly
siliceous ; and therefore, as they do not exhibit any traces of the
original lamella, they. cannot lead to the inference that the original
coral consisted of two distinct structures. It is most probable that
those casts represent only the terminal cup of an ordinary lamel-
liferous polypidom. It was the preservation of the lamelle in the

1844] 313

upper part, and the total want of any trace of them in the lower,
which led to the belief that the Timber Creek specimens belong
to the genus Montivaltia.

The total length of the finest specimen (a, see figure), is about
11 inches, and the greatest breadth nearly # of an inch; the two
portions, as before stated, are of about equal length. The whole
form of the coral is an inverted cone, terminating downwards in a
bent point. The lamelliferous portion is cylindrical, or slightly
contracted towards the base, and there is often a tendency to bend
to one side. The lamelle are very numerous, amounting probably
to eighty; and are represented in well-preserved specimens by
layers of calcareous spar. They were apparently of unequal
dimensions ; and their lower terminations are distinctly rounded or
semicircular without any signs of fracture, and, consequently, of
having extended downwards into the existing hollow cone. The
sides of the lamellae were apparently hispid, rows of indentations
occurring in the earthy matter, which filled the intervening spaces
of the original coral. The superior terminations of the lamelle
were unequal, certain of them, probably twenty in all, protruding
above the others; and these range inwards, uniting with the
central contorted plates. The characters exhibited in a slightly
worn-down specimen prove also that the upper termination of the
coral was not cup-shaped, but fiat, with possibly a slight central
depression (0).

The centre of the lamelliferous portion consists of plates more or
less horizontally contorted in the body of the cylindrical mass, and
vertically at the superior and inferior terminations, forming in the
latter position either a marked central rugose depression as shown
in Dr. Morton’s figures (loc. cit.), or a subordinate projecting
cone (a).

The interspaces between the original lamellz are occupied by
earthy casts, constituting a very conspicuous portion of the coral ;
and from their well-defined rounded edge, as well as their decided
termination downwards, they might be considered as the true
lamelle. It is clear, however, from their bearing the impression
of hispid surfaces, that they are mere casts, formed while the
original lamelle existed. The material of which they consist is
more or less argillaceous, and includes numerous foraminifere.

Of the nature of the portion represented by the hollow cone, no
opinion can be offered. That it possessed a certain amount of
solidity, and had structural details which resisted, for a time,
decomposition, is evident from the earthy matter which filled the
spaces between the lamelle not having penetrated downwards into
the cone, and from the marked characters of these casts. It is
clear, also, from the preserved vestiges of the crust which en-
veloped the lamelliferous portion, as well as from the surrounding
cavities mentioned by Dr. Morton, that the external wall or in-
tegument must have been thin.

Locality. Timber Creek.

AAD

314 [ Jan. 17,

2. IpMONEA conTORTILIS Lonsdale. Sp. n.

A

C¥

a. Branches natural size.

b, Portion of the same magnified, and exhibiting the contorted mode of growth,

c. Part of a branch more highly magnified, to show the pores in the surface.

d. Magnified portion of the reverse side (e. nat. size), exhibiting the range of
the tubes, exposed by fracture.

Branches compressed, bifurcated, contorted and anastomosed ;
tubular openings projecting, variously grouped ; no marked, con-
tinuous, central line between the groups; reverse surface slightly
convex, furrowed transversely, and streaked faintly by the separat-
ing walls of the tubes.

In the absence of the central line or medial ridge, and of a
regular bilateral arrangement of the tubular openings, this coral
differs from the generic characters of Idmonea as given by Lamou-
roux (Exp. Méthodique, p. 80.), and repeated by Milne Edwards
(Ann. Se. Nat., 2d series, vol. ix. Zool.); but it agrees in the
general distribution of the openings with the latter author’s en-
larged figure of Idmonea transversa (loc. cit. Pl. ix. fig. 3. ; like-
wise Recherches sur les Polypes; Mémoire sur les Crisies, &e.) 5
De Blainville also, in his description of the genus, says, the open-
ings are disposed “en demi-anneau ou en lignes brisées” (Man.
d’Actinol., p. 419.). There is a slight resemblance between the
Timber Creek coral and the Cellepora echinata of Goldfuss (Pe-
tref. xxxvi. f.14.), an Astrupp tertiary fossil, but which is said
to be attached to a Terebratula.

The branches are slightly convex on both sides (see figures), and
so greatly contorted that the reverse surface of some portions of a
specimen are completely turned round. The tubular openings

1844. ] 315

project more or less, and are variously grouped, but with a ten-
dency to a transverse linear arrangement. The furrows between
the openings are smooth, or but faintly traversed by longitudinal
lines, marking the range of the tubes; they are, moreover, minutely
porous (c). On the reverse side very small pores may also be
detected, though not generally, in consequence, probably, of the
thickening of the external layer by matter secreted through them.
‘This remark applies likewise to those between the tubular open-
ings. On the inner surface of the layer, forming the reverse side,
the pores are very distinct and numerous.

The tubes are angular (d), and have a considerable range, bend-
ing conformably to the contortions of the branches. The substance
of their walls is not often well preserved, but where it is retained
miéroscopic foramina may be also detected.

No changes, incident upon age, have been noticed, except the
probable thickening of the outer layers on both surfaces: no cases
of young" tubes have been observed.

Locality. Timber Creek, New Jersey.

3. Tusutirora Mrecara Lonsdale. Sp. n.

a. The coral of the natural size, to exhibit the general resemblance to the
smaller species of Alecto.

b. Portion magnified, showing the characters of the attached fasciculi and the
tubercular openings,

Dichotomous, fasciculi of tubes slightly conical ; mouths of the
tubes united in a round, slightly projecting tubercle.

To the unassisted eye this coral presents a perfect agreement
with Lamouroux’s genus Alecto, consisting apparently of simple
tubes, and not of fasciculi of 2 to 5 tubuli.

The fasciculi or branches gradually increase in breadth between
the points of bifurcation, the broadest part being adjacent to the
mouths. Externally they are round, but the outline of the surface
is apparently modified by the papillz of the Echinite to which they
are attached. The tubuli, where they have been accidentally
exposed, are arranged laterally. The tubercle, composed of the
mouths, or probably the abraded base of the vertical portion of the
tubuli, is reflected vertically upwards, or is inclined at a consider-

316 (Jan. 17,

able angle: it is cylindrical, and much less in diameter than the

adjacent portion of the fasciculus. The mouths themselves are not

arranged in a line, or in the same manner as the tubuli, but grouped

so as to occupy the least possible breadth ; they are small, rounded

on the exterior side, but flattened or angular at the points of contact.
Locality, Timber Creek.

4. CELLEPORA TUBULATA Lonsdale. Sp. un.

a. Portion of a branch of the natural size.

b. The same magnified, to show the elongated characters of the central cells.

c. Magnified, elongated cells from the interior of the branch, with a perfect
mouth and foramen under the proximal lip. The microscopic pores in the walls
of the cells are likewise given.

Branched ; branches round, dichotomous ; cells irregularly ag-
gregated, ovoid elongated or tubular ; mouth semicircular, large ;
proximal lip straight with a minute foramen in the centre.

The external surface of the branches rarely presents cases of
perfect cells. Where they occur, they exhibit the usual ovoid
form, and the mouth is well defined, being bounded completely
by the distal arched covering of the cell; there is also a foramen
under the proximal lip. More generally the surface presents a
confused congeries of circular or angular openings, leading into
ovoid cells. Internally, the branches exhibit, when fractured
transversely or longitudinally, a perfectly tubular character in the
cells comprising the axis of the branch (6), the cells being of great
length and angular from lateral interference or compression ; but
towards the distal termination, as displayed in one instance, the
ovoid form of the ordinary condition is assumed, by a swelling
outwards, and the mouth is bounded by a regularly curved surface,
the proximal lip being also supplied with a minute foramen (c). The
prevailing form of the cells composing the mass of the branches is,
however, ovoid, but variable in outline as well as in size and position.
The cells are also much more numerous than is represented in fig. 5.

The minute foramen on the proximal lip was probably con-
nected with the base of the spinous process, so frequently exhibited
in recent and fossil species of Cellepora. On the surface of the
sides of the tubular cells, and also on those of the ovoid, minute
connecting foramina may be detected, well defined, and occasionally
bounded by an opaque, or thickened, circular line.

Localities. Lewis’s Creek (South Washington, North Carolina),
and Timber Creek.

1844. ] 317

5. ESCHARINA* ? SAGENA.

AN
i
\

a, General mode of growth, the exposed surface being the reverse side of a
layer of cells.

b, Cells composing portion of an inner layer; also reverse side of the opposite
layer.

ec, Cells forming part of an outer layer; one of them with a gemmuliferous
vesicle.

Foliaceous, cells in two or more opposite layers, successively
encrusting, but separable ; cells oblong or hexagonal, defined by a
slightly depressed line, arranged in alternate rows, but not con-

formably in succeeding layers ; outer surface of cell nearly flat,

ribbed ; mouth at the distal extremity, small, round ; gemmuliferous
vesicle large, hemispherical; accessory foraminated vesicles two,
over the mouth.

In the notice of this coral (Synopsis, &c. p. 79., pl. xiii. f. 7.),
Dr. Morton describes it under the name of Flustra sagena, but
adds, ‘“ perhaps it is an Eschara.”

This polypidom differs from described species of Escharina in its
free, foliaceous mode of growth, in being composed of several
opposite, enveloping layers, and in the facility with which the
dorsal surfaces may be detached ; but it has been thought ad-

| visable not to propose a new generic name for this and analogous

fossil corals, the characters of Escharinze being considered to be
not fully ascertained. The Cellepora nobilis of Esper (Pflanzen-
thiere, Cellep. tab. vii.) exhibits similar consecutive layers of cells,
but arranged around a cylindrical nucleus and not in free plates.

The foliations are of considerable dimensions, and are variously
contorted (a), and sometimes anastomosed. The layers are thin, but
when numerous the foliations exhibit considerable thickness.
Specimens presenting the opposite layers in their original position
are not common, in consequence of the facility with which
they separate along the medial plane. Portions only of successive
layers are also to be detected, and not very frequently. The per-
fect outer layer was noticed in only one instance. (c)

* Hscharina Milne Edwards; Lepralia Johnston.

318 [Jan. 17,

Of the earliest state of the cells no positive information has been
obtained* ; but it is inferred from the ribs, more or less distinctly
traceable on the outer covering, that they were in the young stage
entirely open, and that the outer surface was produced by a uni-
form development of rib-like processes from the side-walls of the
cells, in the same manner as in certain species of recent Hscharina.

In the only observed case of a perfect outer layer(c), the cells
were oblong and slightly hexagonal, and separated by a faint,
depressed line. The external surface was, toa small extent, convex ;
and ribs, though they were not prominent, could be detected, con-
verging from the proximal and lateral walls towards the centre;
and the medial line of junction might also be discovered. The
perfect mouth, placed in the middle of the distal extremity, was
small and round, and in the same plane with the outer surface, but the
lips projected slightly. The hemispherical gemmuliferous vesicles
were relatively large, and comparatively numerous. ‘They were si-
tuated immediately over the mouth, and they altered the position of
that orifice from a horizontal to an inclined position. The accessory
foraminated vesicles were variable in outline but constant in occur-
rence and situation, springing from the sides of the mouth, and
increasing in size as they ranged upwards and outwards. The
foramen was often well defined. From the ‘position of these ve-
sicles, the breadth of the distal extremity was apparently much
increased.

In subjacent or older layers (6) the substance of the coral was not
often preserved, having been detached with the overlying series,
and leaving only calcareous casts of the interior of the cells; but
where it is retained, there were no marked differences of cha-
racters, as far as observation extended, except in the absence of
gemmuliferous vesicles. The mouths did not appear to have been
filled up by the animal, and the foramina of the accessory vesicles
were occasionally open: the depressed lines between the cells were
also preserved.

In fragments which exhibited only casts of the cells, the indi-
cations of the ribs were sometimes as strong as on the outer
surface, and the form of the mouth was well shown; but there
were only very slight indications of the accessory vesicles.

Of the lateral connecting foramina nothing decided was ob-
served in consequence of the perishable state of the layers; but if
the imperfect cells mentioned in the note * belonged to Escha-
rina (?) sagena, the foramina were numerous.

The dorsal surface along the medial plane of separation (a)
very much resembled that of Flustra foliacea, when artificially
exposed.

Locality. — Timber Creek.

* On the surface of one specimen, some immature cells, consisting of only the
dorsal and side walls, were observed, occupying the exact position of an ordinary
layer of Escharina sagena, but there were no proofs that they belonged to that
species; and al! attempts to connect their structural details with those of the
coral under consideration failed.

1844.] 319

a. b. Bifurcated branch, natural size and magnified, consisting of immature
cells with the outer surface almost wholly open, and with no indications of a
distinct mouth, ;

c. d. Portion of a bifurcated branch, with mature cells. To the right of
figure d is a cell with an uniformly depressed surface, and conjectured to have
performed the office of a gemmuliferous vesicle: to the left are irregularly

foraminated cells.

e. f. Portion of an aged branch, with the characters of the mature cells
obliterated by external additions and the production of irregular tubercles.

g. Magnified side view of a branch, to show the position of the lateral con-
necting foramina within the cells; and of the small or defective cells exhibited
also in the edge of figure d.

Branched, branches compressed, dichotomosed ; cells hexagonally
pyriform, separated by a fine lineal groove ; surface sloped inwards
from the periphery ; mouth semicircular or semt-oval ; no accessory
or gemmuliferous vesicles observed ; lateral connecting foramina

Lr)

two, terminal one.

See Dr. Morton’s Synopsis Org. Rem., Cretaceous Group, United
States, p. 79. pl. xiii. f. 8. 1834.

Dr. Morton states that this fossil strongly resembles Eschara
dichotoma of Goldfuss (Petref. tab. viii. f. 15.), a Maestricht
coral, and there is a perfect agreement in the mode of growth, as
well as a general resemblance in the form of the cell; but a con-
siderable difference, in structural details, is visible when the two
fossils are compared. The cells in both cases are hexagonal, but
the sides of those composing the Maestricht Eschara, as given by
Goldfuss, are very nearly, if not quite equal, and they are slightly
but uniformly curved; whereas, in the Timber Creek specimens, the
sides are almost invariably unequal, the proximal and distal being
considerably smaller than the lateral, and the curvature is variable
in amount and direction, giving the cell a pyriform aspect. ~ The
relatively broad grooves between the cells in Eschara dichotoma
are represented in the American species by a fine line: the mouth
of both fossils is semi-circular, but more completely so in the ,
Maestricht than the Timber Creek coral; in Goldfuss’s species,

320 [ Jan. 17,

moreover, it is bounded, at the distal extremity, by a broad flat
band which is extended around the whole periphery of the cell ;
while in Dr. Morton’s coral the surface slopes inwards from the
very edge of the cell.

These differences are not pointed out under the supposition that
Dr. Morton conceived the two corals might be identical, for he was
clearly aware of their distinction, but because both the Maestricht
and Timber Creek deposits are members of the Cretaceous series,
and the perfect agreement in generic outline with Goldfuss’s figure
(14 a), might lead a less careful observer than Dr. Morton to the
inference, that the fossils are specifically the same.

The branches preserve a considerable uniformity of breadth,
expanding only towards their bifurcation, and there very slightly,
in consequence of the addition of one or more lateral rows. They
diminish in thickness towards the edges, where they are rounded.

The cells on the opposite side of the medial line agree generally
in position, and those forming the surface of the branches have a
great regularity in size and relative proportions; but, at the point
of bifurcation, and along the edges of the branches, small and im-
perfect cells may very frequently be observed, the latter exhibiting
sometimes irregular pores in the external covering.

Of the earliest state of the cells no evidence was obtained; and

of the condition after the formation of the side-walls only one case
was noticed. It consisted (a, 6) of a portion of a main branch,
with part of another springing from a bifurcation. The surface
‘of the greater number of the cells was wholly open, indicating
considerable rapidity of development, or slowness in the formation
of the exterior ; and in only a few instances was there a commence-
ment at the proximal extremity of the outer surface. The walls
of the latest produced cells, or those at the superior extremity of
the bifurcated branches, had a sharp edge without any line of
separation ; but in the cells of the undivided branch, and where
the development of the external covering had commenced, fine
grooves were perfectly visible. This great production of imma-
ture cells is analogous to many well-known recent examples.

In what was believed to be another step towards maturity, the
surface of the cells was considerably developed, but the mouth was
not regularly defined, the open part being large and circular. The
structure of the mature cells is given in figure d, and in the
specific characters. ;

The passages from maturity to what may be termed a state of
decrepitude afforded some interesting structural details. In the
first steps, the fine separating grooves between the cells were par-
tially or completely obliterated, and a general thickening of the
parietes was noticed; but these changes were not always most
decidedly shown in the oldest cells of the branch, depending, ap-
parently, in part upon the individual polype. In a specimen in
which the above alterations were not so complete as in other
cases, there appeared upon the surface of the cells several minute
prominences, and one or two fractured vesicles. Some of the

1844.) ° 321

intermediate stages were not noticed ; but in specimens believed to
be far advanced towards extreme age (e, f) the surface of the cells
was convex, instead of being concave ; all traces of lines of separa-
tion were obliterated, the mouth was irregularly shaped, sometimes
with a tooth-like projection on the proximal lip, and the whole
surface of the branch was beset with perforated or abraded ve-
sicles.* No instance of a perfect filling up of the mouth, which
would characterise perhaps the oldest condition of the coral, was
noticed. A due preservation of the specimens, which exhibited
these stages, forbade any attempt to trace a connection between the
vesicles and the polype cells; but a transverse section of a mature
branch exposed clearly capillary tubes, passing through the sub-
stance of the thick external covering of the cell.

The lateral and terminal foramina in the walls of the cells were
well exhibited. The former, two in number (see figure g), were
relatively large, situated near the extremities of the cell, and
close to the dorsal wall. In one beautifully exposed specimen, the
presumed use of these foramina in the formation of cells was
instructively shown. ‘The specimen (figure g) displayed the sec-
tions of a series of cells with thickened parietes, and the lateral
foramina, also the rounded edge of the branch composed of a
regular double row of small cells, divided longitudinally by the usual
middle or dorsal layer of separation. The mouths of these cells
were small and round, and might be mistaken for lateral foramina ;
but the boundaries of the diminutive cells, to which they were the
regular openings, were clearly to be traced. The length of these
imperfectly developed cells was about half that of the full-grown ;
and the mouths accorded in position with the situation of the lateral
foramina. It is, therefore, inferred, that each minor cell was pro-
duced by means of one lateral foramen, the perfect development

not having taken place, owing to the absence, in the same longi-

tudinal row, of a full-grown anterior cell. In consequence of the
quincuncial arrangement of the perfect cells, each polype had, by
means of the lateral and terminal foramina, immediate connection
with six other cells. .

Cases of monstrosity or deviation from the normal form occur,
as before mentioned, near the edges and at the bifurcation of the
branches; but it is believed that some entire branches were com-
posed of irregularly-shaped cells, and might, without care, have
been assigned to a distinct species,

No traces of accessory vesicles were observed, nor any satisfac-
tory signs of a gemmuliferous vesicle. In one case the whole sur-
face of a cell was deeply depressed (fig. d), and might have formed
a receptacle for the development of gemmules.

Locality. Timber Creek, New Jersey.

* These vesicles or bladders must not lead to the inference that there is any
resemblance between Eschara digitata and the recent coral Cellepora cervicornis.
In the former case the bladder has no regular cellular structures, while in the

latter there is always a perfectly developed mouth, with accessory vesicles.

322 [Jan. 31,

JANUARY 31, 1844.

Seymour Tremenheere, Esq., was elected a Fellow of this Society.
The following communications were read : —

1. On the Thickness of the LOwER GREEN SAND BeEps of the
SoutH East Coast of the Istn or Wicut. By F. W. Simms,
Esq., F.G.S.

THE last time the Green sand beds below the Chalk were the sub-
ject of discussion before the Society, great diversity of opinion was
expressed concerning the thickness of the group of beds denominated
“The Lower Green sand.” To remove all doubt on this point,
Dr. Fitton proposed revisiting the south-east coast of the Isle of
Wight, and requested my co-operation in determining their thick-
ness. The following vertical section of the strata, seen in the
cliffs of the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, and including
the three entire groups, viz :—
i. The Upper Green Sand,

2. The Gault,
3. The Lower Green Sand,

was made in company with Dr. Fitton, Mr. Mackeson of Hythe,
and the President of our Society, during a visit we made to that
coast in July last

The horizontal line over which these measurements extended,
that is, from Atherfield point to the Cliff on the south of St. Ca-
therine’s Down, is about three miles in length. Along nearly the
whole of this line, the coast is bounded by mural cliffs, except
where slips have taken place (and these are often of considerable
extent), and except where “Chines” (as they are called), that is to
say, deep precipitous gullies, worn by the action of brooks in the
argillaceous sands, open into the sea.

Where the cliff was mural, and direct measurement was prac-
ticable, the thickness of a bed was taken by the tape or graduated
rod. Where direct vertical measurement was not practicable, as,
for instance, where the fall of the cliff had obscured the continuity
of the beds, the spirit-level was employed, as in ordinary engineer-
ing operations. Without the aid of that instrument it would have
been difficult, if not impossible, to carry on a connected series of
measurement over so long a base line with any tolerable degree of
accuracy. By the means employed, however, a series of vertical
measures was obtained, which I consider to be a near approxima-
tion to the truth.

The apparent dip of the strata, as seen in the cliffs, and as
resulting from actual measurement, near Atherfield, was to the
east 2°; but the true dip, as determined by the spirit-level at
Atherfield Point, where the rocks were bare at low-water, was
nearly south-east ; and its amount was found to be 2°.

The junction of the Weald Clay with the Lower Green Sand is

1844.] 323

exceedingly well defined at Atherfield Point. That of the lower
green sand with the gault, though not quite so obvious as the
last-mentioned junction, is yet very satisfactorily ascertained —
1st, Below the Hotel at Black-gang-Chine, where the green sand
forms a line of terrace projecting beyond the gault; 2dly, On the
cliff eastward and immediately above Black-gang-Chine, where
gault fossils occur at the very point of junction with the lower
green sand. The junction of the gault with the upper green
sand is well defined on the face of the cliff south of St. Cathe-
rine’s Down, east of the Sand-Rock Spring, and above the road
leading from Black-gang-Chine to Ventnor. The junction of the
upper green sand with the white chalk marl is very well marked,
near the summit of the same cliff. ‘

The author stated that in the section, drawn according to scale,
'which accompanied this notice, he had given, not only the three
| principal groups, but also their more remarkable and best defined

subdivisions, without pretending to describe, in needless detail, all
the strata of which they are composed. From the particulars
which he subjoins respecting these subdivisions, the following
table is extracted : — y

| Chalk Marl. Totals.

Parallel layers of a soft rock, “hassock,” which rapidly ft.in. ft. in.

| Taper disintegrates by exposure; and of hard cherty sand-

iG stone, which, after weathering, stands out in high
reen :
Sand. relief - - 2 - - - 37
| Sand, with beds of stone and chert - - - 67
104
! Light-coloured gault, becoming gradually bluer - 43
Gant Beds of decided blue colour. No fossils have been
; found, except in the very lowest beds - - 103
—— _ 146
{ Lower green sand. No notice required - - 384
Bed containing oysters and Grypheea - =f +ies IZ
Various beds not noticed - - - - 269

A bed of argillaceous sand, containing large lenticular,
coneretionary masses of very hard calcareous sand-
stone, locally termed “the crackers.” These masses,
when broken, are found to contain numerous fossils - 15
Blue argillaceous beds, the lowest of which approach
in their character to fullers-earth. The upper of these
beds contain Crustacea; the lower contain remains
of Pinna. In the latter respect, these beds agree
Lower with the clay that lies beneath the sand and stone at
| Green ¢ Hythe in Kent, described in the paper read before the
Society in June last. If this bed be the equivalent —
| of the clay bed at Hythe, the crackers will represent
; the stone-beds at Hythe, decribed in the same paper.
They also agree with the Hythe stone-beds, in being
very nearly at the same vertical distance above the
Wealden. For the purpose of comparison, the Hythe
secticn has been drawn to the same scale as that of
the Isle of Wight - - = - - 59
Atherfield rock, containing many fossils - sy) 22
Dark greenish sandy clay, looking black when wet,
containing many of the same fossils as the rocky bed 29
75211

324 [ Jan. 31,

Pr

2. Report on the LOWER GREEN SAND Fossits in the Possession of
the Geological Society. By Professor Epwarp Forses, F.L.S.

Tuer collection of Lower Green Sand fossils at present in the
cabinets of the Society contains 131 species of Mollusca. Of these
82 are Lamellibranchiate Bivalves, 12 Brachiopoda, 23 Gastero-
poda, and 14 Cephalopoda. Besides these, all well-marked species,
there are a number of casts and fragments of species as yet unde-
termined.

Of the 131 Mollusca, 60 are additions to the list of Lower Green
sand Fossils, published by Dr. Fitton in the “Geological 'Transac-
tions.” Of these 60 additional species, between 30 and 40 are unde-
scribed forms. The remainder are species described in the memoirs
of Leymerie, D’Orbigny, Roemer, and other continental authors,
but which have been hitherto unrecorded as British, with the ex-
ception of a few included in Mr. Morris’s catalogue.

All the species have been critically examined, and characters
drawn up of such as are new.

The collection can by no means be regarded as complete, numer-
ous additions, including several very beautiful species, having been
very lately presented to the Society ; and these there has not as
yet been time to examine and place in the cabinets.

Of the lower green sand Mollusca in the collection, 35 agree
with Neocomien species recorded by M. Leymerie, and about 30
with species from the Hillsthon and Hillsconglomerat of M. Von
Roemer. Many species, which had received new names from those
geologists, have proved, on examination, to be well-known British
species, figured in the Mineral Conchology or elsewhere. Among
these are several which are regarded on the Continent as charac-
teristic of the so-called Neocomien beds.

Of Radiata, there are in the collection about12 speeies of
Polyparia and Amorphozea, and 9 Echinodermata; of Annelida
8 or 9 species, and several Crustacea. Additions to this part of
the collection are very desirable, especially better specimens of
Echinodermata. Ba 2

To complete the collection, fossils from the Speeton Clay, of
which there are none in the Society’s possession, are much wanted.
The table now drawn up exhibits the species at present in the col-
lection, and their relation to the French lower green sand fauna,
and to that of Germany, as well as the British localities in which
they have occurred. It appears from this table that the greater
number of species are as yet only known as fossils of British
strata.

[ Note. It has been thought advisable to publish this report in its present form
in the “ Proceedings,” as a record of what was done at the time. The catalogue
referred to, enriched by many additions, and accompanied by figures of new
species, will, it is hoped, be shortly placed in the possession of the Fellows
of the Geological Society. —Ep. | .

|

(
\

1844.] 325

8. Report on the Cotiection of Fossits from SouTueErn Inp1a,
presented by C. J. Kaye, Esq., F.G.S., and the Rev. W. H.
Ecerton, F.G.S. By Professor Epwarp Forers, F.L.S.

In the descriptive catalogue accompanying this report, and re-
ferring to the remains of invertebrate animals in the valuable
collection of fossils from the South of India, presented to the
Society by Mr. Kaye, and increased by an extensive series of
specimens collected in the same localities by Mr. Egerton, 168
species of Mollusca are enumerated, 156 of which, as far as can be
ascertained, are undescribed forms. There are also a number of
species of Radiata.

The results of their examination may be briefly stated as fol-
lows : —

Ist. The three deposits, viz. Pondicherry, Verdachellum, and
Trinconopoly, described by Mr. Kaye, are Cretaceous, inasmuch as
there are characteristic known cretaceous fossils in the collections
from all of them, whilst no fossils of any other system occur. The
nearest allies of the majority of the new species are cretaceous ;
and among the genera and subgenera are many which, as far as
we know, are confined to or have their chief development in the Cre-
taceous system. ‘The three deposits are connected with each other
zoologically by the associations of certain species common to two
of them, with others found in the third.

2d. Two of the three deposits, viz. Verdachellum and Trinco-
nopoly, are of a different epoch of the Cretaceous era from the
third, Pondicherry. The two former have several species in com-
mon (and those species among the most prolific in individuals),
which are not found in the third. In them are found almost all

the species identical with European forms. In several of the

genera, of which there are many species, the forms are altogether
distinct ; although, judging from the evidence afforded by mineral
character and association of species, the conditions of depth and
sea-bottom at the time of the deposition of the strata seem to have
been the same. The difference therefore must have depended on
a representation of species by species 2 tame and not in depth.

3d. The beds, apparently contemporaneous, viz. Trinconopoly
and Verdachellum, ‘may be regarded as equivalent to the upper

| green sand and gault; the European species they include being

either characteristic upper green sand and gault forms, or else
such as occur in those strata. The new species they contain are
either closely allied to known upper green sand or gault species,
or peculiar to the Indian beds.

4th. The Pondicherry deposit may be regarded as belonging
to the lowest part of the Cretaceous system. In it almost all
the fossils are new. Such as are analogous to known species
are allied to fossils of the lower green sand of English geolo-
gists and Neocomien of the French. In the genus most developed
in this deposit, viz. Ammonites, three fourths of the species be-

326 [ Jan. 31,

long to those subgenera especially characteristic of the “ Lower
Neocomien” of the Mediterranean basin; whilst, of the remain-
der, as many representatives of Oolitic fossils occur as of upper
green sand. ‘The resemblance between the Ammonites of this
part of the collection and those of Castellane, in the south of
France, is very remarkable, though the specific identity of any of
them is doubtful. Having seen no account of the Conchifera of
the Castellane beds, I cannot say how far the analogy is borne out
among the bivalve Mollusca among the Indian species, of which
there are many very peculiar forms.

5th. Considered in regard to the distribution of animal life
during the Cretaceous era, this collection is of the highest interest.
Tt shows, that during two successive stages of that era the climatal
influence, as affecting marine animals, did not vary in intensity in
the Indian, European, and American regions, whilst the later of the
two had specifie relations with the seas of Europe, which are ab-
sent from the earlier. The cause of this remarkable fact is not to
be sought for in a more general distribution of animal life at one
time than at another, but rather in some great change in the dis-
tribution of land and sea, and in a greater connection of the Indian
and European seas during the epoch of the deposition of the upper
greensand, than during that of the lower. To this cause must
also be attributed the peculiar tertiary aspect of the Indian col-
lections, depending on the presence of a number of forms usually
regarded as characteristic of tertiary formations, such as Cypreea,
Oliva, Triton, Pyrula, Nerita, and numerous species of Voluta,
the inference from which, since not one of the species is identical
with any known tertiary form, should not be that the deposits con-
taining them are either tertiary or necessarily connected with
tertiary, but that the genera in question commenced their appear-
ance earliest in the Eastern seas, which, when we recollect that in
those very seas at the present day, are found the great specific
assemblages or capitals of those genera, whilst they have either
disappeared or have few representatives in the seas of other geo-
graphical regions, is exactly what we should expect, @ priori, to
find. This fact would go far to support the theory, that genera,
like species, have geographical birth-places as well as geographical
capitals.

The fact, that of the few species found in the Indian cretaceous
beds which are common to the same beds in distant regions, the
majority are such as range through several deposits of different
ages, supports the probability of a law which I have elsewhere
indicated, viz. that the range of the geographical distribution of
species is usually correspondent to the range of their distribution
in time.

The probability of the proposed law, that the marine faunas of
distant localities, under similar conditions of climate, depth, and
sea-bottom, maintain their relations rather by the representation
of forms by similar forms, than by identity of species, is also
borne out by the examination of these collections.

1844. ] 327

These inferences can be only put forth as provisional, until a
thorough examination of the deposits described by Mr. Kaye in
their stratigraphical relations be made, and the fossils of those
localities which he did not visit have been still further examined
on the spot. ‘To the paleontologist his collections are invaluable,
as the specimens are in so fine a state of preservation, as to permit
of.an examination of their minute structure.

The descriptions of fifteen of the Trinconopoly species in the
catalogues were furnished to Mr. Kaye by Mr. George Sowerby.

[ Note. With regard to this report, it was also intended that it should
have been accompanied by a descriptive catalogue of the fossils, and by figures
of new species, and it is in so far, therefore, incomplete. It is published in this
place as an indication of the important results actually arrived at by the study of
these interesting fossils. — Ep. |

4. On the Permian System as developed in Russia and other
Parts of Europe. By Roprrick Impry Murcutson, Esq.,
F.G.S., V.P.R.S., and M. E. pr Verneuit, Hon. Mem. Geo.
Soe. of London.

On the part of his associates, M. de Verneuil and Count Key-
serling, and himself, Mr. Murchison has previously explained in the
Proceedings of the Geol. Soc. the nature of the various deposits
which constitute the subsoil of European Russia. As in all other
parts of the world which have been adequately examined, the
Silurian rocks are those which contain the earliest forms of animal
life, and in Russia they are overlaid by Devonian and carboni-
ferous deposits, each of which is there singularly well defined by
its organic remains and regular superposition.

In common with many other geologists, Mr. Murchison was
formerly of opinion* that the above-mentioned three systems con-
stituted the whole Palzeozoic series, but the examination of Russia
and Germany has led him to include also therein the next group
in ascending order, or that to which he had assigned} the name of
Permian.

When two or more conterminous formations are shown to have
a community of fossils, it has recently been deemed essential to
group them under one name; and following the practice of as-
signing to any such newly classed group a geographical name

* See “ Silurian System,” p. 46. e¢ seg. In England Professor Phillips has,
however, some time maintained that the fossils of the magnesian limestone
ought to be grouped with the inferior strata.

+ See “ Letter to M. Fischer Von Waldheim, Sept. 1841”; Weonhard’s
“Jahr Buch,” parti. p. 91. 1842; “ Phil. Magazine,” vol. xix. p. 418.

VOL. IV. PART Il. BB

328 | [ Jan. 31,

derived from the region where the strata are best developed, the
term “Permian” was employed. This system was first proposed
‘to embrace the deposits known in Germany as the Rothe-todte-
liegende, Zechstein, Kupferschiefer, &c., and in England as Lower
New Red Sandstone, Magnesian limestone, &e.

In communicating some of the results of a journey in Poland
and Germany during last summer, Mr. Murchison, one of the
authors of the present memoir, states that his object is to show
that his first view concerning the inferior limit of this system is
correct—to extend its upper limits, and from the distribution
and character of its organic remains to demonstrate that it is of
palxozoic age.

Near Zwickau in Saxony, and Waldenburg in Upper Silesia,
productive coal-fields (in the latter country recumbent on carbo-
niferous limestone) are unconformably surmounted by red conglo-
merate, sandstone and shale (the rothe-todte-liegende), which in
those countries, as in Thuringia and Hesse Cassel, pass con-
formably upwards into the Zechstein or its equivalents. The
same relations of a lower sandstone to the Magnesian limestone
are, indeed, well known in England, and have been pointed out in
detail by Professor Sedgwick. Seeing that these two deposits are
so intimately associated, few, if any, geologists would wish to dis-
unite them; but the question arises, what is the uppermost limit
of this group. In Russia, beds of limestone identified with the
Zechstein and Magnesian limestone by their organic remains are
overlaid by a great thickness of marls, sands, and conglomerates,
containing some of the same types of life as the lower members,
particularly the plants which are very closely allied to and are
in some instances identical with the vegetables of the carboniferous
era. It became therefore desirable to ascertain whether similar
paleozoic features were to be found in other parts of Europe.
Now in Thuringia and Hesse Cassel, the Zechstein is, in numerous
localities, conformably surmounted by red and spotted sandstones,
in which no traces of fossils distinct from those of the Permian
era are observable, the only land plant found in them (the Cala-
mites arenarius) being inseparable from well-known carboniferous
forms. ‘This overlying sandstone being perfectly conformable to
the Zechstein, may, it is conceived (like the overlying sandstones
of Russia), be classed with that rock. In making this suggestion,
the authors disavow the intention of derogating in any respect
from the ‘Trias of German geologists, also a tripartite system, and
of which the muschelkalk is the centre, with certain red and
mottled marls and sands beneath, and the keuper sandstone above.
The Triassic system does not contain a single Paleozoic form,
whether animal or vegetable, whilst the fauna and flora of the
Permian are both so connected with the carboniferous and
inferior systems, that they evidently constitute the last remnant of
the same era. In the whole geological series, therefore, no two
systems are more completely separated than the Permian and the

1844, ] 329

. Trias, the one forming the uppermost Paleozoic stage, the other
the base of the secondary deposits.

After showing that, the “Gres de Vosges,” as described by
M. Elie de Beaumont, is one of the arenaceous equivalents of the
Permian system, and after alluding to its development in the
neighbourhood of Strasburg and in other parts of Europe, where
it is well separated from the Trias, attention is directed to the fact,
that as far as researches had yet gone, the Trias is always con-
formable to the Permian, whilst the “ rothe-todte-liegende,” or base
of the latter, is frequently unconformable to the carboniferous
rocks, on which it rests, and out of whose detritus it has often been
formed. ‘These phenomena, say the authors, prove that the most
marked distinctions between the fossils of succeeding formations
cannot be referred to physical revolutions of the surface; for in
the examples cited there is a sequence of congeneric remains,
where the succession of the strata has been powerfully inter-
rupted (Carboniferous to Permian), and a total change of fossils
where the contiguous formations are conformable (Permian to
Trias).

These relations are expressed in this diagram :—

fi

KKeuper..,. »)
/ LOWER SECONDARY. |

Muschelkalk - | TRIAS.

Upper Bunter |
(Gres bigarre) J

Lower Bunter... .

Zechstein ...... pene

UPPER PALAOZOLC. Abthecottedievende

——_ ow
eee CARBONIFEROUS.

The Permian fauna is then considered, and is said to exhibit the
last of the successive alterations which the Palaeozoic animals un-
derwent before their final disappearance. The total number of
Permian species known to the authors in different parts of Europe
(without reckoning certain ichthyolites not yet named, and a few
doubtful forms of shells) is 166, of which 148 are characteristic of
the system, 18 only being found in the subjacent Paleozoic
rocks. ‘Che Brachiopods being viewed as the shells of most value
‘in determining the durations of the ancient rocks, it is stated, that
10 out of the 30 Permian species are common to this system
and the carboniferous. After some observations on the species of
Productus, Spirifer, Orthis, Terebratula, Leptana (Chonetes),
which have lived on from earlier periods, it is remarked that no
form of the Pentamerus, a genus peculiarly characteristic of the
| Silurian strata, has yet been found in the Permian strata, whilst
‘the Brachiopod most frequent in the latter is the Productus, a
genus very abundant in the carboniferous or conterminous de-

posits, but unknown in the Silurian. Among the Conchifers
BB 2

330 [Jan. 31,

(26 in number) the Modiola is very characteristic of the Permian
system, both in Russia and England; and though the large species
of Axinus so well known in England has not yet been found in
Russia, its place is there taken by two other species of the same
genus. The Avicula is also a good Permian shell, the 4. Kaza-
nensis being the best type in Russia, whilst the A. antigua is
there common to this deposit and the carboniferous.

The Gasteropods, so abundant in the carboniferous era, have un-
dergone great diminution before the formation of the Permian
strata, and have had great difficulty in accommodating themselves
to new conditions; still more so the Cephalopods, for the forms of,
Goniatites, Nautili, and Orthoceratites, so very common in the pre-
ceding epoch, are almost unknown in this system, a fragment or
two of one genus (Nautilus ?) alone having been found in all parts
of Europe. This scarcity of Cephalopods at the close of the Pa-
leozoic series has a remarkable parallel in a subsequent geological
period ; for as these animals were reproduced in vast abundance and
under many new forms in the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous sys-
tems, so towards the termination of the last of these we perceive a
second and similar disappearance of the greater number of the shelly
Cephalopods. The extreme reduction of the Gasteropods at the
close of the cretaceous period, as indicated by M. Alcide D’Orbigny,
is also pointed out as an additional feature of analogy to the Per-
mian changes. Trilobites, so eminently characteristic of the Si-
lurian system, and which dwindle away to a few small species in
the carboniferous system, are unknown in the Permian of Western
Europe and in Russia, and are only represented by a species of
Limulus. Fishes, on the other hand, are numerous in proportion
to the other Permian classes, 43 or 44 species being named, and
several from Russia being yet undescribed; these are all, with
one exception, absolutely peculiar to the stratum in which they
occur, thus confirming the truth of the generalisation of Agassiz,
that these vertebrata mark with great precision the age of the
stratum in which they are found. Lastly, the Permian beds of
Russia, like the Dolomitic conglomerate of England and the
Kupferschiefer of Germany, contain bones of thecodont Sau-
rians, indicating the earliest appearance of animals of that high
organisation, and their direct association with Paleozoic shells and
plants, some of which are undistinguishable from true carboni-
ferous species.

After thus following it back zz time, the Permian fauna is next
considered in horizontal extension or distance, the fossils of Russia
being compared with those of similar age in western Europe. The
number of species collected by the authors in Russia is 53 or about
one third of the total number of the whole European fauna of the
period, and of these 82 are peculiar to Russia, a large number
when the recency and rapidity of the survey of the authors is ad-
verted to; and when it is considered that 33 species only were found
by Professor Sedgwick in deposits of this age in England, and 41

* 1844.] 331

according to the recent tabular view of Geinitz is the total number
known in Saxony where the Zechstein is very fully elaborated.
Like other formations of synchronous age when at great distances
from each other, the Russian succession of Permian strata cannot
be brought into a detailed analogy with that of western Europe.
Instead of occupying a fixed place like the calcareous beds which
represent the Zechstein, they inosculate with great thicknesses of
fossiliferous grit, whilst Saurians and fishes with certain Producti
and Modiole, as well as most of the plants, unquestionably oceur in
conglomerates, tufaceous limestones, and marls, which overlie the
beds which contain Zechstein or Magnesian limestone fossils. In
Germany, the Protorosaurus belongs to the Kupfer-schiefer which
is below the Zechstein, whereas in Russia all the cupriferous and
sauroid beds are above that rock.

In analysing the species common to the Permian system of
Russia and the rest of Europe (by stating the number which have
lived on from the carboniferous to the Permian, and the diminished
proportion of the latter), Russia alone is appealed to, and three only

of the Permian species of that country are found to descend into

the Paleozoic rocks. ‘The authors, therefore, infer that these
results necessarily prove the existence of a relation between the
greater or less duration of species and their propagation or ex-
tension to distant parts, thus confirming a law previously an-
nounced by one of them.

Some detailed observations then follow on the species in each
class found in Russia, and Mr. Lonsdale is cited as having as-
sured them that although the Permian corals are evidently Palzo--
zoic in their generic characters, there is not a single species which
is identical with a carboniferous form; and it is also remarked
that of 20 species of Brachiopods found in Russia 8 are peculiar
to that country.

Lastly, deriving their knowledge of the specific character of the
plants from the examination of M. Adolphe Brongniart, aided by
Mr. Morris, who had previously examined them, it appears certain,
that whilst all the forms indicate a continuation of vegetable life
of the same nature as that which prevailed during the carbo-
niferous era, there are a few species (europteris tenuifolia,
Lepidodendron elongatum, and Calamites Suckovii) which are
identical with carboniferous plants, and not one which can be
compared with a triassic plant.*

The results of the inquiries of the botanist, the authors conclude
by remarking, are therefore completely in accordance with those

* The species of plants, ten or twelve in number, which have been found in
the Kupfer-schiefer or the sandy beds associated with the Zechstein in Germany,
are chiefly, marine fucoids, and have been termed Caulerpites. According to
M. Adolphe Brongniart, the only terrestrial piants of these German strata are
the Teniopteris Echardi (Germar), and a Neuropteris mentioned by Naumann,
which not being determined must be considered doubtful.

332 [Jan. 31,

of the paleontologist. They clearly prove that the Permian system
is the uppermost stage of that long Palwozoic series, which, com-
mencing with the lowest Silurian rocks, presents a connected suc-
cession of animal and vegetable life, the last traces of which passed
away with the termination of the strata under review. Until
Russia was explored, the upper member of these ancient rocks
had scarcely afforded a trace of terrestrial plants. Neither in the
British Isles nor in Germany had there been found more than one
or two species of land plants in deposits of this age, not one of
which has yet been fully identified or described. Now in reference
to the Russian species, such of them as had been previously al-
luded to by other writers were placed by some in the carboniferous
rocks, by others in the New Red Sandstone.* Our sections, how-
ever, have shown that neither of these views is correct; and as
the Russian plants to which we have called attention, occur for
the most part in strata distinctly overlying beds containing the
fossils of the Zechstein, it is clear that certain red sandstones,
marls and conglomerates, above that rock, belong to our Permian
group, are wholly distinct from the Trias, and are truly Pa-
leeozoic.

We repeat, therefore, that we have now adduced ample botanical
as well as zoological and stratigraphical evidence to vindicate the’
application of the collective word Permian to a succession of strata
which had not been previously united through their geological
relations and organic contents.

These proofs will, we trust, be considered as still more strongly
borne out by the grandeur of the phenomena to which we have
appealed; for the Permian deposits of Russia repose upon carbo-
niferous strata throughout more than two thirds of a basin which
has a cireumference of not less than 4000 English miles.

A detailed tabular list of the animal remains of, the Permian
system in Europe was also given, mentioning the names of the
authors who have described each species, the localities at which
it has been found, and its vertical range in the Palwxozoic series.
This table will appear “in extenso” in the forthcoming work
upon Russia, and in the meantime the following recapitulation is
subjoined; but the authors express their regret that their table
was drawn up without the benefit of the long-promised assistance
of Professor Agassiz. His observations on a few of the Permian
ichthyolites which were submitted to him will increase the number
of that class of fossils.

* See a very recent memoir by M. Yasikoff, “ Bull. de Moskou,” 1843, part ii.
p. 237., in which he refers an interesting portion of the Permian rocks described
by us upon the Kama, and between that river and the Sok, either to the New
Red Sandstone or the Carboniferous Limestone.

1944, ]

339

Recapitulation of the Fauna of the Permian System in Europe.

Species found in Russia.

@ as
EY coll ape ae
[=") Oi ira} r b.
A. Zé. ae Previously found elsewhere.
zence tae oles
5 a 2 pa & 5 es a. Sa fe 1
plastics: S 2a SEs as Peculiar = S.| a ane Ee
0] 5, | Ssh] Ts |totha| Ed | Bee] Boy
an | S| SS lcountry| fe2| cee | oss
Seal 2, Se | See
Polyparia - - - eli ele 13 2 3 1? 2)
Echinodermata - BB 1 1
Conchifera, Ord. Epadivtenecin 7| 30 20 10 8 3 4 5
Ord. Dimyaria -|10) 26 26 8 3
Ord. Monomyaria| 5| 16 15 1 4 3
Mollusca, Ord. Gasteropoda |11| 22 19 43 3
Ord. Cephalopoda | 1 3 3 1
Annelida - - - -|1 2 2
Crustacea - - - |) yy 2 2
Pisces - - - - 16) 43 42 1 2
Reptilia - - - =a 5 5 1
isi
Total - - |66) 166 148 18 32 3or4| 12 5

Sia Kae eth

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forecast! 6

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vetted mike .

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Pt ha Wdste ih Lata
ek Fin

INDEX
TO THE COMMUNICATIONS READ DURING THE SESSION

1842 — 1843.

Page
AN NUAT MEP ORT Ses) ly tity OA Sienceessassdleeescisscias sins: aperescsesenvenkalol
Austen, R. A. C. Esq.
On the Geology of the South East of Surrey .. aces wal@y/
Additional Note on the Geology of the South East of ‘Surrey 196
Bropr, Rev. P. B.
Notice on the Discovery of the Remains of Insects in the Lias
of Gloucestershir Ce with some Remarks on the lower Members of
this Formation ..........ccssesescserercesnteseccscccasscsecccscesscccscescoes 14

Brown, JoHN, ne
On some Pleistocene Deposits near Copferd, Essex Feces lls!

Buckman, JAMEs, Esq.
On the Occurrenee of the Remains of Insects in the 6 URES
Lias of the County ef Gloucester ............ sosgsssagansnaose 211
Crarxe, Rev..W. B.
On a Fossil Pine-forest at Kurrur-Kurra an, on the eastern Coast
of Australia... Actale ois delyod alesis geeiestle Sieesiac slocoeecessienesseoscesteacemm LON

Coors, J. H. sei
On Fossil Bones found in digging the New Brunswick Canal

IN GeOrgia.....scsssecscescecencrencsaconcceerasescetessseeereveseccesssreccseess OD
EGeErton, Sir P. seirsale

On some new Species of Fossil Chimeroid Fishes............. se. loo

On some new Ganoid Fishes ........esccsecssseeraccccccctrocecoeces aoe 183

Supplement to a Memoir on the Fossil Species of Chimera.... 211
Firrox, W.H., M.D.
Observations on part of the Section of the Lower Greensand
at Atherfield, on the Coast of the Isle of Wight ......seescsseseeeese 198

Gersnra, A., M.D.
A Geological Map of Neva Scotia with an accompanying

Memoir... 000 00808200 200018 000 000 000.000 000008 080208800000 HHH THF PON LI QOD 000 186

HARrxness, R., Tey
On Changes in the Temperature of the Earth, as a Mode of
accounting for the Subsidence of the Ocean, and for the conse-
quent Formation of Sea Beaches above its present Level .......6. 178

INDEX.

LYELL, Cuarzzs, Esq.
On the Ridges, elevated Beaches, inland Cliffs, and Boulder
Formations of the Canadian Lakes and Valley of St. Lawrence
On the Tertiary Strata of the Island of Martha's Yaneyany
in Massachusetts. ...... echenat
On the Geological Position of ‘the Mastodon “giganteum and
associated Fossil Remains at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, and

other localities in the United States and Crane Sos sawienuelecseatees
On the upright Fossil Trees found at different Levels in the
Coal Strata of Cumberland, Nova Scotia ........0..cccesssccsseseseces

On the Coal Formation of Nova Scotia, and on the Age and
relative Position of the etl as and secompanyines Marine Lime-
SCONES... +00 see e0e. vec ee crete neces eee ce ces nseese nee seccee recess sencee see

Manrext, G. a Ub. D.

Notice on a Suite of Specimens of Onn Menten on the New
RediSandstone or Connecticut) ccdcccs-ccccnecessearoessscsest tees neers

Description of some Fossil Fruits from the Chalk Formation
on the South-Mast of Mnelamd vrcecocsscessdencceesteesedecsseasenmesene

Notice on the Fossilized Remains of the soft Parts of Mollusca

Morcuison, R. I., Esq.

Anniversary Addrésag susie measseeciioch ack cae

Observations on the Occurrence of Freshwater Beds in the
Oolitic Deposits of Brora, Sutherlandshire, and on the British
Equivalents of the Neocomien System of Foreign Geologists ......

Owen, D. Dax, M.D.

On the Geology of the Western States of North America.......
Pearce, J.C., Esq.

On the Locomotive Powers of the Family Crinoidea .............
Pratt, 8. P., Esq.

On the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Bayonne............+0.
Repriep, W. C., Esq.

Letter on newly-diseovered neenisaate in the New Red Sand-
stone of New Jersey.......0.seseeeee escssesccosissneacectnaense

Ropertson, ALEXANDER, me
Notice of the Occurrence of Beds Sonne Freshwater Fossils
in the Oolitic Coalfield of Brora.. secles|neticene\cecseaestsnieaneanies
Roytg, Dr.
On the Tin Mines of Tenasscrim Province..........sccocccsesoeeens
Srpewrcx, Rev. Professor.
Outline of the Geological Structure of North Wales.............

Suareg, Dantex, Esq.

On the Balavibimestonereccescccuscscousecosenscicnaemeeaeeoccccenceneee
On the Silurian Rocks of the South of Westmoreland and N sein
Of Wancashireservccecocsscscaseeecwoencce coceeacenoncec ae aot coe eee eens

Simos, F.W., Esq.
Account of a Section of the Strata between the Chalk and the
Wrealden ‘Clay mithe Vicinity Of Hiythes.csc..csccceseconss-eovenscceue
Smiru, Lieut. R. Barry.
On the Structure of the Delta of the SENSES: Beect sononn 090
Stancer, W., M.D.
On the Geology of some Points on the West Coast of Africa, and
of the! Banks of the) River Niger. en .ecdsissanedces ure ssxsenicsisneeeeeeeees

Page

19

31

36
176

184

173

- 165

212

INDEX.

Stevenson, Mr. WILiI1AM.
On the Stratified Rocks of Sp aes and their embedded
Wrramie PNCMIAMS scccreecsaccsesercsccsacass+oceisss iaictweveacooes
STRICKLAND, H.E. Esq.
On some remarkable Concretions in the Tertiary Beds of the
HS levote Micinewa ss asesiesd cesclosecacecccetisocacascderonecessesedeehenasetvocseeie
On certain Impressions on the Surface oe the Lias Roncenedy im
Gloucestershire ... Macaeceae devcecioccecne sees siciivcosessuinesesoesessoeee
TREvVELYAN, W.C., Esq.
On scratched Garces of Rocks near Mount Parnassus..........
Trimmer, Josuvua, Esq.
Onvlzipesvor mand oalls ine Chalkosisscsessccccecccescnaescasassess ecceas
Wattace, Rosert, Esq.
On the Classification of Granitic Rocks ......cs..ssscessceceevereseces

29

a” y 55 ; ¥ =
Ht adeaitoel Dae

; Rete neentin tl oi hina b inibeoticad .

Vin camry Rad ae - a a Spee ae hats

PROCEEDINGS
OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Vou. IV. Parrii. 1844, No. 100.

AT THE
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING,
16th of February, 1844,
Tux following Report from the Council was read :—

In laying their Annual Report before the Society, the Council have
the satisfaction of being enabled to state, that a considerable increase
has taken place in the numbers of the Society during the past year
as compared with several preceding years. In that period 17 Resi-
dent and 12 Non-resident Fellows have been elected and admitted ;
besides which, 4 others who had been elected in former years have
paid their Admission Fees; making an addition of 33 new Fellows :
there have been 8 deaths and 5 resignations, and 4 Fellows have
been removed as defaulters from the Society ; making a diminution
of 17, and leaving a clear increase of 16 Fellows. There nee also
been one death amongst the Honorary Members.

At the close of 1842 the number of Fellows was 788, and a the
close of 1843 it was 804, whilst the total numbers of Members at
the same periods were respectively 868 and 883.

It is with much regret that ‘the Council have to report that the
expenditure of the Society has exceeded its income by the sum of
£262 6s. 2d.; it will be seen however, that the expense of £556 15s.,
incurred in 1842, belongs to the second part of the sixth volume of
the Transactions ; and this has been carried to the account of the
past year.

Only one composition has been received; but owing to the great
pressure on the ordinary income of the Society, the Council have
delayed adding this sum to the funded capital; so that the only in-
crease in this portion of the Society’s property, which they have to
announce, arises from the present price of stock as compared with
that of the same date last year, which is as £2598 to £2544. The
number of existing compounders at the close of 1843 was 117, and
the amount of compositions which had been received from them was
£3685 10s., making a difference of only £1087 10s. between the
amount of compositions received and the actual value of the funded
property.

VOL, iV. PART II. 2c

-

336

An act of the Legislature was passed during the last year, exempt-
ing scientific bodies from the payment of parochial and other local
rates, whereby, in the case of this Society, a relief has been given,
amounting, on an average of the last three years, to the sum of
£32 7s. 9d.

The Council have further the satisfaction of announcing, that the
late Mr. T. Botfield of Hopton-court has bequeathed to this Society
a legacy of £31 10s. (the value of his composition had he lived),
which has already been received : the Council consider it expedient
that this sum should be added to the funded property.

The increasing number and importance of the papers communi-
cating original information to the Society; the great drain which
the publication of these papers would entail on the funds of the Society,
should the Transactions henceforth be invariably published in the
same form as the last six volumes of the New Series; the necessity
in that case of long intervening delays between the reading of papers
and their publication, in order that, by the accumulated savings of
two or three years, means may be provided for defraying the cost of
a new volume; the overwhelming arrears of unpublished papers,
which in that case must necessarily accumulate, and might ulti-
mately remain unpublished, have forced on the Council the neces-
sity of considering whether by the adoption, to a certain extent, and
at least for the present, of some less costly and more expeditious
form of publication, as, for instance, by accompanying a very full
abstract of the papers read by the necessary figured illustrations,
justice might not in most cases be done to authors, and at the same
time the expense be rendered commensurate with the funds of the
Society.

A specimen of the suggested new form of publication will be sub-
mitted to the Fellows, before any conclusive determination shall have
been taken on the subject.

The Council have resolved that the Wollaston Medal be assigned
to the Rev. W. D. Conybeare, for his continued and effective ser-
vices in the cause of Geology and of Palzontology, and they have
directed that the balance of the annual interest of the fund be as-
signed to Mr. William Lonsdale, to assist in promoting his re-
searches on Corals.

Report of the Museum Committee for 1844.

We have much pleasure in informing the Council, that the recom-
mendations we offered in our last Report, have been acted upon du-
ring the past year, and that great progress has already been made in
the arrangement of various portions of our large collection. Of the

Tertiary era,—specimens have been received from almost every
portion of the British series, presented by Mr. Greenough, Mr.
Robert White, Mr. W. Card, Professor Henslow, Mr. S. Wood, and
Mr. Ball.

A collection of Pleistocene Fossils fram North America, presented
by Mr. Lyell, has been added to the Foreign Museum, and

An extensive suite from Malta and Gozo has been received from

337

Lieut. Spratt, R.N., which has been incorporated with what the
Society already possessed from those islands, and occupies 10 drawers.

Cretaceous era.—The suite of Fossil Remains from this series of
the British strata in the Society’s collection has undergone a thorough
revision: all the species, ascertained to be new, have been described
and named by Mr. Forbes, and a catalogue has been compiled. Mr.
Forbes’s attention has been especially directed to those species which
have been recently procured from the lowest strata of this age in
the south-east of England. On these he has made a special report,
which has been read before the Society, so that it may suffice to
state that this portion of our collection, which previously occupied
eight drawers, has been extended to eighteen. This part of our col-
lection has been enriched by donations from the President, Dr. Fit-
ton, Mr. Simms, Mr. Hambrough, Mr. Austen, Mr. Ibbetson, and
Mr. Wise.

- The views and wishes expressed in our last Report have in this
part of the collection been most zealously carried out by Mr. Forbes.
and Mr. Woodward. In order that the Society may derive full
benefit from Mr. Forbes’s scientific labours, we think it very desi-
rable that his Report, when printed, should be accompanied by
figures of the new species he has established.

A large collection of Cretaceous Fossils, from the neighbourhood
of Pondicherry, Verdachellum, and Trinchinopoly, may be considered,
from their novelty and beautiful state of preservation, among the
most valuable additions made to our Museum. This suite has also
been examined by Mr. Forbes. His results have been very recently
laid before the Society, and we are of opinion that the Council can-
not at the present moment more effectually assist geological science
than by the publication of that Report, together with full illustra-
tions of the fossil evidence.

For the portion of this collection first received the Society is in-
_debted to Mr. Kaye, and for another portion from the same localities
since received, to the Rev. William Henry Egerton.

Ophiura serrata, from the Chalk, was procured for the Society’s
collection by exchange.

Oolitic era.—We do not propose to make any special report on
the nature of the accessions made to our collection in this part of
the secondary series, as it requires examination and revision. Many
| donations of interest have been made by Mr. Cunnington, Mr. Rus-
| kin, and Mr. Pratt: from the latter was received Amphiura Pratti, of
the Oxford clay, described by Mr. Forbes in our ‘ Proceedings.’
Ophioderma Egertoni, frora the Lias, also described, was obtained
\for this Society by exchange.

Paleozoic era.—The Society has received important additions in
| this portion of its collection, and nearly in every subdivision of this
group.

Producte from the magnesian limestone of Humbledon, presented
by Sir Philip Grey Egerton, Bart.

A beautiful collection of fossils from Hook Point (Wexford),
presented by the Earl of Enniskillen, contains the following Crinoids,
22

338

in which order we previously possessed scarcely a determinable
specimen :—

Actinocrinites 30-dactylus, A. | Platycrinites spinosus.
aculeatus, A. elephantinus, A.
levis, A. Colei.

A very valuable collection of the palatal remains, teeth and spines
of fossil fishes from the carboniferous limestone of the county of
Armagh, has been received from Captain Jones, R.N., M.P., com-
prising 43 species, named by M. Agassiz, some of which are the
originals of figures in the ‘ Poissons Fossiles.’ This donation com-
prises the following genera and species :—

Psammodus rugosus, P. porosus, natus, C. Psittacinus, C. levis-

P. cornutus. simus, C. Hastingsii, C. radi-
Helodus turgidus, H. didymus,; cans, C. nutus, C. sagittatus,

H. levissimus, H. planus, H. C. marginatus.

mammillaris. Ctenacanthus crenulatus, C. he-
Chomatodus truncatus, C. cinc-| terogyrus. .

tus, C. linearis. Asteroptychius ornatus.

Cochliodus contortus, C. magnus, | Oracanthus confluens, O. minor.
C. oblongus, C. acutus, C. stri- | Physonemus subteres.

atus. Onchus plicatus, O. falcatus, O.
Cladodus mirabilis, C. acutus, C. rectus.
basalis, C. striatus, C. margi- | Peecilodus parallelus, P. Jonesii,
natus. P. sublevis.

Ctenoptychius macrodus, C. re-

The fossils from the carboniferous group of Ireland had, till re-
cently, been arranged according to the counties from which they had
been procured: under Mr. Forbes’s direction, Mr. Woodward has
collected into one systematic series all the English and Irish fossils
of this age.

Some Corals from the Plymouth limestone have been presented
by Mr. Hennah. ~

The collection of Rhenish fossils, presented by Mr. Murchison,
has been placed in drawers, and the Corals have been arranged and
named after memoranda left by Mr. Lonsdale. Some additions have
been made to our Dudley limestone fossils by exchanges with the
Dudley Museum.

We are not aware of any other donations requiring special notice.
We would suggest an alteration in the Museum, which would not
be attended with any great expense, viz. that the window-shutters
be removed, and the recesses fitted up with shelves, so that space
may be gained for many of the large and interesting specimens in
the Society’s possession, which cannot at present be exhibited.

With respect to the Library, the Committee have to report that
about 180 volumes and pamphlets have been received since the last
Anniversary, and that the collection of Maps and I]lustrations has been
enriched by the addition of the Original Drawings engraved in the

339

work of Prof. Agassiz on Fossil Fishes, the munificent donation of
Lord Francis Egerton, and of the Charts and Maps published during
the year by the Admiralty and Board of Ordnance.
ROBERT A. C. AUSTEN.
H. T. DE LA BECHE.
CHARLES LYELL.

—— SS

Comparative Statement of the Number of the Society at the close of
the years 1842 and 1843.

Dec. 31, 1842. Dec. 31, 1843.

Compounders ........-.-- RLS” So terete ad
RESIC OES! sie, - a7 2) 210 silts DA valet s ciphoyere 239
Non-residents ..........+-- LPN i AR Orie 448
788 804
Honorary Members...... AAT I ae Te TM WE Wee Ser 26
Foreign Members ......- BOs eect 49
Personages of Royal Blood 4 _....-..- 4
——80 —79
868 883

General Statement Explanatory of the Alteration in the Number of
Fellows, Honorary Members, &c. at the close of the years 1842 and
1843.

Number of Fellows, Compounders, Contributors, and Non-
residents, 3lst December, 1842 .........-.---++--- 788

Add, Fellows elected during former
years, and paid in 1843......

Fellows elected during 1843, and Residents.... 17
WWAOEPAIGs «oi0'- «6 ot te cy = oe is \ Non-residents 12

Non-residents 4

Deduct, Compounders deceased......++++++-++-+- 2
Residents sophia Mies race, oiueila) “loots ange 3
Non-residents { 459 9) os 2 -jeee Hen faeries 3
Resigned ........----:> (ORE Bose ae 5
EP SRNOV EM 250 peter cle teyie tae) alle >y'n)2\ -Lclni so) su ers 4

— 17

Total number of Fellows, 3lst Dec. 1843, as above 80

——t
‘

340

Total as above 79

Number of Fellows liable to Annual Contribution at the close of 1843,
with the Alterations during the year.

Number at the close of 1842............. Be aes ae 243
Add, Elected during 1843 and paid.................. 17
Non-residents who became Residents ................ ]
261
Deduct, Deceased..............%- BEA cere Ree Gs
Resiomed s.2:.. 4S. e i HAs RIA a. Mee nape
Compounded 4/552... 2. ieee ee eee 1
Became Non-resident: .)J, f20). 02} ee 10
Removed sie. Hod ee ee ee ee 4
; — 22

Total as above.... 239

Deceased Fellows :—

Compounders (2): Samuel Boddington, Esq.; Thomas William
Maltby, Esq.

Residents (3): Dr. James Franck; Dr. James MacDougle ; George
William Wood, Esq. ;

Non-residents (3): Thomas Botfield, Esq.; John Buddle, Esq.;
Benjamin H. Bright, Esq.

Honorary Member (1): Dr. R. F. Forester.

The following Persons were elected Fellows during the year 1843.

January 4th.—Rev. William Wilson, B.D. Oxford, Vicar of Wal-
thamstow ; James Edward Davies, Esq., Middle Temple, Bar-
rister; John Moreton, Esq., Chester Hill, near Uley, Gloucester-
shire; and Sir George Lefevre, M.D., 2 Porchester Place, Oxford
Square.

January 18th.—Henry Hope, Esq., Deepdene; William Stevens
Richardson, Esq., Temple, Barrister at Law; and Thomas Page,
Esq., Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and acting
Engineer at the Thames Tunnel.

February Ist.—William Johnson, Esq., Grosvenor Granite Wharf,

and Richmond, Surrey ; James Baber, Esq., South Place, Knights-
bridge ; and Evan Hopkins, Esq.

March 8th.— Rev. John Barlow, M.A.,F.R.S., Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, 22 Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square; and Captain
James, Royal Engineers.

341

March 22nd.—Major-Gen. W. Morison, C.B., M.P., Madras Army,
F.R.S. L. & E., Grosvenor Street ; Thomas Oldham, Esq., A.B.,
7 Suffolk Street, Dublin; Thomas Falconer, Esq., Putney Hill,
Putney ; and Henry William Bristow, Esq., Ordnance Geological
Survey of Great Britain.

April 5th.—Edward Scott Barber, Esq., Newport, Monmouthshire,
Associate Inst. C.E.; Charles Crompton, Esq., Barrister, End-
sleigh Street, Tavistock Square.

April 26th.—Lieut-Colonel Dundas, C.B., Royal Artillery, Wool-
wich; and George Grote, Esq., M.A., 4 Eccleston Street, Bel-
grave Square.

May 10th.—James Jerwood, Esq., A.M., Middle Temple, Barrister,
Southernhay, Exeter; Archibald Billing, M.D., A.M., Park Lane ;
Lieut. Thomas A. B. Spratt, Royal Navy; and Gabriel Hamilton
Lang, Esq., Overtown, Dumbartonshire.

May 24th.—William Cubitt, Esq., F.R.S., V.P. Inst. C.E., Great
George Street, Westminster.

June 7th.—George Tate, Esq., Alnwick ; and Nicholas Wood, Esq.,
Killingworth, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Civil Engineer.

November 15th.—G. T. Vigne, Esq., Woodford, Essex.

November 29th.—Joseph Travis Clay, Esq., Rastrick, near Halifax ;
and Francis W. Jennings, Esq., M.R.I.A. of Cork.

December 13th.—Rev. Thomas Image, Whepstead, near Bury,
Suffolk.

The following Donations to the Museum have been received since
the last Anniversary.

British and Irish Specimens.

Slab of Keuper Sandstone with footsteps from Warwickshire ; Spe-
cimen of Hybodus Keupert and other fossils from Keuper Sand-
stone of Warwickshire and Gloucestershire ; Specimens from the
Lias Bone-bed at Coomb Hill and Defford Common, Gloucester-
shire; remarkable concretions from the Tertiary Beds in the Isle
of Man; Slabs with impressions caused by the motions of Mol-
lusea, &c. from the Lias, Wainlode Cliff, Gloucestershire ; Fresh-
water Shells from the Wealden Beds, Shotover Hill, Oxon; pre-

| sented at various times by H. E. Strickland, Esq., F.G.S.

| Paludine and Uniones from the junction of the London and Plastic

_ Clays in the Railway cutting at New Cross; Fossils from the

| Gault near Folkstone; series of Fossils obtained in sinking a

shaft in the Lower Greensand at Hythe, Kent; Fossils from the

Lower Greensand at Atherfield in the Isle of Wight ; and remains

| of Plants, Cyprides and Fish from the Wealden Clay, found in

| making the Tunnel at Blechingley, Surrey ; presented by F. W.
Simms, Esq., F.G.S.

Fossils from the Lower Greensand, Sandown Bay and Atherfield,

| Isle of Wight ; presented by H. Warburton, Esq., M.P., Pres. G.S.
Fossils from the Lower Greensand and Weald Clay at their junction,

342

Redhill, near Reigate; presented by the Rev. Prof. Buckland,
D.D., F.G.S., and the President.
Fossils from the Lower Greensand, Red-hill, near Reigate ; pre-

sented by Dr. Fitton, F.G.S., and R.A. C. Austen, Esq., Sec.G.S.
Series of Lower Greensand fossils from Atherfield, Isle- of Wight ;
presented by Dr. Fitton, F.G.S.

Specimens from the same locality; presented by, Ay dvi
Esq., F.G.S., and L. L. B. Ibbetson, Esq., F.G.S.
Series of Fossils from the Lower Greensand at Peasmarsh, Surrey ;

Cardium crassum (Austen, M.S.) and Hinnites fr

om the Upper
Greensand, Blackdown ; presented by R. A. C. Austen, E3q.-,
Sec. G.S.

ambrough,

Fossils from the Lower Greensand, Hythe, Kent, and from the Gault
at Copt Point, near Folkstone; presented by H. B. Mackeson, Esq.

Ichthyolites and other fossils from the Lower Greensand, Pulborough,
Sussex ; presented by P. J. Martin, Esq., F.G.S.

Fossils of the Lower Greensand and bones of the Iguanodon from
the Hastings Sand, Isle of Wight ; presented by Edward Wise,
Esq.

Tooth of an undescribed species of Lamna from the Chalk,
Kent ; presented by William Harris, Esq., F.G.S.

Fossils from the Coral Rag, Oxford Clay and Cornbrash of Wilt-
shire; presented by William Cunnington, Esq.

Ammonite from the Calcareous Grit ; and series of Fossils from the
Carboniferous Limestone of Hook Point, Co. Wexford ; presented
by the Earl of Enniskillen, F.G.S.

Palatal remains, teeth and spines of 42 species of Fish from the

Carboniferous Limestone of Armagh ; presented by Captain Jones,
R.N., M.P., F.G.S.

Slab of Sandstone with track of a Fish (Ichthyopatolite, Buckland)
from Cheshire ; presented by Miss Eliza Potts.

Sandstone cast of a Coal-measure plant (Bothrodendron) from
Keynsham ; presented by the Rev. J. C. Stapleton, F.G.S.

Producte from the Magnesian Limestone, Humbleton Hill; pre-
sented by Sir P. G. Egerton, Bart., M.P., F.G.S.

Corals from the Devonian Limestone, Plymouth; Rey. R. Hennah,
BAGS:

A Fossil (?) found near Aberystwyth; presented by A. Thomas,
Esq., F.G.S.

Cellular Limestone from Sampson’s Bay, Ifracombe; presented by
A. Majendie, Esq., F.G.S.

Fossils from the Stonesfield Slate, Oxon; presented by J. Ruskin,
Esq., F.G.S.

Fossiis from the Kimmeridge Clay and Calcareous Grit, Shrivenham ;
and a Starfish (Amphiura Pratti) from the Oxford Clay ; presented
by S. P. Pratt, Esq., F.G.S.

Fossils from the Cambrian Slates at Pwllheli and Dolgelly ; presented
by J. Trimmer, Esq., F.G.S.

Mass of London Clay with Shells from the “ West Rocks” S.E. of

- Harwich ; presented by Capt. Beaufort, R.N., Hon. M.G.S.

Charing,

343

Fragment of the ‘“ Blackwall Rock’”’ (Conglomerate of the Plastic
Clay); presented by R. Taylor, Esq., F.G.S.

Specimen of Pinna affinis from the London Clay, Bognor ; presented
by G. B. Greenough, Esq., V.P.G.S.

Specimens of Chalcedony and Fossils from the Chalk at Hemel
Hempstead, Herts ; presented by H. C. White, Esq., F.G.S.

Remains of Fish from the London Clay of Sheppey, and Mamma-
lian Teeth and Bones from the Pleistocene deposit at Erith, Kent ;
presented by Robert White, Esq.

Plagiostoma (?) spinosum from the Chalk, and Teeth of the Rhino-
ceros and Equus from a Brickfield near Salisbury; presented by
Mr. George Card.

Casts of the Tympanic Bones of Cetacea from the Red Crag of Fe-
lixstow ; presented by the Rev. Prof. Henslow, F.G.S.

Fossil Seeds from the Lower Freshwater deposit at Hordwell; pre-
sented by S. V. Wood, Esq., F.G.S.

Sigillaria from the Coal-measures, Clutton in Templecloud, Somer-
set; presented by Dr. Pope.

Favosites from the Caradoc Sandstone, Haverfordwest; presented
by Mrs. Day, of Swan-hill House, Shrewsbury. .

Foreign Specimens.

Cretaceous Fossils from New Granada; presented by Evan Hopkins,
Esq., F.G.S.

Mineral Alum from a Cave about forty feet above the level of Bu-
chanan’s River, Cape of Good Hope, and a species of Pectunculus ;
presented by Dr. Sinclair, R.N.

Specimen of Olivine in Basaltic Rock, from Cutch ; presented by
Capt. Postans.

Specimens of Opaline Wood from Van Diemen’s Land ; presented
by M. C. Moxon.

Crystals of Carbonate of Lime, and of Native Copper with Magnetic

Tron Pyrites in Quartz, from the Alten Copper-works, Lapland ;

_ presented by J. R. Crowe, Esq.

Pleistocene Fossils from North America; presented by Charles Lyell,
Esq., F.G.8.

Specimens from Greece ; presented by W. C. Trevelyan, Esq., F.G.S.

Fossils from the Inferior Oolite and Lias of Normandy; presented

by A. Majendie, Esq., F.G.S.

Large species of Spondylus from Mexico ; presented by John Taylor,

Esgq., V.P.G.S.

The Fossil Astragalus of a Quadrumanous Animal from the Sewalik

Hills; discovered by Dr. Falconer in 1837 (see Geol. Proc.

vol. ii. p. 568) ; presented by William Lonsdale, Esq., F.G.S.

‘Carboniferous Fossils from Australia; presented by J. S. Bower-

_ bank, Esq., F.G.S.

Coal-measure plants from Australia; presented by the Rev. C. ee
Wilton.

344

Collection of Silurian Fossils from Sweden ; presented by E. H.,
Bunbury, Esq., F.G.S.

Collection of Tertiary Fossils from Malta and Gozo; presented by
Lieut. T. A. B. Spratt, F.G.S.

Collection of Fossils from Pondicherry, Verdachellum and Trinchino-
poly ; presented by C.T. Kaye, Esq., F.G.S.

Collection of Fossils from Verdachellum, &c. ; presented by the
Rey. W. H. Egerton.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Casts of metacarpal and other Bones of a Fossil Elephant from the
Pleistocene of Kent; presented by W. Ball, Esq.
A Pentagraph ; presented by H. Warburton, Esq., M.P., Pres. G.S.

CuHarts anp Maps.

Ordnance Townland Survey of the Counties of Waterford, 42 sheets :
and of Tipperary, 93 sheets ; presented by Col. Colby, by direction
of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. |

The Charts, &c. published by direction of the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty during the year 1842; presented by Capt.
Beaufort, R.N., by direction of the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty.

Geological Chart of the Oolitic Strata of the Cotswold Hills, by
James Buckman, Esq., F.G.S. (2 copies) ; presented by the Au-
thor.

Map of the Island of Bombay, by Capt. Thomas Dickinson; and
Map of the Khanat of Bokhara, prepared by Colonel Baron
Meyendorff ; presented by Major Jervis, F.G.S.

Carte Administrative et Industrielle comprenant les Mines, Miniéres,
Carriéres, Usines, &c. de la Belgique, in 9 sheets; presented by
M. Ph. Vandermaelen.

Carte Géognostique du Plateau Tertiaire Parisien, par V. Raulin ;
presented by the Author.

. Dobbs and Co.’s Relievo Map of England and Wales, Geologically
coloured ; presented by Messrs. Dobbs and Co.

Map of the Wine District of Alto Douro, by J. J. Forrester, Esq. ;
presented by the Author.

Geological Map of England and Wales, by R. I. Murchison, Esq.,
F.G.S.; presented by the Author.

The Original Drawings engraved in the work on Fossil Fishes, by
Prof. Agassiz; presented by Lord Francis Egerton, M.P., F.G.S.

Two Lithographic Impressions of Apiocrinites rotundus, in the col-
lection of J. C. Pearce, Esq.; presented by J. C. Pearce, Esq.,
F.G.S.

300

The. following List contains the Names of all the Persons and
Public Bodies from whom Donations to the Library and Museum

were received during the past year.

Academy of Sciences of Paris.
Admiralty, The Right Hon. the
Lords Commissioners of the.
Agassiz, Prof. L., For. Mem.

GAS:

American Philosophical Society

held at Philadelphia.

Ansted, Prof. D. T., F.G.S.
Athenzum, Editor of the.
Austen, R. A. C., Esq., Sec. G.S.
Austin, Thomas, Esq.
Austin, Thomas, Jun., Esq.

Ball, William Esq.
Beaufort, Capt. R.N., Hon. Mem.
G.S.

Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club.

Birmingham Philosophical Insti-
tution.

Bohn, Mr. J.

Bombay Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society.

Bowerbank, J. 8., Esq., F.G.S.

Bravais, M. A.

British Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science.

Buckland,Rev.Prof.,D.D.,F.G.S.

Buckman, James, Esq., F.G.S.

Bunbury, E. H., Esq., F.G.S.

Card, Mr. G.

Chemical Society of London.
Claussen, M. P.

Colman, H., Esq.

Crowe, J. R., Esq.
Cunnington, J. W., Esq.

Dana, J. D., Esq.

D’Archiac, M. le Vicomte.

Daubeny, Prof., M.D., F.G.S.

De Castelman, M. F.

De Collegno, M. H.

Dépot Général de la Marine de
France.

Dobbs and Co., Messrs.

D’Halloy, J. J., Omalius, For.
Mem. G.S.

D’Orbigny, M. Alcide.

Egerton, Lord Francis, M.P.,
F.G.S.

Egerton, SirP., Bart., M.P.F.G.S.

Egerton, the Rev. W. H.

Egyptian Society.

Elie de Beaumont, M. L., For.
Mem. G.S.

Enniskillen, Earl of, F.G.S.

Ethnological Society.

Faraday, M., Esq., F.G.S.

Favre, M. Alphonse.

Fischer de Waldheim, M. G.,
For. Mem. G.S.

Fisher and Son, Messrs.

Fitton, W. H., M.D., F.G.S.

Forbes, Prof. E.

Forrester, J. J., Esq.

Fox, R. Were, Esq.

Franklin, Sir J., K.C.H., F.G.S.

Geological Society of France.
Geological Society of Manchester.
Greenough, G. B., Esq.,V.P.G.S.

Hambrough, A., Esq., F.G.S.
Harris, W., Esq., F.G.S.
Hennah, Rev. R., F.G.S.
Henslow, Rev. Prof., F.G.S.
Heeninghaus, Herr F. W.
Hogg, John, Esq., M.A.
Hopkins, Evan, Esq., F.G.S.
Humboldt, Baron von F. A., For.
Mem. G.S.

Ibbetson, L. L. B., Esq., F.G.S.
Jervis, Major T. B., F.G.S.
Institution of Civil Engineers.
Johnston, Prof. J. F. W., F.G.S.

346

Jones, Capt. R.N., M.P., F.G.S.
Italian Society of Modena.

Koninck, M. L. de.

Lamont, Dr. J.

Lea, Isaac, Esq.

Linnzan Society of London.
London Electrical Society.
Lonsdale, William, Esq., F.G.S.
Lyell, Charles, Esq., F.G.S.

Mackeson, J., Esq.
Mackintosh, A. F., Esq., F.G.S.
Majendie, A., Esq., F.G.S.
Martin, P. J., Esq., F.G.S.
Matthews, Mr. William.
McClelland, J., Esq.
Microscopical Society of London.
Monticelli, Signor T., For. Mem.
G.S.
Morris, Mr. J.
Moscow, Imperial Society of.
Moxon, Charles, Esq.
Murchison, R. I., Esq., F.G.S.
Museum of Natural History of
Paris.

Nattali, Mr. M. A.
Newbold, Capt. T.
Newman, Edward, Esq.

Ordnance, Master-Generalof the.
Owen, Prof., F.G.S.

Pearce, J. C., Esq., F.G.S.

Percival, J. G., Esq.

Phillips, Prof. J., F.G.S.

Physiological Journal, Editors of
the.

Postans, Captain.

Potts, Miss Eliza.

Pratt, S. P., Esq., F.G.S.

Raulin, M.

Redfield, W. C.

Robinson, F., Esq., R.N.
Roemer, M. F.

Rogers, H. D., Esq., F.G.S.

Royal Academy of Berlin.

Royal Academy of Brussels.

Royal Academy of Lisbon.

Royal Academy of Munich.

Royal Agricultural Society of
England.

Royal Asiatic Soeiety.

Royal Astronomical Society.

Royal College of Physicians.

Royal Geographical Society of
London.

Royal Geological Society of
Cornwall.

Royal Institution. —

Royal Irish Academy.

Royal Polytechnic Society of
Cornwall.

Royal Society of Copenhagen.

Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Royal Society of London.

Ruskin, J., Esq., F.G.S.

Silliman, Prof., M.D., For. Mem.
G.S

Simms, F. W., Esq., F.G.S.
Sinclair, Dr.
Sismonda, Signor Angelo.
Smith, Rev. Dr. Pye, F.G.S.
Society of Arts.
Spratt,Lieut.T.A.B.,R.N.,F.G.S.
Stapleton, Rev. J. C., F.G.S.
Stokes, Charles, Esq., F.G.S.
Strasburg Museum of Natural
History.
Strickland, H. E., Esq., F.G.S.

Taylor, John, Esq., V.P.G.S.
Taylor, Richard, Esq., F.G.S.
Tcheffkine, General.

Thomas, A., Esq., F.G.S.
Trevelyan, W. C., Esq., F.G.S.
Trimmer, J., Esq., F.G.S.

Vandermaelen, M. Ph,
Warburton, H., Esq., M.P., Pres. |
Ss

Wetherell, N. T., Esq., F.G.S.
Wheelwright, Mr.

347

White, H. C., Esq., F.G.S. Wood, S. V., Esq., F.G.S.
White, Robert, Esq.

Wiley and Putnam, Messrs. Yorkshire Philosophical Society.
Wilton, Rev. C.P.

Wise, Edward, Esq. Zeisznera, M. L.

List of Paerrs read since the last Annual Meeting, February 17th,
1843.

Feb. 22nd & June 21st.—On some new species of Fossil Chimeroids,
with remarks on their general affinities, by Sir P. G. Egerton,
Bare. MEP.) b-G:S.

On the Geology of the neighbourhood of Bayonne,

_by S. P. Pratt, Esq., F.G.S.

March 8th.—On the Non-locomotive and locomotive powers of the
family Crinoidea, by J. C. Pearce, Esq., F.G.S.

Description of an entirely new form of Encrinite from

the Dudley Limestone, by J. C. Pearce, Esq., F.G-.S.

—— On the Fossil Pime Forest of Kurrurkurran on the
East Coast of Australia, by the Rev. W. B. Clarke, F.G.S.

March 22nd.—An Account of the Post-pliocene deposits at Coptford,
Essex, by John Brown, Esq., F.G.S.

a On the Tin Mines of Tannasserim, by John Forbes
Royle, M.D., Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics,
King’s College, London.

April 5th.—On the Structure of the District on either side of the
North Downs of Surrey, by R. A. C. Austen, Esq., Sec. G.S.
Notice on the occurrence of Beds containing Fresh-
water rosie in the Oolitic Coalfield of Brora, Sutherlandshire,

by A. Robertson, Esq., F.G.S.

On the occurrence of Freshwater Beds in the Oolitic
deposits of Brora, Sutherlandshire, and on the British equivalents
of the Neocomian System of Foreign Geologists, by R. I. Mur-
chison, Esq., F.G.5.

April 26th.—On upright Fossil Trees found at different levels in the
Coal Strata of Cumberland, Nova Scotia, by Charles Lyell, Esq.,
F.G.S.

On changes in the Temperature of the Earth, as a
mode of accounting for the subsidence of the Ocean, and for the
consequent formation of Sea-beaches above its present level, by
Robert Harkness, Esq.

May 10th.—On some new Ganoid Fishes, by Sir Philip Egerton,
F.G.S.

On the Coal Formation of Nova Scotia, and on the
age and relative position of the Gypsum and accompanying Ma-

. rine Limestones, by Charles Lyell, Esq., F.G.S.

On the Coal-fields of Nova Scotia, together with a

Geological Map of that Peninsula, by Abraham Gesner, M.D.,
F.G.S.

348

May 24th.—On the Geology of some points on the West Coast of
Africa, and of the Banks of the River Niger, by William Stanger,
M.D., F.G.S.

— On the classification of Granitic Rocks, by Robert
Wallace, Esq.

———— Additional Notes on the structure of the District on
either side of the North Downs of Surrey, by R. A. C. Austen,
Esq., Sec. G.S.

— Observations on part of the section of the Lower
Greensand at Atherfield, on the Coast of the Isle of Wight, by
W. H. Fitton, M.D., F.G.S.

June 7th.—Note on the scratched surface of a Rock from Mount
Parnassus, by W. C. Trevelyan, Esq., F.G.S.

-—— On Ichthyopatolites, or impressions resembling the

footsteps of Ambulatory Fishes on a flag-stone of the Coal Forma-

tion at Mostyn in Flintshire, by the Rev. William Buckland, D.D.,

Professor of Mineralogy and Geology in the University of Oxford,

V.BG:S:

Account of a section of the Strata between the Chalk
and the Weald Clay in the vicinity of Hythe, by F. W. Simms,
Esq., F.G.S.

~——_———_—— Comparative Remarks on the Lower Greensand of
Kent and the Isle of Wight, by W. H. Fitton, M.D., F.G.S.

a On Insects in the Lias of Gloucester, by James Buck-
man, Esq., F.G.S.

June 21st, Nov. 15th & 29th.—On the Geology of North Wales,
by the Rev. Adam Sedgwick, F.G.S., Woodwardian Professor in
the University of Cambridge.

November Ist.—On British Fossil Ophiuride, by Edward Forbes,
Esq., Professor of Botany, King’s College, London. Communi-
cated by R. I. Murchison, Esq., F.G.S.

—— On the Geology of Malta, by Lieut. A. B. Spratt,

F.G.S.

November] 5th.—On Fossil Remains of Animals in the Sewalik Hills,
by Dr. Falconer, F.G.S., and Captain Cautley, F.G.S.

December 13th.—On the Geology of Cape Breton, by Richard
Brown, Esq. Communicated by Charles Lyell, Esq., F.G.S.

On Nova Scotia, by J. W. Dawson, Esq. Commu-

nicated by Charles Lyell, Esq., F.G.S.

On Concretions in the Crag of Suffolk, by the Rev.
John Stevens Henslow, Esq., F.G.S., Professor of Botany in the
University of Cambridge.

January 3rd.—On the occurrence of the Genus Physeter (or Sperm
Whale) in the Red Crag of Felixstow, by Edward Charlesworth,
Esq., F.G.S.

————— On a Fossil Forest in the Parkfield Colliery near
Wolverhampton, by Mr. Henry Beckett. Communicated by the
President.

— Some account of a Fossil Tree found in the Coal-grit
near Darlaston, by J. S. Dawes, Esq., F.G.S.

v4 Be en ae

January 3rd.—Abstract of a paper on the Trap-rock of Bleadon
Hill, by the Rev. D. Williams, F.G.S.

January 17th.—On Crustaceans found by Dr. Fitton at Atherfield,
by Thomas Bell, Esq., Professor of Zoology, King’s College,
London.

ae On the occurrence of Phosphorite in Estremadura,
by Charles Daubeny, M.D., and Captain Widdrington, R.N.

—— On the Cretaceous Formations of North America, by
Charles Lyell, Esq,, F.G.S.

January 31st.—On the South-east Coast of the Isle of Wight, by
F. W. Simms, Esq., F.G.S.

——

——__—_ —— Report on the Lower Greensand Fossils in the So-
- ciety’s Collection, by the Curator.

Report on the collection of Fossils from Southern
India, presented by C. T. Kaye, Esq., F.G.S., and the Rev. W. H.
Egerton, by the Curator.

On the Permian System in Russia, by R. I. Mur-
chison, Esq., F.G.S.

After the Reports had been read, it was resolyed,—

That they be received and entered on the Minutes of the Meeting;
and that such parts of them as the Council may think fit, be printed
and distributed among the Fellows.
|
(

It was afterwards resolved :—

1. That the thanks of this Society be given to the Rey. Prof.
Buckland, retiring from the office of Vice-President.

| 2. That the thanks of the Society be given to Dr. Mantell, Prof.
Royle, the Rey. Prof. Sedgwick, Daniel Sharpe, Esq., and H. E.
Strickland, Esq., retiring from the Council.

| “After the Balloting Glasses had been duly closed, and the lists
examined by the Scrutineers, the following gentlemen were declared
to have been duly elected the Officers and Council for the ensuing

year :—

| OFFICERS.

|

PRESIDENT.

Henry Warburton, Esq. M.P. M.A. F.R.S.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

| Charles Darwin, Esq. F.R.S.

) Lord Francis L. Egerton, M.P..

G. B. Greenough, Esq. F.R.S. L.S.
John Taylor, Esq. F.R.S.

390°

*

SECRETARIES.

Robert A. C. Austen,

Esq.

_ William John Hamilton, Esq. M.P.

FOREIGN SECRETARY.

Sir H. T. De la Beche

, F.R.S. and L.S.

TREASURER.
John Lewis Prevost, Esq.

COUNCIL.

Thomas Bell, Esq. F.R.S.& L.S.
Rev. W. Buckland, D.D. F.R.S.
L.S. Prof. of Geology and Mine-
ralogy in the University of Ox-)
ford.
Edward Herbert Bunbury, Esq.|

Sir P. Grey Egerton, Bart. M.P.|
F.R.S.
Hugh Falconer, M.D. F.L.S.

W.H. Fitton, M.D. F.R.S. L.S.
Leonard Horner, Esq. F.R.S. L.S.
Robert Hutton, Esq. M.R.I.A.
Sir J. V. B. Johnstone, Bart. M.P.
Charles Lyell,jun.Esq.F.R.S.L.S.
R. I. Murchison, Esq. F.R.S.L.S.
Marquess of Northampton, Pres.
R.S

Beak, Owen F.R.S. L.S.
‘Samuel Peace Pratt, Esq. F.R.S.

CURATOR.
Edward Forbes, Esq.

351

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ON

VOL.IV. PART Il.

392

Sums actually Received and Expended

Receipts.
Balances in hand, January 1, 1842.
££: gd. RO soma
Banker, including 321. 0s. 11d. Wol-
laston Fund ail 34/. 16s. 6d. Map
FACCOMMG Te eter ets Ree See 443 19 9
Accountant to meet current expenses. 40 0 O

483 19 9
Arrears: £. sg ad.
AGIMUISSION JNESIHS GOs oon sho Keo oo 42 0 0
Annual Contribu:ions .........0. 96 12 0
WVaNSACUIONS vuesccte see ith ee ene aL es} (6
— 143 10 .6
Ordinary Income : £.° see tds
Annual, Contributions -...2..... ~-- (46 10° 6
Admission Fees Boe Soa nde
Residents(17) .... 107 2 0
Non-Residents (12). 126 0 0
—— ie) 2 (0)
DIGG
Composition)... 0.00 10s a eiele SOR CRE cHPCRO CREO O.0 C 31 10 O
ei Se Ws
Transactions (sold) .........20. » NGOe lag
Proceedings (sold) ...... soconood 8 IO ©
—~ 174 i4 0O
Geological Map ..... soooao ala ale ions a whel ones esc uetteM 20) Hone
Wollaston Donation Fund, 12 months’ Interest on )
10840. 1s. 1d. Reduced 3 per cents. ............ SOT EInG
Dividends:

Twelve months on 27061. 19s. 1d. Consols.... 78 16 10

£1944 0 F

We have compared the Books and Vouchers presented to us with
these Statements, and find them correct.

Signed, R. HUTTON, Pon one

~~" LEONARD HORNER, f AP!ToRS-

Jan, 27, 1844.

309

during the year ending December 31, 1843.

PayMENTSs.
Bills outstanding : 2.) Sh Gel soae daa) Ate
Scientific Expenditure ....... GodobdagasadoonNad00dsG 3 2
Household Furniture .....0...0sceeeeeteecees ese eeeee 012 0
Transactions .....sccc.ssseseeseeeserees PR oun as 556 15 0
ProceedingS.....+...csescceeeeeeeeteenecteeeceeneeneeees 8111 2
Miscellaneous Printing .....---.--.1sseseeseseee scene 610 0
Collector’s Poundage .....-..0...seeeseeeeereeerneetee Den aden
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Repairs of House ..-...ssseeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeerene ees 211 6
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Household Linen .......ecceeeceesseeeseccencesessees 211 0
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PROCEEDINGS

OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.
Vor lV. PART If, 1844, No. 101.

Frpruary 21, 1844.

The following communications were read : —

1. Some Remarks on the Waite Limestone of CorFru and Vino.
By Captain Porttock, R.E., F.G.S.

As I have reason to expect that I shall hereafter be able to pre-
pare a detailed account of the Geology of the Ionian Islands, and
have at present but few data for a description of even the limited
portion of the country as yet examined, I now only offer a few
remarks on that portion of the white limestone which is adjacent
to the city of Corfu, and occupies the whole of the Island of Vido,
and on the more recent strata connected with it.
~ On approaching Corfu, the physical aspect of the country is very
striking. Monte Decca on the south, and San Salvador on the
north, the former with its sharp, broken, rugged outline, the latter
with its conical peak rising from a long ridge, and both exhibiting
steep faces marked by numerous deep furrows, by no means recall
the ordinary forms of limestones in our more northern countries ;
but the type they present will, I think, be found to have a con-
siderable geological range.

In the Venetian harbour of Govino a singular variety of this
limestone may be seen, and is thence traceable in rough knolls
running in a westerly direction to the north of the village of Po-
tamo. Its dark, rugged, and often ochreous aspect, its sonorous
fracture, and its impurities, are strong features of distinction be-
tween it and the ordinary white limestone. It is traversed by
numerous crystalline veins of a yellow saccharoid carbonate of lime,
which I have little doubt is highly dolomitic ; and it is full in-
_ ternally of small bubble-shaped cavities, some of which are empty,
_ and others contain a fine powder, the nature of which I have not
yet determined. I believe this limestone to be of volcanic origin,
or at least much changed, although no ordinary volcanic or other
igneous rocks have as yet been discovered in the island.
| VOL. IV. PART I. EE

356 [Feb. 21,

Returning now to the white limestone of Vido and the vicinity
of Corfu, it will be necessary first to consider whether the geo-
logical age of any part of it can be determined, and this is im-
portant, since, according to Dr.’Davy, it belongs to the carboniferous
limestone, and a conglomerate associated with it represents the
old red sandstone, while, according to other accounts, the white
limestone is oolitic, and the conglomerate tertiary.

The adjacent mainland with which these Corfu and Vido beds
must be associated contains secondary strata, considered to be
oolitic, and much resembling in mineral character the hardened
chalk of England and Ireland; and Mr. Strickland, in describing
the Geology of Smyrna, mentions that the more compact beds of
yellowish limestone of that neighbourhood resemble the secondary
limestones of the Ionian Islands. The former, however, are known
by their fossils to be of lacustrine and tertiary origin. Mr. Strick-
land also, in alluding to the Geology of Zante, considers the lower
beds as Apennine limestone, and the upper ones as tertiary; and
the presence of Hippurites renders it probable that the former at
least is of the Cretaceous period.

Restricting myself to the description of the limestone of Vido
and the opposite shore of Corfu, I may first observe, that the greater
portion, such as for example that of the citadel rock, the height of
Fort Neuf and of Fort Abraham, is very indistinctly bedded, and
vertical cleavage is visible on a large scale, more particularly at
the citadel. I have as yet in vain sought for fossils at either of
these localities, though the rock of Fort Abraham strongly re-
sembles that of Vido, which contains a considerable quantity of
them. Immediately below the citadel rock, forming its base, and
dipping under it, is the limestone of Cape Sidero, which is com-
posed of numerous and often minutely laminated beds, from half
an inch to several inches in thickness. These beds are associated
with layers and nodules of flint, and very often present a highly
curious and interesting character, being made up of angular frag-
ments of the limestone, with occasional flints, slightly displaced and
re-cemented together : and this brecciated structure is sometimes so
minute that it can only be detected by a lens, whilst in other cases
it is coarser, and then readily disintegrates. At Cape Sidero the
surface of the brecciated beds appears to me to have suffered
erosion prior to the deposition of the other rock, portions of which
are found in hollows on its surface. ‘The same brecciated beds are
seen more to the south, and may therefore underlie the massive beds
of Monte Decca, just as they here do those of Cape Sidero. Similar
alternating and highly laminated beds of white limestone and flints
occur at the base of Fort Neuf, and again in Vido, at the base of
the Tower Hill. Up to this geological point, I have as yet found
no fossils, but in the massive limestone of Vido the case is dif-
ferent, and having fortunately noticed a fragment on the face of
one of our quarries, I directed the attention of the workmen to
the fact, and they were not long in discovering more. As the sur-
face of Vido is only gently undulated, and there is no marked

1844.] 357

section, I have not yet been quite able to satisfy myself whether
this limestone should, like that of the Corfu citadel, be considered to
lie above the laminated beds, or below them. [If the latter, the case
is rendered easier. This limestone, like that of Fort Abraham, is
full of fissures, which are often filled up with ochreous matter, and
even in the finer fissures traces may be noticed of oxide of iron.

The fossils are very locally distributed: at the first fossil lo-
cality Terebratule only were discovered; but at another, not
many hundred yards from it, Ammonites are in abundance: these
latter are, however, always in such a condition, from the splintery
character of the bed containing them, that specific identification
is almost impossible, although I am inclined to think that they
belong to Von Buch’s division, Planulati, and therefore may be
oolitic. Portions also of Univalves occur. Returning to the Te-
rebratulz, some of the first specimens resembled those of the chalk ;
but more perfect specimens presented the character of one of Von
Buch’s divisions, Acute, which as yet appears to go no further
upwards than the oolites.

From a careful comparison of these fossils with the species most
nearly allied, (7. pala and a species from the lower oolites of
Dundry), Iam induced to believe that the species which I ob-
tained is new, and I propose to name it provisionally 7. Seaton-
tana, in honour of the present Lord High Commissioner, who
has expressed himself anxious to promote a geological survey of
the islands. I think also the character of the species affords strong
ground for believing that the strata here belong to rocks as low in
the series as the oolites.

With respect to the tertiary strata, I can at present only state
that in Corfu I believe that we have all the varieties (including
the gypsum), mentioned by Mr. Strickland as occurring at Zante ;
and I consider there is little doubt that the range of strata extends
from the newer Pliocene to Miocene, if not Eocene. In an extensive
excavation in the citadel, a yellow indurated calcareous sand was
cut into, and a beautiful, though small section exposed; dark lami-
nated clays were interstratified with the sand, and associated with
them was a seam of lignite (5 inches thick), which along the line of
the excavation (450 feet in extent) exhibited numerous small faults
at which the clay was always curiously contorted. Under the
seam of coal was a more indurated portion of the calcareous sand,
approaching to the character of hardened marl, and in this nu-
merous examples of a Univalve were found, strongly resembling a
Buccinum from Touraine.

2. Account of the Srrata observed in the Excavation of the
_ Burercuinetey Tunnet. By FrReperRIcK WALTER Sims,
i E.G.o., M. Ins. C.E:

A FEW months ago I had the pleasure of presenting to the Geo-
logical Society some fossils collected by me in the course of the

construction of the Bletchingley Tunnel, upon the line of the South
| EE 2

358 [Feb. 21,

Eastern Railway. These fossils consisted of bones of the Igua-
nodon, Lepidotus Mantelli, and five specimens of the plant Cla-
thraria Lyell. I now request the Society’s acceptance of a fine
specimen of the Lepidotus Mantel, which was found in the exca-—
vation about two hundred yards from the western extremity of the
tunnel.

The range of hills formed by the escarpment of the lower green
sand extends between Red Hill and Tilburstow Hill, and its direction
is nearly from west to east. Between Bletchingley and Tilburstow
Hill, this range sends off a spur in a southerly direction. It was
through this spur, in a line nearly parallel to the sand range, and
about a mile to the south of it, that the railway tunnel, and the
excavation at each end, were carried. The spur, in the line of
the cuttings, consisted chiefly of Weald clay. ;

It was proved by the railway cuttings that this spur formed
part of an anticlinal axis, which, as far as I can judge, extends
across the Weald from the chalk of the North Downs in Surrey,
between Merstham and Godstone, to the chalk of the South Downs
in Sussex, near Ditchling. The surface waters that fall on the
western side of this axis form feeders to the rivers Mole and
Adur; those that fall on the eastern side feed the sources of the
Medway and the Ouse.

In the excavation, at the east end of the tunnel, the beds were
parallel to each other, and also to the surface of the ground, rising
westward at an angle of about two degrees. ‘The only organic
remains, worthy of note, found in this part of the work, were a
number of vertebrae of the Iguanodon, which I presented to the
Museum of the College of Surgeons... Many remains had been
thrown away, although I had given orders to the contrary.

As the work advanced towards the anticlinal axis, the strata
showed symptoms of considerable disturbance, having numerous
faults and displacements, which®occasioned much trouble and dif-
ficulty in the construction of the tunnel. On the west of the axis,
near the level of the roof of the tunnel, a detached mass of sand-
rock, about fifty feet in length, lay across our path. From this a
great body of water was discharged into the workings. ‘The rock
disappeared abruptly. The chief fossil remains which were found
in the course of the tunnel works, were those before named, which
are now in the possession of the Society.

The excavation at the western end of the tunnel, from whence
the specimen of Lepidotus Mantelli was obtained, was full of
faults and displacements, the strata dipping in various directions
from W. by N. to E., and at almost every angle from 5° to 60°.
This state of things caused much trouble on the south side of the
excavation, by the continual slipping in of the earth ; but on the
north side no slip took place, and the slope stands apparently well.
At the western end of the excavation, the ordinary dip was about
hot UNI:

In this cutting there were beds of sandstone, bearing a very
strong ripple mark; these beds partook of the general disturbance.

|

Ld
1844. ] | 359

The well-known displacement of the beds of the lower green
sand, exposed on the road-side near the top of Tilburstow Hill, is
about one mile and a quarter north-east of the excavation I have
been describing.

3. Remarks upon STERNBERGIZ. By Joun 8. Dawes, Esq., F.G.S.

Hl

i a
a

a. Fragment of Sternbergia, showing the internal central structure, apparently

lamellar.
b. Portion of the branch of a walnut tree, showing somewhat similar structure.

Tw the autumn of 1838 certain specimens of vegetable remains
were discovered in the coal grit at Oldbury, near Birmingham,
which appeared to show, very distinctly, the internal structure of
those remarkable fossils, the Sternbergie. The circumstance was
considered, at the time, completely to corroborate the opinion
that they were distinct plants; but having recently examined
these specimens with more attention, and having had an oppor-
tunity to compare them with others, since discovered, I am
enabled, I believe, to point out that these curious columnar forms
are merely casts of the medullary cavities of stems or branches of
trees, similar to that at Darlaston, lately described ; for, upon one
of the fossils alluded to, the interior of which is composed of a
series of horizontal plates, we find that a part of the woody tissue
of the tree is still attached to the column, and another specimen
which shows, upon its exterior, traces of the characteristic rings,
exhibits also a considerable portion of adhering wood. But more
direct evidence is afforded by a branch, now converted into iron-
stone (see fig. a), down the centre of which a distinct arrangement of
similar plates may be observed, occasionally anastomosing or rather

merging one into the other, exactly as the external forms of
EE 3

360 [Feb. 21,

Sternbergiz would lead us to expect ; and a smaller specimen from
another district (North Staffordshire) appears still more clearly to
show this connection. J may also mention that the pith of recent
wood (Juglandacee), on losing its moisture, has occasionally been
found to separate, after a manner somewhat similar (6). It is rare,
however, that specimens in the fossil state, retaining this structure,
have been met with, the plates having only been preserved when
mineral matter has atomically replaced the cellular tissue, the
plants having previously been in a dry or partially decayed state.
In general, the material has filtered into and filled up the inter-
stices, producing the usual cross-barred or ringed appearance of
these fossils. Sometimes, cylindrical casts may be found which
are marked externally by sharp, longitudinal, irregular stria, re-
presenting probably a portion of the medullary sheath. The
whole of the cellular tissue, in such cases, has previously been
carried away; but a fine tree at Darlaston has afforded proof that
under peculiar circumstances the mineralizing process may com-
mence soon after the fall of the plant. Thus, in all probability,
the central column of that specimen will retain the cellular struc-
ture. In conclusion, I may allude to the isolated and peculiar
fragmentary state in which these cylindrical bodies occur. We
find no attached branches, no roots, no leaves or leaf-scars;
indeed, there is a total want of every part of a vegetable, by which
these fossils might be identified as distinet plants: for the car-
bonaceous covering, now and then met with, and supposed to have
been the bark, being sometimes very irregular is most likely acci-
dental, or in some cases may arise from portions of attached wood
having become converted into coal. .Should the discovery of
further specimens more completely prove these views respecting
Sternbergiz to be correct, we may perceive from their oceurrence
in, I believe, all our coal fields, how frequently a small cylindrical
column alone remains when every other vestige of the magnificent
plant from which it originated has been lost.

4, On the Tuatassina Emern, a fossil Crustacean, forwarded by
Mr. W.S. Macreay, from New Holland. By T. Bett, F.R.S.,
Professor of Zoology in King’s College, London.

Tuts fossil, forwarded from Mr. Macleay and brought by Lieu-
tenant Emery from Australia, belongs to the typical genus of a
very remarkable family of decapod Crustacea, the Thalassinide
( Thalassiniens of Milne Edwards), as Mr. W. S. Macleay has sur-
mised. Of the genus in question, Thalassina, but a single recent
species is known, and little has been ascertained respecting its
habits. There is, however, reason to believe, that in this respect
it agrees with the species most nearly allied to it in structure,
several of which being found on our own coasts have afforded
opportunities for more accurate observation. These, as far as
their habits have hitherto been traced, are all of them burrowers,
making their way to a considerable depth in the sand at various dis-

1844. ] 361

Thalassina Emerii Bell.

a. View of the under side, showing the tail turned over upon the belly.
b. Side view,
c. End view, showing the rostrum only.

tances from the shore. The species of the genus Gebia, which is
very nearly allied to the present, are all to be obtained by digging
in the mud or sand at low tide; and the Gebia stellata, as stated
by Dr. Leach, form subterranean, horizontal, and winding passages,
“often of a hundred feet or more in length.” The same habit is
also known to belong to Callianassa, another nearly allied genus. *

The recent species of the genus to which the fossil belongs,
Thalassina scorpioides, is stated by Leacht, Desmarest f, and others,
to be a native of the Indian seas. Milne Edwards on the other
hand gives the coast of Chili as its habitat. It is not impossible
that it may have been found in both these localities; a specimen
which I have in my possession was said to have been brought from
India, but of this I have no positive evidence.

The fossil, which I propose to designate, after its discoverer,
Thalassina Emerii, consists of the sides of the carapace, in toler-
able preservation, the dorsal portion being quite lost ; the first four

* The structure of these animals is adapted only for this mode of life, and is
exhibited typically in the present genus. The narrow semicylindrical abdomen,
the attenuated lateral lobes of the tail, and the filiform appendages of all the
abdominal segments, evidently unfit them for swimming; whilst their fossorial
habits are amply provided for by the strength and flatness of the two anterior
pairs of thoracic limbs, which are admirably adapted for excavating the sand or
hardened mud in which they reside.

+ Zool. Miscell. iii. Mal. Brit.

t Consid. Gener. Crust. Dict. des Se. Nat.

EE 4

362 [ Mar. 6,

joints of the first and second pairs of legs are tolerably perfect; of
the third and fourth pairs the basal joints alone remain, and the
fifth pair is lost. The whole of the abdomen, with the exception of
the third segment, is very perfect; it is abruptly bent forward upon
itself, the terminal joint resting beneath the thorax, between the third
and fourth pairs of legs (fig. a). The rostrum also is very perfect,
broken off from the carapace, and lying vertically between the an-
terior legs (fig.c). It is prolonged into a grooved triangular tooth,
and there is a small prominent tubercle on each side, at a short dis-
tance from it. The raised lines, circumscribing the rostral tooth,
are continued backwards to some distance, as is also its deep me-
dian groove. A second raised line is continued backwards from
the small denticle, or tubercle, on each side.

The similarity between this species, as far as the state of the
fossil will allow of the comparison, and the recent one, is so great,
that there is some difficulty in fixing upon valid distinguishing
characters. It differs, however, in the proportion of the epimeral
or lateral portions of the abdominal segments, which are somewhat
less developed in the fossil than in the recent species, and in the
form of its terminal segment, or middle lobe of the tail, the length
of which is to its breadth in the fossil as 8 to 6, and in the recent
species as 11 to 6. The sides of the carapace are, in the former,
somewhat more uniformly covered with minute raised points,
which, in both species, render the surface bistinctly scabrous.

This specimen derives additional interest from its being the
only fossil crustacea which has yet been found in New Holland.

Marcu 6, 1844.
TuE following communications were read :—

1. On Two Fossil Species of Crusnts (?) collected by Professor
Sepewick. By E. Forsss, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S., Professor of
Botany in King’s College, London.

CresrIs is a genus of Pteropodous Mollusca established by M.
Sander Rang to include several species of simple, more or less aci-
cular shells. Their surface is smooth or transversely striated,
rounded, and sometimes presenting a longitudinal groove. The
animal resembles that of Hyalea, but is not furnished with the
two caudiform lateral appendages with which the Hyalea is pro-
vided. All the species are small, none being more than an inch in
length. They are oceanic animals, free swimmers, and their re-
mains are found in abundance in the fine mud of great depths.

1844.) 363

Certain Paleozoic fossils,
which have hitherto been con-
founded with Orthoceras, but
which present no traces of
chambers, and in other re-
spects bear a close resem-
blance to the shells of Ptero-
poda, appear to belong to the
genus Cresevs, though gigantic
in comparison with existing
forms. Both the species now
described and figured were ob-
tained from the Denbighshire
flag-stones.

1. Creseis primeva.

Very long, linear, dilated
towards the oral extremity,
smooth or with indistinct traces
of longitudinal grooves.

Length of specimen (nearly entire)
8 inches.

Breadth at the aperture 49 in.

Medium breadth J, in,

2. Creseis Sedgwick.

Shell cylindric, tapering,
linear, marked with very nu-
merous fine, regular, transverse
strie. Aperture dorsally an-
gular.

Length of fragment 18in. [Probable
length of specimen, 44 inches. }
Breadth at aperture ¥ in. !
Medium breadth J in. \
Breadth at the aperture of another

fragment -§, in.

i il

1. Creseis primeva EF. Forbes.
2. Creseis Sedgwicki E. Forbes.

364 [ Mar. 20,

2. On the GroLtocy of Nort Wates. By Danier SHarpn,
Esq., F.G.S.

[The notice of this memoir is postponed. |

Marcu 20, 1844.

William Pole, Esq., A.C.E., Professor of Engineering at
Elphinstone College, Bombay, and Frederic Joseph Sloane, Esq.,
of Florence, were elected Fellows of this Society.

The following communications were read : —

1. On Fracturep BovutpErs found at AucHMITHIE near AR-
BROATH. By W. C. TReveEtyan, Esq., F.G.S.

In a visit paid to the coast of Forfarshire in the summer of
1840, I observed, for the first time, at Auchmithie, near Arbroath,
at the foot of a cliff consisting of old red conglomerate, some
pebbles and boulders which had fallen from the rock above, and
which, from their remarkable fractures and contortions, attracted
my attention; and being in the same neighbourhood in the autumn
of 1843, I found in the same spot many more specimens of the
pebbles, some lying at the foot of the cliff and others remaining in
their matrix.

Subsequently, in the picturesque conglomerate rocks at Dunottar
Castle, near Stonehaven, I discovered similar appearances ; but,
in this instance, the pebbles were much larger, and the fractured
ones even more abundant than in Forfarshire.

At Auchmithie, the pebbles which predominate in the con-
glomerate consist of granite, porphyry, gneiss, jasper, and reddish
quartz — those of the quartz being chiefly abundant. Of. most
of these different kinds of pebbles, fractured specimens may be
found.

The conglomerate is traversed by veins of carbonate of lime and
sulphate of barytes; and it is in the neighbourhood, or in the
actual course of these veins, that the fractured pebbles in many
instances occur. Sometimes the parts of a pebble traversed by
one of these fissures are faulted by it, and have their levels dis-
placed to the distance of several inches. Thus it appears that the
formation of the fissures and the fracturing of the pebbles have
been contemporaneous.

It is to the bent appearance of some of these pebbles, and the
appearance of their having been softened and the broken parts
re-united as if by pressure, that I am desirous more especially to

1844. | 365

direct attention. These fractures, contortions, and adhesions,
appear to be the effect of violent mechanical action and of heat.

2. On the Origin of the Gypsrous and SaAuireRous Marts of
the New Rep Sanpstone. By the Rev. D. Wituiams, M. A.,
F.G.S8.

For years past I have had great difficulty in accounting for the
marls of the new red sandstone, and as none of the explanations
yet given appear to me sufficient, or satisfactorily account for the
absence of molluscous and zoophytous remains in these beds, and
still less for that of the numerous plants entombed above and
_ below them, I propose in the following observations to attempt to
explain these phenomena, in the hope, to use the words of Sir
H. Delabeche, of arriving at the “knowledge of the true causes
_which have produced” the remarkable aggregates in question. In
examining the district of Bleadon with a view to account for the
phenomena of trap rocks presented in the railway cutting*, I
observed in the superficial coating of soil on the northern flank
of the hill above Weston-super-Mare, such abundant fragments
of vesicular trap, some of them having the aspect of recent volcanic
‘scorie, others containing spherical kernels of decomposing cal-
careous spar and hematitic iron, that I entertained no doubt
| whatever that I was standing on a dyke of ancient lava. The
occurrence of these fragments for about seventy-five yards, in an
east and west direction, indicated its strike, and rendered it
_ probable that the same appearance would recur in the neigh-
_ bouring coast cliffs. Those brown, strange-looking rocks, therefore,
' with whose aspect I had been long familiar, were volcanic ag-
gregates, and were, in fact, two of the most interesting and in-
structive of the large number which had fallen under my notice.

These trap rocks are perfectly distinct from each other, and the

nether one abuts so closely upon the road which forms the common
_ approach to the coast below the cliffs, that no geologist passing could
fail to see it, —indeed, could scarcely avoid touching it ; though, like
myself, every one had hitherto failed to remark upon it. In truth,
the lower trap so intimately resembles a brown sandstone, and the
_ upper one has so much the aspect of a mass of the ordinary red
- marl with imbedded pebbles, and, at the most accessible approach,
is for the most part so truly a red marl, that the circumstance of
its having hitherto escaped notice is not surprising.

Every bed in the series is, however, so unequivocally disclosed,
and so readily accessible along the shore, that no doubt whatever
_ ean be entertained of their several positions. I propose to describe
them briefly in ascending order, as seen in the subjoined section.

* See ante, p. 293.

366 [Mar. 20,

Section through the Western Extremity of Wort Hutt.

- Horizontal base, i mile.

a

EEA oS SASS SN

No. 1. is the ordinary grey mountain limestone, dipping S.S.W.
at an angle of 35°.

Resting upon this, and dipping at the same angle and in the
same direction, are the lower beds of No. 2., consisting of an
indurated, red, fine-grained marl, which is succeeded by softer
and more marly shales. The harder varieties contain the Tur-
binolia (Cyathophyllum) fungitis. Overlying these are beds which
have the appearance of a dull brown sandstone ; but which the
eye, assisted by a magnifying lens, discovers to be a congeries of
minute, red and brown, concretionary, oolitic granules, loosely
cemented together by a green, filmy substance, imperfectly filling
up the interstices. It acts like a file on the nail, but yields, when
triturated, a fine red powder. _ It effervesces briskly with acids;
and near the overlying bed No. 3., it contains shining facets of
plates of a minute encrinite. This series, so far as I could measure
it, is from 20 to 25 feet thick.

No. 3. lies conformably to No. 2., and commonly consists of a
pale red, crystalline limestone, sometimes of a bright flesh colour,
with small crinoidal plates and stems. Its upper surface is often
grey and crystalline, and shows but little alteration from the
trappean mass, No. 4., which rests immediately upon it. It dips
S.S.W. 85°, towards its outcrop, but not so much below.

No. 4. is an amorphous mass of red trappean mar], about 30 feet
thick, containing numerous ‘globular, angular, and irregularly-
shaped concretions, many of them standing in high relief out of it.
They are of very varying forms and dimensions, from the size of
a pullet’s egg to four or more feet in diameter; and all of them
attest their volcanic origin, more or less, by the greater or less
abundance of air cells, now filled sometimes by spherical crystals
of calcareous spar, and more rarely by red hzmatitic or steel-grey
iron ore. Sometimes these concretions are slightly vesicular, but.
at others they are more abundantly so than any trap rock I
remember; and where the original air cells have been left void
by the decomposition of the lime and iron, the matrix cannot be
distinguished from a recent volcanic scoria. These lump-looking,

1844.] 367

angular, and concentric spheroidal concretions, are distributed
irregularly through the softer marly mass. They all have a
variegated or red-marl-like basis, and pass insensibly from the
most indurated and tough varieties into a friable red marl. The
more typical marly variety is often of a globular, concretionary
structure, and is composed of concentric layers, which are
variegated red, buff, and pale green in colour, and are so friable
that, under a slight blow of the hammer, they crumble into small
cuboidal or polygonal fragments. The intermediate varieties are
characterised by different degrees of induration. Most of them
are rather tough than hard, and towards the western extremity of
the trap have the aspect (but evidently not the mineral structure)
of some of the Lizard serpentines; and throughout the exposed
range of this ledge for about a hundred yards, both the hardest
and most friable varieties are traversed by numerous veins of
red and white fibrous gypsum, or of fibrous gypsum and cal-
careous spar. -

The softer and more friable variety is best seen at the Dripping
Weil (a broad chasm in the neighbourhood), where it has been
raised beyond the reach of the sea. It is there intersected by
numerous fine lines of fibrous gypsum and calcareous spar. A
little to the west the entire bed has been exposed to the action of
the waves; but a prominent serrated ledge, in advance of the
cliffs, marks the continuation of the harder and more crystalline
variety further westward, for the distance of about a hundred
yards.

No. 5., which rests conformably upon the last bed, is a pale red
quartz rock, exactly like the red quartz rock of the Hotwells and
Brandon Hill, near Bristol, which has been supposed to represent
the millstone grit of the northern counties.

No. 6. is much the same as the last; but is more calcareous.

No. 7. is the ordinary grey mountain limestone. Some of its
beds, on the shore, are parted by a red marly substance, similar to

that of the trap rock, No. 4.

No. 8. is apparently a raised beach. It consists of sea sand,
-ageregated together into a tough compact mass by calcareous in-
filtration, and rests on an accumulation of stones so imperfectly
rounded as to be neither a conglomerate nor a breccia. ‘The sand
itself has the character rather of the sea sand of Cornwall than of
_ the sand of Uphill and of the other adjacent bays, containing, as it
_ does, a considerable proportion of highly comminuted shells.

With regard to the trap rocks, there can be no doubt that they
were ancient lavas, erupted, at two distant periods, over the floor
of the sea, while the mountain limestone was in process of forma-
tion; the interval of duration between them being indicated by
the interposed bed of limestone, No. 3., of which duration it is
the measure. But where did the trap come from, and how was it
generated? If I could not appeal to the case of the Bleadon
cutting, as sufficient proof of its having originated in the fusion
_and conversion of mountain limestone and other underlying de-

368 [ Mar. 20,

posits, there is a natural section close at hand which might help
us to the solution of the problem. The effects of exposure have
here considerably effaced the evidences which the cutting through
the rocks at Bleadon disclosed so admirably ; but I found no diffi-
culty in at once recognising them.

In the memoir already referred to, I mentioned that the cracks
or joints and irregular hollows were filled with a variegated marly
substance; and at Weston I noticed the face and joint walls of
the limestone bed to be deeply eroded by many of the same deep
cavities, in all kinds of positions; and, in several cases, the joint
walls are even now red and discoloured. In two instances, one of
an open joint, the other a cavity, they were filled by the same
variegated red, buff, and grey laminated marls that I had met
with at Bleadon. Several of the cavities show, internally and on
their edges, a strikingly rough and irregular outline. ‘They are
all of them many feet above the highest spring-tide level, and are
often so overhanging or highly inclined that stones could by no
possibility be contained in them; and the other limestone beds
exposed along the coast exhibit nothing of the kind. The lower
portion of the bed is hidden by an artificial platform of stones ;
but evidences enough remain, within the space of a few feet, to
indicate the circumstances under which these trappean marl rocks
were generated, and of the date when they were erupted. A
north and south fissure, which has riven asunder the beds marked
2, 3, and 4. on the section, and which is partly filled at the
bottom with a hard red marl, was probably the vomitory through
which the upper trap was ejected.

Two instances of trap rocks, of the same mineral composition,
one generated im sztu, the other erupted, with the effects produced
by both on the immediately adjacent rocks, are rarely perhaps to
be met with so well disclosed and in so short a distance as in the
case between the Bleadon cutting and the cliffs of Weston.

In using the terms fusion and conversion, I wish it to be dis-
tinctly understood that I never supposed that any one elementary
earth or substance could be converted into another : such as that
lime, for example, could become silex. I contend, only, that the
limestone has been converted into trap, voleanic mud, or marl, as
the case may be; and I entertain little doubt that a chemical ana-
lysis of these would show that the mineral constituents of the
former existed in the latter ; though, no doubt, in different, and,
perhaps, very varying proportions.

I will conclude with one more remark on the immediate subject
of this communication. The association of variegated marls, salt,
gypsum, and magnesian limestone in various places at different
geological levels appears assignable to some one cause which has
been common to all. When, therefore, we mark the close analogy,
the identity in many respects, of these peculiar aggregates with
a variegated, gypseous and apparently magnesian marl, which is in-
controevertibly a volcanic product, we may be supposed to have as-
certained the common origin of both ; and instead of multiplying

844. ] 369

causes, we ought rather to class them among the formations which
owe their origin to volcanic action.

These gypseous marls, more or less adjacent to, and (as I con-
sider) derived chiefly from the elevated and dislocated mountain
limestone, are, in many respects, analogous to the crystalline and
clay slates among the more disturbed grauwacke and other dis-
tricts ; and I entertain no doubt that other rocks referable to the
same origin will be found accompanying such dislocated strata as
are traversed by igneous rocks, to a greater or less amount, what-
ever the age of the strata may be.

April 3, 1844.

‘John Wilson, Esq., of St. John’s Wood; Andrew C. Ramsay,
Esq., of the Ordnance Geological Survey; and Charles Pope,
Esq., of Temple Cloud, Somerset, were elected Fellows of this
Society.

The following communications were read :—

1. On the Occurrence of Fosstts m the BoutpeR Cray. By
Rosert Harkness, Esq., of Ormskirk.

THERE can be no doubt that the presence or absence of fossils in
different formations is owing to other causes than the actual exist-
ence of animals and vegetables on the spot and at the time of
deposition, and is, indeed, generally the result of local circum-
stances ; but the “ boulder clay,” the formation of which the author
of the present paper endeavours to explain the cause, presents
similar characters in districts widely distant, and is also remark-
able for the paucity of its organic remains.

The deposit in question belongs to the geological period imme-
diately antecedent to the existing epoch, and consists of clay con-
taining boulders of various kinds of rock, scattered without order
through its whole mass. It occurs on various parts of the coast
both of Great Britain and Ireland, but appears to be most fully
developed in the basin of the Clyde, where it overlies a series of
beds of fine clay containing numerous remains of shells. Similar
remains have been found in many elevated sea beaches; and it has
been concluded from the examination of them by competent natu-
ralists, that the climate must have been more arctic at the time of
their deposition than it is now in the places where they are found.

The author of this communication, referring to the known in-
crease of temperature of the earth at increasing depths, and the law
of change of temperature in the ocean at certain depths, thinks it
possible that, although the land was exposed to intense cold, the sea
might yet have contained certain animals requiring greater warmth
which may have lived at considerable distance from the surface ;

370 [April 3,

and he thinks it probable, for this and other reasons, that the
deposit of the boulder clay was formed in a deep sea.

2. On the Traces of the Action of GLActERS at PortH-TREIDDYN,
in CARNARVONSHIRE. By Ropertr W. Byrzs, Esq.

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Mar of the supposed Path of the Gracters from SNownon.

a. Moel Hebog. f. Tremadoc.

b. Moel Wyn. g. Portmadoe.

ce. Bedd Gelert. h, h. Traeth Mawr.
d. Pont Aber-glas-lyn. i. Traeth Bach.

e. Brynteg.

The following notice, bearing date the 16th of October, 1841,
appeared in the Visitors’ book at the Goat-Hotel, Beddgellert :—
“ Notice to Geologists. —At Pont-aber-glas-llyn, 100 yards below
the bridge, on the right bank of the river, and 20 feet above the
road, see a good example of the furrows, flutings, and strize on
rounded and polished surfaces of the rock, which Agassiz refers to
the action of glaciers. See many similar effects on the left, or
south-west, side of the pass of Llanberris. Wi~~1am BUCKLAND.”

This notice led me to search for the same effects in other places
in the same neighbourhood, and I found similar traces on many of
the rocks between Aber-glas-llyn bridge and Tremadoc. In
February last curiosity led me into the Flag-quarry, which lies
about 800 yards from the mail-coach road, at Porth-Treiddyn; and
for the purpose of examining the joints and split of the rock, I

1844.) 371

ascended from the quarry to the top, where a space of ground had
been cleared of the soil and detritus, preparatory to further quarry-
ing. Here I was much struck by the polish and undulations of
the surface of the rock ; and a detail of my examination of these
phenomena will leave no doubt, I think, that they are attributable
to the action of glaciers.

The slope of the mountain at Porth-Treiddyn is to the north
and north-east ; and the dip of the rocks is in the same direction,
at an inclination of from 17° to 22°, but the angle increases as you
ascend.

At the spot which had been cleared, above the quarry, the de-
tritus lying on the surface of the rock was from five to twelve feet
thick. It consisted of various soils and gravel, of blocks of rock
similar to the flags, and of boulders of porphyry and greenstone,
in some of which the felspar crystals were very distinct. Some
of these boulders were from three to four feet long, and from two
to three feet in diameter.*

It is here, especially, that we have presented to us a perfect
type of the glacier action. ‘The surface of the uncovered portion
of the rock, where it has not been disturbed by the workmen’s
tools, is rounded and polished in the most extraordinary manner.
The surface is furrowed; and the furrows, where the rock is
uneven, are from 1 to 2 feet deep, with their edges beautifully
rounded off. On the broader slopes, striz are very distinct. With
a few exceptions, which I shall presently take occasion to notice,
the furrows, striae, scoops, grooves, and undulations, all shape their
course, not in the direction which water would take, that is to say,
in the direction in which the mountain slopes, northwards; but in
a diagonal or slanting direction, towards the valley of the Glas-
llyn, that is to say, towards the east or north-east.

There are a few channels, from 1 to 2 feet deep, which run in
a north-westerly direction ; these channels appear to have arisen
from the form of the rock compelling the superincumbent. glacier,
with its included blocks, to move that way, until the obstacle
was overcome, when the moving mass resumed its original course. °

With this example of glacier action for our guide, other places
where, from lapse of time combined with other causes, the
traces of that action have become somewhat obscure, and might
consequently appear doubtful, will be regarded as affording clear
evidence that there also the same cause has been in operation.

The same phenomena are traceable from Porth-Treiddyn higher
up the mountain, to the very top, which is rather more than half
a mile from the spot where these effects are first visible. In
cutting the new road to the quarry, many rocks have been ex-
posed, which show, by their polished faces, that the whole side of
the mountain has been acted on.

* On the southern side of this mountain, and very much below the level of
the quarry, may be seen broken and but seldom rounded masses of these rocks,
in which felspar, hornblende, and shorl are disseminated.

VOL. IY. PART II. Fy

372 [ April 3,

Where light and air have acted, much of the delicacy of the
cutting has been obliterated ; besides which the surface is covered,
in part, with heath and lichens. Notwithstanding these disad-
vantages, the most beautiful example of the power of a loaded
mass, when making its way in a slanting direction, is to be seen
on the high road, at the commencement of the new road to the
quarry, exactly within the gate-posts. In this place, the more
delicate striz are visible, with the flutings and furrows; and these
are cut in such a manner as to show that the pressure was down-
wards, the action slow, and the motion irregular; and in places
where I have removed the moss and heath, the surface has a
tolerable polish, readily perceived by any one who has seen the upper
quarry. In this spot occurs an example in proof of slow action,
in the work of grooving the rock. ‘Two semicircular grooves,
about an inch deep, and about a foot apart, proceed parallel to
one another for some distance, when they gradually curve round
and then meet, and one of the grooves proceeds onwards from the
centre downwards, The form of the grooves may be represented
by the letter Y. Here, as in other places, it is evident that the
cutting substance changed its position, and for a time remained
stationary, though still continuing its grinding action, since a cup
or cell has been formed to a greater depth than the fluting above
or below.

With so perfect a type as that of Porth-Treiddyn, of what
Agassiz refers to glacier action, I have been enabled to trace that
action at various other points in Carnarvonshire between Tre-
madoc and Aber-glas-llyn bridge, and also on the other side of the
Glas-llyn river in Merionethshire; but the furrows and other
striking peculiarities are not so evident in these other localities as
they are at Porth-Treiddyn.

In the space represented in the drawing, glacier action may be
observed, —

Ist, at the town rock, immediately above the village of Tre-
madoc :

2dly, at the farm-yard :

ddly, at Porth-Treiddyn, already noticed:

Athly, at a point by the road side, where there occurs a perfect
sample of polished rock. This lies a little beyond the rock-erystal
quarry, where tabular crystals of titanite, called brookite Gf I
remember rightly) were procured.

othly, at a point near Brynteg.

Beyond Brynteg, towards Aber-glas-llyn bridge, many other
examples of glacier action may be seen, which are those referred
to by Dr. Buckland.

In the foregoing remarks, I have confined myself to an extent
of 6 or 7 miles; but I know that there are other cases, which at
some future day I may explore; and I will now conclude by say-
ing that I have attempted to describe one of the greatest curiosities
in the country, which will amply reward, by its inspection, all
lovers of geology.

1844.] 373

3. On the Existence of Fiuortc Actp in recent Bones. By G.
Owen Rees, Esq., M.D.

Tue author in this communication wished to direct the atten-
tion of geologists to the experiments connected with the presence
of fluoric acid in bones that have undergone no change consequent
upon fossilisation. He states that in the experiments he made,
the bones were tested both before and after calcination, but that
there was nowhere the slightest indication of fluoric acid in recent
human bones, although immediate evidence of its presence was
obtained when fossil ivory was submitted to examination.

The analyses of fossil bones have, according to Dr. Rees’ state-
ment, shown the existence of a very large proportion of fluoride,
in some cases as much as 10 or 15 per cent., which is an enormous
increase on the largest proportion ever declared to exist in recent
specimens. He argues, therefore, that since so much of the
fluoride of calcium is introduced in fossilisation, the whole may
have been.

He concludes by alluding to the unsatisfactory state of the
question at issue, namely, whether the bone and ivory while under-
going the process of fossilisation have their phosphoric acid
transmuted, or whether a fluoride exists undetected in the soft
parts of animals, which during their decay decomposes the earthy
salts of the bones.

Aprit 17, 1844.

H. B. Mackeson, Esq., of Hythe, and Sir Thomas Edward
Colebrooke, Bart., of Colebrooke Park, were elected Fellows of
this Society.

The following communications were read : —

1. Observations on the GroLocy of the Southern Part of the
Gutr or Smyrna and the Promontory of Karasournou. By
Linvt. T. Spratt, R.N.

THe observations contained in this paper continue the subject
from the point at which it was left by Messrs. Strickland and
Hamilton in their memoir on the geology of the neighbourhood of
Smyrna*, and relate to the western boundary of the lacustrine
deposits which lie to the south of the town of Smyrna, forming
and in part surrounding the plain of Sedi-kieui; so called from a
village of that name situated on its western margin.

Immediately over the village there rises a series of ridges, flank-
ing a high mountain that forms one of the principal features in
the arm of land which separates the two gulfs of Smyrna and

* Geol. Trans. 2d ser. vol. v. p. 393.
FF 2

374 [ April 7,

Ephesus. This mountain was the Corax of the ancients, and
attains a height of nearly 4000 feet, stretching from shore to shore
on both sides of the peninsula.

The north face of this mountain is channelled by deep ravines,
and the intervening ridges attain a very considerable elevation,
almost to their terminations; so that the whole mass rises abruptly
out of the plains and from the shore at its base.

In lithological structure these ridges consist of dark-coloured
shales and schists, which dip at high angles (from 30 to 50 degrees)
round the central and most elevated part of the mountain, but the
rocks which compose this central nucleus I had no opportunity of
observing.

At the mouth of one of the deep valleys, descending from the
summit of the mountain, is a hot bath, the position of which is
marked on the map.* Besides the spring which supplies this bath,
several hot jets of water rise through the sand in the bed of the
torrent in the ravine, in one of which the thermometer stood at
150° Fahr.; and very lately in an attempt to sink a well through
the alluvium of the adjoining plain at the base of the mountain,
springs of hot water were met with at about 10 feet below the
surface, so that there appears to be a considerable supply of heated
water which deposits some mineral (apparently sulphur), and
escapes by a subterranean course.

As the schists and shales appeared to be best developed in the
sides of the deep valley which opens behind the hot springs, I
ascended it for about four miles. Its sides were steep and pre-
cipitous, and I observed that the rocks consisted of a series of
brown and greenish shales and schists, interstratified with
quartzose grit and a hard sandstone, composed of particles of
quartz and mica: Sometimes compact siliceous strata occur ; and
not unfrequently beds and nodular masses of jasper, as well as
crystalline limestone. At the mouth of the ravine the dip was
35°; about a mile above increased to 50°, and two miles further, in
contact with some igneous protrusions, the schists, &c., are nearly
vertical. The volcanic productions in this neighbourhood appear
to be of three kinds, and occur near each other, within the space
of 200 or 300 yards, in the form of dykes, from 10 to 20 feet broad.
In contact with the igneous rocks the shales were much more
indurated than usual, and of a redder appearance on the exposed
surfaces. Beyond the dykes the beds assume their former dip of
50° to the N.N.W.

These shaly and schistose deposits must be of very considerable
thickness; at least a thousand yards of them being exposed be-
tween the mouth of the valley and the point to which I ascended ;
and, from what I was able to judge, they appeared to extend as
far again, but I could nowhere discover a single trace of organic

remains. ; (
The next part [ examined was a ridge about three miles to the

* See the map accompanying this memoir.

1844.] 375

west of the Hot Bath Valley, on the summit of which stand two
remarkable peaks, known by the name of the Two Brothers.
These peaks, although separated only by a few hundred yards,
consist of detached masses of a grey semi-crystalline limestone, of
about 300 feet in thickness. A chain of calcareous matter, of
variable thickness, may be traced through the whole mountain to
the south-west, following the line of stratification ; and being more
durable than the associated shales, the harder rocks stand up in
isolated points above the wasted strata in which they are embedded,
and with which the stratification of the limestone is always con-
formable.

They are, however, split and shattered by numerous transverse
fissures, which at a short distance appear like lines of stratification.
In the shales which underlie these rocks occur calcareous laminz
as well as calcareous nodules, varying in size from that of a nut
to that of an orange. The shales are here very friable, and of a
pale chocolate or cream colour, like those at the foot of Mount
Pagus, near the Caravan Bridge (mentioned in the memoir of
Messrs. Strickland and Hamilton), and they contain crystals of a
mineral which appears to be garnet. ‘These shales are 300 or
400 feet in thickness, and below them others which are indurated
are found in the valley above the hot baths.

At the western base of Mount Corax is a low isthmus crossing
between the gulf of Smyrna and the bay of Sighajik, which sepa-
rates the mountain from the district of Vourla. The greater
part of the isthmus is an alluvium of gravel, covering the schist and
shales; but on the opposite side of the isthmus these latter rocks
reappear, dipping at the same angle as in the foot of Mount
Corax (45° to W.N.W.), passing into a ridge of limestone, semi-
crystalline, and greatly resembling the limestone of the Two
Brothers ; the crystalline condition, however, being in neither case
due to any immediate contact with volcanic eruptions. ‘The lime-
stone now continues throughout the promontory in peaks and ridges,
whose height varies from 1000 to nearly 4000 feet. Near the
shore, on the west side of the isthmus, rises one of these peaks, which
is sharp and conical, and crowned by an ancient fortress. On its
western base repose, in a horizontal position, compact white cal-
careous strata and greenish marls, identical with the fresh-water
deposits described by Messrs. Hamilton and Strickland as existing
in the vicinity of Smyrna. These deposits occupy a considerable
district round the modern town of Vourla, as well as in other parts
of the Promontory of Karabournou and the islands within the
gulf, and they are indicated in the map by the yellow colouring.
Of the lacustrine origin of this formation there is the fullest evi-
dence, from the number and variety of fresh-water shells which

are found imbedded in the different strata, and in the probably

contemporaneous fresh-water basins of the interior of Asia Minor.
_In some localities the fossils are very abundant, as on the road to
Vourla, about two miles to the east of the town, and i in the small

islands which form the anchorage of Vourla.

FF 3

376 [ April 17,

Section from the Vourta Bastrn to the foot of Mount Corax.*

Vourla. Sevri Tepeh. Mt. Corax.

4

The lacustrine deposits surrounding Vourla extend to the head
of the Gulf of Gul-bagtcheh on the west, but the promontory
jutting out towards the Vourla Islands is divided across by a hill
of brown trachyte, which separates the fresh-water formations at
the extremity of the promontory from those in the Vourla basin,
and has evidently overflowed the intermediate portion of the bed
of this ancient lake. The adjacent islands present phenomena
resembling those observed in the neighbourhood of Smyrna, and
originated, most probably, at the same period. A vast eruption
of volcanic matter seems here to have burst through the bed of the
ancient lake, uplifting the sedimentary matter deposited in it into
hills and islands, which vary from 100 to 600 feet in height.

The two northern islands, Long Island and Keelsali, consist
almost entirely of porphyritic trachyte and of a white tufa; but
the small islands to the south are principally composed of the
fresh-water deposits in contact with, and frequently disturbed by,
similar igneous productions, offering clear evidence of their later
origin. These voleanic ejections form part only of a chain of
similar eruptions which extends to the north, nearly in a straight
line, as far as the Gulf of Adramitti.

The. fossils from the Vourla Islands have been examined by
Professor Edward Forbes, and are described in a note appended to
this memoir.

The Karabournou promontory consists of a high central table
mountain of grey limestone, along the east and north base of which
runs a narrow strip of the calcareous and marly series, the bed, no
doubt, of an ancient lake which formerly occupied the whole
Gulf of Smyrna, and, perhaps, the whole archipelago. The limits
of this lake are indeed as yet undefined, but there are indications
of it in the Scio and Mitylene channels, where it ranges at the
foot of the higher hills along the present sea-coast, as on the east
side of Karabournou. I obtained fossils (Paludina) proving its
fresh-water origin at the very northern extremity of Cape Kara-
bournou, and a few yards only from the sea.

On the western flank of the high central table of limestone lies
a broad chain of hills, composed of shales and schists, which corre-
spond with those of Mount Corax. They dip to the east and

* The references both to this and the other sections are as follow : —
4. Fresh-water beds. _ 2. Shales and schist.

3. Limestone. 1. Erupted trap and serpentine.

1844, ] 877

E.S.E., at an angle of from 45° to 60°, and, in both cases, pass be-
neath the intermediate mass of limestone which occupies the entire
- district between them. The limestone is, in general, a grey compact
rock, but is sometimes crystalline, as, for instance, near Ritri, anc.
Erythre, at a spot noticed by Mr. Hamilton. The crystalline con-
dition is probably due in this spot to the proximity of recent vol-
canic ejections of trachyte, &c., which occur abundantly in the
neighbourhood.

In the western part of the Karabournou promontory are found
also igneous rocks of two periods, the one antecedent and the other
subsequent to the date of the lacustrine formations. The former
is presented in a hill of serpentine, several hundred feet in heicht,
near Cape Koumour Baba, the northern extremity of the promontory,
and upon its sides rest in undisturbed succession the parallel layers
of the several calcareous strata and marls deposited at the bottom
of the lake; the shales in contact have been much disturbed and
altered, and are indurated into slate hardly distinguishable from
slates of the older rocks. The trap rocks of the latter period occur
in four localities, in each of which they differ in their mineral
composition: the first is found on the shore opposite to the Island
of Sahib, and its intrusion has evidently accompanied the disturb-
ance indicated by the considerable dip of the adjacent lacustrine
deposits. ‘The trap contains numerous small drusy cavities, in
which is always found a singular fibrous mineral.

The lacustrine deposits correspond exactly with those of Vourla
and of Smyrna, both in colour and mineral arrangement. In the
island of Sahib there are some good specimens of pisolite, inter-

stratified with the calcareous portion of the deposit.
Sahib Island.

3 4 Lae i

The above section exhibits portions of the whole series of rocks
noticed in this paper. It illustrates the different ages of eruption
and deposition ; and commencing near the coast, about two miles
to the west of Cape Koumour Baba (marked A on the map), it
terminates at Sahib Island (marked B).

The next trappean rock is a peaked mass protruding from
beneath the tertiary sediments at Cape Koumour Baba. These.
rocks are much contorted at the point of contact, but with the ex-
ception of appearing a little more indurated, they are not other-
wise altered.

f KE Se : LLL.

1 ri

The above diagram exhibits a section presented in the cliffs that
extend from the Cape about a mile to the westward, where their
height is about 140 feet.

FF 4

378 [April 17,

This section is exhibited in a line, drawn north and south, from
the Cape to the serpentine hill, and goes through the fresh-water
deposits. In this locality I procured one of the Paludine.

Following the coast down on the west side of the promontory,
good sections of the shales and schists continue to be presented
at every headland; but a few feet above the shore, under the
village of Kutchuk Baghcheh, a small detached portion of the
lacustrine deposit is again met with, extending for about half a
mile in length and overlaid by a stream of brown trachyte, shown
in the subjoined section.

This trachyte is similar to that which Mr. Strickland has re-
marked as occurring near Bournabat, and at Mount Pagus, above
Smyrna. The trachyte contains fragments of an older basaltic
rock imbedded in it.

The fourth example of the eruption of trappean matter is near
the N.W. point of the bay of Erythrz, and is shown in the annexed
section, which also indicates the relative superposition of the
shales and limestone. The only difference between the former
and those of Mount Corax is, that in the Karabournou district
there is a larger proportion of jasper interstratified with the shales
and schists. In every other respect it seems impossible to distin-
guish the rocks of the two localities.

Some time after making the observations in the Gulf of Smyrna
above recorded, I had an opportunity of examining a portion of
the coast opposite to Mitylene, near the islands of ‘Adjano, where
phenomena occur similar to those in the Gulf of Smyrna, viz. ex-
tensive trappean eruptions overlying portions of the lacustrine de-
posits, corresponding with those of Smyrna, Vourla, and Kara-
bournou, and containing also black flints, as in all those localities,
the identity being in every respect perfect. These beds, therefore,
formed part of the great lake, although here the fossils were want-
ing. The trap forms a range of hills varying from 1000 to 2500 feet
in height, extending from the Gulf of Sandarlic to the Mosco-nisi
islands, at the bases of which the lacustrine deposits are occasion-
ally visible. The largest portion of these is at Adjano, where the
deposits dip under a high mountain of trachyte at an angle of 30°,

1844. ] | 379

the trachyte being stratified like that found near Smyrna. The

tertiary hills on the margin of the Scio channel, near the town of

Tchesmeh, and in the island of Scio opposite to it, seem also to be -
of fresh-water origin, as they closely resemble those of the Gulf of

Smyrna.

The facts made out from these investigations tend to prove the
former existence of a large lake in the eastern part of the Archi-
pelago, where the sea now attains a very considerable depth*,
and that subsequently a succession of volcanic eruptions on a
grand scale took place over the bed of the lake. A long period of
tranquillity must, however, have preceded these eruptions, during
which 500 or 600 feet of a vertical series of beds had been depo-
sited throughout the lake. By this sudden outburst of igneous
matter, parts of the deposit were raised into hills of considerable
elevation, whilst the accumulations of the heated and melted fluids
poured over the bottom, formed mountains and high ridges of con-
siderable extent round each focus of eruption. In the tertiary hills
there is evidence of a denuding power at elevations above the
present sea level.

Having carried this ancient lake into the depths of the Archi-
pelago, the question then arises as to its former boundary, a ques-
tion which extended observations only can determine.

2. Note on the Fossits collected by Lieut. Spratt in the Fresh-
water Tertiary Formation of the GULF of SMyRNA. By Pro-
fessor Epwarp Forses, F.L.S.

Lizvtenant Spratt has found eleven species of fresh-water shells
(all univalves) and a cast, apparently of a Helix, in the fresh-water
limestone of Vourla.

Of these, two belong to the genus Limneus, one of which agrees
with the Limneus longiscatus of the Paris basin and the Isle of
Wight fresh-water bed, and the other is apparently the Limneus
ventricosus of Brongniart; also a Paris basin shell.

Five species belong to the genus Planorbis. One of these
is Planorbis rotundatus, a well-known eocene fresh-water fossil.
Three are closely allied to, if not identical with, Paris basin fossils,
and one is new.

Two belong to the genus Paludina. One of these appears to be
the Paludina atomus of the Paris basin. The other is new.

One belongs to the genus Melanopsis. It is the Melanopsis
buccinoidea, a species which, commencing its range in the oldest
tertiary strata, has lived on to the present day, and is now a
common inhabitant of western Asia, northern Africa, and the
southern parts of Europe.

* At about five miles off the north extremity of Karabournou the depth is
100 fathoms, and continues to increase beyond.

380 [April 17,

One belongs to the genus Melania, and appears to be a new
form.

On the whole, the evidence afforded by the fossils tends to show
that the great fresh-water formation’ which skirts the Gulf of
Smyrna and the coasts of many islands in the neighbouring por-
tion of the Archipelago is of the age of the Paris basin and London
clay. Whether the fresh-water tertiary basins of the interior of
Asia Minor and of the valley of the Xanthus, and the islands of
Cos and Rhodes, are of the same age, is very doubtful. Judging
from the numerous fossils collected by Mr. Spratt and myself in
those tertiaries, I am inclined to pronounce them of a different
age and of later origin ; anterior, however, to the pliocene marine
formations of Asia Minor and the Sporades.

I may add that Mr. Strickland, in his Memoir on the Geology
of Smyrna, mentions a Unio, a Cyclas, a Helix, and a Cypris in
the tertiaries of Bournabat which have not been met with by
Lieutenant Spratt.

Impressions of the leaves of vegetables, too imperfect for deter-
mination, accompany the specimens laid before the Society.

List of the Fossils.

a. Planorbis Spratti H. Forbes.
b. Paludina Stricklandiana EH. Forbes.
ce. Melania Hamiltoniana E. Forbes.

1. Limneus longiscatus Brongniart.
Many casts, not distinguishable from French and English examples.

2. Limneus ventricosus Brongniart ?

The specimens closely resemble the recent L. awricularius: The spire
appears rather shorter that it is represented in the figures of the French
fossil, to which I have referred it. —

3. Planorbis rotundatus Brong.
Such specimens as retain the shell exhibit transverse sulcations of growth.

4. Planorbis cornu Brong. ?

Specimens with the shell are spirally striated, like the recent Planorbis
similis. Not having compared it with authentic French examples, I have
marked this species with a query, though it closely agrees with the figures.

5. Planorbis prevostinus Brong. ?
Too imperfect a specimen for certain identification.
6. Planorbis planulatus Desh. ?

The inner whorls do not occupy so much space- as they are represented
to do in the French figures. It is closely allied to the recent Planorbis
nitidus.

. Planorbis Spratti, nov. sp. (wocdcut, jig. a).

“I

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1844.] 381

P. testé discoided (levigatd), superne pland, inferne profunde umbilicatd ;

anfractibus crassis, superne angustis, quinis, subangulatis.
Lat. 2. Crass. #4, une.

Closely resembling the recent Planorbis contortus, which represents this
species in miniature. It is allied to the Planorbis cylindricus of Sowerby,
from the fresh-water tertiaries of the Isle of Wight, but differs in the
greater number of whorls, and their narrowness on the upper disk, which is
very slightly concave.

8. Paludina atomus Brong.

A little Paludina, which appears to be identical with the Paris basin
shell described by Brongniart under the name of Bulimus atomus, and rightly
referred by Deshayes to the genus Paludina.

9. Paludina Stricklandiana, nov. sp. (woodcut, fig. b).

P. testé globulosd, levigatd, polité, umbilicatd ; spird depressd, obtusa ;

anfractibus 3—4; apertura ovatd, superne angulatd, marginibus crassis.
Lon. +, une.

A very minute but beautiful and distinct species, in form somewhat ap-
proaching Ampullaria. Its nearest ally is the Paludina globulus of Des-
hayes, a Paris basin shell, which is, however, imperforate, and not nearly so
globose as the Asiatic species.

10. Melanopsis buccinoidea Auct.
A single specimen from the burying-ground in the island of Vourla.
11. Melania Hamiltoniana, nov. sp. (woodcut, jig. c).

M. testé ovato-turritd, anfractibus septem, levigatis, longitudinaliter multo-
costatis, costis subsinuatis.

Lon. 4 une.

Apparently a very fragile shell, of which usually only the impressions
remain. In sculpture it bears a close resemblance to a marine Chemmnitzia.

3. On the Remains of Fisuus found by Mr. Kaye and Mr.
CuNLIFFE, in the PonpicHerRRY Beps. By Sir Pui
DE Mapas Grey Ecerton, M. P.

Tue fish remains collected by Mr. Kaye and Mr. Cunliffe in the
neighbourhood of Pondicherry having been placed in my hands
for examination, I have endeavoured to discharge the task com-
mitted to me to the best of my ability, by comparing the Indian
fossils with analogous forms from other localities, and with the
figures and descriptions given by Agassiz in the “Poissons Fossiles.”
The collection consists wholly of teeth ; they are, generally speak-
ing, in bad condition, few of the placoid teeth retaining their bases,
a very essential element in the identification and description of
species. Before proceeding to detail the characters of the several
specimens, it may be advisable briefly to relate the results at which
I have arrived from the study of these ichthyolites. With the
exception of two specimens, the collection is entirely composed of
teeth of squaloid fishes. Of these two exceptions one belongs to
the Ganoid order and to the family of Pycnodonts, and it is pro-
bably a Spherodus ; the other is referred to the Cycloid genus
Enchodus, the teeth very closely resembling those of Enchodus

382 [April 17,

halocyon, a species common to the chalk of England, continental
Europe, and North America. Of the Placoid remains, two species
only belong to the section of the Squaloid family with serrated
teeth, and both of them are referable to the genus Corax, which
Agassiz informs us is restricted to the chalk. One species is not
distinguishable from Corax pristodontus of the Maestricht beds.
The other is undescribed. The Squaloid teeth with cutting edges
compose the bulk of the collection. They are referable to at least
a dozen species, all corresponding in the absence of plaits or striz
on the surfaces of the enamel. Although there are close approxi-
mations amongst them to the species both of the Cretaceous and
Miocene period, yet it is somewhat remarkable that I have not
seen a feature nor a character which recalls in the remotest degree
the forms of the Eocene period. They belong principally to the
Odontaspid type; one species being closely allied to, if not identi-
cal with, the Odontaspis rhaphiodon of the chalk of Europe. Two
or three species are referable to the genus Otodus, one approach-
ing Otodus appendiculatus ; also from the chalk. Of the genera
found in the Pondicherry beds, the following is the stratigraphical
distribution assigned by Agassiz. The genera Lamna, Odontaspis,
and Oxyrhina extend from the recent period to the Green-sand
inclusive, the Jurassic species being now separated from Lamna
under the generic title of Sphenodus, and from Oxyrhina under that
of Meristodon. Otodus extends from the Crag to the Green-sand, and
Corax is restricted to the true chalk. The Ganoid genus Sphe-
rodus ranges from the Tertiary beds to the Oolite, and the Cycloid
Enchodus is restricted to the chalk. The distribution of species is as
follows: — Lamna, 5 tertiary and 1 cretaceous; Odontaspis, 5
tertiary, 4 cretaceous; Oxyrhina, 11 tertiary, 2 cretaceous ; Otodus,
8 tertiary, and 5 cretaceous; and Corax, 5 cretaceous. Of the
five Placoid genera we have twenty-nine species occurring in the
Supercretaceous, and seventeen in the cretaceous deposits; but
not a single species has yet been found anterior to the latter period.
The evidence, then, afforded by the Pondicherry fishes appears to
yield strong corroborative testimony to the accuracy of Mr. Forbes’s
views, derived from the study of the invertebrate remains of the
same locality ; and I fully coincide with him in assigning these
strata to the cretaceous period. Jam, however, inclined, consider-
ing the number of species collected which must be referred to
genera which we know decrease in species as they descend in the
stratigraphical scale, from the occurrence also of Maestricht species,
and from the presence of the genera Corax and Enchodus not yet
found so low as the Neocomian, to place this deposit higher in the
system than Mr. Forbes is inclined to do from his investigations.
As I have above stated, the Placoid teeth are for the most part
mutilated, rendering the generic identification a matter of much
difficulty and uncertainty, although the specific characters are
good and distinct. Agassiz says*, “It frequently happens that

* Poissons Fossiles, vol. ili. p. 266.

1844.] 383

the root and the lateral cusps are detached from the dental cone,
and in this case it is very difficult to distinguish Otodus from
Oxyrhina. I shall describe hereafter several species very well
characterised, but of which the genus is doubtful, because the
perfect root is not known.” Again, in prefacing the genus Oxy-
rhina, he says, “ When the base of the root is mutilated, it some-
times happens that one is in doubt whether the species belongs to
the genus Oxyrhina, Lamna, or Otodus.” He also remarks, after
comparing the genus Lamna with Oxyrhina, “The steps from
Otodus to Lamna are more gradual, and here we find some species
which are actually on the limits between the two genera.” Some
of the Indian species are in this category, for we find the principal
dental cone of the form and aspect of an Otodus associated with
the long pointed cylindrical lateral cusps of an Odontaspis, and the
flattened cultriform tooth of an Oxyrhina furnished with smooth
lateral cusps which exclude it from that genus. It is with much
hesitation that I have ventured to draw up the following descrip-
tions of the more perfect specimens of the Pondicherry collections,
from a consciousness of my own inability to grapple with this most
difficult branch of fossil Ichthyology, not unmixed with doubts of
the stability of the generic and specific characters as at present
acknowledged in the “Poissons Fossiles.” Agassiz has himself
complained of the paucity of materials for arriving at any very
definite conclusions as to the variations of form in the teeth occur-
ring in the various positions in the mouth of the same species.
Those naturalists who have studied the recent sharks are well
aware of the extent of those variations in a single individual, and
can, therefore, appreciate the difficulties under which Agassiz has
laboured in attempting a systematic arrangement of the fossil
Squaloids. As I am in hopes this distinguished Ichthyologist will
shortly have an opportunity of examining the Indian collections, I
offer the following descriptions as provisional rather than final; or,
at all events, as giving the characters of forms in themselves
distinct, but which may hereafter be grouped together under legi-
timate generic and specific denominations.

Cycitorw ORDER.
Scomberoid Family.

Encuopus serratus Eg.— Three teeth from the Pondicherry
beds, evidently belonging to the genus Enchodus. As I have
before stated, they bear a very close resemblance to the species
figured by Agassiz as Enchodus halocyon; at the same time
(although the materials are too defective to warrant any definite
conclusion), there are appreciable discrepancies of sufficient im-
portance to induce me to abstain from identifying the Indian teeth
with the species alluded to. The most perfect specimen, as com-
pared with teeth of similar size of Z. halocyon, presents the follow-

384 [April 17,

ing distinctive characters. The surface of the enamel is more
smooth and even, in consequence of the fineness of the longitudinal
strie, which in E. halocyon are coarse and strongly marked. The
transverse bands are broader, and the form of the teeth is less
attenuated. ‘The most important feature it presents is in the finely
serrate cutting edge, which in all the specimens I have seen of
E. halocyon is smooth and entire. A second fragment corresponds
in all these points. The third specimen is a smaller tooth, and
only differs from £. halocyon in the smooth and highly polished
surface of the enamel. None of these teeth are perfect. The
length of the largest is half an inch, of the smallest two lines.

GANOID ORDER.
Pycnodont Family.

SpHzrovus rugulosus Kg.— All the tritoral teeth in the Indian
collections appear to belong to one species of the
genus Spherodus. <A pretty group in Mr. Kaye’s & Sane
series shows nine teeth 77 seéw of those in use, and
underneath there are the germs of several of their
successors. Three detached teeth appear to have belonged to the
same specimen. In Mr. Cunliffe’s collection I have found two
tritores, considerably larger than the specimens alluded to above,
but evidently belonging to the same species. In size these teeth
resemble those of Spherodus Lens, the smallest species figured by -
Agassiz; in regularity of form they approach nearer to Spherodus
parvus ; but they are distinguished from these species and all others
figured by Agassiz by the wrinkled or shrivelled appearance of the
superficies of the teeth. This is visible even in the smallest speci-
mens, and forms a well-marked and easily appreciable specific
character.

PLACcOID ORDER.

Squaloid Family.

Corax pristodontus Agass. Poiss. Foss. vol. iii. p. 224.—- A
single fragment is the only evidence upon which rests
the supposition that this species enjoyed the extended
geographical range indicated by its occurrence in the
Cretaceous system of Europe and India. This speci- )
men shows the outer surface of the hinder portion of ~/ —
a sinistral tooth. The base is wanting. It corre-
sponds in minutest detail with the analogous portions of a tooth
received from Professor Goldfuss, named by Agassiz Galeus (now
Corax) pristodontus, apparently from the Maestricht beds. <A
comparison with the figures given in the “ Poissons Fossiles ” yields
a like result. Some specimens in Mr. Lyell’s cabinet, from the
chalk of North America, approximate very closely to this species.
Should they be identical, it will prove this to be one of the most

1844,.] + 385

widely distributed fossil forms of fishes with which we are ac-
quainted.

Corax incisus Eg. — A second species of Corax occurs in the
Indian collection sent over by Mr. Cunliffe, of small size
and very distinct character. It is rather smaller than
the species of this genus generally are, corresponding in
this respect with Corax planus, of which some imper-
fect specimens are figured in the “ Poissons Fossiles” from an
unknown locality. Our specimens are not perfect, but they are
sufficiently so to prove them to be specifically distinct from all
those figured and described by Agassiz. The principal cusp is
conical, rather slender, and pointed. It is more upright and less
faleate than usual. ‘The antero-posterior diameter of the tooth is
small, in this respect resembling Corax planus. The character of
the marginal armature is peculiar. It is rather notched or crenu-
lated than serrate, the subdivisions of the edge being blunt and
irregular. The lateral cusp is smooth, and corresponds with its
principal in the character of its dentelures.

Oropus ? marginatus Kg.— Several of the Indian squaloids
are apparently referable to the genus
Otodus. Of these, two have some re-
semblance to the common Ofodus ap-
pendiculatus of the chalk formation ;
and although the characters of this
species, as at present recognised, are
wide enough to embrace an extensive
variety of forms, yet they are suffi-
ciently defined to exclude the Indian
specimens. The larger species, of
which I have found four specimens, is
remarkable for the rapid increase of the antero-posterior diameter
of the shaft as it approaches the base. The latter is thick and
massive, with a deep depression on the outer surface. 'The cone
in profile is regularly and distinctly incurved from the apex to the
junction with the base. It is narrower than in most specimens of
O. appendiculatus. The outer surface is smooth and rounded ;
_ the inner one is also smooth, and more arched than in any species I
am acquainted with. A section, taken one third distant from the
base, would represent the inner face of the tooth as nearly semi-
circular. The cutting edge is sharp, and so distinct as to have the
appearance of .a border, separated from the remainder of the shaft
by a shallow groove. The lateral cusp is large, conical, and sharp,
having more resemblance in these respects to this feature in the
odontaspid teeth. The corresponding cusp is broken; but the
fracture shows that, in all probability, the tooth was symmetrical.

Oropus basalis Kg. — A tooth sent to England by Mr. Cunliffe
has a cleser resemblance to O. appendiculatus than the species last
described. Of the various forms comprehended in this species,
one fossil most nearly approximates a tooth from the Maes-

386 [April 17,

tricht quarries. Its peculiar distinc-
tive features are, the larger size of the
lateral cusp, the greater breadth and
obliquity of the base, and the smaller
proportions of the principal cone com-
pared with the other dimensions of the
tooth. When viewed in profile, the prin-
cipal cone is straight and narrow, and the
cusp from its inward slope forms an acute
angle with the principalcone. Both surfaces are smooth and rounded ;
the inner are, as usual, rather more so than the outer. ‘The tooth
is slightly oblique, but not so much so as the Maestricht specimen.
As this feature varies according to the position of the tooth on the
jaw, it is of little value.
Oropus nanus Eg.— A single tooth in Mr. Kaye’s collection,
referable to the genus Otodus, differs from the other
species of the same genus in its diminutive size. ‘i 0 A
The central cusp is triangular, equalling in height
the breadth of the base. It has a thick and
stunted aspect, being equally convex on either surface. It is in-—
curved, and slightly obtuse at the apex. ‘The lateral cusps are
short, wide, and blunted.
Oropus divergens Ee. — An unique specimen in Mr. Cunliffe’s
collection, although differing in some respects from the
general characters of the genus Otodus, has notwith-
standing more resemblance to this than to the squaloids
of any other genus. The central cusp, from its sharp,
flattened, and lanceolate form, resembles an Oxyrhina or
Lamna ; but the large development of the lateral cusps must ex-
clude it from those genera. From Odontaspis it differs in the
width and general character of the lateral cusps. The latter are
exact miniature representations of the principal cusp, and are so
placed upon the base as to slope outwards on either side. They
have each a small supernumerary point on the outer shoulder.
The tooth is slightly convex on both sides; the point is somewhat
recurved ; and the edges of all the cusps are remarkably sharp.
This is a perfect and very interesting specimen.
Oropus minutus Eg.—The last specimen I refer to this genus is
of small size, not exceeding the dimensions of Otodus
nanus described above, yet of different form. ‘The \ )
principal cusp is more lanceolate, and the antero-
posterior diameter is infinitely smaller, compared
with the height of the tooth. The profile is straight, not incurved
as in O. nanus. The lateral cusp is small and blunt. A promi-
nent ridge borders the enamel at its junction with the base.
OxyrHina triangularis Eg. — It requires specimens of unusual
perfectness to enable the paleontologist to dis-
criminate between the species of the genera Oay- vA RN
rhina, Lamna, and Otodus. The Indian teeth, (

1844.] 387

being for the most part imperfect, it is a matter of great difficulty
and uncertainty to decide to which genus many of them belong.
The proposed arrangement of species must, therefore, be considered
as a mere approximation, or rather, perhaps, as provisional, until
more perfect specimens, or one more skilled in Fossil Ichthyology,
shall clear up the obscurity. Several smooth teeth in the Indian
collections are remarkable for their regular triangular form. They
appear to have been destitute of lateral appendages. The base
in this species is broad, equalling the total height of the tooth.
The cone is flattened on the outer surface, and rounded on the
inner. The enamel of the latter descends lower on the base at the
sides than at the centre: the line of boundary thus represents an
ascending obtuse angle. ‘The teeth are more or less oblique, ac-
cording to the position they hold on the jaw. It is one of the
smallest species of the genus.
Lamna complanata Eg.— The occurrence of a small lateral cusp
in some of the specimens of this species marks it
as belonging to the genus Lamna, although in )
other respects it would more properly be con-
sidered as an Oxyrhina. Its nearest analogies
are with Oxyrhina xiphodon and hastalis. It
differs from the former in having the outer sur-
face more prominent, and the inner one more
evenly rounded without the flattened character of the basal portion
of the enamel. From the latter it differs in the less prominent
contour of the inner surface. It is distinguished from both by the
presence of the lateral cusp, in being infinitely smaller, and in its
slender and elegant proportions. The transverse section shows
the antero-posterior diameter to be exceedingly narrow —more so
indeed than in any other species of the genus.
Lamna sigmoides—It is difficult in a mere verbal description
to make intelligible the minute distinctions which, :
in considering the characters of the fossil squaloid / \ i
teeth, are the elements on which the species are
eliminated. A single tooth sent home by Mr. Cun-
liffe recalls at first sight the well-known Lamna
acuminata of the British chalk. It approaches also
that species in size, being one of the largest of the
Indian specimens, which, generally speaking, are
of unusually small dimensions. In form it is inter-
mediate between L. acuminata and L. cuspidata.
It differs, however, from both in the sigmoid flexure of the cutting
edge. There are no lateral cusps visible. In front it varies from
the form of L. euspidata in the greater breadth of the apex, and
from L. acuminata in the parallelism of the sides in the middle
Tegion of the tooth. The outer surface is flattened until near the
point, where it is slightly rounded. ‘The inner surface is convex
and prominent. Seen in profile, the cutting edge conceals the back
of the tooth for two-thirds of its length; it then verges inwards
until near the point, where it again tends slightly outwards. The
VOL. IV. PART Il. GG

388 [April 17,
;

base is partially concealed by the matrix; but it appears to have
been furcate, and of rather small size.

OponTasPis constrictus Kg. — A very large proportion of the
Indian odontolites belong to the species now under
consideration. Out of some dozen of specimens I D
have not, however, found one having the base suf-
ficiently perfect to show whether it supported lateral
cusps or not. If they were present, they must
have been of very small size. Under this uncer-
tainty it is impossible to determine whether this species should be
placed under the genus Lamna or Odontaspis ; but I am inclined,
from the slender subulate aspect of the teeth, to refer it to the
latter. At the time of writing this, I have not been able to com-
pare the Indian specimens with figures of O. gracilis from the
chalk and O. subulata from the lower greensand of Neufchatel ;
but the descriptions given of these species lead me to infer a con-
siderable resemblance in size and form with the Indian species,
although the latter has a very distinctive feature in the cessation
of the cutting edges before they reach the base, giving a con-
stricted appearance to the shaft of the tooth. This character is well
marked in Odontaspis contortidens of the Molasse; indeed our
Pondicherry fossils are only distinguishable from this species by
the absence of the striz on the inner surface of the teeth.

OponTAsPIs oxyprion EKg.— The last species I propose to
describe in this memoir is also frequent in the Indian collec-
tions. It belongs without doubt tothe genus Odontaspis, and is
very nearly allied to O. rhaphiodon. The comparison, how-
ever, is less accurate than I could wish, owing to my not being able
to refer to Agassiz’s plate on the subject; but one character esta-
blishes at once the distinctness of the Indian species, viz. the absence
of strive on the inner surface of the tooth. Some of the specimens
of this species are in a good state of preservation, showing the form
of the base and the lateral cusps. It is not impossible that more
than one species may be included in this description, as some of the
specimens are more convex than others on the outer surface, and
less recurved at the point. ‘The number and form of the lateral
cusps also vary considerably; but there is a general resemblance
which induces me for the present to include all under one denomi-
nation. In the form of the central cone they agree very closely
with Odontaspis rhaphiodon; but the lateral cusps are larger,
more elongated, and sharper at the points, and in these respects
they exceed even the recent Odontaspis ferox. They are some-
times single, sometimes double, on each side, and occasionally
single on one side and double on the other. The base is broader
and less deeply notched than in O. rhaphiodon.

A considerable number of specimens remain to be examined ;
but most of them will probably belong to one or other of the species
described above. Should any distinct forms be found, they will
be treated of in a future memoir.

1844, ] 389

4. On the Occurrence of a Bed of SEPTARtA, containing Fresh-water
Shells, in the Series of Plastie Clay, at New Cross, Kent. By
Henry Waresurton, Esq. M.P., F.R.S.

HAvine occasion, in the spring of 1843, to travel along the South
Eastern Railway, I observed at the distance of about 200 yards
to the south of the New Cross Station, on the western side of the
cutting which there lays bare the junction of the London and
Plastic Clays, and at the very foot of that cutting, what seemed to
be a continuous bed of stone, forming a part of the Plastic Clay
series.

I applied, in consequence, to Mr. Simms, a Fellow of our Society,
(who, as one of the resident engineers, had ready access to every
part of the line), to procure for me specimens of this bed; and he
not only complied with this request, but also made a vertical sec-
tion of the beds exposed in the cutting, extending from the base of
the London Clay to the bed of stone in question.

The specimens which Mr. Simms procured contain, imbedded in
the substance of the stone, two fresh-water shells, a Paludina and a
Unio, which Professor E. Forbes has examined and described.
The stone proved, on examination, not to form a continuous stra-
tum extending to any distance, but to occur at intervals only ; and
to be, in fact, a bed of Septaria, of a texture considerably more
earthy than the Septaria of the London clay usually are. These
Septaria may be traced along the base of the railway cutting from
the point already mentioned, south of the New Cross Station, to
beyond the first bridge which crosses the railway south of that
station, and rising, like the railway itself, at an inclination of 1
in 100.

The position of this bed of fresh-water Septaria, in relation to the
London clay, will be best understood from the following section by
Mr. Simms : —

Ft. In,

i

. London clay, the lowest bed of which, from 10 to 15 feet thick, is
of a blue colour.
- Rolled flint pebbles - - - - = = = s
. Fine fawn-coloured sand - - - = = 2
Lignite - - ~ - - - - 2 ui
Fine fawn-coloured sand - - S = 5 =
Ferruginous sand, with fragments of oyster shells, and Cerithia -
Grey sand, with fragments of Cerithia - = = = ts
Strong black clay = - - - - ~ = 2 3 u
. Black clay and sand, with fragments of oysters and Cerithia -
Black sand - - - - - - = 7 2 =
. Dark sand, with oyster shells - - < - E = Z

i

ARDOMAO DNS

HOODIA MA WW

CoooOoocoonocoor

oe

Aelia

. Caleareous stone, with fresh-water shells - = = P: u
. Sand and stone in a rotten state, with oysters = - = 2

ae
oo bo
A
el
oo~
CODD

0
Re)
[=

eae?

390 [ April 17,
The following is the description of the shells, by Mr. E. Forbes :

1. Paludina.

A species with 5 ventricose whorls which appear to have been
slightly striated by lines of growth; the largest perfect specimen
measuring 1 inch in height by half an inch in greatest breadth of
the body whorl.

I can find no character by which to separate this fossil from the
existing Paludina vivipara ; some of the southern varieties of which
it closely resembles in external form. That species is very widely
distributed, at present being common to a great part of Europe and
Asia. Iam not aware of its ever having been previously noticed
as an older tertiary shell, but its allies, P. achatina and P. unicolor,
are both recorded tertiary species, having a wide range both geolo-
gically and geographically; the identity of the living species with the
fossils discovered by Mr. Warburton and Mr. Simms is thus rendered
the more probable. I regard this species as quite distinct from the
Paludina fluviorum of the Wealden, which was confounded with
P. vivipara, a confusion which has led to several erroneous state-
ments and reasonings.

2. Unio.

An ovate, very inequilateral, depressed species, wrinkled trans-
versely, growing to a length of between 2 and 3 inches.

The extreme difficulty of determining living species of Unio
must render us very cautious in giving an opinion on a fossil. The
remains, though not imperfect of their kind, and certainly those of
Unios, are not sufficient to warrant the bestowal of a specific ap-
pellation on them. They are, however, probably distinct from any
of the recorded British tertiary species. E.

I have only to add in conclusion, that in the Paris basin, which
lies to the north of Paris, in the Département de l’ Aisne, fresh-water
shells belonging to the same genera occur in the plastic clay series,
accompanied by lignite; and among the fossils of one of these
beds, M. D’Archiac enumerates four species of Paludina, and an
undetermined species of Unio. Mons. Charles d’Orbigny also, in a
section of the beds in the Paris basin, intermediate between the
caleaire grossier and the chalk, near Meudon, enumerates plastic
clay, lignite with Paludine and Anodontas, and a conglomerate
containing fresh-water shells.

This point of correspondence between the plastic clays of Eng-
land and France, viz. their containing several of the same genera,
at least of fresh-water shells, besides Cyclades, which have been be-
fore noticed as common to the two, and Cerithia, and other shells, |
inhabitants of brackish water, I have thought of sufficient interest
to make the subject of a notice to the Society.

1844.] : 391

May 1, 1844.

1. Report on the Fossits from SANTA FE DE Bocota, presented to
the Geological Society by Evan Hopkins, Esq. F.G.S. By
Professor Epwarp Forsss, F.L.S.

Tue fossils from Bogota presented by Mr. Hopkins are all remains
of Mollusca. They are embedded in a very dark and compact
limestone; and are all, apparently, from the same formation. They
include 17 species, most of which are in very good preservation.
Of these, 9 are described species, and are identical with fossils
from the same neighbourhood, described in the memoir by M.
Von Buch, “ On the Fossils collected in America by MM. Hum-
boldt and Degenhardt,” in the paper intitled “ Notice of the
Oolitic Formations in America,” by Mr. Isaac Lea, printed in the
“ Transactions of the American Philosophical Society for 1841,”
and in the account of the fossils collected in Columbia by M.
Boussingault, given by M. Alcide d’Orbigny, in the Paleontology
of his South American Voyage, published in 1843. All these
papers have been consulted in the preparation of this Report.

The formation in which these fossils were found has been re-
ferred by M. Von Buch to the Cretaceous era, by Mr. Lea to
the Oolitic period, and by M. d’Orbigny to the Neocomian epoch
of the Cretaceous era. The result of an examination of Mr. Hop-
kins’s specimens, more especially of such as are new, bears out the
view of their cretaceous origin first taken by M. Von Buch, and
afterwards adopted by M. d’Orbigny. It is probable, however,
from the number of forms approximating Gault species, that the
last-named paleontologist has placed them too low in the Creta-
ceous series, when he refers them to the Neocomian, or, in other
terms, the lower part of the lower greensand strata.

Accompanying the shells is a specimen of coal, stated by Mr.
Hopkins to be found in the same formation. The species in the
Society’s collection are mostly Cephalopoda; they consist of 10
Ammonites, 1 Ancyloceras, and 2 Hamites; these are accompanied
by 1 Rostellaria, 1 Venus, 1 Lucina, and 1 Inoceramus.

Descrietive List.

1. Ancyloceras Humboldtiana. (Orthocera Humboldtiana Lea, loc. cit. p. 253.

pl. viii. f i.)

This is apparently a good (though not quite perfect) specimen of the
fossil described by Mr. Lea as an Orthoceras, from a fragment. The turns
of both extremities are seen in Mr. Hopkins’s specimen.

Ga 3

a. Side view, the outline completed by a dotted line.
b. View of the back, to show the form of the septa.

2. ? Hamites Degenhardtii Von Buch. 1. ec. f. 23, 94,95.
3. Hamites D’ Orbignyana. Nov. sp.

wo SS Ga ES

HI. testd tereti, transversim sulcatd ; sulcis numerosissimis, equalibus, regu- |
laribus ; interstitiis elevatis, angustioribus, acutiusculis.

Length of anterior portion - - - - 1§ une.
posterior portion - - = ee
Breadth of widest part - - - Oe

Of this Hamite there is a single specimen which exhibits most of the
essential parts of the shell. It is cylindrical and tapering ; the oral extre- —
mity appears to have been somewhat inflated. The surface is furrowed by
numerous transverse sulcations, which are continuous to the back, though
not in all cases equal; they are separated from each other by somewhat |
acute ribs. The shell bends with a sudden curve, and is then produced
into a rapidly diminishing posterior extremity, running nearly straight and
parallel with the oral portion.

- Ammonites Dumasianus D’Orbigny, |. ¢. p. 69. t. ii. f. 1—2.

galeatus Von Buch. 1. ¢. pl. 2. f: 20.
Alexandrinus ? D’Orbigny, p. 75. pl. xvii. f. 8—11.

Vanuxemensis Lea ? pl. viii. f. 5.

Rhotomagensis Sow. (Noticed also in the memoir by M. Von |
Buch. )

1844. ] 393

9. Ammonites Hopkinsi. Nov. sp.

10.

a. Side view, showing the outline complete and a portion of the shell.
b. View showing the lobes in the septa.

A. testé crassé, umbilicatd, transversim sulcata costatdque ; sulcis 6, subundu-
latis, marginatis ; dorso rotundato, transverse costato ; costis inter sulcos 5—8,
rotundatis, lateraliter obsoletis ; aperturd ovato-lunata ; septis—.

ay 1 6
Diam. 23. Crass. 175 une.

This fine Ammonite has an inflated shell, which appears to have been of
considerable thickness. The outer whorl does not entirely conceal the
others, but leaves a deep umbilicus which in the perfect shell probably ex-
posed several of the inner volutions. The sides of the whorls forming the
boundary of the umbilicus are steep, in consequence of sudden inflections
of the shell. The middle of the whorls is flat and nearly smooth ; the back
is rounded, and transversely suleated, with rather broad, slightly undulated
shallow furrows, which are separated into groups of from five to eight by
distant, wider, and deeper furrows, which run in a curved manner entirely
across the whorls. These sulcations, marking stages of growth, are very
strong on the cast, but comparatively slightly marked on the external sur-
face of the shell, showing that they are the marks of internal ribs. The
mouth appears to have been lunate, and slightly elongate. It belongs to the
section Ligati. It is very nearly allied to an Ammonite from the lower

greensand of Southern India.

Ammonites Inca. Nov. sp.

A. testé crassa, umbilicata, radiato-striatd, sulcatd; sulcis undulatis 6 ; dorso

rotundato ; apertura lunaté, latd ; septis pinnatis, multilobatis.
Med. semi-diam. 12, Ullt. anf. 145. Crass. 115 une.

This species is nearly allied to the last, and resembles it in form, but
differs in the absence of smaller sulcations between the greater furrows,
which divide the cast of the outer whorl into six wide divisions, and which
on the external surface of the shell were marked by raised ribs. These
furrows and ribs proceed in an undulate and rotate manner from the umbi-

licus, which appears to have partially exposed the inner whorls. The sur-

Ga 4

iia

va

Ammonites Inca.

a. View of the side, showing the shell and the septa.
b. View showing the lobes of the septa.

face of the shell was finely, though irregularly, striated in an undulated
manner, indicating fine lines of growth. The sides of the umbilicus are
steep ; the mouth is lunate, and broader than long.

The sutures of the chambers are well seen on a small specimen. The
lateral lobes, of which four appear on the lateral portion of the outer whorl,
are bilobate and pinnate, the pinne being denticulate. The dorsal lobe is
short, linguiform, and denticulate at the sides.

Nearly allied to Ammonites latidorsatus Michelin, a gault species. Be-

longs to the section Ligati.
11. Ammonites Buchiana. Nov. sp.

a. Side view.

6. View of the back.

A. testa subdepressd, subumbilicatd, involuta, dorso rotundato, costis transversis
numerosissimis subundulatis, ad lateras obsoletis ; circa wmbilicum levigata.
Apertura lunaté. Septis

Med. semi-diam. 1, unc. Crass. 12, une.

The Ammonites Buchiana is a very beautiful species. The outer whorl

almost completely envelopes the others, so as to leave only a small but deep

1844.) 895

Ss

umbilicus. The surface around the umbilicus is smooth for about half way
across the whorl, where very numerous, regular, rather shallow, somewhat
undulated striz, or narrow suleations, commence, with narrower inter-
stices, and continue across the rounded back. The mouth is ovato-lunate ;
the septa appear to have been arranged in numerous phylliform lobes, the
terminal divisions of which were ovate and large. Belongs to the section
Heterophylli, but is rather an abnormal form.

Ammonites Leat. Nov- sp.

a. Side view. :
b. View showing the form of the aperture, and the back of the whorls.

A. testa compressa, subumbilicatd, involutd, semicostatd, costis numerosis,
prope aperturam obsoletis, sulcis undulatis substitutis ; dorso excavato-sulcato,
sulco levi, marginibus carinatis, dentatis. Aperturd subtriangulari. Septis

Med. semi-diam. 0,5; m. crass. 45; lat. sule. dors. 03 une.

A very beautiful little Ammonite, quite perfect, and apparently full-
grown. It is compressed at the sides, and flattened and furrowed at the
back. The last whorl envelopes the others, and becomes somewhat dilated
at the mouth. That half of it nearest the umbilicus is smooth, the re-
mainder marked by numerous well-defined undulated sulcations, which be-
come obsolete towards the mouth, where they are replaced by deeper and
wider sulci, separated by flattened elevations of equal breadth. The angles
of the dorsal furrow are rather acute, and are tuberculated by the raised
oblique extremities of the coste between the lateral sulcations. The centre
of the back is slightly hollowed out, and quite smooth. The mouth is wide
and triangular, though truncated at the top. The septa are not visible.
Belongs to the section Dentati, and is nearly allied to several gault Am-
monites.

Ammonites bogotensis. Nov. sp.

a. Side view ; the outline of the complete shell restored.
b. View of the back.

A. testd compressé (subumbilicatd ?) radiato-striatd, subsulcatd, dorso plano
subexcavato, sulco dorsali lato, levi.
Lat. frag. 1%. Crass. Of, une.

2.

There is only a fragment of this Ammonite in the collection. It pre-
sents, however, excellent distinctive characters in the outer whorl, which
is compressed, and so large as apparently to have enveloped, or nearly enve-
loped, the others. It is marked with radiating strie or rather furrows
which are unequal and slightly undulated. These are separated into
groups by wider, distant, shallow sulcations. The back is flattened, slightly
excavated, and bounded by an obsolete keel or angle at each side, over which
the lateral strie turn obliquely, but become obsolete before they reach the
hollow of the centre, which appears to have been smooth. ‘The aperture
was probably ovato-lunate in form. Belongs to section Dentati, and is
nearly allied to several gault species.

. Rostellaria angulosa D’ Orbigny, |. c. pl. xviii. f. 4.

. Lucina plicato-costata D’Orbigny, |. c. p. 83. pl. xviii. fb. 4.
. Venus chia D’Orbigny, 1. ¢. p. 82. pl. xvali. f. 9, 10.

. Inoceramus lunatus. Nov. sp.

I. testd suborbiculari, obliqud, pland, sulcis concentricis regularibus latis, in-
terstertits angustis elevatis acutiusculis.

The only specimen of this well-marked Jnoceramus is imperfect. The
characters of the surface are, however, well displayed, and a portion of the
hinge is shown. ‘The sulcations of the surface are lunate, broad in the cen-
tre, narrow at the sides, and very regularly formed. The intermediate ribs
are narrow, and slightly or obsoletely ridged ; they slope away into the fur-
rows more suddenly anteriorly than posteriorly. The fragment measures 14
inch in length, by 1,3, in breadth.

Comparative Remarks on the Sections below the Chalk on the
Coast near HytHeE, in Kent, and ATHERFIELD, in the IsLE of
Wicut. By W. H. Firron, M.D., F.R.S.

My objects in this paper are to illustrate, Ist, two sectional
elevations, showing the proportional thickness of the principal
divisions of the strata at Hythe and Atherfield ; 2dly, an approx-
imate sketch of the cliffs from Atherfield to the east of Black-
gang-Chine ; and 3dly, a corresponding sketch of the section from
the chalk hills above Folkstone, to the level of the sea at Hythe.

§. The Atherfield Section is a copy of a drawing made by Sir John

Herschel, referred to in the fourth volume of the Geological Trans-
actions *: I have engrafted upon it such farther information as has

* Second Series, vol. iv. p. 186.

1844. ] 397

been recently obtained, as well as the result of Mr. Simms’s measure-
ment ; and shall now mention some of these additions, beginning at
the junction of the Lower Green-sand with the Wealden, and
referring for an account of the junction itself to the abstract pub-
lished in the “ Geological Proceedings,” vol. iv. p.198. The sub-
division of the strata into groups is, of course, in a great measure
arbitrary, and would, in all cases, probably vary, according to the
views of different observers, and to the temporary condition of the
cliffs, which are in a constant state of degradation and change.

§. Although the two lower beds immediately over the Wealden are
not together more than 5 feet in thickness, it will be expedient
to consider them separately, both on account of the great number
of very remarkable fossils which they contain, and of their
difference, both in composition and fossils, from the beds of clay
immediately above, — which nearly resembles fullers’ earth, and
differs much in its characters from the sandy clay or mud imme-
diately in contact with the Wealden. It is not improbable that
these two lower beds at Atherfield may be the representatives of
some more largely developed group at the bottom of the Green-
sand in other countries.

The absence of strata corresponding to these lowest beds, in the
clay immediately above the Wealden at Hythe, is remarkable ; but
the bottom of the series in Kent is hitherto known only from
the specimens obtained from Mr. Simms’s shaft. It is much to be
wished that this part of the section may be brought into view by
an open cutting, for which the vicinity of the town of Hythe
affords many promising positions.

The list of fossils from the coast at Atherfield has received
several additions since my last communication ; among others many
excellent specimens of Perna Mullett have been obtained, by which
some new points in the structure of that remarkable fossil are
supplied. The whole collection of fossils from this place has been
examined and named by Mr. Forbes.

§. With respect to the clay to which the name of “ fullers’-earth”
has here been assigned, I wish to correct a statement in my former
paper (Geol. Trans. 2d ser. vol. iv. p. 196.), where it is said that “the
“lowest stratum of clay immediately above the fossiliferous stone at
“ Atherfield appears to be the equivalent of the fullers’-earth of Sur-
“rey,” and that the stone itself, about 2 feet in thickness, “is appa-
“ rently the equivalent of the limestone very near the bottom of the
“« Lower Green-sand at Hythe.” 'This clay, thoughit hasmany of the
properties of fullers’-earth, is certainly not the representative of the
substance which bears that name at Nutfield and Reigate, in Surrey;
and the stone beneath is quite distinct from the Kentish Rag of the
Hythe quarries. I was led into both these errors by an imperfect
acquaintance with the bottom of the section at Hythe; by the (sup-
posed) absence there of fullers’ earth above the limestone ; and by
finding at Atherfield Nautilus radiatus (?), with Trigoniz and other
fossils of frequent occurrence in the Hythe stone quarries. The true
place of the fullers’-earth, at Nutfield itself, is above the Kentish
Rag, and considerably above the bottom of the Lower Green-sand.

398 | [May 1,

The junction of the Lower Green-sand with the Wealden on
the south of Nutfield was disclosed by the cutting for the railway
near Robert’s Hole Farm, as mentioned in my last paper. On the
N. W. of this farm, a flexure or depression of the strata brings
down one of the principal beds of fullers’ earth to the level of the
railroad, near the Redhill (or Reigate) station; and this was ex-
posed, some months ago, in a bank immediately behind the original
Station House* of the South Eastern Company.

I have hitherto seen no traces of this upper fullers’ earth at
Hythe ; but at two intermediate points, viz. Tilburstow Hill, near
Godstone, and the top of Mrs. Bensted’s principal quarry, near
Maidstone, fullers’ earth appears with somewhat peculiar characters,
above the mass of stone, which has been considerably disturbed at
both places. A few feet (10 or 12) below this fullers’ earth at
Tilburstow}, portions of white or yellowish sand in a stemlike
arrangement occur, precisely resembling what I shall presently
mention as fallen from the upper part of the cliffs on the east of
Whale Chine near Atherfield. If these appearances in Kent and
Surrey mark the top of the limestone, they may possibly indicate
a corresponding point in the Atherfield section.

§. A continued search has brought to light many specimens of
fossils, among which are several new species, in a bed which
seems to be immediately above the fullers’ earth of Atherfield
Point. They were described to me as occurring in detached masses
or lumps in the sandy clay immediately under the lowest range of
larger concretional masses which form the prominence of the coast
at the “Crackers.” The fossils are united by a medium which
varies from a loose sand to a somewhat calciferous stone, or indurated
fullers’ earth. These lumps may, possibly, be the representative of
the masses which are mentioned by M. Leymerie as occurring in
the “ Argiles Ostréennes,” of the department of the Aube.

§. The “ Crackers” is the name given to a projecting part of the
coast, which owes its prominence to the presence above the level
of the sea of two ranges of nodular masses, occurring in a bed of
sandy clay about 18 or 20 feet in thickness, and at the junction of
which with the sandy stratum next below the Ammonites Des-
hayesti was frequent. These nodules of sand and calciferous
sand-rock are the only stone upon the coast which can be con-
sidered as representing the (Kentish) limestone of Hythe and
Maidstone, &e.; and their distance from the bottom of the Lower
Green-sand accords with this identification.

The vertical distance from the bottom of the Crackers to the

* This Station has since been removed to the junction with the Brighton
Railway.

I find from the Railway Plan of the country near Redhill and Nutfield that
Mr. Simms has estimated the height of two of the fullers’ earth pits nearest to
Robert’s Hole Farm at 140 and 160 feet above the junction of the Lower Green-
sand and Weald clay, which has afforded the Perna Mulleti and other remarkable
fossils of Peasmarsh and Atherfield.

+t See Account of Tilburstow. Geol. Trans. vol. iv. p. 138,

1844.] ; | 899

Wealden is about 59 feet, according to Mr. Simms ; nearly the same
thickness as of the corresponding portion of the section at Hythe. |

§. The aspect of the shore from the Crackers eastward is diversified
only by the presence of an undercliff, which varies in extent from
the rapid destruction to which every part of this coast is subject.
At Atherfield-high-cliff, between 500 and 600 paces from the
Crackers, is a fossiliferous group, the top of which descends thence
to the shore at a distance of more than 250 paces; and includes
several remarkable ranges of Gryphea sinuata, among which are
very fine specimens with large Ostrez; the lowest bed of this
group also consists of a similar range, and immediately beneath
are masses composed for the greater part of agglutinated shells of
Terebratula sella, with another (plicated) species.

To compare the two sections at this point, let us suppose a lime-
stone as thick as that of Hythe (about 130 feet), to be introduced in
the place of the Crackers. This, from the inclination of the strata,
would extend along the coast to a point about 300 paces east of
Whale Chine ; and would include the fossiliferous nodules of the
Crackers at the bottom, and also, near the top, another nodular mass
of strata which rises to the summit of Atherfield-high-cliff The
contents of this latter group are, as yet, imperfectly known; but
the fossils hitherto found on this part of the coast are nearly the
same with those of the quarries at Hythe.

The strata from hence to Whale Chine consist, generally, of a
greenish sandy mud, including several ranges of Exogyra, with
other fossils, one of which crosses the mouth of that chine, and is
visible within the chasm itself, descending to the shore at a point
very near the mouth of the next chasm on the east called Ladder
Chine.

Another group, containing nodular concretions, is visible on the
east of Walpen Chine, beneath what is called Walpen high-cliff :
it first rises on the east about 350 paces from the chine, and ex-
tends to a distance answering to about 200 paces eastward. A second
remarkable group containing Gryphza rises between Walpen high-
cliff and Cliff-end.

The beds above Cliff-end to the top of Blackgang-Chine have
hitherto afforded few fossils; but in the corresponding part of the
section, from Bonchurch to Shanklin, the upper beds are much
better displayed, and deserve a new examination. They contain
numerous casts, chiefly those of Gervillia aviculoides, Natica,
Rostellaria, Thetis minor, Terebratula, Trigonia aleformis, Turbo,
and Venus; and the shore immediately on the east of Shanklin-
Chine exhibits, at low water, an extensive surface of a lower bed,
almost entirely composed of large Gryphza sinuata.

§. The distinction between the first and second subdivisions of
the Lower Green-sand, pointed out in my description of the coast
near Folkstone, is much less prominent near Atherfield than in
Kent: but a group corresponding to the upper or ferruginous
division (which Mr. Austen mentions as conspicuous also in Sur-
rey) is clearly distinguishable at the farm of Walpen, where a
continuous ridge of sand impends over the lower ground between

400 [May 1,

that place and the coast. A great portion of the two promontories
at Blackgang Chine belongs to this upper division ; and if the
interval between the bottom of the Gault within the chine and the
retentive stratum over which the streamlet runs to the waterfall,
be assigned to it, the thickness will be rather more than 200 feet,
including some remarkable beds —one 12 feet, and two others
about 17 feet each, in thickness — of fawn-coloured, or nearly white,
sand, not in itself distinguishable from that of Hastings. No fossils
from this division in the Isle of Wight have yet come to my know-
ledge. Its junction with the more retentive mass below appears
to be marked by the breaking out of springs, as in the correspond-
ing place near Hythe. The subdivisions of this group are detailed
in the drawings.

On the coast of Kent, between Folkstone and Sandgate, this
upper division of the Lower Green-sand contains more calcareous
matter than at Blackgang-Chine, and even some concretions of
compact limestone, with spongy siliciferous masses, very like the
whetstone of Blackdown. [Geol. Trans. 2d Ser. iv. p. 118, 119.]
The Gault, hitherto estimated as no more than 70 feet in

thickness throughout the back of the Isle of Wight, appears from
Mr. Simms’s measurement to be 146 feet thick near Blackgang-
Chine. The lower part is at first view not easily distinguished,
from its change of colour after exposure; but the lower line of
boundary was accurately traced, on the east of the hotel, by Mr.
Warburton, and on the west of it by myself, within the upper part
of the chine on both sides. On the west of the hotel, just within
the ravine, at the top, some of the characteristic Gault fossils,
including Ammonites, have been found close to the bottom of the
deposit ; and similar remains have been obtained, as I am informed,
at Puckaster.

The much greater prominence of the Upper Green-sand, which
has here a thickness of 104 feet, is a very remarkable point of
difference from the Folkstone section. This group in the Isle of
Wight consists apparently of two divisions, as in Western Sussex,
and contains fossils in great numbers.

§. On a general comparison of the sections of the Kentish coast
and the Isle of Wight, the most prominent points of difference are,
Ist, the almost total absence of limestone at Atherfield ; and 2d,
the great excess, at the latter place, in the thickness, especially, of
the Lower Green-sand. —

Atherfield. Hythe.
Thickness of Upper Green-sand- - - 104 O ee)
3 Gault = - = = 146 O 126 O
A Lower Green-sand_ - 2) TT 406 6
Total - - - - - 1002 11 547 6

——— —_—___

So that, while the Gault in the two situations differs only 20 feet
in thickness, the Lower Green-sand at Atherfield exceeds that of
Hythe by 346 feet. There is also throughout considerable variation
in mineral composition, and in aspect ; but not greater than what

1844.] 401

appears, even in the Isle of Wight itself, between the nearly hori-
zontal strata at Atherfield and Shanklin, and their continuation in
the vertical strata at the Red-Cliff between Sandown and Culver.
The distance in a direct line of the two sections we have just com-
pared, from Atherfield to Hythe, is less than 95 miles; while that
of their foreign equivalents is, — in the case of the Aube, about 285
English miles; from Atherfield to Neufchatel is about 440 miles ;
to Hanover the distance is not less than 450 miles; and to the
Crimea is 1650 miles. From the Neufchatel deposit, which M.
Dubois has emphatically identified with that of the Crimea, the
distance is not less than 1300 miles.

§. Such being the strata in the two principal sections of our coast,
fet us next inquire what are their equivalents in other parts of the
globe. This question has of late acquired new importance, from
_ the proofs of the wide diffusion of the cretaceous system, and the
almost surprising agreement of its fossils in very distant places.

A brief general statement concerning the Terrain Neocomien
has been given by Mr. Murchison in his Address to the Geolo-
gical Society at the Anniversary of 1843. It may be useful to
bring together some of the descriptions of those distant deposits,
though it would be difficult in a small compass to give even an
abstract of the various papers on the subject published during the
last ten years. J have therefore given some ofthe principal
characteristics of the groups, following as authorities, — Ist, the
original memoir of M. Montmollin, on the cretaceous deposit of
Neufchatel, from whence the term “ Neocomien” has been de-
rived; 2dly, that of M. Leymerie on the department of the Aube
in France, accompanied by a series of plates ; 3dly, M. Von Roemer’s
elaborate work, on the fossils of the chalk formation in the
North of Germany; 4thly, the account given in M. Dubois de
Montpereux’s work on the Crimea, of the cretaceous series in that
region.

"The deposit since called “ Neocomien ” on the Continent was first
described by M. Auguste de Montmollin, in a paper published in
1835.* ‘The author states that he first learned at Paris in 1828
that fossils collected by him in the vicinity of Neufchatel belonged
to the lower part of the chalk formation, “ the green-sand,” al-
though previously considered as a part of the Jura formation. The
term “ Meocomien” was applied to these strata by M. Thurmann,
and subsequently recognised by M. de Montmollin, who had pre-
viously designated his discovery merely as the “Terrain cretacé de
Neufchatel.”

The strata described by M. De Montmollin were unconnected
with any superior groups; but M. Dubois subsequently discovered
at Souaillon, traces of green-sand above the yellow limestone.
The list of fossils from Neufchatel was unaccompanied by plates;
and it was not till those of M. Leymerie appeared, that any figured
Neocomian fossils were known in this country, although many of

* Mém. de la Société de Neufchatel, vol. i. p. 47.

402 [May 1,

those named by M. Montmollin belong to our green-sand. M.
Leymerie, though he regards the aspect of the Neufchatel series as
quite distinct from that of the Aube, considers the two deposits as
perfectly identified by their fossils. The limestone below the
“ Marle bleu” of Neutchatel either does not appear in England, or
is represented by the two lowest beds at Atherfield, so remark-
ably abundant in fossils. If this be the case, our fullers’ earth at
Atherfield and Hythe may represent the blue marl (80 feet in
thickness), and our Kentish limestone (129 feet), at Hythe, may
be the equivalent of the upper “ yellow limestones,” from 120 to
160 feet thick.

. A very important extension of the tract occupied by the Neuf-
chatel deposit has since been made known by M. Jules Itier, in a
memoir read before the Institute of France *; from the report on
which it appears that the Neocomian strata in the department of
the Aisne have a maximum thickness of 3800 metres ; which, the re-
porter adds, is far inferior to that of the same formation in the
department of the Isére, and of the South of France. Among the
fossils of this department, the most remarkable and characteristic
is the Chama ammonia (Caprotina of D’Orbigny), from whence,
or rather from its synonyme Diceras, the term “ calcaire a dice-
rates” has been applied to some lower members of the chalk series,
in what has been called the “ bassin mediterranéen.”

-§. To any one familiar with the chalk districts of England, and
those of France near the coast of the English Channel, it would
be surprising if the series of beds below the chalk on the east of
Paris were very different from that of the west. M. Leymerie’s
map of the department of the Aube appears to indicate the same
series as that of England; yet it is difficult to identify his sub-
divisions at the upper part of the series with ours. His general
divisions of the suberetacean groups are, Argile-teguline and grés
vert, about 150 metres (about 490 feet) ; and Terrain neocomien,
50 metres (164 feet); the latter including three subdivisions, which
seem to be the equivalents of part of our green-sands, — viz. a.
Argiles et sables bigarrées, containing much iron ore; 6. Argiles
ostréennes, (about 25 metres); ¢. Caleaire a spatangus, about 13
metres (about 42 feet).

. In confirmation of the evidence which proves the superposition
of our English equivalent of the Neocomian to the Wealden
group, it may be remarked, that the fishes of the latter deposit are
considered by M. Agassiz as more intimately allied with the oolitic
than with the cretaceous series; and a similar observation has been
made by Professor Owen with regard to the Wealden reptiles.
If, therefore, a marine equivalent of our Wealden should be dis-
covered, analogy would lead us to expect in its fossils a character
approaching to that of the Oolites, from which M. D’Orbigny re-
gards the whole of the eretaceous species as perfectly distinct:—and
for such a deposit the best name would probably be that of “ Ma-

* Comptes rendus, &c. de l’Acad. 22 Aout, 1842.

1844.] 403

rine Wealden” (Veldien Marin) which would at once indicate its
position, and its peculiar relations.*

§. The lower cretaceous series on the Continent, which probably
bears the greatest analogy to ours, is that of Hanover, described by
M. Von Remer. Though differing at the upper part from ours by
the absence of the Gault, the cretaceous series at the bottom is well
defined, reposing on a complete equivalent of our Wealden, with
nearly all the characteristic fossils of Surrey and Sussex. It is not
easy to identify the upper member, which M. Von Roemer supposes to
be the same as the upper part of our Lower Green-sand, but which
contains a great variety of fossils, and possibly may include some
higher portions of the chalk.

The “Hils-conglomerat” of Von Roemer contains some fossils iden-
tical with those of our Lower Green-sand, and some with the Neoco-
mian, which he distineuishes from that division. Itis supposed to
rest upon the lower clay of Hils (Hils-thon), but has not been seen
in apposition with it. Lastly, the Hils-thon is identified by its fossils
with the Speeton clay t, and seems to correspond exactly with the
clay of Atherfield, Hythe, and Surrey. Having had the pleasure
of seeing M. Von Reemer in his own country during the progress of
his work, and having mentioned to him the probable identity of our
Atherfield clay with that of “ Hils,” Iam glad to find (p. 132.) t
that he has adopted this identification. He has shown that the
Hils-conglomerat and this clay are in Hanover distinctly superior
to the Wealden (Wiilder-thon); a fact of importance, coinciding
with our own sections in proving that the Neocomian (or that part
of it at least which is identical with the Hils deposits), cannot be
contemporaneous with the Wealden, upon which it is found to
repose.

The Hanoverian series is farther interesting to the English
geologist, as demonstrating that the fresh-water deposits contem-
poraneous with our Wealden were not quite of such limited extent
as has been supposed. §

No limestone like that of Kent has been found in Hanover ; and

* Jt may be worth while to ascertain by exact search in the department of
the Aube, whether traces of the Wealden itself do not exist there below the Neo-
comian strata of M. Leymerie. It is stated by M. Dufresnoy that he had
seen such indications near Angouleme; and they exist, according to M. Passy,
in the vicinity of Beauvais, Pays de Bray. (See Bulletin de la Soc. Geol. de
France ; and Geol. Trans. vol. iv. p. 327.)

+ Mr. Austen has recently expressed the same view respecting this clay, on dif-
ferent and independent evidence. — See Proceedings of Geol. Soc. June, 1843,
vol. iv. p. 196.; but Professor Agassiz had previously assigned its correct place
to the Speeton clay, having stated its identity with the Neocomian clay of Neuf-
clatel, at a meeting of the Geol. Soc. of France, April 16. 1838. Bulletin, &c.
ix. p. 262.

¢ The work of M. Von Remer here referred to, “ Die Versteinerungen des
norddeutschlichen Kreide Gebirges,” was published in Hanover in 1841.

In the work of M. Geinitz, on the Fossils of the Saxon Cretaceous Hills,
(Dresden, 1839 to 1842,) it is intimated that the Wealden occurs below the
cretaceous series in that country.

VOL. IVY. PART Il. HH

404 [May 1,

M. Von Reemer considers the “ yellow (Neocomian) limestone” as
inferior to his Hils-conglomerate and Hils-clay, which, however,
contain, like our Atherfield strata, many of the characteristic
Neocomian fossils.

§. The Neocomian of the Crimea was described in the Letters
of M. Dubois, published in 1837 in the Bulletin of the French
Geological Society *: the writer having been the first, as he
states, to discover an analogue of the Neufchatel Neocomian in
the Crimea, which presents fossil species so much alike in form that
it was impossible to distinguish them; the general aspect of the
beds also being perfectly the same. The lower bed, however,
(which M. Dubois calls Veocomien in his section,) may well be a
calciferous expansion of the lowest beds at Atherfield. It is cha-
racterised by the Terebratula biplicata and Exogyra Couloni (which
Professor Edw. Forbes considers as identical with H. levigata
of Sowerby), two of the most characteristic shells of the lowest
limestone of Kent. Above this, and next in succession, are about
4O feet of schist, which may represent our gault; and between this
and the “ étage supérieur de la craie,” is a series like the Upper
Green-sand.

Beyond the Caucasus another Neocomian deposit exists at Kou-
tais and at Kereite, with fossils including small Nerinea and
Diceras like those of Mont Venteux, Grenoble, but accom-
panied by many other of the more usual Neocomian species.

It is not surprising that a statement by a naturalist and traveller
of such authority as M. Dubois, should have fixed the attention
of the French geologists, who had previously been occupied with
the Terrain Neocomien. Nor was it unnatural that M. Dubois
himself, in recurring to his native country, should have looked
no farther; even if he had been acquainted with the English
works concerning the beds below the Chalk, where he might have
found other evidence of a striking affinity to what he has described.

§. On a general view of the strata beneath the Chalk as they
exist upon our own coast, it is evident, that, notwithstanding the
local variations, the Lower Green-sand has a definite and distinct
character ; extending throughout from the Wealden to the Gault,
and bounded naturally by those two groups, with their distinct
and peculiar fossils: and it is apparent, also, that there is no
natural connection between the Upper and the Lower Green-sand.
The distribution of the fossils in the lower sands is very un-
equal; they are numerous at the lower part, rapidly diminish up-
wards, and (at present) seem to be nearly wanting at the top}; the
same species, however, are carried through the whole, the upper
fossils being a selection, as it were, from those below. It is in-

* Bulletin, vol. viii. p. 385 —389.

+ Among the fossils of these beds near Folkestone, where phosphate of lime
occurs in detached masses, are the remains of an Astacus, a plicated Terebratula,
stem-like concretions of Siphonaria, and fragments of an oyster or Gryphea.
(See Geol. Trans, vol. iv. pp. 117,118.) ,

1844.] 405

deed not improbable that this absence of fossils may be local, or
apparent, arising only from imperfect search.* ;

It may be observed of all the supposed equivalents of the Neo-
comian beds, that while some species are very generally diffused,
others (and apparently the greater number) are peculiar to each
place. So that although some remarkable continental forms are
wanting in this country, we have in return many which do not
occur elsewhere. ‘The recent examination of the Isle of Wight
has brought to light several species new to the continental faunas
as well as our own. f

§. There can now be no reasonable doubt that the Terrain Neo-
comien of Central France, illustrated by M. Leymerie, as well as
that of Neufchatel, represent the lower and middle portions of
our sections at Hythe and in the Isle of Wight. We want, pro-
-bably, many species of the Aube ; — but we have long possessed
a great number of the characteristic Neocomian forms, and are
daily adding to the list. The great difference consists in the
absence of calcareous strata below the clay of Atherfield — (the
Argiles Ostréennes of M. Leymerie); and the general question
seems to be reduced to this : — Whether the presence of a certain
number of characteristic fossils in two distant places is sufficient to
establish geological identity —where not only the species, and the
numbers of the fossils, and the mineral composition of the strata is
varied, but where one of the two objects compared is so very much
superior in thickness and extent to the other, as the deposits of the
south of Europe are said to be with respect to that of central
France, — of England, — of northern Germany, —and even, it
would seem, of Neufchatel itself. I believe that Geologists gene-
rally will be in favour of the identification by fossils— even in this
extreme case — and will be disposed to regard the greatest diversity
of mass and composition as nothing more than accidents — so called
perhaps because we are not able to account for them.

If, on the other hand, it be found that, in the south or elsewhere,
the lower members of the so-called Neocomian (for the true Neo-
comian and the Lower Green-sand are e unquestionably the same)
become distinguished notably by fossils new in form and in great
numbers, it would seem that the name of that portion of the deposit
so distinguished ought to be changed; the upper strata remaining
with the cretaceous groups, and the lower being regarded as some-
thing new and different from the Cretaceous system. Whether

* The place in the series of the Blackdown beds of Devonshire is still a sub-
ject of doubt. But if (which is not wholly improbable) they belong to the
upper part of the lower green-sand, the fossils in that division will then be nearly
as abundant as they are in the lower members at Atherfield, &c. The siliceous
casts are so remarkable, that if a similar deposit exists in many other parts of
this country, it is unlikely that they should have remained unknown. In the
upper part of the sands near Folkestone and Sandgate there are spongy siliceous
concretions very like the Devonshire whetstone, but in which shells are very rare.

+ Ammonites asper is one of the species generally diffused on the Continent,

which has never yet been discovered here.
HH 2

406 [May 1,

the new deposit thus supposed to exist shall be considered as the
representative of our Wealden is still another question, which it
is not necessary to enter into at present.

§. In the mean time, every Geologist who doubts the possibility of
any part of our Lower Green-sand assuming the form of limestone,
and, in that condition, acquiring great development and import-
ance, will do well to examine the quarries of the Kentish Rag on
the south-east of Maidstone * ; where the stone which in other
portions of this tract is concretional, and irregularly distributed
through masses of soft calcareous tuff, assumes the form of uni-
form and continuous strata of compact limestone, ranging horizon-
tally through large spaces, and adapted, by its firmness and
durability, to all the purposes of the architect and mason. In these
same quarries, it is probable, abundant proofs of identity with
the Neocomian beds will be found: and this within twenty miles
of a tract where nearly the whole deposit is composed of sand.

The Boughton Group, like that of Hythe and Kent in general,
may answer to the Upper Neocomian limestone; as the fullers’
earth and other clays of Atherfield correspond to the blue marl of
Neufchitel. It is useless to press exact identification between
such distant deposits to an extreme, since we constantly find
diversity even in the adjoining quarries of a continuous country,
while on the other hand, Geologists are frequently surprised by
minute points of empirical resemblance in very distant places.

§. The author of this paper had long since stated the objections
to which the name of Lower Green-sand is exposed }, but thought
it expedient in 1835 to adopt that term, on the ground of its uni-
versal employment in England, and its very general reception on
the Continent.t On this ground he still thinks that this name
ought, for the present, to be retained. If hereafter a change be
thought desirable, he conceives that the new denomination should
be taken from the Isle of Wight, where this portion of the sub-
cretaceous groups was first distinguished, and where the sections
on the coast are remarkable for their distinctness; and if such a
case should arise, he suggests the name of Vectine for the strata
now called Lower Green-sand, from the ancient name of that
island — Insula Vectis of the Romans. ;

3. On the Junction of the Lownr GREEN-SAND and_ the
WrALDEN, at the Teston Currine. By F. W. Simms, Esq.
F.G.S8.

Tue Author in this communication mentions that the beds rest-
ing on the Wealden in this locality (near Teston turnpike, on the

* Especially at Boughton.
+ Annals of Philosophy, London, 1824.
¢ Geol. Trans. 2d Ser. iv. p. 105.

WA 407

Maidstone junction of the South-Eastern Railway), seem to be
identical with the marine clays found at Hythe and at Atherfield
in the Isle of Wight. He adds, “ There is also a bed of stone,
not a continuous bed, but in concretionary masses, just above the
junction, from which I obtained fossils, and which, I consider, re-
presents the Atherfield rocks. This bed is also similar to the blocks
taken from the cutting in the vicinity of Red Hill, near Reigate.”
He states also, that the same junction can be traced from the Teston
Cutting in the direction of Maidstone, to near the Farley Cutting
through the Kentish Rag. The junction of the Wealden and
greensand clays is at the bottom of the valley, near the banks of
the river Medway.

4. On the Section between BLACKGANG-CHINE and ATHER-
FIELD Pont. By Carr. L. L. B. Isperson and Pror. Epw.
Forsss, F.R.S. -

THE accompanying Table exhibits the succession of strata, pre=
sented in ascending order, from the Wealden to the top of the
Upper Green-sand, in the Isle of Wight, between Atherfield Point
and St. Catherine’s Down. The measurements of the upper portion
were ascertained by trigonometrical survey, by Capt. Ibbetson,
during the years 1833—388, those of the lower portion during the
winter of 1842-3.

The following observations refer to that portion of the section
which includes the Lower Green-sand strata, visited by Capt.
Ibbetson and Prof. Forbes in March, 1844.

Between the Gault, as seen near Blackgang-Chine, and the
Wealden at Atherfield Point, there are sixty-three distinct strata,
the total thickness of which is 843. feet.

§ 1. Description of the Strata.

The lowest of these is a brown clay 3 feet thick, the base of
which, at the junction with the Wealden, abounds in remains of
fish. Through this clay are scattered many fossils, none of which
are peculiar to this lowest bed, but mostly such as run on through
the fossiliferous clays of the Lower Green-sand. This is suc-
ceeded by a harder bed or rock of a sandy texture, 2 feet thick,
characterised by the presence of numerous fossils, among which
the most remarkable is the Perna Mulleti, peculiar to this bed.

The clays which succeed are fossiliferous at the lower part, but
very slightly so in the middle, where they contain numerous crys-
tals of sulphate of lime. The uppermost of these clay strata, called
the Lower Lobster-bed, is an impure fullers’ earth, abounding with
fossils, the most characteristic of which are numerous remains of
Astacus scattered here and there, and found in so perfect a state
that no time could have elapsed between the death of the animal
and its entombment in the strata, sufficient to permit decomposi-
tion to take place. These clays present a thickness of 99 feet.

The hard noduliferous bed which succeeds, termed the Lower

HH 3

408 [May ],

Crackers, is full of Gervillia aviculoides and other fossils, and a
similar stratum immediately above (the Upper Crackers) abounds
in fossils peculiar to itself; indeed it is in this bed that most of
such of the species as are limited in their distribution, occur. The
Crackers occupy a thickness of 18 feet.

A clay bed, 20 feet thick, having the properties of fullers’ earth,
and similar in appearance to that preceding the Crackers, succeeds :
it is very fossiliferous, and, like the other, abounds in Crustacea,
_ mostly of species identical with those in the Lower Lobster Bed.
This is termed in the section the Upper Lobster Bed. Am-
monites and several bivalves accompany these crustacea.

A dark sandy clay succeeds, and is very fossiliferous; the cha-
racters of the fossils do not for the most part differ from those in
the lowest clays. It is 20 feet thick.

This is capped by a band of Terebratule (mostly 7. Gibhsii)
imbedded in the stratum of dark sand, 22 feet thick. ‘The Tere-
bratule are in immense abundance and accompanied by Serpule.

A series of beds containing zones of Gryphea sinuata imbedded
in dark sand succeed. The Gryphxa zones mostly alternate with
rows of large nodules containing Crioceras and Scaphites. This
assemblage of Gryphza zones is interrupted in the centre by a
bed of sandy clay, 34 feet thick, very fossiliferous, and in which a
great many of the fossils of the lower clays reappear. These
Gryphea and Crioceras beds, with the included clays, have a
thickness of 155 feet.

Thirty feet of dark sand, containing prolific zones of Terebratulz,
chiefly 7. biplicata, qoceat and form the base of a new succession
of Gryphea bands imbedded in dark sand; but the Crioceras
nodules are absent. ‘Twenty-four feet is the extent of this upper-
most series of Gryphza zones.

Above this the beds become ferruginous, and are occasionally,
though rarely, mixed with dark blue clay. Fossils in some parts
are abundant, but mostly in the state of casts, and no new forms
appear. <A lignite bed occurs in the lower part of these ferrugi-
nous beds, the lignites being arranged in zones. ‘There are also
here and there rows of calcareous concretions, usually of an oblong
shape, and mostly having a direction towards the S.E., like the
lines of oblique bedding occasionally presented in this part of
the series.

At the top of Blackgang-Chine waterfall, a series of indurated
ferruginous sand rocks alternating with dark sandy clays appear.
The sand rocks are composed of quartz grains, and exhibit lines of
oblique bedding. They contain no fossils.

At the uppermost part of the Lower Green-sand is a series of
thin beds, alternately ferruginous and sand, lying immediately
below the gault. Casts of a Solarium (species unknown), and of
an Ammonite, were found in these bands.

§ 2. Grouping of the Strata.

The 63 strata enumerated may be grouped under three divisions,
from their general mineral character.

1844.] : 409

A. The lower assemblage of clays, mostly fullers’ earth, abound-
ing in fossils, and in which the Perna sand-rock and the Cracker
nodules are exceptional strata, indicating temporary conditions.

B. The region of Gryphea sinuata sands, in which the Tere-
bratula bands and upper clays are exceptional strata. This region
may be subdivided into three portions, the two lower containing
Crioceras nodules separated by the clay, and the upper containing
no nodules. The noduliferous part of the series, and that which is
free from the nodules, have each a zone of Terebratule for a base.

C. The region of ferruginous sands, which may itself be divided
into two or three sections, the lowest of which is fossiliferous.

§ 3. Chemical Peculiarities of the Beds.

A chemical analysis of the composition of the several strata was
next given ; the principal results of which, affecting the distri-
bution of the organic remains, are the following : —

The beds which are most fossiliferous are those containing most
carbonate of lime. In the ferruginous beds, whether upper or
lower, there are no traces of lime; but large quantities of peroxide
of iron. This is true as well of the fossiliferous as the non-fos-
siliferous parts. The gault which caps the iron bands at Black-
gang-Chine contains but few fossils, and those occur rarely. On
analysis it was found to exhibit no trace of carbonate of lime, but
a little gypsum; whereas the fossiliferous gault of Folkstone and
other places abounds in carbonate of lime.

§ 4. Indications of Conditions under which these Beds were deposited.

At the close of the deposition of the Wealden, there appears to
have been a sudden depression of the bed of the great freshwater
estuary, and an influx of the sea. ‘The first effect of such an
influx would be the destruction of the animals in the estuary not
adapted for living in salt water; hence we find a total destruction
of the Wealden animals, the remains of which accumulate towards —
the point of the junction of that formation with the Lower Green-
sand; a fact which indicates the nature of the change. Even the
Cerithium, although belonging to a genus many species of which
are capable of living in the depths of the sea, was destroyed — not-
withstanding that its appearance, only in the uppermost beds of the
Wealden, indicates that its presence there was due to the com-
mencement of the very state of things which eventually destroyed it.
That the depression was of some extent, though not, perhaps, of very
many fathoms, is indicated by the nature of the animals which lived
in the first-formed sea-bed, and which, when they died, were often
imbedded in the fine and, probably, fast depositing mud, in the
vertical position which it is the habit of the animals of such genera
as Pinna and Panopea to assume when alive. After this, a tem-
porary change followed, when an influx of sand, mingling with
the calcareous mud, caused a state of sea-bottom peculiarly fa-

vourable to the presence of animal life. In this way were called
HH 4

410 ; [May 1,

into existence a multitude of species which were added to those
which had appeared before them. This was, in fact,’ such a state
of sea-bottom as is now presented by great shell banks; but it
does not seem to have lasted long, and new depositions of mud
appear to have extinguished some forms, whilst others suffered by.
the change only in the diminution of their numbers. In the midst
of this muddy epoch, a temporary and peculiar condition of sea-
bottom, forming what are now called the Crackers, called forth the
presence of numerous mollusea, at first of various species of the
genus Gervillia, and afterwards of Auricula, Cerithium, Dentalium,
and other univalves, which appear to have enjoyed but a brief
existence (as species) in this locality, since similar conditions were
never afterwards repeated. The greater number of the Gastero-
podous mollusca of the English Lower Green-sand are found
within this very limited range. At the close of the deposition of
this great mass of clay there was for a time a great multiplication
of the individuals of certain Brachiopoda which had commenced
their existence in the lowest beds. Thus Terebratula Gibbsi
suddenly appears in immense abundance, covering the bottom of ~
the sea, and predominating over the animals among which it had
previously been but thinly scattered.

This lowest zone of Terebratule marks the commencement of a
new state of sea-bottom where sands predominated over the clays,
each interval of deposition being usually marked by the presence
‘of a layer of Gryphea sinuata, the period of rest being almost
always sufficient to enable the Gryphea to attain its full growth.
Other bivalves are found with it, but in comparatively small num-
bers, and not such as are of gregarious habits. During the whole
of this period enormous Cephalopoda, including species of Crioceras
and Scaphites, frequented these seas, and when dead formed the
nuclei round which calcareous and sandy matter collected and formed
nodules. ‘The death of these animals seems to have been con-
nected with the periodical charging of the sea with sediment ;
hence we find them usually alternating with the zones of Gryphea,
and forming irregular bands in the intervening sedimentary
deposits.

In the. midst of this epoch of Gryphea, there is a sudden re-
appearance of the muddy deposits, during the predominance of
which those animals adapted for such a sea-bottom, and which
had survived the cessation of the deposition of the fullers’ earth,
again multiplied, but the species which had become extinguished
were not replaced by representative forms. This, however, did
not last long, the sand again predominating with its zones of
Gryphea and lines of Crioceras nodules.

A temporary multiplication of Terebratula sella suddenly marks
a change in the zoological conditions —for the Cephalopoda dis-
appear, although the zones of Gryphea, which animal does not
appear to have been affected by the change, (probably a change in
the depth of the sea,) go on as before, there being, however, no
alternating lines of nodules. It would seem that the sea began to

1844.] 411

shallow, probably from elevation of the sea-bottom, until at last
the Gryphea itself disappears, the bands exhibit traces of the in-
fluence of currents, and become more gravelly ; lignites, indicating
a shallow sea, become common, form belts in the ferruginous sand,
and in one place a bed in the wavy blue sand, at a time when much
iron was deposited. The deposition of the peroxide of iron appears
to have been connected with the disappearance of the majority of
mollusca, though Trigonia, Thetis, and Venus occasionally occur
in considerable numbers. In the uppermost strata scarcely any
animal remains are found, and every thing appears to indicate a
shallow and barren sea, previous to a new state of things, when a
fresh series of clays (forming the Gault) being deposited, the
majority of the animal forms which characterise the clays of the
Lower Green-sand disappear, and are replaced by distinct species,
representative in time.

§ Bearing of these Observations on the Neocomian Question.

These statements regarding the distribution of organic remains
and indications of mineral conditions, presented by the Atherfield
section, lead to a few considerations which bear importantly on the
question which has been agitated respecting the separation of the
lower part of the Lower Green-sand as a separate bed under the
name of “ eocomien.”

Ist. It would appear that there is but one system of organic re-
mains throughout the series of beds, entitled Lower Green-sand,
in this locality, and that whenever similar conditions are repeated,
the same species reappear.

2d. Throughout the series of beds examined, we find that when
a species is extinguished by a change of mineral conditions, it is
not replaced by a representative species.

3d. That the influences which determine the distribution of
species throughout are mineral and local, and that these mineral
—ina great measure, chemical — conditions enable us to divide
the strata into groups, which groups, being from their very nature
local, cannot be regarded as other than artificial, and have no
claim to be numbered as subdivisions in time of the great series of
eretaceous deposits.

A change of mineral conditions may determine the absence of
certain species; but, unless when, under a repetition of similar
mineral conditions, such species are replaced by representative
species, or the general assemblage of species is replaced by repre-
sentative and distinct forms, the change cannot be considered as
indicating a great sectional division.

Ti appears to us, therefore, that the evidence of the Atherfield
section maintains the unity of the Lower Green-sand; and that
the accumulation of clays at its base can be regarded only as a
local phenomenon.

412 [May 1,

Thickness and Description of Strata.

[Gauur, witH Fossi1s. |

Thickness
No. in fect.
64, Iron band, fragments of fossils - - = O sa
63. Dark sand = = 5 2 = 2 B38)
62. Iron band - = 5 = s z 2 baa
61. Dark sand - - 3 2 a 5 Ben 5)
60. Iron band - = = & < 3 LET
59. Dark sand - a Es ig 2 My LS
58, Iron band - = = & u Z ie ali
57. Iron clay and sand = : = 4 e = 1e
56. At the top, white sand ; at the bottom, black sand and clay =e
55. Iron at the top, and sand - - - = = Bie
54. Iron at the top, and dark yellow sand - - - - 4
53. Yellow sand and clay - - = = = SING
52. Blue clay - - - w us u Lo
51. Yellow and white sand, very quartzose - 15

50. Above, white sand, tolerably solid at the top, clay and sand in the

middle, and white sand at the bottom - - - - 19
49. Black clay (perhaps lignite) with brown sand in thin laminz, tolera-

bly even, but in some parts wavy - - - - 17
48. Yellow sand and blue clay, thinly laminated in some parts, wavy at

the bottom, the sand white - - - ” - $i
47. A second white sand, tolerably solid - - - - 13

(No.31. crops out on the shore, a little to the west of Blackgang
Chine. )

46. Blue sand and some clay - - - - - - 32
45. A line of nodules at the top, and blue sand and some clay below - 33
44. Third white sand, with tolerably solid yellow at the bottem. This

stratum runs up from Rocken End = - - = 92
43. Three sorts of black clay and sand - - - -~ 40
42. Iron, fossiliferous, top of Blackgang-Chine Waterfal - il
(No. 24, (the Terebratula zone) crops out on the shore. )
41. Sand and clay varying from brown to black - - - 4
40. Iron, fossiliferous - - - - 5 anal

39. White sand, tolerably solid, yellow on the surface ; near the top there
are laminz of pebbles; the bottom of it is in thin laminae, divided

by blue sand and clay - - - = = = Slit
38. Iron, fossiliferous - - - - = - = 72 gh
37. White sand = - = S 2 3 Ss i0)
36. Blue clay and sand, the blue very conspicuous - - - 1
35. Iron at the top, with fossils ; dark sand below 2 - - 26
(Nos. 22. and 23. nodules crop out on the shore. )
34. Iron at the top, fossiliferous, and dark sand below - - - 18
33. Iron, fossiliferous, and grey sand below, much used for making mor-
tar. Bottom of Blackgang - - - - - 28
(No. 21. nodules crop out on the shore, )
32. Iron, fossiliferous, and white sand below - - - = +19
31. Thin very wavy lamine of black clay (or lignite) full of pyrites,
with a layer of spongiform nodules near the bottom - - 25

(No. 20. nodules crop out on the shore. )
30. Iron at the top, fossiliferous, with dark sand - - os Gy

1844.] 413

Thickness and Description of Strata.

Thickness

No. in feet.
29. Iron, HOsSHTNGHOUS) with dark sand. Above the boat-houses, Ladder

Chine - - - - c a ShiailiG)

(No. 19a crops out on the shore. )
28. Gryphee at the top, with dark sand - - - - 8
27. Gryphee at the top, with dark sand - = 903
26. Gryphee at the top, with dark sand containing Tevebevtules Echini,

&e. &e. &e. - - - - - 4
25. Gryphee at the top, with dare scindl “ - - - 9

(Nos. 15,16, 17, 18, 19. Gryphea and Crioceras nodules crop out
on the shore. )

24, Terebratule at the top, with dark sand - = - - 30
23. Nodules containing Crioceratites,a layer of Gryphea under them,
with dark sand - - = - 2 = ee

(No. 14. or Scaphite nodules, crop out on the shore. )

22. Crioceras nodules; a zone of Gryphea, with dark sand = o IS
21. Crioceras nodules, a zone of Gryphea, with dark sand containing

Gryphea irregularly placed - - - - = eS
20. Crioceras nodules with Ammonites - - - - 26
19a At the top black sand and clay, a zone ef Gryphea in the centre,
with clay under, very fossiliferous - - - - 34
19.
18.

17. > Crioceras nodules with zones of Gryphee, dark sand between them 38

16.

15.

(Nos. 13. 12. 11. 10. crop out on the shore below these zones. )

14, Nodules containing Scaphites; Gryphea zone under; Ostrea cari-
nata, &c. at the top of dark sand ; at the bottom layers of b Seraule,
Terebratule, &c. Ge - - - a 1G
(No. 8 crops out on the shore below. )

13. Zone of Gryphea ; below red sand and clay, full of Gryphee, Ostree,
Terebratule, Pectens, Serpule, &c. &c. &c. very fossiliferous, and in
some places divided into four zones of Gryphee - - 22

(No. 7. crops out on the shore. )
12. Layer of Terebratule, dark sand at the top, and a layer of small no-

dules and yellow sand at the bottom - - - - 29
11. Dark clay, red at the top, and very fossiliferous - - - 40
(No. 6. crops out on the shore. )
10. Upper lobster bed, dark sand at the top, fullers’ earth in the middle,
and sand at the bottom, very fossiliferous - - - 45

9. Upper Crackers; nodules at the top, clay and sand,-very fossiliferous 6
8. Lower Crackers; nodules at the top, full of Gervillizw, &c. &e., with

brown sand and clay, fossiliferous - - - - 12
(No. 4., or Perna Mulleti bed, crops out on the shore.)
. Lower lobster bed, fullers’ earth, very fossiliferous - - - 29

(opt |

. The best fullers’ earth with clay at the bottom, some fossils, but not
very plentiful, and in some parts full of large crystals of sulphate
of lime - - = - 2 - - - 64

. Layer of small nodules, clay at the bottom containing fossils - 6

on

414 [May 1,

Thickness and Description of Strata.

« Thickness
No. in feet.
4. Perna Mulleti bed, with numerous Gryphee, Ostree, &c. &c. yery
fossiliferous = = = = o & Co
3. Clay, very fossiliferous, containing layers of fish-bones, teeth, &c. but
regular - - - - - - - 5 3
(WEALDEN. )

In the accompanying Table are given the ranges of such of the
fossils of the above strata as were collected and noted by the au-
thors on the spot.

5. Description of the Mouth of a Hysopus found by Mr. Bos-
CAWEN IsBETson iz the IsLE OF Wicut. By Sir Pup
Mapas pe Grey Eeerton. Bart. M.P., F.R.S., F.G.S.

THe present memoir is the result of the examination of an Ich-
thyolite discovered by Mr. Boscawen Ibbetson in the Isle of
Wight, near the junction of the Lower Green-sand with the
Wealden, and sent to me in the hopes that it might tend to show
to which of the two formations this bed should be assigned. The
evidence it affords on this question is neither direct nor conclusive,
inasmuch as it is an undescribed species, and consequently any
deductions beyond those based upon general affinities would be
unwarrantable. In another point of view, however, this specimen
is of high scientific value, as it sets at rest the long-mooted ques-
tions of the relative characters of the upper and lower teeth, and
their general contour in the individuals composing the genus Hy-
bodus so extensively occurring in the secondary strata. Mr. Ibbet-
son has had the rare fortune to bring to light the entire mouth of
a fish of this genus. ‘The left side is slightly crushed, but the
other retains its natural form, and the greater portion of the teeth
in both the upper and thelower jaw. The former measures 10inches,
and appears to have carried twenty-four teeth in the front series ;
the latter measures 74 inches, and has nineteen teeth in series, one
on the symphysis and nine on either side. Two rows of succession
teeth are traceable behind the front series. The mouth is slightly
open, and when seen in profile is more arcuate than in the recent
sharks. The upper jaw has a broad notch for the reception of the
thickened symphysis of the lower mandible. The teeth have a
central cusp, rather hooked, and two secondary cusps on either
side; the enamel is strongly plicated; the teeth only recently
brought into use have the plice extending to the apex. The bases
are wide, and have the rugose character so generally found in this
genus. The lateral teeth present the same characters as the more
central ones, but are rather smaller near the angle of the jaw.

To face page 414.

SHOWINHE SPOT) IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT.

IRBES.

The object @nce their range in the lower beds of that formation, and that
|of the Cretaceous Series.

utions above or below the Lower Green Sand.

3.

Lowest Clay.

Panopza mandibula 12
Panopea plicata 49
Hemicardium Austey 2
Venus? parva -
Venus? fenestrata
Arca Raulini - 12
Nucula (scapha)
Trigonia caudata
Perna Mulleti -

Gervillia aviculoide

Ostrea carinata -
Pecten 5-costatus
Pecten obliquus -

Pecten orbicularis

Rostellaria Parkinso

Rostellaria bicarinat|

inge.'

14,
Middle Clay.

Cypricardia un-
dulata.

Nucula spatulata

Gervillia solen-
oides.

9)
Lima elongata -

Spatangus re-
tusus.

15—I6.

Range. Middle Gryphea |Range.f Upper Clay. |Range.
Sands.

14 Crioceras Bower- |15—29] Cardium ? 19a
bankii. imbricato-
rium,
14 Scaphites gigan- |15—29
teus. Anomia ra-| 194
1456 diata.
Nautilus radiatus |15—19)
Arca securis} 19a
14—Glt.
Belemnites
14—29 Sp. -| 19a

TABLE

To face page 414.

SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF LOWER GREEN SAND FOSSILS (AS NOTED ON THE SPOT) IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT.

BY CAPTAIN BOSCAWEN IBBETSON AND PROFESSOR E. FORBES.

The object of this table is to show that the majority of species composing the Lower Green Sand Fauna, as observed in the Isle of Wight, commence their range in the lower beds of that formation, and that
the species assembled in the lowest beds include many common to the Lower Green Sand and other divisions of the Cretaceous Series.

Nore. — The Figures refer to the Beds as numbered in the Table of Strata; the Roman Letters in the second columns to Formations above or below the Lower Green Sand.
Names of Species within brackets have been applied since the Paper was read.

In the beds above 19a no species were observed to commence their range.

3. 4, 6—7. 8—9, 10—11. 12—13. 14, 15—I6. 19a,
Lowest Clay. Range. Perna Band. Range. } Lower Lobster Clay. |Range. Crackers. Range. | Upper Lobster Clay. | Range. towed Girphis Range. Middle Clay, Range. Middle CISTI Range. Upper Clay. |Range.
ands. Sands,
Panopeamandibula - |3—U.G.S.} Solen Warburtoni - 4—9 Corbula striatula | 6—10] Cardium Ibbetsoni - 8—9 Astacus, No. 2. - | 10—11 | Modiola equalis 12 cy pricardia un- 14 Crioceras Bower- |15—29} Cardium ? 194
dulata. bankii. imbricato-
Panopea plicata - |3—U.G.S.{Panopxa(Neocomiensis)| 4—14, | Gervillia lingu-|6—10] Venus Orbignyana - 8—9 Pholadomya 10—20 | Gryphzea conica 12 rium,
loides. Martini. Nucula spatulata 14 Scaphites gigan- |15—29)
Wemicardium Austeni-| 38—15 Astarte obovata - - 4 Nucula obtusa - |8_U.G.S, Terebratula ob- | 12 teus. Anomia ra-} 19a
Ammonites Des- | 6—10 Cardium pere- | 10—11 longa. Gervillia solen- 14—56 diata.
Venus? parva ~ -| 3—57 | Venus striato-costata -| 4—19a hayesii. Tellina vectiana = - 8-9 grinosum. oides. Nautilus radiatus |15—19
Ammonites Mar- |12—29 Arca securis}| 19@
Venus? fenestrata - 3 Corbis corrugata - 4 Astacus. No.1. - | 6—10] Gryphza harpa -| 8—14 | Serpula Sp. -]} 10—20] tini. Lima elongata -| 14—Glt. Buen
elemnites
Arca Raulini = -| 3—19a } Cyprina angulata -| 4-9 Dentalium cylindri- {8—U.G.S.} Serpula Sp. - | 10—15 } Crinoidal stems 12 | Spatangus re- M4—29 Sp. -| 19a
cum, tusus.
Nucula (scapha) -| 38—29 {Cardium(Cornuelianum)} 4—14
Rostellaria glabra -| 8—19
Trigonia caudata - |83—U.G.S.}) Thetis minor - - 4—U.G.S. :
Rostellaria Fittoni - 8—9
Perna Mulleti - - 3—4 Lithodomus (oblongus) 4
Tornatella marginata 8—9
Gervillia aviculoides (Ool.) | Trigonia aliformis -/4—U.G,S.
3—U.G.S, Tornatella albensis - 8—9
Trigonia dedalxa - |4—U.G.S,
Ostrea carinata ~- - |3—Ch.M. Cerithium (Lallieri- 8—9
Gryphea sinuata- -| 4—29 anum.)
Pecten 5-costatus -| 3—Ch,
Hinnites ? Leymerii - 4 Cerithium Phillipsii 8-9
Pecten obliquus - - |3—U.G.S,
Ostrea Leymerii - 4 Cerithium turricu- 8—9
Pecten orbicularis - |3—U.G.S. latum.
x Plicatula placunea = - 4
Rostellaria Parkinsoni | 3—Glt. Cerithium (Neocomi- 8—9
Terebratula Sella -| 441 ense.)
Nostellaria bicarinata -| 3—14
Terebratula Gibsil -| 4—41 Solarium sp. = = 8
Lingula truncata - 4 Natica (Cornueliana) 8—9
Natica rotundata - 4—9 [Ammonites Hambroyii] 8—9
Cidaris Sp. - - - 4—19
Astrea Sp. - - - 4

1844.] 415

The central teeth, also, are rather smaller than those immediately
flanking them. The teeth of the upper jaw are precisely similar
to those in the lower. In neither do we find any material increase
of obliquity in the cusps as they recede from the centre. The
cartilaginous alz of the mouth are distinctly traceable ; they in-
crease in width rapidly from the symphysis of the lower jaw, and
attain their maximum expanse at the angle of the mouth. Behind
these are some traces of the hyoidal arch. It is probable from the
appearance of the matrix which envelopes it, that with a little care-
ful cleaning a considerable portion of the head might be disclosed.
In its present condition, the only part of the cranial cartilages to
be distinguished is a section of the prosencephalic cavity.

The geological inferences afforded by this specimen are briefly
told. ‘The species is new. ‘The genus is undoubtedly Hybodus.
This genus attains its maximum expansion in the Oolitic series,
but it ranges from the Muschelkalk to the Chalk inclusive. The
only evidence of its occurrence in the latter formation is a frag-
ment of an Ichthyodorulite in the Mantell collection. The teeth
have not yet been found in any strata more recent than the
Wealden. As far therefore as the evidence goes, it leads to the
supposition that a bed containing teeth of the genus Hybodus is
most likely to be of an age anterior to the cretaceous system. Ina
zoological point of view, this specimen is of more importance, in-
asmuch as it fully corroborates the views advanced by Agassiz,
“that most probably the Hybodonts differed little from the recent
sharks in general aspect.” It also authenticates the numerous
species established by that distinguished naturalist from the cha-
racters of isolated teeth. We find in many of the recent sharks,
in Carcharias for example, the discrepancy between the teeth of
the upper and lower jaw so great, that it would be considered
quite warrantable to describe them, if found detached, as different
species. It was from a just appreciation of these difficulties that
Agassiz has always professed his names and characters of the
placoid teeth to be descriptive of specimens, and to be considered
provisional as regards specific arrangement, until evidence should
be found authorising or annulling the continuance of the titles
as applicable to species. Mr. Ibbetson’s specimen shows that in
the genus Hybodus there was no difference between the teeth of
the upper and lower jaw, and less variation, according to position,
than in the recent sharks; consequently the descriptive characters
given in the Poissons Fossiles will hold good as specific distinctions.
The Hybodonts, then, of the secondary strata differed only from
the sharks of the recent period in those modifications which adapted
them to the circumstances under which they existed. The form
of the mouth was nearly similar; from this we may argue a simi-
larity of shape and an analogous arrangement of the fins to enable
them to seize their prey. If they subsisted upon fish, which is
most probable from the form of the teeth, we find in the denser
structure and hard enamel coating of these organs, provisions to
enable them to grapple with the Ganoid fishes of that period ;
while in the powerful fin bones with which they were armed, we

416 a [May 15,
see weapons of defence against the aggressions of the Piscivorous
Saurians with which they were destined to coexist. I propose to
name this species Hybodus basanus.*

6. Extracts were read from letters of M. Dubois de Montpereux
to Mr. L. L. Boscawen Ibbetson, on the comparison of the Neoco-
mian beds of the Caucasus and the Crimea with those of Neuf-
chatel, and from Professor Agassiz to Mr. Ibbetson, on the age of
the Neocomian beds of Neufchatel.

May 165, 1844.

W. J. Blake, Esq., of Danesbury, was elected a Fellow of this
Society.
' The following communications were made : —

1. On some Crustaceous Remains inv CARBONIFEROUS Rocks.
By W. Ion, Esq., F.G.S.

THis communication accompanied two electrotype casts of the
specimens alluded to. The one was found in the white ironstone
measures at Ridgeacre Colliery, and the author states,— “I at first
thought it might be the head and carapace of a new species of
Eryon. except that the known species from the Solenhofen slate are
much more deeply notched on the edges of the carapace, and the
apparently spinous prolongation of the head and some other de-
tails do not agree. ‘The white ironstone in which it was found is
a bed in the lower part of the field below what is called the New
Mine coal. It is the bed in which the finest remains of Megal-
ichthys have been found.”

“The other fossil is in an ironstone nodule. The form is not so
well defined as in the first, and I dare not venture to guess to what
it may be referred.”

2. On the probable Age and Origin of a Bed of Prumpaco
and ANTHRACITE occurring in mica-schist near Worcester, Mas-
sachusetts. By C. Lyrty, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., &e.

A sep of plumbago and impure anthracite described by Professor
Hitcheock in his “ Geology of Massachusetts” is found inter-
stratified with mica-schist near Worcester, forty-five miles due
west of Boston. It is about two feet in thickness, and has been
made use of both as fuel and in the manufacture of lead-pencils.
It is much mixed up with the associated rock, has the touch and
somewhat of the lustre of plumbago, and gives a streak on paper. |
It is occasionally iridescent like coal, contains pyrites, which is also
found in the associated clay slate and garnetiferous mica-schist,

* The accompanying plate exhibits the appearance of the fossil embedded in
the rock, and partially cleared.

Pl LW.

up
i Nay i
Sai

a

PLIV

Hy dur Basanite Ea

1844.] 417

both of which are impregnated with carbonaceous matter. This
plumbaginous rock presents numerous polished surfaces or slicken-
sides, on some of which are delicate parallel strie, which reminded
me so strongly of the finely striated leaves common in coal, that
I had first supposed them to be of the same nature; and was thus
induced to search very diligently, but in vain, for vegetable im-
pressions. In the old mine of plumbaginous anthracite about two
miles to the north-east of Worcester, the accompanying clay-slate
and mica-schist, (the latter containing garnets and veins of asbes-
tus), dip towards the north at an angle of between 80 and 40
degrees, and a railway cutting east of Worcester, and to the south
of the old mine above mentioned, has finely exposed to view the
mica-slate and clay-slate with some layers of quartz inclosing a
bed of similar plumbaginous anthracite ; some of which has the
iridescence of peacock coal. Professor Hitchcock has traced this
eroup of strata in a north-easterly direction 50 miles, to the Mer-
rimac river, and the beds are continued with the same strike, in a
south-westerly direction, for many miles. In their course they
exhibit a great variety of crystalline strata, and the mica-slate
sometimes alternates with gneiss.

The schists including plumbago, at Worcester, as above men-
tioned, are separated from the anthracite occurring on the borders
of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, by a district of gneiss and
hornblende slate about thirty miles wide. The anthracite of those
slates is impure and earthy, but has been worked for coal at
Wrentham, Cumberland, Mansfield, and other places, where, in the
accompanying carbonaceous and pyritiferous slates, I collected
numerous impressions of the most common coal plants, such as Pe-
copteris plumosa, Neuropteris flexuosa, Sphenophyllum, Calamites,
&e. This earthy anthracitic coal, as well as the accompanying
slates, contain pyrites, as at Worcester; and the anthracite ex-
hibits the same glazed surfaces and slickensides; but it does not
soil the finger like that of Worcester, and its specific gravity has
been shown by Dr. Jackson and Professor Hitchcock to be less
than that of Worcester, but greater than that of the anthracite of
Pennsylvania. There are layers and veins of quartz in the slates
and micaceous sandstones forming the roof of this anthracite,
affording another point of analogy between this series and the
quartziferous rocks at Worcester. I have also seen numerous
_ specimens from the anthracite and bituminous slate of the neigh-
bouring district of Mansfield, in which the usual coal plants were
. imbedded ; but the slate was more crystalline. I was presented
by Professor Hitchcock with a specimen of distinct mica slate
from this neighbourhood, in which rounded nodules of granite and
quartz rock are included; and in the contiguous parts of Rhode
Island a conglomerate belonging to what has been called the grey-
wacké formation has been observed by Dr. C. T. Jackson (Survey
of Rhode Island, p. 70.) to pass downwards into mica slate. The
rocks of the coal measures now under consideration are accom-
panied by a red sandstone, which I examined at Attleborough, a
few miles from Wrentham before mentioned, There is a con-

418: [May 15,

glomerate subordinate to it, and it may, with all probability, be

referred to the old red sandstone which occurs beneath the coal

in Pennsylvania; although, in the absence of fossils, the dis-

turbed state of the strata, and the frequent concealment of their:
outcroppings by a thick covering of drift, it is usually difficult to

determine the exact order of succession. It is, however, important

to observe that the whole of this series, which Professor Hitcheock

now inclines to refer to the coal and old red sandstone, was for-

merly called greywacké, and styled the transition formation, in

consequence of the semi-metamorphic condition of several of the-
rocks. Their conversion into crystalline strata, in the immediate

neighbourhood of masses of granite and syenite, is often complete.

But besides this kind of alteration, resembling the effect of dykes

and veins of intrusive igneous rocks, there is evidence here, as in

the Alps of the Canton of Berne and elsewhere, of a more exten-

sive and general change by chemical or plutonic action, affecting,

with greater or less degrees of intensity, dense masses of stratified

rocks.

Although many impressions of plants have been found in this
anthracite formation, on the southern borders of Massachusetts and
Rhode Island no traces of shells or corals have been discovered.
In like manner we find an absence of all fossils except vegetable
remains, in the anthracite coal district of Pennsylvania, and no
fossils of any kind in the subjacent conglomerates and red sand-
stones.

The strata of conglomerate at Brooklyn, near Boston, and the
greywacké slates and sandstones of that neighbourhood, some of
which pass into metamorphic rocks, and in which no plants or
other organic remains have as yet been found, are doubtless refer-
able to the same carboniferous and Devonian formations as those
above described.

After traversing this region in several directions, it appeared to
me very probable that the stratified rocks, containing the plumba-
ginous anthracite of Worcester, consisted originally of similar
sedimentary strata, which have been so altered by heat and other
plutonic causes as to assume a crystalline and metamorphic texture,
by which the grits and shales of the coal have been turned into
quartzite, clay-slate, and mica-schist, and the anthracite into that
state of carbon which is called plumbago or graphite.

The progressive debituminisation of the coal of the United
States, as we proceed from Pittsburgh to the eastern and more dis-
turbed axes of the Alleghany mountains, as pointed out by Pro-
fessor H. D. Rogers, lend support to this conjecture.* In the
Rhode Island anthracite, which is less combustible than that of
Potsville, Pennsylvania, the change seems to have been carried far-
ther; the volatile ingredients of the original coal having been still
more completely expelled. In the impure plumbago of Worcester,
we may have the last step in the series of transmutation, where only
3 per cent. of gaseous matter remains, where all traces of fossil plants

* See Appendix.

1844.] ‘419

and vegetable structure have been obliterated, and where the litho-
logical character of the accompanying sedimentary rocks has been
entirely altered. JI may remark that the Silurian and Devonian
formations, which are so largely developed in the United States,
yield no beds of coal or anthracite which could by metamorphosis
be supposed to become turned into such a carbonaceous stratum as
that of Worcester.

I shall conclude by observing that the difference of strike be-
tween the mica-schist containing plumbago at Worcester, and the
nearest carboniferous rocks of Rhode Island and Massachussetts,
affords no argument against the theory of both having belonged
originally to the same group of sedimentary strata. In New
England, and in Nova Scotia, the coal-measures frequently deviate
widely from the same strike in continuous districts, and the direc-
tion of continuous anticlinal axes in the Alleghany mountains,
composed throughout of similar silurian and carboniferous rocks,
has been shown by Professors W. B. and H. D. Rogers to vary
more than 40° in different sections of that chain.

Apprenpix. — Analysis of Specimens of Brruminous and ANTHRA«
citic Coat of the Unirep States, and of the PLUMBAGINOUS
ANTHRACITE alluded to in the foregoing Paper.

In the Transactions of the Association of American Geologists,
1840-42, p. 470., Professor H. D. Rogers traces the gradation in
the proportion of volatile matter ia the coal, as we cross the Appa-
lachian basin from the S. E. towards the N. W. In the. most
southeasterly basins, where the coal is a genuine anthracite, he
states that the quantity of gaseous matter, chiefly hydrogen, varies
from 6 to 14 per cent., as, for example, in the anthracite coal-
fields of Pennsylvania.

_ Secondly, further towards the N. W., in the Alleghany moun-
tain of Pennsylvania, and the Potomac basin and others in Virginia,
the proportion of volatile matter varies from 16 to 22 per cent.

Thirdly, westward of the Appalachian mountains, in the wide
coal-field watered by the Ohio river and its tributary, the amount
of volatile matter is from 30 to 40, and even 50 per.cent. With
a view of testing these results, I submitted to my friend Dr. J.
Percy, of Birmingham, for examination, specimens of coal, first,
from the Pennsylvanian anthracite of Lehigh and Mauch Chunk,
in which the proportion of gaseous matter (hydrogen, oxygen, and
nitrogen) proved to be about 5 per cent. ; secondly, from Frost-
burgh in Maryland, a part of the Appalachian mountains further
west, where the strata have only undergone a moderate degree of
disturbance. In this coal, the proportion of volatile matter to the
carbon and ash was found to be about 93 per cent. ; and, thirdly, in
the horizontal and bituminous coal of Pomeroy, on the Ohio, the pro-
portion of gaseous matter was determined to be about 19 per cent.

VOL. IV. PART II. Ta

420 [May 15,

The theory of Professor Rogers is borne out by these analyses, but,
as the chemical results are exceedingly different, the proportion of
volatile matter being only half that cited by the American geolo-
gist, I think it right to append a letter which I have received
from Dr. Percy, in order to show the details of his manipulations,
and the pains bestowed by him on an analysis which, in the case
of anthracite, is exceedingly difficult.

Letter from John Percy, M.D. to C. Lyell, Esq.

Birmingham, Feb. 17. 1845.
My dear Sir,

I have now much pleasure in transmitting to you, in a complete form, the
analyses of the specimens of coal which you ‘sent me. The ultimate analysis of
coal requires considerable care, as it is difficult, by the ordinary method of com-
bustion with an oxidising body, to etfect completely the oxidation of all the car-
bon. In every instance “Ihave used chromate of lead as the oxidising body,
and have employed a degree of heat sufficient partially to melt the Bohemian-
glass combustion tube, although defended by inclosing it in thin sheet copper.
I have been particularly careful not only to mix, but to ¢riturate, the coal pow-
der and the chromate of lead intimately together. The coal powder has been
dried in the oil-bath at a temperature ranging between 110° and to Centig.
The analysis of coal consists of three parts; viz.

1. Of the determination of the carbon and hydrogen.
2. Of the determination of the nitrogen.
8. Of the determination of the ash.

The oxygen, of course, is found by deducting the sum of these from the
_ weight of coal employed in analysis. As I have already stated, the carbon and
hydrogen were found in the usual way by burning with chromate of lead, as in
an ordinary organic analysis. The nitrogen was ascertained by Will’s method,
which consists in heating the coal with the mixture of soda-lime in a combustion
tube; all the nitrogen is evolved in the form of ammonia, which is retained in
the receiver, containing hydrochloric acid ; the hydrochlorate of ammonia thus
formed is converted into ammonio-chloride of platinum, from which the quantity
of nitrogen is estimated. Lastly, the ash was found by incinerating in a plati-
num crucible until every speck of carbonaceous matter had disappeared.
I shall now proceed to give you all the data obtained by analysis : —

1. Pomeroy Coat, Onto. Colour of the powder, deep snuff-brown.
Ist Analysis.
4°878 gyrs. gave
Water, 2°46 = Hydrogen, 0-273, or 5:59 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 13:74 = Carbon, 3°747, or 76°81 do.

2nd Analysis.
5°686 grs. gave ;
Water, 2°96 = Hydrogen, 0:328, or 5:76 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 15:97 = Carbon, 4°355, or 76°59 ~~ do.

Nitrogen Analysis.
6:90 grs. gave
Metallic Platinum, 0°836 = Nitrogen, 0:118, or 1-71 per 100.

1844. ] 421

Incineration.
6:44 grs. gave of Ash, 0:28, or 4:34 per 100.
2-26 grs. do. O-ll, or 4°86 do.
Mean - - - 460 do.

2. Maucu Cuunx, or Pennsytvanian Anturacirr. Lustre somewhat
glistening ; powder much blacker than that of the preceding variety.

1st Analysis.
6°92 grs. gave
Water, 1-50= Hydrogen, 0°166, or 2-398 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 21-44 = Carbon, 5°847, or 84:49 do.

2d Analysis.
6°02 grs. gave
Water, 1-33 = Hydrogen, 0-147, or 2441 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 18-75=Carbon, 5°113, or 84:93 do.

3d Analysis.
6°127 grs. gave
Water, 1-41 = Hydrogen, 0:156, or 2°546 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 19:11—Carbon, 5°211, or 85:04 do.

Nitrogen Analysis.

I heated some of the coal on a test-tube with soda-lime. Red litmus paper
was immediately turned blue; and, on holding the stopper of the hydrochloric
acid bottle over the tube, dense white fumes appeared. The coal, therefore, con-
tained nitrogen.

7°18 grs, gave
Metallic Platinum, 0-616 = Nitrogen, 0-0874, or 1:217 per 100.

Incineration.
18:17 grains gave of Ash, 1°85, or 10°18 per 100.
6°75 do. 0°69, or 10°22 do.
Mean = 7 = - 10:20

3. Frostsurcu, Maryzanp. Colour of powder, brownish black.

1st Analysis.
4°85 grs. gave
Water, 2:10= Hydrogen, 0-233, or 4:°804 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 13:91=Carbon, 3:°793, or 78:20 do.

2d Analysis.
6°54 grs. gave
Water, 2:92 — Hydrogen, 0°324, or 4:954 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 18:89=Carbon, 5:151, or 78°76 do.

3d Analysis.
5°889 grs. gave
Water, 2°45 = Hydrogen, 0:272, or 4°618 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 17°03=Carbon, 4:644, or 78°85 do.

Nitrogen Analysis.
6°83 grs. gave of
Metallic Platinum, 1:145 = Nitrogen, 0°162, or 2:37 per 100.
112

429 [May 15,

Incineration.
14:27 grains gave of Ash, 1°66, or 11°63 per cent.
2:28 do. 0:27, or 11°84 do.
Mean - - - - 11°73

In the first analysis, both of the Mauch Chunk and the Frostburgh Coal,
there is a very decided error in the determination of the carbon; and the differ-
ence in the per centage of hydrogen in the analyses of the last-mentioned coal
is much greater than I should wish. In the following table, therefore, we will
take the mean of the second and third analyses only of the two varieties of coal
in estimating the per centage of carbon; and the mean of the three of each
variety in estimating the per centage of hydrogen. We shall not then, I
am sure, commit any serious error : —

Pomeroy. FRrostBurGcH. M. Cuunx.
Carbon - - 76°70 78°80 84°98
Hydrogen - 5°67 4°59 2°45
Oxygen - - 11°32 2°51 115
Nitrogen - - 1°71 2°37 1:22
Ash - 4-60 11°73 10:20
Total - = 100:00_ 100-00 100:00

4. WorcestER PLumBaGinous ANTHRACITE.

I selected for analysis those small fragments which appeared to be most free
from the associated rock. It had the touch and somewhat of the lustre of
plumbago; it gave a streak on paper, and the mortar in which it was triturated
became coated and polished, as if from common plumbago. Dried at 120°
centig.

Analysis.
8:00 grs. gave of
Water, 0:670 = Hydrogen, 0.0744, or 0-926 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 8°316=Carbon, 2°268, or 28:350 do.

Nitrogen.

I found I had not sufficient of the same specimen to make a nitrogen analysis.
I ascertained, however, that what remained of the other fragments contained
nitrogen. On heating in a test-tube with the soda-lime mixture, ammonia was
evolved, as proved by

1. Red litmus-paper being turned blue ;

2. By the appearance of dense white fumes on holding the stopper of the
hydrochloric acid bottle near the mouth of the tube;

3. And, also, characteristically by the smell.

Incineration.
6-745 grains gave of Ash, 4°625, or 68°569 per 100.

1844.1 : 423

We have, then,

Carbon - - - - - - - - 28°350
Hydrogen - = = - - - - 0:926
Oxygen*? F
Nitrogen e i 8 ; ¥ y NSS
Ash - - - - - - - 68:°569
100:000

I also incinerated another portion, which evidently contained a much larger
quantity of rock. Dried at 120° centig.

28-70 graims gave of Ash, 24°21, or 84:35 per 100.

We have, then, 15°65 per 100 of carbon, etc. The incineration was conducted
during 2! hours. The colour of the ash was reddish-brown, due evidently to
oxide of iron.

_ In the combustion I employed as much heat as I could obtain by wafting
the charcoal with a piece of paste-board. The gas ceased to be disengaged
completely, and the caustic ley rose rapidly in the bulb, and continued to rise
after breaking off the drawn-out extremity of the combustion-tube. I imme-
diately removed the charcoal. On cooling, the tube, as I expected, cracked
slightly, the ley in the large bulb descended, and I was enabled to draw air
through effectually in the usual way. After removing the sheet of copper, with
which the tube had been enveloped, I found the glass melted in several places,
and in one spot, about two inches from the drawn-out end, the glass had sunk
down to the chromate of lead, and so intercepted the passage of air from the
drawn-out point. Only a very minute quantity of carbonic acid could possibly
have escaped absorption. I am thus particular in relating details, that you may
exactly know what value to attach to the analysis, which I think must be very
near the truth.

Postscript. — Feb. 26. 1845.

1 subjoin the following analysis of Anthracite from the Lehigh Summit Mine,
Pennsylvania. The ash is in very small proportion : —

lst Analysis.
6°93 grains gave of
Water, 1°7i7=0:1907 Hydrogen, or 2°75 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 23°57 =6°428 Carbon, or 92°756 do.

2d Analysis.
6°854 grains of coal gave of
Water, 1:55=0:172 Hydrogen, or 2°509 per 100.
Carbonic Acid, 23:°23=6°335 Carbon, or 92°427 do.

Nitrogen Analysis.
7014 grains gave of
Metallic Platinum, 0:46 =0:0652 Nitrogen, or 0°921 per 100.

Incineration.
33°73 grains gave of Ash, 0°75, or 2:223 per 100.
16°89 do. 0:385, or 2°280__ do.
Mean - - - - 2:951.

* T presume oxygen to have been present. Its presence, however, could only
have been demonstrated by determining the proportion of nitrogen.

res

424 [May 15,

Analysis.
Carbon - - - - - - - - 92°591
Hydrogen - - - - - - - 2-629
Oxygen 6) 9S Se es
Nitrogen - - - - - - - - 0:921
Ash - - =~ - - - - = 2-251
100-000

The heat employed was sufficient to melt the Bohemian combustion-tubes in
several places, although protected by sheet copper.

3. On the Geology of Care Breton.* By RicnHarp Brown, Esq.
(Communicated by Mr. Lyell.)

I propose, in the following pages, to give a slight general sketch
of the geology of Cape Breton, from notes made at various times,
some so far as 15 years back, and collected more with a view to
professional pursuits, than for the purposes of geological research.

The island of Cape Breton is separated from Nova Scotia by
the Gut of Canso, and is about 120 miles in length from north
to south, and 90 miles wide from Scatari on the Atlantic shore to
Port Hood on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. <A range of highlands,
commencing at Cape North, continues to St. Ann’s on the east
shore, and to Margarie on the west shore, both distant from Cape
North about 60 miles, and presents, with few interruptions, bold
and precipitate cliffs to the ocean. ‘These highlands attain their
greatest elevation near the shore, constituting a table-land from
15 to 20 miles in breadth, and 600 to 1000 feet in height, in most
places incapable of cultivation. Part of this table-land is covered
with a stunted growth of spruce and fir trees, and the remainder
is principally rocky and barren moorland, which affords a scanty
supply of moss for a few herds of wild deer.

From Margarie to Port Hood the country is elevated, but un-
dulating, being intersected by several small rivers running through
valleys of great fertility. From Port Hood another chain of hills
stretches towards Ship Harbour, the water shedding from the
eastern declivity into the rich alluvial valley of the river “ In-
habitants,” which runs parallel with the Gut of Canso from north
to south. These hills decline gently to the west, and from Port
Hood to Bear Island, at the southern end of the Gut, form a low
shore, which seems to suffer less than might be expected from the

* The memoir, by the same author, accompanied by a map, and published
under this title in the previous pages of this volume (see ante, p. 269. ), was chiefly
intended to have reference to Mr. Lyell’s observations concerning the age of the
gypsum in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. — Ep.

1844.] 425

action of a tide running, in many places, at the rate of from 6 to
8 miles per hour. In the northern part of the Gut, the strong
eddies have deposited long narrow beaches of coarse gravel, ponds
or lagoons lying between them and the shore, which is thus pro-
tected from further abrasion; whilst to the southward, where the
strait is narrower and the tides are more rapid, the position of the
strata, consisting of strong compact shales and hard sandstones,
has contributed greatly to their preservation, the strike being E.
and W., or directly across the course of the current.

Proceeding along the southern shore, from the Gut of Canso to
Scatari Island, the coast is low and rocky, occasionally exhibiting
sloping banks of clay and gravel, until we arrive at Louisbourg,
where the rugged cliffs, composed of greenstone and metamorphic
rocks, defy alike the abrading action of the waves of the Atlantic
and the atmospheric influences of a climate subject to great and
rapid changes. ‘There is very little land fit for cultivation along
this part of the coast for several miles inland ; but superior soils
are found in the interior, especially on the Miray and Grand
Rivers.

From Scatari to Cape Dauphin, the shore presents a continuous
mural cliff, varying from 20 to 100 feet in height, except at the
heads of the several bays, where low sandy beaches are invariably
met with. This cliff, composed of the sandstones and soft shales
of the coal formation, is subject to great waste, the rapid encroach-
ments of the sea being noticed by the most careless observers.
There can be no question but that Flint Island and the northern
head of Cow Bay, now separated by a channel two miles in width,
were, at no very distant peried, united. The land along this part
of the coast is generally low, but undulating, until we arrive at
the Granite Ridge, lying between St. Ann’s harbour and the ship
entrance of the Bras d’Or Lakes, which ridge terminates at Cape
Dauphin.

Having thus sketched the appearance of the sea coast of the
island, let us next turn our attention to the interior. In the
very heart of the island, there exist two capacious salt-water
lakes, with innumerable bays, creeks, and islands, each of them
communicating with the sea by two channels, one of which is
navigable for ships of the largest class. The Grand Lake is 40
miles in length and 20 in width, from the narrows to St. Peter’s
Channel. In sailing from the West towards the East Bay, we have
a water horizon before us, although the land at the head of the
latter bay is by no means low. The scenery of the lakes is exceed-
ingly striking, the conglomerates constituting long ranges of undu-
lating blue hills, rising behind one another in the distance ; whilst
the white cliffs of gypsum stand out in bold relief on the margin
of the water. The shores of the lakes are thickly studded with
the cottages of thriving settlers, and a narrow belt of cultivated
land stretches along the water’s edge, backed by the dark shades
of the forest. All the numerous creeks and channels are navigable

by large vessels ; and some idea may be formed of the extent of
11 4

426 | May 14, |

these lakes from the fact, that there is no point in the island more
than twelve miles distant from salt water.

The rivers of Cape Breton, as may be supposed from an inspec-
tion of a map of the island, are inconsiderable. The principal
are Miray, Margarie, Mabou, Inhabitants, and Grand rivers, dis-
charging into the sea; and Baddeck, Wagamatcook, and Denny
rivers, discharging into the Bras d’Or Lakes. Valuable tracts of
alluvial land occur on the banks of all these rivers; and in beds
of this kind on the Baddeck, a tooth and thigh bone of some large
animal were found some years ago and sent to England. From
the description given to me, I conclude that they belonged to the
mastodon. They were found in the bed of the stream after a
heavy flood, having probably been washed out of the alluvium
which formed the banks of the river.

The bays and harbours of Cape Breton are numerous; many of
the latter being surpassed by none on the whole coast of America
in natural advantages. The principal are St. Ann’s, the Great
Bras d’Or Entrance, Sydney, Mainadieu, Louisbourg, Arichat, Ship
Harbour, and Port Hood. Of these, Sydney is undoubtedly the
best; and from its situation, in the very heart of the great coal
field, is the most important. It is easy of access; free from rocks
and shoals, and very capacious. After passing through the chan-
nel between the beaches (which is one mile wide, and 9 fathoms
deep), it separates into two arms or branches, each of which is
five miles in length, and averages one mile in width.

The coal formation is probably the most recent stratified group
in the island ; and it is certainly the most important, as it furnishes
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward’s Island, and the
United States with an abundant supply of coal, equal in quality
to the best of that found in the Newcastle district. The coal field
of Sydney, situated on the N.E. coast of the island, is the only one
that has been sufficiently explored to determine its limits, and it
extends from Miray Bay to Cape Dauphin, averaging about seven
miles in width, and occupying an area of 250 square miles. As
the general dip of the strata is north-east, or seaward, this great
area of coal measures is probably the segment only of an immense
basin extending towards the coast of Newfoundland — a suppo-
sition which is confirmed by the existence of coal measures at
Niel’s Harbour, 30 miles north of Cape Dauphin. The precipitous
cliffs afford admirable opportunities for obtaining sections, but
owing to numerous faults existing between Miray Bay and Low
Point, the exact relations of the several seams cannot be ascer-
tained so satisfactorily as in the district west of Sydney Harbour,
which is free from any serious fault. The coal measures consist
of beds of sandstone and shale, alternating with valuable seams of
coal. In the natural section exhibited in the cliff stretching from
Point Aconi to the commencement of the great sandstone or mill-
stone grit, on the N.W. shore of Boulardrie Island, we have a
horizontal distance of six miles, measured on the direct dip and rise
of the strata, without a single fault or break; which, taking the

1844.] 427

average inclination at 10°, gives a perpendicular thickness exceed-
ing 5400 feet. In this thickness are contained four seams of
workable coal, ranging from 4 to 7 feet each, and several small
seams of less than 2 feet. It may be satisfactory to the advocates
of Mr. Logan’s theory of the formation of coal, to learn that all
the seams above mentioned, and in fact every one that I have
examined in other parts of this coal field, rest upon fire-clay floors,
containing leaves of Stigmaria. Vegetable remains, the same that
are usually found in the coal fields of Great Britain, are also met
with in great abundance ; and occasionally trunks of trees, from one
to two feet in diameter, are found both in vertical and in horizontal
positions. Besides these, I have recently discovered fishes’ scales,
with teeth, fins, bones, and coprolites in a bed of bituminous shale,
and in a thin seam of impure cannel coal.

- The great sandstone or millstone grit upon which the coal mea-
sures repose may be traced along the southern border of the coal
field of Sydney ; but its thickness is variable, for it is compressed
within very narrow limits at the western end, where the granitic
ridge of Cape Dauphin rises abruptly behind the carboniferous
limestone. The belt of limestone and gypsum which crosses Bou-
lardrie Island about two miles to the S.W. of the crop of the coal
measures, has apparently been brought up to the surface by a
fault, since the same beds of limestone show themselves occa-
sionally, cropping out from under the millstone grit, on both shores
of Boulardrie to its S.W. extremity, as is represented in the follow-
ing section : — :

Section of the South-eastern Shore of BouLarprie Istann, 26 miles.

S.W.
Island Point

Fault.

N. E.
Pt. Aconi.

. Limestone, gypsum, and shales.
. Limestone and shales.

3

. Coal measures. 3. Limestone.
2
1

6
5. Millstone grit.
4, Limestone, gypsum, and marls.

On the eastern shore of the Little Bras d’Or Lake, we have a good
section of the millstone grit, from the crop of the coal measures to
the mountain limestone at George’s River, 2000 feet in thickness.
The sandstones are generally coarse and pebbly ; but some of the
beds are compact and fine-grained, affording excellent building
stone ; false bedding is of frequent occurrence. A few beds of
shale are interstratified with the sandstones; vegetable remains,
such as Calamites and Lepidodendron, are abundant; and occa-
sionally small patches of lignite are seen. The millstone grit pre-
serves the same characteristics from hence to Miray Bay, where it
comes into contact with a coarse conglomerate, and is thrown into
a vertical position. One solitary Lepidostrobus was here found in
the sandstone, being the only one yet met with in the island.

428 [May 16,

An extensive tract of millstone grit, with red shales and some
thin limestones, commencing at Soldier’s Cove, on the lake shore,
seven miles to the eastward of St. Peter’s, continues to the Gut of
Canso; but I have not had an opportunity of tracing the northern
boundary of these, except at the head of the West Bay, where
limestone and gypsum show themselves. A few thin seams of
coal, of no practical value, have been found in this tract; viz. at
St. Peter’s; at the mouth of the river “Inhabitants ;” and at
Carabacoo Cove, near Bear Island. It has not been ascertained
how far the millstone grit extends up the valley of the river
“Inhabitants ;” but workable seams of coal are said to occur
twelve miles above its mouth. A mass of trap protrudes through
the grits and shales on the narrow isthmus which separates St.
Peter’s Bay from the lake, and there forms a conical hill, called
Mount Granville, 600 feet in height. On its eastern declivity, beds
of a coarse limestone are seen nearly on edge, but quite destitute
of fossils. This trap is soft and crumbling, of a mixed green and
white colour, and it resembles in every respect the mass of the
same rock which bursts through the New Red Sandstone of Truro,
in Nova Scotia.

On the western shore of Cape Breton, the millstone grit com-
mences at the northern end of the Gut of Canso, and it underlies
the coal measures which extend in a narrow belt from Port Hood
to Chimney Corner, near Margarie. I have not visited this part
of the island; but am credibly informed that valuable seams of
coal exist at both extremities of this coal field. ~

One of the most characteristic features of the Cape Breton, as
well as of the Nova Scotia coal field, is the constant association
of extensive beds of gypsum and marls with the carboniferous
limestone. These gypsiferous strata are nowhere more fully de-
veloped than in the Bras d’Or Lakes, where, most fortunately, the
numerous creeks and inlets which ramify in all directions expose
sections on their shores; and from these, at a future time, I trust
I shall be able to collect a body of facts, that will clear up any
doubts that may yet remain concerning the relative age and posi-
tion of the gypsum and coal measures. In the vicinity of Sydney,
gypsum appears at the head of the East Bay, and again, crossing
the Boulardrie Island, following the course of the fault, as is shewn
in the above section. Beyond this fault, the limestones, with the
overlying sandstones, stretch out horizontally to the head of Bou-
lardrie Island, the gypsum showing itself only at two places, viz.
at Island Point and Big Harbour. The following is a section
from Island Point to Baddeck : —

W. Salt Springs. Baddeck Harbour. Red Head. Ship Entrance. _Boulardrie Island E.

4, Millstone grit. 2. Gypsum and marls.
3. Limestone and shales. 1. Coarse red conglomerate.

1844.] 429

From this section, I think it is quite clear that the limestone and
gypsum, dipping under the- millstone grit of Boulardrie, emerge
again, the former on the east, and the latter on the west side of
the ship entrance, where we find this rock resting upon the con-
glomerate of Red Head. Crossing the promontory of Red Head,
the gypsum is again seen on the east side of Baddeck Harbour,
dipping apparently under the sandstone beds on the opposite shore.
Further up the lakes, especially on the peninsula formed by
Patrick’s Channel and the river Denny, the gypsiferous strata
spread out in every direction, sweeping round the bases of the
lofty hills of the conglomerate, which constitute such prominent
objects in the scenery of the lakes. These hills rise to the height
of 400 or 500 feet, the strata of conglomerate being highly in-
clined, whilst the limestone and gypsum which occupy the lower
ground, rarely rise 100 feet above the level of the lakes.

Salt springs are frequent in the gypsum districts; but the
brine is generally weak, seldom yielding more than 7 per cent.
of salt. Gypsum is also found on the shores of Aspey Bay, in
the neighbourhood of igneous rocks, on the shores of St. Ann’s
Harbour, on the south side of Lennox’s Passage, and at Plaister
Cove in the Gut of Canso.

Underlying the gypsum and shales of the last-mentioned locality,
we find an extensive belt of coarse conglomerate, which probably
crosses the river “ Inhabitants,” and unites with the conglomerates
of the river Denny and Ogomah Basin. In the opposite direction,
it crosses the Gut of Canso, being separated from the igneous
rocks of Cape Porcupine by a series of altered shales and grits
of the greywacké formation ; and it continues thence to the head
of Chedabucto Bay.

Between Miray Bay and Louisbourg, the country is chiefly
occupied by strata of fine-grained conglomerates, passing down-
wards into slates, and upwards, near their junction with the car-
boniferous limestone, into compact brown sandstones and hard red
shales, analogous to the greywacké system of Europe. From —
Scatari Island towards Gabarus Bay, these rocks occasionally as-
sume a crystalline texture, owing apparently to the presence of
long ridges of greenstone trap interposed between the strata, which
are generally vertical, or nearly so.

These parallel ridges of greenstone rise sometimes to a height
of 20 to 30 feet above the general surface, and are frequently not
more than 100 yards distant from one another; although it must
be observed, that large areas of altered strata are met with where
none of these trap rocks are visible on the surface. On the south
shore of the Little Bras d’Or, similar strata of greywacké with
altered rocks are also met with; but in this instance, the red
granite which breaks through the limestone at George’s River
has changed the red shales and sandstones of the upper part of
the greywacké series, and at the same time converted the limestone
into white marble: the following is a section of the strata : —

430 May 15,

George's
N.E. River. Ss. W.

8. Coal measures. 4. Conglomerates.

7. Millstone grit. 3. Greywacké slates.

6. Mountain limestone. 2. Altered shales,

5. White marble. 1. Small-grained red granite.

(Distance’§ miles.)

At Brack’s Brook, we find the greywacké slates resting upon
granite and porphyry, and extending to Soldier’s Cove, where they
meet the red shales and sandstones of the millstone grit series.
Several small troughs of an apparently recent limestone may be
here observed, lying unconformably upon the greywacké.

The conglomerate of Isle Madame seems to pass insensibly into
a fine-grained greywacké slate, on the south side of that island.

Rocks of igneous origin occupy a very large proportion of the
island of Cape Breton; and the lofty table-land in the northern
part of the island is supposed to consist almost wholly of primary
rocks. The high and narrow ridge lying between St. Ann’s
Harbour and the ship entrance of the lake, consists of fine-grained
red granite and syenite; and at George’s River, a similar granite
protrudes through the limestone and greywacké as before men-
tioned. On the south shore of East Bay, granites and porphyries of
various composition extend from Brack’s Brook to the outcrop of
the mountain limestone, a distance of ten miles, forming barren
naked peaks, in some instances 800 feet in height. We find
also here a beautiful porphyry, having a dark-green base, with
large whitish crystals of felspar. The small island of St. Paul’s,
which lies about twelve miles east of Cape North, in the direct
track of vessels bound up the St. Lawrence, and which has proved
fatal to many a noble ship, consists of mica slate, gneiss, and gra-
nitic rocks, apparently stratified in thin beds, with an E. and W.
strike, and nearly on their edges.

To show the connection of the strata of Cape Breton with those
of Nova Scotia, I have continued the section across the Gut of
Canso to the shales and sandstones of Merigomish. It will be
seen that the conglomerates on the Nova Scotia shore, which suc-
ceed the greywacké and igneous rocks of Cape Porcupine, dip
under the sandstones and shales of Tracadie (including some
trifling seams of coal at Pornket), and emerge to the westward
from beneath the gypsiferous strata of Antigonish, reposing upon
and passing into the greywacké rocks of Antigonish mountain.
The conglomerate again sets in on the western flank of Antigonish
mountain, and is followed by the sandstones and shales of Meri-
gomish and Pictou.

1844.] 431

May 29, 1844.

W. M. Hen. Browne, Esq., of King Street, Covent Garden, and
Geo. Loch, Esq., of Albemarle Street, were elected Fellows of this
Society.

A communication was read by Professor S—EDGWICK, being in
continuation of his Memoir “ On the Geology of North Wales,”
read on the 29th Nov. 1843.* The notice of this paper is post-
poned for the present.

JUNE 12, 1844.

R. T. Atkinson, Esq., of Newcastle-on-Tyne, was elected a
Fellow of this Society.

The following communications were read : —

1. On FLUORINE 72 BONES, its source, and its application to the
determination of the geological age of Fossit Bones. By J.
Mippteron, Esq. F.G.S., late Principal of the College at Agra.

THE accumulation of fluoride of calcium in fossil bones constitutes
a very interesting and important subject of inquiry in reference
to Geology, since it seems to involve the element of time, so in-
teresting in all geological investigations. It was with a feeling of
this importance that I some time ago commenced a series of in-
vestigations, which are not yet completed, in order to ascertain
the proportion of fluoride of calcium in bones that had been pre-
served for various periods, with a view to infer, if possible, from
the mineral condition, the relative ages of the specimens.

The bones hitherto examined by me with this view consisted of
some from the Sewalik Hills, furnished to me by my friend
Dr. Falconer, and some, for the permission to examine which I
am indebted to the authorities of University College, London, in
the chemical laboratory of which institution my investigations have
been conducted. Among these last were the bones of a Greek, who
had lived, it is supposed, about the time of the second Peloponne-
sian war (a coin of that period being found under the jaw of the
skeleton), and a part of an Egyptian mummy in a remarkably per-
fect state of preservation. The Sewalik fossils were of the soft
kind f, those imbedded in the clay in that locality, as they seemed
better suited for comparison with bones of recent and known age
and with those of early tertiary periods.

On examining these bones, I found that those from India con-

* See anie, p. 251.
+ So named, I believe, by the gentlemen who found them, to distinguish
them from those largely penetrated by oxide of iron or silica.

432 [June 12,

tained all of them nearly the same proportion of fluoride of cal-
cium, viz. 11 per cent., while in the bones of the Greek the
proportion was only a little more than 5 per cent., and in the
mummy about 2 percent. The difference in the two latter is
accounted for, it would seem, by the circumstances of deposition,
this being sufficiently evident from the appearance of the speci-
mens ; since the bone of the Greek has assumed a soft powdery
character, tinged with peroxide of iron, the result of exposure to
atmospheric and other influences, while that of the Egyptian ex-
hibited all the structure of recent bone, having been preserved in
a sarcophagus, and scarcely changed from its normal state.

From these results, and from having ascertained the presence
of fluorine in the recent bones both of men and reptiles, I
was led to suppose that the presence of fluorine must be due to
some general condition, the same in ancient times as at present,
for I could not believe that in this matter there could be any
alteration in the laws of organic life, implying different propor-
tions of the mineral at different periods. Iwas thus led to suspect
that water might be the agent producing this apparent change ;
and this seemed to me to offer a ready solution of the whole
problem. That there is a great tendency in fluoride of calcium
to unite itself to phosphate of lime, is evident from the almost uni-
versal association of the two in nature; and thus, if the moisture
constantly present at the earth’s surface should contain the mineral
in question, the bones might absorb it by simple exposure; a
larger proportion being obtained, according as the bones had been
longer exposed to its influence. Bearing this in mind, I was led
to institute a series of experiments on aqueous deposits of dif-
ferent ages, and I found that, with one exception, — a pure but
incompact stalactite of carbonate of lime, — fluorine exists in all,
from the most recent deposit down to the old red sandstone, and
that it is present in the older in larger proportion than in the
newer beds. I think it is therefore beyond a doubt that it is pre-
sent in water, though perhaps in very minute quantity ; what its
solvent may be I know not, but that it is so held in solution my
own experiments have demonstrated; and if they had not, the
simple fact that the blood conveys it to the bones, would, I appre-
hend, sufficiently refute any scepticism on the subject.*

_ It now remains for me to show, that the relative geological age
of rocks may be estimated by the proportion of fluoride of cal-
cium which they contain; and for this purpose I append the
following results of my analyses in the cases of recent bone, the
bone of a Greek already alluded to, a fossil bone from the Sewalik

* Note by the President. “I am informed by Professor Graham, that he is well
acquainted with these researches of Mr. Middleton; that, previous to his return
to India, Mr. Middleton ascertained the presence oe fluoride of calcium in the
deposit obtained by boiling the ordinary pipe-water supplied’ to the houses in
London ; and that there il reason to believe, from this and other observations,
that the fluoride of calcium is held in solution by the carbonic acid usually
present in water.” — ZL, H., April 7. 1845.

1844.] 433

Hills, and a bone of the Anoplotherium ; the latter being given by —
Lassaigne : —

Recent Bone of Fossil Rumi-| Bone of the
Bone. the Greek. |sewalik Hills plotherium.
Organic matter - - 33°43 590 —
Phosphate of lime - - 52°11 70°01 78-00 37:00
Carbonate of lime - - 10°36 10°34 11:34
Fluoride of calcium - - 1:99 | 5°04 10°65 15-00
Chloride of sodium - - 60 115
Soda - - - - 1:08 } Mie
Magnesia - - - “76 1°34
Phosphate of magnesia - 00
Silica - - - - — 1°68 _ 35°00
Peroxide of iron - - about -25
Alumina- - -— = — — — 10:00
Oxide of iron & manganese 3:00

In comparing together the quantities of fluoride of calcium in
bones of different periods, we should be guided, I apprehend, by
the proportion it bears, in each specimen, to the fixed basis of the
bone, phosphate of lime, a substance which seems but little liable
to variation in amount. The comparisons stand thus : —

Phosphate of Lime. Fluoride of Calcium.
Recent bone - - 52°11 - - - 1:99
The Greek’s bone - - 70:01 - - - 5:04
The Sewalik fossil bone - 78:00 - - - 10°65
The Anoplotherium bone - 37:00 - - - 15:00

When the animal matter, entirely obliterated in the fossil bones,
has been suppressed in the recent bones, we have : —

Phosphate of Lime. Fluoride of Calcium.
Recent bone - - 77°84 - - - 2°97
The Greek’s bone - - 78:55 - - - 5°62
The Sewalik fossil bone - 78:00 - = - 10°65
The Anoplotherium bone - 37:00 - - - 15:00

If now, for convenience of computation, we represent the phos-
phate in each case by 100, we obtain tke following ratios of the
fluoride : —

Recent bone - = - 3°81
The Greek’s bone - - 7:15
The Sewalik fossil bone - 13:01
The Anoplotherium bone - 40°54

Now, as the age of the Greek’s bone is known to be 2000 years,
we obtain, ifmy hypothesis be just, the following values, in time, of
the above ratios of the fossil bones: viz. the Sewalik fossil, 7700
years ; the Anoplotherium, 24,200 years.

434 | June 12,

2. Notice of the RaiseD BEACHES on the WESTERN Coast of
Ross-sHirE. By J. G. Jerrreys, Esq.

(Communicated by the Rev. Professor Buckland, D. D.)

Axout two miles above Craig Inn, and eleven from the present
termination of Loch Carron, there is a level ‘platform extending
for some distance in a parallel line with the valley up which the
loch at present flows, elevated about 50 feet above the present
sea level, and sloping at an angle of 45°, and its breadth seems the
same as that of the present beach at its foot. Sixteen miles from
the termination of the loch is a similar platform with the same
direction and slope, but apparently at a higher level; and on the
opposite side of the loch (which is about half a mile wide in that
part) is a corresponding platform, similar in every respect to the
other. This is outside the loch, about a mile below Strome ferry,
which forms the entrance to it. Some miles further down the
main channel of the sea, at a place called Plockton, the same
appearances present themselves ; and here the elevation is about
60 feet above high-water mark.

On examining this latter platform, I found underneath the super-
ficial stratum of earth a bed of coral and shells two or three feet
thick, and precisely similar to the beds which, as I ascertained by
dredging, exist in the adjoining sea. The depth of the sea varied
from three to upwards of a hundred fathoms.

At Applecross similar indications of a former beach are to be
found, and also at Shieldaig near the mouth of Loch Torridon, and
at Gairloch, on the same coast. In the former locality (Applecross)
the platform or bank appeared to be almost entirely composed of
coral and shells. In the neighbouring sea prodigious quantities of
testaceous and calcareous mud appear to be accumulating.

I would further remark that the platforms in question do not
appear to have been formed by drift, or by the ordinary action of
the winds and waves, because their base is beyond the reach of any
tide, and at the mouth of Loch Carron they are situated on both
sides of the channel, and are consequently exposed to different
winds. and currents of the sea. The whole appearance seems re-
ferable to a sudden elevation of the land by means of some sub-
terranean convulsion.

It is worthy of remark, that on the eastern coast of Scotland,
particularly on the Moray Frith, trunks of trees are found em-
bedded in the sands at low water, thus showing a subsidence or
depression of the land on that side.

Iga 435

3. On the Cliffs of NortHerN Drirr on the Coast of Norfolk,
between WEYBOURNE and HaAppisBuRGH. By Josnua TRIMMER,
Esq. F.G.S

Iy this paper the author proposes to describe certain changes that
have taken place in these cliffs, comparing the appearances they
present with those of raised beaches in North Wales.

With regard to the former subject, he notices first, the condition
ef a pinnacle of chalk at Old Hythe Point. ‘The cavity at the
summit of this pinnacle is now exposed to a greater depth than in
Mr. Lyell’s drawing*, and the sand and gravel with which it was
filled are removed. No vertical strata of sand to the N.E. of the
pinnacle are now visible, and these must have been removed by
denudation. Mr. Lyell’s statement that this pinnacle is separated
from the great mass of the chalk by the crag deposits is, in the
opinion of the author, confirmed by the position in which the
chalk rests. ‘

Of the protuberances of chalk near Trimmingham, the northern
and middle seem new little changed, but the southernmost has
undergone some alteration. Its length is still the same as when
visited by Mr. Lyell, but it is reduced to nearly half its height,
and the waves have washed away a portion of the overlying gravel
at one extremity. The next fall of the cliff will probably bury
this end of the protuberance entirely. The chalk inland seems
tilted, and is covered with a breccia of the crag.

About a quarter of a mile east of Cromer, the Since met with
a bed of peat, resting on pyritous silt and gravel, and resembling a
peat bed at Mundesly, and the stem of a small fir tree was here
observed in a vertical position. Between Mundesly and Trim-
mingham he observed other instances of peaty beds associated
with the same kind of gravel, and he endeavoured to determine
whether the ¢i// and the freshwater deposits were contemporaneous.
This he decided in the affirmative, at least for the upper portion
of the freshwater beds, since at Cromer he found, at the height of
20 feet from the beach (about 300 yards west of the jetty), several
bands of black peaty mud, a few inches thick, alternating with
‘laminated blue clay, derived from an adjoining mass of the un-
stratified till, which elsewhere overlies the freshwater beds.

At Runton, near the Gap, the freshwater beds are covered by a
regular marine deposit of the crag. A black peaty bed, about 4
feet thick, containing shells of Cy yclas, Planorbis, Helix, and frag-
ments of Anodon, together with some vegetable remains, rests on
‘a ferruginous sand, containing Anodon. ‘The peat is covered by a
bed of gravel about a foot thick; containing Fusus striatus, Tellina
obliqua, Mya arenaria, and Natica helicoides, and some of the
shells of Mya exhibit the valves united, but they are too fragile to

* See Phil. Mag., May, 1840.
VOL. IVY. PART II. KK

436 [June 12,

be readily extracted. There is-here no mixture of fluviatile and
marine remains, so that this instance offers evidence of submer-
gence and subsequent elevation. ‘The marine gravel is covered
by laminated blue clay, derived from adjoining till, and it passes
upwards into yellow silt and sand, the lamination of which is
much contorted. _

Till. The unstratified blue clay on the Norfolk coast alluded
to under this name, resembles, in colour and composition, that
which is found on the coast of North Wales and the east of Ire-
land, differing only from these deposits in the nature of the im-
bedded fragments. These seem to have been all of them trans-
ported from the north, and they are heaped in irregular hummocks,
the height of the cliffs depending on the amount of this material.
The till does not seem to pass by any gradation from the fresh-
water deposits, nor is the surface of the latter disturbed at the
contact as if the sea-bottom had been ploughed up by the passage
of icebergs. The contorted strata (accurately described by Mr.
Lyell) are always either above or between the masses of till.

The transported blocks dispersed through the till consist of
granite, gneiss, mica-slate, and trappean rocks, often in an angular
state, and not rubbed. Some fragments, however, show scratches
and other markings like those attributed to the grinding of a
glacier, and the author states that he had already observed scratches
on boulders in Caernarvonshire, and alluded to them as charac-
teristic of the epoch, before such markings were attributed to the
action of ice.

Notwithstanding the distance which separates the till of the
coast of Norfolk from that of North Wales and Ireland, the author
recognises a common character pervading the whole, which he attri-
butes to their having had a common origin, being derived from the
north, and he considers that the cause of the deposit of this
boulder clay covered with sands, loam, &c. of a yellow colour,
seems to have acted but once, the same appearances not recurring.
There is still, however, one striking difference observable in the
two localities, since the Norfolk beds are much contorted, while
this is not the case in North Wales. These contortions are referred
by the author to the movements connected with the final upheaval
of the coast; but since, where the contortions are most violent,
the underlying chalk is undisturbed, as between Sherringham and
Weybourne, he supposes that the till has exercised some influence
in producing these singular appearances.

The author observes, in conclusion, that these deposits on the
cliffs, produced by the northern drift, ought to be carefully dis-
tinguished from ordinary raised beaches, the phenomenon in the
former case having been produced by the submergence and subse-
quent elevation of land which had been long existing in that state.
He does not pretend to decide the extent of the submergence.

1844.) 437

JUNE 26, 1844.

John Shaw, Esq., M.D., of Hop House, Boston, Lincolnshire,
was elected a Fellow of this Society.

The following communications were read : —

1. On the STONESFIELD SLATE of the CortEswotp His. By
the Rev. P. B. Bropiz, M.A., F.G.S., and James Buckman,
Esq., F.G.S.

THE district alluded to in this memoir is situated to the east of
Cheltenham, and includes the Cotteswold Hills, which divide the
county of Gloucester from parts of the neighbouring counties of
Oxford, Worcester, and Warwick.*
The formations occurring in this district are the following : —

7. Clays representing the Bradford clay, or those dividing
Great Oot - the beds of the great oolite in Wiltshire.
6. SToNEsFIELD State and ragstone.

ean, Oontie 5. Fullers’ earth.
4. Inferior oolite.

3. Upper lias shale.
Lias = - + 2. Marlstone.

1. Upper shales of the lower lias.

1. Upper Shales of the Lower Lias. These consist of blue
argillaceous deposits, sometimes, especially towards the top, inter-
mixed with clays of an ochreous yellow colour. The following are
amongst the most characteristic fossils : —

Belemnites elongatus Pinna lanceolata,
Ammonites Henleyi Lima antiquata
Crenatula ventricosa Arca Buckmanni
Cardinia ( Pachyodon) attenuata Terebratula rimosa’
Modiola cuneata Trochus imbricatus

And some undescribed species of Gervillia, Arca, and Spirifer. The beds
below the above present the usual lower lias fossils,

2. Marlstone. A hard sandy stone, blue when first quarried,
but weathering of a brown colour. It forms the terraces seen on
the first ascent to the Cotteswold Hills. These terraces, however,
being covered with grass, the rock is best studied in outliers,
such as are found at Churchdown, Dumbleton, &c., where the
stone is quarried for road-making. The following fossils are
peculiar to the marlstone in this neighbourhood : —

* See a paper “ On the Structure of the Cotteswold Hills, and Country
around Cheltenham,” by Roderick I. Murchison, Esq., read the 14th March,
1832, and published in the Proceedings of the Geological Society, vol. i. p. 388.
It was afterwards printed as a separate tract.

See also a “ Report of a Survey of the Oolitic Formations of Gloucestershire,”
by William Lonsdale, Esq., read the 19th of December, 1832, and abridged in

the same volume, p. 134.
KK 2

438 [June 26,

Ammonites heterophyllus Pinna affinis
spinatus Spirifer (two new species)
Stokesi Terebratula tetraédra
Grypheza gigantea acuta
Pecten xquivalvis bidens

Cardium truncatum

3. Upper Lias Shale. A blue argillaceous deposit containing
septaria. It is recognised on the hills by exhibiting a line of
drainage ; and is traversed by a thin seam of fissile limestone,
containing remains of fishes, insects, and shells described lately
by one of the authors. The following are the prevailing fossils :—

Ammonites Strangewaysi Inoceramus dubius
Walcotti Plicatula spinosa
annulatus Nucula claviformis.

4. Inferior Oolite. The lowest bed of the inferior oolite in
this district is a pisolitic rock, composed of rounded or flattened
grains about the size of peas, cemented by a calcareous paste, and
containing fragments of Pentacrinites, &c. Cidaris subangularis
and C. BORO Pecten lens and Avicula contorta, are the chief
fossils of this bed.

A roestone of a yellowish-white colour succeeds this pisolite,
and it is found to exhibit numerous small shells on careful exami-
nation under the microscope. The average thickness of this bed
is 15 feet ; and the following fossils are found in it, besides the
microscopic ones : — Cardita similis, Plagiostoma duplicatum, a
Nucula, a Cucullea (M. C. t. 549. fig. 3.), Patella rugosa, and
P. nana. '

Overlying the roestone is a thick bed of white freestone worked
in large blocks. This rock is about 25 feet thick, and is a fine-
grained oolite intermixed with comminuted fragments of shells.
It is overlaid by about 10 feet of oolite marl, resembling chalk,
and having an uneven fracture. At Leckhampton and other
places it abounds with fossil shells; but at Crickley and Birdlip,
to the S.W. of the Cotteswold, it puts on the character of a coral-
line rock. The following list of fossils includes those most
characteristic : —

Astrea agaricites Astarte elegans
Madrepora limbata Pinna tetragona
Agaricia lobata Terebratula fimbria
Meandrina explanata ? Natica macrostoma
Tubipora ? hemispherica
Plagiostoma leviusculum Nerinza fasciata

A Gryphite grit, a rough kind of stone, separated from the
oolite marl by about 4 feet of flaggy oolite, next succeeds. It
abounds with the shells of Gryphea dilatata in its lower part,
and the overlying beds of marl and compact stone are partly com-
posed of immense masses of Trigonia costata and T. clavellata.
Besides these the rock contains the following species : —

1844.] 439.

Trigonia striata Terebratula concinna
Mactra gibbosa ~ spinosa
Amphidesma securiforme resupinata
decurtatum maxillata
Pholadomya ambigua and six others
lyrata Cirrus carinatus
Modiola (four species) Melania striata
Cucullza oblonga Nautilus truncatus
Perna mytiloides Ammonites Parkinsoni
Pecten vimineus Browni
Terebratula perovalis corrugatus

These beds are capped with a band of sand and clay containing
nodular masses of oolitic stone, and a great number of Clypeus
sinuatus.

5. Fuller’s earth. This is a yellow argillaceous deposit, which
seems to be about 10 feet thick, but it presents few points of
interest. Its outcrop is marked by a line of springs.

6. Stonesjield slate. This is the bed which it is the object of
the present memoir chiefly to describe.*

Section. No. 1.
w.

EZ :
3 E
=]
B 3
is) S ra
: 8 Eee i
=I a ay a as = 3
ie zvewrgin Ae , # doe
3 3 Ry) = pI 9 if) S ;
3 = | 3 2 oo o 4
3 3 8 8 : of 3 E 8
) a is) A ee 1 < AA A fm
3 2a 2a_
4 7
———SSSS———————
6 5
6. Lower lias shales. 2a. Fuller’s earth.
5. Lias marlstone. 2. Stonesfield slate and ragstone.
4. Upper lias shales. 1. Beds of elay.

3. Inferior oolite.

The first quarries of this flagstone described are situated on the
top of a-hill at Sevenhampton common, and the rock is generally
very rich in organic remains. ‘There are here three quarries at
which the slate is worked, within the distance of half a mile from
one another. One of them exhibits about 15 feet of coarse fissile
ragstone, containing fossil remains of fishes and some shells, and
passing downwards into the true Stonesfield slate. In another
this ragstone, of about the same thickness, is occasionally inter-
mixed with slabs of hard slate having blue centres, and there is
then about 4 feet of true fissile Stonesfield slate, the upper slabs
of which are used for tiling; but the lower part is sandy.

* The authors consider that the beds so called were only partially known to
Mr. Murchison, and they disagree with some of Mr. Lonsdale’s conclusions.
i KK 3

440 [June 26,

Numerous fossils have been obtained from this quarry, and the
most perfect remains of plants have been found. These, as far as
can be ascertained at present, consist of Conifere (two species, one
of which greatly resembles the Thenytes, if it be not a new spe-
cies); Palme ; Cicadee; Liliacee ; and two species of ferns; besides
leaves of plants of too anomalous a kind to be determined. Stems
of trees, much broken, occur in considerable quantity. Silicified
wood of a coniferous tree has also been obtained from the above
quarry. ‘The third quarry exhibits little difference, except in the
better marked subdivisions of the overlying beds, but the wing
cases of beetles, and sauroid and fishes’ teeth, are more frequent.
The next place at which the Stonesfield slate is worked seems
to have been laid bare by a fault. It is about half a mile from
Brockhampton Hill (see section above), and appears in a valley
surrounded on all sides by hills which are capped with inferior
beds. From this spot the beds of Stonesfield slate run in a N.W.
direction ; and at Kyneton Thorns and Eyeford are many quarries
from which the slates are extracted for roofing.* The following
is the sequence exhibited at one of the best quarries : —
3. Rubble and superficial detritus - - - - 3 to 4 feet.
2. Ragstone, not very fissile - - = 1S} 5

1. Stonesfield slate, a compact sandy stone, very = fissile, especially after 5
exposure to frost - - = = »

A new species of Asterias, and a species, also new, of Pollicipes,
were found beautifully preserved in the quarries at Hyeford.
Belemnites canaliculatus and B. fleuriansus, some remains of
plants, the teeth and palates of fishes, and a tooth of Megalosaurus,
have all been obtained from this locality.

Section. No. 2.

N.W. S.E
s
5 ac)
“ a
: 3g : § : >
3 5 = = 2 a
° EI s 3
£ $ 5 3 mS & 3
8 a ASS 3 2 a g
de! = ens s} = a @ a ‘3 3
2 a) 2 a & = 3 = ® S
a= Cs} a S| a o A o ¢ o
= mB ‘I Z > 3 B ‘eI 3
os iS) | RQ mH 4 wn | n-

ae

(for a description of the strata, see Section No. 1.)

The eastern edge of the Stonesfield slate of the Cotteswolds ex-
hibits the ragstone much thicker, and of a coarser kind. The
quarry at Upper Swill, near Stow on the Wold, seems to show

* From one quarry alone 120,000 roofing slates are obtained in the course of
a season. The work is thus conducted: — At the latter end of the year a
quantity of stone is raised from the quarry, and spread over the surface of the
ground. Being thus exposed, it loses the bluish tint presented when first quar-
ried, and becomes light-coloured; this change, the result of weathering, ren-
dering the slate more readily separable into tiles. The best tiles are said to be
made from the middle of the beds.

1844. ] 441

marks of the fault already alluded to. From this quarry large
reptilian bones and fishes’ teeth have been obtained, and other
fossils, such as Clypeus sinuatus, Plagiostoma cardiforme, Pecten
vagans, Ostrea acuminata, a Nerita, and other shells. Not far
from this, at a place called Wagboro’ Bush, is a quarry not now
worked, but the fossils from which are considered by the authors
to identify the rock with the well-known beds at Ancliffe. ‘These
fossils are Nerita spirata, NV. minuta, Acteon cuspidatus, Nucula
mucronata, a Corbula, and a Cerithium.

The district described in the preceding account of strata has
been subject to disturbances, the result of which has been the
production of several lines of faults. One of these is represented
in the preceding diagram. (Section No. 1.)

- The beds from Cheltenham across the hills preserve their regu-
lar order and dip (seldom exceeding 10°); the upper beds of the
inferior oolite marking the highest points of the Cotteswold range.
From Brockhampton the higher ground proceeds about a mile and
a half in a northerly direction to Charlton Abbotts (which is
higher than Brockhampton Common): it then turns suddenly to
the east, bounding Kyneton Thorns, which is situated in a fault
valley extending from Kyneton to Kyeford.

The line of fault from Brockhampton is continued for about
a mile to the south, where it takes a sudden turn, and is continued
in irregular lines to the south-east, joining the eastern line at
Stow-on-the- Wold.

There are other minor faults in the district, but they do not
affect the Stonesfield slate formation.

There is evidence of denudation in the district under review,
the upper clays being frequently absent : besides that the slopes
of the hills are more or less covered by waterworn debris, and
smaller deposits fill up hollows in the valleys to the depth of 20 or
30 feet. .

The Authors conclude with the following general summary : —

“From the foregoing examination of the upper beds of the
Cotteswoid Hills, we are led to the following conclusions : —

“1st. That the Stonesfield slate occupies a considerable extent
in the Cotteswold range of hills, as we have traced it over a dis-
trict which would scarcely be enclosed within an area of fifty miles ;
and that this formation, as it occurs in this part of the country, is
identical with that at Stonesfield, both in its lithological and zoolo-
gical characters ; indeed it is clearly traceable, with few interrup-
tions, from Sevenhampton, within five miles of Cheltenham, to
Stonesfield near Blenheim in Oxfordshire.

“Q2dly. That the Stonesfield slate in the district above described
is so intermixed with the ragstone, particularly at the edges of
the formation, as to be scarcely, if at all, separable from it, and
(as has been shown) this ragstone presents fossils of a like charac-
ter with those of the great oolite. We are thus led to adopt the

conclusion, that the Stonesfield slate is part of the Great oolite
KK 4

442 [Tune 26,

formation, or at least not sufficiently distinguishable from it, to
entitle it to rank as an independent formation ; but, inasmuch as -
the Great oolite very much thins off where associated with Stones-
field slate, it would appear that the Stonesfield slate and its ac-
companying ‘ragstone’ were deposited by the same sea which
formed the Great oolite itself, and that it partly owed its origin to
certain mixed conditions, arising from the influx of rivers into an
ocean interspersed with numerous scattered islands, abounding in
a luxuriant vegetation, and inhabited by numerous terrestrial
animals ; and this opinion seems more probable from the quantity
of plants which occurs throughout the Stonesfield slate beds, and
also from the relics of land animals, such as the Didelphis and
Pterodactylus.

“We also find that the Great oolite thins outs towards the nor-
thern end, whilst the Inferior oolite thins out in ltke manner
towards the southern end of that long chain of hills of which the
Cotteswolds form a part.

“3dly. If the beds just referred to belong to the Great oolite,
it is just possible that the clays by which they are super-imposed
in this district, may be the equivalent, or a sort of representative
of the Bradford clay, judging at least from their position and the
analogous fossils which they contain. Or, supposing this to be
incorrect, we venture to conclude that these clays are the equiva-
lent of certain clay-beds containing Apiocrinites, which in Wilt-
shire separate the freestone from a lower stratum of freestone of
a coarser texture.”

2. Description of a Fosst. Ray from Mount Lepanon (Cy-
clobatis oligodactylus). By Sir Paizre Grey Ecrrron, Bart.
M.P., F.R.S., F.G.S.

I am indebted to the liberality of Professor Edw. Forbes for
many valuable specimens of fossil fishes, procured by Capt. Graves
from the Lebanon range; and amongst the number, for the
subject of the present memoir, one of the most interesting and
remarkable ichthyolites ever brought to light by palxontological
research. ‘The cases of the discovery of fishes belonging to the
placoid order, in a condition at all approaching to completeness,
are exceedingly rare. The destructible nature of the endoskeleton,
and the loose attachment of its component members, attest the
probability that decomposition would complete its work ere these
records could be engrossed in imperishable characters. That this
order was nevertheless extensively represented from the earliest
fossiliferous period to the present time, is manifest from the fre-
quent occurrence of the palatal tritores, teeth, and defensive fin
bones of the Cestracionts, Hybodonts, and Squales ; and of the
dental apparatus, caudal weapons, and dermal tubercles of the Rays,

gu se

1844] 443

The specimen presented to me by Mr. Forbes is a remarkable ex-
ception to the general rule, the parts being perfectly preserved, so
far as they are exhibited by the fracture of the matrix. The
fish is in its natural position ventre a terre. The dorsal integu-
ments being removed, the skeleton is distinctly exposed as seen
from above. The outer margins of the pectoral fins, and the
caudal vertebre from the termination of the ventral fins, are defi-
cient. ‘The preservation of the claspers proves it to have been a
male, and (to judge from the development of these organs) of
mature age. It corresponds in size with the unique specimen of
Asteroderma from the Solenhofen oolite in the collection of the
Society, but has little resemblance in other respects to that genus.
The negative facts of the absence of all trace of dermal armature,
as also of the caudal ribs described in the *“‘ Poissons Fossiles,”
would sufficiently distinguish it; we have, however, the positive
evidence of the structure of the vertebral column, which is that of
a true ray, without any approach to the squaloid character dis-
played in Asteroderma. As compared with the recent genera,
the circular form of the head eliminates the Lebanon Ray from all
save the Torpedos. From the latter family it is distinguished by
the smaller number and greater length of the rays of the pectoral
fins, by the smaller size of the ventral fins and the tail, as also
by other characters, which will be sufficiently manifested in the
sequel. The aspect of this fossil is very singular: it may not
inaptly be compared to the figure 8, surrounded by a circular
border of long divergent rays. The generic name of Actinobatis
at first struck me as conveying a good idea of this peculiarity ;
but, finding that Agassiz had already appropriated this title to a
fossil ray ‘of which some dermal tubercles have been found at
Plaisance, I have substituted the name Cyclobatis, which expresses
equally well the most striking character of this singular fossil.
The anterior or cephalothoracic cavity is circumscribed by the
carpal bones carrying the fin digits, which join the rostral carti-
lage at an obtuse inverted angle. The mouth extends nearly
from side to side; the teeth are only seen near the symphysis of
the jaw, where they are small and discoid ; the tympanic pedicle,
extending from the angle of the jaw to the cranium, is broad and
strong. ‘The cartilages of the head are crushed ; but the cranial
cavity appears small, as also the orbits. Traces of the branchial
apparatus are preserved; but the number of the arches cannot be
decyphered. The cartilages composing the thoracic girdle, which
forms the fulcrum for the action of the pectoral fins, are broad and
strong. The anterior carpal ossicles are also largely developed,
being at least a third broader than in a recent ray of similar size.
These dimensions are continued until they abut against the an-
terior part of the head. The posterior prolongations of the car-
pal apparatus diminish in size as they recede from the thoracic
girdle, and terminate at the insertion of the last pectoral digit a
little behind the pelvic arch. ‘The pectoral fins are very remark-
able, and contribute chiefly to the peculiar characters of this ray.

444 [June 26,

They extend anteriorly to the nasal cartilages, completely sur-
rounding this portion of the cephalothorax: the distal margins
exceed those of the ventral fins. The component digits are 47 on
each side. ‘They increase in length and breadth as they recede
from the head, the terminal ray being the largest of the series.
In the recent rays the pectoral digits number from 80 to 100, and
in the torpedos nearly 60.

The arrangement of the fin rays in Cyclobatis resembles that of
the recent rays, radiating in regular gradation from the centre to
the extremities, but the smaller number of the digits causes their
divergence to be greater, and the interspaces consequently of
larger extent. The actinated appearance of these organs is due
to this peculiarity, which has suggested the title of oligodactylus
for the species. The form of the phalanges is intermediate between
that of the rays and that of the torpedos, combining a greater length
and denser structure than we find in the latter, with breadth and
thickness exceeding the comparative dimensions of these parts in
the former. ‘The digital articulations are more distant and fewer
in number than in the recent genera. The fork occurs at the
sixth articulation,—in the recent genera not before the tenth. The
phalangeal ossicles do not contract in diameter between the articu-
lations ; they have a projecting longitudinal midrib, from whence
they slope off to the margin, so that a transverse section would
show a lozenge-shaped outline. The coarse granulated structure
of these bones is distinctly traceable, causing a jointed appearance
between the articulations. The abdominal cavity, or that portion
behind the thoracic girdle, is nearly as large as the anterior or
cephalothoracic, and in this respect differs most remarkably from
the torpedos, where the anterior area is at least twice as large as
the ‘posterior. In form it is slightly oval; the pelvic arch differs
from that of all the recent rays I have had opportunities of con-
sulting, in the ;development of two elongated styloid processes,
from the horns of the transverse pubic cartilage, and extending
forwards over two thirds of the abdominal cavity. ‘This structure
recalls vividly the marsupial bones of the Australian mammals.
The transverse cartilage of the pelvis sends out two broad processes,
extending backwards for the attachment of the ventral fins. The
proximal digit on either side is unusually large ; it extends laterally
at right angles to the spinal column, and at the first articulation
forms a second right angle ; the remaining phalanges being directed
backwards, parallel to the spinal column. This digit is detached
from the remainder of the ventral fin, and is inserted considerably
nearer the transverse cartilage. ‘The other fin rays are six in
number on each side: the first is considerably smaller than the
succeeding five, and curves outwards. The remainder agree in
character with the pectoral digits. The tarsal bones which sup-
port the ventral rays, are considerably smaller than in the recent
Skaits, in accordance with the smaller number of these bones,
which in the latter species range from fifteen to twenty. The
impressions of the claspers show these organs to have been compa-

1844. ] 445

ratively large, and of complicated form. The whole of the pelvic
apparatus, with its appendages, as compared with the rays of the
present period, presents remarkable modifications. The small
size of the ventral fins is conclusive evidence against the supposi-
tion that these differences could have relation to locomotion. If
we seek to explain them with reference to the internal structure
of the animal, the absence of the soft parts deprives us of the
means of arriving at any satisfactory results. Analogical consi-
derations, however, would suggest the idea, that the peculiar fea-
tures of these parts have some relation to the generative system.
The vertebral column corresponds with that of the recent rays in
the form and character of the vertebre, and has no approximation
to the squaloid type found in the fossil ray from Solenhofen, in
the Society’s collection. The anteroposterior dimensions of the

_ vertebra are rather greater than in a specimen of raia of similar
size with the fossil : the extremity of the tail is deficient, but judg-

ing from the rapid contraction of the caudal vertebre preserved
in the specimen, this organ must have been small and powerless,
presenting a remarkable contrast to that of the torpedos. There

is no trace of the existence of a defensive weapon ; nor, indeed,
would the proportions and form of this part of the specimen lead
one to infer that this fish could have been provided with such an

organ.

To recapitulate the features of this remarkable fish, we have a
small ray, much resembling those of the present period, but en-
tirely surrounded by a broad flexible cartilagino-membranous fin,
the skin smooth, the teeth and eyes small, the tail slender, and no
trace of dermal spines, tubercles, or defensiveweapons. It is impossi-
ble to resist a speculation, as to how ananimal apparently so destitute
of the means of offence or defence could have existed. We find in the
recent rays various provisions adapted to these ends. Trygon and

_ Myliobatis are armed with weapons so powerful and deadly, that they
have been adopted by savage nations for the armature of their war

spears. Other genera have the nasal cartilages prolonged in the

form of a cut-water, to enable them both to evade by flight those

enemies they could not encounter in single combat, and to over-
take the smaller fishes on which they subsist; and most of the
recent forms have their integuments studded with spines or osseous
plates, forming a species of defensive armour for the body, while
a similar armature on the long and flexible tail renders this organ
an effectual weapon for keeping intruders at a respectful distance.
Our fossil possessed none of these advantages: the large develop-
ment and anterior extension of the pectoral fins must have rendered
the locomotive efforts of Cyclobatis little more effectual than the
systole and diastole of a Medusa. The safety of the fish, then,
could not depend upon flight. But these organs, however ill
adapted for speed, are admirably formed for concealment, and
when applied to the sand at the bottom of the ocean, would act
as the leather suckers with which mischievous boys draw up the
paving-stones in the streets, retaining the fish stationary, while

446 eoane 26,

the smoothness of the skin would present no obstacle to the passers
by, and possibly its colour may have contributed to render the
concealment more effectual. The position of the mouth forbids
the idea that this ray buried itself in mud, as the lophius and
other predatory fish are known to do. The difficulty of defence
being thus surmounted, we have still to devise how this fish pro-
cured its subsistence. It may be that it fed upon some of the
smaller and more helpless denizens of the deep; but at the same time
I am inclined to believe, from a comparison of the oral apparatus
with the recent forms, that its food was not dissimilar. Some
of these forms, too, if found in a fossil state, would cause the zoolo-
gical reasoner full as great embarrassment as the subject under
discussion, from the absence of the ordinary provisions for self-
preservation so familiar to all. Yet the Creator of the Universe
has not formed them helpless; so far otherwise, he has en-
dowed them with a subtle armoury, more powerful than the dental
chevaux-de-frise of the marauding shark, — more deadly than the
serrated lance of the fireflare,— more effectual than the speed of
the dolphin, or the aerial excursions of the flying-fish. I allude
to the electric apparatus of the Torpedo. The Lebanon Ray in
many points of structure has presented analogies with this genus ;
and although, in the absence of all positive evidence to the fact,
it would not be justifiable to infer that it was provided with a
similar organ, yet I do not conceive that in drawing attention to
this consideration in the passing allusion I have made above, I
have overstepped those bounds of probability which ought to be
rigidly observed by every observer in the rich and inexhaustible
field of nature.* :

3. On some New Species of Foss. Fisu, from the Oxford Clay
at CuristiAN Marrorp. By Sir Pair Grey Egerton,
Bart., M.P., F.R.S., F.G.S.!

TuroucH the kindness of Lord Northampton and Mr. Pratt I have
had an opportunity of examining several specimens of fossil fish
found with the beautiful Ammonites and Belemnites already de-:
scribed by Mr. Pratt and Professor Owen, in the Oxford clay, at
Christian Malford, near Chippenham. Some of these ichthyolites
are in an excellent state of preservation ; others are mere frag-
ments. Those genera I have been able to identify belong to the
Lepidoid and Sauroid families of the Ganoid order of Agassiz, viz.
Lepidotus, Leptolepis, and Aspidorhynchus. These three genera

- * In the accompanying plate, fig. 1. represents this fossil of its natural size,
and fig. 2. is a magnified view of part of the jaw.

1844.) 447

are found also associated with Ammonites and Belemnites in the
lithographic stone quarries of Germany. The species appear all
to be new.

GaNoOID ORDER.
Lepidoid Family.
Lepidotus macrochirus, Eg.

Ihave only seen one specimen referable to the genus Lepi-
dotus ; it is, however, the finest ichthyolite yet discovered in this
locality. The fish reclines on its back, and presents the whole
ventral surface to the spectator. The head bones are rather dislo-
cated, by which accident an advantageous view of the teeth is ob-
tained. The two large bones of the horns of the hyoid bone are
seen 7 situ. The pectoral and ventral fins are well displayed ;
the anal and caudal are crushed and indistinct. As compared
with the species of this genus already described by Agassiz, this
Lepidotus has the nearest affinity to Lepzdotus semiserratus of the
Whitby lias: it differs in the narrowness of the head, the larger
size of the pectoral fins, and the marginal armature of the scales.
The form of the lower jaw is well shown. The teeth are numer-
ous, both in the upper and lower jaws, as also on the palate; they
are in the form of acute cones, on constricted pedicles. The teeth
on the palate are larger than those on the maxillary bones. The
pectoral fins are large and strong. The rays are twenty or twenty-
one in each fin, single for about half their length, then articulated ;
the articulations being frequent, and the ossicles small. The rays
dichotomize so frequently as they recede from the base, that the
extremity of the fin has a finely fimbriated appearance. The
ventral fins are small, but the rays composing them are strong,
apparently about eight in number. The scales have the thick
enamelled surface so characteristic of the genus. The posterior
edges of the flank scales are deeply notched or scalloped; this~
feature is traceable in other parts, although the number of notches
in the caudal region is reduced to two or three. The gradual
change of outline from the oblong to the lozenge shape as the scales
approach the belly and tail, obtains as in other species of this
genus. The arrangement of the scales of the vent has not hitherto
been described in this genus. Indeed, no specimen with which I
am acquainted exhibits these details ; and yet we can scarcely
imagine them peculiar to the species under description, but as
common to the genus. In front of the anal fin, we find a pair of
scales of large size; these are overlapped by a single scale con-
siderably larger, and the anal orifice is situate under the middle of
the posterior edge of the latter, coincident with the line of junc-
tion between the former. These three scales are quadrangular, and
deeply notched on their free margin. Having had only a brief
opportunity of examining the specimen above described, the details
are not so complete as I could wish; they are, however, sufficient

448 [June 26,

to show that this Lepidotus of the Oxford clay is not referable to
any of those species already described by Professor Agassiz.

Sauroid Family.
Leptolepis macrophthalmus, Eg.

Lord Northampton possesses a specimen, nearly perfect, from
the same locality as the preceding, referable to the Sauroid genus
Leptolepis. It differs from the other numerous species of this
genus in the long, slender, and superlatively elegant form of the
body, as also by the large size of the orbit. The length of this
fish is 5} inches, depth at the dorsal fin ;°, of an inch. The head
is small, and its constituent bones thin and smooth. The mouth
also is very small, and opens upwards; the orbit very large in
proportion to the size of the head. The spinal column is composed
of about 40 vertebra, the terminal ones decreasing rapidly in size,
and tending upwards: the ribs and vertebral spines are slender.
The pectoral fins are composed of ten or twelve rays each; of these
the anterior ones are strong. The ventral fins are comparatively
large ; they are situate nearly in the centre of the body, and have
twelve raysin each. The dorsal fin is small, and immediately oppo-
site the ventrals. The number of rays in this fin is not discernible.
The anal fin is also small, and situate about half way between the
ventral and caudal fins ; the latter organ is symmetrical: the upper
lobe has eight rays springing from the terminal vertebra, and has
three or four fulcral rays on its upper margin. The lower lobe has
from eight to ten rays. The scales are small and thin, finely sculp-
tured with concentric strie, as in Leptolepis dubius, and other species
of this genus. This fish appears not uncommon in the Christian
Malford deposit, as I have seen several specimens in the collec-
tions of Lord Nerthampton and Mr. Pratt, to whose liberality I am
indebted for the specimens in my own cabinet. The latter gentle-
man has also presented me with two specimens which appear to
constitute another species; they are not, however, sufficiently per-
fect to enable me to separate them definitively from the species
already described, and the most striking differences appear to be, the
greater size of the fish, and the stronger proportions of the ribs.
The opercular bones are large, and the pre-operculum is sculp-
tured with shallow radiating grooves. The fins are indistinct or
wanting in these specimens; and the scales are wholly absent. I
designate this fish by the provisional appellation of Leptolepis
costalis.

Aspidorhynchus euodus, Es.
The evidence of the occurrence of this remarkable genus, asso-
ciated with the forms described above, con-
Cee sists of a few detached scales, and two frag-
ments of jaw, one belonging to Lord North-
ampton, and the other to Lord Enniskillen.

The scales present the peculiar characters
found in the other species of the genus, and

1844.) 449

leave no doubt as to the correctness of the generic identification.
The teeth differ so far from the continental specimens as to indi-
cate a distinct species. ‘The jaw is furnished, as in the recent
Lepidosteus, with teeth of various sizes, the larger ones projecting
at intervals, the smaller ones filling the spaces between the princi-
palones. These teeth are remarkable for their strength and falcate
shape. The bases are broad, and as the shafts taper to the apices
they incline gently backwards: the result of this arrangement is a
most formidable array of prehensile weapons, well adapted to secure
the prey of these destructive fish, notwithstanding the obstruction
of the ganoid scales with which they were invested. ‘The speci-
mens as yet brought to light of this fish are insufficient to show
any further details of the species ; it is to be hoped, however, that
ere long, the riches of the Christian Malford deposit will be more
fully explored. As faras our information extends, the association
of forms there found is a natural one. The strong conical grinders
of the Lepidotus are fully equal to contend with the shells of the
Ammonites and the Mollusca; the sharp bristling teeth of the Lep-
tolepis would find a suitable prey in the soft parts of the Belem-
nites, while they in their turn would find it difficult to elude the
swift course and murderous jaws of the Aspidorhynchus.

4. On certain Calcareo-corneous Bodies found in the outer
chambers of AMMoniTEs. By H. E. Srrickianp, M.A., F.G.S.

a. A portion of the broken shell of an Ammonite, with the calcareo-corneous
body 2n situ, reduced to one-fourth natural size.

b. The body in (a), of the natural size.
c. Another similar body of a different species, also of the natural size.~

Iy 1841, Miss Anning, of Lyme Regis, drew my attention to some
black-coloured substances which she had occasionally met with in
the interior of the Ammonites Bucklandi, and which she considered
to indicate the presence of an ink-bag in the animal of the Ammo-
nite, corresponding to that of the Sepiide. From these and other
specimens, it appeared to me evident that these substances had
constituted, not an ink-bag, but a laminar appendage to the animal,
adapted to discharge some unascertained function. The specimens

450 [June 26,

presented the appearance of a very thin concave shell, elossy on its
outer surface, with irregular concentric undulations, crossed by
longitudinal striz and fine irregular oblique wrinkles. In the
middle of the external margin is a large undulation or sinus. The
inner surface, as exhibited by its cast, is of a dull black, the outer
surface of the shell being of the colour of horn. Miss Anning in-
formed me that these bodies generally occur about the middle of
the outer chamber of the ammonite, whence they are obtained by
breaking the fossil ; but as this process more frequently destroyed
than exposed the object of search, I was unable, during my stay at
Lyme Regis, to procure any tolerably perfect specimens, or to
arrive at any satisfactory conclusion as to their nature.

In 1843, my attention was again called to the subject by finding
in a bed of lias limestone, at Temple Grafton and Bickmarsh,
near Bidford, in Warwickshire, (a bed remarkable for the variety
of fish, plants, insects, and Crustacea which it contains,) several
anomalous bodies whose characters were difficult to define. These
substances are of a nearly semicircular form, very thin, slightly
concave, presenting a small notch at the middle of the straight
side, and having their surface covered with irregularly wrinkled
lines of growth, concentric to the notch above mentioned. - From
the same point of departure also proceed fine radiating lines, visible
only with the help of a lens. The colour is usually black, but they
sometimes present a browner tint, as if from a mixture of calea-
reous and carbonaceous matter. The usual diameter is from half
to five-eighths of an inch. (See figure c.)

In speculating on the nature of these bodies, although the black
colour seemed to indicate a vegetable origin, yet the concentric
lines of growth appeared so evidently allied to the structure of
Molluscous shells, that I could not hesitate to seek for their affini-
_ ties among the latter class of animals. Indeed, the general aspect
is so much like that of an Orthis, that had they been found in a
Palzozoic rock, I should probably have referred them to the
Brachiopoda. But on closer examination it was evident, that
these bodies were very little, if at all, calcareous, and that though
their mode of growth was similar to that of shells, yet their com-
position was, in great measure, corneous, and probably elastic, like
the plate in the genus Laplysia. It seemed, therefore, likely that
they were part of the internal organisation of some mollusc, and
on comparing them with the bodies before mentioned, as occurring
in the Ammonites of Lyme Regis, it seemed not improbable that
they were of a similar nature. Now the bed of lias in which
these substances oceur, contains two species of Ammonites, the
A. planorbis, Sow., and another allied to A. Conybeari; and the
dimensions of these Ammonites are such as would very well
permit the bodies in question to be contained in their outer
chamber. The form, too, of the bodies, is nearly that of a trans-
verse section of the chamber of the Ammonite, so that they might
easily close it in the manner of an operculum. From these con-
siderations, the most probable supposition seemed to be, that the

1844.] 451

detached substances in the Bidford lias were portions of the
animals of the Ammonites which occur in the same stratum.

This conjecture has been recently verified by finding a very
interesting specimen. It is a species of Ammonite, allied to
A, Turneri, Sow., but, as yet, I believe, unnamed, which occurs
in a bed of clay, at Defford, Worcestershire, near the middle
region of the lower lias. By a fortunate fracture, this spe-
cimen exhibits, imbedded in the stone which fills the outer
chamber, a substance evidently identical in its nature with those
just described. It lies with the convex surface outwards, and the
straight side turned towards the mouth of the shell. The portion

exposed to view is the cast of the interior surface, which is some-

what irregularly waved, but exhibits distinct concentric lines of
growth. The whole of this inner surface is black like the Bidford
specimens, but portions of the substance itself, which still adhere
to the cast, are white and calcareous, showing that in this species,
at least, the body was of a shelly nature. The slight portions
which remain of the outer surface of this thin calcareous plate
exhibit fine lines, radiating rather irregularly from the centre of
the straight side, in-which there is a very small but deep emar-
gination or notch. (See the figure 0.)

Judging from the specimens thus repeatedly obtained within
the outer chamber of several species of Ammonite, there can be
no reasonable doubt that these bodies were appendages of the
cephalopodous mollusc which inhabited those shells. I leave it
to more expert comparative anatomists to pronounce as to the pre-
cise nature of these corneo-calcareous appendages, which were

_ possibly the representatives of the horny girdle described by Pro-

fessor Owen as occurring in the recent nautilus, and which aids

in the attachment of the animal to the shell. They may also
possibly be the equivalents of that “ligamento-muscular disc,”
which protects the head of the recent nautilus.

These singular bodies may perhaps throw light on the nature
of that much-disputed fossil the Trigonellites or Aptychus. I am
aware that Professor Forbes has recently seen some reason for re-

- ferring the latter fossil to the existing Holothuriade. But as this
_ supposed affinity is as yet far from being demonstrated, I may be

allowed to remark that the two valves of Trigonellites, when ex-
panded, closely resemble in appearance the univalve disc which
I have been describing ; and when we recollect that Trigonellites

have hitherto only been found in formations which also contain

Ammonites, and that they have in several instances been found in
the interior of Ammonites precisely as in the case of the bodies
before us, there is, I think, a fair presumption that these singular

_ bodies are allied in origin and in function to the remarkable fossils

here described.

On referring to a paper communicated by M. Voltz to the
Natural History Society of Strasburg, which will be found in the
Mém. de (Institut for 1837, p. 48, it appears that he was ac-
quainted with fossils similar to those before us, and that he also

VOL. IV. PART I. Ley

452 [June 26,

considered them to be allied to Trigonellites or Aptychus. He
divides the Aptychi into three groups, A. cornet, imbricati, and
cellulosi, the former of which differs from the two latter (which
are calcareous and bivalve,) in being corneous and univalve, both
which characters are applicable to the fossils which I have above
described. He supposes that in the corneous species a certain
degree of motion was effected in the two halves of the body by
means of its own elasticity, while in the calcareous groups the
same end was obtained by means of a bivalve structure. He
enumerates five species of the corneous group, all of which are
from the lias and inferior oolite, and which, like the imbricate
and cellulous species, are occasionally found in the interior of
Ammonites, occupying a symmetrical position, and corresponding
in their dimensions to the shell in which they are found. From
these and other reasons, M. Voltz regards the whole of this group
of fossils as appendages to the animals of Ammonites, a view
which is confirmed by the facts adduced in the present commu-
nication. ’

5. Notice concerning the Tertiary Deposits in the south of Spain.
By James Smita, Esq., of Jordanhill, F.G.S8.

In the bay of Gibraltar, immediately to the north of the plain
which separates the fortress from the Spanish territory, we meet
with a series of low swelling hills of yellow rubbly sandstone, the
beds dipping to the S.W. at an angle of 12°, and abounding in
marine tertiary fossils. Of these fossils, there is only a small
variety, and of many of the species I could only find casts ; but these
were sufficient to furnish an important link, connecting distant
deposits; for upon comparing them with the specimens in the
Society’s Museum, illustrative of Col. Silvertop’s account of the
tertiary formation of Murcia and Grenada, and Lieut. Spratt’s
paper on the Geology of Malta, I find that the three deposits are
identical.

I have also observed tertiary beds at Cadiz, and between Xeres
and Seville, which, I am satisfied, belong to the same deposit;
and Mr. Sharpe, in his paper on the Geology of Lisbon, has as-
signed reasons, with which I entirely agree, for considering that
the tertiary beds of the Tagus coincide with those of the south
of Spain.* :

In a communication respecting the age of the Lisbon tertiary
beds, I stated the grounds which led me to conclude that it was
nearly the same as that of the Bourdeaux deposit, and I may now
add, that I consider it more ancient than the Touraine Faluns,
or older crag.t It will be seen, from the report of Professor

* Geol. Transactions, 2d series, vol. vi. p. 113.
t+ Geol. Proceedings, vol. iii. p. 492.

1844. ] 453

Forbes on the Malta fossils*, that he has arrived at the same con-
clusion with respect to their age.

Professor Agassiz, who examined my collection of Lisbon shells,
considered that they were of the same age as the Molasse of
Switzerland.

The whole of these deposits, therefore, may be placed in the
Miocene or middle division of the tertiary system; a formation of
prodigious extent, which appears to have comprehended the whole
of the southern portion of the European continent, from the shores
of Portugal to the Morea, and from Switzerland and NISTE to
Malta and the Straits of Gibraltar.

* Geol. Proceedings, vol. iv. p. 232.

Ph haan
PEG R
Loe

PROCEEDINGS

OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Vou, LV. Parr III. 1844-5, No. 102.

NovemeBer 6, 1844.

Tue following communication was read : —

OxzsERVATIONS on the GroLocy of some parts of Tuscany. By
W. J. Hamitton, Esq. M.P., Sec. G.S.

One of the principal physical features of the district under con-
sideration in the present memoir, is the existence of three distinct
mountain ridges, extending from N.W. by N. to S.E. by S., and
parallel to the direction of the main chain of the Apennines. All
these ranges belong to the Scaglia, a representative of the cretaceous
series which is known to prevail extensively throughout Greece, the
Morea, the Ionian Islands, Asia Minor, and the South of France.

I cannot pretend to define the limits of these different ranges, or
even to point out their exact number and geological contents,
having only been able to visit a small portion of them ; but the
following are the principal lines occurring in the district which
came under my consideration.

lst. The first line, commencing between Pistoja and Prato,
passes through Castello and Fiesoli, and keeping to the N.E. of
Florence, descends in a §.E. direction to Arezzo. Castiglion
Fiorentino, Cortona, &c., when it passes to the N.E. of the Lake of
Thrasymene.

VOL. IV. PART III. M M

456 [Nov. 6,

2d. Commencing to the 8. of Pistoja in the Monte Albano, the
second line crosses the Arno, between Signe and Empoli, and
passing through Galluzzo and L’Ilmpruneta, extends through San
Martino, San Donato, Incisa, Levane, to the hills of Chianti, and
thence to Monte Cetona.

3d. The third line, more to the $.W., may be said to commence
with the hills of Monte Pisani, near Pisa ; thence crossing the
Arno, it continues along the line of hills which separates the valleys
of the Era and the Elsa, passing between Volterra and Poggibonzi
until it reaches the mountainous district, in which are the quarries
of Sienna marble, ten or fifteen miles S.W. of that city.

Perhaps a 4th parallel line may be traced further to the S.W.,
- commencing with the hills of Monte Rotondo, near Leghorn, and
passing through Monte Catini and Monte Cerboli, until it loses
itself in-the complicated system of the Maremme.*

It is still a question for further investigation how typ the
crystalline Limestone near Sienna, and in oid. to the W. and
S.W. of that town, are the quarries of Sienna marble, is to be con-
sidered as a district of older formation. It is probable that a
transverse chain of elevation, marked by rocks of a more crystalline
character, will hereafter be distinguished extending from N.E. to
S.W., 2. e. from the Monte di Chianti, through Monte Maggio, N. of
Sienna, to the district in which the quarries occur.

The valleys between these different ranges are generally filled with
tertiary deposits of various characters, some of a mere local nature,
while others extend over a considerable tract of country, to which
they impart a singularly dreary appearance, being almost entirely
devoid of vegetation and altogether unsuited for cultivation.

The various formations of ‘Tuscany may be described in the fol-
lowing ascending order : —

A. Srratiriep Rocks.
I. Secondary formation.

1. Tertiary marine.
II. Tertiary formation 2 2. Tertiary freshwater.
8. Post-tertiary formations.

B. Meramorruic Rocks
Red Gabbro.

C. Tenrous Rocks.

1. Serpentine — secondary period.
2. Selagite — tertiary period.
3. Basalt of Radicofani, &e.

5 '

* Since writing the above, I find that the same features of three parallel
‘ranges have been ‘described by M. A. Burat, in a paper lately read before the
Institut de France. See Comptes Rendus, 1843 (p. 11s ).

1844.) 457

A. STRATIFIED ROCKs.

I. Secondary Formation.

These rocks, which constitute by far the greatest portion of the
mountainous districts of Tuscany, forming the parallel ranges
extending from N.W. to S.E., consist of various beds of sandstone,
indurated marls and shales, and compact grey lithographic lime-
stone or scaglia, either alternating with each other or more or less
developed in different localities.

The sandstone consists of three different varieties, viz., —

(a) Hard grit (macigno), considerably developed near Florence,
particularly to the W. and §.W., where it forms large mountain
‘masses, and is extensiyely quarried along the banks of the Arno,
and at various other points, for building-stone and for the slabs em-
ployed in paving the streets of Florence. A very considerable
quarry, affording an excellent section of thin beds of this rock,
alternating with a soft bluish shale, occurs on the banks of the Ema,
‘near Ponte d’Ema, about two or three miles S. E. from Florence.
Many of the slabs show slight appearances of fucoidal stems. It
| generally occurs alternating with thin bands of shale of a dark
‘blue or reddish colour. It varies considerably in dip, although
most frequently inclined to the N., N.E., and N.W. The grain
of this stone is generally coarse and compact, and it is often tra-
' versed by thin veins of calcareous spar.

(6) A fine-grained greenish sandstone (pietra serena), exten-
sively quarried near Fiesoli, where the beds dip to the N. W., and
‘used for architectural purposes in Florence. It also occurs at
-Monte Catini, just above the village of that name, dipping S.
and S. E.

(c) A soft friable sandstone, of a yellowish brown colour, slightly
micaceous. It is broken by numerous fissures into rhomboidal
masses of various sizes and shapes. It forms hills of considerable
height and extent in the Val d’Arno di sopra, above Levane and
Arezzo. I only met with one locality producing anything re-
sembling organic remains, and these consisted of a few vegetable
impressions.

The indurated marls and shales are generally associated with
the hard grits and sandstones ; but the former are sometimes de-
veloped to a great thickness, forming masses of considerable extent,
and consisting of numerous strata. ‘This formation came under
my notice in the vicinity of Castiglion Fiorentino, between Arezzo
and Cortona, and in the neighbourhood of the mines of Monte
Catini. In the former locality it is traversed by several thick
veins of calcareous spar; and in the latter it consists of a great
variety of thin strata, dipping from the region of the copper mines
to the S. and S. W., and underlying a thick formation of secondary _

lithographic limestone. Numerous beds of indurated shales also
MM 2

’

458 Nov. 6, |

occur in the neighbourhood of Florence, in the hills above the
Certosa, where it is overlaid by thick beds of macigno.* |

The limestone called in the country alberese, and often associated
with the above-described sandstones and indurated argillaceous
shales, is very compact, varying in colour from a bluish to a yel-
lowish white, and resembles lithographic limestone and the scaglia
of the N. of Italy and Greece, which is generally referred to the
Cretaceous period. ‘The principal localities at which I had an op-
portunity of observing it were : 1, near the Impruneta, six or seven
miles S. of Florence, where it is extensively quarried. Not far
from hence, at a place called Mugnano nummulites are said to
have been found in great abundance in one of the limestone
beds ; 2, at San Donato, 9 miles S. E. of Florence, on the road to
Arezzo, where it forms hills of considerable height. It is either
horizontally stratified or dips slightly to the E. It may be traced
for several miles to the S. in the bottom of all the ravines, overlaid
by tertiary sands and gravels, as far as Incisa, on the banks of the
Arno ; 3, at Monte Catini ; the alberese here overlies the sandstone
and indurated marls which have been upheaved and tilted by the
protrusion of the igneous rocks with which the copper mines of La
Cava are connected. It laps round the uplifted masses of Monte
Massi and Poggio alla Croce, and not possessing the same elas-
ticity as the schistose beds, has been much more shattered and
broken up by the elevatory action to which it was exposed. It
also occurs in the same chain of hills further westward, towards
Monte Miemo, where, not being in such immediate contact with
igneous rocks, it still preserves its compact and stratified character.
Proceeding westward, towards Castellina, it is found in several
places near Monte Vaso, where attempts are now making to obtain
copper on the strength of indications similar to those of Monte
Catini.

To the S. of the Cecina, in the midst of a wild and wooded
mountain district, consisting chiefly of serpentine or ophiolitic
rocks, the same scaglia limestone also occurs, forming elevated
plateaux and ridges, on which, notwithstanding the enormous
fragments by which the ground is encumbered, the industry of
the inhabitants is constantly directed to the raising of crops of
corn. My attention not having been so particularly directed to
these secondary formations, I regret that I cannot more clearly
describe the different groups into which they are subdivided.

Il. Tertiary Formation,

The tertiary formations of Tuscany may, for the purposes of
arrangement, be subdivided into three groups, as already men-
tioned : —

* Captain Portlock’s paper has been communicated since this was written.

1844. ] 459

1. Tertiary Marine Formation.

The principal localities in which I observed this formation may
be referred geographically to the following districts : —

a, The basin of Volterra and its neighbourhood, with the valley of the Era.

b. Leghorn.

ce. Poggibonzi, including the.country from Colle to S. Casciano, with a
great portion of the valley of the Elsa,

d. Sienna, and the country watered by the Ombrone, extending to Buon
Convento, S. Quirico, and Pienza. ,

e. The upper portion of the Val di Chiana, and the basin containing the
lakes of Chiusi and Monte Pulciano.

a. The Basin of Volterra and its neighbourhood, with the Valley
of the Era.—This district commences on the north with the hills
which form the southern boundary of the Val d’ Arno, near Ponte
Era, and extends S.S.E. as far as the Cecina, where it consti-
tutes a range of hills on the south bank of that river, resting against
a confused district of serpentine and scaglia limestone. On the
east it is bounded by the hills which separate the valleys of the
Era and the Elsa, and which, where I had an opportunity of
seeing them, consist of secondary limestone ; and on the west by
the hills to the S. E. of Leghorn, of which the highest point is
known by the name of M. Nero. In the S. portion of this region
rises the insulated mass of hills extending from E. to W., from
M. Catini to Castellina, and which is thence prolonged north-
wards to M. Vaso. These hills consist of the secondary formation
already described, lapping round masses of gabbro rosso and ser-
pentine; this latter rock has protruded itself in many instances,
and with it the metalliferous deposits of this district are mainly
connected.

_ The beds of which this tertiary formation consists rise gradually
from the N.W., from under the alluvial formation of the Val
@’ Arno, towards Volterra, where they attain a height of nearly
1800 feet. By far the greater portion of the whole thickness is a
stiff blue clay, called by the inhabitants matajone, throughout
which are disseminated many small crystals of selenite. It first
appears at the foot of a lofty cliff on the right bank of the Era,
‘called Ripa Bianca, under the village of Peccioli. It is overlaid
‘by a thick bed of sands, limestone, and arenaceous tuffs, varying
in thickness from 20 to 100 feet, the lower portions of which are
very friable, and contain many small calcareous nodules, arranged
in parallel layers. On the left bank of the Era, near Capannoli,
‘L observed in the sand several parallel beds of oysters, thickly
‘matted together, and associated with a few broken Pectens.

_ The summit of the lofty hill of Volterra, affording one of the
most commanding positions in the country, and remarkable as
being the site of an old Etruscan city, gives another interesting

‘section of the limestone and arenaceous beds, which cap the ter- .
z MM 3

g
460 [ Nov. 6,

tiary blue marls ; the total thickness of this capping is about 80 or
100 feet. This elevated plateau is nearly 2000 feet above the
level of the sea. To the W. and N.W. it presents a long extent
of steep escarpment, 80 or 100 feet high, near the northern extre-
mity of which is a deep and precipitous ravine, called Le Balze, in
which extensive land-slips are constantly taking place, and where,
during the last 150 years, many houses and churches have been
engulphed by the gradual working bagk of the cliff. A spring of
water issues at its foot, between the sandstone and the blue marl,
which, acting on the lower arenaceous beds, combined with the
effect of weathering and heavy rains on the blue marl itself, has
undermined the cliff, and caused its fall into. the hollow below.
The following is a section of this part of the formation : —

Shelly limestone.

z
Aan)
ela eiiCenn tena

Sand.

Set Limestone.
rere yin '

IAS te ne

Sandy limestone. “

Sand, limestone concretions.

Arenaceous tuff.

| {ie marl and sand.

Bie mari.

The upper bed of shelly limestone is full of Cardium, Pecten,
Ostrea, &c., but in a very comminuted state. In the arenaceous
beds they are less abundant, but the nodules or calcareous concre-
tions are full, and in fact are sometimes quite composed of them.
In some places the separation of the limestone from the sand is
not complete, and the whole bed consists of an arenaceous lime-
stone. At a short distance from Volterra to the E.S. E. is another
hill called Poggio alla Rocca, consisting, like the former, of blue
marl capped with limestone and arenaceous beds, but not rising to’
the same height. Marine fossil shells are very abundant in many
purts of this formation. z

This upper formation or capping is evidently a portion of that
which, occurring on the summit of many hills-in this district, has
received from Savi the name of Panchina, and which he considers
as the result of local submarine springs depositing calcareous mat-
ter in the neighbourhood of their sources. But it is of so general
a character, and occurs in so many districts under the same cir-
cumstances, that I cannot agree to such a partial explanation.
Many of the hills S. of the Cecina, and particularly in the neigh-

1844.] ~ 461

bourhood of Pomerance, are capped with thick beds of this same
caleareo-arenaceous deposit. Pomerance itself is built on a mass
of it, and it closely resembles that which I shall hereafter describe
in the Sienna district, and on which the towns of S. Quirico,
Pienza, and Sienna are also built ; although here it is perhaps
rather more calcareous. It also occurs to the 8.E. of Leghorn,
where it forms the substratum of the plain and the beach. It is,
however, certainly a remarkable feature that it is seldom quite
horizontal, but appears to follow the slope of the hills, lapping
over them like a covering. It everywhere contains numerous
marine shells, chiefly Pecten and Ostrea ; the latter sometimes con-
stituting whole beds, while the material is in many places sand.
and pebbles, with a hard calcareous matrix. Although this form-
ation is always found as a capping of the hills, and never occurs
in the valleys, it is not seen on the high hills of Monte Catini and
Monte Vaso, which were probably already elevated into islands
before it was deposited; but it may, I think, be traced in a few
places circling round the eastern portion of these hills, opposite
Volterra. Of these the localities most worthy of observation
are where the new road leading to M. Catini and La Cava has been
cut through thick beds of conglomerated pebbles, sand, and cal-
careous bands containing large Ostree and Pectens, and evidently
resting against the unconformable beds of the secondary formation,
and of the gabbro rosso,

But the most extensively developed feature in this marine ter-
tiary formation is the blue marl which immediately underlies the
last-mentioned beds, and has in the great basin of Volterra a
thickness of nearly a thousand feet. It may, however, be a ques-
tion whether this blue marl does not belong to an older tertiary
period, —- Eocene, perhaps, instead of Miocene, as the limestone
capping, instead of being almost horizontal, generally follows the
slopes and undulations of the hills, as if deposited after the valleys
had been scooped out.

At Volterra fossil shells are of rare occurrence in the blue marl 5
but as we approach the borders of the formation towards the north,
they become more abundant, and in some cases, as near the junction
of the Sterza and the Era, may be said to constitute nearly one
half of the whole mass of the formation. They are, however, so
broken and fragile, that it was difficult to extract entire speci-
mens. Dentalium, Cardium, Venus, Cerithium, Pleurotoma,
Turritella, and large Ostree, were most numerous. With them
were associated small crystals of selenite, which, abounding in
many portions of the blue marl, give it a glittering and sparkling
appearance.

Below the borgo of Monte Catini is found a singular spotted
argillaceous rock, resting against the erupted mass of igneous
rock on which Monte Catini is built. Its appearance is that of a
trap rock; but, on further search, it proved to be full of shells,
chiefly Cardium. It is of a greenish grey coleur, and at first shows ’

c Mu 4

462 [Nov. 6,

a few light-coloured spots, which, by degrees, become more nu-
merous, and occur even in the shells themselves. Other specimens,
in which decomposition or alteration is more advanced, show larger
spots ; until at length they assume an entirely pisolitic character,
the grains being perfectly detached, whether they occur in the
mass of the rock itself, or in the shells. I believe it to be the blu»
marl altered by the eruption of the igneous rock. : ;

But if the blue marl near the centre of the basin is deficient in
organic remains, it abounds in numerous productions of mineral-
ogical importance, which, both from their own intrinsic value,
and from their connection with other phenomena still occurring
in the same vicinity, deserve to be particularly noticed.

About five miles $.S.E. from Volterra, in the deep valley of
S. Giovanni, situated in the blue marl, and watered by a small
stream, are extensive salt-works, now the property of the Govern-
ment, but from which, in former times, the inhabitants of Volterra
chiefly derived those riches by which their town flourished and
preserved its independence and importance. These salt-works are
fed by springs of brine collected from nine different spots where
the saturated water is pumped up from deep pits. It has been
ascertained by sinking wells and by Artesian borings that this
brine is derived from beds of rock salt, which, at different depths
below the surface, varying from 50 to 100 feet, are found alterna-
ting with the blue marl, in the same manner as the alabaster
occurs in other parts of the same formation; and in the boilers,
during the process of evaporation, much sulphate of lime is depo-
sited. ‘The average annual production of salt is stated to be from
18,000,000 to 19,000,000 Tuscan pounds ;—about 140,000 ewt.,
or 7000 tons per annum.

The other productions found in the blue marl are gypsum,
alabaster, and selenite, — the various forms in which the sulphate
of lime so abundant in this district has been deposited. They are
particularly met with in the neighbourhood of Volterra, where,
however, all the varieties of gypsum do not occur. The pure
white quality known as alabaster, and in such demand at Florence,
is only found in the neighbourhood of Castellina, about twenty
miles W. N. W. from Volterra, at the western extremity of the
hills of Monte Catini. It may, however, be observed that the
great developement of gypseous matter appears to be confined to a
narrow line extending from W. N. W. to E. S. E., in which direc-
tion a band of only a few miles in width drawn from Castel-
lina to somewhere near Monte Miccioli would comprise all the
gypsum and alabaster quarries in the country, as well as the salt-
works already alluded to.

The deposits of Volterra, Picchiaiola, S. Lorenzo, and Castellina
may be described as giving the best types of the different forms in
which the gypsum of this country occurs. 1. That of Volterra,
which is called the variegated alabaster, is most frequently found in
detached irregular masses of greater or less size, penetrated by red

1844.] 463

and green and yellow veins. It is frequently much shattered, and
sometimes mixed up with the blue clay: it is harder than the
other varieties, and is used principally in the manufacture of vases,
candelabra, &c. It occurs chiefly from four to six miles §. E. and
E. of Volterra, on the road to Florence.

2. In the immediate vicinity of the little village of Picchiaiola,
five miles on the road from Volterra to Florence, is a very consi-
derable mass of gypsum of peculiar character, rising above the
surface of the ground. It consists of irregularly compacted masses
of crystals of selenite easily detached from one another, and called
by the people of the country specchio dasino, or the “ass’s look-
ing-glass.” On breaking off the outer crystallised crust, an earthy
crystalline substance is perceived full of cavities and botrydidal
concretions, precisely resembling the substance formed round the
vents of the vapours of Monte Cerboli; at once suggesting the
idea that some at least of these gypseous deposits may have been
produced by similar vapours or soffiont.

83. The third form in which the gypsum occurs in this district
is that of an irregular broken stratification. The blocks occur at
intervals more or less distant, extending in long lines through the
marls in which it is found, sometimes occurring as detached
masses, and at others in continuous beds. In the neighbourhood
of S. Lorenzo, near the suspension bridge over the Cecina, this
formation is seen on both sides of the river, but is not of any great
thickness. Near Buviano, on the north bank of the Cecina, to-
wards Monte Catini, the gypsum beds occur sloping at a very
considerable angle down the hill sides, and apparently following
. their inclination. Wherever this variety of gypsum occurs it is
almost invariably of an opaque white saccharine character. It
is found in many detached spots in the Volterra district.

4. By far the most interesting and important of the different
varieties of gypsum is the fine white alabaster found in the neigh-
bourhood of Castellina, where it is regularly stratified, and is
worked in properly constructed mining galleries. The little town
of Castellina, distant about twenty or twenty-four miles from Vol-
terra, is reached by a rocky road over wild and rugged mountains.
It is situated on the W. N. W. slope of the hills of Monte Vaso,
overlooking in that direction an extensive and slightly undulating
plain of tertiary marls, which there can be no doubt extend round
the north point of the Monte Vaso chain, and are connected with
those of the Val @ Era and the Volterra district.

The mines are situated three miles W. N. W. from Castellina,
near the edge of the tertiary marls, where they rest against the
secondary rocks. They occur on a slightly rising ground between
two streams, the Pescera on the south, which flows between it and
the hills, against which the blue marls probably once rested before
the river bed was washed out, and the Marmolaio on the north,
which flows through the marl itself. (See Section, No. 2.)

&

464 [Nov. 6,

N.N.W-

Pescera R. Marmolaio R.

Gabbro rosso. Marls and gypsum.

The beds have, at the mines, an inclination of about 5 degrees to
the N. W. or N. N.W., and consist of regularly alternating strata
of blue clay or matajone and grey gypsum, the latter containing
in regular layers nodules or spheroidal blocks of the pure white
alabaster. In the shaft of the mine I observed five distinct beds
of gypsum alternating with the blue clay, and varying in thickness
from five to twenty feet ; but as the owner, Signor Mazzoni, had no
measurements, and I had no means of obtaining perfect accuracy,
the numbers are probably understated. The only known mea-
surement was, that the whoie depth of the shaft to the fifth bed
of gypsum was 110 braccie, or 200 feet, and in another mine the
fourth bed, which was here 20 feet thick, was there said to have a
thickness of 80 feet.

The range of low hills in which the alabaster is found, is about
four miles in length along the strike of the beds from N. E. to
S. W., but the pure alabaster is only found near the centre of this
line, and three of the four mines now worked are on the small
property of Signor Mazzoni: nor does it extend far in the trans-
verse direction from §. KE. to N. W., for about half a mile N. W.
the gypsum is of a very inferior quality, and dips under the blue
marl; and the mines, though sunk to the depth of nearly 200 feet,
are rendered useless by the water having got in.

We entered the mine by an inclined path, and, passing under
ground, soon reached an open well or large inverted cone, round
which the inclined path is carried, and where the section of marls
and gypsum is well exposed. As the descending road passes
through the third and fourth gypsum beds, galleries are seen
striking into the rock in all directions. The first and second
gypsum beds are of a uniform character and grey colour, and do
not contain any alabaster blocks. These are found principally in
the third and fourth beds, and occur as irregular isolated spherical
masses imbedded in the gypsum, from which they are, mineralo-
gieally speaking, distinctly separated by a thin black crust, which
indicates to the workman the existence of the finer nodules.
These nodules are most frequent in the lower part of the stratum,
and occur in regular layers, never touching, although varying
much in their distances from each other. In bed No. 3. there are
two layers of these nodules, and in No. 4. there are three. They
vary much insize, weighing from 20 or 30 Ibs. to upwards of 2000lbs.
When the workman discovers the black crust, he is at once aware

1844.) 465

that he is near a block of alabaster, and by following the direction of
the crust, he removes the gypsum all round until he has nearly de-
tached the whole nodule, which is at last carefully separated from
the parent rock. Gunpowder is occasionally used to blast the
rock when no black crust indicates the existence of the alabaster.
This crust in connection with the pure alabaster is perhaps one of
the most curious features of the mine. On close examination it
appears to be laminar and concentric, and to consist of layers of
blue clay and gypsum. Now the whole formation of gypsum
contains a small portion of clay which gives it the greyish colour,
and it is probable that, when that peculiar principle, whether erys-
tallisation, attraction or electricity, which caused the aggregation
of the particles of gypsum in greater purity and in a more crystal-
line state was in operation, one of its chief effects was to expel
to the circumference all the particles of argillaceous matter pre-
viously mixed up with the gypsum; a process which would continue
until either the crust itself opposed a resistance to the further
action of this principle, or until two opposing spheres nearly came
in contact with each other. Very fine crystals of selenite, and some-
times of a large size, are not unfrequently found in the fissures of
the gypsum. ‘They are used for the purpose of making the fine
Seagliola cement, and are consequently sold at a much higher
price than the more ordinary gypsum. ‘The price of the fine ala-
baster is 5 Tuscan lire the 100 lb. Tuscan at the quarry, or 8 if

delivered in Leghorn.

6. Leghorn. — The plain immediately to the S. E. of Leghorn
consists of a hard calcareous rock in horizontal beds extending from
the mountains to the sea-shore and even into the sea, forming some-
times the low flat beach, and at others the broken cliff above. Itis
generally very compact and hard, and not unfrequently contains
pebbles of alberese and other secondary rocks, and also a few
marine shells. It appears to belong to the formation of areno-
calcareous rocks, which caps the summit of the Volterra and other
hills, and has received from some of the Italian geologists the
name of Panchina.

ec. Poggibonzi. — The third district in which marine tertiary de-
posits are found is that of Poggibonzi, including the country from
Colle to San Casciano, with a portion of the valley of the Elsa and of
the Pesa. I have made this a distinct district from that of Volterra;
because it appears to be entirely cut off from it by a chain of hills of
secondary formation : geologically speaking, it is probably a por-
tion of the same district. It consists, in its western portion, of
thick beds of yellow sand; while towards the N. E., and particu-
larly towards the north, and near San Casciano, it becomes gradually
more gravelly, and, at length, consists almost entirely of thick
banks of pebbles, increasing in size towards the north as they
approach the rocks of the secondary age against which they rest,
and from the breaking up or wearing away of which they were, in

466 [ Noy. 6,

all probability, derived. On most of the hill tops, oyster beds
and pectens of large size are found. In some of the deep ravines
and glens, beds of blue marl are perceived underlying the sands —
and gravels, but not developed to any great extent or thickness.
Near the 21st mile from Florence, extensive beds of blue marl are
seen in the ravines N. W. of the road, with a perfectly horizontal
line of separation between them and the overlying sandstones. In
general, however, the whole surface of the hills, the summits, and
ihe valleys are covered with the sands and conglomerates; and it
s still doubtful whether or not the valleys were already hollowed
yut in the blue marl previous to the deposition of the sands and
gravels on its undulating surface. J am rather inclined to adopt
this view, as in the deep valley of the Pesa the great masses of
overlying gravel and conglomerate reach to the bottom of the
valley, and much lower than where the blue marl occurs in other
places. At all events, we may trace from San Casciano to Poggi-
bonzi, and perhaps even to Volterra itself, a gradual change in the
form of the various elements deposited during the tertiary epoch ;
indicating a greater facility of being held in suspension and trans-
ported by water: although, perhaps, this will only apply to that
portion of the formation which overlies the blue marls. Near San
Casciano, beds of conglomerate abound. As we proceed 5., the
pebbles become smaller, and gradually disappear, being replaced
by a fine compact arenaceous tuff, which occurs in the neighbour-
hood of Poggibonzi and Colle ; and further 8S. and §S. W., the
upper beds become still finer and of a more comminuted character.

d. Sienna District.— The fourth district of the tertiary marine
formation commences a little to the north of Sienna, and extends, in
a 8. E. direction, through the country watered by the Arbia and
the Ombrone by Buon Convento to beyond San Quirico and Pienza.
Its southern limits I did not ascertain; but to the N.E. it is bounded
by the secondary hills which separate it from the Val di Chiana
and the district of Monte Pulciano. It consists, for the most part,
of blue clay or marl, remarkable for its sterility and bleak appear-
ance. It contains, here and there, a few crystals of selenite, but
a most careful search, in numerous localities, did not produce a
single fossil shell. In many places it is capped by beds, varying
in thickness, of yellow arenaceous limestone and sand, some ¢f
which are full of marine testacea, constituting entire masses of
Ostrea and Pecten.

These elevated table lands, wherever I observed them, have in
early ages been invariably made use of by the inhabitants, as
affording safe foundations for their cities, which would be sought
for in vain on the soft and yielding masses of the subjacent mavrl.
On such table lands are built the towns of Pienza, San Quirico,
Montalcino, Sienna, and probably many others. Pienza is situated
near the extremity of a narrow, rocky, peninsula, of which the
upper bed consists of a compact, agglomerated, calcareous sand-
stone, having a slight inclination to the S.W. Immediately below

'

1844.] 467

it, and overlying the blue marl, is a more sandy bed, of no great
thickness, full of broken shells, chiefly two species of Ostrea.

San Quirico stands upon a similar table land, the only difference
being that several beds and layers of conglomerated pebbles,
chiefly consisting of the white alberese or Scaglia limestone, are
associated with the sandstone tuff.

e. Val di Chiana. — The fifth district is the upper or southern
portion of the Val di Chiana, and the basin, containing the lakes of
Chiusi and Monte Pulciano, extending to the frontiers of the papal
dominions, near Citta della Pieve. A portion of this district, low as
it is, is remarkable, as constituting, since the great hydraulic opera-
tions undertaken by the Tuscan Government, the watershed between
the drainage flowing into the Arno and the Tiber. Two miles
to the south-east of the town is the Pian della Biffa, formerly a
marshy lake, across the centre of which is a dyke called L’Argine
della separazione, on the respective sides of which the waters
flow to the Tiber and to the Arno, sluice-gates being placed at
each end to regulate the escape of the water in the spring, and
to prevent the plains below, particularly on the banks of the Tiber,
from being flooded.

My geological observations in this plain were chiefly confined to
the neighbourhood of Chiusi and the north-east flanks of the range
of hills on the west side of the plain, from Cetona to Monte
Pulciano. The hills round Chiusi, on one of the highest points
of which the town is built, consist of numerous alternating beds of
gravel, conglomerate, sandstone and blue marl; some of these
beds, particularly the latter, and occasionally the sandstone, con-
tain numerous marine tertiary shells. In some, complete oyster
beds are still preserved, forming large masses of shells of con-
siderable thickness, which are particularly developed near the lake
to the east of the town. Here I observed, in an ascending order,
the following section : —

1. Sandy tuff, or friable sandstone, of very great thickness,
sometimes containing intercalated beds of gravel. In the so-called
tomb of Porsenna, two or three miles north-east from the town, is
a band of gravelly conglomerate in this sandstone tuff, which has
been made use of to form the flooring or separation between two
tiers of excavated tombs or chambers. Most of the well-known
Etruscan tombs in this neighbourhood are excavated in-this rock,
which does not contain any fossils.

2. Blue clay, a few feet in thickness ; organic contents un-
certain.

3. Reposing on the blue clay is a very thick, solid bed of oyster
shells, in which are some of a most diminutive size.

4, A thick bed of gravel and conglomerate, strongly cemented
together by a calcareous paste. This is, in many places, of very
considerable thickness, forming the capping of the hill on which
the town of Chiusi is built, as well as of several other eminences
in the neighbourhood. On an estate belonging to the bishop, near

463 [Nov. 6,

the tomb.called “ tomba della vigna grande,” the series of beds was
rather different.

In a ravine, one mile north-west of the town, the blue @ay is well
exposed, and is of considerable thickness. In it numerous shells are
found — Cerithium, Serpula, Dentalium (2 sp.), Venus, Cardium,
Area, Pecten, Natica, *Pleurotoma, Cancellaria, Nassa, and
others. ‘The same clay beds are well exposed on the road to
Cetona; and, again in the neighbourhood of Sarteano, equally
rich in marine testacea. Between Sarteano and Chianciano,
Cardium is found in the sandstone tuff. Chianciano is celebrated,
in the annals of Italian Geology, for the great abundance and

variety of its tertiary marine shells, which oceur in one or two
localities near the town.

From Chianciano the same tertiary formation extends to Monte
Pulciano, offering sections of gravels and sands, containing beds
of oysters. Monte Puleiano itself stands on a lofty insulated hill
of sandstone and gravel. In the sand are many large Ostrex, and
afew Certéhia occur in the nodular calcareous concretions. The
formation is traversed by a few almost horizontal beds of very
hard sandstone. To the north of Monte Pulciano is the commence-
ment of a bleak and arid blue marl district, resembling that
so remarkably dev eloped in the neighbourhood of Pienza and
S. Quirico, and with which the district of Monte Pulciano and
Chiusi was, in all probability, formerly connected.

2, Tertiary Freshwater Formation.

T now proceed to describe those localities in which tertiary
freshwater formations came under my observation.

On the range of hills which [have been just describing, between
Cetona and Sarteano, the road crosses a spur of limestone rocks,
which, from its compact character, colour, and honeycombed ap-
pearance, I at first attributed to the Scaglia formation of the se-
condary or cretaceous period. But, on reaching the summit of an
elevated table land, I found in it numerous tertiary freshwater
shells, as Planorbis and Limnea. It rests against the secondary
rocks, and appears to be overlaid by the blue marls containing
marine shells.

Another locality, where the same rock occurs, is in the valley
of the Bultino, two or three miles south-east of Colle, on each side
of which are extensive remains of a tertiary lacustrine formation,
through which the valley has been cut, and a large plain has
been excavated. The lower beds are very arenaceous, and contain
caleareous nodules. Near the village of Campigliano is a good
section, where some of the upper beds are ofa slightly reddish
colour; but, in general, they have the dull grey appearance of an

earthy alberese, sometimes assuming a concretionary character.
‘The upper beds contain Limnrea and Planorbis. This formation
‘extends to Colle, forming a flat, level plain covered with barely a
foot of soil.

1844.] 469

It would require a longer examination than I was enabled to
bestow on it, to ascertain the exact age of this formation ; from its
position it seems to form an intermediate link between the arena-
ceous deposits of the marine beds already described, and the post-
tertiary beds to which I am about to allude, being connected
with the former by the arenaceous beds containing concretionary
caleareous nodules, and with the latter by its immediate juxta-
position in the vicinity of Colle. On the other hand, both in its
mineralogical character, and in the appearance of its fossils, it
closely resembles the: freshwater limestone of Cetona, which is
supposed to underlie the blue mar] formation.

3. Post-Trrtiary Formations.

The principal rocks which come under this denomination, are the
deposits of calcareous tuff, assuming a concretionary and at times
a spongy and tubular appearance, extending for several miles on
both sides of the valleys of the Staggia and the Elsa. ‘This form-
ation has been alluded to by: Mr. Lyell.* It is best developed
in the valley of the Staggia. Near the town of that name is a
horizontal formation of travertine, filling up the valley between the
two ranges of sand hills, and forming a narrow lacustrine plain,
through which the river has subsequently washed itself a bed, ex-
posing the horizontal layers of tuff in the bed of the river. The ex-
tent of this deposit, probably derived from one spring or source, is
very considerable, and may be traced from the town of Staggia to
within a mile of Poggibonzi, a distance of nearly seven or eight
miles. It is, however, so modern, that the shells found in it
appear to be quite recent, and the stems of plants and roots, round
which the calcareous tuff has been deposited, still retain, however
slightly rotten, their wooden fibre. Impressions of leaves are very
abundant in it.

The beds are more than 100 feet thick in some places ; they are
both calcareous and arenaceous, sometimes mixed. The variety of
form resembles what Mr. Lyell has said f respecting the travertine
deposited from the spring near the baths of San Vignone, and is
probably owing to a similar cause. At times the calcareous particles
are collected in concretionary and botryoidal masses, sometimes
almost stalactitic. Occasionally the beds are soft and friable, while
others acquire the hardness and compactness of Scaglia limestone.
Some of them are slightly ferruginous, and sometimes they present
a strange conglomeration of cylindrical tubes. In places they are
much contorted; in others, horizontal or slightly undulating.
Species of Paludina and Valvata abound in some of the softer and
more friable beds. ‘This singular formation must have been de-
posited by a stream highly charged with calcareous matter, which,
at no very distant geological period, flowed down the valley of the
Staggia. A similar formation occurs in the adjacent valley of the

* Principles of Geol. vol. i., p. 398., 6th ed. + Ib. p. 400.

470 [Noy. 6,

Elsa near Colle. Other formations, referable to this same recent
epoch, are the extensive alluvial and the now drained lacus-
trine deposits of the Val d’Arno, particularly that portion known
as the Val d’Arno di sopra, extending from the rocky defiles of
Incisa, once evidently the barrier of these inland lakes, through
S. Giovanni, Montevarchi, and Levane, to Arezzo. This forma-
tion consists chiefly of denuded hills of gravel, sand, and yellow
marl, resting against the secondary sandstones, and in which have
been found the abundant~ fossil remains, chiefly of mammalia,
which now form the riches of the museums of Montevarchi and of
Arezzo. They include two varieties of Elephant, two species of
Mastodon, remains of Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Felis, Cervus, Bos,
Antilope, Equus, Ursus, and also some long plates of a Tortoise.
They are so abundant in places, that the peasants have used them
to mark the boundaries of their property, or to line the banks of the
streams. The tusks of the elephant are enormous; the fragment
of one at Montevarchi is 12 feet long, and nearly 2 feet in cireum-
ference.

Another recent deposit remains to be described in the neigh-
bourhood of Chianciano. This place is famous for its hot baths,
which are visited by strangers from all parts of Italy; near the
source of the thermal spring is a curious natural basin of tra-
vertine, about 8 or 10 feet deep, and of an oblong shape. The
natives believe it to have been excavated in the travertine, and then
crusted over ; but it is clearly the result of a natural deposit, formed
by some abundantly calcareous spring, which has successively raised
the walls of the basin or reservoir in which it rose. It has thus
formed a perfectly level bank all round, on which circular lines or
ripple marks are distinctly visible, showing the process of the
formation. An irregular mags of the same matter extends some
way down the hill where the water escaped, deposited by the
overflowing of the pool: it is rather remarkable that no deposit
whatever is left by the present hot spring, in which the ther-
mometer rises to 31° Reaumur.

B. Metamorpuic Rocks.

I now proceed to describe the metamorphic rocks which came
under my notice in those portions of Tuscany which I visited.

The only rock of this character is that called gabbro rosso
by Savi. The origin and nature of this rock has been a matter
of great uncertainty and dispute amongst geologists, both as to the
period to which it belongs, and as to the source from whence it
has been derived. It is here almost invariably of a reddish-
brown colour, and is found in immediate contact with the ser-
pentine or ophiolitic rocks, which abound in some districts.

The definition of this rock given by Savi in his memoir on the
physical constitution of Tuscany is so correct, that I cannot do
better than give an English version of his statement : —

“ We understand by gabbro rosso, or red gabbro, a class of
“rocks produced by a particular alteration of the soil of the macigno,

1844.] 471

“and particularly of its strata of schistose clay and limestone; an
“alteration caused by the ophiolitic rocks, and consisting not only
“in the induration and liver-red colouring of the strata, and in
“their contortions, but often in a perfect fusion or amalgamation of
“the neptunian with the plutonic rocks ; by these means, many
“rocks of an ambiguous and varied appearance were produced, in
“which, at one time, the elements of the neptunian rocks pre-
“dominate, and at others, those of the plutonic, so that in former
-“times they were said to belong to the transition formations. We
“have adopted for this class of products the generic name of
“ gabbro rosso, being that which is usually given to it in Tuscany.”
The principal points where this rock is exposed are the copper
mines of Monte Catini, and the mountain range extending thence
to Castellina, besides a few spots on the south side of the Cecina,
such as Libbiano, Monte Castelli, and, I believe, Rocca Sillana. The
works at La Cava, the spot where the mining operations of Monte
Catini are carried on, are all built on it, and very interesting sections
are developed round the western extremity of this chain of hills.
This rock has all the characters of being of igneous origin ; but
from careful examination there can be no doubt that it is an
altered rock. The principal condition of its appearance is that of
large irregular spherical masses, consisting of a darkish red argillo-
siliceous substance, at first very hard, but becoming brittle and
friable after a short exposure to the air. It is traversed by nu-
merous small veins and filaments of calcareous spar, which faci-
litates its breaking in various directions. In some of these veins
has been discovered a peculiar mineral which has ‘received the
name of Caporcianite, from the Chapel of La Madonna di Capor-
ciano in the immediate neighbourhood. ‘The centre of the veins of
cale spar is sometimes more opaque and of a slightly redder hue ;
this has been analysed and found to contain a small proportion of
manganese. It is said to be peculiar to these mines, and thence it
has derived its name, these mines being under the peculiar care of
La Madonna di Caporciano. The outer crust of these spherical
masses shows after short exposure to the air a small mammillary ap-
pearance, which becomes larger as the exposure continues. It is
evidently the result of decomposition, acting upon the surface of a
body hardened under circumstances which produced a tendency
to spherical or concretionary form, a tendency proved not only by
this peculiarity of the surface, but by the fact of the whole of the
rock consisting of these spherical masses ; for not only does this
condition appear in sections and surfaces where the rock has been
long exposed, but it also occurs in fresh sections opened in the
very heart of the mountain, many hundred fathoms below the sur-
face, where the nodules or spheroidal masses, called nwocciols by
the workmen, and averaging 2 or 3 feet in diameter, are dis-
tinctly visible in the sides of the recently opened galleries. The
intervening substance is generally very soft, and consists of green,
red, and white earths, the red being generally in contact with the
round masses, and the green and white more in the interior.
VOL. 1V. PART III. NN

472 [ Nov. 6,

Although this is the general character of the rock, it frequently
assumes other appearances. It is either compact and silicious, or
it is argillaceous and soft; it has sometimes the appearance of
hornstone or of quartz-rock, and it is at,times altered into a mass
resembling porphyry. This porphyritic appearance is well seen
in the ravine behind the workshops of La Cava, where a portion
of it has assumed a quartzose or hornstone character — if indeed
this is not the result of veins of serpentine penetrating the meta-
morphic rock.

Notwithstanding various opinions which have been advanced, -
T have no doubt that the spheroidal forms assumed by this rock
are the result of the conditions under which the cooling and
induration of the mass took place, after it had been reduced
by plutonic agency to a fused and liquid state. It bears an ana-
logy to the formation of basaltic columns, indicating certain
isolated points in which the cooling process, accompanied by cer-
tain principles of aggregation, commenced, extending its influence
in all directions until interrupted by similar efforts proceeding
from other points.

s g
a S N.N.E
S.S.W 5 i eS
' j p~ Y—
t “ -
A eae < 208 {i ? S
ns, iy

A berese.

Macigno. Gabbro rosso. Serpentine.

I have said above that this red gabbro is an altered rock; let us
consider from what parent rock it has been derived. In the ravine
to the south of the workshops and the mine of La Cava, is a good
section of the gabbro rosso and true superincumbent beds, showing
a gradual passage from the spheroidal masses into thin stratified
highly contorted beds, dipping off at an angle of 50° or 60° to the
south as represented in the above diagram. These beds are of the
same dark liver-red colour, and break into similar small brittle
masses, which at first cannot be distinguished from broken hand spe-
cimens. As we recede from the central mass of gabbro, the difference
becomes more perceptible. Some of the beds are harder than others ;
and, on obtaining a real fracture, exhibit the appearance of a quart-
zose grit. Others are friable and gritty, and easily crumble to
pieces, with the appearance of a half-baked brick. By degrees as-
cending the series, a few patches of grey colour occur in them, and
this gradually increases. They are twisted and contorted in a
most extraordinary manner, being turned completely over in some
places like the mica schists and indurated marls of the primary
and palzozoic formations, indicating the violence of the actions by
which they were upheaved. As we get further from this sup-

1844.1]. 473

posed igneous influence, the beds lose their former character ; the
shales become more marly and laminated, and the harder beds
have a less cherty appearance. It is remarkable, considering the
intensity of the agent which must have caused the change, to what
a short distance it seems to have extended; for on descending the
ravine, about 100 yards further, I came upon the secondary indu-
rated marls, perfectly unaltered, of a grey white colour, resembling
those near the Certosa at Florence and at Castiglion Fiorentino on
the road to Cortona; and a little way further, the alberese or
scaglia limestone is also seen unaltered, but dipping considerably
to the 8.S.W. Here then we have a key to the whole metamor-
phic formation, which is derived from the altered marls and sand-
stones (macigno) of the secondary or Apennine formation, acted
on by the protrusion of the igneous rocks of the ophiolitic or
serpentine class, which are found in the immediate neighbourhood.
The passage of the red gabbro into the half altered beds of
stratified sandstone and marl, 1 subsequently found in several
other localities round this central mass, particularly on the road
from La Cava to Monte Catini, where the contortions of the strata
are well exposed, and are really deserving of notice from their
extraordinary convolutions. Here, too, in a direct line from the
summit of the Poggio alla Croce to Monte Catini, a gradual passage
may be traced to the unaltered shales, limestone, and macigno.

C. Icnrous Rocks.
These appear to me to belong to three distinct periods :

1. Serpentine, or ophiolitic rocks (Trap of secondary period).
2. Selagite of Monte Catini (Trachyte of tertiary period).
3. Basalt of Radicofani (Recent).

1. Serpentine.

This rock is developed in many parts of the western portion of
the Tuscan States. The principal localities where I had an oppor-
tunity of observing it, are at the copper mines of La Cava, and along
the chain of hills extending from Monte Catini to Castellina, includ-
ing Monte Miemo. To the south of the Cecina, it bursts forth
at Monte Libbiano, where it rises to a considerable height — at
Monte Rufoli, where it covers an extent of many miles— at Monte
Cerboli — Rocea Sillana and Monte Castelli — all belonging to the
same system. Near Florence it also shows itself in two spots, L’Im-
pruneta and Prato, the latter of which I did not visit. It varies
considerably in its appearance, character, and hardness, its chief
permanent characteristics bemg its green colour and its soapy feel.

At Monte Catini the rock is soft and soapy, occasionally contain-
ing portions of a harder nature. It is of a uniform greyish-green
colour, without the white spots which give to that of Prato, L’Im-
pruneta, and Monte Rufoli its peculiar character, resembling the
serpentine of antiquity. It here derives its principal interest
from the copper mines with which it is associated. The copper
ore, which is exceedingly rich, occurs in irregular veins and

NN @Z

ATA | Nev. 6,

nodules, following the line of junction between the serpentine and
the gabbro rosso. Not that any distinct formation exists between
these two rocks; but the copper ore itself generally hes between
them ; sometimes extending itself into the gabbro, and more fre-
quently into the serpentine, in which it forms large deposits, near
the junction of the two rocks.

a, Gabbre rosso. b. Serpentine. e. Vein of Serpentine.

When this mine was opened, a narrow vein of soft talcose ser-
pentine appeared on the surface, penetrating the gabbro rosso.
(See diagram.) This was followed down in a N.E. direction in
search of copper; and at the depth of 66 metres, the miners
found what appeared to be another vein rising up from the oppo-
site side, and forming a conjunction, as they call it; and at this
spot a very rich deposit of ore was discovered. The main shaft has
been sunk so as to strike on this spot, which is, as it were, the apex
of a dome of serpentine, over which metallic deposits are found in
all directions, following the line of junction between the serpentine
and the overlying gabbro rosso. Below this junction point,
the shaft, to the depth of some hundred feet, passes through solid
serpentine only ; which, although soft at first, becomes so hard as
to require to be blasted with powder. The ore is a sulphuret (?).
The richest portions, which are of a blue-iron colour, produce
from 60 to 65 per cent., the poorest about 25 to 30 per cent.
The ore is generally in the form of irregular nodular masses, here
called ore stones, varying in size from a man’s hand to masses
several feet in diameter. Sometimes it occurs in large deposits
several feet in length and height, and at others it forms a con-
tinuous band of a regular thickness, extending some distance
along the line of junction of the two rocks. Large masses have
also occasionally been met with in the cross galleries, at a distance
of 25 feet from the red gabbro, and, on one or two occasions,
nodular masses have even been found in the gabbro rosso itself
close to the serpentine, which must be considered as the principal

1844.] 475

agent in the formation of the ore. The amount raised in the year
ending September, 1848, was 1,894,765 Tuscan pounds.

In the vicinity of the junction cf the serpentine and gabbro, a
rather remarkable substance is occasionally found, called Losima.
It is generally of a bright red colour, extremely shining and bril-
liant, soft and soapy to the touch, and apparently argillaceous.
It is perhaps the result of friction. In carrying a gallery to the
N.E., for the purpose of communicating with a new shaft, the
miners have traversed another mass of serpentine; but very slight
indications of ore have as yet been perceived in it. The strike of
these masses of serpentine, or dykes as they may perhaps be called,
is from N. W. to S.E., which coincides with the direction of ano-
ther serpentine dyke which I traced some way over the hills to
the S.W. of La Cava. It may be observed, too, that their direc-
tion is parallel to that of the principal mountain chain in this
part of Italy.

Veins of steatite (or soap-stone, Pagoda stone, pietra di sarto,
as it is here called), which sometimes assumes a very asbestos form,
occur frequently in the serpentine; and this is a considerable
object of export commerce. One of the localities where this
steatite is found, is remarkable from the occurrence of numerous
veins or layers of carbonate of lime, perhaps deposited by cal-
careous springs rising up through the serpentine, or it may be
the result of chemical segregation, by which the steatitic particles
were separated from the lime, and formed into distinct nodules.
Perhaps the different appearances would justify both suppositions.

At Monte Rufoli, the serpentine extends over a considerable
tract of country, covered with magnificent forests of ilex, which
render its examination almost impossible. Here, however, the
rock is remarkable for being the seat of the quarries of chalcedony,
which supply the beautiful agates used in the Royal and other
manufactures of pietra dura at Florence.

About two miles east of Monte Rufoli, and on the slope of the
hills facing the valley of the Sterza, are the chalcedony quarries.
At first their appearance resembles that of quartz dykes, rising
up through the serpentine, and forming a low wall, a few feet
above the ground. Wherever they have been worked, however,
they appear to cease about eight or ten feet below the surface, thus
leaving a kind of ditch on the hill side, about three or four feet
wide, and varying in depth from eight to ten feet. Besides these
principal dykes or masses, of which there are said to be several,
although I only saw two, the serpentine is traversed in various
directions by small, irregular veins of chalcedony, generally of a
reddish colour: other similar masses of siliceous substances overlie
the serpentine, as if spread over the surface from the larger
dykes, differing both in character and appearance, and representing
every possible variety of chalcedonic and agate bodies. They
contain numerous cavities, the inner coats of which are covered with
botryoidal and mammillary chalcedony ; also masses of concretion-
ary, whitish-grey, earthy chalcedony, with a gradual shading from

NN 3

476 [ Nov. 6,

light to dark yellow near the edges. These are the parts most
sought after by the lapidaries of Florence, on account of their
beautiful shadings, and the effect they produce in the “ pietra
dura” works: other portions are more transparent, consisting of
agates, cornelians, and opalines of various colours.

These silicious masses, as I observed, are situated in the soft,
decomposing serpentine, in which, on each side of the principal
dyke, are several thin, narrow filaments of silicious matter
(chalcedony), generally of a reddish colour, and parallel to the
principal mass.

With regard to the origin of this curious variety of chalcedonic
formation, my first impression was, that it must have been a quartz
dyke, rising up through the serpentine; but the variety of colour
and character which the rock exhibits, incline me rather to at-
tribute it to an aqueous origin. It might be considered as the
result of a thermal spring, charged with silicious matter which has
been deposited in fissures of the serpentine, unless the occurrence
of the remarkable soffiont or vapours of Monte Cerboli, in such
close vicinity, and that of other similar phenomena in the same
district, render it more probable that it is owing to the escape
of vapours charged with silicious and other matters; when the
silex, as the least soluble, would be first deposited on any
sensible diminution of temperature. ‘The subject is one of con-
siderable interest, as connected with other geological phenomena
in the country.

Between the village of Monte Gemoli and the high and lofty
position of Libbiano, the river Trossa has forced its way through
a narrow pass between two masses of serpentine of the same
character as that of Monte Rufoli. At Libbiano itself, the ser-
pentine and greenstone rocks have been elevated to a considerable
height, carrying with them to the summit a conglomerate of the
pre-existing rocks, gabbro rosso and Apennine limestone, min-
gled with masses of serpentine ; these cover the north-east flank of
the hill, and give a remarkable appearance to the elevated narrow
ridge on which this desolate village has been perched.

Another interesting locality where the serpentine occurs is
near the village of L’Impruneta, about six miles south of Florence.
The village stands on a hill of green serpentine which crops out
even in the market-place, though the principal mass of it is about
half a mile further south. It rises up through the secondary
rocks, which dip off from it on all sides, more or less altered, and
in some places reduced to the metamorphic state of red gabbro,
in which all traces of stratification are obliterated.

A new road has been cut through the solid serpentine, leaving
a cliff fifty or sixty feet high on each side. Here the rock appears
darker and blacker than on the surface, but equally susceptible of
decomposition on exposure to the air. Besides the numerous
crystals of a pale green colour, which distinguish the serpentine
of L’Impruneta, many portions are traversed by thin veins of
calcareous spar; others are beautifully marked with red veins, and

1844] ATT

are much sought after by the statuaries of Florence for orna-
mental works; others contain veins and masses of a fibrous
substance, which sometimes closely resembles the fibrous asbestos;
the latter becomes harder by exposure, exactly the reverse of the
serpentine itself. Near the south end the serpentine assumes a
more scoriaceous character : here the asbestos is more abundant,
and in some places penetrates the serpentine with many branch-
ing veins; the people called it “pietra alberisata,” from its
resemblance to the fibres of a tree fossilized.

On the south-east side, near the junction of the serpentine with
the stratified rocks, altered into red earthy jasper, and either
perpendicular, or inclined at an angle of 80°, with a north and
south strike, the igneous rock is much decomposed and softened.
It is traversed in every direction by numerous veins of carbonate
of lime, which, not decomposing so rapidly as the rock itself, stand
some inches above the ground, presenting a curious reticulated
appearance.

I did not visit the other spot in the vicinity of Florence in the
mountains above Prato, ten miles north-west, where the serpen-
tine is also quarried, and is worked up in Florence for ornaments
under the name of Verde di Prato.

2. Selagite of Monte Catini.

This name of Selagite is given to a quasi-trachitic rock, the
only instance I observed of such formations, rising up through
the blue marls at the western extremity of the chain of hills on
which is situated La Cava and its copper-mines, and on the upper
portion of which stands the ancient village, or Borgo of Monte
Catini. Its sides present an almost perpendicular face, in which
the columnar structure is very visible, but the columns, though of
considerable length, are irregular both in size and form. It is of
a bluish-grey colour, gritty to the touch, and full of small crys-
tallized plates of hornblende or amphibole. It is considerably
quarried for building-stones, much used in the neighbourhood.
Although apparently unconnected with the serpentine rocks, it is
remarkable that this trachitic outburst has taken place almost on
the direct axis or line of prolongation of the strike of the ser-
pentine masses, which appear to have caused the elevation of
Monte Massi and Poggio alla Croce. From the altered appearance
of the shelly bed, already described on its north flank, its protrusion
probably took place during the early part of the tertiary period.

8. Basalt of Radicofani.

The other igneous rocks to be noticed are the basalts of
Radicofani, of which, however, I only introduce the name here, to
complete the series, as I had no opportunity of visiting them.

I cannot conclude this imperfect notice of the geology of Tus-.
cany without calling attention to the boracic acid works at Monte.

zB nw 4

2

478 [Nov. 6

Cerboli, and the remarkable phenomena therewith connected ; for
I have no doubt but that many of the actual geological features
of Tuscany must be referred to agencies and to causes similar to
those which are now exhibited in this locality. The works have
been already in some degree described by Mr. Babbage in Murray’s
Handbook of Central Italy, p. 178., and by Dr. Bowring in his
Report on the Commercial Relations of Tuscany, laid before Par-
liament in 1837. I shall therefore confine my observations to a
few of the principal phenomena.

The numerous and violent jets of vapour from which the
boracic acid is extracted, rise, with considerable noise and in large
volumes, from a narrow rocky valley in the secondary cretaceous
limestone, about 15 miles S. W. of Volterra. Huge blocks of this
rock and its associated indurated marls cover the surrounding hills,
and add to the desolation of the scene. ‘The vapour naturally
leaves a considerable deposit ; but this is much increased in con-
sequence of its being compelled by artificial means to pass through
water collected into numerous reservoirs. By this process, the
water is impregnated with the boracic acid previously held in
solution in the vapour; while the greater part of the sulphur,
lime, and carbonic acid gas, which it also contains, is deposited in
the muddy bottoms of the pools, and assumes, when dry, a erys-
talline form, being, from time to time, thrown out in the course of
the operations: sulphate and carbonate of lime are also deposited in
the cauldrons and cooling pans where the boracic acid is obtained
by evaporation from the saturated water. Amongst the neigh-
bouring rocks, I saw a remarkable instance, where a large fissure
or crack, with several smaller ramifications, had been completely
filled up by the matter deposited by the vapour which must once
have escaped through it. The sides were coated with a hard
compact cale-sinter, while the central portions were filled with a
more porous substance, so that the passage of the vapour had been
obstructed before the central parts had become so densely consoli-
dated as the sides, thereby explaining at least one of the causes
by which these vents are constantly changing their positions, and
how the jets of vapour escape sometimes in one place and some-
times in another.

The simple mode by which the boracic acid is obtained is as
follows. Small reservoirs, from 15 to 30 feet in diameter, are dug
round the most convenient and powerful of the many steam vents;
and into these reservoirs a small stream of water is conducted
from the mountain side. After being for some time exposed to
the action of the rising vapour the water is let off from one
reservoir into another, until it has passed through five or six, in
each of which it remains about 24 hours, the vapour boiling and
bubbling up through it the whole time with much noise and vio-
lence. By this time the water is sufficiently impregnated with
the boracic acid; and after being allowed to settle in another
reservoir to deposit the mud, it is led off into the evaporating
houses, where, after undergoing a slow and gradual process of

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1844.] 479

evaporation, the boracic acid is at length obtained in numerous
vats, where it crystallises with great facility.

The great difficulty formerly experienced in this process was
the expense of fuel required for the process of evaporation; until
the happy idea at length suggested itself to the proprietor of
availing himself of the almost inexhaustible supply of heat pre-
pared by Nature herself in the numerous vents from which the
streams of boiling vapours were constantly emitted. Acting on
this suggestion, he built a sort of chamber over some of the vents,
and conducting the vapour by subterranean channels into the
evaporating houses, obtained without a farthing of additional out-
lay all the heat he could require. The consequence of this simple
application of natural power was, that the value of the works rose,
in one year, from a capital of one thousand pounds, for which the
fee simple was offered, to a rental of twenty thousand pounds per
annum.

Similar vapours or “ soffioni,” as they are called, occur in several
other localities in the same district, or within a distance of 12 or
14 miles, as at Sarrezano, Castel Nuovo, Monte Rotondo, and
others ; and it is impossible not to be struck with the manner in
which they throw light on many of the geological phenomena in
this and other countries; particularly with regard to the filling up
of cracks and fissures in rocks, and the local deposits of various
substances, such as cale spar, gypsum, sulphate of lime, sulphate
of soda, &c., many of which occur in this very neighbourhood.
It is highly probable that such emissions of gases and vapours
may have produced many of those local phenomena, which have
been so frequently attributed to the effect of springs, and are con-
sidered as aqueous deposits. That great connection exists between
them cannot be doubted, as the soffioni of Monte Cerboli do un-
questionably deposit much sulphate and carbonate of lime, and if
supposed to rise through water would most certainly deposit much
more. On the whole, therefore, whether we consider the remark-
able and almost terrific appearance of these vents, from hundreds
of which the vapours escape with the noise of a steam-boiler
blowing off its steam, or the importance they have in connection
with other geological problems to which they may offer a solution,
they must be considered as presenting to us some of the most
interesting, if not important geological phenomena which the
Tuscan States can afford to the pursuer of geological investi-
gations.

NovemBer 20, 1844.

Charles Faulkener, Esq., and John Bravender, Esq. of Ciren-
cester, were elected Fellows of this Society.

480 [ Dee. 4,

The following communication was read : —

On the Grotocy of GiprALTAR. By JAMES Surrn, Esq. of
Jordan Hill, F.G.S.

In the absence of the author of this paper from England it has |
been considered advisable not to publish more at present than a
mere announcement of the nature of the conclusions arrived at.
After stating briefly the appearance and character of the funda-
mental rock at Gibraltar (which is of the oolitic period), the
author mentions indications of recent marine action, extending up
to the very summit of the mountain, and proceeds to describe his
reason for concluding that great and repeated elevations have taken
place in the district in comparatively modern periods, three being
more especially remarkable, since each one of these has elevated
the strata through an angle of about 20°. Several interesting
phenomena of the tertiary period are alluded to as affording
evidence in favour of this view. The author concludes by direct-
ing attention to some superficial deposits of .sand, covering the
flanks of the mountain, and to the bone breccia, some parts of
which he considers to be of great age. ;

DECEMBER 4, 1844.

Henry Coles, Esq., of Cheltenham, Dr. Travers Cox, Pro-
fessor Edward Forbes, and I. K. Brunel, Esq., were elected Fel-
lows of this Society.

The following communications were read : —

1. Remarks on the Gro.ocy of British Guiana. By Sir Rosert
ScuomBurek, Ph. D. &e.

Tur district alluded to by the author in this paper extends along
the shore of the Atlantic from the mouth of the Amazons river
to the embouchure of the Orinoco, its greatest length (between
Cape North and the confluence of the Rio Xie with the Rio
Negro) being about 1090 geographical miles, and its breadth
(from the mouth of the Orinoco to the confluence of the Rio
Negro with the Amazons) 710 miles. Throughout this tract no
organic remains have yet been discovered, the whole being occu-
pied by primitive rocks.

The banks and low lands near the chief rivers of Guiana are
described as consisting at the surface of a bluish clay, impregnated
with salt and mixed with decayed vegetable matter, forming a—
very productive soil. The delta of the Orinoco, and the em-
bouchure of the Essequibo, present the same appearance.

The blue clay just described is usually succeeded by other clays
of variegated colour, and these again by sands, composed of trans-
parent white quartz. Water has been frequently obtained by

1844.] 481

boring through the clay to these sands, and in such cases the depth
from the surface to which it has been necessary to sink varies from
120 to 230 feet.*

The clay extends for a considerable distance inland, and is
then terminated by a range of sand hills from 30 to 120 feet high,
parallel to which may be traced a number of detached groups
of hillocks, seldom more than 200 feet high, and consisting of
red iron ochre with occasional layers of silicate of zine. This is
succeeded by a quartzose sandstone resembling the flexible sand-
stone of Brazil.

The first unstratified rocks occur near Itaka, and consist of dif-
ferent varieties of granite with numerous greenstone dykes, and
of porphyry, while in the surrounding mountains, at no great dis-
tance, clay iron-stone was observed in small detached nodules.
This rock is repeated again towards the south, and occupies the
extensive plains or districts of table land, called “ Savannahs,”
which are about 300 feet above the sea, and from the midst of
which rise isolated hilly groups from 1800 to 2300 feet above that
level. These plains are covered by a conglomerate, containing
rounded fragments of quartz, and vast quantities of bog iron ore,
while blocks of granite, some of them of large size and much
rounded, also abound. The hills are porphyritic, and exhibit also a
considerable quantity of mica in foliated masses.

A sandstone resting upon the small-grained gneiss and coarse
granite of the Savannahs is next described by the author as form-
ing the mountains of Pacaraima which extend from the upper
Orinoko, eastward, to the banks of the river Essequibo. ‘Towards
the north, felspar-porphyry, and jasper, are also mentioned, and
then succeed lofty escarpments of sandstone rising almost per-
pendicularly from the plain, and forming the commencement of an
extensive range of high table land. This sandstone is described as
entirely destitute of organic remains.

Having alluded to these rocks, the author next describes some
of the appearances presented by the clay, and other materials in
the bed of the river Cukenam, near which on both sides rise lofty
mountains, on whose declivities nodules and large blocks of
pisiform bog iron ore are found. After this follows an account of
another region on the right or western bank of the Cukenam, in
which jasper is so abundant as to form the prevailing rock. The
mountains are described as rising in a highly picturesque and
striking manner to the north of this locality, and are said to be
composed of compact sandstone, whence it appears that this rock
occupies the highest summits from the banks of the Orinoco to-
wards the south-west, and a similar ridge has also been traced by
the author’ considerably to the west and south. Large blocks of
granite are also mentioned by the author as abounding on the
flanks of the highest mountains, one of which “ Roraima” is espe-

* Ten or twelve feet below the upper surface an irregular stratum of fallen
trees ( Avicennia nitida of botanists) is met with, and a similar bed, 12 feet
thick, has also been found at a depth of 50 feet.

rn

482 [Dee. 18,

cially alluded to as exhibiting much grandeur and great picturesque
beauty. Northward of this mountain clay slate is described as
being present, and near it, by the banks of the Carimani, black
quartz, while in the basin of the river Cuyuni large blocks of
coarse conglomerate were seen, although near the junction of that
river with the Mazaruni the rocks were basaltic. The rocks at the
great falls of Ematupa are said to consist of granite and dark in-
durated clay slate.

The author next directs attention to various rocks of grotesque

form, found in the granitic district of Guiana; some of these,
called the ‘pyramids,’ being of granite and other porphyritic rock,
and forming very striking objects in the landscape.

In conclusion, the author states that the geological features of
Guiana in some districts render it most probable that gold is pre-
sent, and that he found specimens in the river sand of the Takutu,
which, judging from the tests he was able to employ, he shad no
doubt were fragments of this precious metal. These specimens,
however, with many others, were lost in the course of his journey ;
but Fray José, the catholic missionary, showed him a piece of
massive gold partly embedded in quartz, which had been found on
the banks of the Rio Branco where the Takutu enters that river.

The presence of Itakolumite, of mica slate, and of what in Brazil
is called the Diamond matrix, proves the existence of a structure
in the Savannah regions of Guiana similar to that of the Serra
do Espinhaco in the province of Minas Geraes in Brazil.

2. A Letter to Dr. BucKLAND on the.subject of GuacteR Marks
mm South Waters. By W.C. Trevetyan, Esq.

TuHE object of this letter was to direct attention to certain polished
and scratched surfaces in the valley of the Conway on the ascent
of Moel Siabod and in other places near Snowdon. The author
considered that these and other markings he had observed were in-
dications of the former presence of glaciers in these localities.

DECEMBER 18, 1844.

The following gentlemen were elected Fellows of this Society :
— Robert Chambers, Esq., of Edinburgh; James Simpson, Esq.,
of Chelsea ; William Lewellyn, Esq. of Pont-y-Pool ; and James
Bandinel, Esq. of Westminster.

The following communication was read : —

On the Pipes or Sanp-caxs in the Chalk and Chalk-rubble of
Norrotk. By Josnua Trier, Esq., F.G.S.

In a paper read before the Society in the Session of 1842-3, and

1844.] 483

intitled “On Pipes or Sand-galls in Chalk*,” I have shown that,
in the county of Kent, these cavities in the chalk have, in their
upper part, a longitudinal extension, and are connected with fur-
rows which traverse the upper surface of the chalk, and which
widen and deepen as they approach the pipes. From the nature
of the materials with which these cavities are filled, I inferred
that, in that county, they were formed before the deposit of the
oldest Eocene strata. From the fact, also noticed by me in the
same county, that similar furrows and pipes, though of smaller
dimensions, occur in the blocks of siliceous sandstone which are
dispersed through the superficial deposits, and are derived from
the sands of the plastic clay, I concluded that these cavities were
caused, not so much by the chemical as by the mechanical action
of water; and, from the further observations I made, that still
smaller furrows and pipes are actually in the course of formation
on the surface of similar siliceous blocks on the coast of Kent, I
judged that the mode of this mechanical action was by the flux
and reflux of waves breaking on the shore.

Having now extended my observations to the chalk in the vici-
nity of Norwich, I find that in that district also the pipes consti-
tute the termination of longitudinal furrows; and in this paper I
shall adduce evidence, from the phenomena observable in the
superincumbent strata of sand and gravel, that these hollows were
excavated in the chalk just before the deposit of the Norwich Crag,
and that, like the pipes in the chalk of Kent, they owe their origin
to the mechanical action of water.

I will first offer some general remarks on the chalk, and on the
strata overlying the chalk, in the vicinity of Norwich.

The chalk which bounds the continuous valley watered by the
rivers Wensum and Yare, rises to the height of from 60 to 80 feet
above the river level. It is covered by the sands and gravel be-
longing to the Norwich Crag and the Northern Drift. These
form a nearly level plateau, intersected by many inosculating val-
leys, some containing streams, others dry. To judge from the
sections laid open around Norwich, the greatest thickness of the
supra-cretaceous deposits, at the highest points of this plateau, is
about 60 feet : towards the valleys these deposits thin off.

Immediately upon the chalk rests a ferruginous breccia, locally
termed “the pan,” from one to two feet thick, and composed of
large unabraded or slightly water-worn flints ; and these are some-
times mixed with marine shells, unbroken and in fragments. It
is in this, the most constant member of the crag series in this part
of Norfolk, that the bones of terrestrial mammalia are found.t

Above the breccia are beds of sand and silt, containing, in some
places, considerable accumulations of unbroken marine shells.
These accumulations sometimes occur in drifted masses from one
to four feet thick ; sometimes they consist of groups of two or three

* Vide “ Proceedings,” vol. iv. p. 6.
+ Mr. Wigham, who has been in the habit of purchasing bones of the work-
men for many years, informs me that each pit yields about one bone a year.

A84 [Dee. 18,

species of shells, imbedded in silt, the bivalves having their two
valves united, and lying evidently on the spot where the inhabit-
ants of the shells lived. Both of these modes of association may
occasionally be seen in the same pit ; and they are very different
from the arrangement of the shelly remains in the till and in the
stratified drift. The greatest height from the surface of the chalk
at which I have met with these shells, is less than ten feet.

The rest of the deposit consists of alternating beds and bands of
gravel and laminated clay, which, in their upper part, where the
stratification is less regular than in the lower, are occasionally
associated with unstratified masses of yellow loam. The beds,
particularly in their lower part, are often obliquely laminated ;
and in a cutting of the Yarmouth Railway, between Thorpe and
Crostwick, the shelly beds of the crag, which are there seen in
contact with a mass of unstratified blue till; exhibit contortions
like those which occur in the Cromer Cliffs.

The epoch of the Norwich Crag was of considerable duration.
On the coast of Norfolk, at Mundesley, we see the lowest member
of that formation, the pan, overlaid by a fluviatile deposit ; and at
Runcton Gap * a similar fluviatile deposit is overlaid by a bed con-
taining shells of the same species that belong to the pan of Mun-
desley and Happisburgh.

At Happisburgh the pan is overlaid by a bed of large fossil
trees ; and these are buried beneath stratified and unstratified drift.
Near Norwich there is no trace of the intervening period when
the crag became dry land. Moreover, the only instance I have

seen of blue till in that neighbourhood, is in the cutting of the
Yarmouth Railway above noticed; and in the general absence of
this unstratified detritus, there is nothing in the district to define
the limits between the crag and the stratified drift, which might
pass together for one continuous deposit.

I will now proceed to describe, in the first instance, the appear-
ances I observed in two pits worked in the solid undisturbed chalk,
situate within five miles of Norwich. In these pits, twice or thrice
a week for several months, I made measurements. and drawings of
the surface of the chalk and of the cavities in it, as, during the
progress of the works, they became cleared of the overlying
deposits.

In describing these and the other pits referred to in the present
paper, I shall adopt the following local terms, used by the work-
men. Cavities in the chalk, of greater breadth than depth, they
eall “ drops”; deep conical or cylindrical pipes in the chalk, they
call “pots”; the overlying gravel, sand, &c. they call “ uncallow.”

* The bed of shells at Runcton occurred to the east of the Gap; but ona
visit I made to the spot in the spring of 1845, a fall of the cliff had covered up
the bed. To the west of the Gap, however, I found a bed of marine shells,
lying, like that to the east of it, above the freshwater deposit. The frozen state
of the cliff prevented my obtaining specimens. The shells I found to the east
of the Gap were, Natica helicoides, Mya (a large species), Fusus striatus? The
shells I observed to the west of the Gap were all of the same species, viz. a
large truncated gaping bivalve, and had both valves united.

1844.] 485

The first of these two pits is situate in the village of Thorpe,
about a mile to the east of Norwich, at the junction of the great
east and west valley of the Yare with a small north and south
valley. The works are prosecuted in the direction of both valleys.

Owing to the great thickness of the uncallow (from 15 to 70
feet), it is removed only to a small extent at a time ; and when
the chalk has been worked away to that extent, a fresh space is
eleared for working.

Fig. 1. Tuorre Cuarx Pir.
(Ground Plan.*)
West

D’

a!

North.

\Ue

mn
;

South

¢

East.

The diagram (fig. 1.) is a ground plan of so much of this pit
as I propose to describe. On the left hand, outside of the curved
line c A F G, the chalk had been worked away long before my first
visit to the pit, and the outer space was filled with refuse from
other parts of the works. At the surface of the chalk, over part
of this space, to the left of a line drawn from H to F, there had
‘occurred, as the workmen stated, a large “drop.” When I first
visited the pit, the chalk had been worked away in the excavation
B C E D (of which a portion only is represented) to the depth,
measured from the surface of the rock, of about 50 feet; and sub-
sequently, in the course of the season, it was removed to a further
depth of 5 or 6 feet, when the workings were interrupted by water.
¢ AB is a triangular surface of chalk, of which the length c B is
about 18 feet, and the breadth at the further side a B, about 15
feet. On my first visit to the pit, it had been recently cleared of
uncallow ; and a clean vertical section, about 60 feet deep, of

* In this diagram certain furrows which ought to have been indicated, and
which proceed towards the west and south-west, from near the round marks on
the left-hand side of the middle of the diagram, have been accidentally omitted.

486 [Dec. 18,

‘deposits of that description, then presented itself above the chalk,
along the whole of the line a B D.

Subsequently, the uncallow was removed also from the space
B AGM (about 15 feet by 9 feet); and afterwards, to the whole
extent of that space, and of the triangular space c 4 B, the chalk
was worked away, and a vertical section of the uncallow was then
exposed above the lines G M and M B.

At c was a large conical pot. At 1 and x, in the floor of the
excavation BC ED, were horizontal sections of two cylindrical
pots, each about 2} feet in diameter ; and, as the workmen stated,
these pots had been of the same diameter throughout their whole
lengths of 55 feet; and at that depth from the surface of the
chalk there was no appearance of their terminating. Most of the
pipes in this pit extended, as the workmen stated, to the very
bottom; though occasionally a pipe, on its meeting with a layer
of flints, would stop abruptly. At L was another large pot.

On the surface of the chalk, in the triangular space c A B, were
several circular basins, about 10 inches in diameter, and 2 or 3
inches deep in the centre: there were also several very shallow
irregular furrows.

On the outer margin of this space, extending from the pot c to
A, were the remains of a deep curvilinear furrow ; from A to B
was a straight deep furrow, communicating at B with the pipe L;
and parallel to A B was another deep furrow, extending from
G@ to M.

Fig. 2. Tuorrr Cuarx Pir.

(Cross Section of the two Furrows G M and A B, from O to N.)

1. The solid chalk. ;
2. The bcttom of the furrows G M and A B, filled with sand, umber, and

yellow ochre, and sometimes containing thin layers of chalk.

3. Layer of reconstructed chalk. :
4, Sand — (a.) represents a projection filled with umber.

A cross-section of these two furrows, on a line No, nearly
midway between the points A and 8B, is represented in fig. 25
and fig. 4. is another transverse section of the same two tur-
rows, drawn through the points A and G. On each of the above

‘
:

|
|

1844] 487

lines of section, the furrows are excavated in solid chalk, and
they are separated from one another by an intervening ridge of
solid undisturbed chalk.

Fig. 3. THorre Cuarx Pir.

(Cross Section of the bottom of the furrow GM.)

. Solid chalk.

Yellow ochre.

Sand.

Chalk.

Sand mixed with umber.

. Layer of reconstructed chalk,

wseseor

On the line of section n 0, each of the furrows is from 7 to 8
feet deep, and, at the surface of the solid chalk, is about 4 feet

wide; but on the line of section a G, both the furrows are wider
and shallower. At and near the line of section N 0, the width of

the furrows on a level with the surface of the solid chalk, is some-

times less than it is about a foot and a half below that level; but

at a greater depth the width again diminishes, and it then tapers

downwards to the bottom. Sometimes, however, the transverse
section is nearly that of a wedge.

Near the line of section N 0, the lower part of the furrow G M,
to the height of about a foot from the bottom, was irregular in
shape, and, at that height, was from 1} to 2 feet wide. This part
was sometimes filled with a mixture of yellow ochre and umber, of
a blackish or brown colour, and very low specific gravity : some-
times the umber lay above and the ochre below, a thin layer of
fine sand separating the two; sometimes a layer of fine ferruginous
sand lay beneath the ochre and umber, and sometimes, as in Fig.
3., thin irregular layers of chalk were mixed with the other
contents of this lower part of the furrow. At the bottom of the
furrow A B, near the point A in the ground plan, was an accumu-
lation of water-worn pebbles, which was covered by sand. (See
Fig. 4.)

VOL. 1V. PART III. come)

488 } (Dec. 18,

Fig. 4. Torre Cuatx Pir.
(Cross Section of the two furrows G M and A B from G to A.)

S.W. S.E.

. Solid chalk.

Yellow ochre.
Umber. .

Sand.

. rounded pebbles.

. reconstructed chalk.
Sand.

oS ms om

Near the line of section NO in each of the furrows, at the
height of about a foot from the bottom, was a layer of chalk about
4 feet thick, but thicker towards the sides of the furrow than
towards the middle. The chalk bore evident marks of reconstruction
in some of its parts, but in other parts was apparently so solid as
to render it difficult for the observer to believe that it had ever
been disturbed. ‘The upper surface of the reconstructed chalk in
each of the two furrows appeared to have been exposed tothe same
kind of furrowing action which the solid chalk has undergone at the
base of the furrows. From the top of this layer of reconstructed
chalk to the level of the surface of solid chalk, upon this line of see-
tion, was a perpendicular height of 3 or 4 feet. This space in the
furrow 4B was filled with fine sand, intermixed frequently with
much umber, less frequently with yellow ochre, and sometimes
with a mixture of the two; and in one part, where the surface of
the layer of reconstructed chalk was depressed below its ordinary
level, a layer of rounded gravel occurred beneath the sand. Above
the layer of reconstructed chalk, in the furrow A B, small conical
protuberances, about 4 inches in length and diameter, projected
from the sides of the furrow into the solid chalk, in which they
formed cavities, and these cavities were filled with umber. (See
fig. 2.

“Tt “ probably from the decomposition of the iron pyrites in the
chalk, that the yellow ochre in these furrows has resulted ; for it is
often seen forming small lumps in the solid chalk, near the surface of

1844. ] | 489

the latter. The umber is of frequent occurrence, in connection with
the pipes in the chalk, both in Kent and Norfolk. In the former
county I have found pipes 6 inches in diameter, and 2 feet in
depth, nearly filled with this substance; and I have frequently
observed it mixed with the clay which lies between the chalk and
the overlying loam, and which also forms the lining to the pipes.
In Norfolk it enters largely into the composition of the pan, and
occurs as well in the pipes as in the furrows; but I have nowhere
met with it so pure, nor in such large masses, as in the lower part
of the furrow GM, above described.

The reconstructed chalk, which, in the line of section Nn 0, lay
within the furrows at the depth of 3 or 4 feet below the surface of
the solid chalk, completely fills up and overtops the furrows and
the ridge of solid chalk which divides them, on the line of section
AG. Over this layer of reconstructed chalk, extending continuously
from furrow to furrow, lies a bed of sand.

The following figure (5.) is a vertical section, passing north

Fig. 5. Tsorrre Cuarx Prt.

. The solid chalk.
- The bottom of the furrow A B, filled with sand, umber, and ycllow ochre,
and occasionally containing thin layers of chalk.

oye!

3. Layer of re-constructed chalk.

4. Sand.

S, S’ General surface of the solid chalk, at the sides of the furrow.

5. Sand, alternating, in the lower part, with seams of clay and gravel. From
S, S’ to the top of 5, the height is about five yards.

6. Loam, sand, and gravel. From the bottom of 6 to the surface is about
eighteen yards.

_L. The sand-pipe, so marked in the ground-plan, fig. 1.

_and south along the middle of the furrow as. It shows the con-

nection of that furrow with the pipe L, and the manner in
which the lower strata of crag bend down into the broader and
deeper pipes, such as L appears to be. Since the disturbance of
the strata does not extend more than 15 feet above the general
level of the surface of the solid chalk, the upper horizontal strata

of loam, sand, and gravel, of the aggregate thickness of about

Ooo 2

490 [Dee. 18,

18 yards, which lie above the disturbed strata, are omitted in the
figure.

The strata overlying the chalk, as exhibited in vertical section
over the line GM in the ground plan, were the following, in de-
scending order : —

Feet In, Feet In.

Loam, with patches of gravel - - - 80 0
m, Sand, with seams of gravel - = - 91° 0
51 0
Feet In.
1 Clay - - - = : eg)
hk. Sand - a ug uf uy I 2 0
% Dark brown gravel, about - = tt ECG
h, Verruginous sand - - = —42) 0
g. Yellow sand, about = - - 5 EP Wen P%,
fi. Ferruginous sand, about - - ar OO
e. Whitish sand, about - = = lates bah
d. Clay - - - - d Se OP) (6)
e. Yellow sand, about = - = = Ps 1HLG
b. Clay, whitish towards the bottom = of L2anO
19 O
a. Solid chalk Feet 70 0

IT met with no crag shells in these strata at the pit at Thorpe.
About midway between the points G and M, and near the point
0, in the ground plan, some of the lower of the above super-
eretaceous strata were faulted in the manner represented in
Fig 6., the greatest perpendicular displacement being about 2 feet :

Fig. 6.*

me
.

SOS
oa
Cc

AWN

but those strata in that section, whose vertical distance from the
chalk exceeded 16 feet, remained undisturbed and_ horizontal.

From the sequel it will appear probable that this displacement is |

owing to the occurrence of a sandpipe in the chalk, to the west of
the line Gm; but the existence of such a cavity was not proved
in this instance; for, during my visits to the chalkpit, the clearing
of the chalk had not proceeded beyond the line in question.

* The references to this diagram are given in the above table of the strata —

overlying the chalk.

1844.] 491

The second of the two pits above referred to, worked in the solid.
chalk, lies about 4 miles N.E. of Norwich, a little to the north of
Rackheath church. It is on the east side of a north and south
valley, which terminates northwards in the east and west valley of
the Bure.

The surface of the chalk is marked by broad undulations, 3 or 4
yards asunder, and about a yard deep, the prevailing direction of
these undulations, drawn lengthwise, being north and south; but
this direction is liable to exception. ‘The chalk is worked to a
depth of from 12 to 18 feet below its own surface, the depth in-
creasing with the distance from the valley. Paramondras, which
are generally abundant in the chalk of this part of Norfolk, are
particularly so in this pit; and I noticed one of them, having its
lower part fixed in the chalk, and its upper enveloped in the sand
of the crag, which here covers the chalk.

The crag is from 10 to 18 feet thick; but it thins off towards
the valley. The Pan rests immediately on the chalk; and above
the pan are beds of yellow and white sand, alternating with bands,
2 or 3 inches thick, of gravel and laminated clay. In the spring
of 1844, in the progress of the workings, a bed of crag-shells was
exposed, about 3 feet long and 2 feet thick, at the height of about
3 feet above the surface of the chalk; and another thin layer of
crag shells may be seen in the bank of an adjoining road. ‘The
above lower crag strata conform to the irregularities in the surface
of the chalk, both where it sinks towards the valley and where it
rises above the ordinary level. The valley therefore appears to
have been partially excavated in the chalk, before the supra-
cretaceous beds were deposited. The upper beds consist of less
regularly stratified sand and gravel.

In the beginning of May, 1843, a space, ABCD (see Fig. 7.),
bordering on the edge of the valley, 19 yards by 14, was cleared
of the sand and gravel, which were here from 10 to 12 feet
thick. The surface of the chalk thus exposed was traversed
by numerous shallow and nearly parallel furrows, which had a

Fig. 7.
(Ground Plan of the cleared Surface of Chalk at Rackheath.)
North.

|

Ra

i\
H

NN
mm

MOAT

South.

The shaded parts represent the ridge, and the blank parts the fuirow.
00 3

492 [Dee. 18,

prevailing direction from N. to S., agreeing with that of the valley ;_
but such a parallelism between the furrows in the surface of the
chalk and the nearest valley does not hold as a general rule; for
in a space that was subsequently cleared, less than 20 yards from
that shown in the diagram, the direction of the furrows was E.
and W. Upon the whole, however, the north and south furrows
seem to be the deepest.

The deepest of the furrows shown in the diagram, which was
Pp, was about 3 feet wide, and 1 foot deep: the next furrow, gq,
was 6 inches wide and 3 deep; and, for the length of 2 or 8 yards,
was as clean cut as a gutter-tile. It led to a circular cavity, 7,
3 feet in diameter, which looked like the mouth of a pipe; but,
on removing the sand, it was found to be only 1 foot deep in the
centre. ‘The rest of the furrows were broader, shallower, and less
regular than the two former, aud were lost in a large irregular
cavity, not visible at my first visit to the pit, but afterwards ex-
posed to view in a vertical section, passing through the line EF,
about 12 feet to the south of the line a8.

The hollow (see Fig. 8.) thus laid open was about 11 yards

1. Solid chalk.
p- Pan, or ferruginous breccia.

2. Sand, black towards the bottom, yellow towards the top.
3. Whitish sand.

wide, and was divided by a ridge of chalk into two cavities, which
were respectively 21 and 12 feet wide, and 3 and 7 feet deep.
The bottom of this hollow, like the surface of the chalk generally, |
was lined with the pan; above this, within the hollow, was sand, |
blackish towards the bottom, but yellow towards the top. Over |
this and over the Pan beyond the limits of the cavity, was a whitish
sand.

In other parts of the Rackheath pit, several sections of deep
pots were visible; and one of the most remarkable of these is |
represented in Fig 9.

“ Core” is the term given by the workmen to the column of un-
stratified, tenacious, gravelly loam, which is sometimes found over
a “pot” in the chalk, rising through and traversing the regularly |
stratified and alternating bands of sand, gravel, and clay, belonging
to the crag and overlying the chalk. One of these cores, pro-
jecting in relief above the strata of the crag, is represented in the |
annexed diagram. On one side, the laminz of stratification bend

1844.] : 493

1. Solid Chalk.

2. Sand, gravel, and clay.
a. Pot in the chalk.

b. Core above the pot.

down towards the core; on the other, they abut abruptly, in a
horizontal position, against it.

Over the larger sandpipes in this pit generally, the stratification

of the lower beds of crag is disturbed, and, in some places, quite
obliterated.
_ From the state of the strata of the uncallow above, the work-
men profess to be able to determine the nature of the cavity in
the chalk below. It may be stated, as a general rule, that over
“drops,” or other irregularities in the surface of the chalk, of
greater width than depth, the alternating beds of sand and clay
are disposed in gently curving flexures, which are evidently ori-
ginal conditions of deposit: that over deep pipes, not exceeding a
foot in diameter, the laminz of the sand and gravel are undis-
turbed; that over pipes of greater diameter the lamine usually
suffer disturbance; but that even over the widest pipes, the dis-
turbance does not extend to the height of 20 feet from the surface
of the chalk. When the Uncallow exceeds that thickness, the
disturbed strata are overlaid by others which are horizontal.

Among the contents of the sand-pipes in the solid chalk near
Norwich, I have not met with any fragments of chalk; though in
two instances I have seen rounded pebbles of chalk, lying near the
clay which ustally lines the sides of these cavities. The flints in
the pipes are rarely waterworn, and appear to have been rarely
detached from the chalk. In Kent, on the contrary (particularly
in a pit near Canterbury, described by me in a former communi-
cation) a large portion of the flints in the pipes have undergone
considerable attrition; but the form of the pebbles is not orbi-
cular nor ellipsoidal, but rather that of two cones, placed base to
base.
As a general fact, crag-shells have not been found in the pipes
in the solid chalk near Norwich, even in cases where such shells

are abundant in the overlying crag strata. Neither have I dis-
oo 4

494 [Dec. 18”

covered in these pipes any mammalian bones, nor have I learned
that any such discovery has been made by others.

I have now to describe some sand-pipes near Norwich, not in
solid chalk, but in reconstructed chalk or chalk-rubble.

The pit in which these occur is at Crostwick, about five miles
N. E. of Norwich, on the western side of Rackheath Valley, and
at its point of confluence with the valley of the Bure. The di-
mensions of the pit are about 35 yards by 48 and the sections of
its southern, eastern, and western sides, are represented in the
three following diagrams : —

Fig. 10. Crostwicx Pir.

South.

East.
c
b
a

South.
: Fig. 12
West
South, North.
Se = ee NS
oo RO. INCAS pay
Note. — The references to the above three diagrams are as follows : —

a,b, c,d. Various layers or seams of flint in the gravel and sand overlying
the chalk ( Uncallow),.

e. A pipe which divides into two cylinders.

Jf. A flint protruding from the chalk into a sandpipe.

g. Various flints (not in layers) in the uncallow. °

Various irregular seams of clay also occur in different parts of the uncallow, as
hear e in fig. 10. (to the right of that letter); to the left of f in fig. 11. ; and
where lines are represented in fig. 12.

Seams of crag shells also occur at two or three points near } in fig. 10. and
above f in ]1.

The lowest line of flints, marked a, a, runs with great regu-
larity all round the pit ; and must, I think, be in solid undisturbed
chalk. The next line (4, 6) is less regular and continuous; but it

1844. | 495

contains two Paramoudras, in their proper vertical position. The
third line (¢, ¢) is more irregular, and some of its tabular masses
of flint lie horizontally, while others stand tp vertically ; and a lit-
tle below this line, on the southern side, are some irregular lines
of gray clay, with a ferruginous tinge. Above the fourth line of
flints (d, d) to the west of the middle point of same side, a seam of
similar clay is continuous for several feet.

On the eastern side, towards the north end, similar seams of
clay occur above the lowest line of flints (a, a), at intervals of from
6 inches to 2 feet in perpendicular height. ‘They are rarely more
than 6 inches long, and an inch thick. Several seams also occur
about the middle of the same side, below the level of the third line
of flints (c,c). Irregular seams of clay and sand appear also
about the middle of the western side of the pit ; and these occa-
sionally expand into masses of sand, 6 inches long and 2 or 8
inches thick. The seams of clay dip, on the south side toward the
north, on the east side toward the east, and on the west side to-
ward the west. In the north-east corner of the pit, the recon-
structed chalk rises to the height of 12 feet above the level of the
lowest line of flints (a, @).

Near the middle of the eastern side of the pit, at the depth of
about 5 feet below the surface of the reconstructed chalk, a layer
of crag shells occurs, about 10 feet long, dipping eastward. The
general thickness of this layer is from 1 to 3 inches; but in one
part, for the length of 2 feet, it swells out to the thickness of 1
foot ; and the shells are here mixed with sand and a few pebbles.
Among the shells, which are chiefly in large fragments, Mr.

Wigham recognized Astarte plena, Tellina obliqua, and Cyprina
islandica, the last shell being the most abundant.* I have before
stated that the pan which underlies the fluviatile deposit of Mun-
desley, and the bed which overlies the fluviatile deposit at Runcton
Gap, agree as to the species of shells which they contain ; and it
becomes a question with which of these two beds the crag of
Crostwick was contemporaneous.

So solid in appearance is the reconstructed chalk of this pit,
that, until I discovered the above described layer of crag shells, I
had no suspicion that it was any thing but solid chalk; and even
now, when I am convinced that a large portion of the matter in
which this pit is excavated is chalk-rubble, I am-unable to assign,
with any degree of precision, the limits between the reconstructed
and the solid chalk. The fragments of chalk in the rubble of
Crostwick do not exhibit the slightest appearance of attrition.

As to the deposits above the reconstructed chalk, they rise to
the height of about 4 feet above the general level of the latter.
Of the Pan there are no distinct traces. The lower of these over-
lying deposits are more regularly stratified than the upper.

* The entire skeleton of an elephant was found some years ago, as Mr.
Wigham informs me, in a pit of chalk-rubble in the neighbourhood of Crost-
wick ; and, as he believes, in this very pit. In this part of Norfolk, “ marl” is
the name which the farmers give in common both to chalk and to chalk-rubble.

496 [Dec. 18,

One of the most remarkable phenomena in this pit is to be ob-
served on its southern side. A cylindrical pipe (e), of small
diameter, divides into fwo smaller cylinders, two or three inches
in diameter each. ‘They are separated one from the other by an
interval of 2 or 3 inches, and each holds an uninterrupted course
through the chalk to the depth of several feet. In this and in
other instances of the same kind that I have met with in Norfolk,
the division of the pipe into two branches appeared to have been
caused by a flint obstructing nearly the whole area of the pipe;

Fig. 13.

South side.

Overlying sand.

Chalk, rubble, and Chalk.

Lowest line of Flints.
ASF esasasct

Floor of the pit.

and the diameters of the smalier cylinders into which it divided
appeared to be influenced by the size of the apertures left in the
mass of flint.

In another pipe on the east side of the Crostwick pit, a flint (f),
is seen, one part of which remains imbedded in the chalk, while
the other part projects into the cavity of the pipe. The upper
surface of the projecting part has indications of wear, while its
under surface retains the original chalky coating.

In another part of the same pit I observed fissures radiating
from one of the pipes ; and these fissures were filled with the same
fine clay with which the pipes are usually lined. I have since met
with similar fissures, similarly lined, in pipes traversing the solid
chalk: they occur in pits in this part of Norfolk.

In a paper on the detrital deposits of part of West Norfolk,
(Proceedings of the Geol. Soc. vol. iii. p. 185.), I showed that the
chalk is there covered by two deposits of very variable thickness.
The upper consists of ferruginous sand or loam, and of numerous
chalk flints, which have undergone scarcely any abrasion, together
with a few fragments of other rocks, such as trap, porphyry, &c.,
which indicate distant transport: and with these ingredients, beds
of rolied chalk-pebbles are occasionally associated. ‘The lower
deposit consists mainly of fragmentary chalk, which has undergone

1844. 497

very little attrition ; and sometimes this constitutes almost the
sole material; sometimes there is an admixture of a variable
proportion of sand and clay. The lower deposit, though very
generally distributed, is more local than the upper. There can
be no doubt that both belong to the northern drift.

The surface of the lower deposit is often very much eroded with
conical and cylindrical pipes, and with irregular furrows from a
few inches to a foot or two in width, and rarely more than 3 or
4 feet in depth. I gave in the same paper an instance of this
at Gallows Hill, near Burnham Market, on the side of a valley
which opens to the sea, and is excavated in the solid chalk. This

Fig. 14. Burnoam Marker.

20 feet.

a, Ferruginous sand, with unabraded flints, and pebbles of trap and porphyry.

b. Lighter-coloured gravel, with angular flints, rounded pebbles of chalk, and
pebbles of trap and porphyry.

c. Where the lining is darker, is a lining of clay.
round the sand-pipe p.

r. Comminuted chalk, mixed with clay and sand, and with rounded and par-
tially waterworn fragments of chalk.

f. Large tabular unabraded masses of flint.

g- A bed of gravel.

h. Solid chalk.

This lining extends also

mass (r, 7) was 20 feet thick, and consisted of finely-comminuted
chalk detritus, mingled with clay and sand, and containing rounded
and slightly waterworn fragments of chalk, and large tabular
flints, not in the least abraded. It had seams of sand, several
inches thick, in its lower part; and one of these expanded into a
bed of gravel 2 feet thick. It was traversed by a sand-pipe (p),
which appeared to extend through its entire thickness.

In a recent communication I mentioned a bed of chalk-rubble
near Trimmingham, which occurs enveloped in drift, and is so
pure as to be burned for lime. I have since met with another
such deposit near the Thorpe entrance to Gunton Park, which is
also burned for lime: it consist of fragments of chalk which have
undergone some little attrition. This bed is from 12 to 165 feet
thick ; rests upon sand ; and is covered by from 2 to 4 feet of

498 [Dec. 18,

sandy loam. In an area from which the uncallow had been re-
cently cleared, 15 yards long, and from 3 to 5 yards broad, I
found the surface of this bed honeycombed with sand-pipes, which
were from 1 to 3 feet deep, and scarcely 2 feet apart. ‘They were
connected by furrows running in various directions.

From the phenomena above recorded as occurring in Norfolk,
combined with those which I formerly observed in Kent, it may
be concluded, that the surface both of the solid and reconstructed
chalk in those counties has been exposed to the action of which
sand-pipes are the result ; and this at various epochs, extending
from a period prior to the deposit of the sands of the plastic
clay, to the close of the period of the stratified drift.

The phenomena, observable in Norfolk, of the horizontal strata
of sand and gravel, superincumbent on the chalk, bending down
into the cavities of the larger sand-pipes as they approach those
cavities, led Mr. Lyell to attribute these irregularities to the
gradual removal of the chalk after the sand and gravel had been
deposited; and the agent by which he supposed the chalk to have
been removed, was acidulated water, percolating the overlying
deposits, which deposits subsided into the hollows beneath, on
their losing their support.

That a certain amount of subsidence has, in many instances,
taken place, [am by no means disposed to deny; and we have
evidence of this in the vertical striz which I have often observed
on the walls of pipes, and which I find, from the paper of Mr. Rose
on the geology of West Norfolk, that he has also noticed. ‘The
faulted state of the bands of sand and clay at Thorpe, represented
in Fig. 6. (supposing that fault to be attributable to some neigh-
bouring sand-pipe), may also be adduced in proof of the subsidence
of the strata into those cavities.

I believe these cavities to have been formed before the super-
incumbent strata were deposited. ‘The shallow circular basins
observed on the surface of the chalk at Thorpe and Rackheath, |
and formerly also in Kent, I consider as incipient pipes. The
formation of such hollows in siliceous blocks on the sea-shore, by
the rotation of sand and water, I formerly pointed out in my paper
on the sand-pipes of Kent. I have also observed minature furrows,
and conical and cylindrical cavities, now forming on chalk, by the
action of sand and water, on the coast of Norfolk, between high
and low water mark. ‘These cylindrical cavities are 2 inches in
diameter, and 4 inches in depth.

I beg to compare the sand-pipes in the chalk with the rock-
basins worn in the river-beds of gneiss and granite in Southern
India, of which Lieut. Newbold has given an account. (Pro-
ceedings of the Geol. Soc., vol. iii. p. 702.) These cavities
are from 4 inches to 4 feet in diameter, and 4 feet deep; and
they are connected one with another by shallow channels. For
the further details on this subject, I] beg to refer to the abstract
of his paper.

1844, ] 499

The effect of cavities, when once formed in the bed of a rapid
' river or tide, is to occasion whirlpools, which set in rotation the
matters within the cavity, the heavier bodies remaining within it,
while the lighter are ejected. In this way, it appears to me that
pits in the chalk may have been kept open for some time after the
deposit of the crag had commenced.

The bending down of the lower strata of the crag into the
hollows of the larger and deeper pipes, may be regarded as an
extreme case of the stratification conforming itself to pre-existing
irregularities of surface, a conformity which is so apparent in the
same strata when extending over the broad and shallow hollows in
the chalk. A subsidence to a limited extent in matters so de-
posited is not incompatible with the mode and circumstances of
their deposition.

January 8, 1845.

George Dawson, Esq. of Birmingham, was elected a Fellow of
this Society.

The following communications were read : —

1. On the Discovery of the Fossil Remains of BripENTAL and other
Reptites 7 SournH Arrica. By AnprRew Gepprs Bain,
Esq., Surveyor of Military Roads under the Corps of Royal
Engineers.

Tue district in which these fossils were found is on the eastern

frontier of the Cape Colony in South Africa, about 500 miles
east of Cape Town. No granite has been observed here, and the
lowest rocks are stratified, and in consequence of the dip, though
variable, tending on the whole towards the interior of the country,
the lower members of them are those nearest the coast.

A red quartzose crystalline sandstone is described by the author
as the fundamental rock, and as alternating with a talcose slate.
This sandstone is assumed to be of the carboniferous period,
vegetable impressions, apparently of a Lepidodendron, having
been found in it, and it is traced by the author towards the west,
parallel to the coast to within 50 miles of the Cape.

Over this there occurs a rock, called by the author a claystone
porphyry, containing fragments of the sandstone; next an ar-
gillaceous slate, alternating with sandstone and containing thin
laminz of limestone, and at a little distance is a stratum full
of vegetable remains.

Further to the north is a ferruginous sandstone with argillo-
calcareous nodules, in which nodules were found the remains of

500 [Jan. 8,

reptiles characterised by the author as Bidental, and described by
Professor Owen in the subsequent memoir. From the basin of

Fort Beaufort to near the southern foot of the Winterberg range —

(which is about 90 miles inland) the same beds appear to be con-

tinuous, but they are interstratified with beds of greenstone which
also occasionally intersect them.

The Winterberg peak (between 5,000 and 6,000 feet high) is a
flat tabular mass of basalt. Several hundred miles to the west-
ward of the peak a region extends of horizontal sandstone capped
on the eminences by basalt and intersected by numerous basaltic
dykes. A similar region extends to the north of the peak. Here
again reptilian fossils have been discovered, and they have also
been brought from the country far to the north beyond the Orange
River. Ammonites have been found at the summit of the
Compass-berg 150 miles N.W. of the Winterberg.

The author does not venture to decide on the geological age of
the formations he thus describes, but proceeds in conclusion to
allude to some overlying deposits found near the southern coast of
Albany, one of which is a red sandstone conglomerate, entirely
without fossils and resting unconformably on the supposed car-
boniferous sandstone: others are distinctly tertiary, and abound
in shells resembling those of animals still living on the South
African coast. A thick diluvial deposit is found near Fort Beau-
fort, and from the plains far to the northward beyond the Orange
river the fossil skull of a kind of buffalo has been obtained.

2. Description of certain Fossil Crania, discovered by A. G. Bain,
Esq., 2 Sandstone Rocks at the South-eastern Extremity, of
Africa, referable to different Species of an extinct Genus
of Reptilia (Dicynovon), and indicative of a new Tribe or
Sub-order of Saurtéa. By Ricuarp Owen, Esq., F.R.S.
F.G.S8., &e. ‘ ;

Tuer most remarkable character in these fossils is the presence of
two long curved and sharp-pointed tusks, which, like those of the
Walrus, descend one from each superior maxillary bone, and pass
on the outside of the fore part of the lower jaw, a character rare
even in Mammals, and hitherto only met with in that class ;
but in these specimens combined with a structure of the cranium,
proving that the animals belonged to the class Reptilia, but were
members neither of the Crocodilian nor Chelonian orders. The
Lacertine Sauria offer characters for comparison, but the minor
deviations from the ordinary Lacertian structure are so numerous,
the mode in which Crocodilian and Chelonian characters are in-
terwoven upon an essentially Lacertian base is so interesting, and
the individual and distinctive characters of the Dicynodons so

1845. ] 501

striking and peculiar as to require a detailed osteological descrip-
tion for their complete illustration.

In these animals, the Crocodilian structure is chiefly manifested
in the occipital region of the skull, and gives place to the Lacer-
tian characters in the upper and fore part ; but in regard to these
deviations it must be remembered, that the distinctive features of
the Crocodilian type are most broadly manifested in the existing
representatives of the order, and are modified and rendered less
salient in the more numerous and varied extinct members.

It is necessary to bear in mind this tendency to the amalgama-
tion of Crocodilian and Lacertian characters in the older Loricata,
in order to form a right estimate of the value of those cor-
respondences with the cranial peculiarities of the existing La-
certians.

Nevertheless, various characters justify the conclusion, that the
general type of cranial organisation manifested by modern lizards
was that in which the peculiar modifications of the Dicynodon have
been superinduced. It is not, however, amongst the modern
lizards that we find the nearest approximation to the Dicynodon.
For this we must go as far back into the period of Reptilian life
on this planet as the epoch of the new red sandstone, when the
Rhynchosaurus manifested the Lacertian type of skull, combined
with toothless jaws, which were most probably sheathed with
horn. What concerns us most in the present inquiry is the
anomalous edentulous sharp edge of the upper and lower jaws in
the ancient Rhynchosaur, and the Chelonian form of the deep
lower jaw, the same anomaly having been repeated in the extinct
African lizard of apparently as remote a period, with the super-
addition of Mammalian canine tusks. For the rest, much dif-
ference of form is manifested in the two extinet genera; but it
is interesting to remark the same peculiar contraction of the .
cranial cavity, indicating an arrested developement of brain in
both of them. The dental peculiarity of the African Saurian forms
its chief distinction from the Rhynchosaurus, as from all other
Sauria: but with the strange superaddition of its two canine
tusks, we must bear in mind that the affinities linking the Dicy-
nodon to Crocodilians and Chelonians are much more strongly
manifested than they are in the Rhynchosaurus.

The author, in concluding his account of the Dicynodon, ad-
verts to the analogy of structure, which radiates from this genus
in the direction of the Ophidian division of existing Reptilia,
although it is unsupported by any other concordances of
cranial or dental organisation than those about to be cited.
In the poisonous serpents, the rattle-snakes for example, the
intermaxillary bone is single and edentulous; the maxillary
bone ‘supports a long, curved, pointed tooth, which, when ad-
vanced, descends outside the lower jaw. Apart from all the
other peculiarities of the maxillary and dental systems of the
poison-snakes, they alone, of all existing Reptilia, repeat, in the
above-cited structures, the characters of the Dicynodon. But, in ad-

502 [ Jan. 8,

dition to the two large maxillary teeth, the rattle-snake has smaller
teeth in rows upon the palatine, pterygoid and mandibular bones.
To complete the resemblance between the tusks of the Dicynodon
and the venom fangs of the snake, you must deeply groove their
fore-part, or bore a canal through their centre ; you must remove
those strong columns of bone which converge to, abut against, and
strenethen the fixed socket of the tusk, and you must suspend the
maxillary bone by a moveable pedicle to the pre-frontal and malar
bones. Besides, the perforated tusk of the poisonous serpent is
always followed by one or more similar teeth, in various stages of
erowth, ready to supply its place, according to the general law of
the maintenance in serviceable state of the dental armature of the
jaws throughout the Reptilian class.

The canine tusk of the Dicynodon consists of a simple body of
compact unvascular dentine, with a very thin outer coat of
enamel, which may be traced into the alveolus for a short dis-
tance. Rather more than one-third of the tusk is lodged in the
socket, the basal conical pulp-cavity is continued from the base
about one-half down the implanted part of the tusk, and a linear
continuation extends along the centre of the rest of the tusk,
from which the dentinal tubes of the solid body of the tusk radiate.
They present gentle parallel secondary curves or undulations
throughout their course, divide dichotomously twice or thrice near
their beginnings, and send off numerous small lateral branches,
chiefly, but not exclusively, from the side next the apex.

The principal difference in the microscopic texture of the tusks
of the Dicynodon, as compared with -the teeth of the croco-
dile, consists in the closer and more compact arrangement of the
calcigerous tubes of the dentine; by which character it makes a
closer approach to the intimate texture of that tissue in the canine
teeth of the carnivorous Mammalia.

In the other Reptilia, recent or extinct, which most nearly
approach the Mammalia in the structure of their teeth, the dif-
ference characteristic of the inferior and cold-blooded class is ma-
nifested in the shape, and in the system of shedding and succession
of the teeth. ‘The dental armature of the jaws is kept in ser-
viceable order by uninterrupted change and succession; but the
matrix of the individual tooth is soon exhausted, and the life of
the tooth itself may be said to be comparatively short. Evidence
of this low organised dental condition, common to fishes, has
been obtained in every reptile, in which the implanted base of
the teeth has been examined by the author.

The existing Lacertians superadd to this endless shedding and
succession of teeth, the ichthyic character of anchylosis of the
base of the teeth in use to the osseous substance of the jaw; so
that in the Rhynchocephalus and other acrodont lizards, the teeth
appear like small enamelled processes of the alveolar border. The
Dicynodons not only manifest the higher type of free implantation
of the base of the tooth in a deep and complete socket, common to
Crocodilians, Megalosaurs, and Thecodonts, but make an additional

1845.] 503

-and much more important step towards the Mammalian type of
dentition by maintaining the serviceable state of the tusk by virtue
of constant renovation of the substance of one and the same matrix,
according to the principle manifested in the long-lived and ever-
growing tusks and scalpriform incisors of the Mammalia. This
endowment of the teeth of a reptile is far more remarkable and
unexpected than the more obvious character of the size and shape
of the long exserted tusks themselves, superadded as they are, and
in such strange combination, with the otherwise edentulous jaws
of a bird or turtle. Yet if we consider the fact in its relations to
the exigencies and convenience of the living animal, the wisdom
and beneficence of the principle is apparent, and the departure
from the ordinary rule manifests a power transcending the
trammels of scientific system. The teeth of the Dicynodon being
but two in number, and their use to the animal indicated by their
‘unusual size to be of unusual importance, the inconvenience and
detriment that must have ensued from frequent shedding and re-
placement is very obvious; we may readily conceive it to have
been incompatible with their functions, and therefore abrogated in
favour of another mode of renovation which is abnormal in rep-
tiles, simply, perhaps, because the form, proportions, and function
iof such tusks were unique, and are now no longer manifested in a
cold-blooded class.

| Some observations may be naturally expected in reference to
the probable use of the tusks to the Dicynodons, and the mode of
(life of those ancient and most remarkable saurians. In the Mam-
malian class, where alone we now find the analogous instruments,
tusks are usually given as weapons of offence and defence, — an
office exemplified in the hornless musk-deer, the boar, and in the
\large canine teeth of the Carnivora. The elephants use their tusks
chiefly, though not exclusively, as lethal weapons: the Walrus is
‘said to apply his tusks to aid in clambering over icebergs, as well
as in combat and defence: the Dugong is supposed to wear the
exserted points of the tusks in detaching fuci for food. Such an
office at first suggests itself as a very probable one in regard to
‘tusks descending, like those of the Dugong, from the upper jaw,
and combined with edentulous and probably horny mandibles
\like those of a fucivorous turtle.

| On inspecting the remains and the impressions of the tusks in the
fossils under consideration, and especially in the almost entire skull
of one species, the Dicynodon lacerticeps, we perceive that these
;weapons are sharp-pointed, and present no trace of that obliquely
bevelled or chisel-shaped extremity which is produced by habitual
application in acts of obtaining daily food, as, for example, in the
epamued extremities of the tusks of the Dugong and the incisors of
|the Rodents. The tusks of the Dicynodon, though similar, in their
origin from maxillary bones and downward direction, to the tusks
of the Walrus, are so much shorter, at least in the single specimen
in which their entire length is shown, that they could not be avail-
able in locomotion. I conclude therefore from their shape, pro-
VOL. IV. PART Ill. PP

504 [Jan. 22,

portional length, sharp points and dense texture, that the tusks of
the Dicynodon were applied by the living animal either for the
purpose of killing its prey, or of defending itself from its foes, or
in both acts; and that they were offensive and defensive arms.

A further insight into the habits and mode of life of the
Dicynodons may reasonably be expected to follow the examination
of the skeleton of the trunk and the organs of locomotion. This
will form the subject of a subsequent memoir; but the vertebrae
of the Dicynodon present the sub-biconcave structure common to
most of the older extinct saurians, which structure, in comparison
with the ball and socket vertebra of the modern species, indicates
amore aquatic and perhaps marine theatre of life for the amphibia
which swarmed in such plenitude of development and diversity of
forms during the ancient secondary periods of the geological
history of this planet.

JANUARY 22, 1845.

David Walter, Esq., of Colchester, was elected a Fellow of this
Society.

The following communications were read :-—

1. On the Newer Coal Formation of the Eastern Part of Nova
Scotia. By Jonn Dawson, Esq.

Ix some notes communicated last year to the Geological Society, I
stated the results of observations on the gypsiferous formation of
Nova Scotia, tending to confirm the views of Mr. Lyell respecting
the age of that series of rocks. In introducing those notes, it was
stated that the carboniferous strata of this province may be included
in three groups ; first, the gypsiferous or mountain limestone forma-
tion ; secondly, the older coal formation ; and thirdly, the newer
coal formation : of these the two former have almost exclusively at-
tracted the attention of geologists, the latter having been in a great
measure neglected. In connection with the Pictou coal field, how-
ever, and probably also in other parts of this and the neighbouring
colonies, the newer coal formation is an extensively distributed
deposit, often attaining considerable thickness, and, though nct
containing valuable beds of coal, ironstone, or gypsum, yet so asso-—
ciated with the rocks including these minerals, that a knowledge
of its structure and relations is essential to their satisfactory inves- |
tigation. In a palxontological point of view also it possesses con-—
siderable interest.; as its fossils show the continuance of the coal
flora during the deposition of a series of red sandstones newer than |
the great coal measures; and also the co-existence of that flora’
with terrestrial vertebrated animals. 4

The coal measures of the Albion mines, on the banks of the

1845.] - 505

East River of Pictou, a series of beds, estimated by Mr. Logan at.
5000 feet in thickness, and constituting our older coal formation,
are succeeded, in ascending order, by a great bed of coarse con-
glomerate, which, as it marks a violent interruption of the pro-
cesses which had accumulated the great beds of coal, shale, and
ironstone beneath, and as it is succeeded by rocks of a character
very different from that of these older coal measures, forms a well-
marked boundary, which we may consider as the commencement
of the newer coal formation.

This conglomerate appears in the East River section, at New
Glasgow, where it dips to the north. From this place its outcrop,
rising above the neighbouring softer rocks, may be traced, in a
western direction, as far as the West river, nine miles distant, and
eastward for a few miles, when it either disappears beneath the
surface, or passes into red sandstones, which appear in the same
direction, as far as Merigomish Harbour, six miles distant.

On the East River the conglomerate is accompanied and over-
laid by soft reddish sandstones. Northward of New Glasgow,
however, the banks of the river are covered with detritus, and the
only rocks which appear are grey sandstones and grey and reddish
shales, which are seen in a few places. In one part of the section
numerous fragments of black shale, with coprolites and scales of
ganoid fishes, appear to indicate the presence, in this series, of a
bed of that description. Wherever the dips of the rocks, on this
section, can be ascertained they are northerly, but usually at a very
small angle.

Eastward of the Ewer section, and in geological position pro-
bably a few hundred feet above the conglomerate, there is a bed of
grey limestone, twelve feet or more in thickness, containing a few
minute univalves, and having in one part of its thickness a pecu-
liar laminated and concretionary structure. Above this limestone,
and separated from it only by a few inches of underclay, is a small
bed of coal. The outcrop of these beds can be traced across the
country, parallel with that of the conglomerate, as far as Merigo-
mish Harbour, where they are seen dipping to the north at an angle
of about 25°, and are accompanied by reddish and grey sandstones
and shales. The latter rocks form a series of at least 2000 feet in
thickness, portions of which appear at various places on the shores

of Merigomish and Little Harbours. Red sandstones prevail in

the lower part of this series, but in its upper portion there are

thick beds of grey sandstones, accompanied by grey shales; and,

in one place, by a bed of coal 11 inches thick, with an underclay.
They also include a thin bed of dark grey limestone, in concre-

tionary balls, separated by clay. Near Merigomish, these beds dip

to the north at an angle of about 20°, but further westward the
dip becomes very small, and they spread over a greater surface, so
as to occupy the shore nearly as far as the entrance of Pictou Har-
bour. In the grey sandstones on this shore, coniferous wood, fos-
silized by carbonate of lime, is very abundant; and Calamites, Endo-
PP 2

506 . [Jan, 22,

genites, Lepidodendron, and carbonized vegetable fragments are
frequent.

Northward and westward of Pictou Harbour, is a series of rocks,
nearly resembling those just described, and generally dipping to
the south-east, at angles of 15° to 25°. In Rogers Hill, six miles
westward of Pictou, are thick beds of coarse conglomerate, consi-
derably disturbed, associated with greenstone and hard elaystone,
and showing, in one part, a thick vein of crystalline sulphate of
barytes. This conglomerate I believe to be geologically identical
with that of New Glasgow. It is succeeded by a great series of
deposits, chiefly consisting of reddish sandstones and shales; but
including several thick beds of grey sandstone, affording quarries
of valuable grindstone and freestone, and accompanied by grey
shales, conglomerates, thin beds of coarse limestone, and a thin bed
of coal. As there are no very good natural sections in this part of
the country, it would be difficult to ascertain the aggregate thick-
ness of these deposits; it must, however, be great, since they oc-
cupy, with general south-east dips, the whole country from the
hills last named to the entrance of Pictou Harbour. ‘The princi-
pal fossils found near Pictou, are Calamites, Lepidodendron, Endo-
genites, coniferous wood, ferns, Sternbergia, and carbonized frag-
ments of wood impregnated with iron pyrites and with sulphuret
and carbonate of copper. In this series, also, and near the town
of Pictou, is the bed of sandstone containing erect calamites, no-
ticed by Mr. Lyell in his papers on the fossil trees of the Joggins.
A section of the rocks accompanying this bed is annexed.

Section of rocks of the NewErr Coat Formation at Dickson’s Mitts,
near the town of Picrou (330 yards).

SS
=
= =
Ss = = ~ SSS

5. Coarse reddish sandstones with finer reddish and grey beds and shales,
especially in the lower part. Ferns and Stigmarie.

4, Brown conglomerate not coarse.

3. Reddish sandstones and shales.

2, Grey sandstone coarse above and finer below (thickness 50 ft.), in upper
part prostrate Calamites and Lepidodendron ; lower part erect Calamites, conere-
tions of impure limestone with calamites and endogenites succeeding the sand-

stones.
1. Reddish sandstones and shales with fucoid marks and impressions of ferns.

The coast section, westward of the entrance of Pictou Harbour,
is for some distance very imperfect. Much red sandstone, how-
ever, appears ; and a bed of limestone from two to three feet thick,
and a small bed of coal, have been discovered. Some grey sand-
stones also appear: in one of which, of a coarse pebbly texture,
there are numerous fragments of carbonized wood, containing sul-
phuret and carbonate of copper. This deposit and others of a
similar nature, found in this series at various places, have given

1845.] 507

origin to hopes, probably delusive, that valuable deposits of that
metal might be found in our newer coal formation.

Beyond Fowey River, ten miles north-westward of Pictou, the
coast affords a good section, exposing reddish sandstones and shales,
containing some grey beds in their upper part, and including a
thin bed of dark grey limestone. Some of the red shales contain
leaves of ferns and fucoidal marks. The dip of these rocks is to the
S.S.E., at a very small angle: on approaching Cape John, how-
ever, the angle of inclination becomes greater, and grey beds again
become numerous, some of them being thick-bedded and coarse-
grained sandstones, and containing calamites and carbonized wood.
At the extremity of the Cape the strata becomes vertical, and here
(but below low-water mark) is a bed of white granular gypsum,
about three feet in thickness. The rocks in which this small bed
is situated, must belong to the newer coal formation, and probably
to its lower part’; and it is the only instance with which I am ac-
quainted, of the occurrence of gypsum in that part of the carboni-
ferous system. As it appears in none of the other sections which
I have examined, the range of this bed is probably small, and it is

too unimportant in thickness, to invalidate the claim of the older ,

carboniferous deposits to the title of gypsiferous series.

Coast Section of the Newrr Coat Formation from Carre Joun,
8 miles to the Southward.

eee

1 2

2. Reddish sandstone and shale with grey beds and limestone, containing
ferns, Sphenophyllum and Lycopodium.
1. Grey and reddish sandstones and shales with conglomerate and gypsum.
Lignite and Calamites.
2

Beyond Cape John, a band of comparatively level country,
skirting the shores of the Gulph of St. Lawrence, and extending
as far as Wallace Harbour, is occupied by the newer coal formation,
which here contains a greater proportionate abundance of red
sandstones than near Pictou ; and instead of being bounded on the
inland side by carboniferous rocks, is met by, and seems to overlie
unconformably, a series of hard grits, slates, and limestones, with
scales of Holoptychius, Encrinites, and fragments of bivalve shells,
and which are probably of Newer Silurian or Devonian age. The
last mentioned rocks, with various kinds of trap, form an elevated
ridge belonging to the Cobequid chain of hills. A copy of the
section exposed by the French river of Tatmagouche, which was
described in my paper of last winter, and well illustrates the struc-
ture of this region, is annexed.

¥

x

bh

508 — [Jan. 22,

Secrion of Frencu River of Tarmacoucue (63 miles).

Sen LZ —— Ss
2 3 4 5

Grey and red sandstone and shale. Calamites, &c.
Red sandstones and shales with a few grey beds.
Light grey and red sandstone and shale.

Slate, limestone and grit with scales of Holoptychius.
Trappean rocks.

10 co A

When examining the red sandstones, near Tatmagouche, last:
summer, I found in one of the beds a few footmarks of an unknown
animal, specimens of which were sent to this society. They were
mere scratches made by the points of the toes or claws, and there-
fore could give few indications of the form of the feet which pro-
duced them. Their arrangement, however, appeared to indicate
that the animal was a biped, and their form is quite analogous to.
that of the marks left by our common sandpiper, when running
over a firm sandy shore. On a subsequent examination of the
same place, I found a series of footmarks of another animal, and
obtained a slab with casts of eight impressions, which I send with

“this paper. In this specimen the tracks are somewhat injured by

the rain-marks which cover the slab, and the clay in which they
were made was probably too soft to give good impressions; it has,
however, preserved a furrow which must have been caused by the
body or tail of the animal trailing over it. Many of the beds in
the neighbourhood of that containing these footmarks are rippled,
poieniericed: or covered with worm cee ; and as such indications
of a littoral origin are not infrequent in other parts of the newer
coal formation, it may be anticipated that many interesting relics
of terrestrial animals will in future be discovered. At present,
however, as no quarrying operations are carried on in the red beds,
it is difficult to obtain access to the surfaces on which tracks might
be expected to occur. The only vegetable remains found in the red
sandstones of Tatmagouche are some of those irregular branching
stains which have been considered as fucoidal marks ; but in a bed
of grey sandstones above the strata containing tracks, I found
Calamites, Endogenites, Stigmaria ficoides, and fragments of carbon-=
ized wood. Ina fragment from a dark calcareous bed near this
place, I found a portion of a fossil plant covered with shells of a
species of Spirorbis, and a few small scales of ganoid fishes. A
bed of limestone, similar to that of Cape John, has been observed
in the sandstones of Tatmagouche, but no coal, gypsum, or conglo-
merate have been seen. It is probable that most of the sandstones
and shales, seen in the French river section, are equivalent to the
newest of the strata seen near Pictou.

To give more precise views of the composition and appearance
of the newer coal formation, and of the differences between it and

1845.] 509

the lower carboniferous series, it may be useful shortly to describe
the various rocks of which it is composed.

The red sandstones are of various shades, from brick red (which
is not common) to reddish brown. ‘They scarcely differ, in their
range of colours, from those of the gypsiferous formation, except
that in the latter purplish tints are more frequent. They are often
flazzy and micaceous, and obliquely laminated, and there is every
gradation, from very coarse sandstone to shale.

The red shales are generally laminated, but not finely ; occasion-
ally, but rarely, they want lamination and then can scarcely be dis-
tinguished from the fine sandstones and mudstones which, in the
gypsiferous formation, have been named marls. They often have
greyish fucoidal marks, and sometimes remains of land plants.
The red sandstones and shales are usually soft, and I have no-
where seen them attain the hardness so often found in the similar
rocks of the gypsiferous formation.

The grey sandstones vary in colour from neutral grey to brown-
ish and yellowish tints; the latter owing to the decomposition of
iron pyrites. ‘The sandstones are sometimes coarse, and full of
white quartz pebbles, but are more frequently of finer texture.
They are accompanied by greyish shales and clays, and the groups
of grey sandstone and shale, occurring in the newer coal formation,
are much more important than those of the gypsiferous series
These groups of grey beds are always accompanied by thin layers
of coarse grey limestone, usually wedge-shaped, and consisting of a
basis of sand cemented by lime, containing concretions and small
fragments of argillaceous limestone. These coarse limestones, and
the sandstones with which they are associated, are always much
harder than the red-coloured beds.

From the constant existence, in the grey sandstones, of carbo-
nized plants with sulphuret of iron, it may be inferred that this
sulphuret has been produced by the decomposition of the sulphates
in sea water, in consequence of the action of decaying vegetable
matter, and the combination of their sulphur with iron derived
from the surrounding deposits (a process now taking place in many
estuaries). By supposing the bleaching of red sands and clays to
have been effected in this way, we should, perhaps, account for the
connection of fossil remains with grey beds, and for the com-
parative absence of red tints from the highly carboniferous rocks
of the older coal formation.

There are at least two beds of limestone in the newer coal form-
ation, quite distinct from the impure sandy layers before noticed.
The principal stratum, that seen near New Glasgow, is of a grey
colour, in some places very dark; its structure varies in different
parts of its thickness, being flaggy above, concretionary below and
in the middle, showing a peculiar combination of concretionary
and laminated structure, unique among our limestones, and pre-
served by this bed as far as it can be traced. The limestones
seen at Little Harbour, Pictou Island, Cariboo and Cape John

are of a dark grey colour, caused by carbonaceous matter ;
Pe 4

510 Tana,

they have a tendency to concretionary structure, and sometimes
degenerate into beds of marly clay with large balls of limestone.
The limestones appearing at the four last mentioned places are,
perhaps, portions of one bed. ;

The two small beds of coal are similar in appearance to those of
the older coal formation. One of them, with its under clay, is
included in coarse grey sandstones ; the other rests on limestone,
and is succeeded by some grey clay and dark shale.

The conglomerates cannot be distinguished from those of the
lower carboniferous series. Both are of reddish-brown colours,
and composed of fragments of various hard rocks, usually united
by a calcareous’ cement.

It appears from the foregoing descriptions that, in lithological
character, the newer coal formation of Pictou strongly resembles
the lower carboniferous series; the chief differences being that, in
the former, the beds of grey sandstone are of greater comparative
thickness, and that, in the latter, there are great beds of gypsum
and of limestone with marine shells. Our coal measures may thus,
in one point of view, be regarded as a subordinate group, included
in a great thickness of sandstones and shales, mostly of red eclours.

The sections which I have described are included in a district
extending about fifty miles along the shores of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, from Merigomish to Wallace; forming, I believe, the
largest continuous tract of rocks of the newer coal formation in
Nova Scotia. Along the coast, between these extreme points, the
strata are arranged in an undulatory manner, so that the beds seen
at Little Harbour probably re-appear at Cariboo, Cape John, and
-Tatmagouche. Notwithstanding these undulations, however, the
general strike of the formation nearly corresponds with the general
direction of the coast. This arrangement is due to the circum-
stance that the great anticlinal line of the Cobequid Hills, instead
of being continued to the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, turns
to the southward, and appears to be continued by a group of hills
extending across the Pictou coal formation trough, and greatly
compleating its arrangement. This group, however, being com-
posed of stratified rocks of the older and newer coal formation,
must have owed its elevation to disturbances much more recent
than those which determined the main direction of the Cobequid
Hills, and that of the great anticlinal line, southward of the Pictou
coal field.

The greater part of the rocks composing the newer coal form-
ation of Pictou, were formerly confounded, under the name of New
Red Sandstone, with apart of the gypsiferous series, and with a deposit
of non-fossiliferous red sandstones skirting the shores of the Bay of
Funday, and unconformably superimposed on the older car-
boniferous strata. I have no doubt, however, that in other parts
of Nova Scotia the newer coal formation will be found to be a
well-marked carboniferous group. To facilitate comparison with
the equivalent rocks of this and other countries, I annex the
following synopsis of our Carboniferous series.

1843. | ell

Synopsis of the Carboniferous Rocks of Pictou.

1. Newer Coat Formation. — The prevailing rocks are alternations of
reddish and grey sandstones and shales, with some coarse conglomerates,
especially in the iower part. Subordinate to these, are dark grey con-
eretionary limestone, thin beds of coarse sandy limestone, two thin beds of
ceal and one of gypsum. Thickness, 5000 feet or more.

Fossits.— Coniferous wood, Calamites. ferns, &c., Ganoid fish, tracks of land
animals.

2. Oxver Coau Formation. — The prevailing rocks are dark shales and clays,
grey and brown sandstones; and subordinate to these are coal, ironstone,
dark limestone. Thickness, 5000 feet.

Fossits.—Ferns, Stigmaria, Calamites, Lepidodendra, §c., Cypris.

3. Mountain Limestoxt, or Gyrsirerous Formation. — The prevailing
rocks are reddish sandstones, shales, and clays, with some grey beds; cou-
glomerates, especially in lower part ; and subordinate to these, thick beds

of limestone, thick beds of gypsum with anhydrite. Thickness, 6000 feet
or more.

Fossiis.— Calumites, fragments of carbonized plants. Producta, Terebratula,
Encrinites, Madrepores, &c.

Small quantities of copper ores are found in the sandstones of
the gypsiferous and newer coal formations, especially in the latter.
Salt springs rise from the older coal and gypsiferous formations
in a few places. Veins of hematitic iron ore occur in the gyp-
siferous rocks of the East River. The strata of the two older
members of the carboniferous system are more disturbed and
hardened than the newer series, and contain interstratified and
intrusive traps, which appear in no part of the newer coal form-
ation, except the conglomerate at its base.

AppENnDIx. —On the Junction of the Carboniferous and Silurian
System at Maccara’s Brook.

Sizunian and Lower Carzonirerous Rocxs as seen in the Coast Srcrion
at Maccara’s Broox.

3. Sandstone and shale of a red and grey cclour.

2. Conglomerate.

1. Hard shales and impure limestone (Silurian) of a dark grey colour.
Fossil shells.

In my notes on the lower carboniferous rocks, I described this
place; but from want of time, and owing to the state of the tide,
when I examined it last summer, I was unable to ascertain the
exact nature of the junction of the two formations. Having re-
examined the section under more favourable circumstances, I have
been enabled to observe distinctly the unconformable superposition
of the carboniferous system on the Silurian rocks. As I formerly
noticed, the gypsiferous system at this place, in consequence of
the absence of gypsum, and the presence of great beds of horn-
blendic trap, presents a very unusual appearance, and could

512 [Jan. 22,

scarcely be recognised, were it not for the presence of limestone
with its characteristic fossils. Of the beds of trap there are four,
one of them about 200 feet thick; and that they are true beds
which have been poured out over the bottom of an ancient sea is —
proved, not only by their regular interstratification among aqueous ~
deposits, and by the earthy texture and amygdaloidal structure of
their upper parts, but by the quantity of trap fragments included
in the conglomerates which alternate with them. The lower part
of one of these beds of conglomerates is, by the admixture of these
fragments, converted into a kind of tufa. One of the beds of trap
forms the bottom of the carboniferous series, and rests on the
edges of hard shales and thin bedded limestones, filled with
Silurian fossils. The edges of the Silurian rocks are slightly
altered at the point of contact.

These rocks being on the margin of the great line of ancient
disturbed strata, which extend from Cape St. George along the
southern edge of the Pictou coal trough, have been subjected to
more than one igneous convulsion. A few miles further along the
shore, the same beds of conglomerate and sandstone, with inter-
stratified amygdaloid, are seen in a vertical position, with their
sandstones changed into quartz rock and jasper. This is, ap-
parently, in consequence of the eruption of the crystalline green-
stone and other igneous rocks which appear in their neighbour-
hood, and we are thus informed that the igneous action along the
above-named anticlinal line, which continued to the close of the
carboniferous period, was exerted also at the commencement of
that period, and no doubt influenced the deposition of its strata in
a manner as yet very imperfectly understood.

2. GroLocicaL Features of the Country round the Munxs of the
Tatrus in the Pashalic of DiARBEKR described from Observa-
tions made in the Year 1843. By Warineton W. Smyru,
Esq., B.A., F.G.S.

In that part of Asiatic Turkey, where the provinces of Anatolia,
Armenia, Kurdistan, and Mesopotamia unite, the chain of the
Taurus is bounded on the one side by the Euphrates and on the
other by the Tigris, and this district, being now out of the way of
the main roads of commerce, has until within a few years been
almost entirely neglected.

The interest, however, attached to these regions in the present
precarious state of the Ottoman empire, and the difficulty of ob-
taining information concerning them, will excuse the imperfect
condition of the sketch now offered of the geographical and geolo-
gical configuration of the country ; but I have to regret that my
absence during some years from England prevented my being ac-

1845.) 513

quainted with the valuable information to be obtained from the
-published routes of Messrs. Brant and Ainsworth.*

The line of road which I took enabled me to complete the sec-
tion of the country in a direct line from the Euphrates to the town
of Sivas, and a stay of some weeks put it in my power to obtain
some interesting details concerning the important mines of copper
at Arghaneh Maden, and of silver at Kebban Maden, as well as
others more or less neglected, which lie in various parts of Ar-
menia and the N.E. of Asia Minor.

The great mountain chain called the Taurus by the ancients,
runs from the province of Cilicia (now Adana) in a north-easterly
direction, and often forms large irregular elevated groups; on
the eastern side of the Euphrates it spreads in various directions
around the great lake of Van, and merges into the high land of
northern Kurdistan and the volcanic plateaux of Armenia. At
the point where the Euphrates cuts through the Taurus the chain
appears to consist of one main ridge, and this afterwards branches
off into elevated tracts of very irregular form, one portion ex-
tending eastward from the river, and another commencing consi-
derably to the west of it and stretching away towards the north. +

The division of the Taurus with which we have to deal, is
separated into two parts by the valley of Kharput, the waters of
which flow to the north-east and join the eastern Euphrates.
The first of these two portions, in which the river Tigris takes its
rise, contains the most elevated points, varying from 6000 to 8000
feet above the sea, and then, proceeding towards the north-east,
it joins another range called the Darkush Dagh (Niphates) some of
whose peaks are estimated at from 8000 to 10,000 feet high.

The second portion from Kharput to the Euphrates does not
attain an elevation of more than 5000 feet, and on the north sinks
gradually towards the valley of the Murad Tchai.

The eastern or main ridge, whose breadth between Arghaneh
and Kharput may be estimated at nearly 50 English miles, pre-
sents us with a series of limestones and marly slates belonging to
the cretaceous period, and resembling the formations of various
countries bordering on the Mediterranean.

The higher portions generally consist of calcareous strata, abound-
ing in nummulites; whilst the marls, which for the most part
occupy a lower position, are highly metamorphic, being changed
in colour and frequently hardened to the consistency of silicious
slate. Below both, although sometimes occurring in dykes high up
the mountain sides, appear rocks of diallage and actinolite in great
variety.

To the west of Kharput, the mountains exhibit a different cha-

* See “ Journal of Royal Geographical Society ” for 1841.

t+ The lesser ridge of the Karajah Dagh (Masius) which strikes off from
hence to the south-east, should not be considered, as it is represented on the
maps, as a branch of the Taurus, being almost wholly unconnected with the
greater range, and composed of rocks not seen again nearer than forty miles to
the westward.

dl4 * [Jans22,

racter. Their chief mass is composed of limestones and slates of
an older period; the limestones of a darker colour than that
around Arghaneh; the slate chiefly taleose, and connected with

the mica-slates and other primary rocks, described by Russegger

as forming the nucleus of the Taurus in the district of Adana.

The eruptive rocks, occurring in juxtaposition with these, are_

syenite, diallage rock, basalt, similar to that of the plateau of
Diarbekr, and lastly, at Kebban Maden, a felspar-porphyry.

Such are the rocks presented in this transverse section of the
chain, and the determining of their boundaries is much assisted by
the nature of the ground; for the Taurus is, in this part, so
totally bare, that it seldom happens that its geological features
are obscured by trees, grass, or even vegetable earth. That
forests, however, have once existed, and that at no very distant
period, is evident from the oak brushwood which is occasionally
met with; though the inhabitants, in order to supply the furnaces,
cut away with unsparing vigour the shoots as fast as they spring
up.

The city of Diarbekr is built on an extensive plain, covered
with rough fragments of basalt, resting upon more compact
masses of the same rock; and through these the river Tigris has
cut for itself a valley about a hundred feet in depth. On the
south of the city, the hills of the Karajah Dagh exhibit varieties
of the same rock, which is sometimes amygdaloidal, sometimes
scoriaceous. These hills often rise up in strongly marked cones,
which bear exactly the type of the ancient secondary cones of
Etna; and are covered by various accumulations, and in some
cases overgrown with trees. On the south-west, this igneous
formation extends beyond the town of Siverek, a distance of sixty
miles from the Tigris; and in approaching the mountains to the
north-west, we find the same series continued for twenty miles. At
Arghaneh the southern outposts of the Taurus present their most
remarkable features. The celebrated Armenian monastery of this
name is built on the summit of a calcareous mountain, which
attains a height of 2000 feet above the plain, or 4000 feet above
the sea, and is conspicuous from a great distance, owing to its two
sharp peaks. Hence we find the place designated in some old
maps as Arx bicornis. The chief component rock of this and the
neighbouring elevations, on the north and east, is a compact light
coloured limestone, generally abounding in nummulites, and some-
times exhibiting fragments of pecten and ostrea. Against its
flanks, on the east and west, rest beds of porphyritic conglomerate,
of which the rolled fragments consist chiefly of greenstones with
imbedded large crystals of hornblende. The stratification of the
limestone is not very distinct at this spot ; but, on the road to the
north-west, the beds become remarkable, being exhibited m long
denuded parallel lines, generally tilted from the southward. The
limestone is accompanied by slates of a highly metamorphic cha-
racter: they are black, grey, ferruginous, or green in colour; and
from beneath them there appears a greenstone porphyry, which,

1845.] 515

in some parts having its hornblende replaced by diallage, or its
felspar paste by a magnesian one, passes gradually into diallage
rock and serpentine, and rises in dykes, or is laid bare in the
bottom of deep valleys, at several points between this and a Koord
village about five miles to the north-east.
The elevated peninsula formed by the Tigris, which is crossed
*by the road to Arghaneh Maden, is composed almost entirely of
ophiolite, or of a variety of serpentine and diallage rock. These
are seen immediately on the western side of the river, which is
here crossed by a stone bridge. The colour of the rocks is com-
monly bottle green ; but hardly asquare yard of it is homogeneous,
so frequent are the changes in the material. The cracks and’
fissures are filled with precious serpentine, with asbestos, and
other minerals, chiefly of silicates of magnesia. ‘The greater por-
tion of the rock, however, is characterised by interspersed foliated
crystals of diallage, sometimes as large as the palm of the hand,
which reflects so brightly the sun’s rays as to be generally taken by
the natives for a species of silver. About a mile further to the
north, at the opening of a valley which

oe runs up from the Tigris in the direction
SSI : of Maden, are found some very singular

ia} conical mounds and hills, which render

pk } probable the eruptive origin of the ser-

pentines. Their summits are formed by
a crest of tilted strata of limestone or shale, supported by a mass
of serpentine or diallage rock, which has been much decomposed
by exposure, and is even sometimes so much worn that the cap of
harder stone projects from its base, as if nicely balanced upon it
by art.

On the road to the mines, are passed strata of finely laminated
shales, which are, here and there, interrupted by dykes or masses
of diallage rock, and frequently become allied to jasper.

The serpentine is laid bare at Arghaneh Maden, in the valley of

Minine District or ArGHaNeH-MADEN.

The dotted parts in this diagram represent diallage rock, the crossed lines an
irregular mass of sulphuret of iron and cepper in which the mines are situated, and
the remainder of the marks, limestones, and metamorphic slates of various periods.

the Tigris, and in the ravine formed by a rivulet which pours in
its tribute close below the town. The rock is generally full of
diallage, and contains the other magnesian minerals before de-
scribed. From its being intersected in all directions by fissures

516 [ Jan. 22,

and joints of separation, it is not applicable to the purposes of
building. Between the rivulet and the Tigris, or to the north of
the main portion of the town, the serpentine does not rise high
above the level of the valley, but, at a few feet above it, is capped
by slates and marls, partly crumbling and partly jaspery; the
former being of a dark grey colour, and the latter having a
brownish red tint.

The steep south side of the ravine is of a different character. |
In contact with the serpentine appears a ferruginous breccia, con-
sisting of angular fragments of ochreous marls and sandstone, and,
more rarely, pieces of porphyry, cemented together by hydrous
oxide of iron, and forming a bed of considerable thickness. This
is used as a building material, being easily worked, and tolerably
durable, but its dull rusty appearance, combined with the total
absence of herbage and the strangely coloured sterile slopes of the
surrounding mountains, give the place a character of unequalled
dreariness.

Higher on the mountain there rise up, from beneath beds of
marl, rugged masses of diallage rock, and these extend in the form
of a powerful dyke over the shoulder of the height towards the
south. In the portions where it is friable this dyke is deeply fur-
rowed by the rains and the tracks of the animals, which are con-
stantly passing and repassing with charcoal for the furnaces. Its
position in this form and at this elevation is important, as tending
to prove that the limestone was not deposited upon it, as might
have been argued, from seeing the diallage rock constantly laid
bare in the deep valleys, where the superincumbent limestones
and marls have been removed. On the summit of the mountain,
to the west of the town, marls and limestone are again found; and
the limestone incloses numerous nodules of serpentine projecting
from the weathered face of the rock, and thus exhibiting a greater
degree of hardness.

It is to its copper mines that Arghaneh Maden owes all its im-
portance. ‘The breccia before mentioned appears to constitute the
outer wall of the cupriferous mass. ‘This mass, though it con-
tinues in depth to the level of the waters of the Tigris, has not
hitherto been opened anywhere except on the surface of the
mountain above the town.

It appears to be but one huge lump of ore, consisting of the
double sulphurets of copper and iron, planted amid the serpentine,
or perhaps between it and the marls. In the mines which I
entered, not the slightest character of a vein or bed was to be seen,
but floor, and roof, and walls consisted entirely of solid pyrites,
diversified only by stalactitic coatings of blue and green vitriol.
This extended to a depth of 10 or 12 fathoms; but the additional
20 or 380 feet which had been excavated, were filled with water,
which had for upwards of a year kept the works almost at a stand-
still. It is only by waiting patiently until the month of July or
August, that access is gained to the lower parts of the mine. The
accumulated rains of the winter and spring at that time gradually

1845. ] 517

find their way out through crevices into the valley below, and
leave the mines dry for a few weeks.

The shafts, which belong to different individuals, are scattered
irregularly over a part of the mountain, which is almost level, and
is about fifty fathoms in diameter ; and since in all of these shafts
the same appearances are presented, we may be justified in con-
sidering the ore as forming rather an insulated mass, than as
belonging either to a bed or lode.

The pyrites varies so much in quality, that a large proportion is
left untouched by the miners, not repaying them for working ; the
generality of ore contains from 10 to 12 per cent of copper, whilst
the better sorts rise to 20 or 24 per cent; and occasionally a little
_ vitreous copper, or pure sulphuret occurs, when the per centage is
much higher. The boundary of this mass of ore is hitherto un-
explored, but judging, as before, from the area occupied by the
mine entrances, it cannot be less than fifty fathoms in diameter ;
and since the ore is again met with, and even of better quality, in
an adit now driving from the valley of the Tigris, it appears that
it continues also thus far in depth, perhaps 50 or 60 fathoms.

The workings are conducted on a miserable plan, adopted indeed
in all the Turkish mines, but which will soon bring the present
undertaking to an end, and entail difficulty on future enterprise.
A shaft is sunk from the surface at an angle of 45° with the
horizon; and it is secured, somewhat insufficiently, by timbering,
and provided with rough wooden steps for ingress and egress. As
soon as a good portion of the ore is thus reached, the miners work
off in different directions, digging out in the most irregular
manner only that which pays them best, and leaving the rest to
stand or break down as accident shall determine.

The road to Kharput or Palu ascends steeply, to the west of
Maden, across a ridge through which the Tigris rushes, in a
narrow glen many hundred feet below. ‘The first part of the
acclivity, after leaving the diallage rocks, is composed of very
thin marly slates, easily separating into rhomboidal fragments.
Then follow various amygdaloidal rocks, exhibiting spicular
erystals of felspar in a paste, composed partly of felspar, and
partly of carbonate of lime,—a continuation, in short, of the
metamorphic rocks which generally accompany the near ap-,
proach of the serpentines to the secondary limestones and shales.
The crest of the mountain is composed of powerful banks of lime-
stene, tilted towards the north-east, to which succeeds, about a
hundred feet lower down, serving as a base to the rugged cliffs
presented by the stratified rocks, the hornblende-porphyry which
we before had in conjunction with the serpentines. After this
steep descent, the road ascends by a very gentle rise the course of
a stream to the west, in a valley bounded sometimes by mountains
whose lower parts are porphyritic, and sometimes by limestone hills
inclining to the north-west. It then crosses a water-shed, and,
after passing a third isolated khan, enters a perfectly level plain
of about six miles in length and two in breadth, through which the

518 [ Jan. 22,

main feeder of the Tigris flows from some peaks on the south-west.
Judging from the quantity of snow which still lay there in the month
of June, the elevation of these peaks must be considerable. After
ascending from this plain, a narrow and low ridge of limestone
strata, inclining to the north-east, separates the waters of the
‘Tigris from those of the Euphrates. On its western side is a lake,
the direction of which is nearly east and west, its length being
ten or twelve miles, and its breadth three or four; and this lake
is said to give off its surplus water to the Euphrates. In the
valley, at its eastern end, through which flows a small tributary
stream, occur numerous instances of diallage rock, in which the
foliated crystals are remarkably large and beautiful. The ascent
westwards is again over porphyry and greenstone. ‘The summits
of the high ridge we then cross are formed principally of limestone,
and the descent to the broad valley which lies on its other side,
offers steep slopes, on which are exposed, at intervals only, rocks
of actinolitic porphyry and diallage, which appear to be intimately
connected with each other. |

This fertile valley, through which a stream takes its course to
the Murad Tchai, near the town of Palu, is entirely covered by
alluvial soil ; and being carefully irrigated by the inhabitants of
its numerous villages, presents a great contrast to the sterility of
the mountains. Its height above the sea, from the observations of
Ainsworth and Brant, is about 2500 feet. The hills which project
into it towards the town of Kharput consist mainly of marls and
sands, much decomposed and deeply furrowed by rains.

At Kharput, a fine natural section is presented to the steep face
of rocks opposed to the east. This lower portion is composed of
a greenstone porphyry, disintegrated and rounded by the action of
the weather, whilst the upper part consists of thick massive strata
_ of compact limestone, having an inclination to the north-west, of
about 80°, and split by numerous fissures at right angles to the
plane of inclination. ‘The contact of the two rocks may easily be
observed; but the limestone appears to have undergone no change,
whilst the porphyry has become so friable that it is generally
eaten away by the air and rain to a depth of several feet below
the bed of limestone.

To the west of Kharput, the country assumes a very broken
aspect, and exhibits confused groups of lower elevations, extending
towards the valley of the Murad Tchai, beyond which is now seen
a magnificent range of mountains, the Dujik Dagh, running about
east by north, and west by south, and in the month of June still
capped with snow. The hills nearest to Kharput consist of lime-
stone and shale, but about three miles to the north-west appears
a grey syenite, with large and well-formed crystals of black horn-
blende, yielding very readily to the action of the atmosphere. The
mounds thus composed open out into a plain which is divided into
natural terraces, and which in its geological features presents a re-
petition of the plateau of Diarbekr on a small scale, the whole sur-
face being strewed with blocks of basalt of every size, which are so

1845. | 519
numerous as to render the road very difficult for the horses, and
make it necessary for the inhabitants to form huge piles of stones
in preparing a small piece of ground for cultivation ; though the
quality of the black soil, then sparingly occurring, is good enough
to repay them for their labour. The low ridge which bounds this
plain on the west consists of a grey limestone, associated with
thin marls, the strata inclining to the south-east ; and on its opposite
side, where the road winds among some narrow gullies previous to
entering among higher mountains, syenite, diallage rock, and horn-
blende porphyry are found in close connection with each other.
About eighteen miles west-north-west from Kharput, a group
of limestone mountains fills up all the space intervening between
this point and the Euphrates to the north and west ; and through
these a deeply-cut valley runs to the north-west, extending for
six or eight miles to the Euphrates, where, for some distance around
the point of confluence, are worked the silver mines of Kebban

Maden.

Minine District of Krssan MAnpeEn.

Maden.
Euphrates.
Deserted
Mines.
Euphrates.

!
S
Gy

2

‘2
o

mm

Mines.

y
1s

Ly
re

Maye
7
eve

tatiyt
1 OI
t'y rye

The dotted parts indicate the presence of felspar porphyry, the small crosses
metalliferous threads and nodules; two of the hills are capped with limestone,
chiefly of the cretaceous period, and the rest of the diagram represents older

limestones and talcose slates.

The mountains around the silver mines exhibit, in general,
bare surfaces of grey compact limestone, or of argillaceous and
chloritic slates, both of which appear to be without fossils. On
both sides of the valley in which the town is situated, rise sharp
peaks of a hard felspathic porphyry, containing large crystals of
pink common felspar, and sometimes exhibiting a slaty texture,
with the crystallised parts so ill defined, that where it occurs in
contact with the clay slates, it is difficult to assign to each its
proper boundary. This eruptive rock also makes its appearance
more frequently in the bottom of the neighbouring valleys; as, for
instance, below the furnaces, and at the lower parts of the slopes
which border the Euphrates. A sharp ridge of the same rock
runs along the back of the east side of the town, and there forms
bold precipices facing the river which flows almost beneath. A
little further to the north, the porphyry is interrupted by a band
of ochreous matter, which, probably before the formation of the

VOL, IV. PART II. QQ

520 [Jan, 22,

valley of Kebban, communicated with a similar patch on the
opposite side, forming a lode or dyke. ‘The surfaces of the hills,
as well here as on the opposite side of the Euphrates, are covered
with innumerable rubbish heaps, formed in attempts to open mines
which have rarely been pushed more than two or three feet into
the ground. The mines at present worked (which are three in
number) lie beyond the ridge on the west of the town, and are even’
more miserably directed than those of Arghaneh. The adit mouths.
are driven through shale and limestone, which, here and there,

shows on the surface small strings and lumps of galena; but so

irregular and dirty are the works, that little can be seen under-

ground to inform us how the ore occurs. The lower mine exhibited

some rich portions of nearly pure argentiferous sulphuret of lead,

but it nowhere had the appearance of occurring in veins, and I
could not hear of crystallisations or druses. In the upper mine, a
large quantity of soft iron ochre, a’sort of gossan mingled with
threads of gypsum, is excavated as ore, being found to contain,

like the galena, from an ounce to an ounce and a half of silver
in 100 lbs.

The miners told me that near the junction of two species of
rock, whether limestone or shale, or of one of these with porphyry,
they find the ore more plentifully disseminated than elsewhere.

Dressing or preparing the ores is not understood, so that all
which is not rich enough to go at once to the furnace is wasted.

Between the Euphrates, at Kebban Maden, and the Kizil Irmak,
or Halys, at Siwas, extends a broken and neglected high land, in
which the traveller meets with no habitations, except in villages
fifteen or twenty miles apart, and these are inhabited by koords of
a somewhat lawless character.

On leaving the felspar porphyry which is found in peaks, or
below the sedimentary rocks at Kebban, a high land of limestone
and shales is reached. This high land extends up the course of
the Western Euphrates, above Eghin, and towards Kamak, where
the limestone forms the sides of a magnificent gorge through
which the river flows. Superimposed on the older grey limestone,
occur beds of a white calcareous rock of softer character, which
mineralogically has a strong resemblance to the calcaire grossier,
or Grobkalk of the Vienna basin, and contains the shells of oysters.
About twelve miles from Kebban, the almost level country is
strewed with basalt blocks, like those of the plateau of Diarbekr,
which continue beyond the village of Ergavan. An hour’s dis-
tance from hence, a long valley running up towards the north-
east, exhibits porphyries frequently trachytic in character, and
containing hornblende crystals in a felspar paste; and also banks
of a conglomerate, containing fragments of the same porphyry.
Then, after passing the water shed, about ten miles before reaching
Hakim Khan, rise on the right hand precipitous heights of com-
pact limestone in beds inclining to the west; and in some places
porphyry comes up from beneath them. The country on the
south-west, towards the Euphrates, is composed of low undu-
lations of sand and marls.

1845. ] 521
4

Around Hakim Khan are ean ing marls, in vertical or highly
inclined positions, running N. E. oot S. W.; above which rise a
few remarkable peaks of bare white limestone.

Towards Hassan Tchelebi, on the road side for six miles, diorites
and serpentine rocks appear, the heights above which, often
wooded, and said to be tenanted by wild goats and deer, are of
limestone. These calcareous strata, having a moderate inclination
to the westward, continue visible as far as the village last mentioned.
_ From Hassan Tchelebi, for about twenty miles, the rocks are
hidden by vegetable mould and grass ; though fragments of por-
phyry, limestones, and marls are found.

From Alajah Khan, for a distance of four or five miles, diallage
rocks, often mueh discoloured by iron, are found; and after this
appears limestone, tilted towards the west, then for some distance
before reaching Kangal, and from thence as far as Delikli
‘Tash, the slopes are covered with thin grass.

The chain of the Anti-Taurus (Itschitchegi Dagh), attaining an
elevation of 5800 feet, runs in a very marked line from W.S.W. to
E.N.E. The limestones of which the higher part is formed, rest
on serpentine; which appears to have coloured and hardened the
beds of shale, near the surface of contact. Immediately on the
west, towards which side the beds incline, granular gypsum ap-
pears in beds of considerable thickness on both sides of the road ;
and on this lies salt, the presence of which is betrayed by a lake,
whose waters evaporate in summer. Eighteen miles from Delikli
Tash is found a quartzose sandstone in strata from 2 to 6 feet
thick, inclining gently towards the west, and between this and
the deeply cut valley of the Kizil Irmak (Halys), that rock con-
tinues without interruption.

The preceding observations collected in the course of a single
traverse are not a sufficient foundation on which to base general
conclusions as to the constancy of the order in which the rocks
occur; but since the mere enumeration of the rocks in geogra-
phical order is, in general, but a dry repetition, and, for want
of comparison with some known scale, is not easily kept in mind,
it may be of advantage to conclude with a sketch of the probable
order of the formations above mentioned, which may serve as a
euide to future travellers in these districts.

The oldest stratified rocks of the series are unquestionably the
limestones and chloritic slates of Kebban Maden, which appear to
be in connection with the mica slate, forming the nucleus of the
Taurus at Adanah: they overlie a felspar porphyry, which seems
to have pierced them in dykes, and near the contact affords ores of
argentiferous lead.

The second deposit may be the quartzose sandstone which oc-
curs between the range of Anti-Taurus and Siwas; and, this
deposit, no doubt, belongs to the system observed by Hamilton
near Eregli*, to the south of Kaisariyeh, towards the head of the

* These saliferous deposits are probably more recent than the Scaglia Lime-

stones. W. J. 0
ag 2

522 [ Jan, 22,

river Melas, and mentioned by him as stretching across from
Galatia to Cappadocia. In both places, it isa hard red grit, asso-
ciated with strata of gypsum, and with red and grey marls; and, in
the first case, also with salt.

The grey limestone of Arghaneh, Kharput, and the Anti-
Taurus, must be referred to the vast calcareous deposit, which,
cotemporary with our green sand, occupies an enormous extent of
country in Italy, Dalmatia, Albania, Greece, and Syria, on the one
hand; and in South France, Spain, the Balearic islands, Sardinia
and Sicily on the other, a zone in fact which, from what we find of
it again in Egypt and Algiers, appears to encircle the whole
Mediterranean. In the Taurus, as in many of those countries, it
has been upheaved and pierced by serpentine and diallage rock ;
and these are the circumstances which in the country I have en-
deavoured to describe, as well as in the Maremme of Tuscany, at
Monte Castelli, Rocca Tederighi, Monte Catini, &c., are associated
with the presence of the sulphuret of iron and of ‘the sulphuret
and other ores of copper. The lower beds of this limestone, often
described under the name of scaglia, are not yet very definitely
referred to their place in the geological scale; since they differ
much among each other, and are often poor in characteristic
fossils; but the upper portion, with its nummulites and the marls
associated with it, retains more nearly the same type throughout.

The date of the eruption of the serpentines, which are asso-
ciated with the cretaceous beds, has been referred by most ob-
servers to the tertiary epoch; nor would it appear that those of
the Taurus are an exception, since their occurrence in dykes near
Arghaneh proves their outburst to have been subsequent to the
deposition of the limestones.

I should be inclined to refer to the tertiary period also those
limestones which occur on the summit of the mountain west of
Arghaneh Maden, and contain imbedded fragments of serpentine ;
and also those which cap the mountains near the junction of the
Murad and Frat; but the line of distinction, from the difficulty
of procuring fossils, is not easily drawn. It is however very
possible that a more accurate examination may show them to be
secondary, and thus prove the outburst of the serpentines to be of
remoter date than is generally supposed ; or, what is more likely,
to have happened not all at once, but at several successive periods.

To the deposition of these calcareous strata have succeeded the
further elevation of the chain, and the formation of the existing
valleys; phenomena probably contemporaneous with and due to
the same cause as those which produced the protrusion of the
igneous rock occupying several large tracts in the district under con-
sideration. A further study would doubtless prove these rocks to be
connected with the vast series of volcanic rocks, of the same general
character, which extend at intervals from the Katake kaumene of
Asia Minor to the Taurus, and thence to Mesopotamia on the one
hand, and through the north of Syria to Galilee on the other. The
protrusion of these rocks is one of the principal agents to which the
present configuration of this important tract of country is due.

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1845.] "623

Frepsruary 5. 1845.

Thomas Longman, Esq., J. Durance George, Esq., and Captain
Barham Livius, were elected Fellows of this Society.

The following communications were read :—

1. On certain Conditions and Appearances of the STRATA on the

Coast of Essex near Wauton. By Joun Brown, Esq., of
STANWAY.

In this paper the author first alludes to the information that has
been obtained, of late years, respecting changes of elevation that
have taken place on many parts of the earth’s surface, at compara-
tively recent geological periods, and refers to the memoir by
Mr. Smith, of Jordan Hill, on this subject, as illustrating the
nature of the evidence to be sought for. He then endeavours to
show that such evidence exists with regard to certain beds contain-
ing shells, on the Essex coast, which beds he had been able to
examine in consequence of their having been laid bare by an un-
usually high tide, and by the gradually wasting action of the sea on
that coast. He mentions three places in particular, namely, Walton,
Clacton, and the valley of the Colne, near Colchester, at each of
which he has obtained marine e shells from heights to which the sea
does not now reach.

At the first of these, Walton Gap, the author describes a bed
to which he gives the name of the ¢z// (assuming it to be identical
with the beds so denominated on the banks of the Clyde), composed
of clay, with boulders of various kinds and sizes, the surface of

which is about 5 or 6 feet above high water mark. The beds con-
taining shells, and supposed to form a raised beach, are seen to rest
immediately on this till, or boulder clay, and the shells consist
chiefly of those of the common oyster (Ostrea edulis) associated
with the common muscle (Mytilus edulis), and cockle (Cardium
edule), and other abundant coast shells, such as Venus decussata,
Buccinum undatum, and Turbo littoreus. These shells are de-
scribed as being for the most part quite perfect, and they are
generally covered with sand, or with a freshwater bed, about 5
teet thick. The author also alludes to a bed of Turbo littoreus,
on the spot now occupied by the terrace at Walton.

The next spot described is at Clacton, on the same line of.
coast, and about eight miles to the south of Walton. A consider-
able number of marine shells are stated to have been here collected
_ at various heights above high water mark, the highest bed being 8
feet. In this case the marine shells are of the same species as those
found on the coast and in the adjacent sea, and they are asso-
ciated with freshwater species also common in the neighbourhood.

On the western side of the valley of the Colne, and at a distance
of about 600 yards from the river, similar beds of shells are de-

524 _ [Feb. 5,

scribed as occurring at a height of about 5 feet above high water
mark. The shells are numerous and broken, and they are associated
with concretions of carbonate of lime. The author considers that

this deposit may have been formed at a time when the valley of

the Colne was an estuary of the neighbouring sea. The shells are
all those of the common recent species found en the coast, but
the bed is now ten miles distant from the sea.

The author considers that the perfect state of the shells in these
eases precludes the possibility of their having been drifted, and
that they therefore afford sufficient proof of the general level of
this part of the British coast having undergone a small elevation at

a recent geological epoch.

2. On Dyxes of Marsie and Quartz in connection with Plutonie
Rock on the UppER WoLLONDILLY iz ARGYLE County, New
Soura Watrs. By the Rev. W. B. Crarxn, M.A., F.G.S.

TuE tract of country described by the author in this memoir is
situated not far from Sydney and Port Jackson, the river Wollon-
dilly, whose gorge lays bare the geological structure of the district,
taking its rise in latitude 384° 26’ S., longitude 149° 23° E., and
after receiving the waters of several streams running into the
Nepean river, and emptying itself into the Ocean considerably to
the south of Sydney. .

The stratified rocks traversed by the remarkable defiles through

which these rivers flow, belong to the sterile upper portions of the
carboniferous formation so widely spread in Australia; and these
carboniferous rocks are traceable (with occasional interruptions
from basaltic dykes) from the district in question to the borders
of the Iawarra region, where they present a lofty mural escarp-
ment.
The Wollondilly, however, from its source to its junction with
the Uringalla (except near Towrang), is described by the author
as running through igneous and metamorphic rocks, which are
laid bare over a considerable area between the Cockburndoon, the
Derra, and the Uringalla rivers, where recent volcanic outbursts
have disturbed the older rocks. The sedimentary rocks wrap
round the margin of this area, the beds dipping at a considerable
angle. }

On the north banks of the river, at a place called Jaoramin,
beds of conglomerate are described containing fragments appa-
rently of transition rock; and the author considers, from the con-
dition and appearance of the river banks, and the fact that a wide
space, at a considerable height above the water, is covered with
the débris of these conglomerates, that a considerable change of
level has taken place in the district producing elevation.

Having given a general account of the districts, the author then

1845.] 525

proceeds to describe the different plutonic rocks found in it, and
states that they consist of syenite, syenitic granite, protogine and
_porphyritic rocks of various kinds, and of greenstones, basalt, and
trachyte, all, with the exception of the three latter, passing by
regular gradations from one to another. The syenites are said to
resemble those of Skiddaw, and the syenitic granite that of Guern-
sey, while a protogine is described greatly resembling a beautiful
rock of the same kind in St. John’s Vale, near Keswick.

At Arthursleigh, the author describes a spot where the face of
an exposed cliff exhibits a net-work of quartz veins with dykes of
syenitic rock and hornstone; and not far off a dyke of ironstone,
and others of basaltic rocks, amongst which are some injected
trachytes that have been much used for building purposes.

Having described the position and mineral character of these
igneous rocks as they appear en masse, the author then proceeds
to allude to some singular instances of intrusive dykes of lime-
stone and marble, at a spot known as “Campbells,” or “Shepherds,”
situated on the estate of Arthursleigh just alluded to. These
dykes occur in contact with hard large-grained grey syenite, and
were seen on the right bank of the river Wollondilly.

In the first instance mentioned, the width of the dyke is stated
to be nearly 47 yards, its dip 50° 5.W., and its strike S. 22° E.
“ Alternations of quartz rock and crystalline white and grey
marble compose this dyke; innumerable lines and scratches mark
the edges and face of the marble; and the quartz has also been
subject to a semi-crystalline action, the surface being crumpled or
doubled up into parallel anticlinal ridges.” There appears to be
no line of demarcation traceable between the quartz and marble ;
and the two together, after descending into the bed of the river,
suddenly curve round and re-enter the granite as a second dyke.
Traces of green carhonate of copper are found associated with the
other minerals of this dyke.

The author considers that the scratches and furrows which he
has observed, and other phenomena in the line of dip, could not
have been in existence before the formation of the present river
channel.

A second dyke is then described in a place where the rocks are
thrown into great disorder, and the author details some changes
which have produced singular conditions of mineral structure.
Ile also supposes that they exhibit marks of a gradation existing
between limestone and quartz. A third dyke of the same cha-
racter is then mentioned, in which the constituents of the granite
are mixed up with the calcareous rock; and the author states that
near these dykes the granite assumes a distinct character, a
greater proportion of felspar and less mica being present.

At Jaoramin, higher up the river than the spot just alluded to,

he structure of the rocks is described as somewhat different, the.
felspar being less completely mingled with the other minerals, but
the rock occasionally passing into porphyry. Where it is not
denuded, the rock, however, is here overlaid by a mass of conglo-

526 [Feb. 5, 1845. ]

merate, from 200 to 300 feet thick, through which the river makes
its way. At St. Peters are low hills more decidedly granitic.
Near Stuckeys farm are numerous fragments of crystalline rock,
the surface of which is much worn, as is the case with other cal-
careous rocks all over New South Wales. No traces of fossils
have been found in these limestones.

The author remarks that the greenstone becomes compact near
the marble, and assumes a bottle-green colour, traces of limestone
being common in it; whilst on the other hand, the marble near the
greenstone is also changed, so that a passage may be traced from
one to the other.

The author concludes by referring to other instances in New
South Wales, in which similar phenomena have been produced. He
mentions one case in lat. 32° 6’ S., and long. about 151° E., where,
in the neighbourhood of the river Page, veins of marble intersect a
lava-like trap; and another about 16 miles north of Arthursleigh,
where a magnificent tunnel in white crystalline marble occurs in
the bed of a creek surrounded by basaltic rocks. On a branch of
the Abercrombie river, west of the Dividing Range, and about 40
miles south of Bathurst, a similar tunnel of gigantic dimensions,
nearly 800 feet long and 80 feet high, also passes through a mass
of white crystalline marble at the bottom of a ravine in the middle
of a country of voleanic rocks and blocks of snow-white quartz.

The author hopes to be able, at a future time, to describe
these examples more fully; he alludes to them now to show that
there is reason to believe that these connections of limestone, plu-
tonic rocks, and quartz dykes, are not without their application to
a condition of geological phenomena, to the elucidation of which
the banks of the Wollondilly have exhibited a clue.

8. On the ATuERFIELD Section of the LowER GREENSAND, in
the IsLE or Wicut. By W. H. Firron, Esq., M.D., F.R.S.

[This paper is postponed, not having been received from the
author in time for notice in the present number of the Proceedings. |

:

PROCEEDINGS

OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Vou. IV. Part III. 1845. No. 103.

AT THE
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING,
21st of February, 1845,
Tue following Report from the Council was read :—

In calling the attention of the Members to the state of the Society,
the Council have the satisfaction of stating that; during the year
1844, 22 new Fellows have been elected and admitted, besides 2 others
elected in former years, whose subscriptions had not previously been
paid in, thus making an increase of 24 new Fellows. On the other
hand, they regret to state that the loss by death has been unusually
great, not less than 23 deaths having been announced during the last
year; 7 resignations have also been received. During the same
period there have been 2 Honorary and 2 Foreign Members deceased,
and 3 new Foreign Members elected ; thus making a decrease in the
numbers of the Society of 8; the total number of Members having
been 883 at the close of 1843, and being reduced to 875 at the close
of 1844,

In their Report last year, the Council called the attention of the
Society to the great expenses which had been incurred in the pub-
lication of the Proceedings and Transactions. With the view of in-
quiring into the state of the Society’s affairs a Finance Committee
was appointed last year, who, after considering the average annual
income and expenditure of the Society, independent of publications,
came to the conclusion that there only remained a sum varying from
£250 to £300 per annum at the disposal of the Council, to be ex-
pended in the publication of Transactions or Proceedings, without
anticipating future income or encroaching on the capitalof the Society.

With regard to the finances of the past year, the Council have the
satisfaction of stating, that in consequence of the careful system of
economy rigidly maintained, the excess of income over expenditure
during the year 1844, independently of publications, amounts to the
sum of £286 5s. 8d. It is the intention of the Council, so far as

VOL. IV. PART LIT. 2k

328

shall be found consistent with ihe interest of the Society, to carry
out the recommendation of the Finance Committee, that the amount
to be expended in publication in any given year shall not exceed the
sum which, in the annual estimate, shall appear to be the excess of
income over ordinary expenditure.

During the year 1844 only one Fellow has compounded : this
composition has been funded, together with three others received in
1842 and one received in 1843, the funding of which the Council
had found it expedient to delay.

The legacy of Mr. T. Botfield, announced in the Report of last
year, has also been funded. By these additions the value of the
funded property of the Society has been raised from £2598 (the
amount stated last year) to £2896 lls. 3d. At the close of 1844
the number of living compounders was 116, and the amount which
had been received from them in lieu of annual contributions was
£3654, thereby reducing the difference between the amount received
from living compounders, and the actual value of the funded pro-
perty of the Society, to the sum of £757 8s. 9d.

The office of Curator and Librarian has, to the great regret of the
Council, become vacant by the appointment of Prof. Forbes to the
office of Paleontologist to the Museum of Economic Geology: the
Council were consequently compelled to look out for a competent
successor. Out of the considerable number of deserving candidates
they resolved on appointing Prof. Ansted, Fellow of Jesus College,
Cambridge, to the vacant office with the title of Vice-Secretary ;
and this appointment has been subsequently confirmed by the General
Meeting, to whom, in conformity with the bye-laws, it was commu-
nicated.

The mode of publishing the Proceedings of the Society in an illus-
trated form, contemplated in the last annual Address, not having
met with that sale which would have justified the Council in its
continuation, owing to the inadequacy of the receipts as compared
with the estimated expenditure, which would have been about £500
per annum, compelled the Council to enter into arrangements which
will diminish the call on the funds of the Society, and will, they
trust, ensure that regularity of publication, no less important to
the public than essential to the interests and character of the So-
ciety.

They have consequently to announce, that in the month of De-
cember last they signed an agreement with Messrs. Longman and
Co., the immediate result of which was the publication, on the first
of this month (February), of the first number of the ‘“‘Quarterly Journal
of the Geological Society.’ Notwithstanding the short time allowed
for its preparation, the Council feel confident that the appearance and
contents of this number will convince the members of the Society
that no effort has been left untried to ensure its permanent success.
The agreement has been made for one year, renewable at the expiration
of that period; and some of the principal conditions are as follows :—
The work shall be edited by the Vice-Secretary of the Geological
Society, under the control of its Council; the proceedings of the

, 529

Society shall constitute the first and principal portion of each num-

ber; the journal shall appear quarterly, on the lst of February,

Ist of May, lst of August, and Ist of November; the cost of the

work is to be defrayed by the publishers, who take upon themselves
the risk and profits; the option is reserved to the Fellows of re-
ceiving either the Proceedings gratuitously or the entire journal at

the trade price.

The Council have also reserved to the Society the right of pub-
lishing in the quarto form, any papers, abstracts or illustrations,
which may be considered to require such a form of publication.

The considerable stock in hand of the last five volumes of the
Transactions, together with the wish expressed by several Members
of the Society to purchase separate memoirs, has induced the Coun-
cil, by way of trial, to assign ten copies of these volumes for the pur-
pose of being broken up and the papers sold separately. But they
will not proceed further in this measure until the financial result of
the experiment has been ascertained. A catalogue of the separate
papers has been printed and published.

It has hitherto been the practice of the Society to present copies
of its Transactions to the Board of Admiralty, the Boards of Ord-
nance in England and Ireland, the East India Company, &c.; and
on the same principle the Council have recently -directed that a
complete set of the Second Series of the Transactions should be pre-
sented to the Museum of Economic Geology: and the Council have
much pleasure in announcing, that Her Majesty’s Government have
directed that copies of all reports and proceedings from the Museum
of Economic Geology, of all government publications connected with
geology, and of all the geological maps published by the Ordnance
office, should be furnished to this Society.

The Council have further to announce, that they have resolved
that the Wollaston Medal be awarded to John Phillips, Esq., F.R.S.,
Professor of Geology at the University of Dublin, for the services he
has rendered to Geology by his various published works; and that
the sum of £21 1s. 6d., the balance of the proceeds of the Wollaston
fund, be given to Mr. Andrew Geddes Bain, for his extensive explo-
rations in South Africa, and particularly for his original discovery
in that country of the remains of bidental and cther reptiles.

They have also resolved, that at the ensuing and future presenta-
tion of the Wollaston Medal, the metal to be employed should be
Palladium, the discovery of which was due to the sagacity of the
distinguished founder of the fund; and that the Medal should
henceforth be called the ‘“‘ Wollaston Palladium Medal.”

Report of the Museum Committee for 1845.

The additions made to the British collection during the past year
have been few: they consist of the following specimens, viz.—
Tertiary,—About twenty species of freshwater shells from the
newer Pliocene of Claxton, by John Brown, Esq., F.G.S.
2R2

530

A few marine species from Bridlington and from the London Clay,
by Mr. Charlesworth and Mr. Tennant.

Chalk.—Six species only from this deposit have been added, in-
cluding a Hippurite from Kent, by Mr. Bunbury.

Greensand.—A valuable addition has been made to this part of the
collection from Kent and the Isle of Wight, chiefly by Mr. Austen,
Captain Ibbetson and Prof. Forbes. Its importance is greatly in-
creased in consequence of the report which Prof. Forbes has made
upon it.

ih. —With the exception of some specimens from Deddington,
presented by Mr. Faulkner, nothing has been added to the oolitic
department of-the collection.

Coal.—A single coal plant has been received from Mr. Dawes.

Silurian.—Mr. Majendie and Mr. Hallam have added some desi-
rable specimens to this part of the collection.

The additions made to the foreign collection are more extensive,
chiefly belonging to the Tertiary series. They consist of a series of
Miocene remains from Lisbon, a considerable number of species from
Gibraltar, a large series from Bordeaux, and a few specimens from
Madeira and Porto Santo. These have all been presented by Mr.
Smith of Jordan Hill. The Earl of Enniskillen and Sir P. Egerton
have given a series from Egypt; Sir W. Parish, Lieut. Spratt and
the Earl of Enniskillen one from Malta; and Mr. Forbes and Lieut.
Spratt one from the freshwater deposits of Asia Minor.

A series of Casts of Bones of the Dinornis has been presented by
the College of Surgeons.

Secondary. —Mr. Smith has added a few specimens from Lisbon
and Gibraltar, and Captain Graves others from Lebanon. These
several additions have been arranged in drawers by Mr. Woodward,
and form a very valuable accession to this part of the collection.

Your Committee have examined a large part of the collection,
both British and foreign, and they regret to observe that so consi-
derable a number of specimens are without specific names. They
therefore repeat the recommendation made by the Museum Com-
mittee of 1843, ‘that all the species be described and named, and
that they be published in the Society’s Proceedings.’’ In further-
ance of this recommendation, a report on the fossils belonging to the
lower division of the Cretaceous series has been presented to the
Society by Prof. Forbes. This report your Committee recommend
should be published with as little delay as possible, and also that the
investigation be continued until the whole collection has been ex-
amined.

Your Committee have ascertained that certain portions of the col-
lection lent to individuals for scientific purposes, with the sanction
of the Council, have not been returned: viz. crag fossils to Mr. Lons-
dale, some bones to Mr. Owen, and specimens from the London Clay
to Mr. Charlesworth. They have also been informed by the sub-
curator, that it has been the practice to borrow specimens under the
same restrictions as those which are adopted for lending the books.
To this practice your Committee express their decided objection, and

531

recommend, that in future no specimen be allowed to be taken from

the Museum except with the sanction of the Council.

| S. P. PRATT.
H. T. DE LA BECHE.
CHARLES LYELL.
ROBERT A. C. AUSTEN.

Library Report.

During the last year the Library has been increased by. donations
of about 200 volumes and pamphlets. The Board of Ordnance con-
tinues to present to the Society the Maps of the Trigonometrical
Survey of Great Britain, and of the Townland Survey of Ireland.
~The Charts published by the Admiralty and by the Dépét Général
de la Marine of Paris respectively, have likewise been received.

Several of the works in the Library are incomplete; but some of
the deficiencies, it may reasonably be hoped, will be supplied on
application to the authors or proprietors who have kindly presented
to the Society portions of these works, and have omitted to send the
remainder.

In order however to place the Library in a more efficient and sa-
tisfactory state than it is now in, we recommend that steps be taken
to supply by purchase those deficiencies which cannot otherwise be
made good, and that a sum be annually appropriated to this purpose,
and a further sum for binding; many of the works are compara-
tively unavailable to the Fellows from not being bound.

LEONARD HORNER.
R. HUTTON.

Comparative Statement of the Number of the Society at the close of
the years 1843 and 1844.

Dec. 31, 1843. Dec. 31, 1844.

Compounders ......--+---+- TIS SRI ST 116
Residents ....------+++35 DSO eters wae 230
Non-residents....--.-++-- AAS Msi 452

804 798
Honorary Members.... 26 ~~ ------ 23
Foreign Members.....- 49 dish practs, 40M
Personages of Royal Blood 4—79 ...... 4—77

—_

883 ; 875

532
General Statement Explanatory of the Alteration in the Number of
Fellows, Honorary Members, &c. at the close of the years 1843 and |
1844. .

Number of Fellows, Compounders, Contributors, and Non-

residents, 3lst December, 1843 ...............-0¢ 804
Add, Fellows elected during former] Resident .... 1
years, and paid in 1844 .... f Non-resident .. 1
— 2
Fellows elected during 1844, and | Residents.... 8
who paid ......:.......:. f Non-residents 14
= —22
— 24
a 828
Deduct, Compounders deceased.................. 3
Residents Sst Bip het he itehs cove a) a ee Z,
Non-residents...) phi nae ec ee 13
Resigned atin hisives Washes sae ea Ae ee 7
— 30

Total number of Fellows, 31st Dec. 1844, as above 798

Number of Honorary Members, Foreign Members, and

Personages of Royal Blood, 31st December, 1843.. a
Add, Foreign Members elected ...............0-0 0 3
82
Deduct, Honorary Members, deceased ............ 3
Foreign Members x a. SAN eee
sy

Total as above 77

Number of Fellows liable to Annual Contribution at the close of 1844,
with the Alterations during the year. ;

Number at the close of 11645, 4) Se 239
Add, Elected in previous years and paid in 1844 ...... 1
Elected during 1844 and paid ................ 8
Non-residents who became Residents .... . Baa 4
252
Deduct, Deceased. 62.31.10 se sae 7
Resigned...) 2. 0. SS) ease We Eee 7
Compounded 30 ee) a ae
Became! Non-resident 5.0)... s wij ie eas 6
— 22

Total as above.... 230

5338

Deceased Fellows —

Compounders (38) : Francis Baily, Esq. ; Dr. James Mitchell; Robert
Walters, Esq.

Residents (7): James Lord Abinger; The Dean of Carlisle ; Hugh
Fraser, Esq.; J. L. Guillemard, Esq.; John Houseman, Esq. ;

- Richard Knight, Esq.; Martin Tupper, Esq.

Non-residents (13): Charles Allsop, Esq. ; Dr. W. J. Bayne; Dr.
J. R. Corrie; John Gordon, Esq.; Capt. Basil Hall, R.N.; Wil-
liam Hatfield, Esq.; William Ick, Esq.; Bishop of Lichfield; Dr.
J. G. Malcolmson; Rev. T. E. Rogers; Dr. H. H. Spry; Prof.
Thomas Webster; H. T. Witham, Esq.

Honorary Members (3): Robert Coleman, Esq. ; Dr. T. C. Hope;
Dr. N. Nugent.

Foreign Members (2): M. Puillon de Boblaye; M. J. F. d’Aubuis-
son de Voissins.

The following Persons were elected Fellows during the year 1844.

January 3rd.— Major ‘Thomas Austin, Bristol; and George Granville
Harcourt, Esq., M.P., Newnham Court, Oxfordshire.

January 17th.—Eaton Hodgkinson, Esq., F.R.S., Manchester; and
Lieut.-Col. Sabine, R.A., F.R.S., Woolwich.

March 6th.—J. Middleton, Esq., Member of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal, Principal of the College at Agra.

March 20th.—William Pole, Assoc. Inst. C.E., Professor of Civil
Engineering, Elphinstone College, Bombay; and Francis Joseph
Sloane, Esq., Florence.

April 8rd.—John Wilson, Esq., 38 Grove End Wood, St. John’s
Wood; Andrew C. Ramsay, Esq., Ordnance Geological Survey
of Great Britain; and Charles Pope, Esq., Member of the Royal
Colleges of Physicians and of Surgeons of London, F.LS., &c.,
Temple Cloud, Somerset. _

April 17th.—Henry Bean Mackeson, Esq., Hythe; and Sir Thomas
Edward Colebrooke, Bart., M.P., Colebrooke Park.

May 15th.—William John Blake, Esq., Danesbury, and Portland
Place.

May 29th.—William Meredith Browne, Esq., King Street, Covent
Garden; and George Loch, Esq., 12 Albemarle Street.

June 12th.—Robert Thomas Atkinson, Esq., Newcastle- upon-Tyne.

June 26th.—John Shaw, M.D., Hop House, Boston, Lincolnshire.

November 20th.—Charles Faulkner, Esq.; and John Bravender,
Esq., Surveyor, Cirencester.

December 4th.—Henry Coles, Esq., Cheltenham; Dr. Travers Cox,
2 Stanhope Place, Hyde Park; Prof. Edward Forbes; and I. K.
Brunel, Esq.

December 18th.—Robert Chambers, Esq., Edinburgh; James Simp-
son, Esq., Chelsea Waterworks; William Lewellyn, Esq., Mining
Engineer, Pontypool ; and James Bandinel, Esq., Little Cloisters,
Westminster.

534

The following Persons were elected Foreign Members.

March 20th.—M. Edouard de Verneuil, Vice-President of the Geo--
logical Society of France. |
May 29th.— Prof. William Burton Rogers, Virginia ; and Prof. Henry
Darwin Rogers, Pennsylvania.

The following Donations to the Muszvm have been received since
the last Anniversary.

British and Irish Specimens.

Specimen of Asaphus Powisii from Pwllheli, Caernarvonshire ; pre-
sented by Samuel Holland, Jun., Esq. i
Fossils from the Lower Greensand at Peasemarsh, near Guildford,

Surrey ; presented by Robert C. Austen, Esq., Sec. G.S.

Hippurite and specimens of Beryzx radians from the Chalk of Kent;
presented by E. H. Bunbury, Esq., F.G.S.

A collection of Palatal and other remains of Fish from the Carboni-
ferous Limestone of Armagh ; presented by Captain Jones, R.N.,
M.P., F.G.S.

Fossils from the Lower Greensand at Atherfield, Isle of Wight; pre-
sented by Captain Ibbetson, F.G.S., and Prof. Forbes, F.G.S.
Fossils from the Wenlock Limestone and London Clay; presented

by Mr. James Tennant, F.G.S.

Specimen of Pholadomya gigantea from the Lower Greensand ; pre-
by — Hills, Esq.

Fossils from the Lias of Deddington, Oxfordshire ; presented by C.
Faulkner, Esq., F.G.S.

Specimen of Unio Valdensis (Mantell) from the Wealden of Brook
Point, Isle of Wight; presented by Mr. Shipp.

Terebratule from the Chalk and Gault of Cambridgeshire ; presented
by the Rev. Thomas Image, F.G.S.

Specimens of several species of Astarte from the Pliocene at Brid-
lington ; presented by E. Charlesworth, Esq., F.G.S.

Silurian Fossils from the Western flank of the Malverns; presented
by A. Majendie, Esq., F.G.S. :

Crustaceans and Nauwtili from the London Clay, Isle of Sheppey ;
presented by Miss White of Swanscombe.

Specimens from the London Clay, Chalk and Wealden ; presented
by Mrs. Smith of Tunbridge Wells.

Nautilus from the London Clay ; presented by Dr. Way.

Specimens of Lepidodendron from the South Staffordshire Coal-field;
presented by M. Dawes, Esq, F.G.S.

Chalk with Fossils from Trimmingham, Norfolk ; presented by Miss
Gurney, of North Repps.

Spongeous Flint from the Chalk ; presented by Mr. H. Ball.

Fossils from the Kentish Rag, Maidstone; presented by Mr, W.H.
Bensted.

Bones of Paleotherium and Chelonia from Hordle and Barton ; pre-
sented by Thomas Falconer, Esq., F.G.S.

Fossils from the Lower Greensand, Faringdon, Berks., and an Am-

539d

monite from the Red Chalk, Hunstanton; presented by Henry
Stone, Esq.
Foreign Specimens.

Fossils from Egypt and Malta; presented by the Earl of Enniskillen,
F.G.S. and Sir P. Egerton, Bart., M.P.

Fossils from the Freshwater Tertiaries of Asia Minor; presented by
Lieut. Spratt, R.N., F.G.S., and Prof. E. Forbes, F.G.S.

Fossils from Malta; presented by Lieut. Spratt, R.N., F.G.S.

Collections of Miocene Tertiary Fossils from the neighbourhood of
Lisbon and Gibraltar; Shells from the raised deposit (post-plio-
cene), Gibraltar ; Tertiary Fossils from Bordeaux, Madeira and
Porto Santo; and Secondary Fossils from Lisbon and Gibraltar ;
presented by James Smith, Esq. of Jordan Hill, F.G.S.

Specimens of Terebratula gracilis, from the Baltic Chalk; presented
by J. W. Flower, Esq.

Fossils from Lebanon; presented by Captain Graves, R.N.

MiscELLANEOUS.

A series of Casts of the Bones of the Dinornis of New Zealand ;
presented by the Royal College of Surgeons.

Cast of the Vertebre of a Saurian from the River Volga near Sim-
birsk ; presented by R. I. Murchison, Esq., F.G.S.

Electrotypes of two Crustaceans from the Coal-measures ; presented
by Dr. Ick, F.G.S. n

Cuarts anp Maps.

Ordnance Townland Survey of the Counties of Dublin, 30 sheets ;
and of Limerick, 62 sheets; presented by Col. Colby, by direction
of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

The Charts, &c. published by direction of the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty during the year 1843; presented by Capt. Beau-
fort, R.N., by direction of the Lords Commissioners of the Admi-
ralty.

Sheets 88 and 89 of the Ordnance Map, in continuation of the Tri-
gonometrical Survey of Great Britain; presented by the Master-
General and Board of Ordnance.

Pilote Francaise, 6me partie ; presented by the Director-General of
the Depot de la Marine of France.

Carte. Géologique de la chaine du Tatra et des Soulévemens paral-
léles ; presented by Prof. L. Zeisznera.

Geological Chart by Thomas Austin; presented by the Author.

Section XX. of the Geological Map of Saxony; presented by the
Council of Mines of Freyberg.

Carte spéciale des chemins de Fer Belges, 1843, and Plan de chemin
de Fer compris entre Liége et Aix-la-Chapelle, 1843 ; presented
by M. Ph. Vandermaelen, F.G.S.

Vues et Coupes du Cap de la Héve, by M. C. A. Lesueur; pre-
sented by the Author.

Three Maps of Asia Minor and three of Australia; presented by H.
Warburton, Esq., M.P., Pres. G.S.

536

The following List contains the Names of all the Persons and
Public Bodies from whom Donations to the Library and Museum

were received during the past year.

Academy of Sciences of Paris.
Admiralty, The Right Hon. the
Lords Commissioners of the.
American Philosophical Society

held at Philadelphia.
Ansted, Prof. D. T., F.G.S.
Athenzum, Editor of the.
Austen, R. A. C., Esq., Sec. G.S.
Austin, Thomas, Jun., Esq.

Ball, Henry, Esq.

Beaudouin, M. Jules.

Bensted, Mr. W. H.

Bombay Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society.

Boston Society of Natural Hi-
story.

British Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science.

Browne, Peter A., LL.D.

Buckland, Rev.Prof.,D.D.,F.G.S.

Bunbury, E. H., Esq., F.G.S.

Burmeister, Hermann, Dr.

Calcutta Journal, Editors of the.
Calderini, C. G.

Charlesworth, E., Esq., F.G.S.
Chemical Society of London.
Chevalier, M. M. E.

Dana, J. D., Esq.

Darwin, C., M.A., V.P.G.S.

Daubeny, Prof., M.D., F.G.S.

Dawes, M., Esq., F.G.S.

De Garay, Don José.

Dépét Général de la Marine de
France.

Desor, M. E.

D’Hombres-Firmas, M. le Baron.

Egerton, Sir P., Bart., M.P.
Enniskillen, Earl of, F.G.S.

Falconer, Thomas, Esq., F.G.S.
Faulkner, C., Esq.

Featherstonhaugh, G. W., Esq.,
F.G.S. |

Flower, J. W., Esq.

Flugel, Dr. T. G.

Forbes, Prof. E., F.G.S.

Franklin, Sir J., K.C.H., F.G.S.

Freyberg, Council of Mines of.

Geneva, Nat. Hist. Society of.
Geological Society of Dublin.
Geological Society of France.
Goppert, Herr R.

Graham, Sir James, Bart., M.P.
Graves, Captain, R.N.

Gregory, W., M.D. 5
Griffith, R., Esq., F.G.S.
Gurney, Miss.

Haarlem Société Hollandaise des
Sciences.

Hausmann, Prof. J. F. L., For.
Mem. G.S.

Hawkins, Thomas, Esq., F.G.S.

Herschel, Sir J. F. W., Bart.,
F.G.S.

Hills, — Esq.

Heeninghaus, Herr F. W.

Holland, Samuel, Esq.

Hopkins, Evan, Esq., F.G.S.

Hutton, R., Esq., F.G.S. .

Ibbetson, L. L. B., Esq., F.G.S.
Ick, Dr., F.G.S. :
Image, Rev. Thomas, F.G.S.
Johnston, Prof. J. F. W., F.G.S.
Jones, Capt. R.N., M.P., F.G.S.

Koenig, Charles, Esq.
Koninck, M. L. de.

Lea, Henry C.

Leeds Philosophical Society.
Lesueur, M. C. A.

Lille, Société Royal de.
Linnean Society of London.

537

Majendie, A., Esq., F.G.S.
)Morton, S. G., M.D.
!Murchison, R. I., Esq., F.G.S.

Museum of Natural History of

Paris.

Nattali, Mr. M. A.

Newman, Edward, Esq.
Nicholson, Dr. Charles, F.G.S.
Nicol, James, Esq.

Nyst, M. P. H.

Ordnance, Master-General and
Board of.

Parish, Sir W., K.C.H., F.G.S.

Philadelphia Academy of Natural
Science.

Porta, Signor Leonardo.

Pratt, S. P., Esq., F.G.S.

Raulin, M. Victor.

Rees, G. O., M.D., F.G.S.

Reeve, Mr. Lovell.

Royal Academy of Berlin.

Royal Academy of Brussels.

Royal Academy of Naples.

Royal Agricultural Society of
England.

Royal Asiatic Society.

Royal Geographical Society.

Royal Geological Society of
Cornwall.

Royal Irish Academy.

Royal Polytechnic Society of
Cornwall.

Royal Society of Copenhagen.
Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Royal Society of London.

St. Petersburgh Mineralogical
Society.

Scheerer, Dr: Thomas.

Shipp, Mr.

Silliman, Prof., M.D., For. Mem.
G.S.

Simms, F. W., Esq., F.G.S.

Smith, Mrs.

Smith, James, Esq., F.G.S.

Society of Arts.

Sopwith, Thomas, Esq., F.G.S.

Spratt, Lieut. T. A. B., R.N.,
F.G.S.

Stone, Henry, Esq.

Taylor, Richard, Esq., F.G.S.
Tcheffkine, General.
Tennant, Mr. J.

Tilley, Prof. T. G.

Vandermaelen, M. Ph., F.G.S.

Warburton, H., Esq., M.P., Pres.
G.S.

Watson, Rev. J. S.

Way, Dr.

White, Miss.

Wiley and Putnam, Messrs.

Zeisznera, M. L.
Zoological Society.

List of Pavers read since the last Annual Meeting, February 16th,
1644.

Feb. 21st.—Some Remarks on the White Limestone of Corfu and
Vido, by Captain Portlock, R.E., F.G.S.

Some Account of the Strata observed in the course

of the Blechingley Tunnel, by F. W. Simms, Esq., F.G.S.

F.G.S.

Remarks upon Sternbergiz, by John 8. Dawes, Esq.,

On the Thalassina antiqua, a Fossil Crustacean from

New Holland, by. Thomas Bell, Esq., Professor of Zoology, King’s

College, London, F.G.S.

538

March 6th.—On the genus Creseis, by E. Forbes, Esq., Professor of
Botany, King’s College, London, F.G.S.

————— On the Geology of North Wales, by Daniel Sharpe,
Esq., F.G.S. ;
March 20th.—Report on a collection of Tertiary Fossils from Malta
and Goso, by E. Forbes, Esq., Professor of Botany, King’s Col-

lege, London, F.G.S.

——————_ Extract from a Letter to Rev. Prof. Buckland, D.D.,
F.G.S., by W. C. Trevelyan, Esq., F.G.S., on some fractured
Boulders found at Auchmithie, near Arbroath.

On the origin of the Gypseous and Saliferous Marls
of the New Red Sandstone, by the Rev. W. D. Williams, F.G.S.

April 3rd.—On the occurrence of Fossils in the Boulder Clay, by
Robert Harkness, Esq.

On the traces of the action of Glaciers at Porth-
Treeddyn, in Caermarthenshire, by Robert W. Byres, Esq.

——————— On the existence of Fluoric Acid in recent Bones, by
G. Owen Rees, M.D., F.G.S.

April 17th.—On the Geology of the Southern part of the Gulf of
Smyrna and the Promontory of Karabournoo, by Lieut. T. A. B.
Spratt, R.N., F.G.S.

On the Fossils collected by Lieut. Spratt in the
Freshwater Tertiary Formation of the Gulf of Smyrna, by E,
Forbes, Esq., Professor of Botany, King’s College, London, F.G.S.

————— On the remains of Fishes found by Mr. Kaye and
Mr. Cunliffe in the Pondicherry Beds, by Sir P. Egerton, Bart.,
M.P., F.G.S.

—————_ On the occurrence of a bed of Septaria, containing
Freshwater Shells in the series of Plastic Clay at New Cross, Kent,
by H. Warburton, Esq., M.P., P.G.S.

May 1st.—Report on the Fossils from Santa Fe de Bogota, presented
to the Society by Evan Hopkins, Esq., F.G.S., by E. Forbes, Esq,,
Professor of Botany, King’s College, London, F.G.S. sas

—————— Comparative Remarks on the Sections near Hythe
and Atherfield, by W. H. Fitton, M.D., F.G.S

May Ist and February 5th, 1845.—Letter from F. W. Simms, Esq.,
F.G.S., to Henry Warburton, Esq., President, on the junction of
the Lower Greensand and Wealden at the Teston Cutting. __

On the Section between Black Gang Chine and

Atherfield Point, by L. L. B. Ibbetson, Esq., F.G.S., and E. Forbes,

Esq., Professor of Botany, King’s College, London, F.G.S. |

Description of the Mouth of the Hybodus, found by

L. L. B. Ibbetson, Esq., in the Isle of Wight, by Sir P. G. Eger-

ton, Bart., M.P., F.G.S. :

Extract from a Letter addressed to L. L. B. Ibbetson,
Esq., by M. Dubois de Montpereux, on the Neocomian formation.

May 15th.—Letter from William Ick, Esq., F.G.S., on some Crus-
tacean Remains in Carboniferous Rocks.

On the Anthracite Formations of Massachusetts, by
Charles Lyell, Esq., F.G.S. ,

=

539

May 15th.—On the Geology of Cape Breton, by Richard Brown,
Esq.

May 29th. — Continuation of the Memoir on the Geology of North
Wales, by the Rev. A. Sedgwick, M.A., Woodwardian Professor
in the University of Cambridge, F.G.S.

June 12th.—On Fluorine in Bones, its sources and its application
to the ascertainment of Geological time, by J. Middleton, Esgq.,
F.G.S.

Letter from Mr. Jeffreys to Dr. Buckland on a raised

beach at Loch Carron.

—————- On the Cliffs of Northern Drift on the coast of Nor-
folk, between Weybourne and Happisburgh, by J. Trimmer, Esq.,
I.G.S.

June 26th.—On the Stonesfield Slate of the Cottswold Hills, by
James Buckman, Esq., F.G.S.

—_—_ On a Fossil Ray from Lebanon, and on Fossil Fish
from the Oxford Clay, by Sir P. G. Egerton, Bart., M.P., F.G.S.

—— On certain bodies found in Ammonites, by H. E.
Strickland, Esq., F.G.S.

November 6th.—-On the Geology of Tuscany, by William John
Hamilton, Esq.; M.P., Sec. G.S.

November 20th.—-On the Geology of Gibraltar, by James Smith,
Esq., of Jordan Hill, F.G.S.

December 4.—Extract from a Letter from John Brown, Esq., F.G.S.,
to the President, on a Bed of Marine Shells in the Valley of the
Colne near Colchester.

——— Remarks on the Geology of British Guiana, by the
Chevalier Robert H. Schomburgk, Ph.D.

——————— Letter from W. C. Trevelyan, Esq., F.G.S., to the
Rev. Prof. Buckland, D.D., F.G.S., on Glacial marks in Wales.
December 18th.—On the Pipes or Sand-galls in the Chalk and

Chalk-rubble of Norfolk, by Joshua Trimmer, Esq., F.G.S.

Some Remarks on a Boar’s Head discovered in the

Island of Portland, by the Rev. W. Buckland, D.D., Professor of
-Mineralogy and Geology in the University of Oxford, F.G.S.

January 8th.—On the Geology of the Eastern Frontier of the Colony
of the Cape of Good Hope, by Andrew Geddes Bain, Esq.

—_—— Description of the Fossil Skulls of three species of an
extinct genus of Reptilia (Dicynodon), discovered by A. G. Bain,
Esq., in the Sandstone Rocks, Algoa Bay, by Richard Owen, Esq.,
Hunterian Professor of Anatomy in the Royal College of Surgeons,
F.G.S.

January 22nd.—On the Newer Coal Formation of the Eastern part
of Nova Scotia, by J. W. Dawson, Esq.

——-— On the Geological features of the Country round
the Mines of the Taurus in the Pashalic of Diarbekr, by W. W.
Smyth, Esq., A.B.

February 5th.—On certain Raised Beaches, and the Shells found in
them, occurring in the Coast of Essex, near Walton, by J. Brown,
Esq., F.G.S.

540 :

February 5th.—On the Geology of the vicinity of the Wollondilly
River in Argyle County in the Colony of Sydney, New South:
Wales, by the Rev. W. B. Clarke, M.A., F.G.S.

After the Reports had been read, it was resolved,—

That they be received and entered on the Minutes of the Meeting;
and that such parts of them as the Council shall think fit, be printed |
and distributed among the Fellows.

It was afterwards resolved :-—

1. That the thanks of this Society be given to Henry Warburton,
Esq., M.P., retiring from the office of President.

2. That the thanks of this Society be given to Lord Francis Eger-
ton, Charles Darwin, Esq., G. B. Greenough, Esq., and John |
Esq. ., retiring from the office of Vice-President.

3. That the thanks of this Society be given to R. A. C. Austen,
Esq., retiring from the office of Secretary.

4. That the thanks of this Society be given to Lord Francis _
Egerton, Sir J. A. B. Johnstone, Bart., Prof. Bell, E. H. Bunbury,
Esq., and John Taylor, Esq., retiring from the Council.

After the Balloting Glasses had been duly closed, and the lists |
examined by the Scrutineers, the following gentlemen were declared
to have been duly elected the Officers and Council for the ensuing
year ;—

OFFICERS.

—_—_—

PRESIDENT. '
Leonard Horner, Esq. F.R.S. L. & E. )

VICE-P RESIDENTS.

Rev. W. Buckland, D.D. F.R.S., L.S., Professor of Geology and
Mineralogy in the University of Oxford.

Robert Hutton, Esq. M.R.I.A.

R. I. Murchison, Esq. F.R.S. L.S.

Prof. Owen, F.R.S. L.S.

SECRETARY.
William John Hamilton, Esq. M.P.

541

FOREIGN SECRETARY.
Sir H. T. De la Beche, F.R.S. and L.S.

TREASURER,

John Lewis

Prevost, Esq.

COUNCIL.

Robert A. C. Austen, Esq.

Charles Darwin, Esq. F.R.S.

Sir P. ae Egerton, Bart. M.P.
F.R.S.

Lieut.-Col. Everest, F.R.S.
Hugh Falconer, M.D. F.L.
W. H. Fitton, M.D. F.R.S.
Prof. E. Forbes, F.R.S.

J. H. Green, Esq. F.R.S.

8.
L.S.

G. B. Greenough, Esq.F.R.S.L.5.

Charles Lyell,jun.Esq.F.R.S.L.S.

Marquess of Northampton, Pres.
R.S.

S. P. Pratt, Esq. F.R.S. L.S.

Lieut.-Col. Sabine, R.A. F.R.S.

Rev. Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S.,
Woodwardian Professor in the
University of Cambridge.

Henry Warburton, Esq. M.P.
F.R.S.

VICE-SECRETARY.
Prof. D. T. Ansted, F.R.S.

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Receipts.
Balances in hand, January 1, 1844.
Sif does.
Banker, including 314. 11s. 6d. Wol-
laston Fund and 36. Is. Map
ACCOMM: rsh cue nieeice eee 184 8 8
Accountant, to meet current expenses. 40 0 0

Ss.

]

Sums actually Received and Expend

alate ths

— ~ 224 8 8
Arrears : Bao Sean Oe
Admission #Fees 4c.) 6ssa.ciete ce oe i6 16 0
Annual Contributions ............ 12.1250 :
— 29 8 0]
Ordinary Income: E amet yt (7
Annual Contributions... ............ 696 13 6
Admission Fees: - Le Senile
Residents (Gace. 40 Oy
Non-Residents(14).. 147. 0 U
—— 197, 2Sar0
— 894 1 6
Compositions, two at 311. 10s. ...... ale /elise ioe eterna 63 0 0
Legacy, (hos. Botticld,| Esq.s. yn eee 31 10 0
awa Sresanele
diransactions(Sold) 2.42) ae 96 2 6
Procecdines, (Sold) = vse ha ya 12 4 0
108 6 6
ES Sry 1a ¥
Subscriptions to Session 1843-44 (Pro-
Ceenine say .suiaceuos eee eae eee “ 23 10 0
Balance ciehesne for 25l.torepaysame... 0 14 3
——— 24 4 3
GeolocicalsMape-'.)vistits Beeee elt eee, ee ee 34 10 0
Wollaston Donation Fund, 12 months’ Interest on
10841. 1s. 1d. Reduced 3 percents.......-....... 31 1k 6&
Dividends: ESoSe Oe
Six months on 2706/. 19s.1d.Consols 39 8 5
9 9» on 27391. 5s. 2d. D5 39 17 10
—_ — 79 6 3
£1520 6 8

We have compared the Books and Vouchers presented to us with

these Statements, and find them correct.
Signed, W.J. BRODERIP,

R. HUTTON, \ AUDITORS.

Jan, 24, 1845.

*:

|

545

during the year ending December 31, 1844.

PayMENTS.
Bills outstanding: EreniSa ide lice
Scientific Expenditure .......0......secsseseeeseseee 2 NG ©
HET OUSEHEDXPEMSESs eee aces ecaciissievctecneesscsccceesas O14 9
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Proceedings ....... coevesses donadendondsodenabondenocd HS 1S f
42
General Expenditure: eae Oe GE
AVEpalrs Ob ELOUSE!rclidercesisies caesaceces ceeseassecares 1013 5
House Expenses ...ccccessesscssessevs wolesslsaleslelsiles 105 14 10
MAKES HIASSOSSCChesacsccer is secsleweleee atccbecmesmaocuels 35 11 4
Household Furniture ............scscesesseseeevees Ne aU
HT OUSEHO] A) MAM EM es eses'selss cles sleseeeelecseenederesds 418 6
174
MTSMATEAIVC EW sock eh sec rn acu: agate chore ejetiehar «wee denotes NED.
Salaries and Wages : 255) Gt)
COROT C) Wt Re RA anb AUBa ees: CHAAR SN AOE OECE Rane SES ESASHet 150 0 0
SHID= (CHAT? Hoasoocoonascssando0opepdooo aoonnsepoonc. 112 10 O
(OME) eco nooo tod conde DCHaCOR DS DERE Tee God seesconaaeadncdceS 100 0 O
IPOH? scodcoocapoa0ticobonodabandsaooadsaoundbpacuaqabooDO 80 0 0
SIMAMG, igdadacKesboadgnodonsoacodonBaoadcondoopSagceccne 33 4 0
(COIIEVEGTt cononooadbddcodadeedoaubausesenecaccriopadesoooD 23 15)46
* 499
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PROCEEDINGS

OF

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Vou. IV. Parr III. 1845. No. 104.

February 26. 1845.

Joun Fow er, Esq. C. E., of Stockton-on-Tees, was elected a
Fellow of this Society.

The following communications were read : —

1. On the Miocene Tertiary Strata of MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, and
Nortu and South Carorina. By Cuaries Lyerr, Esq.,
M.A., F.R.S., &c.

Between the hilly country of the United States and the Atlantic
there intervenes a low and nearly level region, occupied princi-
pally by beds of marl, clay, and sand of the cretaceous and tertiary
formations. Maclure, in 1817, in his “Geology of the United
States,” laid down, with no small approach to accuracy, on a coloured
map, the general limits of this great plain, and of the granitic dis-
trict lying immediately to the westward. He also pointed out, that
at the junction of these great geological regions almost all the great
rivers descend suddenly by falls or rapids of moderate height, as
the Delaware at Trenton, the Schuylkill near Philadelphia, the
Potomac near Washington, the James River at Richmond, Virgi-
nia, the Savannah at Augusta in Georgia, and many others. At
these points, therefore, the navigation is stopped, and a great
many large cities have sprung up; so that the line which marks
the western boundary of the tertiary, and the eastern of the
granitic region, is at the same time one of peculiar geological,
geographical, and political interest.
VOL. IV. PART II. at 2

548 [Feb. 26.

The general elevation of the great plain dees not exceed a hun-
dred feet, although it is sometimes considerably higher. Its width —
in the middle and southern States is very commonly from 100 to

150 miles. The tide, except in the more southern States, flows

entirely across it, and the rivers intersecting it form large estua-
ries, which may have been due to the facility with which the in-
coherent materials of the cliffs were undermined and swept away,
a process of waste still going on. .

Throughout the greater part of the Atlantic plain, the cretaceous
rocks, if present, are concealed by the overlying tertiary deposits,
which consist chiefly of Miocene strata, extending from Delaware
Bay to the Cape Fear River, and occupying portions of Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, and N. Carolina, an area about 400 miles long
from north to south, and varying in breadth from 10 to 70 miles.
There are, besides, some patches of the miocene formation in
South Carolina and Georgia, where the Eocene, or older tertiary
deposits, predominate almost exclusively, and where the limits of
the miocene deposits have not yet been well ascertained.

I have endeavoured to show, in a former paper, read to the
Society in February, 18438 *, that the fossils of Martha’s Vineyard,
an island off the coast of Massachusetts, especially the teeth of sharks,
point to a near chronological connexion between the strata of that
island and the miocene strata of Europe; but the evidence is far
more complete and satisfactory in favour of a similarity of age
between the deposits about to be described, which occur 350 miles
to the south, or in Maryland and Virginia. In the last-mentioned
States these formations extend over a wide area, and have been
well described by Mr. Conrad, who identified them in age with the
English crag, and called them “ medial pliocene,” and by Professors
W.B. and H. D. Rogers, in their article in the Philos. Trans. of
Philadelphia for 1836. These authors considered them entitled to
the appellation of Miocene, as containing a proportion of recent
shells corresponding to that known to characterise the miocene
deposits of Europe.

The principal grounds which induce me to agree in this opinion,
and to regard the beds of sand, clay, and marl now under consi-
deration as corresponding in geological age with the crag of
Suffolk, the faluns of the Loire, and other contemporaneous
formations in Europe, are the following : —

First. On the banks of the James River and elsewhere I saw
them resting on eocene deposits, or on sand and clay containing an
assemblage of shells resembling those of the London and Paris
basins.

2dly. The genera of shells, and the amount of species by which
they are represented, agree for the most part with those which
characterise the European miocene beds. Many of the most abun-
dant species are allied, and some few are identical.

* Proceed. of Geol. Soc., vol. iv. p. 31.

1845.] 549

oddly. ‘The proportion of fossil shells identified with recent
species amounts to about 17 per cent, or about one-sixth of the
whole, in 147 species collected by me, the recent species agreeing
almost entirely with those now living in the neighbouring parts of
the Atlantic.

A4thly. There is the same mixture of shells of northern and
southern forms as in the French faluns.

othly. Of ten species of corals, all but one agree generically
with those of the miocene beds of Europe, and two at least speci-
fically. One of theseis a Lunuiite, the same as a fossil from the
Suffolk crag and also from the faluns of Touraine; a second, An-
thophyllum lineatum, is also common in the French faluns.

6thly. Among the remains of fish are several of the shark family,
agreeing with species from the miocene beds of Europe, the faluns
of Touraine, the molasse of Switzerland, and the tertiary formation
of Malta, among which I may mention Carcharias megalodon,
C. productus, Lamna xiphodon, L. hastalis, L. cuspidata. The
ossicles also of the ears of fishes closely resemble those occurring
in the Suffolk crag.

7thly. The absence of reptiles is another point of analogy, as
also the presence of huge cetaceous remains.

The miocene deposits of the United States consist chiefly of in-
coherent sand and clay, and in this respect bear a strong resem-
blance to those of the same age in Europe. ‘The associated
siliceous sand imparts a sterile character to the space they occupy,
but the soil has often been fertilised by the use of shell marl,
derived by the agriculturist from parts of the same formation, a
practice which Mr. Ruffin, of Petersburg, Virginia, editor of the
Farmer’s Register, has done much to promote. This use of the
miocene marl and fossil shells affords another singular point of
coincidence between the American strata, the English crag, and
the faluns of the Loire, all of which furnish the same fertilising
calcareous materials for improving light soils.

I began my examination of these middle tertiary deposits in the
suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, where I saw in Shockoe Creek
red clay and sand, from which I obtained Artemis acetabulum, and
casts of miocene species of Astarte and Mactra, reposing on
eocene marls with characteristic shells. Between the two forma-
tions, a remarkable bed of whitish and yellowish siliceous clay
intervenes, from twelve to twenty-five feet thick, of an extremely
fine texture. It affords a very sterile soil, and its course through
the country is marked on the surface by a band of meagre vegeta-
tion, without trees or shrubs. It has been described by Professor
Wm. Rogers, in his State Report on the Geology of Virginia for
1840. When examined under the microscope, it is found to
consist of an impalpable siliceous powder, derived from the cases of
minute animalcules. Dr. Bailey has shown that the siliceous
skeletons belong to several species of Navicula, Gazllonella, Ac-

tinocyclas, and other genera. The position of the infusorial earth,
TT 2

550 [Feb. 26.

the bed being perfectly conformable to the miocene strata above,
and the eocene below, is not decisive of its age; but I understand
that the species are considered by Messrs. Tuomey, W. B. Rogers,
and Bailey, as implying that it belongs to the miocene formation ;
and Dr. Mantell, who has examined them, informs me that many of
them belong to living species.

On the right bank of the James River, at City Point, Virginia,
about twenty miles below Richmond, in a cliff about thirty feet high,
I observed the yellow and white miocene sands resting on dark
green earth and marl of the eocene formation, just as the yellow
sands of the crag rest on the blue London clay in some parts of
the coast of Suffolk and Essex. Several miles below City Point,
the overlying sandy deposit contains a bed of shelly marl, some-
times fifteen feet thick, as at Evergreen. Here I was much struck
with the profusion of an Astarte (A. undulata Conrad), which
resembles very closely, and may possibly be merely a variety of,
one-of the commonest and most characteristic fossils of the Suffolk
crag, A. bipartita. The other shells also, of the genera Jatica,
Fissurella, Artemis, Lucina, Chama, Pectunculus, and Pecten,
reminded me of shells of our crag and the French faluns, although
the species are almost all distinct. The large Venus tridacnoides,
however, is very peculiar, and the Perna mazillata is unlike any
Suffolk or Touraine fossil, though closely allied to a miocene shell
of the Mayence basin on the Rhine. A single coral is found
plentifully at Evergreen, resembling an Astrea, and called by Mr.
Lonsdale Columnaria(?) sex-radiata. It differs from the genus
Astrea, as defined by Ehrenberg, in the stars not being subdivided.
Large flattened masses of this coral, upwards of two feet wide, were
lying on the beach, washed out of the marl. The teeth of sharks
in the banks of the James River agree, some of them specifically,
with those of the European miocene beds, and several cetaceous
bones, analogous to fossils of the Suffolk crag and Touraine faluns,
are frequently met with.

On the right bank or southern coast of the river, about a mile
and a half south-west of Coggin’s Point, a bluish green marl
occurs, about sixteen feet thick and not stratified, in which, assisted
by Mr. Ruffin, jun., I gathered in a short time more than thirty
species of shells, beautifully preserved, of the genera before men-
tioned, as also Oliva, Turritella, Teredo, Dentalium, Crassatella,
Corbula, Panopea, Cyprina, Tellina, Cardita, Ostrea, and Ba-
lanus. The Lucina divaricata, precisely like that of Touraine,
or the living West Indian variety, was not rare. This deposit was
covered by a bed of reddish clay about six feet thick, without
fossils. In many places a remarkable variety of bright green
marl, somewhat of the colour of chlorite, alternates in this region
with the yellow sand and white shelly marls, which more commonly
characterise the miocene deposit.

Passing to the other side, or northern shore, of the estuary of
the James River, I observed at the Grove Landing, near the old

1845.] 551

deserted village of Jamestown, and seven miles south of Williams-
burg, Virginia, a range of cliff about forty feet high, in which green-
ish and yellowish sandy marls of the miocene formation are well
exposed. At the top of the cliff is a bed of red earth, without fos-
sils, about ten feet thick. Below this is a layer of shells almost
entirely composed of Chama congregata, both valves in each in-
dividual being usually found united. Below is a mass of shells
about twelve feet thick, consisting almost entirely of the genus
Pecten, but associated with others, of which the Astarte undulata
before mentioned is the most abundant. The Pectens are closely
packed together, with only a slight quantity of accompanying
earth. A geologist who should merely collect the shells which
have fallen in great numbers on the beach would imagine that
bivalves preponderate, to the exclusion of univalves, which, how-
ever, is not the case. ‘The univalves are more readily destroyed
by frost, rain, and the sun, and have therefore disappeared after
exposure, but on digging into a fresh stratum, I met with shells
of the genera Conus, Oliva, Marginella, Fusus, Pyrula, Murex,
Natica, and others. I found no admixture of freshwater or land
shells here or in any other locality.

At Burwell’s Mill, near Williamsburg, I found a bed of marl
about twelve feet thick, very rich in shells, so that I collected
there more than seventy species, besides seven species of corals,
mingled confusedly with the shells, in which last there appeared
to be no order of arrangement, except that in one part, near the
top, the Chama congregata, accompanied with a Fissurella, and a
few others, predominated greatly. Among other signs of the slow
accumulation of this mass of sandy marl and shells, I may mention
that full-grown barnacles and corals are attached to several of the
Pectens and other large shells. About one in five of the species
of mollusca procured from this marl pit are not distinguishable
from those now living in the neighbouring sea.

That remarkable variety of miocene marl which is of a bluish
green colour, and which I have mentioned as occurring near
Coggin’s Point, is well exhibited in a valley near the town of
Petersburg, Virginia, where it is used for fertilising the land. It
rests on eocene strata, also containing green earth, but of a darker
colour. ‘The blue miocene marl is about sixteen feet thick, rich in
shells, and is covered by yellow sand, and mottled red and grey
clay, about fifty feet thick, with many other sandy strata still
higher in the series, which may be observed near the summits of
the hills bordering the valley.

All the miocene strata of the James River are horizontal, but
the upper surface has been denuded very unevenly, and often with
a deeply indented outline, after which the whole country has been
reduced to one level by the deposition of an incumbent mass, con-
sisting chiefly of red clay. The great width of estuaries such as
that of the James and other rivers which have narrow channels in
the higher and mountainous region, may probably be attributed

2

HU UM fe

552 [Feb. 26.

to the facility with which, on the eastern coast of America, the
action of the tides has removed the soft and incoherent tertiary
deposit, when the land was gradually emerging from the sea.
There is reason to believe, from what we know of the eoast of
S. Carolina and Georgia, that this emergence was accompanied by
oscillations of level, which would greatly facilitate and prolong the
period of the denuding operations.

Norru CARo.ina.

In the cliffs at Wilmington, North Carolina, resting on a eal-
careous eocene rock, are seen miocene shelly strata of the ordinary
character, in which I collected about thirty species of shells. The
recent species bore a larger proportion than usual to the extinct ;
but this may be owing to the circumstance that two-thirds of the
whole consisted of marine bivalves, which is rather a larger propor-
tion than that observed in the fossil miocene fauna, amounting to
about 150 species, which I collected in Virginia. I have in-
variably found that the proportion of marine bivalves identical
with the recent, whether in the English crag, the faluns of
ouraine, or other tertiary formations, is greater than that of the
marine univalves, a result in perfect. harmony with the law of
geographical distribution of living mollusea pointed out by
M. Philippi, who has shown that the range of species in the marine
bivalves is far more extensive than in the univalves. In Touraine
I found the per-centage of recent species vary in the faluns as
much as 10 per cent., and even more, in different places not very
remote from each other ; but when the number in each locality
was considerable (150 species for example), this variation dimi-
nished. As, however, it would be very rash to assume that all
the miocene deposits of the United States, especially in countries
as far apart as Maryland and South Carolina, were of strictly con-
temporaneous origin, the fossil faunas of each region should be
earefully distinguished, and considered separately.

Fossits oF THE MiocenE STRATA.

Mollusca. — Mr. Conrad, in his work on the fossils of the ter-
tiary formations of the United States, Philadelphia, 1838, has
described and figured many of the miocene shells, but unfortunately
his work has never been completed. ‘The same author has given
a catalogue of 187 shells of the middle tertiary, or miocene forma-
tion, in the Appendix to Dr. Morton’s “Organic Remains” of the
Cretaceous Group. He has also described and figured some species
in Silliman’s Journal, vol. xli. p. 344. In his own cabinet, he has
shown me more than 200 species of shells belonging to this forma-
tion, of which he considered about a sixth part to agree with

1845.] 553

species now living, and he supposed that a somewhat larger propor-
tion would be identified, were our knowledge of the living mollusca
more perfect.

I shall confine myself to remarks on those shells, amounting to
147 species exclusive of Balani, which I collected myself, and
which I have carefully compared, with the assistance of Mr. G. B.
Sowerby, with the tertiary shells of Europe, and with recent
species.

The following table will show the miocene genera above alluded
to, and the number of species in each : —

Miocene Mollusca of Virginia and South Carolina.

Marine Univalves (63 species).

Marginella = - 3. Fulgur (Fusus) - 3. Turritella - 5.
Voluta - 2 Cerithium - 1. Trochus - - 2.
Oliva - - 3 Pleurotoma - 6. Margarita =e
Conus - - 2. Cancellaria - 3. Solarium - - 1.
Terebra sais Natica - = 2, Calyptrea - 2,
Buccinum - 7. Sigaretus - 1. Crepidula - 2.
Purpura - 1. Bulla - - 2. Fissurella - 1
Typhis - 1. Sealaria - - 1. Dentalium - 1.
Fusus - 7. Kulima - a Ditrupa - - 1.
Marine Bivalves (84 species).

Solen - - 1. Mysia - - 1. Pectunculus mole
Panopea - 2. Lucina - - 10. Nucula - - 2.
Myodora = 1. Spherella - i. Crenella - Sle
Mactra - 7. Astarte - - 10. Perna - 5 lo
Gnathodon - 1. Cytherea = Ks Lima - - 1.
Crassatella - 2. Venus = oc & Modiola - - 1.
Amphidesma - 5. Artemis =) el Pecten - - 5.
Sphenia - 1. Isocardia - oi. Plicatula - = alte
Corbula - 3) Cardium - 1. Ostrea_ = - 3.
Saxicava - 2. Chama - = iacke Anomia - - 1.
Petricola - 1. Cardita - 2 Orbicula - - 1.
Tellina - 2. Arca - - 4

Of the 147 species above enumerated, I have been able to iden-
tify the following 23 with recent species : —

_ American Miocene Shells identified with Recent Species.

Purpura lapillus Lin, Petersburg, Virginia.

Fusus cinereus Lin. Petersburg, Virginia.

Pyrula (Fulgur) carica Say. Petersburg, Williamsburg, &c.

P. canaliculata Say. Maryland.

Natica duplicata Say. Petersburg, &c.

N. heros Say. Maryland. ;

Calyptrea costaia. Wilmington, North Carolina. (Syn. Dispotea ramosa

Conrad. )
Identical with a recent species which I have from Valparaiso.

Crepidula fornicata Lam. Williamsburg.

Dentalium dentalis. Wilmington. Pricit

Ditrupa gadus. Williamsburg, Maryland; and Petersburg, Virginia.
rr 4

554 [Feb. 26.

Solen ensis Lin. Witliamsburg and Wilmington.

Panopea Americana. Maryland and Petersburg.
Same as P. Aldrovandi.

Mactra lateralis Say. Petersburg.
Same as M. similis.

Lucina divaricata Lam. Williamsburg, Maryland; and Petersburg.
Identical with a West Indian variety.

L. anodonta Say. Evergreen, Virginia; and Wilmington, North Carolina.

LL. squamosa. Petersburg.
L. Bey Say. Wilmington, North Carolina; and Williamsburg, Mary-
land.
It appears to be the same as L. radula.
Astarte lunulata Con. Williamsburg.
Identical with a recent shell from South Carolina.
Venus mercenaria Lam. Wilmington, North Carolina.
Nucula limatula Say. Petersburg.
N. proxima Say. Williamsburg.
Identical with recent specimens on the coast of Massachusetts.

Modiola glandula Totten. Petersburg.
Identical with a recent specimen from Massachusetts.

Pecten magellanicus Lam. Petersburg.

The above list would give a proportion of about 17 per cent. of
recent species, or about one-sixth; but I have no doubt that if we
possessed in London larger collections of the shells now imhabiting
the American seas, I should be able to prove that a greater number
of them agreed with fossils of the miocene strata in the United
States. Thus I have not included Anomia ephippium, because the
specific characters in this genus are so unsatisfactory; and I have
not seen the recent shell which Mr. Conrad identifies with Lucina
crenulata ; nor have I been able to identify Artemis acetabulum,
given as a recent species by Mr. Conrad, which does not agree
with A. concentrica Lam., nor with the species which inhabits the
Pacific coast of South America.

The general resemblance of the American fossils of this era with
those of the Suffolk crag and faluns of the Loire was so great, that
I was surprised, on a closer comparison, to find that I could only
identify 9 species as common to both sides of the Atlantic, and that
out of 147 American fossils, I could only find 13 species in the
European miocene, which were so closely allied as to be entitled
to be regarded as geographical representatives. A great part,
therefore, of the analogy consists in the similarity of the genera.

List of Species common to the American and European Miocene
Strata.

1, Fusus rostratus Dujardin.
Found by me at Burwell’s Mill, Williamsburg, Maryland ; and agreeing

with a common fossil of the faluns of Touraine.
2, Purpura lapillus Lin. Petersburg, Virginia.
American variety : probably the same species as P. crispata of the red
crag, Suffolk, some varieties of which agree with the European P. lapillus.
3. Turritella plebeia Say. Maryland.
This agrees perfectly with an abundant fossil of the Touraine faluns, to
which Dujardin has given the name, incorrectly perhaps, of 7. Lannea.

F

1845.] 555

4.

8.

Dentalium costatum. Min. Con., Williamsburg.
This species agrees most perfectly with that of the Suffolk red and
coralline crag. It is called D. dentalis by Conrad.

. Ditrupa gadus.

I cannot distinguish this from a shell of the English crag.

. Lucina divaricata. Petersburg, Virginia.

Identical with the Touraine variety.

. Lucina contracta Say.

Seems undistinguishable from the recent L. radula, which is also found
in the Suffolk crag.

. Perna mazillata Lam.

Mr. Conrad has considered this the same as the fossil which occurs in
the Mayence basin, which seems to agree well, though I have not perfect
specimens to compare.

. Astarte undulata Say.

I have some specimens of A. bipartita from the Suffolk crag, which agree
perfectly with the American fossil, except that in the latter the sides of the
hinge teeth are much more distinctly grooved. A few only of the English
specimens exhibit a faint trace of this grooving. The species named by the
Americans A. vicina, A. arata, A. cuneiformis, A. obruta, A. perplana, ap-
pear all to be varieties of the above species.

Geographical Representatives ; or, American Miocene Species
closely allied to European Miocene Fossils.

Oliva, n. sp. Wilmington.
Resembles O. hispidula, and may be considered as representing O. Du-
fresnii Bast., of the Touraine faluns,
Voluta mutabilis, Maryland and Petersburg, Virginia.
Decidedly represents V. Lamberti of the English crag and French faluns.
Buccinum trivitatum Say. Maryland and N. Carolina.

Closely resembles a common Touraine species, which Dujardin has
called B. elegans, a name which cannot be retained. In the American
fossil the outer lip is not thickened, as in that from Touraine.

Cancellaria lunata. Maryland.

It comes very near to a crag species in Mr. Wood’s collection, and is
allied to a Bordeaux species given me by M. Deshayes under the name of
C. contorta.

Trochus Audibarti Bast. Williamsburg, Maryland.

The American shell is rather more acuminated than that of Bordeaux,

but is so near that some may consider it a variety.

. Solarium, new species. Williamsburg.

Nearly allied to Solariella maculata, Searles Wood, An. Nat. Hist. 9.
t. 5. f. 7. from the coralline crag, Suffolk.
Calyptrea sinensis? Petersburg, Virginia.
This fossil nearly resembles, if it be not the same as, C. sinensis, found
in the Suffolk crag.
Panopea refleca Say. Petersburg.
Nearly allied to P. Faujasii, crag, Suffolk.

9. Corbula elevata Con. Maryland.
Approaches near to the recent C. nucleus, a Suffolk crag species.
10. Tellina lusoria. Williamsburg.
Nearly allied to 7. donacina, Suffolk crag.
11. Astarte lirata Conrad.
Nearly allied to A. gracilis, Coralline crag, Suffolk.
12. Isocardia rustica. Maryland.
Allied to Isocardia cor, Suffolk crag.
13. Pecten Jeffersonius. Petersburg.

Allied to P, solarium of the faluns of Touraine.

556 [Feb. 26.

Miocene Species of Forms peculiar to America.

While the analogy of the American and European miocene
shells is so striking, there are also some species of forms quite
peculiar to America; e. g.: —

1. Oliva idonea. 7. Calyptrea costata (C. ramosa Conrad).
2. Fusus quadricostatus Say. 8. Gnathodon Grayi.

3. F. sulcatus. 9. Venus Tridaenoides.

4, F. parilis Con. 10, V. mercenaria Lam.

5. Pyrula (Fulgur) carica Say. tT. Modiola glandula Totten.

6. P. canaliculata Say. 12, Pecten magellanicus Lam.

The six species in italics in the above list are recent, and are
confined to the western side of the Atlantic, and these characteristic
forms imply that the beginning of the present geographical distri-
bution of mollusca dates back to a period as remote as that of the
miocene strata. It will be also seen that several of the 23 miocene
shells identified with recent species in the list p. 419-20. are now
inhabitants of the American side of the Atlantic.

On the other hand, when we examine the fossil shells of the
European miocene strata, we find most of those which are identi-
fiable with living species to belong to the British seas, to the
Mediterranean, or to the coast of North Africa, and not to extend
to the American side of the Atlantic, a fact which may be illus-
trated by the following list of species.

European Miocene Shells found living on the Eastern, and not
inhabiting the Western, Side of the Atlantic.

Touraine. | Crac, Livine.

1. Cypreea coccinella - - + + British and Medit.

2. rato cypreola - - - + + British.

3. Terebra plicaria - - - + North Africa.

4. Buccinum mutabile - - + Mediterranean.

5. Columbella (Bucc.) Linnei + Mediterranean.

6. Cerithium lima - - ~ + Brit. and Mediterranean.
7. Eulima Cambessedesii - + Brit. and Mediterranean.
8. Trochus fanulum ee + Mediterranean.

9. Trochus striatus Se + + Mediterranean.
10. Siliquaria anguina - - + Mediter. and Atlantic.
11. Fissurella neglecta - - + + Mediterranean.
12. Petricola ochroleuca = + Mediter. and Ireland.
13. Tellina crassa a os + + British.
14. Lucina columbella - - + North Africa.

15. Arcalactea - - - - + + British.

No one of the above shells is found fossil in the American
miocene strata, and this fact strongly confirms the opinion before
stated respecting the high antiquity of the separation of the
existing molluscous faune, which we see may he traced back to a
period when about four fifths of the species differed from those

1845.] 557

now living on the globe. The: large Pyrule of the sub-genus
Fulgur, and several other forms above enumerated, list, p. 419-20.,
would enable a conchologist, only acquainted with recent shells,
to distinguish a set of American from a set of European miocene
fossils. The genera Pholadomya and Gnathodon, and several
others found in the miocene beds of the United States, would also
enable the conchologist to recognise the American type.

It is worthy of remark, that the recent shells found in the
American miocene beds are not only in about the same proportion
to the extinct as is observed in the Suffolk crag or in the faluns
of Touraine, but they also agree specifically in most cases with
mollusca now inhabiting the neighbouring Atlantic. Now most
of the recent miocene species of Touraine agree with species now
living on the western coast of France or in the Mediterranean,
and those of our crag are identifiable with species living in the
British seas. This result appears to me to confirm the accuracy
_of the conchological determinations, for if any one of those palceon-
tologists who are unwilling to believe that species pass from one
geological period to another, should maintain that the living species
are so numerous, and often resemble each other so closely, that
false identifications may easily have arisen, I reply, that in that
case, according to a fair calculation of chances, nine-tenths of the
American miocene species said to be recené ought to have been
identified with exotic species, instead of being found to agree with
members of that very limited fauna at present known on the
American shores. The same argument is clearly applicable to
the identifications which have been made of fossil and recent shells
in the European miocene formations. With the exception of one
Calyptrea, I find no one of the miocene shells which I have iden-
tified with recent species to be identical with shells of the Pacific.
The analogy is to an Atlantic, not a Pacific fauna.

Among other points of analogy between the miocene fossils on
the banks of the James River and those of Touraine, I ought not
to omit mentioning the multitude of large shells of the genus
Pecten, as P. Jeffersonius and others, occurring near Williamsburg,
(Maryland,) just as the large Pecten Solarium occurs in the faluns
of the Loire near Doué. Nothing similar is observed in the eocene
fossils, whether European or American. The same may be said
of the large and conspicuous shells of the genus Panopea, found in
our Suffolk crag, and in the American miocene beds, but not in the
older tertiary strata.

As it is very rare to meet with any land or freshwater shells in
the red and coralline crag of Suffolk, so are they almost unknown
as yet in the American strata of the same age. The Gnathodon,
an estuary shell, has been found in several places, and I met with
two odd valves of a Cyrena, well preserved in the miocene strata
of Petersburg, Virginia. ‘The species is rather larger than C. con-
sobrina from the Nile. The Buccinum quadratum of Conrad, doubt-
less a marine shell, might easily be mistaken for a Melanopsis.

Even in Touraine, where the bones of mammalia are not un-

558 [Feb. 26.

common in the marine beds, extremely few land and freshwater
shells are met with.

Climate of the Miocene Shells. — Upon the whole, the shells of
this formation in Virginia and Maryland resemble those of
Touraine and Bordeaux more than the fossils of the Suffolk crag,
as we might have expected from their nearer correspondence in lati-
tude. Thus, for example, the genera Conus, Oliva, Marginella, and
Crassatella (represented by large species), with other forms of warmer
seas, which are wanting in our crag, are common to the miocene
beds of Virginia, Maryland, Touraine, and Bordeaux. Yet when
we consider that the shelly deposits on the James River, in the
United States, are in the 37th degree of north latitude, while the
French faluns are in the 47th, we are surprised to see so great an
analogy in those characters by which the climate of a conchological
fauna may be inferred. The American shells do not seem to in-
dicate a more southern latitude by 10°, and the same remark

applies equally when we compare the most southern beds of North

Carolina with those of Bordeaux. We find in all these localities a
great admixture of northern forms, as if the isothermal lines in the
climate of the miocene period took a curve to the south when
drawn from Europe to America, as they do now.

Polyparia. —'The fossil corals which I observed in different
miocene localities were usually few in number, both in species and
individuals, with the exception of the Columnaria(?2) sex-radiata,
which resembles an Astrea, and is very conspicuous, from its size, in
the shelly marls near the banks of the James River. The scarcity of
these zoophytes may be a local accident, depending on the general
rarity of calcareous deposits of this age in the United States. The
following is a list of ten species collected by me, and described
by Mr. Lonsdale.*

Miocene Species. Locatiries.
Evergreen, on James River, Virginia ;

1. Columnaria? sex-radiata Lonsdale Petersburg, Virginia.
2. Anthophyllum lineatum Lonsdale Petersburg and Williamsburg, Virginia.
(Caryophyllia lineata Conrad)

3. Astrea hirtolamellata? Michelin | Williamsburg.
4. Heteropora ? tortilis Lonsdale Petersburg and Williamsburg, Virginia.
5. Cellepora informata Lonsdale ‘Petersburg, Virginia.

6. C. quadrangularis Lonsdale Williamsburg, Evergreen, Virginia.

7. C. similis Lonsdale Williamsburg, Virginia.

8. C. umbilicata Lonsdale Williamsburg, Virginia.

9. Escharina tumidula Lonsdale Petersburg, Virginia.
10. Lunulites denticulata Conrad Williamsburg, Virginia.

Two species of the above list, namely Anthophyllum lineatum,
identical with a Touraine species, and Lunulites denticulata,
agreeing with one found in the Suffolk crag and faluns of Tou-
raine, correspond with European fossils of the same age.

With respect to climate, Mr. Lonsdale regards this collection —

as indicating a temperature exceeding that of the Mediterranean,

* Vide Quarterly Journal of Geol. Soc. Vol. i. p. 471.

i

1845.] 559

nearly corresponding with that of the faluns of Touraine, warmer
than that implied by the polyparian fauna of the crag, and not
so tropical as that of the Bordeaux tertiary beds.

Fossil Echinodermata.

In the shelly strata near Coggin’s Point, on the James River,
Virginia, I found a species of the Spatangus family, of the genus
ealled by Agassiz Amphidetus, which also occurs in the English
erag, and in the living fauna of Europe. I also found an
Echinus at Williamsburg, and the spines of a second species. My

friend, Professor E. Forbes, has favoured me with descriptions of
these.

(Family Spatangacee.)
1. Amphidetus Virginianus Edw. Forbes.

Amphidetus Virginianus (natural size).

Body broadly ovate; elevated and truncate posteriorly. Back oblique ;
dorsal impression lanceolate-scutate, area very slightly excavated : ambulacral
spaces broad, triangular, depressed ; interambulacral spaces slightly convex.
Anteal furrow broad, shallow ; sides slightly gibbous; subanal im

pression
broadly obcordate ; post-oral spinous space broadly lanceolate. ;

Dimensions of the smaller but more perfect specimens.
Lon. une, 11}; Lat. 18; Alt. 1.

— 560 [Feb. 26,

Number of pairs of ambulacral pores. *
Ant. lat. dors, amb. 8 + 10.
Post. lat. dors. amb. 13 + 8.

Loc. Petersburg.
‘(Family Cidarites.)
2. Echinus Ruffintti Edw. Forbes,

a, Echinus Ruffini, viewed from above.

b, Ditto, mouth.
c, Ditto, a spinigerous tubercle.
d, Ditto, ambulacra] plates and arrangement of pores.

(4, 6, natural size; c, d, enlarged.)
Body subdepressed ; ambulacral and interambulacral plates with several

primary tubercles on each, closely ranged, having circles of secondary

tubercles surrounding their (broad) bases; rows of pores very oblique,
three pair of pores in each row, the uppermost distant from the other two.
Beneath concave, mouth broad, widely notched, opposite each ayenue.
Anus narrow.
Lat. 1 une. ; Alt. ~.; Lat. apert. $..

The primary tubercles, being very numerous and of almost equal size,

give the testa a very granulated appearance.
Loc. Williamsburg, Virginia.
3. Spines of an Echinus from James River. Virginia.

Ridges fine, numerous; interstices apparently smooth, broader than the

ridges.
Fish.

The remains of fish consist chiefly of teeth of the shark family,
all belonging to existing genera.
1. Carcharias megalodon. Evergreen, James River.
2. Lamna xiphodon. Evergreen, precisely like specimens I have seen from

Touraine.

3. L. hastalis (Oxyrhina). Evergreen, Virginia, like a specimen from Martha’s
Vineyard, and in the molasse of Switzerland.

4, I. cuspidata. James River, also common to the molasse.

5. Carcharias productus. Evergreen, also from the miocene of Malta.

Several other shark’s teeth, and the ossicles ofthe ears of fishes, which

I found in the miocene strata of Petersburg, Virginia, were very analo-
gous to European miocene fossils.

* In another specimen the number was found to be —
Ant. lat. dors. amb. 8+ 13.
Post. lat. dors. amb. 11 +11.
And four pair additional on each side of the ovarian holes.

1845. ] 561

Mammalia.

The vertebra of whales, apparently similar to those before de-
seribed as found in Martha’s Vineyard, occur in the miocene beds
of Petersburg and other places.

In the museum at Baltimore, the grinder of a Mastodon was
shown me, evidently distinct from that of WZ. giganteus. It had
been recognised by Mr. Charlesworth as the M. longirostris Kaup,
and had been so ticketed by him. Professor Ducatel had the
kindness to allow me to take the specimen to Philadelphia, where
Dr. Harlan identified it with the M. longirostris by comparison
with casts sent to him by Mr. Kaup. ‘The tooth is narrower than
in the common Mastodon giganteus, and the parallel rows of trans-
verse mammillary processes, instead of being divided by distinct
hollows, are connected together by projecting spurs.

I was informed that this tooth was found at the depth of 15 feet
from the surface of a bed of marl, near Greensburgh, in Caroline
County, Maryland. Though I have not visited the place, I have
little doubt that this Mastodon was a miocene fossil, and it
occurs in beds of the same age on the Rhine.

Aprrenpix.— Extract of a Letter from W. LONSDALE, Esq. F.G.S.,
to Mr. LyEu1, on the Indications of Climate afforded by the
Miocene Corals of Virginia.

“ July, 1845.

“From ten fossil species of Polyparia belonging to different
families, it is difficult to form an opinion respecting the climate in
which they were produced. Nevertheless, as recent lamelliferous
corals are well known to be markedly distributed as respects
climate, the following notice is submitted for consideration. The
district in Virginia whence the miocene polyparia were procured
being situated in about 37° of north latitude, is on the same
parallel with the southern coast of the Mediterranean westward
of Tunis, and the northern portion eastward of that point; and as
very little appears to be known of the distribution of recent corals
on the coasts of the United States, it is proposed to compare the
nature of the fossil genera with that of those living in the Medi-
terranean ; it is hoped that no great objection can be advanced
against this comparison, or mode of inferring climate, as species
are disregarded, and as the polyparia of the Bermudas and the
West Indies agree generically with those of the Red Sea and
Indian Ocean. The ten species belong to seven genera, Colum-
naria(?), Astrea, Anthophyllum, Heteropora, Cellepora, Lepralia,
and Lunulites, the first three being lamelliferous Anthozoa; and
though Columnaria is an extinct genus, yet it is believed that its
requirements may be safely inferred to have been analogous to
those of Astrea. Heteropora is also only found fossil; but being

562 [Feb. 26.

considered to be a true Tubuliporidea, its habits may likewise be
inferred : and the three last are well-known genera belonging to
Bryozoa. ‘The ascertained lamelliferous Anthozoa of the Mediter-
ranean exhibit, when tabulated, a marked character, consisting
almost wholly of simple or ramose groups, not numerous in genera
or species, though abundant in specimens, and occasionally of
ample growth, with very diminutive representatives either in
number or size of the great Meandrine, Madrepore, Astree,
Porites, and numerous allied genera which swarm in the Red Sea,
the Bermudas, the West Indies, and the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
A perfect distinction, as a whole, may therefore be stated to exist
between the Polyparia of the Mediterranean and those of southern
seas ; while in more northern regions there are representatives,
very limited as to species, of the simple and ramose polypidoms of
the Mediterranean.

“On attempting to compare the miocene fossil Anthozoa of Vir-
ginia with those of the Mediterranean, it will be found that the
Anthophyllum has no generic representative, all the existing
species, as restricted by Ehrenberg, belonging to the Red Sea and
Indian Ocean ; and if the fossil specimens be regarded as young,
their dimensions are not inferior to those of A. musicale in the
same stage of developement — that the Astrea has an equivalent
in the Astrea mediterranea of M. Risso, or in a Porites discovered
by Prof. E. Forbes; but the Columnaria, an abundant coral,
exhibits dimensions allied to those of analogous genera of warmer
seas. Again, as respects the Heteropora, Cellepore, and Escha-
rina, no satisfactory inference can be formed regarding climate,
Tubuliporidee and similar Celleporidee being universally dis-
tributed ; but Lanulites have been found only in the Mediterranean
and more southern latitudes. ‘The comparison, therefore, would
lead to the inference, that a climate rather exceeding the one
which prevails nearly throughout the Mediterranean existed in
the region where these fossils lived; and it must be borne in
mind, that, as in plants so in corals, size cannot be assumed as the
sole indication of temperature, but the abundant developement of
species of peculiar genera and families, whether the first be of
large or small dimensions.

“Tt is desirable next to allude briefly to the relative geological
position of the Virginia deposit as respects some European miocene
accumulations, to the extent which each may appear to justify a _
comparison. ‘The formations referred to are the crag of England, —
the faluns of Touraine, the deposits near Bordeaux and Dax ; and
the characters of the Anthozoa in each district will be again con-
sidered as the principal test of temperature. The crag, according
to Mr. S. Wood’s extensive list*, contains only four species of
lamelliferous Polyparia, with two Lunulites and one Orbitulites, the
first including a Fungia, a Turbinolia, and two corals, believed to
be allied to genera living in the Mediterranean: one of the

* Annals of Nat. Hist. January, 1844.

:

|

1845.) 563

Lunulites is also considered to be identical with the species found
in Virginia. The Polyparia of the crag exhibit, therefore, a
marked absence of the genera characteristic of high temperatures.
The Touraine miocene strata contain, according to the fine series
collected by Mr. Lyell, about nine species of Anthozoa and three
of Lunulites, the former including an Anthophyllum, believed to
be the species found in Virginia, two Turbinolieg and two Astree,
the whole indicating a somewhat greater temperature than that of
the crag. ‘The Bordeaux and Dax deposits include, according to
M. Michelin’s work on the fossil corals of France, eleven lamelli-
ferous Anthozoa and two Lunulites, the former comprising a
Dendrophyllia, believed to be identical with a Touraine species ;
six Astree, one Gemmipora, one Porites, and two Madrepore, or
an aggregate representative of a Red Sea list of polyparia. Lastly,
the Turin polypidoms, for a knowledge of which I am wholly in-
debted to M. Michelin’s work, present no less than 73 species of
lamelliferous Anthozoa, a tabulated list of which will bear a
detailed comparison, as respects genera, with similar summaries of
Red Sea, or tropical polypidoms. From these data it may perhaps
be inferred, that the American deposit was accumulated in a
climate superior to that of the crag, possibly equal to that of the
faluns of Touraine, but inferior to that of Bordeaux.”

2. Observations on the WHITE LIMESTONE and other EOCENE or
Older Tertiary Formations of VirGiniA, SOUTH CAROLINA, and
Georaia. By Cuarves Lyext, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., &c.

THE tertiary deposits occupying a lower position than the
Miocene strata described in the last paper, were first referred by
Mr. Conrad to the Eocene period, in the “ Journal of the Academy
of Natural Sciences” for 1830. Some of these strata have been
observed by Mr. Conrad on the Potomac at Fort Washington in
Maryland (“ Fossil Tertiary Shells,” p. 30.) ; but the most northern
which I myself examined were in Virginia, at Richmond, at
Petersburg, and at several points on the James River. The for-
mation in this region consists in great part of greensand and
marl, containing green earth, so precisely like that which charac-
terises the cretaceous strata of New Jersey, that were it not for
the distinctness of the fossil shells, it would be impossible in many
places to separate these deposits by mere reference to their mineral

composition.

Farther south, in N. and §. Carolina, and in Georgia, the
eocene formation acquires a larger development and a new mineral
type, consisting of highly calcareous white marl and white lime-
stone, and passing upwards, especially in Georgia, into red and

_white clays, ferruginous sands, with associated layers of burrstone

and siliceous rock. This calcareous form of the eocene rocks on

the Santee River and elsewhere, had led some geologists to con-

sider the solid limestones as an upper secondary or newer cre-
VOL, IV. PART 113. tu U

564 | Heb. 26.

taceous formation, and as forming an intervening link between the
secondary and tertiary formations; but after a careful examination
of several localities, presently to be described, I found the white
limestone to contain exclusively tertiary fossils, without any inter-
mixture of species belonging to the true and unquestionable cre-
taceous rocks of New Jersey or Alabama. It appeared to me that
there was the same chasm between the cretaceous and tertiary
rocks in that part of America which I visited, as has been observed
in Europe generally, and those organic remains which have been
supposed to be common to the two formations in the United States,
have been almost all referred by mistake to the older group, in
consequence of part of the white limestone of S. Carolina, which

is tertiary, having been erroneously referred to the cretaceous

epoch. .

The largest number of eocene shells found in a good state of
preservation, are those of Claiborne, Alabama, where a large
collection was made by Mr. Conrad, and descriptions and figures
of them were published in 1832.* At the same period, Mr. Lea, of
Philadelphia, received from a friend a fine collection of the same
fossils from Alabama, and referred them also to the period of the
London clay of England, and caleaire grossier of Paris. - In his

work intitled “Contributions to Geology,” he gave figures and —

descriptions of more than 200 species, but unfortunately, im con-
sequence of these two eminent naturalists having laboured simul-
taneously, and independently of each other, almost every shell
received a distinct specific name. For a list of synonyms, I may
refer the reader to the appendix to Dr. Morton’s “Synopsis of
Organic Remains of the Cretaceous Group, Philadelphia, 1834,”
drawn up by Mr. Conrad.

T shall now offer a few observations on several localities of the
eocene strata which I visited, beginning with the most northern,
in Virginia, and then proceeding southwards to N. and S. Caro-
lina and Georgia.

Virginia. — Below Richmond, near Coggin’s Point on the James
River, the Ostrea selleformis occurs in one of the uppermost of the
eocene beds; and this fossil I afterwards found to be widely cha-
racteristic of the formation in S. Carolina and Georgia. At the
same place, Cardita planicosta, so common in the London clay
and Paris basin, is also found. It cannot be distinguished from
one of the common varieties of the European shell, and is aceom-
panied by an oyster very nearly allied to O, bellovacina. Profes-
sors W. B. and H. D. Rogers, have described and figured several of
these fossils in the fifth and sixth volumes of the American Phil.
Trans. for the years 1835 and 1839. Near Evergreen, on the
right bank of the James River, twenty miles below Richmond, I
found, in the eocene marl, a large piece of wood in a state of lignite,
7 feet long, and about 1 foot broad, bored by teredo.

* For some account of the Claiborne strata, see Conrad’s “ Tertiary Fossil
Shells,” 1842. ;

1845.] 565

At Petersburg, 30 miles south of Richmond, I saw the eocene
strata, containing several characteristic fossils, distinctly overlaid
by a large mass of miocene shell-marl. At no other point is the
older tertiary formation more remarkable for its lithological re-
semblance to the greensand of the cretaceous series.

North Carolina. —Very different is the aspect of the rocks near
Wilmington, N. Carolina, where they consist in great part of a
limestone containing siliceous pebbles, and casts of shells and
corals, with many fishes’ teeth. This limestone is less white and
more compact than the white limestone of S. Carolina; on the
shore at the town of Wilmington it is 12 feet thick, covered with
a shelly miocene deposit 6 feet thick. It is quarried in the neigh-
bourhood of the town, and burnt for lime. I obtained, besides
corals, 31 species of shells, exclusive of balani, from this rock,
almost all in the state of casts, and many of them, therefore, only
capable of being named generically. Those in italics in the fol-
lowing list have been identified with species found elsewhere in
eocene localities : —

List of Eocene Shells from the Limestone of Wilmington,
N. Carolina.

Cyp ea, identical with a cast from Shell Vermetus

Bluff, Georgia Infundibulum trochiforme
Cyprea, two other species Crassatella, agreeing with a cast from
Oliva Alabamensis Eutaw
Oliva, allied to O. Laumontiana Lam. Corbula
(fig. a) Lucina pandata
Oliva Cardium, agreeing with one from
Voluta, two species Shell Bluff
Conus Cardita rotunda
Strombus Cucullza
Fusus Arca, two species
Buccinum, three species Nucula magnifica
Paludina, allied to P. Desnoyerii Pecten membranaceus Mort.
Desh. (fig. c). Terebratula Wilmingtonensis sp. n.
Natica etites (Lyell & G. Sowerby) (fig. b)

Turritella, two species

a. Oliva, (cast,) Eocene limestone.
b. Terebratula Wilmingtonensis Lyell & G. Sowerby.
c. Palucdina, (cast).

uo Q

566 [ Feb. 26.

The two last-mentioned species of the above list, Pecten mem-
branaceus and Terebratula Wilmingtonensis, alone preserve their
shells, all the others being in the state of casts. The small Oliva
(fig. a.), resembles in general form O. laumontiana Lam., or O.
nitidula Lam., but is more slender than either. As it is only the
cast of the inside, it cannot be fully described. It appears to have
only two small folds in the columella, of which the anterior is the
larger. The Paludina (fig.c.) is like P. Desnoyerit Desh. (a
fossil of the white marl in the midst of the calcaire grossier), but
it has six volutions, whereas the P. Desnoyerii has barely four and
a half. In the Wilmington fossil, the spine is more acuminated
and the volutions more distant, so that the suture must have been
more distinct.

Terebratula Wilmingtonensis (Lyell and G. B. Sowerby), Wil-
mington, North Carolina. This shell resembles most nearly in
general form 7. wva Brod. (recent from the Gulf of Tehuantepec),
and also approaches 7. bistnwata Lam., a fossil of the Paris basin.
The following are its characters : —

Terebratula, with an oblong, smooth shell, posteriorly acuminated, anterior
margin nearly even, dorsal valve large, and posteriorly prominent.

I was informed that a species of Nautilus had been found in the
Wilmington limestone. Among the Polyparia which I collected
there, Mr. Lonsdale has observed the following species : —

1. Lunulites sexangula Lons. 6. Dendrophyllia levis Lons., also at
2. Lunulites Shell Bluff

3. L. distans Lons., also at Wantoot? 7. Caryophyllia ? subdichotoma Lons., also
4. L. contigua Lons. at Shell Bluff

5, Flabellum ? cuneiforme (Anthophyllum 8. Eschara tubulata Lons.

of Conrad), also found at Eutaw
and Cave Hall

As four of these eight corals, those in italics, and ten of
the thirty-one shells, oceur elsewhere in eocene localities, I con-
sider the age of the Wilmington limestone, on which some doubts
have been entertained, as set at rest. Among the teeth of sharks
in the same rock I found, together with the usual eocene forms, a
species of Galeus. The claws of crabs are also numerous.

I observed the same formation, and some of the same shells and
corals, at Rocky Point, which is about twenty miles from Wil-
mington, on the N.E. branch of the Cape Fear River, where a
similar conglomerate occurs, with green pebbles. At some points
the rock is partly siliceous, and strikes fire with steel.

South Carolina.

From the low country near the level of the sea, at the mouth
of Cooper River, to the junction of the Santee Canal, and
from that point to Vance’s Ferry on the Santee River, a cal-
eareous formation of the eocene period occurs. At the first
point where I saw it, in Dr. Rayenel’s plantation called “the

1845. ] 567

Grove,” near the mouth of the river, it appears in the form of a
soft pulverulent limestone, in which two species of Scutella, (S. ma-
crophora Ravenel, and another,) are very abundant. The soft
limestone had been cut through to the depth of five feet in digging
a canal, situated near “the Grove,” about seventeen miles north of
Charleston ; its thickness here is unknown. I found in it Pecten
Lyelli Lea, a Claiborne shell, and the upper valve of an oyster,
which seems undistinguishable from O. bellovacina ; also a species
of Lucina, and a large Pecten allied to P. pleuronectes ; also a
species of Spatangus common to the limestone of the Santee
canal.

At the Rock Landing, near the Grove, the white limestone is
composed of triturated shells, and assumes a very hard and solid
form. It contains fragments of Echinoderms, casts of shells, and
corals (Lunulite ?): it sometimes passes into an imperfect oolite.

Between the Grove and Vance’s Ferry on the Santee River, a
distance of about forty miles, is a continuous formation of white
limestone, which I examined in company with Dr. Ravenel, first
at Strawberry Ferry and Mulberry Landing, then on the banks of
the Santee Canal, and afterwards at Wantoot and Eutaw. I then
followed it in a north-westerly direction for twelve miles, by Cave
Hall and Streeble’s Mill, to near Halfway Swamp. On reaching
Stoudenmire or Stout Creek, a tributary of the Santee, we found
the limestone and marl to disappear beneath a newer deposit, also
referable to the eocene period, of which I shall afterwards speak as
the burrstone formation.

The soft limestone varies in hardness, passing frequently into a
white marl, and resembling in texture some of the crate tufau of
the Loire in France. It consists almost entirely of comminuted
shells or corals, but it rarely exhibits any laminz of deposition,
and even where it attains a thickness of twenty or thirty feet,
there would be a difficulty in determining whether it were hori-
zontal, if a bed of oysters, O. selleformis, like that at Vance’s
Ferry, did not occasionally occur. Notwithstanding its slight
elevation above the sea, the Santee limestone cannot be less than
120 feet thick at Strawberry Ferry, being vertically exposed to
the extent of 70 feet on the low banks and bottom of Cooper River,
and to the height of 50 feet above these banks in the neighbouring
hills. Its upper surface is very irregular, and is usually covered
with sand, in which no shells have been found.

At Eutaw and other points, corals of the genera Idmonea, Den-
drophyllia, Flabellum, Tubulipora, Hippothoa, Farcimia, Vincu-
laria, Eschara, and others, occur, with a species of Scalaria, and
other shells. These fossils, and the rock containing them, reminded
me so much of the straw-coloured limestone of the cretaceous
formation which I had seen on the banks of Timber Creek in New
Jersey, that Ido not wonder that some error has arisen in con-
founding the tertiary and secondary deposits of the Atlantic
border. ‘The species, however, prove, on closer inspection, to be
different. 'This lithological resemblance led to the admission into

uu 3

568 [Feb.2-

Dr. Morton’s otherwise most accurate list of the cretaceous fossils
of New Jersey, of the six following species, viz. Balanus pere-
grinus, Pecten calvatus, P. membranosus, Terebratula lachryma,
Conus gyratus, Scutella Lyelli, and Echinus inflatus (see pl. 10.,
Morton’s Synopsis), which came from the eocene beds of South
Carolina, now under consideration, and led to a belief of the exist-
ence of a deposit intermediate between the chalk and tertiary strata,
and containing fossils common to both.

One of the characteristic features of the region of tertiary white
marl and limestone in South Carolina and Georgia, is the frequent
occurrence of lime-sinks, or funnel-shaped cavities, arising from
natural tunnels in the subjacent limestone, through some of which
subterranean rivers flow. At Wantoot, there is one of these sinks
in the limestone, and a spring issues from the rock so much above
the temperature of the air during a frost as to send off clouds of
steam.

At Cave Hall, two miles south of the Santee River, there is a
cavern about twelve feet high at its opening, at the base of a pre-
cipice of limestone sixty feet perpendicular. Large beds of the
Ostrea selleformis occur in the limestone, which contains green
particles in the lower strata. A stream is constantly flowing out
of the mouth of the cave, and there is a line of sinks communi-
cating with the underground river-course, in which the under-
mining process is continually going on. I was informed that a
new “sink” had opened fifteen years ago within 110 yards of the
mouth of the cave, and that a mule fell into the hollow while draw-
ing the plough in the field above. Among other fossils from this
place, I found in the limestone the tooth of Myliobates, and.in the
lower beds of calcareous greensand the same shells and corals as in
the incumbent white limestone.

On reviewing the fossil Invertebrata which I collected from
various localities in the Santee white limestone of South Carolina,
I find many which will at once be recognised as species known to
belong to the eocene formation of Claiborne and other places,
among which I may mention Trochus agglutinans, Pyrula inau-
rata (Fusus Conrad), Natica etites, Dentalium, same as one from
Claiborne, Lucina pandata, Lucina rotunda Lea, Lucina lapidosa,
Crassatella agreeing with a Wilmington (North Carolina) fossil,
Chama, like one from Jacksonboro’, Georgia, Pecten calvatus, P.
Lyelli Lea, Ostrea bellovacina, O. selleformis. Besides these we
find Terebratula lacryma, Ostrea Carolinensis, Pecten allied to
P. pleuronectes Lam., and shells of the genera Nautilus, Voluta,
Turritella, Scalaria, Vermetus, Lucina, Cytherea, Corbula, Car-
dium, Lima, Pecten, Ostrea, Terebratula.

The Echinoderms are referable to the genera Scutella and
Cidaris, and I met with several nautiliform foraminifera. The
corals, already alluded to generically, have been described by Mr.
Lonsdale.*

* See “Report on the Corals,” &c. Quart. Journal of Geol. Soe., Vol. i.
p. 495. ef seq. ;

1845. ] 569

Burrstone Formation.

I have before mentioned that the white limestone of the Santee
River, on being traced in a north-westerly direction, disappeared
at Stoudenmire Creek, a tributary of the Santee, beneath a newer
deposit of considerable thickness. ‘The latter consists of slaty
clays, quartzose sand, loam of a brick-red colour, and beds of sili-
ceous burrstone, in some of which fossil sponges, having a coarse
fibre, have been detected. Some of the clays break with acon-
choidal fracture, and become stony when dried. One of the beds
is extremely light, and resembles in appearance some kinds of cal-
careous tufa, but does not contain carbonate of lime. i at first
supposed it to be of infusorial origin, but some practised observers
have been unable with the microscope to discover infusorial cases.
There were casts of shells in this rock, and in several of the asso-
ciated strata, referable to the genera Cyprea, Voluta, Natica,
Trochus, Corbula, Mactra, Cardita, Cardium, Lucina, Nucula,
Pectunculus, Pecten, and Serpula, Among these, a Corbula, Car-
dium, and Nucula, seem to agree with Claiborne species; the rest
did not agree with fossils from that locality, nor with those from the
miocene beds of Virginia, but I was afterwards shown siliceous casts
of Ostrea selleformis, Cytherea perovata, and other eocene fossils,
from strata of the same formation at Orangeburg and near Aikin
in South Carolina. I believe, therefore, that the larger portion of
the ferruginous sands, red clays, and white beds of kaolin (often
miscalled chalk by the inhabitants of South Carolina and Georgia)
belong to the Upper Eocene or Burrstone deposit.

At Aikin, fifteen miles S. E. of Augusta, and near the left bank
of the Savannah River, the inclined plane of a railway has been
cut through strata, 160 feet in thickness, consisting partly of earth
and sand of a vermilion colour, and containing much oxide of iron ;
partly also of mottled clays, and white quartzose sand with masses
of pure white kaolin. ‘This compact kaolin appears fitted to make
good porcelain ware. The globules of iron give a pisolitic ap-
pearance to some of the beds of quartzose sand. These beds at
Aikin yielded no fossils, but I suppose them to be all referable to
the Burrstone or Upper Eocene formation.

Georgia.

The same Burrstone formation is continuous from Aikin and
Stoudenmire Creek, South Carolina, to Augusta in Georgia, and to
the junction of the tertiary with the primary or hypogene rocks
above that city. It must attain there in some places a thickness
_ of more than 200 feet, and is very variable in its aspect and com-
position.

At a place called The Rocks, six miles west of Augusta, it con-
sists of a highly micaceous quartzose grit and sand, having much

the appearance of certain kinds of granite, and having been by
uu 4 i

570 [Feb. 26.

‘sme writers improperly termed gneiss. The mass exhibits oc-_
casionally a distinct cross-stratification, and pieces of compact
kaolin, sometimes angular, are imbedded in it. In other places, |
as at Somerville, red, vermilion-coloured, and white clays, 180
feet thick, are seen. These rest in horizontal beds on the edges of
highly inclined strata of chlorite schist and clay-slate, which are ex-
posed to view at the rapids of the Savannah River, three miles above
Augusta. On Ray’s Creek, near this point, the old schists, much
charged with iron, are seen to decompose into materials so like
the red vermilion- coloured clays of the tertiary deposits, that they
would be undistinguishable, were it not that the veins of quartz,
which have not decomposed, still remain running through them.
The quartz itself, when broken up, would furnish.a white sand
such as that found associated with the red clays, so that we have
here a most satisfactory explanation of the derivative origin of a
great part of the burrstone formation.

Savannah River.—I shall now describe several natural sections
which are seen in the bluffs or cliffs bounding the alluvial plain of
the Savannah River, in its course of about 250 miles between
Augusta and the sea. ‘The river has an average fall of about one
foot per mile, or 250 feet between Augusta and the delta of the
river. Like the Mississippi and all large rivers, which, in the
flood season, are densely charged with sediment, the Savannah
has its immediate banks higher than the plain intervening be-
tween them and the high grounds, which usually, at whatever
distance from the river, present a steep cliff or “ bluff” towards it.

Near Augusta, the Savannah cuts through the red clays and
sands before mentioned. Forty miles below the city, a section
from 120 to 150 feet high, and half a mile in extent, is observed
in Shell Bluff in Georgia, on the right bank. Unfortunately, at
the time of my visit the waters were high, and covered the bottom
of the bluff. The lowest exposed portion of the cliff consisted of
white pulverulent marl, derived chiefly from comminuted shells,
which passed upwards into a solid limestone, sometimes concre-
tionary, and containing numerous casts of shells; and above this
was again seen pulverulent white marl. Still higher, the calca-
reous deposit becomes more sandy and clayey, and encloses a bed
of huge oysters (O. Georgiana Conrad), which are found growing
one upon the other, and have evidently not been drifted into their
present place. The total thickness of these calcareous strata is
about 80 feet, above which, beds of red loam and yellow sand, such
as prevail at Aikin and Augusta before mentioned, and without
fossils, are seen at the top of the cliff 40 feet or more in thickness.

After a diligent search of several days, I obtained casts of no
less than thirty-nine species of shells from the limestone of Shell
Bluff, twenty-four of which I have been able to identify either with
eocene species, known to Mr. Conrad to occur at Claiborne, or to
species found by me in other eocene localities, and I have no doubt
that I could have identified more had my own collection from,
Claiborne been more complete.

1345. | 571

Shells found at Shell Bluff agreeing with Species in other
Eocene Localities.

1. Conus, like one from Jacksonboro’, 12. Dentalium thalloides Cour.

Georgia 13. Crassatella protexta Con.
2. Cyprza, like one from Wilmington, 14 Lucina pandata Con.
S. Carolina 15. Lutraria lapidosa Con.
$. Oliva Alabamensis Conrad 16. Cytherea Poulsoni Con.
4, Pyrula, apparently agreeing with 17. C. perovata Con.
- one from Claiborne 18. Cardita planicosta
§ Voluta prisca (Turbinella prisca, 19..C. rotunda Con.
Con. ) 20. Cardium, like one from Jacks
6. Trochus agglutinans boro’
7. Melongena alveata, very common 21. Nucula magnifica Con.
8. Infundibulum trochiforme 22, Chama, like one from Jacks
9. Natica xtites Con. boro’
10. Bulla, like one from Jacksonboro’ 23. Ostrea sellzformis Con.
11. Crepidula lirata Con. 24. Pecten membranosus

The remaining shells, chiefly casts, which I ellected, belong :
the following genera: Conus, Voluta, Turritella, Fusus, Cythere:
Lithodomius, Solenomya, Cardita, Cardium, Pectunculus (tw:
species), Pecten, Arca, Ostrea.

One of the species of Ostrea, O. Georgiana, has been supposed
to agree with the large fossil so common in Touraine, and called
by some O. virginica, but this identification is doubtful. The
Shell Bluff species is very remarkable for its enormous thickness
and length.

About nine miles below Shell Bluff, in the Long Reach, is a cliff
about eighty feet high, called London Bluff, where the same shelly
white calcareous beds again appear, covered with red clay and
loam. The horizontal stratification is evident here, as in the cliff
two miles below, where the large oysters are seen standing out in
relief. Below this, at Stony Bluffin Burke County, near the borders
of Scriven County, the calcareous beds have quite disappeared, and
siliceous beds of the burrstone series are seen occupying the cliff,
and resting upon brick-red and vermilion-coloured loam. This
superposition is important, as concurring, with other facts, to show
that the burrstone of this region with its eocene fossils is an in-
tegral part of that great red loam and quartzose sand formation,
usually devoid of fossils, which occupies so large a space between
the hypogene (or primary) region and the Atlantic. The quart-
zose and siliceous rock of Stony Bluff was, during the last war
with Great Britain, quarried for millstones. It passes into a sand-
stone with distinct grains of quartz, and is full of cavities and
geodes, partially filled up with crystals of quartz and agates. Por-
tions of it are filled with spicule of fossil sponges, some of them
in a decomposed state, and there are also seen in the same flints,
when thin slices are cut and polished, minute flustriform corals
and foraminiferous shells, which were detected by Mr. Bowerbank,
who has had the kindness to examine the specimens for me micro-

572 "TF ebsg6n

scopically. Loose flints of this formation, containing spines of
echini and other fossils, are scattered over the surface of the
country, like chalk-flints in England. At Millhaven, in Scriven
County, about eight miles from Stony Bluff, and five in a direct
line from the Savannah River, the siliceous beds crop out on the
banks of a small stream. In the flints here I found casts of several
shells of the genera Valvata, Pecten, and Terebratula, with a
species of Cidaris. It was evident to me that this millstone be-
longs to the same formation of red loam and sand which extends
almost uninterruptedly from Aikin and Augusta to this region, for
I observed near Millhaven, where the deposit has been pierced
through to the depth of 26 feet in wells, pieces of white kaolin
embedded, like those before mentioned near Augusta.

Jacksonboro’”, Scriven County.
3 Y

Section or Eocene Srrata on tHe Ricut Bank or BeaverpamM CREEK,
Scriven Counry, Grorata.

a. Limestone. b. White marl. c. Yellow and red sand and clay of
the burr-stone formation.

About eight miles from the Savannah River, and one mile west
of Jacksonboro’", a limestone occurs, covered with sand, in the
fork of Briar and Beaverdam Creeks, which has been quarried for
lime. This limestone (@) passes upwards into marl (6), which has
an undulating surface, as represented in the annexed section,
and appears to have been denuded before the deposition of the
incumbent sand and loam (ce). The height of the cliff is about
25 feet, the thickness of the calcareous formation varying from 10
to 15 feet, and the yellow sand which rests upon it from 3 to 10
feet. :

From this limestone of Jacksonboro’ I obtained, besides corals
and echinoderms, thirty species of shells, the larger portion of
which were kindly presented to me by Colonel Jones of Millhaven.
Those in italics agree specifically with fossils from Claiborne, Ala-
bama, or other eocene localities, which I have specified.

Fossil Shells of Jacksonboro’, Scriven Co., Georgia.

Oliva Alabamensis Fusus inauratus
Voluta prisca Cerithium Georgianum Lyell & G.
- Conus, same as one from Shell Bluff Sowerby, see fig. a, b.

Rostellaria or Strombus (casts), four Melania, see fig. c.
species Paludina ?

1845. ] 573

Natica etites Cardium, like one from Shell Bluff
Turritella Chama, like one from Shell Bluff
Bulla, same as one from Shell Bluff Cardita

Trochus agglutinans Lithodomus dactylus

Infundibulum trochiforme Modiola

Solarium canaliculatum Mytilus

Dentalium Avicula trigona ?

Crassatella Pecten

Lucina pandata Ostrea panda

Cytherea *

c. Melania, cast. Cerithinm Georgianum. Lyell & G. B. Sowerby.
a. Nucleus. b. Cast of exterior.

The shell named Cerithium Georgianum in the above list (figs.
a, 6.), is very abundant, and closely resembles C. lamellosum
Lam., a tertiary species of the Paris basin. Its characters are as
follows :—

Certthtum, with an acuminated turreted shell, volutions 9 or 10, rounded, with

_ rather obsolete and irregular longitudinal ribs, and with 5 or 6 transverse ridges,

eS ee

of which the three anterior are very prominent, and lamellose near the aperture.

Of the next shell in the list, named Melania (fig. c.), there is
only a cast of the inside preserved, so that its external characters
cannot be distinctly known.

Of the Lithodomus dactylus I obtained a beautiful cast, both
of the exterior and interior, from the cavity of a fossil coral. It
resembles the West Indian variety, and is an eocene species
well known in the Paris basin. As, according to Philippi, it is
one of the most cosmopolitic of living species, we have the less
reason to be surprised at its great vertical range in the geological
series.

A species of Sewtella differing from those found by me in other
places was common at Jacksonboro’. For the following descrip-
tion of it Iam indebted to Professor E. Forbes, and it has been
named, after Colonel Jones of Millhaven, Scutella Jonesii :—

574 [Feb. 26.

Scutella Jonesi2i Edward Forbes.

Body plane, shield-shaped, subpentangular, with sides and posterior
margin undulated ; angles obtuse.

Back centrally slightly convex, interambulacral spaces depressed ; ambu-
Jacral spaces broad, somewhat convex, with parallel sides. Avenues petaloid,
with their inner margins nearly straight. Pairs of pores in each avenue 37,
united by oblique lines.

Oral surface concave, with five deep furrows radiating from the mouth to
the margin.

Margin thick, rounded.

Lat. 27. lon. 219. crass. max. 7.

This species appears to have been marked with spots.

Locality. — Jacksonboro’.

I have no doubt that all the sandy soil on which the long-leaved
pitch pine grows in the neighbourhood of Jacksonboro’ belongs
to the burrstone formation, consisting of sand, ferruginous sand-
stone, and red loam, and although it is rare to find the limestone
and marl exposed to view, I believe it to be everywhere subjacent.
For we meet not unfrequently in Scriven, and several of the ad-
joining counties, with lime-sinks, or deep depressions, more or less
circular in shape, in the vertical walls of which we observe sec-
tions of the horizontal beds of sand and mottled red and yellow
loam and clay. As the water does not stand in these sinks, there
is evidently a subterranean drainage, by which the loose sand has
been carried down, and the surface undermined, as before de-
scribed at Cave Hall. I saw several lime-sinks near Jackson-
boro’, and one about 16 miles south of Millhaven, on the east
side of the road to Savannah, at Reeve’s mill. It was 60 paces in
circumference, and 80 feet in depth, and the beds gone through
consisted of yellow and deep-red sand, in some parts ferruginous,
with beds of mottled red and white steatitic clay.

1345. ] a7

All the bluffs which I examined on the Savannah River below
Briar Creek belonged to the beds above the limestone, and are
referable for the most part, if not entirely, to the burrstone form-
ation. I observed several sections in the Long Reach in Ceriven’s
County, where the red loam and yellow sand is conspicuous; and
there is a fine section in Hudson’s Reach, at a place called Tiger-
Leap, where beds of fuller’s earth occur. A few hundred yards
below ‘Tiger-Leap, where a small creek or brook enters on the
right bank of the Savannah River, I found in some of the white
clays impressions of Mactra, Pecten, and Cardita, with fragments
of fishes’ teeth, particularly of the genus Myliobates, several of the
genus Lamna, and one of the genus Galeus. These bluffs of loam,
clay, and sand are often 80 feet in height; and after passing Scri-
ven I found, in the county of Etlingham, similar sections, as at
Sister’s Ferry and Ebenezer. In the section at Sister’s Ferry there
is not only the brick-red loam, and the red and grey clay and sand,
but layers of steatitic clay, which, although soft when moist, be-
come hard and acquire a conchoidal fracture when dried.

On the whole it appears, from the information I obtained, that
the less elevated part of South Carolina and Georgia, intervening
between the mountains and the Atlantic, has a foundation of cre-
taceous rocks, containing Belemnites, Exogyra, and other fossils,
above which are, first, eocene limestones and marls, and, secondly,
the burrstone formation, with its red loam, mottled clays, and
yellow sand. Iam informed by Mr. Vanuxem that a tertiary lig-
nite formation is sometimes interposed between the cretaceous beds
and the eocene limestone ; but I had no opportunity of verifying
this fact in the sections which I saw, partly, I believe, owing to
the swollen state of the rivers at the time of my visit. The re-
markable difference of the fossils found in the eocene limestone at
different points may lead some to the suspicion that there exists in
this country a considerable succession of minor divisions of the
eocene period, but I am inclined to ascribe the circumstance princi-
pally to two causes : first, that the number procured in each place
is small, and therefore represents a mere fraction of the entire
fauna of the period under consideration ; and, secondly, that we have
not yet any great eocene collection from any part of the United
States. If we had 1000 shells from Alabama instead of little more
than 200 (those, namely, which have been found at Claiborne), we
should be able to form a more correct opinion respecting the mutual
relations of the strata at distinct points, such as Shell Bluff, Jackson-
boro’, Eutaw, the Santee canal, and Wilmington, North Carolina.

The difficulty of classifying the tertiary strata of the southern
states arises mainly from the wide extent of red and white clays,
and siliceous sand, without fossils. The sterile sands which form
| the soil of the pine barrens in the lower plains of Virginia and
| North Carolina appear to belong to the miocene period, while

those of a large part of South Carolina and Georgia are eocene.
| Some of the red ochreous and vermilion clays, as, for example,
those of Martha’s Vineyard and at Richmond, Virginia, are mio-

a ee ie ee ene a a Le el SR Smee aes

=

576 [March 12.

cene. Others of similar character in South Carolina and Georgia, ©

as at Orangeburg, Aikin, Stony Bluff, and Millhaven, belong to
the burrstone formation, which is of the eocene period.

The species of eocene shells common to the United States and
Europe appears to be very small. J have in my cabinet eighty-
five species, in a good state of preservation, from Claiborne, Ala-
bama, presented to me by Mr. Conrad ; and I procured from the
various localities already enumerated in this paper about forty
species which I could not identify with the above, or with any
which I have seen from Claiborne. Out of these 125 species I
have been able to identify the following seven only with European
eocene shells: namely, Bonellia terebellata, Trochus agglutinans,
Solarium canaliculatum, Infundibulun trochiforme, Cardita plani-

costa, Lithodomus dactylus, Ostrea bellovacina. "The propor-

tion, therefore, of species common to Europe and the United
States scarcely exceeds five per cent., and the proportion of
species now living and identical with the American eocene shells

appears to be still smaller. In regard to geographical represent- _

ations, I found at least one fourth of the species to be very closely —

allied to European eocene fossils, while another fourth presented
forms differing greatly from any species procured from the eocene
strata of Europe, although belonging to genera which are abund-
antly represented in these formations.

March 12. 18465.

Sir Robert Burdett, Bart., of Ramsbury Park, Wilts, and Wa-
rington W. Smith, Esq. M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, were
elected Fellows of this Society.

The following communication was read : —

On the comparative Classification of the Fossiliferous Strata of
Norru WALES, with the corresponding deposits of CUMBERLAND,
WESTMORELAND, and LANCASHIRE. By the Rev. ApAm SEpG-
wick, M.A., F.R.S., Woodwardian Professor of Geology in the
University of Cambridge.

Tue author referring to his memoir on the structure of North
Wales, published in the first number of this Journal, for an
account of the sequence of the rocks in that district, states that his
object now is to bring the successive groups of the Cumbrian
mountains into comparison with the three primary divisions of the
whole Welsh series.*

* These divisions are: —

3. The uppermost slate rocks of the Upper Silurian age, consisting of a series
of beds called by the author the ‘ Creseis flagstone,’ from the abundance of that
fossil, overlaid by the Denbigh flag, &e.

2. Roofing slate and greywacke of great thickness, with alternating beds of
contemporaneous porphyry.

1. Chlorite and mica slate, &c. of Anglesea and the S. W. border of Caernar-
vonshire,

|
|

1845.] 577

The whole series of the Cumbrian slates, like that of North
Wales, has been considered to admit of three primary divisions, but
hitherto the separation has been chiefly made from a consideration
of physical characters and superposition, and without reference to
fossils ; the uppermost only of the three being supposed to contain
them. In this state the author left his maps in 1824, and they
show the superficial extent of the igneous and intrusive rocks, of
the lowest or Skiddaw slate, of the great mountain masses of green
roofing slate and porphyry, alternating in vast parallel bands, and
lastly, of the fossiliferous slates extending from the Coniston lime-
stone to the highest beds on the banks of the Lune, near kurby
Lonsdale.

Of these beds the author considers that the Skiddaw slate has,
perhaps, no true equivalent in N. Wales, and that the green slates
and porphyries are probably the exact representatives of a portion
of the great system of Snowdonian slates. The Snowdonian slates,
however, contain fossils, and the green slates and porphyries
of Cumberland are without them ; a difference accounted for as
the consequence of the greater abundance of igneous rocks among
the green Cumbrian slates. It remains then to find the equivalent
of the fossiliferous rocks in the third and highest division of the
Cumbrian slates, and for this purpose the author discusses in its
most limited form the following questions, namely : — Into what
groups may we subdivide the slates expanded between the Co-
niston limestone, and the highest beds of the series on the banks
of the Lune, near Kirby Lonsdale ? and what are their equiva-
lents in North Wales? Professor Sedgwick-considers that, with
the exception of the Coniston limestone, and two or three hundred
feet of slate and shales surmounting it, the whole of the upper
series is Upper Silurian, and in the parallel of the Denbigh flag-
stone, using this latter term in its most extended sense.

The author then enters into some detail with regard to the
actual working out of the geology of this district, and his ultimate
discovery that a great movement of the strata had brought up the
Coniston limestone a second time, on the south side of the estuary
of the Duddon, in a ridge called High Haulme, N. W. of Dalton
in Furness. In this ridge the beds are nearly vertical, and are
associated with trappean rocks and porphyries exactly like those
under the Coniston limestone on the north side of the Duddon,
which are several miles distant.

The calcareous bands of this ridge being nearly in the same line
with a second or higher band of limestone, became confounded
with it, and this has led to a wrong estimate of the geological equi-
valents of the second band of limestone. The mistake being cor-
rected, it appears that the successive groups of strata will easily
fall into their right places without the intervention of any great
unconformable overlap. Thus the fossiliferous slates present—first,
the Lower Silurian rocks in a very degenerate form ; and secondly,
the Upper Silurians in a noble series, more complete and far thicker
than the Denbigh flagstones, and ending with the red flags or tile

d78 [Mareh 12.

stones of the Lune. The author then proceeds to describe some of
the lower groups of these rocks and their fossils.

1. The Coniston limestone. Most of the points of interest with
regard to this bed have been described by the author in a former
paper, of which an abstract has been given in the Proceedings of
the Geological Society.*

It is of a dark blue colour, traversed occasionally by contem-
poraneous white calcareous veins, and its colour appears to be
derivable from metallic oxides and not from carbon, as it burns to
a dark-coloured lime, which is used for agricultural purposes, and
as a cement stone. This limestone sometimes immediately overlies
felspar rock and porphyry, and the bottom beds, although generally
impure and siliceous and occasionally slaty, contain in some places
20 or 30 feet of beds fit for use. In Long Sleddale, however, a
singular trappean rock with great balls of agate underlies the lime-
stone, and in Kentmere the lower beds contain masses of coarse
conglomerate ; and although this is rare, yet as a general rule these
beds exhibit no marks of metamorphosis, and the green slates and
bedded porphyries below are so parallel to the limestone, that all
have evidently been disturbed together, while the passage from
the lower beds to the upper is almost instantaneous.

The limestone bands are variable in their character, and not
strictly continuous, and the best beds are generally only a few feet
thick. On one side of Long Sleddale they are good, on the other
very degenerate, and occasionally they only form irregular rognons
in a dark fossiliferous slate. Above the limestones are shales and
soft slates, pyritous at the division of the beds}, and generally of
dark colour ; in these the rognons disappear gradually, but the
fossils ascend into them for some distance. At Sunny Brow the
slates are harder but too much jointed to be worked: at Ash Gill,
however, they are extensively quarried and contain many fossils,
one or two of them new species, but of Lower Silurian types. The
thickness of this group, which terminates the Lower Silurian series,
is probably upwards of 300 feet.{

* Proceedings, &c., vol. i. p. 249.

+ In consequence of this appearance, unsuccessful attempts have been made
to obtain copper from these beds, but small veins and strings of sulphuret of eop-
per have been partially worked to the east of Coniston.

+ The author appends the following observations concerning the fossils of the
Coniston limestone.

The Coniston limestone seems to contain all the characteristic fossils of the
Llansaintfraid section combined with many of the Bala species. The following
is the list of species : —

Polyparia.
Astrea, one er two species Stromatopora concentrica
Favosites polymorpha Turbinolopsis bina
F. spongites Retepora, scattered pores of a large
F. fibrosa species

Porites pyriformis, in abundance,and Catenipora escharoides
a nearly allied species of larger size Tentaculites annulatus
P. inordinata Tentaculites, a new species

1845. ] 579

2. Coniston flagstone. ‘This group the author has formerly de-
scribed as Brathay flagstone, but now proposes to change its
name to Coniston flagstone for the sake of symmetry. No group
is better defined than this in the Lake country, and although
the Brathay and Coniston quarries are several hundred feet above
the preceding group, the series may be completed, in consequence
of the regularity of the dip, by connecting a succession of quar-
ries, and in this way the whole is estimated to be not less than
1500 feet thick.

The mineral character of the Coniston flags resembles that of
the lower Denbigh flags, but is more altered by slaty cleavage *,

Mollusca.

Orthoceras, three smooth species, like Orthis vespertilio
those from the lower Bala lime- O. virgata

stone O. actoniz
Lituites cornu-arietis Orthis n. sp. (named in MS, crucialis),
Euomphalus ? perhaps two. species under the same
Turritella, or Terebra name
Turbo? O. radians

Leptena depressa

Leptzna n. sp., decussated

L. sericea

L. transversalis and another
L. (Orthis) grandis, Sil. Syst.
Orthis canalis

O. alternata ?

O. testudinaria

O. flabellulum B

Cytherina laevigata
Paradoxides quadrimucronatus
Calymene Blumenbachii
Calymene n. sp.

Orthis n. sp. ? with fine simple ribs

Orthis n. sp., same as from Dudley, a
curious rough species

Atrypa (Spirifer), resembling S. acumi-
nata

A. (Spirifer), a smooth species, ? new

Atrypa affinis

Spirifer n. sp. named in MS.

S. n. sp. ? small variety of S. radiatus

Crustacea.

A. tyrannus

Illoenus (Bowmanni, MS.; called Bus
mastus Barriensis in a former list)

Brontes, undescribed species (vide Port-

Asaphus Powisi lock’s report).

The corals, both as to species and numbers, are precisely similar to those
north of the Berwyns.

In the abundance of Leptena depressa, L. transversalis, Orthis radians, and
above all, O. inflata, with spiral shells, and Lituttes cornu-arietis, there is an
analogy with the beds north of the Berwyns: but the presence of Orthis Actonie
and O. virgata, with Spirifer (crucialis), which are also plentiful, approximates the
group to that from Bala and the Coniston limestone; it resembles also these latter
beds in possessing the smooth Orthoceratites, Encrinites, and Illenus (Bowmanni),
but it differs in the searcity of Ortiis canalis, O. testudinaria, and O. vespertilio,
and the absence of O. flabellulum, O. alternata, Spirifer radiatus, Agnostus pisi-
formis, Trinucleus Caractuci, and Asaphus tyrannus (one doubtful specimen of
this latter having been found), fossils characteristic of the lower group in Wales,

An undescribed Paradozides, a tail of a new Brontes, a curious undulated
fossil (perhaps crustacean), a new Tentaculites, and abundance of Cytherina
(a marine Cypris) seem peculiar to the Coniston limestone; and the last is a
very interesting fossil, not having been known before in rocks of the Silurian
series.

* The author observes, with reference to this condition, that he has observed
in the flags in question distinct cases of a second cleavage plane entirely distinct
both from joints and bedding.

VOL. IV. PART III. xX X

580 [ March 12,

and is chiefly made up of a dark coloured coarse slate or flagstone, —
through which are distributed rounded concretions, (sometimes
spoiling the slate,) in which, as well as in the colour and bedding
of the rock, in the presence of small calcareous veins, and the ap-
pearance of a great bedded mass of ripple marked flagstones with-
out slaty cleavage at the top of the group, there is seen a near
resemblance to the Denbigh flags. In the upper flags just alluded
to, there are also (in the gill above Hawkshead Fould) calcareous
inasses and lenticular beds of limestone not fossiliferous, and pro-
bably not continuous, and therefore not considered by the author
as forming a second band of limestone.

The Coniston flags thus characterised extend from the extre-
mity of Shap Fell to the top of the Duddon Estuary, and might
readily be laid down on a good map. It only remains, therefore,
to determine their relative position from the included fossils.

In the Brathay quarries were found Graptolites ludensis in
considerable abundance, and at another locality, within a few hun-
dred feet of the Coniston limestone, Atrypa compressa was also
plentiful, and was accompanied by a Cresets. At Cold Well, con-
siderably above the Brathay quarry, appeared Asaphus caudatus ;
and at Kent-mere in the same group Astrea ananas, Creseis being
distributed throughout. All these fossils occur in the Wenlock
shale, or Lower Denbigh flag. The author therefore concludes that
the series in question represents the Lower Denbigh flagstones,
and is the equivalent of the Wenlock shale.

3. Coniston or Furness Grits. 'This name is given to a group
of bluish grey grits of great thickness, and very highly in-
clined, overlying the Coniston flags. It is on the whole a well
defined group ; but atits N.E. end is broken up by the interpolation
of slaty bands, and loses its well defined mineral type. It may, how-
ever, be distinctly traced, and laid down on a map, from Bannisdale
Head to Broughton ; occupying a zone, on the average, more than
half a mile wide. No fossils have as yet been discovered in it,
but the author brings it into comparison with some hard grits
which alternate with the lower Denbigh flags, north of the Holy-
head road; he does this however only for the purpose of exhibiting
analogies of structure in rocks of nearly the same epoch. il

4. Ireleth Slates, Sc. This is described as a great group possess-
ing a considerable unity of character, and characterised by rocks
with a good slaty cleavage distinct from the bedding, the slates
being sometimes good enough for quarrying, and alternating with
gritty bands, some of them very coarse, and rarely passing into a
conglomerate form. The beds of this group are greatly contorted
through their whole range, and especially at their north-eastern
and south-western ends, and the thickness of the whole is very
difficult to determine justly. For convenience of description, the
whole series is separated by the author into three divisions,
namely ; —

a. The Lower Ireleth slates, a band of considerable width, made
up of beds dipping at high angles, and steadily to the $.E. Being

1845. ] 581

seldom contorted, these beds must be of great thickness. They
produce workable slate, but no distinct fossil species have yet
been found in them.

B. A thin zone of calcareous slate with concretions of limestone.
This bed is only a few feet thick, and the rognons of limestone are
sometimes replaced by a singular cellular calcareous slate with
obscure casts of fossil shells. It ranges on the south of the Duddon,
and has been traced from point to point; and after an interruption
of two or three miles it appears at Tottle Bank heights, from which
it may be traced over the neighbouring hills to a spot below Low
Hall farm on the east side of Coniston water. A third obscure
band of limestone is stated by the author to exist in the hills north
of Nibthwaite. :

The fossils of these bands of limestone are Upper Silurian ;
but though numerous they are very obscure.* In his letters on
the lake district, the author states that he has described these fossils
as Lower Silurian ; but the specimens alluded to were obtained
from High Haulme, three quarters of a mile S.E. from Ireleth
village. “The limestone there forms a ridge not exactly continuous
with the other limestone, which I accounted for by the interposition
of a fault. But there is no fault of the kind I supposed. The High
Haulme limestone is an independent ridge, the limestones and
the slates are vertical, and associated with great masses of felspar
rock and porphyry, exactly like the older slates below the Coniston
limestone, and when brought up against the newer series of slates,
these latter are thrown into most extravagant contortions.” +
__ y. The third subdivision of the great complex slaty group here
described is termed by the author the Upper Ireleth slates, and ex-
hibits remarkable examples of structure. These beds contain
round concretions, like those of the Coniston flags. They are of
great thickness, and alternate with beds of grit passing into coarse
sandstone, and, rarely, into a conglomerate. Following them from
Treleth, where they are largely worked, to the Leven sands, they
gradually pass into a coarser deposit without any regular line of
demarcation. These coarser beds also contain concretions, and,
though unfit for use, they continue to show a striped surface and
slaty structure.

* The author adds in a note, “The enormous dislocation which throws for-
ward the Coniston limestone at the Water Head seems to affect the whole chain
of hills to the bottom of the lake. The corresponding beds on the opposite sides
of the lake are not in the prolongation of the lines of strike. The lake there-
fore occupies a line of fault, on the eastern side of which is an enormous upeast
of the whole series of rocks.” j

{ The following is a list of the fossils collected at High Haulme from the
dislocated Coniston limestone: — Ru

Cyathophyllum Turbinolopsis bina
Catenipora escharoides Spirifer crucialis
Favosites fibrosa, and other species Orthis Actoniz
Retepora, very large canalis
Porites pyriformis inflata

Astrea Calymene Blumenbachii.
xox, 2

582 [March 12

This group may be traced to Shap Fells and Bretherdale,
parallel to the lower beds ; and in the hills composed of it on the
sides of Kentmere, Long Sleddale, &c., several fossils were obtained,
of which the following is a list : —

Leptzena lata. North end of Potter’s Fell, Helme Park, &c., Underbarrow.

Orthis lunata. Ditto Ditto.
Spirifer ? (S. octoplicatus of Mr. Sharpe’s paper.) Ditto.
Terebratula navicula (plenty). Ditto ditto.
Avicula retroflexa. Ditto ditto.
Cornulites serpularius. Ditto ditto. :

Turritella conica. Underbarrow.
Ophiura n. sp. Potter’s Fell.
Orthoceras ibex. Helme Park, &c., Howgill.

&e. &e &e.

5. Group of coarse Slates, Flags, Grits, c.— The author has
already noticed this group as a coarse development of the Ireleth
slates, and the beds have been named by Mr. Sharpe, Windermere
rocks. They are so far important that they are of great thickness,
and pass downwards into the Ireleth slates. Upwards, they blend
themselves insensibly with the sixth group; the singular slates,
grits, and flagstones which commence a few miles north of Kendal,
and continue southwards over the moors as far as Kirby Lonsdale,
ending in red slaty beds like the tilestone of Shropshire, the geo-
logical place of which these slaty beds occupy. ’

The group now under consideration is greatly broken and
shattered by faults, but no part of it can be considered non-
fossiliferous, as the author found Cardiola interrupta in the very
heart of it, and fragments of encrinites elsewhere.

The author is not aware of any evidence of want of conformity
between the beds of this group and the other masses.

6th Group, nearly on the paraltel of the Upper Ludlow.

The author is inclined to place the base of this group near
Underbarrow, whence to the limestone of Kendal Fell there is a
magnificent section. The fossils are very numerous, and some are
peculiar to the neighbourhood. Terebratula navicula is only
found in the lower part, but the whole upper part is full of fossils,
the prevailing type being Upper Ludlow, although amongst these
beds is a remarkable band with Asterias.

A great downcast fault in the valley of the Kent affects these
beds, and on its south side is seen the “tilestone,” separated from
the other rocks by singular calcareous shales.

The siliceous, flaggy, and gritty beds of the Upper Ludlow are
then carried with many breaks and undulations to the valley of
the Lune, where they are overlaid by a thick mass of tilestone.

The uppermost beds of this tilestone are full of fossils, all of
Upper Silurian species; and there is, in the opinion of the author,
no true passage from the tilestone to the overlying old red sand-
stone.*

* The author’s opinion seems to be grounded on the three following facts : —

(1.) As a general rule the conglomerates of the old red sandstone are perfectly
unconformable to the upper slates of Westmoreland: of this there are many un-
doubted examples,

1845.] 583

The author next alludes to the rocks of Howgill Fell and Raven-
stonedale on the east side of the valley of the Lune ; and he con-
siders that these rocks, which offer considerable difficulties in their
accurate determination, though separated by great faults from the
higher parts of the Upper Ludlow series, are not to be considered
as unconformable to that series, and probably contain a portion of it
in their great folds and undulations. Through the eastern boundary
of the district in which they occur, ranges the great Craven fault,
described by the author in a former paper; and he has found,
brought up apparently on one side of the fault, and appearing in
the hills between Dent and Sedbergh and between Sedbergh and
Ravenstonedale, a series of calcareous shales containing fossils,
which mark the date of the series as not far from the parallel of
the Coniston limestone; but he believes with Mr. Sharpe, that the
greater part of Howgill Fells is made up of the coarse gritty
Upper Silurian beds between the Ireleth slates and the Upper
Ludlow rocks.

Returning then to the comparison which was the great object of.
his communication, the author states as his general result, —

Ist. That the chlorite and mica slates of Caernarvon and
Anglesea have no parallel in Cumberland, being of a distinct epoch
from the other rocks in the district, and evidently older. The
same cannot be said of the metamorphic and crystalline rocks of
Skiddaw forest, which rest on the granite, and pass gradually into
the coarse Skiddaw slate. These may have assumed their present
structure after the epoch of the Skiddaw slates.

Of the Skiddaw slate also, the author finds no exact represent-
ative in North Wales. It is not traversed by contemporaneous
beds of porphyry, &c. Though composed of a fine, dark, glossy
clay slate alternating with coarse bands, (sometimes, though rarely,
passing into very coarse grit,) and though containing in one or
two places a quantity of carbonaceous matter, it does not effervesce
with acids, and no fossils have yet been obtained from it. Should
fossils be discovered in it, they must belong to some of the oldest
Protozoic types of our island.

2. ‘That the green slates and porphyries of Cumberland cannot
be separated fi om the rocks of the same mineral structure in
Snowdonia. One, however, contains bands of fossils, and the other
does not. The porphyries abound so much in Cumbria, that
organic beings were unable to exist among them, or their remains
have become obliterated.

3. The Coniston limestone represents the top of a series which
passes into the Creseis and Graptolite flagstone, and so also does
the Llansaintffraid limestone. ‘The list cf fossils from these two
groups is also nearly identical, and they both contain some Wen-

(2.) The beds of old red conglomerate on the Lune are not exactly parallel
to the beds of “ tilestone.”
(3.) The conglomerates contain many Reacts of the “tilestone,” which:
must have been solid before the conglomerates were formed.
xx 3

584 [April 2.

lock fossils and shells. Hence the Coniston limestone does not re-
present the great limestone east of Bala Lake.

4. The Upper Silurian beds form a very distinct system or
group of formations, and the lowest division of the system seems to
coincide exactly with the lower Denbigh flags. In all other parts
of the upper series there are only analogies of structure, and the
groups do not physically represent the groups of the same system
in Siluria proper. The upper groups in Westmoreland are more
largely developed in North Wales, and contain a fine tilestone, and
so far they conform to Mr. Murchison’s types.

5. The list of fossils taken as a whole conforms also very exactly
to the Upper Silurian lists of Mr. Murchison, but the distribution
of the species is very different, because the physical conditions of
the deposit were different.

Between the distribution of the species in the upper system of
Wales and Cumberland there is a close analogy, because the con-_
ditions of deposit were, especially in the lower part, very analogous,

6. The fossils of the lower or Protozoic system form but one
group, although some species are found in the Coniston and
Llansaintffraid bands which do not appear in the lower beds, and
vice versa, and the fossils disappear altogether in descending order.

The author promises to resume the subject, and to give fuller
details, and a more copious list of fossils, in a future communication.

April 2. 1845.

The following gentlemen were elected Fellows of this Society :—
Waller A. Lewis, Esq., B.A., Capt. Washington, R.N., Albe-
marle Bettington, Esq., Robert Stephenson, Esq., George Stephen-
son, Esq., Lieut. Baird Smith of the Engineers, Capt. Thomas
Hutton of the Bengal Army, John M‘Clelland, Esq., of the Bengal
Medical Service, and the Earl of Auckland. |

The following communications were read : — |

1. On a supposed AEROLITE, said to have fallen near Lymineton,
Herts. By R. A.C. Ausrmn, Esq., F.G.S. |

In this communication the author described a fragment of stone
supposed to have fallen from the air, and stated the evidence on
which the supposed fact of its being an Aerolite was founded.

2. On the Junction of the Transition and Primary Rocks of
Canapa and Lasrapor. By Capt. Bayrietp, R.N., F.G.S.

THE country to the northward of Lakes Superior and Huron, and
of the St. Lawrence River and Gulf, is for the most part a wilder-

1845.] 585

ness of primitive or granitic rocks. These rocks, from the northern
shores of the two lakes just mentioned, pass close to the northward
of Lake Simcoe, and are met with in ascending all the streams
tributary to the Rice Lakes, and to Ontario from the north.
Sending off a spur to the southward, they are seen at the N. EB.
extremity of the last-named lake on the immediate shore of the
St. Lawrence, which they cross some miles below, forming many
of the Thousand Islands, and uniting with the primary region in
the northern part of the state of New York.
From Kingston and the Thousand Islands the primitive beds may _
be traced to the N. K., until they cross the Ottawa River near
Lake Chat. Thence, continuing in the same direction, they form
the northern side of the valley of the St. Lawrence, and the rapids
and falls a few miles up its tributary streams, till they abut upon
that river at Cape Tourment, nine or ten leagues below Quebec.
From the point last designated, the granitic rocks continue with-
out interruption to form the northern shore of the St. Lawrence
river and gulf to the strait of Belle Isle.
To the southward of this wild country, inhabited only by fur-
traders or scanty bands of roving Indians, succeeds one of com-
parative fertility, which it owes principally to the presence of
transition rocks, or to the beds of clay and sand that frequently
overlie them, and which, in some cases, have been found to belong
to the newer pliocene or post-pliocene era.
The object of the present memoir is to trace very generally, but
accurately, as far as it is yet known, the line of junction of the
fossiliferous transition strata just alluded to, with the primary
rocks on which they repose; to point out briefly the fossils and
minerals which have been found in each; and to offer such in-
ferences as may fairly be drawn from the cursory examination of
a region of such wide extent. It is only the rough outline, and so
far as regards the northern district, which is here attempted ; the
filling up of the picture in all its details, notwithstanding the great
progress made by the American geologists, and recently by Mr.
Lyell, must be the work of years and of many hands.
Commencing from the extreme west of the line which has been
indicated, the magnificent Lake Superior first claims attention. Re-
ferring for a description of its rocks and minerals, as far as they are
yet known, to the first volume of the Transactions of the Literary
and Historical Society of Quebec, it will be sufficient here to no-
tice very generally its principal ceological features. The height of

land surrounding this immense lake, and on which its numerous tri-
-butary streams have their sources at an elevation not exceeding 700
feet above the lake, may be considered as forming an irregularly
oval basin, and is every where composed of primitive rocks. The
highest hills do not rise beyond 2000 feet above the lake, whose sur-
face is 623 feet above and its extreme depths perhaps as far below
the tidal waters of the Atlantic. Primitive rocks form much of the
steep and mountainous north coast, and are also occasionally seen
on its southern shore. ‘They consist of various granitic compounds,

xx 4

586 [April 2.

almost always containing hornblende, either as a fourth constituent
mineral, or as replacing the mica. Frequently the mica and quartz
are both absent, and the rock becomes a syenite, which, by a gradual
diminution of its felspar, passes into crystalline greenstone, and
whilst in some parts there is thus a complete passage from granite
to greenstone, in others the different varieties alternate in immense
beds, whose general direction is to the N.E. Basaltic dykes, often
of enormous size, traverse these beds, sometimes passing from one
to.another unaltered, and ranging up the hills for miles.

Associated with these rocks, penetrating them in veins and
dykes, or reposing on them, are various trap-rocks, occurring on
both sides of the lake and on its islands, but most extensively
developed on the northern coast. They consist of various por-
phyries and amygdaloids, syenites, greenstones, and basalts, the
last being occasionally prismatic, with pitchstone in thin layers
between the interstices of the columns. Many of these rocks pass
into each other, forming endless varieties. .

In the primitive rocks, besides the usual constituent minerals,
including hornblende, we find schorl, garnet, amethyst and rock
crystal ; epidote and purple fluor spar associated in veins of quartz
in granite; chlorite and green earth, with cale-spar in veins,
in granitic and greenstone rocks ; sulphate of barytes, with fluor
and calcareous spars in a vein of greenstone. The magnetic black
and brown oxides of iron, specular and micaceous iron, and iron
pyrites, occur abundantly; copper pyrites rarely, in veins in
greenstone.

The trap-rocks are rich in minerals. I noticed calcedony,
carnelian, jaspers, various and beautiful agates, zeolites (mesotype
and stilbite), epidote, augite, olivine, green-earth, fibrous prehnite,
fluor-spar, satin-spar, cale-spar, amethystine quartz, and felspar
crystals; graphite, and the oxides of iron before mentioned ; also
copper pyrites, malachite, and native copper. The last occurs,
with prehnite, quartz, and cale-spar, in veins in a dark brown por-
phyritic trap ; also in amygdaloid in veins, nests, and wires, which
sometimes penetrate fortification agates.

Reposing on the granitic rocks which have been mentioned, there
occurs a horizontal sandstone, forming nearly the entire southern
shore of the lake, which may be traced in detached portions from
one end to the other of its northern shore, and also on most of its
islands ; the almost unknown Caribou Island, which is so far from >
the shore that it can only be seen from the mountains in a clear
day, being also formed of it. It may, therefore, be considered as _
a general formation over the basin of Lake Superior. It rises
to about the height of 400 feet above the lake, and rests on
granite on either shore, excepting where amygdaloids or other
traps may have heen intruded between. It has been only oceca-
sionally upheaved by the granite; but it is often much shattered
by the trap-rocks, nodules of which enter largely into the compo-
sition of its conglomerates. It is often extensively overlaid,
especially in Mepigon Bay, by immense beds of greenstone several

1845. ] 587

hundred feet thick, and sometimes also by amygdaloid, with which
it is occasionally, although rarely, interstratified. Large rounded
fragments of the trap rocks of the lake, especially the porphyries,
occur abundantly in its conglomerates, and sometimes form entire
beds near the parent rock. Hence we perceive that volcanic
energy was active, or at least had not ceased, during the period
of its deposition.

In general, however, this sandstone is composed of fine grains
of quartz and felspar, together with rounded particles of primitive
and trap rocks; and it is important to remark, that no fragment
of the Silurian fossiliferous limestones, known to occur to the
northward towards Hudson’s Bay and extensively on Lake Huron,
was ever noticed in its conglomerates.

Grains of mica are sometimes abundant, especially near its con-
tact with granite. It is sometimes calcareous, the carbonate of
lime occurring also in veins. It is often ferruginous, and there
are sometimes between its strata thin layers of a black sandstone,
which crumbles easily into a’ black, heavy, and highly magnetic
sand, very plentiful on the beaches, and which Mr. Tennant in-
forms me is the titaniferous oxide of iron. On the islands called
“the Twelve Apostles,” on the south coast, there are beds of
ferruginous red marl. In colour this sandstone is often variegated
— being red, white, grey, yellow, and dark reddish-brown. The
only metallic minerals found in it are iron and copper ores.*

No organic remains having as yet been found in this sandstone,
and its junction with the Lake Huron limestone in the river St.

Mary’s below the rapids being hidden by drift, water, or an
almost impervious forest, so as hitherto to have escaped notice, it
is difficult to determine with any confidence its place or age. There
seems no reason to think that it can be more recent than the old
red sandstone ; and when it is considered that it appears in the
St. Mary’s at low levels, forming nearly horizontal strata at the
bottom of Lake George, whilst the horizontal fossiliferous lime-
stone of Sugar Island and St. Joseph’s rises into higher ridges, so
as to make it appear highly probable that the sandstone occupies
the inferior position ; and that, moreover, a sandstone is known
very generally to underlie transition limestone in Canada and the
United States: when all this is taken into account it is, perhaps,
not unlikely that the sandstone in question may belong to the
Silurian rather than the Devonian period. On the other hand, its
appearance in unworn slabs, that must be near their parent rock
in the neighbourhood of Michilimackinac, where great beds of
gypsum occur, would seem unfavourable to this conclusion; as
may also, perhaps, the red marly beds of the Twelve Apostles.

This sandstone, although not observed in the river St. Mary below

* The principal locality of the copper is about seven miles westward of the
eastern extremity of Port Keewawonan, where there is a vein of malachite, with
* brown and earthy-blue copper, five or six feet wide. This occurs in conglo-
merate ; but the same minerals are found in trap-rocks near the same places.

~ &

588 [April 2.

Lake George, is succeeded to the eastward by the fossiliferous
limestone of Lake Huron, which rests in like manner on the pri-
mary rocks of the north coast, excepting for a few leagues at La
Cloche, where quartz-rock is interspersed between it and the older
rocks. This quartz-rock forms a range of hills, which are
considered to rise at least 1000 feet above the lake, and can be
seen towering over the Manitoulins from a distance of many
leagues. It also forms some of the islands between the Great
Manitoulin and the main land, where the limestone may be seen
overlying it in nearly horizontal strata. Although in some parts
highly crystalline, in others it is arenaceous, and passes into a con-
glomerate of great beauty, being studded with nodules, both
rounded and angular, of various coloured jaspers, quartz, calce-
dony, carnelian, &c. This rock occurs in immense cubical blocks ;
its stratification is obscure ; and its prevailing direction to the N.E.

Dr. Bigsby, in a paper read before the Geological Society in1823*,
has given a description of the rocks and minerals of Lake Huron.
A recapitulation is here unnecessary. I shall merely observe, that
the primary beds and accompanying traps do not occur on the
same scale of grandeur as on the shores of Lake Superior; they
are less elevated, more shattered, and less uniform in direction,
although the predominating strike is still to the N.E. An obscure
dip to the $.E., at a high angle, is discoverable occasionally, but
only when the structure of the rock is gneissose, which is more
often the case than on Lake Superior. ‘The granitic compounds
very frequently contain hornblende.

But the limestone of Lake Huron, like the sandstone of Lake
Superior, is a general formation over the whole lake. It is found,
as already observed, reposing on primary rocks at many points
along the northern shore from one extremity of the lake to the
other. It forms the large island of St. Joseph’s, and the point of
land that separates the river St. Mary from the strait of Michili-
mackinac; the S.W. coast as far to the south as Sagana Bay ;
the entire range of the Manitoulin Islands; the great promontory
of Cabot’s Head; and the eastern coast fifty or sixty miles to the
southward and eastward of it; and it probably extends much
further in that direction beneath the beds of sand and clay so
prevalent in western Canada. In Dr. Bigsby’s paper already re-
ferred to, and in a paper read before the Society in 1837, will be
found an interesting description by Mr. C. Stokes of some of the
most characteristic fossils of this limestone, especially of the Ortho-
ceratites, and the museum of the Geological Society contains many
specimens from various localities. These, although probably far
from comprising a complete series, seem nevertheless sufficient
to enable us to assign to this limestone its analogous place among
European strata. Among those fossils we may point to the Spr-
rifer lynx (?) and Pentamerus oblongus, as indicating a consider-
able ascending range in the Silurian system of Mr. Murchison ;
and the numerous corals which were mostly found in the upper

* Geol. Tr. 2d Ser, vol. i. p. 175.

Wao | 589

beds of Drummond Island and the other Manitoulins, would lead
us to the same probable conclusion.

And this is what we ought to expect when we consider that this
limestone, although termed horizontal, is not strictly so. In the
comparatively small space which the eye can take in at a near
view it appears so; but when we view the islands with their cliffs
as a whole, from a distance, or observe the gradual ascent of the
limestone plains as we proceed inland over the barrens on the
south side of the Great Manitoulin, and their gradual descent
under the waters of the lake in the contrary direction, we perceive
that there is a dip to the southward of some feet in a mile, which,
continued for 100 miles or more, must give a very considerable
thickness of strata.

From the eastern extremity of Lake Huron, and still advancing
eastwards, we trace the Silurian limestone with similar fossils,
across to Lake Simcoe, to the Rice Lakes, and, on the north of
Ontario, to Kingston and the Thousand Islands*, and thence
again, north-eastward by Perth, Bytown, and Lake Chat, across
the Ottawa River + to Montreal and Quebec. It may also be
seen at various intermediate points along the northern side of
the valley of the St. Lawrence. At Port aux Trembles for
instance, about six leagues above Quebec, we find it containing,
among other fossils, Calymene Blumenbachii, and a species of
Chetetes, which M. de Verneuil informs me is allied to C. petro-
politanus. ‘The limestone here dips to the S. E. conformably to
the grauwacké, which contains Leptena sericea, on the opposite
or southern shores of the river. ‘This latter circumstance, to-
gether with the statements of an anonymous writer in the
Canadian Review }, that the limestone near the falls of Mont-
morenci declines gradually from the horizontal position till it
finally dips at a high angle beneath the grauwacké ; and that a
conglomerate, wholly composed of re-cemented fragments of lime-
stone containing the organic remains peculiar to Beauport, the
falls of St. Charles, and Indian Lorette, is one of the alternating
members of the grauwacké and slate series, incline us to assign to
this limestone a position inferior to the grauwacké and slate, and
low down among the Silurian strata. This view is strengthened
by the occurrence of a similar limestone on Lake St. John under-
lying clay slate, and containing Isotelus gigas and an Ormoceras,
like those of Lake Huron, &c. Considerable difficulty, however,
has been felt in admitting this, because the limestone has so very
generally been found in nearly horizontal strata, resting imme-
diately on primitive rocks in very near neighbourhood to the highly

* Here, and also near Kingston, masses of sulphate of strontia and cale-spar,
with disseminated iron pyrites and sulphate of zinc, are found in the limestone.

+ On the Ottawa, above Lake Chat, and also on the St. Lawrence, near
Gananoqui, primary white granular limestone occurs extensively, associated with
green serpentine, steatite, compact and fibrous asbestus, and occasionally contain-
ing, as I am informed by Mr. Tennant, brucite, tremolite, plumbago, and nica.

In an article in the second number attributed to Dr. Bigsby, and published
some years ago.

590 [April 2.

inclined grauwacké and slate; but, on the other hand, it must be
remarked that it has never, as far as we know, been found over-
lying the latter unconformably, although sandstone or conglomerate
is occasionally interposed between it and the granite or gneiss, as
among the Thousand Islands, and on the rivers St. Maurice and
Montmorenci.

The northern shore of the St. Lawrence River and Gulf, from
Cape Tourment, ten leagues below Quebec, eastward to the Min-
gan Islands, is composed of primary rocks; the limestone and the
grauwacké which form the islands and southern shore of the
river, appearing in immediate contact with them only at St. Paul’s
and Murray Bays, and, more extensively, on Lake St. John, up
the Saguenay River, as already mentioned.

For a more particular description of the primary rocks of this
coast, and also of the Mingan Islands, with their raised beaches,
limestone columns, &c., I must refer to a paper read before the Geo-
logical Society in 1833, and printed in their Transactions*, which
was accompanied by specimens of the fossils which I have now
added to, and which have been examined by M. de Verneuil, to whom
Tam indebted for their specific names, and many valuable remarks
respecting them. On this occasion it will be sufficient to state,
that the Mingan Islands extend for about fifty miles along the
north coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, opposite the great Island
of Anticosti, from which, at the nearest point, they are distant
about nine miles. None of them are more than three miles distant
from the main land, where the limestone may be seen at various
points resting immediately on granitic rocks.

The Mingan Islands are entirely composed of limestone, having a
slight dip to the southward. So also is the Island of Anticosti, which,
from its relative position to the southward, and similar dip, may
be expected to be higher up in the Silurian series. The limestone
of these islands resembles that of Lake Huron, in being very nearly
horizontal ; although there is a slight dip, which, continued for many
miles, must give a very considerable thickness to the whole range,
measuring from the lower beds that rest on the granite of the main-
land to those that dip gradually beneath the sea on the southern’
coast of Anticosti, or form the summits of the unvisited ridges of
the interior of the island, five or six hundred feet above the sea.

The following are the most abundant fossils of the islands of
Mingan : —

1. Illoenus crassicauda. 5. Terebratula plicatella (not Sow.).
2. Orthoceras duplex. 6. Kuermis ?

3. Orthoceras annulatus. 7. Leptena Humboldtii.

4, Euompbalus. 8. Pleurotomaria.

And of the Island of Anticosti : —

1, Spirifer lynx (Eichwald), var. 2. Orthis, allied to O. elegantula.
of S. biforatus (Schlotheim), 3. Leptena Humboldtii ( De Vern. ).

* Geol. Tr. 2d Ser. vol. y. p. 89.

1845. ] 591

4, Leptena sericea. 7. Atrypa reticularis ; (syn.
5. Orthoceras. A. affinis & A. prisca).
6. FKavosites gothlandica. 8. Turbo.

9. Pentamerus oblongus.

These, although doubtless far from comprising all that may be
found, will be sufficient to establish the Silurian character of the
limestone of these islands, and to show the general resemblance of
the fauna to that which is indicated by the organic remains of
similar formations occupying an analogous position in Europe.

From the Mingan Islands to the Strait of Belle Isle, the coast of
Labrador consists exclusively of primary rocks, but on the east side
of Bras @or Harbour we meet with transition sandstone, which at
one point appears to pass distinctly into gneiss. The sandstone
extends about thirty miles along the northern side of the Strait of
Belle Isle, from Bras d’or to the eastward, and forms table-lands
400 or 500 feet high, with cliffs towards the sea, and terraces
ascending one within the other to considerable distances inland.
These seem due to aqueous denudation, and, like the inland cliffs
and flower-pot columns of the Mingan Islands, may mark, although
less distinctly, successive periods during the emergence of the
sandstone from the sea. ‘This sandstone occurs in nearly hori-
zontal strata, dipping, if at all, very slightly to the southward, and
resting on granite. On the eastern point of Fortean Bay, a red
and white limestone * underlies the sandstone, and contains Cya-
thophyllum ; which fact, together with its position, immediately
reposing on granite, affords the only data from which to infer the

_ relative age of this formation.

The opposite, or Newfoundland side of the strait is of lime-
stone ; containing, at Cape Norman, Orthoceras duplex, Orthoceras
allied to O. annulatus, Euomphalus affinis, EF. gualieriatus, and
Clymenia ? or Lituites. I observed this limestone, which is in
nearly horizontal strata, as far to the southward along the west
coast of Newfoundland as Port Saunders, and it probably extends
still further in that direction. It is then succeeded by sandstones,
and perhaps by other rocks in ascending order to the coal, which
is reported to occur in St. George’s Bay.

At Chatian Bay, and also at Table Point, opposite Belle Isle,
we met with columnar basalt + capping granitic hills, at an eleva-
tion of about 200 feet above the sea. The basalt is in vertical
prisms 25 or 80 feet high, having from five to eight sides. It is
black, ferruginous, magnetic, and contains crystals of olivine. It
rests, at Table Point, upon a conglomerate of rounded pebbles of

_ quartz and felspar, with oxide of iron and silvery mica, the whole
so changed by the contact that, in some hand specimens, we might
almost take it for granite. It has also acquired an irregularly
prismatic structure, large columnar masses of it breaking away

* Tt is worthy of remark that a somewhat similar limestone, but destitute of
| organic remains, was observed by Dr. Bigsby underlying and alternating with
sandstone at Thunder Cape on Lake Superior.

+ Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, vol. i. p. 71.

592 [April 2.

from the cliff from the effect of the severe frosts of winter. It
occurs in a horizontal bed or stratum, about ten feet thick, form-
ing, together with the incumbent basalt, a tabular oval mass, about
three quarters of a mile in diameter, with cliffs 40 or 50 feet
high, resting on granite. Both its irregularly prismatic and par-
tially crystalline structure seem due to the effect of the basalt
which has flowed over it. There is also an altered sedimentary
rock under the basalt of Chatian Bay, where the change from
sandstone into a ferruginous shale has been nearly completed.

These isolated patches of basalt and conglomerate, capping gra-
nitic hills at the same elevation, and at the distance of fifteen
miles apart, appear to be the denuded remains of an extensive
formation.

In the mica schist which occurs on the north side of Henley
Island, near the basalt just mentioned, there occurs a large vein,
containing a beautiful aggregate of green and white felspar, with
quartz, oxide of iron, mica, and garnets. Chlorite, with specular
iron and hornblende, occurs in the same locality.

It would swell this paper to an inconvenient length to en-
ter into a particular description of the primary and trap rocks of
the region, or the minerals which they contain; but we may men-
tion briefly that mica-schist prevails most near St. Paul’s Bay,
where it abounds with garnets, and where chlorophane was found.
Further eastward hornblende and felspar predominate, forming,
with or without quartz and mica, various compounds. Between
the Seven Islands and Mingan, bronzite or hypersthene, hornblende,
felspar, and the magnetic black oxide of iron, form a rock which
occupies many miles of coast.* Shorl, epidote, garnets, and mica-
ceous iron were noticed in the various granitic compounds which
occur on this long line of coast.

Having thus, very generally, traced the line of junction, doubt-
less once continuous, of the transition strata with the primary rocks,
from the head of Lake Superior to the Strait of Belle Isle, and
having pointed out the occurrence of Silurian limestone at the
northern extremity of Newfoundland, and shown that the interven-
ing rocks up to the coal may probably be found along the western
coast of that island, I shall conclude with some brief and very
general remarks on the ascending succession of the rocks of eastern
Canada, as exhibited along the shores of the district of Gaspé.

At Cape Rozier the grauwacké and slate rocks which were
observed forming the southern shore of the St. Lawrence below
Quebec, at every point where we had an opportunity of landing,
are succeeded by the Cape Gaspé limestone, forming cliffs 900 feet
high, and dipping conformably at an angle of about 25 degrees to
the S.S.W. It contains Orthoceratites, Producta, Encrinites, and
corals, of which I regret that the specimens have been lost. Thin
veins of galena and blende also occur in it, but are not worth the
working.

* The felspars are often striated, and sometimes opalescent.

1845.] 593

This limestone is succeeded in ascending order by a series of
shales and sandstones all highly carboniferous. The sandstone on
the north side of Gaspé Basin is calcareous, and contains, accord-
ing to Mr. De Verneuil, Orthis, Leptena (Chonetes) sarcinulata,
approaching to the Hifel species; Z'erebratula, a large variety, and
two other smaller species; and Chonetes affinis (C. papilionacea
of the coal measures), described by Phillips as a Spirifer (S. papi-
lionacea).

The shales and sandstones are much disturbed, but nevertheless
preserve a general dip to the southward. Proceeding in that
direction across Mal Bay, we find a variegated reddish, yellowish,
and white crystalline limestone, with concentric concretions, and
without organic remains, supporting conglomerate and red sand-
stones; the latter forming the summit of Percé Mountain, 1300
feet above the sea. The general dip is here also to the southward,
or §.W. Organic remains are reported to have been found in the
adjacent Percé rock, but I have not seen them.

Bonaventure Island is of conglomerate nearly horizontal. As
we proceed up the Bay of Chaleur we may notice the red sand-
stone forming cliffs in nearly horizontal strata in the bays,
whilst the points are in general formed of harder rocks. These
are sometimes trap-rocks; at others, hard conglomerate, whose
nodules seem glazed, as if they had been dipped in the sili-
ceous and caleareous fluid, which in cooling had formed the
cementing agent in the formation of the rock. I also noticed
reddish and greyish limestone abounding with the stems of Encri-
nites ; but other fossils appeared very rare; and I only found a
Terebratula allied to T. ferita. ‘These limestones occur princi-
pally at Port Daniel, and, together with the associated conglo-
merates and sandstones, are very much disturbed ; but the red sand-
stone is less so than the rest, and is doubtless the uppermost of the
series. We have now arrived near the southern extremity of the
district of Gaspé, and I have communicated all the scanty inform-
ation as yet possessed respecting this interesting part of the coun-
try, where the rocks that intervene between the Silurian strata and
the coal may perhaps be best studied. The limestone of Cape
Gaspé has hitherto been considered analogous to the mountain
limestone; but the fossils of the calcareous sandstone of Gaspé
Basin which I have enumerated, and which Mr. Lyell, I believe,
considers Devonian, will render it necessary to reconsider this sub-
ject. The highly carboniferous sandstones and shales that suc-
ceed to the southward, the occurrence of petroleum springs, and of
an impure coal in small quantities near Percé and at Port Daniel,
assist us in referring the rocks of this part of the country to the
carboniferous period, thus indicating our approach to the coal
measures of New Brunswick, on the opposite side of the bay where
_ coal fossils are found.

594 [| April 16.

April 16. 1845.

On the supposed Evidences of the former Existence of Glaciers
in Nortao Wares. By Ancus Frienp Macinrosp, Esq.,

E.\G.S.

Tue author states, that having noticed some remarkable pheno-
mena in a part of North Wales, which seemed to militate strongly
against the theory advanced by Prof. Agassiz, and supported by
Dr. Buckland, on the subject of glaciers, he was induced to ex-
amine carefully the district in question, and that, after lone inves-
tigation, he has formed a decided opinion that the district affords
no sufficient proof of the former existence of glaciers in any part
of it. He then considers seriatim the different points of evidence
that have been adduced and their value.

1. Rounded Surfaces of Rock.—These appearances, which have
been referred to by Dr. Buckland * as having been caused by
glacial action, abound in several of the Welsh valleys, in some in-
stances (near Bedd-gelert and the pass of Llanberis) at the height
of 800 and 1000 feet, and in others at a very much more consider-
able elevation. If, however, it was by the agency of ice that such
rounded surfaces were produced, the valley must have been en-
tirely occupied by the glacier, which in some cases it would seem
must have had a thickness of at least 2500 feet. This indeed is
according to M. Agassiz’ theory, that the ice extended downwards
to the plains, and covered the surface ; but the modified form of it
adopted by Dr. Buckland does not in the author’s view account
for the existence of the rounded masses, since they are promis-
cuously dispersed in some of the valleys, occurring in numerous
and very different directions, and often where no true glacier
could be supposed to have reached them.

The want of height in the Snowdonian hills is adduced by the
author as an argument that such vast bodies of snow and ice could
not have been formed on them, since the length of glaciers is known
to be in the ratio of the height of the mountain whence they pro-
ceed ; and he further observes that the glacial theory with regard to
these rounded surfaces is also strongly opposed by appearances
which occur on both sides of the lower Llanberis lake on the old
Bangor road, near the south end of the Penrhyn quarries in the
valley of Nant Francon at its upper extremity, and in several other
places. Here the rounded surfaces are seen immediately in contact
with, and directly under cover of, other masses higher than them-
selves, these latter standing immediately before them in the line
of descent, and yet having their edges, over which the glacier
must have passed (if it rounded the rocks below), angular, and —

* Proc. Geol. Soe. vol. iii. p. 579.

1845. ] : 595

occasionally even sharp. Other rounded surfaces are met with in
the deep sharp angles of rock, and in recesses where it is not to
be conceived that a glacier could have forced its way, and produced
this effect, leaving the inner sides of these recesses unworn by
friction and their edges angular. In some of these cases the
rounding of the narrow parts is perfect, and they are occasionally
even fluted in a manner identical with that of other flutings in
the exposed and open parts of the rock.

The author then refers to another example of rounded, grooved,
and striated rocks seen in the valley of the Ogwyn near the bridge,
where the river as it issues from the lake forms a cascade at a spot
close to the high road. The rounded rocks here are described as
weathered ; but “quartz veins which traverse the masses, and pro-
ject two inches above the surface, are polished and rounded on the
edges ;” and in this group of rounded, dome-shaped bosses, some
of the surfaces are fluted, the furrows being regularly parallel and
equidistant, and as nearly as possible of the same width and depth.

At first sight the appearance here presented seems to be refer-
able to glacial action ; but the author observed that the direction
of the flutings is opposed to that of the valley ; that the striae or
furrows which are not parallel are likewise not in the direction of
the line of the valley, but range at all points of the compass, many
of them crossing one another irregularly, and others having a
radiated appearance, and that in the midst of the parallel furrows
on the rounded smooth faces of rock are projecting portions of the
same rock, some of them rounded, fluted, and striated at the tops,
but angular at the edges, and not rubbed at the sides, while
smaller portions, scarcely an inch thick, stand fully exposed in the
line of descent which a glacier must have taken, presenting the
appearance of thin portions of schist full two feet in height, and
almost as much in breadth, perfectly unaltered. Although the
rounding of the general surface has taken place on each side of
them, the flutings are in absolute contact with them, and there
are strize between and even upon them. It seems clear, that had
the rounding of the rock been effected by the passage of a glacier,
these fragments must necessarily have been swept away, and thus
the rounding of the rocks must be due to some other process.

It is the opinion of the author that this rounding took place
beneath the sea, and that the repeated undulations of the strata
parallel to the principal mountain chain in the district, forming a
succession of anticlinal and synclinal axes, have been the original
cause of the formation of the oblong bosses and rounded rocks,
while the fracture of the beds has produced the furrowed appear-
ance. It is also suggested as explanatory of this view that, at the
time of the disturbances which produced these undulations, the
rocks may have been only partly consolidated, and that thus the
long parallel lines at first produced might readily be acted on by
the marine currents, which were sufficiently powerful to clear off
the sharp edges, but not to remove the projecting quartz veins.

The author concludes this part of his memoir by stating his

VOL. 1V. PART ILI, wee

596 [April 16.

belief that even where this view of the origin of the bosses does
not apply, he believes that sub-marine, and not glacial, action
must be referred to, since many of the rounded rocks possess fea-
tures which render it extremely unlikely that they could have
een rounded by glaciers, while others are so circumstanced that
it would seem to have been absolutely impossible.

2. Fluted and striated Surfaces. — Having shown that the
rounding of rocks was in all probability not effected by glacial
action in North Wales, the author proceeds to show that the fluted
and striated appearances, also referred to the passage of large
bodies of ice, are really due to other causes ; and he first considers
an example referred to by Dr. Buckland, and situated about 100
yards below the bridge of Pont-aber-Glasslyn, near Bedd-Gelert, on
the right bank of the river.

At this spot the rocks are rounded and polished, and covered
-by flutings and striz generally parallel to the course of the valley;

but the author observes that such is not always the case, some of
the striz being very oblique, and some actually opposed to this
direction.

The flutings in the instance now under consideration are also
considered to be more regular, more accurately parallel, and
more symmetrically placed than could be the case had they been
produced by the passage of a glacier. These flutings in the
‘Snowdonian schists rarely vary in any perceptible degree on the
same surface; there is little or no distinguishable difference in
their depths or breadths; and however numerous the lines, they
are uniformly and strictly parallel. They are also at equal dis-
tances from each other, and are so similar in different valleys that
the resemblance is striking. Phenomena of such a kind must, it
is concluded, be struetural ; and the author believes that not only
do the furrows but also the stria — which are not parallel, but
more or less oblique and irregular — owe their existence to the
internal structure of the rocks.

The flutings and striz of the rocks in the valley of the Llugwy
between Pont-y-Gyffing and Capel Curig, described by Dr. Buck-
land, are next alluded to. In this case the fluted lines on some of
the rocks on the Bangor or western side of the large dome-shaped
masses mentioned by Dr. Buckland, are stated to be in actual op-
position to the direction of the valley, although such flutings agree
in all their characters with others in the direction of the valley,
being parallel to one another, equi-distant, and as nearly as pos-
sible of the same width and depth. That these flutings are natural
furrows, and not due to glacial action, the following facts are then
adduced by the author as sufficient proofs.

In the first place it is stated that close to the large dome- shaped
masses at about 200 yards from their western base, nearly opposite
the road which leads to Capel Curig, there are certain low rounded
rocks or bosses marked with furrows at right angles to one another,
and that the same occurs on a small mass of schist about midway
on the north side of the lower Llanberis Lake. These rocks also

1845.] 597

are regularly furrowed in continuous parallel lines, not only from
top to bottom, but on each of the sides accessible to view. The
furrows must, therefore, be structural phenomena.

Secondly, that the parallel markings on the conglomerates
opposite Capel Curig to the north are broader, deeper, and wider
apart than those of the schists which they overlie, agreeing appa-
rently with their wider and larger lines of bedding.

Thirdly, that in these conglomerates are contained fragments of
the schist, some of them about half a foot square, marked with
regular parallel flutings at equal distances, exactly in the same
manner as the rocks 2” sttz. ‘These marks are by no means in the
direction of the valley, but indifferently in every direction accord-
ing to the position of the fragment in the conglomerate; and the
matrix in which they are contained is entirely free from such
markings, while the furrows are not merely to be traced on the
exposed parts, but are continued within the substance of the con-
glomerate, the lower or buried sides being fluted in the same
manner as the upper portion.

Hence it appears from the condition of these bedded fragments,
first, that glacial action could not have produced the flutings and
furrows observed upon them, since the direction of the furrows
is not that of the valley ; next, that such glacial action could not
have been the cause of the rounding of the rocks, since, in that
case, the fragments in question would have been carried away,
instead of left standing, as they are, half an inch above the surface;
thirdly, that the rounding in question must have taken place after
the consolidation of the schists, but while the conglomerates were
still comparatively soft ; fourthly, that the furrows were produced
before the formation of the conglomerates, and were for that reason
independent of any glacial action, and, in all probability, struc-
tural; and, lastly, that the furrowing and the rounding of these
rocks are entirely distinct and independent phenomena, due to
very different causes.

Another example of furrowed rocks is seen on the right bank
of the lower Llanberis Lake, close to the quarry railway, and
rather more than midway from the upper end of the lake, where
a low oblong rock, consisting of a coarse bluish slate, passes some-
what abruptly into a conglomerate. This rock is rounded and
fluted, but the flutings cease exactly where the conglomerate
begins.

The strié or markings not parallel to one another observed on
many rocks, and referred by some to glacial action, are likewise
considered by the author to be structural phenomena, since they
occur in situations where the passage of a glacier could hardly
have produced them, as in narrow recesses of rock, the edges of
which are angular, and on the projecting fragments of beds, the
rest of which have been denuded. These striz are generally
narrow and shallow lines, seldom more than a quarter of an inch in
breadth but usually less, and some of the thinner ones, having the

yy 2 ;

598 [April 16.

appearance of straight scratches, seem to be parts of weathered
cleavage lines, appearing interruptedly here and there.

The author believes that other striz, more or less oblique and
irregular, and occasionally intersecting the former, have arisen
from cracks. The markings of this kind are rarely if ever curved,
differing in this respect from the glacial striz described by M.
Agassiz, while they are often bent at an angle, and occasionally in
such a manner that it is difficult to understand how a descending
body could have produced them. They also, many of them, have
flat surfaces, unlike the scorings produced by the pressure of
angular fragments. ‘That such strie, or at least a large number
of them, were originally mere open splits or cracks, to which ex-
posure has given their present appearance, is suggested by the
author as probable, since, in many instances, they bear an almost
exact resemblance in width, length, angular character, and general
form to certain open cracks appearing on the surface of schists
which have been only a few years exposed, and of which examples
may be seen in the Penrhyn quarries on the south side, and again,
very strikingly, close to the Ogwyn Lake.

Referring once more to the furrows or flutings before described,
the author next states that, according to his observation, these
markings are always parallel to the cleavage, and correspond to
one of the sets or series of narrow lines or joints, called by the
quarry-men “ Water-splits,” which are also parallel to the cleavage,
and are about half an inch apart. These water-splits are in some
eases quite open, in others they are seen partially filled up, and
in others, again, the process is farther advanced, and the furrowed
or fluted appearance is distinct. ‘There is also a striking agree-
ment in the general width of these open lines with those of the
flutings, so that, on the whole, he concludes that the water-splits
or what he denominates “open cleavage joints,” have been the
origin of the parallel flutings *; and open cracks that of most of
the strix. He also states that the existence of scratches, properly
called “structural,” can be distinctly proved on a small scale,
since even the weathered coatings of the schists, thin as they
sometimes are, have their own peculiar strie ; and although it
requires the aid of a magnifying glass to see them, they then show
clearly as minute delicate lines of an inch or two in length, very
numerous, more or less straight, and often intersecting one an-
other. They are, however, resemblances in miniature of certain
apparent scratches belonging to the rocks.

The author then adverts to similar phenomena of striated and
furrowed rocks, described as occurring in America, and which
have been explained by Prof. Hitchcock on the glacial hypothesis,
but which neither that hypothesis nor the passage of ice. floes
over the surface are sufficient to explain satisfactorily. The view
advocated above, of the structural nature of such markings in the

* Examples of open parallel lines occur on the right bank of the lower Llan-
beris Lake, and in the large adjoining quarries of Mr. Assheton Smith.

1845.] 599

Welsh slates, is also suggested as the probable explanation of
similar appearances elsewhere.

3. Polished Rocks. — The surface of rocks of various kinds and
at very different elevations, has frequently been observed to ex-
hibit a polish, which has usually been attributed of late to the
action of ice. The author considers that some of these cases are
doubtful; that the polish is not of long endurance when the surface
is exposed ; and that in some, at least, of the examples in North
Wales, the polish has been produced by the sliding of boys on
the smooth rock. This latter explanation he considers as suf-
cient in the case mentioned by Dr. Buckland at Bedd-Gelert,
near Pont-aber-Glasslyn, where a portion of surface, measuring
about 15 feet by 2 feet, is obviously polished, but where the rock is
weathered, and does not exhibit the appearance except at this spot.
Another example at Bedd-Gelert, at the north-east of the village
near the turnpike, also quoted by Dr. Buckland, is considered by
the author insufficient to support the glacial theory ; since, although
in this case the rock is intersected by numerous quartz veins
which project about two inches above the surface, but preserve
their polished and rounded outline, other similar appearances,
which could not have been produced by ice, occur also in rounded
rocks, as, for instance, in narrow recesses having angular edges
which no glacier could have touched. The author considers that,
as such apparent polish is not seen in the great majority of cases,
it may be due to varying mineral conditions *; but he expresses
his conviction that, as the surface apparently polished has, in
every case that he examined, been manifestly a weathered surface,
it cannot possibly have been produced by glacial action, since the
actual surface would in that case be exhibited, and not the
weathered coating, which is necessarily of much newer date. At
any rate, whether, as he believes, the polishing of rocks is in no
case attributable to ice, in any shape, but always to some other
mechanical causes, or to atmospheric exposure; or whatever the
cause may be, the polish cannot have been retained unaltered
during so long a period; and even if it could, since this appear-
ance belongs, not to a freshly exposed surface, but to a surface
covered by a film of decomposed rock, it certainly was not that
over which the ice passed.

4. Moraimes.—The instances adduced by Dr. Buckland in North
Wales as referable to this class of glacial phenomena are consi-
dered by the author as unsatisfactory; and he refers, first, to the
elevated plain of Pentre-Voelas, said to present large accumula-
tions of unstratified detritus having the aspect of moraines, but
supposed to have been afterwards modified by the action of water.
It is objected, that in this detritus there are no true rounded and
striated blocks nor rounded pebbles, neither are there mixtures of
different fragments of all forms and sizes, such as usually belong

* The author here observes, as an additional argument against the probability
of glaciers having formerly existed where this so-called polished rock appears,
that the rock abounds with concretions standing in relief abeve its general
surface.

we Ss

600 [April 16:

to moraines. It is also observed that the physical structure of the
country round Pentre-Voelas is that of an open and widely ex-
tended plain, — Snowdon being twenty miles off, and there being
no height of any consequence much nearer; so that it is impos-
sible to conjecture whence such enormous masses of ice could be
derived, or how they could have been urged forwards to dis-
tribute the detritus.

The next instance alluded to is between Pont-y-Gyffing and
Capel Curig, and consists of a mound of gravel close above certain
dome-shaped hummocks, in front of the confluence of the upper
valley of the Llugwy with that of Nant-y-Gwyrd. In this case,
however, the author discovered, on examination, that what ap-
pears to be a mound of gravel is merely a low wavy ridge of
schist, whose ragged and weathered surfaces seem, at a little dis-
tance, as if covered with fragments; although, in fact, they are
nearly bare. The author therefore believes that no such gravel
exists on the spot alluded to.

Another of the supposed moraines referred to by Dr. Buckland
occurs near the elevated lake of the Flynnon Llugwy, north of the
road leading from Capel Curig to Bethesda. It consists of two
principal streams of blocks, one extending downwards in a 8.W.
direction from near the lower end of the lake for about two miles
and a half; the other taking an opposite course, and reaching
partly across the upper end of the valley, a distance of nearly
half a mile. The former of these groups is marked by no glacial
feature, and is chiefly remarkable for its length and its general

conformity to the curves of the river; but the latter or smaller
group exhibits at its further extremity four or five detached piles
of angular blocks about twenty feet in height. Near its point of
commencement also, on the west side of the valley, it passes over
two mounds, 20 or 30 feet high, covered with peat and herbage ;
and a similar mound, somewhat larger and higher, occurs at the
other end of the line, having also blocks upon its top.

The author considers that the blocks forming this group have
descended from the mountain on the western side of the valley,
but that, since there are no rounded blocks and flat-sided pebbles,
such as are seen in Alpine glaciers, and indeed no traces of
glacial action, the deposit must have found its way from the
mountain, traversing a distance of nearly half a mile, and that some
of the blocks, after crossing the little stream of the Llugwy, have
ascended for perhaps 20 or 30 feet above it. This transit, it is
considered, may have been effected by the aid of snow and ice,
though not in the form of a glacier; and in support of this view,
two occurrences are described bearing upon the point. One of
these took place in the winter of 1813-14, when drifted snow had
so accumulated in the course of several weeks near the mountain
stream called the Affon Bertham, in the valley of Nant Francon,
that it formed a deep broad sloping talus, above a quarter of a
mile in length, so compact that men and horses and fully-laden
carts frequently passed over it ; and the other, in the same valley,

1845.) — 601

only five or six winters ago, at a spot called Cefn-y-Orsidd, where
the slope of the mountain ridge is about 15° or 20°, and where
numerous blocks frozen together became suddenly disengaged by
a thaw, and moving downwards on sheets or sledges of ice, they
travelled over a space of nearly 400 yards, and were there checked
by the resistance of a wall, part of which, however, was broken
through and removed. From these instances, occurring in our own
country at a moderate elevation, it will be seen to be possible that
boulders, even of considerable size, may be removed without glacial
action.

- With regard to the Flynnon Llugwy boulders, therefore, as there
appears no evidence of their being due to glacial action, their pre-
sence may be better accounted for in some such manner as this.
The author concludes by observing concerning them, that they do
not, as Dr. Buckland considers, repose on small gravel, except near
the river, and where this gravel has been subsequently washed
under them.

April 30. 1845.

On the Patxozoic Deposits of Scanpinavia and the Baxrtic
Provinces of Russis, and their relations to Azoic or more an-
cient crystalline Rocks ; with an account of some great features
of dislocation and metamorphism along their northern fron-
tiers. By Roprerick Impey Mourcuison, V.P.R.S., V. P.G.S.,
Pres. Roy. Geog. Soc., and Cor. Mem. Inst. Fr.

THE views of my friends, M. de Verneuil, Count Keyserling, and
myself respecting the geological structure of large portions of
Russia, particularly in reference to the paleozoic succession of
that country, have been already laid before the Society. In those
communications allusions were made to the, absence of a well-
defined base line for the Silurian rocks of ‘the Baltic and the
eastern governments of the empire, owing in ‘some instances to the
interposition of arms of the sea, or great interior lakes; in others,
‘to great masses of detritus, which occupy the surface along the
boundary line ; and in others again to the prevalence of eruptive
rocks, which have to a great extent metamorphosed the sedimen-
tary masses conterminous with the crystalline rocks of Lapland.
To remedy, if possible, what would have been serious defects in
a work on the structure of Russia which is about to be published,
and to satisfy myself as to whether the great masses of crystalline
rocks which range from Scandinavia over Finland and Lapland,
were truly more ancient than any thing to which the term
“ Silurian” could be applied, or were simply metamorphosed por-
tions of the Silurian system, as some geologists had supposed, I
last year visited Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and again re-
visited St. Petersburg. Having now adopted definite views on
this subject, having also completely satisfied myself respecting
those tracts which are referable respectively to lower and upper
Silurian rocks, and having observed a copious development of old
wear gt :

602 [ April 30.

red sandstone in Norway, as well as a very remarkable junction
between its Devonian equivalent and the lower Silurian rocks of
the government of St. Petersburg, I now lay the result before
the Society, communicating both those general views which will
appear in the forthcoming work on Russia, and also some details
respecting Norway and Sweden which do not appear therein.
The remarks which I now make on Scandinavia are, however, to
be simply considered as the first of a series of communications
which I hope to be able to continue by subsequent surveys of that
region, in which I have the promise of being joined by M. de
Verneuil.

The present memoir is therefore to be regarded as an outline
sketch only of certain broad lines of demarcation to which it is
essential that geologists should attend when investigating similar
phenomena which have not yet been sufficiently worked out.

It will readily be understood when a few of the more prominent
facts of the case are laid before the reader, that in order to give a
history of the whole series of sedimentary deposits of Russia, we
must commence with a sketch of the adjacent Scandinavian regions,
which, chiefly occupied by highly crystalline rocks, are in many
places covered with patches of ancient strata containing organic
remains.

The fossils, indeed, described by several writers, had shown that
true Silurian deposits existed in Sweden and Norway, and it was
therefore necessary for us to see and describe the absolute contact of
the lowest sedimentary strata with the crystalline rocks of that
region. We have come to the conclusion that the lowest of these
beds that are fossiliferous are the exact equivalents of the lower
Silurian strata of the British Isles, and that they have been formed
out of and rest upon slaty and other rocks which had undergone
crystallisation before their particles were ground up to compose
the earliest beds in which remains of organic life appear. We
apply to these crystalline masses, therefore, the term Azoze, simply
to express that, while as far as research has hitherto gone no ves-
tiges of living things have been found in them, so also from their .
nature they seem to have been formed under such accompanying
conditions of intense heat and fusion, that it is hopeless to attempt
to find in them traces of organisation.

The great extent of the crystalline rocks in Scandinavia is one
of the features which first strikes the ordinary observer with sur-
prise. They occupy the great bulk of Sweden, and are at present
undergoing very careful examination and minute description by
several able mineralogists in Norway. They rise into mountains,
and form the flanks of troughs containing paleozoic strata, which
have in their turn been invaded by granitic, porphyritic, and
trappean rocks of another epoch. Although extremely broken up
and diversified by various plutonic rocks, and very much dislo-
cated, the lower members of these ancient strata consist of quartz-
ose sandstone and hard slaty schists, the former visible in some
tracts only, as at Vigersund on the Drammen, the latter being the,
well-known fucoid alum-shale of the country, and forming the

1845.] 603

prevalent base in the Christiania fjord. These lowest strata are
surmounted by black limestones and shale, charged with fossils,
which leave no doubt that the inferior group represents the lower
Silurian rocks of the British Isles.*

As a whole these lower Silurian rocks of Norway have very
little of the arenaceous character which the same group assumes
in certain tracts of Britain, but are most analogous to the schists
and calcareous flags of Llandeilo, where those masses have not
assumed a slaty structure. This lower division is overlaid by
shales and massive coralline limestones, containing many of the
typical species of the Wenlock limestone in the British Isles, and
these again by calcareous flagstones and schists, which from their
fossils and position may be taken to represent the Ludlow rocks.

The Silurian strata of Norway are thus clearly divisible into an
upper and a lower group, with an intermediate limestone loaded
with Pentamerus oblongus, and corresponding, therefore, to the
Woolhope or Horderly limestone of the British Isles: but these
two groups constitute one inseparable and closely connected sys-
tem, the uppermost beds of which, composed of calcareous sand-
stones containing Leptena lata, a peculiar Spirifer, and a shell
closely allied to Terebratula Wilsoni, are overlaid in the moun-
tainous tract called the Ringerigge (see annexed section), by red

Ringerigge.

quartzose sandstone and shale that forms a deposit of great thick-
ness (perhaps 1000 feet), lithologically undistinguishable from the

old red sandstone of the British Isles. Thus the ,beds of this
latter group (the old red sandstone) broken through by great
tabular masses of porphyry, are separated from the ancient gneiss
on either side, and occupy a lofty tract in the centre of the
trough, having the Christiania fjord on the one side, and the
Steens fjord and Drammen on the other, both of which depressions
are filled with the Silurian rocks in question.

In the Steens fjord the symmetry with which the upper Silurian
flagstones and tilestones rise out from beneath the great mass of
the old red sandstone, is very striking ; and in carrying the same
section across to the gneiss range on the west bank of the Drammen,
the upper calcareous coralline formation is separated from the
black Silurian flags by the same limestone, containing Pentamerus
oblongus, which forms the intermediate bed between the upper
and lower Silurians in many parts of the British Isles. But whilst

* Among the fossils from the inferior members of the series (the lowest beds
of which contain fucoids) are found the genus Battus or Agnostus with Paradoxides
or Olenus, and in other beds Trinucleus Caractact, Asaphus Buchii, and A.
tyrannus, with various Orthoceratites and other chambered shells and some
Orthide, including Orthis aiternata and O. virgata; all forms highly charac-
teristic of the Lower Silurian rocks in the British Isles. With these, and
in still greater abundance, are found Illenus crassicauda, Asaphus expansus, and
Chetetes petropolitanus, Orthoceratites duplex, and Spheronites aurantium, all of
which specially distinguish the Lower Silurian rocks of Sweden and Russia.

604 [April 30.

there is an undoubted parallel between the different members of
the Silurian rocks of Norway and those of the British Isles, they
are in many parts, especially on the sides of the bays of Christiania
and Drammen, so perforated by eruptive rocks of posterior age,
that, except in such very typical localities as those of Steens fjord
and Krokleven, it is difficult to distinguish a clear order of super-
position.

Metamorphosed Silurian Rocks of Norway. —Intending to re-
visit Scandinavia in company with my friend M. de Verneuil, and
then to work out in greater detail the exact contents of each of the
Silurian strata, I shall no longer dwell on that point, but proceed
to describe some of the most striking effects produced on those
beds by the eruption of the igneous rocks which traverse them.
The general section will convey an adequate idea of these
intrusions, a small portion of which only, as well as a limited
number of the flexures and cracks of the sedimentary strata, are
there represented.

It is sufficient for my present purpose to state, that whether
consisting of granites, porphyry, greenstone, or hypersthene rock,
these igneous masses all play the same part as the trap rocks, por-
phyries, modern granites, and syenites of the British Isles, some-
times producing great dislocation with little alteration, at other
places very perceptible changes, and in extreme cases a complete
metamorphosis of the invaded strata. Of the first of these re-
sults of intrusion, it is unnecessary to speak; nor, indeed, is it
essential to dwell at great length upon the second, since the
phenomena are completely analogous to thousands of examples in
our own Isles, and other parts of the world. In the Silurian tract

Solvsberg.
#09 *K

Aes VS

In this diagram the peaks of Syenitic Greenstone (’), Greenstone (0), and Por-
phyry (x), are represented throwing off and altering the Lower Silurian
rock on each side.

extending north-eastward from the Steens fjord to the insu-
lated mountain called the Solvsberg, examples of greenstone, por-
phyry, and syenite, intruding upon the Silurian beds, are, indeed,
countless. The Solvsberg, which lies to the east of the Lake Rands
fjord, is the most prominent and loftiest of these eruptive masses
which I visited. Rising to about 1200 feet above the adjacent
lake, its summits are seen to consist in parts of a syenitic green-
stone, with crystals of labradorite and hornblende, in others of
coarse-grained greenstone, and in a third of porphyry; and its
flanks are of black schist and impure limestone, which near the
points of contact are in a highly compact and indurated condition,
and are thrown up in vertical or dislocated masses, occasionally
containing trilobites, orthoceratites, and fragments of other organic
remains, all of Lower Silurian age. ;

1845.) 605

In the lower undulating country to the south of that hill,
the same strata (including the Pentamerus limestone) are cut
through by many courses of eruptive rock, some of which (as at
Velo) consist of a reddish rhombic porphyry, having a base of
granite and compact felspar, and others of hornblendic greenstone,
flanked by highly allied subcrystalline ferriferous red strata,
which, at a little distance from the intruding masses, assume the
aspect of the ordinary red rab of Pembrokeshire. The chief of
these bands and dykes of eruptive matter (some of which having a
felspathic base, are changed into crystals of felspar and lime)
usually traverse the Silurian beds from N.N.E. to 8.8. W.

Following these porphyritic and greenstone rocks to Klekken,
they are seen in some places to cut through, and in others to throw
up into domes the Silurian strata. Struck with the apparent
multitude of these little undulations, and desirous of ascertaining
what was the real geological equivalent of the band marked “ harte
schiefer” on the map of Keilhau, my friend Professor Forch-
hammer and myself made a traverse from the village of Klekken on
the west to the mountain chalets of Hong on the east, where
large masses of granitic and porphyritic rocks rise to the same
table land as that of which the section (p. 469.) exposes a part.
In the lower undulations we observed a number of greenstone
dykes trending from EK. by N. to W. by S., every little ridge
being characterized by a nucleus of such rock, and its flanks
composed of jet-black anthracitic schist, and some impure lime-
stone. Parallel to these dykes and nearer to the mountain side, is
a strong band of rhombic porphyry, whilst other dykes (apparently
traversing those of which I have been speaking) constitute a net-
work of intrusive matter.

Owing to the short time at our disposal, we could not then de-
termine whether the rhombic porphyry or the greenstone were the
last ejected, but our observations in the country of Ringerigge,
where greenstone cuts through the porphyritic plateau, led us to
conclude that as the porphyry was unquestionably formed pos-
teriorly to the old red sandstone, so the greenstone was the most
recent of these eruptive masses. As we ascended the mountain
side, the calcareous shale and limestone which forms a mural and
slightly altered mass in the valley with a strike conforming to
the direction of the chief eruptive bosses (E. by N. to W. by S.),
becomes more and more indurated, and in one place, where the
beds resumed their prevalent strike of N. by E., and 8. by W.,
they are cut through by transverse east and west dykes of greenstone.
On approaching the summit called the Rong Stein or the summer
pastures of the village of Hong, the sedimentary mass may there be
considered as a great flap of the granitic and porphyritic mountain,
and is then in a still more altered state, assuming what geologists
used formerly to call a very ancient aspect. The schist becomes
brittle, crystallised, and compact, and is the “Harte Schiefer ”
of Keilhau; whilst the calcareous nodules have disappeared, leaving
cavities in the schist, which still distinctly mark the original lines

606 [April 30.

of deposit ; until finally in parts still nearer the eruptive rocks the
whole is a dense, compact, subcrystalline mass.

It was, therefore, evident that the “ Harte Schiefer” of M.
Keilhau, marked by that author by a distinct colour in his
geological map, was nothing more than a portion of the lower
Silurian shale with its overlying bands of Pentamerus limestone,
which we had followed from Solvsberg by Velo to the tract be-
tween the falls of the Drammen and Steens fjord, and which,
unaltered in the plain and considerably modified in the undulating
grounds, had become metamorphic on the side of the granitic and
porphyritic mountains.

Having passed over a considerable tract of ancient gneiss, which
occupies all the region to the west of the Drammen river, we found,
on traversing that river in a boat at Vigersund, a repetition of
similar phenomena; for there the lower Silurian sandstone be-
neath the fucoid shale (which is rarely seen in this region of
Norway) is thrown up into vertical masses and converted into
quartz rock in contact with a dyke of greenstone, whilst the alum
schist which succeeds is traversed by a white porphyry, and is
highly brittle and anthracitie.

The same relations are, indeed, seen all along the frontier of the
gneiss between Vigersund and the port of Drammen, quartz rock or
altered lower Silurian sandstone, of which I shall speak at greater
length when describing Sweden, there forming the lowest Silu-
rian course, and being surmounted by black schists and flagstone
with calcareous nodules, from some of which we obtained speci-
mens of Asaphus expansus and Orthoceratites, &c.

To the north of the Drammen the Silurian escarpment is strik-
ingly affected by the eruption of granite and greenstone, the latter
apparently forming the lower boss near the town, the former rising
into a little eminence at the foot of the hill side. We could, how-
ever, draw no sort of geological separation between the greenstone
and the granite, as to their age or effects. ‘The granite is indeed
most distinctly seen to protrude through the sandstone, which
in many parts folds over it as a cap or dome, and is of a red
colour, and indented like quartz rock. Still higher up, the sides of
the escarpment are composed of amygdaloidal trap, in which are
included separate angular fragments of flags and sandstohe, one of
which 50 feet long, and 12 to 15 feet high, appears as a highly
altered, reddish, micaceous flagstone.

In the next example which we visited, or that which occurs at
the hamlet of Dielebeck, afew miles north of Drammen, the meta-
morphism of the strata has been carried to a greater extent than
in any case previously cited. Rose-coloured, large-grained granite
there occupies the hill called Paradis Backen, on the northern
slope of which the limestone and shale repose in slightly inclined
strata.

At this spot the limestone, in the beds of which at a certain
distance from the granite the Pentamerus oblongus has been occa-
sionally found, is in the state of marble; and the fact of its having

1845.] 607

been formerly much laid open by quarries, has led to a thorough
acquaintance with the nature of its junction with the granite.

Garnets and
Allochroite.

Paradis- Backen,
Pentamerus marble. near Drammen.

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Unaltered strata. Red Granite.

Among other geologists, Professor Naumann of Saxony observed
this junction some years ago, and showed that just in proportion
to its contiguity to the granite, has the limestone been altered ;
veins of granite having actually been found by him intruded into
the calcareous mass. Though such a junction was no longer
visible, we had great satisfaction in observing the extent to which
so large a mass of limestone (laid open in extensive quarries 40
to 50 feet deep) had passed into a state of marble, particularly in
its lower parts, and still more in detecting in one of the depressions
adjacent to the quarries, and not far from the intrusive rocks,
portions of the limestone which were thickly impregnated with
erystals of garnet, and other parts where the sandy shales and
calcareous courses are welded as it were together, with few or no
traces of bedding ; the mass having assumed the aspect of a com-
pact garnet rock similar to a variety with which I am acquainted
in the Ural Mountains.*

On receding from these promontories of granite, the strata resume
their natural characters : the beds of limestone are clearly divided,
other included Pentameri appear, the flinty slates become ordinary
black schists, and the whole group, though never free from great
undulations, resembling in this all the Silurian islands of the bay,
puts on all the characters which are peculiar to it in Christiania
fjord, to which I have now reconducted my readers, after a rapid
traverse across the high plateau of Ringerigge, and a survey of the
eruptive rocks as seen around its external edges.

Conversion of Lower Silurian Schist into mock Gneiss. — If the
granite of Drammen has altered sandstone into quartz rock, and
Pentamerus limestone into marble with garnets, the greenstones
and porphyries of Christiania, particularly on the eastern side of
the bay, have produced a still more remarkable change on fucoid
shale, transforming it into a rock which might very well be mis-
taken for old Azoic gneiss.

The spot where I first observed this phenomenon in company with
Professor Forchhammer, is on the sea-shore at the southern foot
af the Egeberg, where a little promontory stands out in advance of
the mountain of ancient gneiss, and juts out into the bay, in
which there are several little islands as well as a low tongue
of Silurian schists and flagstones.

* Some of this rock was in the mineral condition of “ Allochroite,” according to
Professor Forchhammer,

608 [April 30.

Approaching the spot in a boat, it was interesting to observe the
very gradual and perceptible change, from the unaltered schists and

Bugten. Egeberg.

a Greenstone and Greenstone.
Paleozoic gneiss.

a, Black alum schist passing into chlorite schist and gneiss.
b, Lower Silurian rocks.

flagstones of the low neck of land, to the highly contorted and
metamorphosed masses which rise up into the little promontory.
The flags and limestone being first contorted and deflected, are
succeeded by black alum shale, in which is disseminated a great
quantity of iron pyrites mostly in a decomposing state. Gradually
this rock, in vertical strata, is seen to pass from the black shale
(which is a fine alum schist on the other face of the Egeberg)
into greenish micaceous schists, which, as they approach nearer to
the mountain, and to the focus of eruptive greenstone, become
more and more crystalline, until they might pass for a good pri-
mary schist, not easily distinguishable from much of the old gneiss
of the adjacent country. In the upper portion of this mass, or
that nearest to the black shale, the rock is loaded with little erys-
tals of iron pyrites, evidently formed by an aggregation of the
loose and scattered particles in the altered shale. In the most
crystalline portion, however, or that which is nearest to the bosses
of intrusive greenstone, are veins of the crystallised pyrites. A sin-
gular feature in this conjunction of appearances is, that long and
slender veins of quartz radiate as it were throughout the rocks,
traversing the greenstone and mock gneiss, and also passing from
that into the black and contorted shale. I have specially described
this spot, both because it affords the best evidence with which I
am acquainted of the conversion of alum shale into a gneissose
rock with chlorite, &c., and because the chemical process followed
by nature in operating this change has been admirably explained
by Professor Forchhammer, who has endeavoured to show that
as no argillaceous schistose rock could undergo similar melting
and metamorphosis without the medium of a flux, so there was
potash existing in the alum-shale, derived from the decomposition
of fucoids, and which, therefore, originally deposited in consider-
able masses in the rocks, had served as the flux whereby the
whole mass was fused and metamorphosed.

In referring geologists to the paper by Professor Forchhammer
on the conversion of fucoid alum shale into a gneissose rock, pub-
lished in the volume for 1844 of the Reports of the British Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science, I ought to state that M.
Forchhammer is quite as intimately persuaded as myself, that how-
ever such metamorphosis may have been brought about, there is no
doubt that the converted paleozoic rock can never be mistaken, ex-

1845.] 609

cept in isolated specimens, for the ancient Norwegian gneiss ; sincé
the former, however much altered, can always be traced without
any unconformable junction from the crystalline strata into a
slightly altered rock, and then from that into wholly unaltered
and fossiliferous Silurian bands. On the other hand, no such
example of transition from the great masses of ancient gneiss into
Silurian rocks has ever been seen in any part of Scandinavia ;
and however an example like this, where the converted rock re-
sembles the more ancient gneiss, might tend to mislead a young
observer, I shall show in the sequel how these fucoid strata, or
oldest Silurian rocks of other parts of Scandinavia, repose on
previously formed gneissose rocks.

If some geologists should contend, that as fucoids are compara-
tively of rare occurrence in strata, the theory of Professor Forch-
hammer is not based on adequate data to account for more than a
partial phonomenon, I beg entirely to dissent from such scepticism.
No one can ever have looked at the forests of algze and fuci which
are living in many sea bottoms (and I was powerfully struck
with their profusion in the deep and clear fjords of Norway),
or have reflected on the enormous bands of such vegetables
which extend through many degrees of latitude, as described
by Mr. Lyell, without admitting that many, if not by far the
greater portion of our sea-formed strata, which now constitute the
chief masses of our continents, may have originally contained
fucoids, although, from their ready decomposition, and the great
changes which the sediments have undergone, distinct evidences
of their existence are comparatively seldom to be met with. And,
as in huge masses of the fucoid schists of Scandinavia, where the
form of the vegetable has disappeared, the rock is only distin-
guished either by its anthracitic or bituminous qualities (parts of
it being sometimes so carbonaceous as to be used as fuel for roast-
ing the other portions of the alum slate), so I can very well
conceive how many of the schists and slates of England, from the
lower Silurian to the Lias and superior rocks inclusive, have
derived their pyritous, aluminiferous, and often inflammable pro-
perties from the ancient diffusion therein of a large proportion of
fucoids. The very seas in which the azoic rocks themselves were
formed may in like manner have contained abundance of fucoids,
whose decomposition may have afforded a flux for the metamor-
phism of those the most ancient deposits in the crust of the globe.

Passing, however, from these theoretical considerations, I will
now merely add, that besides the case observed at the foot of the
Egeberg, I also remarked what I conceive to be similar phenomena
in the cliff on which the Agershuus, or fortress of Christiania
is built. M. Von Buch directed my attention to what he con-
sidered to be an anomaly in the appearance of that singular
outlier which is separated from the main mass of gneiss by a
broad trough of Silurian schists and flagstones on which the
town and environs stand. On examining the seaward face of
this promontory, I found it to be also composed of black schists

610 [April 30.

and flagstones unauestionably of Silurian age, having, where not
much fractured, the usual strike of N.N.E. and 8.8.W., and cut
through by masses of porphyry and greenstone. Near some
points of contact, these schists are highly indurated, becoming
almost a Lydian stone, with pyritous crystals; and in other
larger masses, particularly those which form the north-western
rock on which the north-western and southern bastions stand,
the rock is a gneiss, which, folding round points of green-
stone, can scarcely, if possibly, be mineralogically distinguished
from the oldest gneiss in the country. In receding, on the con-
trary, a few paces only from the most metamorphosed parts, you
pass into masses in which the lines of bedding and concretions are
distinctly visible, though the whole are much broken up, dip-
ping away to the E. and W. in truncated fragments of the harder
flagstone, wedged unconformably into the surrounding matrix of
schist. Transverse quartz veins are here nearly as abundant as
in the example at Bugten near the Egeberg.

In taking leave of the sedimentary and metamorphic territory
of Christiania, with its encircling mountains of older or azoic
gneiss, I may state that, according to the views of modern geo-
logy, all the extensive tracts within that boundary, not merely in
the Christiania fjord, but also in the fjords of Drammen, Steen,
and Rand, and extending southwards to Frederiksvirn, compose
parts of a great palzozoic basin, the base of which is the lowest
Silurian fucoid band, and its summit the old red sandstone.
This idea would, indeed, hardly strike any observer who looked
at M. Keilhau’s map; for, faithful as it is in respect to general
boundaries, the varied colours with which he represents the dif-
ferent granites, porphyries, and greenstones within the basin, and
the vast spaces overspread by those colours, necessarily withdraw
the mind from true historical considerations to features purely
mineralogical.

The truth then is, that in some parts of this paleozoic basin,
the strata of Silurian and Devonian age are abundantly developed,
though almost every where traversed by innumerable eruptive
dykes, and thrown about in rapid undulations, whilst in other and
still larger tracts, the eruptive rocks have usurped nearly the
whole surface, leaving mere shreds and patches only of the ori-
ginal sedimentary masses which once occupied the basin. Thus, the
granite which I have spoken of as piercing and metamorphosing the
Silurian rocks of Drammen, rises into mountains, and extends over
nearly the whole large promontory between Launig and Frederiks-
virn, ranging down to the sea in low and gnarled headlands,
exactly resembling those of Cornwall. Now, indeed, that we know
these intrusive Norwegian rocks to be posterior to the old red
sandstone, the analogy between them and the rocks of Devonshire
and Cornwall is very nearly complete. In both countries eruptions
have predominated, which I would venture to call “ palzo-plutonic,”
to distinguish them from these more ancient granitic eruptions

1845.] 611

which are subordinate .and confined to the azoic rocks strictly so
called. The latter, therefore, on the same principle, I would term
‘ Azo-plutonic.’ In the construction of geological maps, there must,
I conceive, be an adherence to the principle embodied in these
names, if we desire to mark chronologically the changes which
have affected the earth at successive periods. The necessity of
this distinction between the older and more recent granites will be
made still more manifest when I have described their relations in
Sweden.

Silurian Rocks of Sweden, and their Relation to the older Crys-
talline Rocks.*—In this notice it will be convenient first to
describe the relations of the lower Silurian group to the subjacent
crystalline rocks, and then say a few words concerning the fossils
of the upper Silurian group of Gothland.

In the Hills of Hollaberg and Hunneberg to the east of the Falls
of Trollhztten, which are covered by a thick mass of basaltic
greenstone, one subordinate member only of the Silurian series is
visible, namely, the alum-slate; but no one who knows from nume-
rous other sections that this band is very near the Silurian base, can
glance his eye over the lower adjacent lands, all composed of
gneiss and granitic rocks, or look up from the latter as they appear
on the banks of the river, near the Falls of Trollhetten, without
being convinced that the horizontal band of black schistose
Silurian rock lies high above the crystalline granitic rocks of the
low country, though the absolute junction of the two is hidden by
a talus of detritus.

_ Advancing to the next Silurian oasis at Kinnekulle and the
hills of Billingen, the same general relations of a low surrounding
country of gneiss and granite, to high tabular plateaux of hori-
zontal Silurian strata, usually capped by trap, present them-
selves to the traveller. In ascending the hills of Kinnekulle, from
the low gneissose country of Lidkoping, he is no sooner above the
low level of those crystalline rocks, than he meets with a terrace
composed of quartzose sandstone, already mentioned as frequently
forming the lowest Silurian stratum in Scandinavia. This rock,
here arranged in beds from a few inches to a foot and a half thick,
is light-grey, whitish and fine-grained, in parts freckled with
ferruginous stains, and assumes at intervals a quartzose, character,
with divisions of chloritic shale. Its lowest beds, or those which,
as we shall presently show, rest upon the adjacent gneiss of the
valleys, are not here visible, owing to a talus of detritus, but in
those which are visible, were found branching fucoid-like bodies.
This sandstone is, in fact, seen to constitute the prevalent base of
all the Silurian strata, and in the hill of Kinnekulle is surmounted,
first, by the black alum schists and limestone ; next by red Or-
thoceratite limestone ; and, lastly, by Graptolite schists with some
calcareous courses and Orthoceratites. Though irregularly de-
nuded over a very considerable area, the Orthoceratite limestone

* See “Russia and the Ural Mountains,” &c., ante cz. p. 15.
VOL. IV. PART III. ZZ

612 [ April 30.

occupies a prominent step on the sides of the plateau, and

standing out high above the surrounding gneiss, is in its
turn covered by black schists, through which basaltic trap
has pierced, occupying only a small upper portion of the central
part of the tract. In descending from this summit we were much |
struck with the perfect symmetry of the Lower Silurian beds.
To the north, or on the side of the Wettern lake, the crys-
talline and gneissose rocks being in a depression, the fucoid sand-
stone ranges down to the water edge, surmounted by the alum-
‘slates, but on the south-eastern face of the hill of Kinnekulle the
gneiss is again seen to present exactly the same inferior relations
to the lower sandstone as on the western side, and the Orthoceratite
limestone is there strikingly developed by extensive quarries,
which form the first great step-like terrace between the basalt-
capped schists above and the low country of gneiss beneath.
Descending from these limestones, and passing over beds of alum-
slate and black limestone, the fucoid sandstone is seen in horizontal
masses, perfectly conformable to all the overlying strata, and
distinctly superposed to the gneiss below ; and indeed although the |
absolute junction of the sandstone and gneiss is not seen, the two.
rocks are within a hundred paces of each other, and without the
slightest indication of any other substance between them. The
gneiss also here is not merely in a lower position than the con-
tiguous sandstone, but, besides its crystalline structure, is at once
seen to belong to rocks of an entirely different class, and to be
quite independent of the overlying Silurian formation, so that the
one must have assumed its direction and structure before the other
was accumulated.

| It appears therefore that the gneiss, including many varieties,
must be considered the fundamental rock of Sweden, which
existed and was even highly inclined before the very lowest
Silurian beds began to be formed.

If however, after examining the section of Kinnekulle, there
could be any doubt on this point, it would be dispelled by what
appears in other localities, where the lowest of the Silurian strata
are not only absolutely superimposed on the granitic gneiss, but are
proved to have been derived from it, and are composed of its ver
materials. Examples of this phenomenon may be seen at Lugnos,
near the northern end of the Billingen Hills, where the Lower
Silurian beds (as at Kinnekulle), being deprived of their cover o
basalt, which has protected them from denudation over a consider-
able area to the south, are worn down, so as only to exhibit their
lowest portion, the alum-slate being partially visible above the
slopes of the rising ground, and the fucoid sandstone lying
beneath it.

Here, at least, there can be no ambiguity ; for the whole of the
adjacent low tract is composed of rolling hillocks of granite
or granitic gneiss, which assume exactly that appearance of bell-
shaped masses so happily illustrated by M. von Buch.

Again, in exploring the eastern shore of the great Wettern Lake,

1845. ] 613

to the south of Wadstena, among other phenomena of great interest;
we found that along the steep shores of the Omberg, one of the
few hills in Southern Sweden where the granitic gneiss occupies
a tract of any considerable height, the relations of the Lower
Silurian strata are, if possible, still more strongly indicative of
their having been derived from the adjacent pre-existing crystalline
rocks.
The Orthoceratite limestone is largely quarried at the village of
Borghamm, near the northern end of the Omberg; but by coasting
that mountain in a boat along its western face, the granitic rock
of which it is composed is seen to occupy the whole surface for
some distance, in cliffs rismg to 400 or 500 feet above the lake.
In about a mile, however, broken masses of the Lower Silurian
rocks occur in nearly vertical positions, plastered as it were
against the great wall of crystalline rock. Still further on, or
southwards, the chief mass of granitic gneiss retires somewhat
inland, laying open coombs upon its inclined surface, and in these
are very considerable masses of Lower Silurian strata with an
occasional Orthoceratite, but with little caleareous matter and few
fossils. These strata occupy a considerable thickness, both in a
slightly inclined, almost horizontal terrace, and also in vertical and
highly inclined positions. The inclined strata are chiefly composed
of soft argillaceous shale entirely unaltered, even when they are
in absolute contact with the granitic rocks, and in them, and also
in certain alternating courses of calcareous grit, are many included
small pebbles and fragments of the crystalline rock. Across the
edges of one group only of these beds near their southern ex-
tremity, where the mass of the granitic rocks retires inland, and
which are inclined at about 35° to the north for upwards of 800
paces, their lower part consisting of black shale (alum-slate)
wholly unaltered, we came to the lower fucoid sandstone. Here
again there could be no misgivings; for this sandstone having been
considerably eroded and worn away by the stormy action of the
waters of the lake, the lower granitic gneiss beneath it has been
exposed as a nucleus, around which the white, sandy and regene-
rated sandstone has been wrapped, and is still in a wholly un-
altered state !

These facts completely demonstrate what we are coutending for,
that the granitic gneiss and associated rocks of Sweden formed the
solid materials of that country before the earliest vestiges of
palzozoic deposits were called into existence. They further prove,
that as the Lower Silurian strata in question which are actually
adherent to the granitic rocks, though highly dislocated, occur in

the state of soft shale and unaltered impure limestone and sand-
stone, the crystalline ridge of the Omberg must have been up-
heaved as a hard and solidified mass, long after the period when it
had undergone the fusion and metamorphism which gave to these
ancient slaty rocks their crystalline aspect. »

Other phenomena, proving that the lowest Silurian sandstone

| of these tracts has been formed out of the ancient crystalline
ZZ 2

614 [April 30.

rocks, are also to be found in many other parts of Sweden, and we
particularly noted them still further to the south, on the high
eastern banks and slopes of the Wettern Lake near Grenna, where,
as well as in the large isle of Visings, the strata are composed of
a sandstone which is simply a continuation of the base of the
lowest Silurian stratum, its red colour being derived from adjacent
red felspathic and quartzose rocks out of which it has been formed
and on which it rests. Judging from what we observed in some
districts we should say that this sandstone, although the lowest
member of the Silurian system over large tracts in Vestrogothia
and Ostrogothia, is not so universally in Sweden.

Tn certain quarries of argillaceous limestone at Freberga, to the
north of Motala, we met with beds absolutely loaded with Kehzno-
spherites, of the same species as those near St. Petersburg. They
are there clustered together like bundles of enormous grapes, and
are associated with one of the small Orthide so common in the
Russian deposits of the same age. Here again the beds, though
entirely unaltered, are tilted at the high angle of 70° to the north,
in the proximity of a hill of ancient granitic or syenitic rock,
which had doubtless been heaved up en masse like the Omberg,
whilst in all the lower flat beyond the slope of the limestone
hillocks, and extending for many miles along the north-western
shores of Wettern See, the lower or fucoid sandstone lies in
grand horizontal sheets, and is extensively quarried as a building
stone.

The total absence, with very few exceptions, of all Upper
Silurian rocks in the main land of Sweden, and the fact of the
existence of such rocks exclusively in Gothland, being well-
known by the examination of fossils, it was not considered
necessary to visit this latter island. The chief rock in it isa
limestone very similar to that of the upper deposits of Christiania,
and is loaded with corals, many of which, including Catenipora
escharoides, Favosites labyrinthica, F. gothlandica, are well
known species in the Wenlock and Dudley limestone of England.
With these are associated Leptena depressa, L. euglypha, Atrypa
tumida, Pentamerus (Atrypa) galeatus, P. conchidium, Delthyris
cyrtena (Spirifer radiatus), Terebratula Wilsoni Sow. (T.
lacunosa of the Swedish authors), 7. marginalis Dalm. (7. im-
bricata Sil. Syst.), T. reticularis Linn. (Silur. variety of T. prisea),
T. nucula, T. plicatella Dal., Euomphalus sulcatus His., Posidonia
alata, Avicula retroflexa His., Tellina prisca, Orthoceratites com-
munis Wahl. (O. Ludense Sil. Syst.), O. imbricatus Wahl., O. an-
nulatus His. (O. tbex Sil. Syst.), O. annulatus Sow. (O. undulatus
His.), Phragmoceras, Lituites, Calymene Blumenbachi, C. vario-
laris Brong., Asaphus caudatus, and a number of other Trilo-
bites, among which is a rare example of the genus Brontes
(Goldfuss).*

* We also observed among other Crinoidea the remarkable Hypanthocrinites
decorus as well as the Actinocrinites moniliformis of Dudley.

1845.] 615

The coincidence of many of these fossils with those published as
Upper Silurian types in England is so truly remarkable, that no
sort of doubt can be thrown on the inference, that the rocks in
the two countries are of exactly the same age. The actual ex-
amination of the fossils has also enabled us to see, that certain
British species which, judging from the published figures of
Hisinger, were supposed to be distinct, are, in fact, identical
with forms previously named by that author, whose terms will
necessarily in all such cases be adopted.

Whilst the whole Gothlandian group is thus unquestionably
proved to be Upper Silurian, a large part being undoubtedly in
the exact parallel of the Wenlock limestone, we might (judging
from certain fossils, such as the Avicula retroflexa and a species
of Brontes*, both found with certain Orthoceratites in a sandy
rock at Mount Homberg in the southern part of the island) be led
to think, that the true equivalent of the Ludlow rocks is also there
present. ‘This is, indeed, rendered highly probable from what is
found to be the ease in the Russian island of Oesel.

In the Swedish Upper Silurian group there are, indeed, a few
species unknown to English geologists. But even these, though
wanting in England, are found in rocks of the same age in other
countries. Such, for example, is that peculiar shell the Cytherina
Baltica, or a variety of it, which has been detected in Normandy
and Brittany, and also in the Timan range of north-eastern Rus-
sia. Such also is the Posidonia alata, which is, if we mistake not,
a fossil of the Clinton division of the Silurian rocks of North Ame-
rica. We cannot make the last allusion without observing, that
several of the species enumerated, viz. Leptena depressa, L.
euglypha, Atrypa tumida, Pentamerus galeatus, Orthis elegantula,
Delthyris cyrtena, D. suleata, Avicula retrofleca and Hypan-
thocrinites decorus, as well as Calymene Blumenbachi and other
Trilobites, together with many corals, are identical, not only with
English but also with North American species of the Upper Silu-
rian rocks, —a striking illustration of the wide diffusion of similar
conditions in the early stages of the formation of the earth’s surface.

To whatever extent, therefore, future researches may prove that
English subdivisions are practicable in it, the Gothlandian group
is at any rate a most unequivocal example of true Upper Silurian
types, which in Sweden are quite as distinct from those of the
Lower Silurian rocks before described, as in the best known dis-
tricts of the British Isles.

Silurian Rocks of the Baltic Governments of Russia. Lower
Silurian at once covered by Devonian Strata— Upper Silurian
of the Isles of Oesel and Dago.—Referring to a forthcoming work
on Russia and the Ural mountains for details concerning the Silu-
rian rocks of the Baltic provinces of the Empire, I will now

_ * Though not published in the Silurian System, the genus Brontes has been
found by Dr. Lloyd in the Ludlow rocks, and even in their lower division. The
genus is, therefore, common to the Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian strata. .
1 ZZ 3°

616 [April 30.

simply state some broad facts with which I became better ac-
quainted on my last visit to St. Petersburg. Previously, indeed,
to that visit, my colleagues and myself had convinced ourselves
that all or nearly all the Silurian deposits in the governments of
St. Petersburg and Reval belonged to the Lower Silurian group
only, an inference derived both from a more correct examination
of these fossils than had been made when the earlier communica-
tions on this subject were made to the Geological Society (Proceed-
ings, vol. iii. p. 398. 717.,) and from a better acquaintance with
the Scandinavian paleozoic succession, which, in reference to the
lowest group, is of great importance, by exhibiting an inter-
mixture of well-known English Lower Silurian types with forms
abundantly common to that country and Russia. In this manner,
though the British typical species thin out and decrease in num-
ber, as the deposits are followed from west to east, their place in
the series is distinctly and unequivocally preserved.

As awhole, then, I now beg to state, that the Silurian deposits of
the Baltic governments of Russia, which consist in ascending order
of (1.) clay, (2.) Ungulite sandstone, (3.) bituminous schist, and
(4.) Pleta or Orthoceratite limestone, unquestionably constitute the
very same group as that which has been shown to be Lower Silu-
rian on the main land of Sweden; for amid certain new forms they
are charged with the same characteristic fossils— Asaphus ex-
pansus, Illenus crassicauda, Orthoceratites duplex, Echino-
spherites in abundance, and the coral Chetetes petropolitanus.
When, however, we enter into details, there are considerable
variations both in mineral and zoological development. Thus,
whilst in Sweden the lowest stratum is a sandstone, in Russia it is
a shale of great thickness; though in both tracts the analogy is
preserved by the lowest band containing fucoids only. The second
Russian stratum or Ungulite sandstone, is peculiar to Russia in
containing that remarkable horny shell, the Obolus of Kichwald or
Unguolite of Pander, but the overlying pleta limestone or great
centre of animal remains is full of the characteristic shells of the
lower limestone of Scandinavia. And here it is curious to observe,
how in receding from our typical regions in Britain certain generic
and specific forms gradually disappear, though the families of
fossils remain the same. Thus the two most common of the
Lower Silurian trilobites of England, the Asaphus Buchi and
Asaphus tyrannus, which are not unfrequent in Norway, begin to
be scarce in Sweden, and in Russia have only been very rarely
discovered.* The Trinuclews, so very prolific in Great Britain,

* Professor Eichwald had previously observed that the Asaphus dilatatus,
which is, we conceive, identical with the trilobite called Asaphus Buchii of the
British Isles, occurs at Oduisholm, an isle adjacent to Esthonia. More recently
H.1.H. the Duke of Leuchtenberg has found both the 4. Buchit and A.
tyrannus in the quarries of Grafskaya Slavenka, to the south of Czarskoe
Celo, where they are associated with many other typical Lower Silurian fossils,
and some new genera and species which the Prince has named. (See “ Be-
schreibung einer neuen Thierreste aus den silurischen Kalk-schiehten ‘von
‘T'zarskojé Celo von Maximilian Herzog von Leuchtenberg.”) ‘

1845.] 617

is scarce in Scandinavia, and as yet has never been discovered in
Russia. On the other hand, forms which are rare in England,
such as the Illenus crassieauda (published as the £. perovals in
the Silurian system) and others, become very common both in
Scandinavia and Russia. Again, Orthoceratites, usually so scarce
in the lower division of the English series, are most prodigiously
disseminated through the deposits of the same age both in Scandi-
navia and Russia; while the Orthide, with simple ribs, are here as
characteristic of the Lower Silurian age as in England, and
among them is the Orthis calligramma, which occurs in some of
the very oldest strata of N. Wales.

In the Russian Baltic provinces, as in Scandinavia and England,
the Lower Silurian group is terminated in the ascending order by
a limestone containing Pentamerus, in which some of the Upper
Silurian corals begin to show themselves, but the prevailing
species, though closely approaching to the P. oblongus of England
and Norway, is one which must be considered a new species, and
which we formerly named P, Letticans, from the tract in which we
found it.*

Numerous sections to the south of Czarskoe Celo and on the
rivers Ishora, Volkof, Siass, &c. demonstrate that the Lower
Silurian group, as clearly defined by its fossils, and without the pre-
sence even of the intermediate band of Pentamerus limestone. is at
once overlaid by true Devonian strata laden with ichthyolites.
Such a junction was formerly described on the river Volkof, but
at that period the precise equivalent of the underlying Silurian
rock was not pointed out. In my last visit to St. Petersburg, I
visited one of these junctions in company with my friends, Count
Keyserling and M. Worth, who had shortly before described it
in a memoir read before the Mineralogical Society of that capital.
The Pleta or Orthoceratite limestone, which occupies the great
plateau of Czarskoe Celo, is surmounted, to the south, at the
village of Ontolova, by reddish sandy and marly beds, in which
a few fishes’ scales were found by M. Worth; and on followin
these beds up the course of the Slavenka, to the villages of Ma-
rina and Porites, they are seen to become hard cream-coloured
marlstones in which the remains of Ichthyolites are most abun-
dant.

Aes remains have, in the hands of M. Agassiz, to whom I
referred them, thrown much additional light on the Devonian
fauna. Among them there are, it is true, certain forms belonging
to genera known in the Old Red Sandstone of Scotland and
England, but these are accompanied by several genera new to

* Since our former notices were read it has been published as Pentamerus
borealis by Eichwald.

+ In his accurate coup d’eil of the environsof St. Petersburg, Strangways
was the first who had noticed and even marked in his map this red earth on the
Slavenka; but he found no fossils in it, and at the period when he wrote could
not be expected to compare it with the Old Red Sandstone.

ZZ. 4

618 [April 30.

science, and some which had hitherto never been found lower than
the carboniferous limestone. Of the genus Onchus, found by myself
in the Old Red Sandstone of Worcestershire (see Sil. System, pp.
589, 596.) two species are described by M. Agassiz as the Onchus
heterogyrus and O. sublevis, and of the new genus Byssacanthus
to which the Onchus arcuatus of Bromyard in Herefordshire is
now referred, that author describes two Russian species, B. crenu-
datus and B. levis. From the other placoids from this locality
Professor Agassiz determines the new genera Homacanthus,
Hoplacanthus, Odontocanthus (one of the latter having pre-
viously been called by him a Ctenoptychius), Narcodes, and Naulos.

Among the Cestraciont family of Placoids he places two of the
Russian forms in the genus Ctenodus, no species of which has
hitherto. been found lower than the Carboniferous system. Of
this genus, two new and very remarkable species occur in
the lower Devonian beds of Russia, and these have been named
Ctenodus Keyserlingui and C. Worthii, after Count Keyserling and
Dr. Worth, who discovered them. Among the family of Hybo-
donts, M. ‘Agassiz has recognised the new genus Cladodus and
others of which I have yet received no account from him,

As these ichthyolites are about to be published in his “ Mo-
nographie des Poissons du Systeme Devonien,” and as their
relations will be also illustrated by a short description of the
fossils in the work on Russia already referred to, it is un-
necessary that I should further advert to them. As a geologist,
however, I may be permitted to remark, that most of the genera
being entirely unknown in the overlying deposits (the underlying
Silurian deposits of Russia never having afforded the trace of a
fossil fish), and as the species of Ctenodus are entirely distinct
from any forms of that genus in the carboniferous limestone, these
fossils strongly sustain the view of M. Agassiz, that each great
formation or system has been the tomb of a peculiar group of
fishes.

On the river Siass, my colleague, Count Keyserling, has ob-
‘served a succession from Lower Silurian to Devonian, analogous
to that which I have just described. ‘The lower beds, consisting
‘of arenaceous limestone with small white concretions, and calca-
reous flags alternating with red and green marls, contain numerous
true lower Silurian types, including the Orthis calligramma Dalm,
O. plana, O. inflexa, and O. extensa of Pander, together with
Asaphus expansus, Orthoceratites vaginatus, Favosites petropol-
tanus, &c. These are at once, and quite conformably, overlaid by
other calcareous flags, and also with red and yellowish marls, in
which certain typical shells never yet found in the upper Silurian
rocks, but eminently characteristic of Devonian strata, are inter-
mixed with true Devonian ichthyolites. Among the shells are, Orthis
striatula Schlot. Terebratula Livonica Von Buch, Spirifer mu-
ralis nob., Orthoceras cochleatum, and Serpula omphalotes, whilst
the fishes belong to the genus Dendrodus and the family of Coc-
costetm. ‘This union in the very same beds of the ichthyolites

1845.] 619

of the Scottish and English Old Red Sandstone with the shells of
Devonshire and the Kifel, we had, indeed, previously observed in
other parts of Russia; and I will now only add that, since the
former abstracts on Russia were published, the question has been
unequivocally set at rest even in Western Europe. In a recent
letter, M. de Verneuil informs me that in a collection which he
made at Gerolstein in the Eifel, M. Vogt, the friend and assistant
of Agassiz, has distinctly recognised the ichthyolites Coccosteus and
Osteolepis.

To persons not well acquainted with the paleozoic succession
the apparent passage above alluded to (for the overlying De-
vonian beds really much resemble the lower Silurian beneath
them) might seem to be very anomalous ; but extended examination,
and a due consideration of the causes which have operated in
elevating and depressing different portions of the country in
question, remove the difficulty. Thus, for example, in advancing
from the government of St. Petersburg, on the east, to Lithuania
and the shores of the Reval on the west, the true lower
Silurian group, as above defined, is first found to be overlaid
by the Pentamerus limestone; the uppermost member of the
lower group which in St. Petersburg and to the east is en-
tirely absent. This overlying band, in which the Pentamerus
borealis Kichw., is intermixed with a few shells common to
the lower and upper groups, ranges by Wissenstein, Oberpahlen,
Shavli, Pocroo, and other places; and finally, though no true
upper Silurian rocks occur on the main land, they are clearly and
copiously exhibited in the isles of Oesel and Dago. In these islands
there is not only a full development of most of the corals of Wen-
lock and Dudley, but also of many shells, which, entirely distinct
from those of the lower group, are to a great extent the same as
those which characterise the Wenlock and Ludlow rocks of the
British Isles, as appears by the following list, for which I am
indebted to M. Pander: — Catenipora escharoides, C. laby-
rinthica, F'. Gothlandica, F. basaltica, F. polymorpha, Syringo-
pora reticulata, Aulopora serpens, A. conglomerata, Millepora
repens, Astrea Cyathophyllum, &c., Orthocera lineatus, Tenta-
culites annulatus, Calymene Blumenbachii var. pulchella, Tere-
bratula diadonta, T. tumida, T. canalis, Atrypa depressa, A.
reticularis, A. affinis, A. didyma, Orthis orbicularis, Delthyris
suleata, Avicula reticulata, Mya rotundata, Cardium striatum,
Cyathocrinites.

This list indicates, not merely the existence of Wenlock and
Ludlow rocks, but also of the very uppermost beds of the whole
Silurian system, or those tilestones that form a passage into the Old
Red Sandstone, and which I formerly connected with that deposit,
but which for several years I have considered with Professor
Sedgwick, Professor Phillips, &c., as the upper termination
of the Silurian system. For in the uppermost strata are found
Orthis orbicularis, Turritella obsoleta, and Turbo Williams,
all published British species of the highest Ludlow beds.

620 [April 30.

Although in Norway, therefore, there is a consecutive succession
from lower Silurian through upper Silurian to the Old Red
Sandstone inclusive, the continents of Sweden and Russia (at
least that central portion of Sweden which I examined), are
void of any true upper Silurian strata; the latter being confined,
as far as I now know, to the Isle of Gothland on the one side, and
the isles of Dago and Oesel on the other. These facts can, it ap-
pears to me, be best explained by supposing that these continental
areas were elevated above the waters after the completion of
the lower Silurian beds, which were thus placed beyond the in-
fluence of the depository action under which the rocks of the Baltic
Isles and of Norway were accumulated ; and also that after their
accumulation, the Swedish continent remaining stable, the Russian
masses were subjected to a broad, equable, and general depression
beneath the sea, whereby the Devonian strata were conformably
superposed to the Lower Silurian.

At the same time it is difficult to conceive that such extensive
operations of upheaval and depression could have taken place with-
out occasioning some dislocations. In describing Sweden I have
already adverted to such, proving that, although the lower Silurian
rocks of that region are for the most part horizontal, still there are
tracts wherein they have been considerably deranged. And even
in the Baltic provinces of Russia, which lie at so low a level above
the sea, and in which no intrusive rocks are visible, there are
transverse dislocations, the importance of which must not be passed
over in coming to a right conclusion on this subject. I will there-
fore give a brief description of the nature of the junction of the
Silurian strata, along their northern or Finnish and Lappish
frontier, and after referring to the eruptions by which they have
been there affected, will show how such operations and their ac-
companying elevations have extended their influence by producing
transverse dislocations in the slightly consolidated lower Silurian
rocks of the Baltic governments of Russia.

When viewing the great features of the earth, the geologist who
compares the northern frontier of the palaozoic deposits of Scan-
dinavia and Russia with that of British North America, recently
described before this Society by Captain Bayfield*, cannot avoid
being struck with the great similarity of succession in these two
vast regions. In both the general range of the rocks is from 8. W.
to N.E., in both the same type of lower Silurian deposits oceurs,
and rests upon more ancient crystalline rocks ; and in both are
these strata succeeded in similar ascending order by upper Silu-
rian, Devonian, and Carboniferous deposits. We may still further
pursue the analogy by stating that in both regions great sheets of
water range more or less along the older frontier line, and lastly,
that in both large quantities of erratic blocks have been transported
from N. to S., or from N.N. W. to 8.8. E.

* See ante, p. 584.

1845.] 621

In respect to the close parallelism of the different sedimentary
masses of the two continents, I must refer to my opinions and
those of my coadjutors in our forthcoming work, and will now
merely say that as the succession in N. America has had its base
line defined for about 2000 miles, so do the observations of myself
and friends apply in the same general manner to an extent not far
short of that space, or from the western headlands of Norway to
those which separate the White Sea from the glacial ocean.

In Sweden, as has been shown, the absolute junction of the
lower Silurian strata with the pre-existing crystalline rocks, is
quite as clear as it can be in any part of N. America, but it is
not so in Finland or Russia, where two powerful causes prevent
our making the necessary observations. The first of these is the
protrusion of much eruptive matter, and the consequent metamor-
phism of the conterminous strata; the other the prodigious accu-
mulations of erratic blocks and detritus which obscure the funda-
mental rocks. It is not my intention to enter on this occasion into
any details respecting either of these operations, which are treated
of elsewhere, but merely to call attention to some great physical
features along this frontier line, and to explain the probable causes
of their production.

On inspecting the geological map of Russia, which is now pub-
lished, it will be seen that, excluding the Gulf of Bothnia, the
frontier line, of which Iam now speaking, is marked by a great
line of waters from S8.W. to N.E. The Gulf of Finland is, in
truth, but the north-eastern prolongation of the Baltic, and the
White Sea is the north-eastern termination of this great and ex-
tended line of fissure; whilst intermediate between these two
marine gulfs, lie the enormous freshwater lakes of Ladoga and
Onega. On further inspecting the map, we are struck with the fact
that the longer axis of each of these two great freshwater lakes is at
right angles to the main direction of the rocks, and of the White
Sea and Finland Gulf; and, further, that a multitude, we may
say thousands of minor lakes in Finland, Carelia, and Lapland,
are parallel to the great lakes, and also, consequently, transverse
to the general bearing of the sedimentary masses in their relation
to the subjacent crystalline rocks. Pursuing the inquiry, we see
that other gulfs, some occupied by salt-water, as that of Riga in
the Baltic, and those of Onega, Kandalaska, and Archangel in the
White Sea, are also transverse in the same sense.

Let us then inquire if the structure and geological phenomena
of the region will help us to explain such geographical outlines.

In a former communication I briefly pointed out the chief
relations of the rocks on the banks of the great lake Onega, and
showed, that wherever the eruptive matter (whether in the form of
greenstone, syenite, or trappean conglomerate) had come to the
surface, it had formed bands parallel to the great lake Onega, and
that in the vicinity of such eruptions Silurian limestones had
been metamorphosed into marble, and soft sandstones (which
at some distance from the eruptions contained Devonian fossils)

622 [ April 30.

into hard siliceous and quartzose rocks. These facts, and
the coincidence of the form of the lakes with the outlines of the
land, as determined by eruptive forces, led me to conclude that
the one had been produced at the same time as the other ; or in
other words, that the extravasation of so much igneous matter, or
in its absence the upheaval of so much of the solid strata, had
occasioned corresponding lateral and parallel depressions. This
idea is supported by a general review of all the phenomena along
the great frontier line in question, the whole of which afford, I
think, a striking confirmation, and, on a very grand scale, of the
theory worked out by Mr. Hopkins in the British Isles, from the
close examination of smaller areas.

In the first place it is clearly determined by the general strike
or bearing of the older paleozoic deposits and the boundary
which they form with the Azoic rocks on the one side, and with
overlying systems on the other, that the great line of their up-
heaval has been from S. W. to N. E., or rather, more correctly
speaking, that they occupy a portion of a grand curve which has
accommodated itself to the subjacent crystalline mass on which
their lower edges rest —the direction of the Gulf of Finland being
from W.S.W. to E.N.E., and that of the White Sea from §.W. to
N. E. To this line so defined, the Silurian, Devonian and Car-
boniferous deposits strictly conform. The longitudinal upheaval
of these deposits has, I conceive, been the chief original cause of
the formation of the Gulf of Finland and the channel of the
White Sea. These great depressions have been, in fact, produced
along the line of junction of the sedimentary deposits with the
crystalline rocks, or just where we might look for a physical
separation at that period when the crust of the earth was sub-
jected to great movements. Now, according to the mathematical
demonstrations of Mr. Hopkins, no great portions of the solid
crust of the globe could be upheaved without being accompanied
or followed by great transverse rents; just such as those that
appear at so many intervals along the line we are considering.
And if, as we may believe, the original elevation was due to the
expansive power of intense heat, and gases struggling to reach the
surface, So may we well imagine that where the action was the
most powerful, and the cracks the deepest, such action would give
vent to linear bands of molten matter that would rise up and
form ridges similar to those accompanying the transverse Russian
lakes. Iwas strongly confirmed in the adoption of this view by
my last excursion to St. Petersburg. The Gulf of Finland it-
self exhibits clear evidences of emission of plutonic matter trans-
verse to its chief axis in four small isles, composed of porphyry
and greenstone rocks ; for though these isles trend on the whole
parallel to the axis of the gulf, or from W. S.W. to E.N.E., the
rocks, of which they are severally composed, have been erupted
athwart this line, or from N.N.W. to §.S.E. This is best ex-
bited in the chief of these islands, called Hochland, which, rising to
a height of about 600 feet above the sea, and stretching for a few

1845.] °~ 623

miles from §.S. E. to N.N.W., in the form of an elongated rugged
ellipse, is chiefly composed of porphyry, on the shoulders of whick
are various patches of metamorphosed limestone and sandstone,
thus presenting the most complete analogy to the phenomena of
Petroyavodsk and the Lake Onega.

Now if such elevating forces had really produced abundant
transverse fissures along the chief line of upheaval, or near the
junction of the paleozoic and azoic rocks, we might naturally
expect that their effects would be extended for some distance
to the south and south-east, or in other words, into the con-
terminous sedimentary deposits, even in those tracts where no
eruptive masses rend the surface, and where, owing to the repres-
sion of such eruptions, the original strata are in a very slightly
coherent and unsolidified condition. And such is the case. If I
were to point to general features only, it might indeed suffice to
show that the rivers Narva, Luga, Ishora, Tosna, Volkof, and
Siass, flow through chasms which are in fact fissures in the
Silurian limestone, all more or less transverse to the strike of
these strata, and coincident with the direction of the porphyries
and trap rocks of the northern frontier, and all the northern
lakes. Again, the long lake of Peipus, ranging from N.W. to
S.E., is as near as possible at right angles to the major axis
of the Gulf of Finland, and parallel to the direction of Hochland.
Without, however, appealing to these general physical evidences,
the effects of such transverse dislocation can be clearly traced even
in the usually horizontal and unsolidified Silurian rocks in the im-
mediate vicinity of St. Petersburg. On a former occasion, when
speaking of the general horizontality and broad undulations of
the palzozoic rocks of the low plateaux and plains of Russia, I still
contended that certain breaks and contortions in the environs of
Czarskoe Celo, or between that place and Palkovka, could not be
referred (as M. Pander had supposed) to local subsidences caused
by the spontaneous decomposition of pyritous schist on which the
limestone rests, but must have resulted from those general causes
of disruption which are so common in our own country, and indeed
in nearly every part of the globe. In again calling the notice of
the Society to these dislocations on the Palkovka brook, I can now
give additional facts which so corroborate my former opinion, that
no sort of doubt can be attached to it. The little brook of Pal-
kovka is one of those streams which, escaping from the calcareous
plateau of Czarskoe Celo, lays open on its banks beneath the
village of Pulkova, first a great arch of the strata, next breaks and
faults, and then masses of limestone more or less horizontal, from
beneath which the Ungulite sandstone and lower shale are brought
out in highly inclined strata. Examining the banks of another
brook which flows through similar strata, by the village Popofka,
at not less than 15 or 20 versts to the 8.8. E. of the former, and
therefore in a line directly transverse to the general bearing of
these Silurian rocks, I found the phenomena so nearly the same,
that my old section of Palkovka might really have been applied to

624 [April 30.

Popofka, thus demonstrating that wherever these usually hori-
zontal strata have been really affected by a line of transverse
fissure, their effects are by no means limited, but have ex-
tended athwart the sedimentary masses for considerable spaces.

In truth this is just what we might expect to see at intervals,
even in sediments like these, which, on the whole, have been so
equally upheaved and depressed, that, as before observed, the
lower Silurian are conformably overlaid by Devonian beds—the
relative age of the masses being alone determinable through a close
and rigid examination of the organic remains. In general, how-
ever, such abrupt curvatures and breaks are very rare, broad
undulations only being the predominant features of movement in
the unaltered palzozoic deposits of Russia. This general horizon-
tality of the strata was formerly sufficiently dwelt upon, and it was
even shown that limestones of the Permian age, on the Vaga and
the Dwina of north-eastern Russia, are so perfectly conformable to
certain pleistocene deposits, that a person unacquainted with
organic remains might suppose the upper palzozoic rock to have been
there actually succeeded without any interval by those accumulations
in which the shells are to a great extent undistinguishable from
those now living in the sea. Such very conformable appositions
of strata of different age are however most apparent wherever the
country is flat, and the deviations from such rules are usually found
where the ground rises. Thus the plateau of Czarskoe Celo, with
its conterminous hills of Duderhof, is high in relation to the
adjacent plains. Thus, again, in the Valdai Hills, which con-
stitute the only considerable elevation in the region south of
St. Petersburg, such transverse fissures are still more striking in
the carboniferous limestone, though difficult to observe from the
great masses of superficial detritus; thus seeming to prove that in
proportion to the strain to which the strata were exposed in the
process of elevation, so were they disrupted at right angles to the
chief line of tension. After these allusions to the probable con-
nection between the transverse fissures and breaks observable in
the palozoic strata of the Baltic provinces of Russia, and their
elevation, I will conclude this memoir by stating as one result of
the examination of the fossils of Scandinavia, that as the lowest
fossiliferous rocks of that tract are unequivocally of the same age
as the lower Silurian rocks of Great Britain and America, so the
deposits which occupy the governments of St. Petersburg and
Reval are the same as those of the continent of Sweden; in the
latter country (I speak now of its central mass) no Upper Silurian
having yet been discovered.

In both countries it would appear (the central mass of Sweden
only being alluded to) that this group, proved to be protozoic by
its having been deposited on antecedent crystalline and azoic
rocks, is uncovered by Upper Silurian, though the latter deposit
is copiously and unequivoeally exhibited in the great island of
Gothland on the Swedish side, and in the smaller isles of Dago
and Oesel, near the Russian shores. Thus it would seem that

1845.) 625

immediately after the completion of the Lower Silurian group,
these two continents were elevated and placed beyond the reach of
the depositary influence of the sea in which the isles were formed,
and therefore that in ancient times, as at the present day, a great
trough existed between these opposite continental masses of land.
This early elevation was probably unaccompanied by any great
fractures ; for the lower Silurian rocks of both lands have still pre-
served a general horizontality, which is the more remarkable in the
case of Russia, as it has been shown that the sediments, after
having been raised, must again have been depressed to permit of
copious marine accumulations of Devonian age upon their surface.
In like manner, we must believe from the evidences of conformable
apposition of the Devonian and carboniferous deposits of Russia,
that no sort of disturbing influence could have existed in these re-
gions when the one formation succeeded to the other. Theuppermost
beds of the Devonian, loaded with Holoptychius and Onchus, Coc-
costeus, Placosteus, and Dendroedus, are at once conformably sur-
mounted by strata containing the most universally diffused car-
boniferous types. In short, fishes identical with those of the Old
Red Sandstone of Scotland are invariably surmounted by the
Stigmaria ficoides and the large Producti of our British moun-
tain limestone; and thus the examination of Russia has taught
us, not only in this instance, but also in the overlying Permian
succession, that the great changes in animal life have not been de-
pendent on physical revolutions of the surface, but are distinct
creations, independent of any such proximate local causes; though
I would by no means deny that the grand operations of change
which have affected the conterminous regions of Russia did not
_ tend to produce these results.
_ The first elevation and depression of the Lower Silurian strata
having been moderate, and probably not extensive, and those strata
having, during the long succeeding Devonian and carboniferous
periods, remained beneath the sea, in which these sediments were
accumulated, we next reach that period of disturbance which is so
strongly marked in nearly every part of Europe, or that which
followed the close of the carboniferous epoch. Then it was that the
whole of the older paleozoic series of Northern Russia was raised
up in lines extending from 8. W. to N.E. And, although even
then their elevation must have been infinitely more equable than
any of those upheavals which have determined the strike and
escarpments of rocks of the same age in Western Europe, we
cannot imagine the upward movement of such enormous masses
from beneath the sea to some height above it, without the ac-
companiment of some of those transverse fissures and breaks,
which, though feeble in the slightly elevated tracts, increase in
intensity with the amount of upheaval.

626

TABLE I.

[April 30:

LOWER SILURIAN FOSSILS OF SCANDINAVIA,

AS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF OTHER REGIONS.

Nore. In this Table the Subdivisions of the Swedish Lower Silurian series are thus denoted :
A.S., Argillaceous slate ; Al. S., Alum slate; O. L., Orthoceras limestone..

Crustacea.

Calymene bellatula Dalm. - - O.L.
ornata Dalm. -- - OL.
(Paradoxides bimucronatus Sv.

Syst.)
Fiseheri Eich.
sclerops Dalm.
clavifrons Dalm.
8 centrina Dalm.
c verrucosa Brong.
laciniatus Dalm.

Trinucleus Caractaci Sd. Syst. Al. S. &
Lloydii S77. Syst. - Al. S.&
brevis sp. n. - Al.S.&
asellus Beck. - Al. Se

Asaphus platynotus -

? cyllarus His. (Trinucleus)
raniceps Dalm. -
seticornis His. (Trinucleus)
angustifrons Dalm. -
palpebrosus Daim. -

(SDN EES Goldf. )
mucronatus -
extenuatus - -
Buchii (dilatatus var. rr) -
heros (tyrannus) - -
expansus - - -

99999 secon soleceraces
BREE PES i tir

var. cornutus -
Al

Ampyx nasutus . - .S.& O.L.
Illenus crassicauda - - ©.L.
centrotus - - = ©), 1b.
laticauda - - - O.L.
Olcenus scarabzoides - Al.S.
(Anthes Gotéf. eS
paradoxides Al. S.
vesiculosus
Tessini =
(Paradoxides Br.)
Agnostus ‘levigatus - - AI.S.
(Battus Daim. )
pisiformis Brong. - Al.S.
Mollusca.
Orthoceras duplex Wahl. =< - O.L.
vaginatus = - ©.L.
trochlearis His. - O.L.
tenuis - - ss (ON
centralis - - 6 ()5 We
Lituites convolvans His. - =) Ops lbis
lituus His. - - & Op1bo

++4+4+4+4+

t+t¢+ $ettet

++ + ++

+ +

+++ +444

+
bat)

+

+

++

+++

+

+

+

+++

+ ++

++

++

Le] 3
& 3}
Ss i
eo o Remarks.
S £
A <
+?
+ +
+
+
+ oP
+ | Cryptonymus
Eichwald,He-
micrypturus
Razumofskii
Green.
+1 1 Occurs in Ire-
land.
ats +
+
+?
*
+?
+
|
+
fh Ireland and
Wales.

1845.]

:627

Orthis pecten Dalm.
polygramma Daim. M. Ss.
caligramma Dalm. -
alternata Sow. -
virgata Sow. - -
testudinaria Dalm. -

Pentamerus oblongus -

Lingula longissima -
Leptena sericea -
Spirifer lynx var. -

— var. borealis Pent.
Terebratula(Atrypa) crassicostis Daim.

nucella ~
canaliculata

(Atrypa dorsata Dalm.)
porambonites -

Avicula orbicularis Foralsberg.

Euomphalus Gualteriatus -

Crinotdea.

pope tenites (Pellinospherites)anyan- OL.| + +

Polyparia.

(igaee Cystidece Von Buch.)

Cheetetes (Favosites) petropolitanus
Graptolites sagittarius, &c. -

Fucoidee.

TABLE I. — continued.
g eos’
Ble
- O.L.| +
- +] +
- O.L.| + | + |] +
- O.L. +
- O.L. +
2 @zile |) spol] sr +?
Pent. L.st.| + +?
L.st. +
A.S.| + +
- +] +] +
- AlS.| +
- O.L.
- O.L.
- OL] + | +] +
- +/+ {+
- +
- O.L.} + + +
+
O.L.| + + +
- A.S. + + +
- ALS.| + ar +?

Ceramites Hisingeri Liebmann

England.

~~

+++4+4+44

+

+o

TABLE IL.

Remarks.

Near to a Con-
iston species
Sedgwick.

Group of S.bifo-

ratus Schloth.

1 Occursin Ire-
land.

UPPER SILURIAN FOSSILS OF SCANDINAVIA,
AS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF OTHER REGIONS.

§ a ‘ 3 CI
E 6 a = g
Crustacea.
Calymene Blumenbachii - - -| + + + + +
var. pulchella —- -| + ap of +1 1 Occurs in Ire-
land.
punctata = - - -| + +
Downingiz - 2 =, 2 + | + | + |2 Occurs in
Capelham.
Phacops pager opthalmus - - -| + + aR +
Asaphus cdudatus - 5 - = + + ah
Stokesii - - - -| + +
Brontes flabellifer ? ? - - -| +? +?
Cytherina Baltica—- e = o |! se + Nehou, France.
Timan Chain.
Mollusca. ay
Orthoceras ibex (annulatus His.)~ - -| + ? fe
crassiventris His. - - + ?
(nummularis Sow.) - -| +
undulatus H?s. + ? ah
(annulatus Sow.) - =
tenuis - - = -| + ? +
communis - - -| + ? +
imbricatus - - =| + ? ‘
Gomphoceras pyriforme Sow. = = + a
Phragmoceras compressum Sow. = - + +
Terebratula marginalis EHD . -| + +
imbricata - ai) ob +
| plicatella Dalm. = 3) ae ? 4
| Wilsoni = c Sr + at +
(lacunosa His.)
: VOL. IV. PART IIl. 3A

628 [Feb. 26,
TABLE II. — continued.

Remarks.

Sweden.
Norway.
Russia.
England
America.

|
|

Terebratula bidentata Hzs. - - -
semisulcata - - || ar
(lacunosa Sow.)
sublamellaris (Miinster) :

=

1 Occurs in
Ludlow ?
reticularis = : -
(affinis Sow.)
aspera - - -
nucula - - -
Atrypa tumida Dalm. - -
(tenuistriata Sz. Syst. )
Pentamerus galeatus - -
conchidium - - -
(Gypidia Dialer )

Leptznadepressa = -
euglypha_ -
transversalis

Orthis (near rugosa ?)
orbicularis -
rustica -

Chonetes sarcinulatus

(Orthis. striatella Daim. )

Spirifer radiatus Sow. -
(Delthyris cyrteena (Daim.
ptychodes Dalm. - -

pisum - - -
trapezoidalis - -
crucialis sp. n. Sow. -

biloba (sinuata Sow.) o

* Keardicsec rors His.)

oh bt + bt + +t
wt tte + + +4
++ + 4+

++
+++

woo o+th t+ t+ +

tet t+

G0 4 4)
op peop 8b

+ ++4+4+4+44

ap SP 9p oP 4p
Spor apare te

++++

Cypricardia cymbeeformis Sow.

(Cardium Sapo AA "Daim.
Mya rotundata =
Lucina prisca (Tellina sp. His. ) -

prwve

Trochus ellipticus -
Turritella obsoleta -
Turbo Williamsi -
Euomphalus funatus
sculptus
alatus
carinatus Sow.
(Inachus sulcatus Hs.)

++

ele, ete ae

++ tev t+0 +

++
+h+te+

Ss.

Crinoidea.
Hypanthocrinus decorus - - -
Actinocrinus moniliformis - -
Tentaculites ornatus -
1 Caryocystites granatum (Cystideze Von
Buch).

+444
+
-o+

Incert. sed.
Cornulites serpularius - - a

+
+

Polyparia.
Catenipora escharoides
labyrinthica
Favosites gothlandica
polymorpha
spongites
alveolaris
Porites pyriformis -
Cyclolites lenticulata
(numismalis Esmar ch)
preacuta -
(numismalis Hisinger)
Syringopora reticulata -
Ptilodictya lanceolata -
Stromatopora concentrica
Aulopora serpens = S
conglomerata
| Cyathophyllum turbinatum
| dianthus
| ceratites Goldf.
| Milleporarepens - 2

OE et Yin ie)
Cr) bamed Pet onal boul Beet beng
+++++4+4+
+ +4444

++

+ t+t++t4+

~~

Sahib Sp opabaps tse aepap
+

~
+ +4+4+4+4++

t+++
+ t+4+44+4+4+

Se

DONATIONS
OF

BOOKS, MAPS, ETC.,

TO THE

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY*.

| I. TRANSACTIONS AND JOURNALS.

Those to which no name is annexed as Donor were presented by the
respective Societies and Editors.

Royal Agricultural Society of England, Journal. Vol. iv. part 2,
and vol. v. part 1.

American Journal of Science and Arts, conducted by Prof. Silliman.
Vols. xiv. xlvi. and xlvii. Presented by Prof. Silliman.

Philosophical Society, Proceedings. Nos. 26-29.

Transactions. Vol. ix. part 1.

Royal Asiatic Society, Bombay Branch, Journal. Nos. 3-6, January
1842.

Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Journal.
No. xiv. and No. xv. parts 1 and 2.

Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. Reports of
their First, Second, and Third Meetings, 1840-2.

Atheneum Journal. Parts 187 to 203. Presented by the Editor.

Berlin, Royal Academy of. Abhandlungen der koniglichen Aka-
demie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1841-2.

—— Bericht, July 1842 to June 1844.
Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club, Anniversary Address, 1843.

* This list includes all those Books, Maps, &c. presented to the Society after
the publication of vol. vi. 2nd ser. of the Geological Transactions, and between
that time and the close of the year 1844. The list of Donations will for the
future be published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society.
|

630

Societa Reale Borbonica, Atti della Reale Accademia delle Scienzi.
Vol. v. part 1.

Boston Journal of Natural Histery. Vol. iv. No. 3. Presented by
the Editor.

Birmingham Philosophical Institution, Annual Report, 1843.

British Association, Report of the 13th Meeting held at Cork in
August 1843.

Bruxelles, Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles Lettres de,
Mémoires Couronués et Mémoires des Savants Etrangers.
Tom. xv. part. 2, et tom. xvi.

Nouveaux Mémoires. Tom. xvi.
———— Annuaire, Années 9 et 10, 1843-4.
——.— Bulletins. Lom. 1x. part. 2, x. et xi parted:

Instructions pour l’Observation des Phénoménes Pé-
riodiques. (Deux Parties.)

Calcutta Journal of Natural History, conducted by John M’Clelland.
Nos. 9-16. Presented by Mr. M’ Clelland.

Chemical Society of London, Memoirs. Vol. i. and part 6-9 vol. ii.

Institution of Civil Engineers, Proceedings, Sessions 1840-3.

Copenhagen, Royal Society of. Det Kongelige Danske Videnska-
bernes Selskabs Naturvidenskabelige og Mathematiske Af-
handlinger, 10 Deel.

——.-—_—. Censura Commentationis, 1843.

——

Oversigt over det K. Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs
Forhandlinger og dets Medlemmers Arbeider i Aaret. Nos.
1-9, 1842, and nos. 1-8, 1843.

Cornwall, Royal Geological Society of, Transactions. Vol. v.

, —— 30th Annual Report, 1843.

————., Royal Institution of, Twenty-fourth Annual Report,
1842.

Royal Polytechnic Society, Tenth and Eleventh Annual
Reports. |

_—

Dublin, Geological Society of, Journal. Vol. ii. parts 2, 3 and 4, |
vol. iii. part 1, Nos. 1 and 3. b |

|

Edinburgh, Royal Society of, Transactions. Vol. xv. parts 3 and 4.
, Proceedings. Nos. 21-22. |
Egyptian Society, Seventh Annual Report.

Ethnological Society, Prospectus and List of Members.

Fisher’s Colonial Magazine, and Journal of Trade, Commerce and.
Banking. No.1. Presented by the Editor.

631

France, Société Géologique de, Bulletin. Tom. xiii. f. 27-34, et
tom. xiv. f. 21-42, et 2nde Série. Tom. i. f. 1-38.

A Index 4 Tom. xii.—xiii.
, Mémoires. Tom. v., et 2nde série, tom. i. part. 1.

—————

—__——.,, Statistique Administrative de, par Auguste Viquesnel.
, Liste des Membres, 1844.

Genéve, Société de Physique et d’Histoire Naturelle de. Tom. x.
ptie 1.

Royal Geographical Society, Address at the Anniversary Meeting,
May 22nd, 1843, by W. R. Hamilton, F.R.S.

, Journal. Vol. xiii. part 1, and vol. xiv. part 1.

Société Hollandaise des Sciences 4 Haarlem, Extrait de son Pro-
gramme pour 1844.

Journal des Mines de Russie. Annuaire pour 1839, 1840 et 1841.
Presented by Gen. Tcheffhine.

Royal Irish Academy, Proceedings for 1842-3. Part 7.
Leeds Philosophical Society, 23rd and 24th Annual Reports, 1842-4.

London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine. Nos.
150-169. Presented by R. Taylor, Esq.

London Physiological Journal, edited by S. J. Goodfellow and E. J.
Quekett. Vol. i. Nos. 1-5. Presented by the Editors.

Société Royale de Lille. Programme des Prix Proposés.
Linnean Society, Transactions. Vol. xix. parts 2 and 3.

, Proceedings. Nos. 15-22.

, Lists, 1843-4.

Manchester Geological Society, 3rd, 4th and 5th Annual Reports.
Microscopical Society of London, Transactions. Vol. i. part 1.

Mineralogical Society of St. Petersburg. Verhandlungen der Kaiser-
lich-Russischen Mineralogischen Gesellschaft zu St. Petersburg,
1842-3.

Moscou, Société Impériale des Naturalistes de, Bulletin. No. 4,
Année 1842, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, 1843.

Nouveaux Mémoires. Tom. 7.

Munich, Royal Academy of. Abhandlungen der Mathematisch-
Physikalisches Classe der koniglich Bayerischen Akademie der
Wissenschaften. Band 3. Abtheil 3.

Bulletin der konigl. Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Nos. 1-55, 1843.

Almanach der konigl. Bayerischen Akademie der Wis-
senschaften, 1843.

Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Archives. Tom. ii. liv. 4, et tom. iii.
liv. 3-4.

632
Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and New-
castle-upon-Tyne, Transactions. Vols. i. and ii.

Royal Academy of Sciences of Naples. Rendiconto delle Adunanze
e de’ Lavori dell Accademia delle Scienze. Tom. ii. No. 7—I1.

Paris, Academy of Sciences of. Comptes Rendus. Tom. xv. a xviil.,
avec les Tables.

— Mémoires présentés par divers Savans de l'Institut.
Tom. viii. ;

Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of, Proceedings. Vol. ii.
Nos. 1 and 3.

Physicians, Royal College of, Catalogue of the Fellows, Candidates
and Licentiates, 1843.

Phytologist, The. Nos. 31-34. Presented by Edw. Newman, Esq.

Royal Society, Philosophical Transactions. Parts 1 and 2, 1843,
and part 1, 1844.

————., Proceedings. Nos. 57-59.

——-, List for 1843.

Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Com-
merce, Premiums for the Sessions 1843-5.

, Lransactions. Vel. 54.

Société du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Strasbourg. Mémoires.
Tom. iii. liv. 2.

Tasmanian Journal, Vol.ii. Nos.6 and 7. Presented by Sir John
Franklin.

Zoological Society, Transactions. Vol. iii. parts 2 and 3.

, Proceedings. Nes. 120-130.

, Annual Report, April 29th, 1844.

Zoologist, The. Nos. 3-15. Presented by Edw. Newman, Esq.

II. BOOKS.

The name printed in italics is that of the Donor, both in this lst and
the neat one of Maps, sc.

Ansied, Dav. Tho. Geology: Introductory, Descriptive, and Prae-
tical. 2 vols. 8vo.

Archiac, Vicomte ad’. Etudes sur la Formation Crétacée des Ver-
sants sud-ouest et nord-ouest du Plateau Central de la France.
17° partie.

Austin, Tho. and Tho. jun. Monograph on Recent and Fossil
Crinoidea. Nos. 2, 3 and 4.

Beaudouin, Jules. Notice Géologique sur une Caverne a Ossemens”
des Environs de Chatillon Cote-d’Or.

633

a

Bertrand, A. Revolutions of the Globe. Presented by W. Lons-
dale, E'sq.
‘Bertrand, E. Histoire Naturelle de la Terre et des Fossiles. Pre-
sented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.
Beudant, F.S. Géologie. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.
Boase, H. 8S. Primary Geology. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.
Boué, A. Guide da Géologue Voyageur, 2 vols. Presented by
W. Lonsdale, Esq.
————. Mémoires Géologiques, ete. Tom. i. Presented by
W. Lonsdale, Esq.
Bravais, A. Sur Jes Lignes d’Ancien Niveau de la Mer dans le
Finmark. é
Breislak, Sc. Introduction 4 la Géologie. Presented by W. Lons-
dale, Esq.
Browne, Peter A. Essay on Solid Meteors and Aerolites or Me-
teoric Stones.
Buckland, Wm. ~ Address to the Mayor and Members of the Arte-
sian Well Committee of Southampton, July 27th, 1844.
Burat, A. Terrains Voleaniques. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.
Burmeister, Hermann. Die Organisation der Trilobiten aus ihren
lebenden Verwandten entwickelt, etc.
Burnet, T. Theory of the Earth, 1684. Presented by W. Lonsdale,
Fisq.
Castelnau, F. de. Essai sur le Systéme Silurien de l’Amérique
Septentrionale.
Catalogue of British Specimens in the Geological Collection of the
Royal Institution, 1816. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.
Chevalier, MU. EH. Voyage autour du Monde :—Géologie et Minéra-
logie.
Collegno, H. de. Sur les Terrains Diluviens des Pyrénées.
Essai d’une Classification des Terrains Tertiaires du
Département de la Gironde.
Cordier, J. Navigation du départ. du Nord, vol. ii. Presented by
W. Lonsdale, Esq.
Cozzens, Issachar, jun. Geological History of Manhattan, or New
York Island.
Dana, Jas. D. On the Analogies between the Modern Igneous
Rocks and the Primary Formations.
Reply to Mr. Couthony’s Vindication against the Charge
of Plagiarism.
A System of Mineralogy, comprising the most recent
Discoveries.

634

Darwin, Chas. Geological Observations on the Voleanie Islands
visited during the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle.

Daubeny, Chas. Lecture on Institutions for the better Education
of the Farming Classes.

Désor, FH. Compte Rendu des Recherches de M. Agassiz, pendant
ses deux derniers Séjours a l'Hétel des Neuchatelois, sur le
Glacier Inférieur de l’Aar en 1841-2.

Ascension du Schreckhorn.

De Lue, J. A. Lettres Physiques, 5 vols. Presented by W. Lons-
dale, Esq.

Edinburgh Philosophical Journal. Nos. 9-12, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21.
Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.

Favre, Alphonse. Observations sur les Diceras.

Featherstonhaugh, G. W. Excursion through the Slave States.
2 vols.

Fischer de Waldheim, G. Revue des Fossiles du Gouvernement
de Moscou. No. 2.

Fligel, T. G. Literarische Sympathien oder industrielle Buch-

macherei.

Forbes, Edw. Malacologia Monensis; a Catalogue of the Mollusea
inhabiting the Isle of Man and the neighbouring Sea.
On the Light thrown on Geology by Submarine Re-
searches.
Fossils and Minerals, Five Tracts on, in | vol. Presented by W.
Lonsdale, Esq.
Fox, Robert Were. Purport of a Paper relative to Springs of
Water.
Fromherz, C. Geognostischen Peschreibung des Schonbergs.
Presented by W. * Lonsdale, Esq.
Garay, José de. Survey of the Isthmus of Tehuantepee, ete.
The same, in Italian.
Givry. Pilote Francais :—Instructions Nautiques.
Goppert, H. R. Bericht uber die Thatigkeit der naturwissenschaft-
lichen Section der schlesischen Gesellschaft im Jahre 1843.
Griffith, Rd. New Fossils collected from the Carboniferous Lime-
stone Series of Ireland.

Hall, Sir J. On the Fusion of Rocks. Presented by W. Lonsdale,
Esq.

Hartz, Geography, etc. of the, 2 vols. Presented by W. Lonsdale,
Esq.

Hausmann, J. F. £. Studien des gottingischen vereins bergman-
nischer Freunde. 5 Bandes, 2 Heft.

Geologische Bemerkungen tiber die Gegend von Baden

bei Rastadt.

635
Hawkins, Tho. The Wars of Jehovah, in Heaven, Earth and Hell:

Heuschling, Xavier. Essai sur la Statistique Générale de la Belgique.
Supplément a la Qnde édition. Presented by M. Ph. Van der
Maelen.

Hoeninghaus, F. W. Trilobiten der geognostischen Sammlung.

Lithographic Impression of the Fossil Wings of Phry-
ganea Mombachiana, with Description.

Holmes, —. Coal Mines of Northumberland. Presented by W.
Lonsdale, Esq.

Hombres-Firmas, Baron I. A.d’. Suite des Mémoires et Observa-
tions de Physique et d’Histoire Naturelle. Pages 213-338.

Hopkins, Evan. On the Connexion of Geology with Terrestrial
Magnetism.

India. Abstract of the Proceedings of a Committee for the Inves-
tigation of the Coal and Mineral Resources of India. Presented

by J. M’ Clelland, Esq.

Jameson, R. Mineralogy of Dumfries. Presented by W. Lons-
dale, Esq.

Characters of Minerals, 3rd edition. Presented by W.

Lonsdale, Esq.

Johnston, J. F. W. Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry and Geo-
logy. Part 4.

Elements of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology.
3rd edition.

King, Wm. Contributions towards establishing the General Cha-
racter of the Fossil Plants of the Genus Sigillaria.

Kirwan, R. Elements of Mineralogy, 2nd edition, 2 vols. Pre-
sented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.

Konig, Chas. cones Fossilium Sectiles.

Koninck, L. de. Description des Animaux Fossiles qui se trouvent-«
dans le terrain houillier et dans le systéme supérieur du terrain
anthraxifére de la Belgique.

La Place, P. S. Systéme du Monde, 2 vols. Presented by W.
Lonsdale, Esq.

Laurance, J. Geology in 1835. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.

Lea, Hy. C. Abstract of a Paper entitled “ Descriptions of some
new Fossil! Shells from the Tertiary beds of Petersburg, Virginia.”

Ludwig, Christian. Dictionary; English, German and French.
Ath edition, 2 vols. Presented by R. Hutton, Esq.

Lyell and Faraday. Report to Sir James Graham, Bart., on the
Subject of the Explosion at the Haswell Collieries, 2 copies.
Presented by order of the Home Secretary.

636.

Meyer, H. Von. Fossilen Knocken von Georgesgmitind. Presented
by W. Lonsdale, E'sq.

Midland Mining Commission. First Report, South Staffordshire,
presented to both Houses of Parliament. Presented by H.
Warburton, Esq.

Monticel, Abate Teod. Opere. Vol. ii.
Morris, John. A Catalogue of British Fossils.

Murchison, R. I. Address to the Anniversary Meeting of the
Royal Geographical Society, 1844.

Newbold, Capt. Notes, principally Geological, on the Tract between
Bellary and Bijapore.

Nicol, Jas. Guide to the Geology of Scotland.

Omalius d’Halloy, J. J. Précis Elémentaire de Géologie.

Oppermann, P. W. Inaugural Dissertation. Presented by W. Lons-
dale, Esq.

Owen, Prof. Lectures on Comparative Anatomy.

Orbigny, Alcide d’. Paléontologie Frangaise. Terrains Crétacés.
Liv. 63 et 64.

—— —. Terrains Jurassiques. Liv. 15.

. Voyage dans l’Amérique Méridionale. Tom. iii. part. 3

et 4, et Atlas.

Rapport sur son Mémoire, intitulé “ Considérations sur
la Géologie de l’Amérique Méridionale,” par Brongniart, Du-
frénoy et Elie de Beaumont.

Phillips, John. Memoir of Wm. Smith, LL.D., Author of the
“ Map of the Strata of England and Wales.”

Pilla, Leopoldo. Discorso Accademico intorno ai principali pro-
gressi della Geologia, ete. Presented by Sir W. Parish.

Pilote Francais. 6me partie. Presented by order of the “ Dépéot
de la Marine.”

Plymley, J. Agriculture of Shropshire. Presented by W. Lons-

dale, Esq.

Porta, Leonardo. Soluzione di un Problema Importantissimo in
Geologia, ed esame del Flusso e Riflusso del Mare.

Pyrénées. Observations faites dans les. Presented by Charles
Stokes, Esq.

Raulin, Victor. Notice sur la Disposition des Terrains Tertiaires
des Plaines de |’Allier et de la Loire.

Ray, J. Physico-Theology, 4th edition. Presented by W. Lonsdale,
Esq.

Redfield, W. C. Remarks on Tides, and the prevailing Currents of
the Ocean and Atmosphere.

637

Rees, G. O. On the supposed Existence of Fluoric Acid as an
ingredient in certain Animal Matters.

Reeve, Lovell. Conchologia Iconica, Monographs of the Genera
Conus, Triton, Myodora, Arca and Delphinula.

Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Facts
relating to the Ordnance Memoir of Ireland. Presented by
Hl. Warburton, Esq. ;

Report from the Select Committee, on the proposed Overland Route
to Port Essington, New South Wales. Presented by Dr. Charles
Nicholson.

Risso, A. Histoire Naturelle des principales Productions de
l'Europe Méridionale, 5 vols. Presented by James Smith, Esq.

Rowland, —. On Fossil Shells.—Arbuthnot, J. Examination of
Woodward’s Account of the Deluge; together with Two
Essays, by L. P. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.

Rozet, —. Traité Elémentaire de Géologie. Presented by W.
Lonsdale, Esq.

Scheerer, Th. Ueber den Norit und die auf der Insel Hitteroe in
dieser Gebirgsart vorkommenden mineralienreichen Granit-
gange.

Schweizerische Gesellschaft. Denkschriften, 1ter Band, Iter Ab-
theil. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.

Sickler, F. K. L. Bunter Sandstein von Hildburghausen. Ist
part. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq. ;

Silliman, B., jun. Review of a “ System of Mineralogy by Jas. D.
Dana.”

Simms, F. W. Practical Tunnelling.

Sismonda, Angelo. Osservazioni Geologiche sui Terreni delle For-
mazioni Terziaria e Cretacea in Piemonte.

Sopwith, Tho. The National Importance of preserving Mining
Records.

Sowerby, G. B., jun. Description of a New Fossil Cirripede from
_ the Upper Chalk near Rochester. Presented by N. T.
Wetherell, E'sq.

Stobeeus, K. Opuscula. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.

‘Tilley, T. G. Inaugural Lecture on Chemistry read in Queen’s
College, Birmingham.

Townson, Dr. R. Tracts on Natural History. Presented by W.
Lonsdale, Esq.

Van der Wyck, H.J. Uebersicht der Rheinischenerloschenen Vol-
eanen. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.

Watson, J. S. Geology, a Poem, in 7 books.
Wheelwright, W. Report on Steam Navigation in the Pacific, 1843.

638

Whiston, W. Theory -of the Earth, 2nd edition. Presented by
W. Lonsdale, Esq.

Whitehurst, John. Works. Presented by W. Lonsdale, Esq.

Williams, J. Mineral Kingdom. 2 vols. Presented by W. Lons-

- dale, Esq.

Xavier, Marmier. Littérature Islandaise. 17 partie, et Planches
(Partie du Voyage en Islande et au Groénland en 1835-6).

Zeisznera, L. O Formacyi Jura nad Brzegami.

O Powstaniu skal Metamorfieznych w Sholay Dobszyny.

Pomiar Barometryezny Zupy Bochenskiej u Miesiacu

Marcu R. 1843 Wykonany.

Ill. MAPS, &c.

Agassiz, Professor L. The Original Drawings of Fossil Fishes,
engraved in his work. Presented by Lord Francis Ey gerton,

M.P.
Austin, Tho. Geological Chart.

Charts and Sailing Directions published by the Admiralty during
the year 1843. Presented by order of the Lords Commissioners

of the Admiralty.

Forrester, J. J. Map of the Wine Disthiee of the Alto-Douro.

Geological Map of Saxony. Section 20. Presented by the Council
of Mines of Freyberg.

Lesueur, C. A. Vues et Coupes du Cap de la Héve.

Murchison, Rod. I. Geological Map of England and Wales.

Ordnance Map in continuation of the Trigonometrical Survey of
Great Britain. Sheets, nos. 88 and 89. Presented by order of
the Board of Ordnance.

Ordnance Survey of the County of Dublin, in 31 sheets. Presented
by order of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Ordnance Survey of the County of Limerick, in 62 sheets. Pre-
sented by order of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Ordnance Survey of the County of Tipperary, in 93 sheets. Pre-
_ sented by order of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. ;

Pearce, J. C. Two Lithographic Impressions of Apiocrinites
rotundus.

Van der Maelen, Ph. Carte Spéciale des Chemins de Fer Belges,
1843.

Plan du Chemin de Fer compris entre Liége et Oo la-
Chapelle, 1843.

Zeisznera, L. Carte Géologique de la Chaine du Tatra et des Sou-
lévemens Paralléles.

——

INDEX to

VOL. IV.

Axirs BENSTEDI, 0. S., described, 34.
| Address of the President for 1843, 65.
Aérolite, notice of one supposed to have
| fallen in England, 584.
| Africa, Dr. Stanger on the geology of
| part of the west coast, 190.
South, Mr. Bain on the geology
of, 499.

Prof. Owen’s account of

fossil crania of Dicynodon from, 499.

| Age of fossils comparatively determined

| by the condition of fossil bone, 421.

| Albany, U. S., Mastodon remains found
there, 38.

Alberese of Tuscany, account of, 458.

Alluvium with fossil bones in Georgia,

UL Si) 33;

America, North, geology of the Western

| States, by Dr. D. Owen, 1.

—— on the boulder formation of the
Canada lakes, &c., 19.

Mr. Lyell on the cretaceous strata

of New Jersey, 301.

report by Mr. Lonsdale on cre-

taceous corals from, 311.

Mr. Lyell on the age of plumbago

{ and anthracite in Massachusetts, U.S.,

|

|

406.
—— Mr. Lyell on the Miocene tertia-
| nies of, 547.
Mr. Lyell on the Eocene tertia-
ries of, 563. ;
America, South, notice of its geology by
M. A. d’Orbigny, 134.
Bas report on cretaceous fossils from,
_ 381.

‘American geology, notice concerning,
' in the President’s speech, 117.
mmonites, Mr. Strickland on calcareo-
corneous bodies found in, 439.
Ammonites bogotensis, 395.
. Buchiana, 394.

Hopkinsi, 393.

Inca, 394.
‘—— Leai, 395.
Pmphidetus Virginianus, 559,

Amphiura Pratti, 233.

Ancyloceras Humboldtiana, 392.

Annual Meeting, 1843 :— Report of
Council, 41. Report of Museum
Committee, 42. Members elected,
48. Donations, 49. List of papers,
55. Balance-sheet, 58. Officers, 64.
President’s Address, 65.

Annual Meeting, 1844 :—Report of
Council, 3385. Report of Museum
Committee, 336. _Members elected,
340. Donations, 341. List of papers,
347, Officers,349. Balance-sheet,351.

Annual Meeting, 1845 :— Report of
Council, 527. Report of Museum
Committee, 529. Library report, 531.
Members elected, 533. Donations,
534. List of papers, 537. Officers,
540. Balance-sheet, 543.

Anoplotherium, fossil remains of, from
the Sewalik Hills, 285.

Anoplotherium sivalensis, 236.

Anthracite and plumbago bed in the
mica-schist of Massachusetts, account
of, by Mr. Lyell, 406.

from Massachusetts, Dr. Percy’s
analysis of, 409.

Antigonish (Nova Scotia), section of
carboniferous rocks near, 277.

Aptychus ? two species, 449.

Arbroath (N.B.), on fractured boulders
found near, by Mr. Trevelyan, 354.
Archiac, M. d’, and M. de Verneuil,

their memoir on palzozoic fossils, 83.

Arenig (N. Wales), sections in the
neighbourhood of this mountain, 256.

Arghaneh-Maden (Asiatic Turkey), ac-
count of the mining district: of, 515.

Argyle county, N.S. Wales, Mr. Clarke
on dykes of marbleand quartz in, 524.

Arnold, Dr., notice of his death, 66.

Asia Minor, notice of the work of Messrs.
Hamilton and Strickland on, 113.

Aspidorhynchus euodus, 438.

Atherfield section of the lower green-
sand, Dr. Fitton’s account of, 198.

A

640

Atherfield and Hythe sections of lower
greensand, comparison of, by Dr.
Fitton, 386.

Auchmithie near Arbroath (N.B.), Mr.
Trevelyan on fractured boulders
found there, 354.

Austen, Mr.,on the geology of the 8.E.
of Surrey, 167, 196.

account of a supposed aérolite,
584.

Australia, on a fossil pine-forest in the
eastern part of, 161.

Azoic, explanation of the term, 602.

Azoic deposits of Russia and Scandi-
navia, their relation to the palzozoic
deposits, 601.

Bain, Mr. A. G., on the discovery of
fossil remains of bidental and other
reptiles in South Africa, 499.

Bala limestone, Mr. Sharpe on the, 10.

notice of, by Prof. Sedgwick, 216,
254.

Balena, four new British species de-
termined from fossil ear-bones found
in the red crag, 283.

Balance-sheet of 1842, 58; of 18438,
851; of 1844, 543.

Baltic provinces of Russia and Scan-
dinavia, Mr. Murchison on the pa-
leeozoic deposits of, 601.

Banca, tin-mines of, 166.

Banz, section of lias at, 87.

Basalt of Radicofani (Tuscany), 477.

Bayfield, Capt., on the junction of the
transition and primary rocks of Ca-
nada and Labrador, 584.

Bayonne, geology of the neighbourhood
of, by Mr. Pratt, 157.

Beaches, raised, and other recent
changes of level in Canada, 19.

on the western coast of Ross-shire
(N.B.), 424.

Beaumont, M. Elie de,and M. Dufrénoy,
award of the Wollaston medal to,62.

Beckett, Mr. H., on a fossil forest in
the Parkfield colliery near Wolver-
hampton, 287.

Bell, Prof. T., his description of Tha-
lassina Emerii, a fossil crustacean for-
warded by Mr. W. 8S. Macleay from
New Holland, 360.

Bensted, Mr., on the fossilized remains
of the soft parts of Mollusca, 35.

Berwickshire, Mr. Stevenson on the
stratified rocks of, 29.

Berwyns, system of, by Prof. Sedgwick,
216.

Berwyn chain (N. Wales), structure of,
258.

sections near, 253, 259.

Biaritz, (cretaceous) fossils at, 157.

INDEX.

Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, Mastodon
remains there, 36.
Birds’ foot-prints in the new red sand-
stone of Connecticut, 22, 141.
Black-Gang-Chine, Isle of Wight, sec.
tion between this spot and Atherfield
by Capt. Ibbetson and Prof. Edw
Forbes, 407. y
Bleadon Hill (Somersetshire), Rev. D)
Williams on the trap-rock of, 293.

Bletchingley tunnel, Mr. Simms’s ac
count of the strata observed in, 358

Blocks, erratic, on the transport of, 93

Bone-bed in the lias of Gloucestershire
tae Strickland on impressions in, 16

Bone-bed of lias, Mr. Strickland’s note
on, 88. :

Bone-cavern near Bristol, phenomen,
observed on opening it, 90.

Bones, recent, on the existence of fluori
acid in, by Dr. O. Rees, 373.

Mr. Middleton on the source c
fluorine in fossil specimens, 441.

Boring operations at Calcutta, 4.

Botfield, Mr. T., notice of his death, 6€

Boué, M., on the geology of Europea
Turkey, 114.

Boulardrie Island (Nova Scotia), seq
tions in, 437.

Boulder clay, Mr. Harkness on fossi
from, 369. |

Boulder formations of the Canada lake
and the valley of the St. Lawrenc
19.

Boulders, on the cause of the transpo!
of, 93.

fractured, found near Arbroat!
acu of them by Mr. Trevelya:
364,

Bravais, M., notice of his memoir
the lines of ancient sea-level in Fit
mark, 94.

Breton, Cape, Mr. Brown on the ge
logy of, 269.

Brodie, Rev. P. B., on the remains
insects in the lias, 14.

—— his researches in the Silurian lim
stone of May Hill, 84.

his researches in fossil insects, ©

and Mr. Buckman, on the Ston¢
field slate of the Cotteswold Hil
437.

Brora, Mr. Robertson on the oolitic cd

of, 173. |

Mr. Murchison on the freshwat
beds of, 174. i

Brown, Mr. J. (of Stanway), on soy
Pleistocene deposits near Copfo}
Essex, 164.

on certain conditions and ¢

INDEX.

pearances of the strata on the coast
of Essex near Walton, 523.

Brown, Mr. Richard, on the geology of
Cape Breton, 269, 424.

Buckland, Dr., notice of ichthyopatolites
by, 204.

Buckman, Mr., his labours in the lias
and oolites of Cheltenham, 87.

on the occurrence of fossil insects

in the lias of Gloucester, 211.

Buckman, Mr., and Rev. P. B. Brodie,
on the Stonesfield slate of the Cottes-
wold Hills, 487.

Bulla Mortoni, 309.

Bunter Sandstein, its representative in
England, 87.

Burrstone formation of N. America, ac-
‘count of, 569. ~

Byres, Mr., on traces of the action of
glaciers at Porth Treiddyn, Carnar-
vonshire, 370.

Calcareo-corneous bodies found in Am-
monites, account of, by Mr. Strick-
land, 449.

Calcutta, boring operations in the delta
of the Ganges near, 4

Calp, Irish, age of, 82.

‘Cambrian,’ Mr. Sharpe’s definition and
use of the term, 72.

Cambrian rocks, Mr. Sharpe on, 10.

Cambrian slates, fossils of, 220.

Camelopardalis sivalensis, 241.

Canada lakes, Mr. Lyell on the ridges,
raised beaches and boulder formation
of, 19.

Canada and Labrador, Capt. Bayfield on
the transition and primary rocks of,
584.

Carboniferous rocks of N. America, 1.

of Nova Scotia, account of, 272,

504.

of Cape Breton, 269.

—— of Berwickshire and their fossils,
30.

Carmarthenshire, Silurian rocks of, 76.

Carnarvonshire, Prof. Sedgwick on the
geological structure of, 213.

Carolina, North, U.S., Mr. Lyell on the
cretaceous strata of, 306.

Mr. Lyell on the Eocene tertiaries
of, 565.

—— Mr. Lyell on the Miocene tertia-
ries of, 552.

Carolina, South, U.S., Mr. Lyell on the
Eocene tertiaries of, 566.

Mastodon remains found there, 39.

Mr. Lyell on the Miocene tertia-
ries of, 547.

Cape Breton, Mr. R. Brown on the geo-
logy of, 269, 424.

Carpolithes Smithie, n.s., described, 35.

64:1

Caucasian chain, notice of M. Dubois’
work on, 108.

Cautley, Capt., and Dr. Falconer, on
species of Anoplotherium and Giraffe
found in the Sewalik tertiaries, 235.

Cellepora tubulata, 316.

Cerithium Georgianum, 573.

Cetaceans, fossil remains of, from the
red crag, 283, 286.

Chalicotherium, remarks on the, 239.

Chalk, fossil fruit from, 35.

Chalk of Norfolk, Mr. Trimmer on pipes
or sand-galls in, 6, 482.

Chambre d’Amour (cretaceous), fossils
at, 157

Charlesworth, Mr., on the occurrence of
the genus Physeter in the red crag,
286.

Chemical action of water in producing
pipes in chalk, 7.

Chimera Beaumonti, 155.

—— Bucklandi, 153.

curvidens, 154.

—— Dufrenoyi, 155.

— Dutetrii, 154.

emarginata, 154,

falcata, 154.

helvetica, 154.

neglecta, 153.

rugulosa, 154.

psittacina, 153.

Chimeroid fishes (fossil), Sir P. Eger-
ton’s account of, 1538, 211.

Christian Malford (Wilts), Sir P. Eger-
ton on fossil remains of fishes from,
446.

Clarke, Rev. W. B., on a fossil pine-
forest in Eastern Australia, 161.

on dikes of marble and quartz in
Argyle county, N. 8. Wales, 524.

Classification of granitic rocks, Mr.
Wallace on the, 193.

Classification, comparative, of the rocks
of Cumberland and N. Wales, 576.
Climate during the Miccene period in

N. America, 558, 561.

Coal, theory of the origin of, 121.

Coal-beds of Nova Scotia, upright fossil
trees in, 176; notice of, by Mr. Lyell, -
184; described by Mr. Dawson, 272,
504; notice of, by Dr. Gesner, 187.

of Cape Breton, Mr. Brown’s me-

moir on, 269, 426.

of S. Staffordshire, fossil forest
in, 287, 289, 292.

Coal, oolitic, of Brora, 173.

Coal sandstone, notice of ichthyopato-
lites in, 204.

Coal or lignite of Hastern Australia, 161.

Concretions in the crag at Felixstow,
by Prof. Henslow, 281.

AQ

642

Concretions in the tertiary beds of the
Isle of Man, 8.

Coniston flagstone, account of, 579.

Conisten or Furness grits, account of,
580.

Coniston limestone, account of, 23, 578.

compared with the limestones
of North Wales, 261.

Connecticut, U.S., on ornithoidichnites
at, 22.

Cooper, Mr. J. H., on fossil bones found
in Georgia, U.S., dd.

Corals, fossil, from the cretaceous beds
of Timber Creek, New Jersey, de-
scribed by Mr. Lonsdale, 311.

Corax, description and figures of teeth
of two species frem Pondicherry,
384.

Corfu and Vido, Capt. Portlock on the
white limestone of, 395.

Cotteswold Hills, Messrs. Brodie and
Buckman on the Stonesfield slate
of, 487.

Council, annual report of, for 1843, 41;
for 1844, 335 ; for 1845, 527.

‘Crackers,’ Isle of Wight, (lower green-
sand) fossils of, 200.

Crag, account of concretions in, at

_ Felixstow, 281.

Creseis, account of two extinct species
of, by Prof. E. Forbes, 362.

Creseis flagstone, described, 264.

Cretaceous deposits. See Greensand,
Lower and Upper, and Chalk.

Cretaceous fossil fruits, 34.

Cretaceous fossils from Southern India,
325, 38).

from Santa Fe de Bogota, 391.

—— from New Jersey, U.S. (shells),
307 ; (corals), 311.

Cretaceous rocks of the Caucasus, 109.

in the south-east of Surrey, 168.

of New Jersey, U.S., described by

by Mr. Lyell, 301.

- Cretaceous system, new facts concern-
ing, 89.

Crimea, divisions of the cretaceous rocks
in, 111.

Crinoidea, on the locomotive powers of,

Cristellaria, notice of a species of, from
the New Jersey cretaceous beds, 310.

Crustaceous remains in carboniferous
rocks, described by Mr. Ick, 416.

Crystalline rocks of Scandinavia and
Russia, 602.

Cumberland paleozoic rocks, classifica-
tion of, 70.

Cumberland and N. Wales palzozoic
strata, comparative classification of,
by Prof. Sedgwick, 576.

INDEX.

Cunliffe, Mr., and Mr. Kaye, account
of remains of fishes collected by
them at Pondicherry, 381.

Cyclobatis oligodactylus, 442.

Darlaston, Mr. J. 8S. Dawes on a fossil
tree found in the coal at, 292.

Daubeny, Dr., and Capt. Widdring-
ton, on the phosphorite of Hstrema-
dura, 298.

Dawes, Mr. J. S., account of a fossil
tree from the coal of Darlaston,
292.

remarks on Sternbergiz, 359.

Dawson, Mr., memoir on the lower
carboniferous rocks or gypsiferous
formations of Nova Scotia, 272.

on the newer coal formation of
the eastern part of Nova Scotia,
504.

Dead Sea, its depth below the level of
the Mediterranean, 139.

De la Beche, Sir H. T., his address on
receiving the Wollaston medal for
MM. Dufrénoy and KE. de Beaumont,
63.

Delta of the Ganges, Lieut. R. Baird
Smith on, 4.

Denbigh flagstone, 217.

and sandstone, fossils from, 267,
363.

Detrital phenomena, notice of, in the
President’s speech, 91.

Devonian rocks of the Scottish border,

of Nova Scotia, notice of, by Dr.
Gesner,187.

Dicynodon, Prof. Owen’s account of
fossil crania of, from S. Africa, 499.
Dinornis, notice of the establishment

of the genus, 142.
Donations to the museum in 1842, 49;
in 1848, 341; in 1844, 534.

Dredging, notice of Prof. E. Forbes’s
operations in the Mediterranean, 69.
Drift, northern, Mr. Trimmer on cliffs |

of, in Norfolk, 435.
Dubois, M. de Montpereux, his work on
the geology of the Caucasus, 198.

Dufrénoy, M., and M. Elie de Beaumont, —

award of the Wollaston medal to
them, 62.
Dunottar Castle (N.B.), Mr. Trevelyan
on fractured boulders found at, 364.
Dunse, old red sandstone of, 80.
Dykes of marble and quartz in Argyle
county, N. S. Wales, Mr. Clarke on,
524,

Ear-bones of Baleena found fossil in the
red crag, 283. ;
Echinodermata, fossil, of the Miocene
tertiary strata of N. America, 425.

INDEX.

Echinus Rufiinii, 559, 560.

Egeberg (Scandinavia), section near
the, 608

Egerton, Sir P., on some new species of
fossil Chimeroid fishes, 153, 211.

account of new ganoid fishes, 183.

account of remains of fishes found

by Messrs. Kaye and Cunliffe in the

Pondicherry beds, 381.

description of the mouth of a

Hybodus (H. basanus) from the Isle

of Wight, 414.

account of a fossil ray (Cycloba-

tis oligodactylus) from Mount Leba-

non, 442,

fossil fish from the Oxford clay,
described by, 446.

Egerton, Rev. W. H., and Mr. Kaye,
report on fossils collected by them
in Southern India, and presented to
the Geological Society, 325.

Egypt, notice of contributions to the
geology of, 137.

Elasmodus, n. g., description, 156.

Enchodus serratus, 383.

Encrinite, on a new form of, from
Dudley, 160.

Eocene tertiaries of N. America, Mr.
Lyell on, 5638.

Erie lake, boulder formation cn the
borders of, 20.

Erratic blocks, cause of aie transport
of, 93.

Bschara digitata, 319.

Escharina ? sagena, 317.

Essex coast, Mr. J. Brown on the ap-
pearances of the strata on, 523.

Estremadura, phosphorite found in, 298.

Evesham, fossil remains of insects from,

Falconer, Dr., and Capt. Cautley, on
fossil remains of Anoplotherium and
Giraffe from the Sewalik Hills, 235.

Fauna, marine, of the Cretaceous period,
divided into regions, 307.

Fauna of the Permian system in Ku-
rope, recapitulation of, 333.

Felixstow, on concretions in the crag
of, by Prof. Henslow, 281.

on the occurrence of the fossil
remains of a Physeter from, 286.

Fellows of the Society elected in 1842,
48; in 1848, 340; in 1844, 533.

Fishes, fossil, in the N. R. sandstone of
New Jersey, U.S., 23.

occurrence of, in Silurian rocks,

84.

of Russia compared with those of
England, 140.

Sir P. Egerton on some new Chi-
meroid species, 153, 211.

643

Fishes, fossil, new species from Pondi-
eee described by Sir P. Egerton,
381.

new species from the Oxford

clay, described by Sir P. Egerton, 446.

account of new ganoid species,

183.

species from the Miocene tertiary

strata of N. America, 560.

impression made by, on the sur-

face of lias, 17.

marks of the scratches made by
their fins in coal sandstone, 204.

Fitton, Dr., on the Atherfield section of
lower greensand, 198.

comparative remarks on the lower
ee of Kent and Isle of Wight,

8

—— comparative remarks on the sec-
tions below the chalk near Hythe and
at Atherfield, Isle of Wight, 396.

Fluoric acid, Dr. Rees on the existence
of, in recent bones, 373.

Fluorine in bones, Mr. Middleton’s ob-
servations on, 431.

Fluted and striated surfaces of rocks not
necessarily due to glacial action, 596.

Footsteps of birds (fossil) found in
Massachusetts, 22, 141.

Foraminifera, note by Mr. Lyell on some
species obtained from the cretaceous
rocks of New Jersey, U.S., 310.

Forbes, Prof. E., notice of his appoint-
ment to the office of curator, 63.

his researches in the Mediterra-

-nean, 68.

on the (tertiary) fossils of Malta

- and Gozo, 230.

on the fossil shells collected by
Mr. Lyeil from the cretaceous for-
mations of New Jersey, U.S., 307.

—— report on the lower greensand
fossils in the possession of the Geo-
logical Society, 324.

report on (cretaceous) fossils

from Southern India, 325.

account of two fossil species of
Creseis (Silurian) collected by Prof.
Sedgwick, 362.

—— on the (tertiary) fossils collected
by Lieut. Spratt in the Gulf of
Smyrna, 379.

account of (tertiary) freshwater

shells obtained from a bed of sep-

taria in the plastic clay, 390.

on (cretaceous) fossil shells from

Santa Fe de Bogota, collected by

Mr. @. Hopkins, 391.

account of fossil Echinodermata

from the Miocene tertiary strata of

N. America, 559.

644

Forbes, Prof. Edw., and Capt. Ibbetson,
on the section between Black-Gang-
il and Atherfield, Isle of Wight,
40

Forest, fossil, in the Parkfield colliery
near Wolverhampton, account of by
Mr. H. Beckett, 287.

Forfarshire (N.B.), Mr. Trevelyan on
fractured boulders found at, 364.

Fossiliferous bedsin Southern India,204.

Fossilized remains of the soft parts of
Mollusca, 35.

Fossils, list of named species in the So-
ciety’s collection (1843), 44.

on the presence of fluorine in

bones, 431.

Chimeroid fishes, by Sir P. Eger-

ton, 158, 211.

Ophiuride of Britain, by Prof. E.

Forbes, 232.

(pretozoic) of North Wales, 266.

(palzeozoic) of Westmoreland and

Lancashire, 24.

— of Berwickshire, 30.

—— —— of the Welsh slates, 220.

of the Denbigh flagstones

and sandstones, 267.

of the Western States of N. Ame-

rica, 3.

(Silurian) of Scandinavia, com-

pared with other regions, 626, 627.

(Carboniferous) of Ireland, 82.

of Nova Scotia, 184.

forest near Wolverhampton,

287.
—— —— upright trees in Nova Scotia,
176.
— (New Red Sa eee fishes in
New Jersey, U.S.,
saurians in caer 87.
impressions of birds’ feet in
Connecticut, 22.
(lias), fucoids in bone-bed, 17.
insects in, 14, 211.
marks of fishes in, 16.
— (Lias and Wealden), insects in, 88.
— (Oxford clay), fishes from, 446.
(Lower greensand), report on the
species in the Society’s collection,
324.

——

of Atherfield rocks (Crack-

ers), Isle of Wight, 200.

of Surrey (Neocomian), 172.

—— —— of neighbourhood of Hythe,
208.

— distribution of, in the Isle

of Wight, 413.

(Cretaceous) fruits from the S8.E.

of England, 34.

from Southern India (Re-

port), 325.

INDEX.

ee ee from New Jersey,
7,3

ey S.E. of Surrey, 168.
(Tertiary), Isle of Man, 8.
Malta and Gozo, 230.
near Calcutta, 5.
— Sewalik Hills, 235.
new species of Ray from
Lebanon, 442.
Egypt, 188.
—— —— N. America, Miocene, 552.
Eocene, 564.
Georgia, U.S., 33, 39.
—— —— Massachussetts, U.S., 32.
Australia, pine-forest in, 161.
Brisbane river, N.S.W., 28.
New South Wales, by Gov.
Grey, 23.

(Boulder clay), Mr. Harkness on,
69.

(peat) in Essex, 165.

Freshwater beds of Brora, notice of, by
Mr. Murchison, 174.

Fruits, fossil, from eretaceous rocks, 34.

Fucoids in a bone-bed in the lias, 17.

Furness or Coniston grits, account of,
580.

Gabbro of Tuscany, account of, 470.

Ganges, delta of, Lieut. R. Baird Smith
on, 4.

Ganoid fishes, account of new species,
1838.

Gault, its thickness on the south-east
coast of the Isle of Wight, 3238.

Genesee, U.S., Mastodon remains found
there, 38.

Geological dynamics, notice of, in the
President’s speech, 90.

Geological Society, report on the col-
lection of lower greensand fossils in
the possession of, 324.

Georgia, U.S., fossil bones found in, 33,
39.

Mr. Lyell on the cretaceous strata
of, 806.

Gesner, Dr., notice of his map of Nova
Scotia, 186.

his geological map of Nova Scotia,
opposite p. 280.

Gibraltar, Mr. Smith of Jordan-hill on
the geology of, 480.

Giraffe, fossil, from the Sewalik Hills,
235.

Glacial theories, account of, 93.

Glaciers at Porth Treiddyn, Carnarvon-
shire, Mr. Byres on traces of, 87/0.

marks of, in North Wales, Mr.

Trevelyan on, 482. |

Mr. Macintosh on supposed traces

of, in N. Wales, 594.

INDEX.

Glen Roy, probable origin of the paral-
lel roads of, 98.

Gloucestershire, fossil insects in the lias
of, 14, 211.

Mr. Strickland on impressions on
the surface of the lias bone-bed of, 16.

Gothland, Upper Silurian limestone of,
615.

Gozo, tertiary fossils found at, 230.

Granitic rocks, classification of, by Mr.
Wallace, 193.

of Nova Scotia, hy Dr. Gesner, 186.

pac ueacke (so called) of Berwickshire,
2

Greece, absence of evidence of glaciers
in, 203

Greene county, U.S., Mastodon remains
found there, 38.

Greensand, fossil fruits from, 34.

fossils of the Isle of Wight, 198.

section through, near Hythe, 206.

—— lower, of Atherfield, Isle of Wight,
198.

comparative remarks on the

Kent and Isle of Wight sections of, 208.

thickness of the beds of, in

the Isle of Wight, 322.

report of the collection of

fossils from this bed in the possession

of the Geological Society, 324,

comparison of the sections

of, at Hythe and Atherfield, Isle of

Wight, by Dr. Fitton, 396.

on its junction with the

Wealden at the Teston cutting, by

Mr. Simms, 406.

Capt. Ibbetson.and Prof. E.

Forbes on the section of, from Black-

Gang-Chine to Atherfield, 407.

, table showing the distribu-

tion of its fossils in the Isle of Wight,

opposite p. 413.

: description of the mouth of
a Hybodus from, 414.

——, upper, its thickness on the 8:E.
coast of the Isle of Wight, 323.

Greensand series of the 8.E. of Surrey,
170.

Grey, Governor, notice of section of a
district in New South Wales, 23,

Griffith, Mr., notice of his map of Ire-
land, 82.

Guiana, British, Sir R. Schomburgk on
the geology of, 480.

Gypseous marls of the new red sand-
stone, Mr. Williams on their origin,
365.

Gypsiferous formations of Cape Breton,
Mr. R. Brown’s memoir on, 269.

of Nova Scotia, Mr. Dawson’s

memoir on, 272.

645

Gypsiferous formations of Nova Scotia,
table of the succession of strata in,280.

Gypsum of Nova Scotia, notice of, by
Mr. Lyell, 184.

Hamilton, Mr., notice of his work on
Asia Minor, 114.

on the geology of some parts of
Tuscany, 455.

Hamites Orbigniana, 392.

Harkness, Mr., on changes in the earth’s
temperature as a means of accounting
for the subsidence of the ocean, &c.,
178.

on the occurrence of fossils in

the boulder clay, 369.

Henslow, Prof., on concretions in the
crag at Felixstow, 281.

Hirnant limestone (N. Wales), 255.

Hitchcock, Prof., his observations on
the Massachussetts tertiaries, 31.

Hopkins, Mr. William, notice of his
views in geological dynamics, 90.

Hopkins, Mr. Evan, account by Prof.
Lidw. Forbes of fossil shells collected
by him at Santa Fe de Bogota,
391.

Hybodus, description and figure of the
mouth of a new species (H. dasanus)
by Sir P. Egerton, 414.

Hythe, Kent, greensand section there,
202.

—- Mr. Simms’s account of a section
near, 206.

Hythe and Atherfield beds of lower
greensand, comparison of, by Dr.
Fitton, 396.

Ibbetson, Capt., and Prof. Edw. Forbes,
account of the section between
Black-Gang-Chine and Atherfield,
Isle of Wight, 407.

Icebergs, floating, their agency in trans-
porting gravel, 92.

Ichthyolites in thenew red sandstone of
New Jersey, U.S., 23.

Ichthyology, notice of contributions to,
in the President’s speech for 1843, 139.

Ichthyopatolites, notice of, by Dr. Buck-
land, 204.

Ick, Mr. W., on the remains of dico-
tyledonous trees in the coal near
Bilston, 289.

on some crustaceous remains in
carboniferous rocks, 416.

Idmonea contortilis, 314.

Igneous rocks of South Staffordshire, 84.

of Nova Scotia, notice of, by Dr.
Gesner, 190.

—— of Tuscany, 473.

of the Wollondilly, N. S. Wales,
524.

Illinois coal-field, 2.

646

Impressions by fishes on the surface of
the lias bone-bed of Gloucestershire,
Mr. Strickland on, 16.

Impressions by fishes on coal-sandstone
(Ichthyopatolites), 204.

Impressions of birds’ foot-prints at Con-
necticut, U.S., 22, 141.

India, fossils of, by Dr. Falconer and
Capt. Cautley, 235.

—— notice of the geology of, in the
President’s speech for 1843, 134.

—— tin works of, 166.

Southern, Mr. Kaye on fossilife-

rous beds in, 204.

report on the collection of

cretaceous fossils from, 325.

account of remains of fishes
found there, 381.

Tnoceramus lunatus, 396.

Insects, fossil, from the lias, 14, 211.

from the lias and Wealden, 88.

Tonian islands, Capt. Portlock’s account
of the white limestone of Corfu and
Vido, 355.

Ireleth slates (N.Wales), account of, 580.

Irish carboniferous rocks, Mr. Griffith’s
determination of, 82.

Trish Geological Survey, 81.

Ischyodus, n.g., description, 155.

Ischyodus gigas, 211.

Isle of Man, Mr. Strickland on concre-
tions in the tertiary beds, 8.

Jacksonboro’, Scriven county, U.S., sec-
tion of Eocene strata and list of fossils
found at, 570.

Jersey, New (U.S.), Mr. Lyell on the
cretaceous strata of, 301.

Karabournou (Asia Minor), Lieut.
Spratt on the geology of the pro-
montory of, 373.

Kaye, Mr., on fossiliferous beds in
Southern India, 204.

Kaye, Mr. C. J., and Mr. Egerton, re-

. port on (cretaceous) fossils presented
by them, obtained from Southern
India, 325.

and Mr. Cunliffe, account of re-
mains of fishes collected by them at
Pondicherry, 381.

Kebben Maden (Asiatic Turkey), ac-
count of the mining district of, 519.

Kent and the Isle of Wight, compara-
tive remarks on the lower greensand
of, 208.

Keuper, its representativein England,87.

Kirkby Ireleth slates, 24.

Kunkur (tertiary), fossils in, near Cal-
cutta, 5

Kurrur-Kurran, Mr. Clarke on a fossil
pine-forest there, 161.

Labrador and Canada, Capt. Bayfield

INDEX.

on the transition and primary rocks .
of, 584.

“Lake ridge,” and other ridges in the
Canada lakes, 20.

Lamna, notice and figures of two new
species of, from Pondicherry, 387.
Lancashire, Mr. Sharpe on the Silurian

rocks of, 23.

Lancashire, Cumberland and West-
moreland, comparative classification
of the rocks of those counties with
the strata of N. Wales, 576.

Lebanon, Mount, account (by Sir P.
Egerton) of a fossil ray from, 442.

Lepidotus macrocheirus, 447.

pectinatus, 183.

Le Play, M., his views of the carboni-
ferous rocks of Russia, 102.

Leptolepis macrophthalmus, 448.

Lias, account of new species of ganoid
fish from, 183.

on calcareo-corneous bodies found

in, 449.

of Gloucester,fossilinsectsfrom,14.

on fossil insects in, 211.

Lias bone-bed of Gloucestershire, Mr.
Strickland on impressions in, 16. ~~

Lias and oolites, notice of new fossils
in, 87.

Liberia, geology of, by Dr. Stanger, 191.

Lima reticulata, 308.

Limestone of Bala, Mr. Sharpe on, 10.

white, of Corfu and Vido, remarks
on, by Capt. Portlock, 355.

Llandeilo flags, value of the term in
classification, 74.

Llangollen (N. Wales), Upper Silurian:
rocks of, 263.

Llansaintfraid series (N. Wales), ac-
count of, 261. :

Logrosan, Estremadura,
found at, 299.

Londonderry, &c., notice of Capt. Port-
lock’s report on, 81.

Lonsdale, Mr., notice of his retirement
from the pace of curator, 67. -

account of corals from the creta-

ceous strata of New Jersey, U.S., 511.

on the climate of the Miocene
period of N. America as indicated by
the fossil corals, 561.

Lower Greensand. See Greensand,
Lower.

Ludlow rocks of Westmoreland and
Lancashire, 27.

Lycian Taurus, geological phenomena
of, 139

Lyell, Mr., on the boulder formations
&e. of Canada, 19.

on the tertiary strata of Massa-

chussetts, 31.

phosphorite

INDEX.

Lyell, Mr., on the geological position of

the Mastodon at Big Bone Lick, 36.
account of his views of N. Ame-

rican geology, 127.

on the upright fossil trees in the

coal strata of Cumberland, Nova

Scotia, 176.

his account of the coal formation

and gypsum of Nova Scotia, 184.

on the cretaceous strata of New

Jersey, &c., U.S., 301.

on the probable age and origin of a

bed of plumbagoand anthracite in mica

schist at Massachussetts, U.S., 416.

on the Miocene tertiary strata of

N. America, 547.

— on the Eocene tertiary strata of
N. America, 563.

Macigno of Tuscany, Mr. Hamilton’s
account of, 457.

Macintosh, Mr., on the supposed evi-
dences of the former existence of
glaciers in N. Wales, 594.

Macleay, Mr. W. S., account and figure
of Thalassina Emerii forwarded by
him from New Holland, 860.

Malacca, mineral resources of, 166.

Malta and Gozo, notice of the fossils
found in those islands, 2380.

Maltese islands, Lt. Spratt on the geo-
logy of, 225.

Malverns, Mr. Phillips’s investigations
in the, 77.

Mammalia, fossil, from the Miocene ter-
tiary strata of N. America, 561.

Man, Isle of, Mr. Strickland on concre-
tions in the tertiary beds, 8.

Mantell, Dr., on ornithoidichnites in
Connecticut, 22.

on fossil fruits from the chalk and

greensand, 34.

on the fossilized remains of the
soft parts of Mollusca, 35.

Marls of the new red sandstone, Mr.
Williams on their origin, 365.

Martha’s Vineyard Island, Massachus-
setts, U.S., Mr. Lyell on the tertiaries
of, 31.

Maryland, U.S.,
found there, 38.

—— Mr. Lyell on the Miocene tertia-
ries of, 547.

Massachussetts, U.S., Mr. Lyell on the
tertiaries of, 31.

Mr. Lyell on the probable age
and origin of a bed of plumbago and
anthracite in the mica-schist of, 416.

Mastodon, notice of the bones of a per-
fect specimen, 145.

Mastodon giganteum, account of the
position in which it is found, 36.

Mastodon remains

647

Mediterranean, notice of Prof. Edw.
Forbes’s dredging operations in, 68.

Melania sp. (cast), 573.

Hamiltoniana, 380, 381.

Merigomish (Nova Scotia), section of
carboniferous rocks near, 275.

Metamorphic Silurian rocks of Norway,
604.

Metamorphic rocks of Tuscany, 470.

of Nova Scotia, notice of, by Dr.
Gesner, 186.

Mica-schist of Massachussetts, U.S., ac-
count of a bed of plumbago and an-
thracite in, 416.

Middleton, Mr.,on fluorine inbones, 431.

Mineral produce of some parts of India,

166.

Mining districts of Asiatic Turkey,
account of, 512.

Miocene tertiaries of N. America, Mr.
Lyell on, 547.

Mollusca, Dr. Mantell on the fossil re-
mains of the soft parts of, 35.

Mollusks, impressions of, on the surface
of lias, 17.

Molluskite, account of, 35.

Montivaltia atlantica, 311.

Moraines, apparent, not necessarily due
to glacial action, 599.

Morton, Dr., his ‘observations on the
Massachussetts tertiary fossils, 31.
Mountain limestone of Westmoreland

and Lancashire, 28.

Munster, Earl of, notice of his death, 65.

Murchison, Sir R. I., Address on an-
nouncing the award of the Wollaston
medal to MM. Dufrénoy and E. de
Beaumont, 62. Anniversary address
(Feb. 1843) : Introductory remarks,
65. Notices of deceased Fellows: the
Earl of Munster, 65. Dr. Arnold, 66.
Mr. Botfield, 66. Official changes :
notice of Mr. Lonsdale’s retirement,
67. Appointment of Prof. B. Forbes,
68. Paleozoic rocks of the British
Isles: Review of memoirs on the Si-
lurian rocks, by Prof. Sedgwick, 70,
73, and by Mr. Sharpe, 70, "72. Ord-
nance Geological Survey of England,
ee Rocks of the Scottish border,

. Stevenson’s memoir, 79. Irish
On aan Geological Survey, 81.
Capt. Portlock’s Report, 81. Account
of fossils by Mr. Griffiths and Mr.
M‘Coy, 82. Paleozoic rocks: me-
moir on fossils by M. de Verneuil and
Count d’Archiac, 88. Mr. Brodie’s
discovery of fishes’ remains in Silu-
rian rocks, 84. Igneous rocks of
South Staffordshire, 84. Secondary
British rocks: New red sandstone,

648

86. Lias and oolites, 87. Wealden,
88. Cretaceous, 89. Vertiary period :
Mr. Trimmer’s memoir, 89. Isle of
Man tertiaries, 89. Bone-cavern, 90.
Geological dynamics: Mr. Hopkins’s
memoir, 90. Waves of translation,
91. Glacial theories, 93. Raised
beaches, 94. Memoir by M. Bravais,
94. Russia and the Ural Mountains:
Silurian rocks, 100. Devonian rocks,
100. Carboniferous rocks, 101. No-
tice of M. Demidoff’s work, and the
volume by M. Le Play on the coal-
field of the Donetz, 102. Permian
rocks, 105. Jurassic, cretaceous and
tertiary rocks, 106. Superficial de.
tritus, 107. Ural chain, 108. Cau-
casian chain, 108. Work of M.
Dubois de Montpereux, 109. Opinion
concerning the Neocomian rocks,
112. Asia Minor, 113. Turkey in
Europe, Servia, &c., 114. Piedmon-
tese Alps, 115. Notice of M. Sis-
monda’s map, 115. Secondary rocks
of Piedmont, 116. North American
geology: Paleozoic rocks, 117. The-
ory of the origin of coal, 121. Gyp-
siferous rocks of North America, 124.
Newfoundland, 126. Secondary and
tertiary rocks, 127. Mr. Lyell’s re-
searches, 128. South America: M.
d’Orbigny’s investigations, 134.
Eastern Countries: Hindostan, &c.,
134. Notice of Lieut. B. Smith’s
memoir on the boring operations at
Fort William, 137. Egypt, 137.
Mediterranean, 139. Paleontology :
Ichthyology, 139. Ornithichnites,
14]. Saurians, cetaceans, &c., 144.
Mastodontoid and megatherioid ani-
mals, 145. Concluding remarks, 149.

Murchison, Sir R. I., on the freshwater
beds of Brora, and the British equi-

‘ valents of the Neocomian system,174.

on the paleeozoic deposits of Scan-
dinavia and the Baltic provinces of
Russia, 601.

—— and M. de Verneuil, their account
of the Permian system, 327.

Museum committee, report of, for 1843,
42; 1844, 3386; 1845, 528.

Museum of the Geological Society, ge-
neral list of named fossils in, 44.

Mylodon, notice of Prof. Owen’s ac-
count of the, 147.

Nassa monensis, 8.

pliocena, 9.

Natica sp. (cast), 309.

Neocomian, beds so named, 203.

remarks on the propriety of the

designation, 112.

INDEX.

Neocomian, British equivalents of, 174.

Rua of that age in Surrey, 171,
196.

Newbold, Lieut., notice of his account
of the geology of Egypt, 138.

Newfoundland, notice of the geology of,
126.

New Holland, account of a fossil crus-
tacean (Thalassina Emerii) from, 360.

New Jersey, U.S., fish beds in the N. R.
sandstone of, 23.

Mr. Lyell on the cretaceous strata

of, 301.

_ New red sandstone, divisions of, 86.

Mr. Williams on the origin of the

marls of, 365. .

of Nova Scotia, notice of, by Dr.

Gesner, 190.

of New Jersey, U.S., fossil fishes

in, 23.

of Connecticut, U.S., impressions
of birds’ feet in, 22.

New South Wales, section of a district
in, and fossils of, 23.

Mr. Clarke on dykes of marble and

quartz in Argyle county, 524.

New York, Mastodon remains found
there, 38.

Niagara, deposits near, 19.

Mastodon remains found there, 38.

recession of the falls of, 128.

Nicholson, Mr., fossil bones from Bris-
bane river, N.S.W., 23.

Niger, Dr. Stanger on the geology of
the banks of the, 190.

Norfolk, Mr. Trimmer on pipes and
sand-galls in the chalk near, 6.

Mr. Trimmer on cliffs of northern

drift in, 435.

_ Mr. Trimmer on pipes or sand-
galls in the chalk of, 482.

North American geology :—paleozoic
rocks, 117. Appalachian chain, 118.
Notice of Dr. Dale Owen’s commu-
nication on Indiana, 120. See also —
America, United States, &c.

Northern drift, on cliffs of, in Norfolk,
by Mr. Trimmer, 435.

Norway, paleeozoic deposits of, 602.

metamorphosed Silurian rocks of,
604.

Nova Scotia, notice of the gypsiferous
rocks in, 124. i
coal formation, notice of, by Mr.

Lyell, 184.

—— Mr. Dawson on the coal-measures —
of, 272, 504.

notice of Dr. Gesner’s map of, 186. _

Odontaspis, notice and figures of two |
new species of, from Pondicherry, —
388.

INDEX.

Ohio, bones of Mastodon found in gravel
of, 37.
Ohio coal-field, 2.
Old red sandstone of Westmoreland and
Lancashire, 27.
of Berwickshire, 29.
of the Scottish border, 79.
Mr. Trevelyan onfractured pebbles
found in Forfarshire (N. Britain) in
the conglomerate of, 364.
Oliva sp. (cast), 565.
Ontario lake, boulder formation on the
borders of, 20.
Oolites, fossils found in, 446.
Oolitic coal of Brora, Mr. Robertson on,
173.
Oolitic rocks of the Cotteswold Hills,
account of, 437.
Ophioderma tenuibrachiata, 233.
Ophiolitic rocks of Tuscany, 473.
Ophiura Murrayii, 233.
serrata, Romer, 234.
Ophiuride, fossil, of Britain, notice of,
by Prof. E. Forbes, 232.
Orbigny, M. Alc. d’, notice of his contri-
bution to S. American geology, 124.
Ordnance Geological Survey of England,
progress of, 75.
Ornithichnites, notice of the American
specimens, 22, 141.
Ostrea subspatulata, 307.
Otodus, notice and figures of five new
species of, from Pondicherry, 385.
Owen, Prof., on the fossil tympanic
bones of four species of Balzena from
the red crag, 283.
account of fossil crania of the
Dicynodon from South Africa, 500.
Owen, Dr. Dale, on the geology of the
Western States of N. America, 1.
Oxford clay, new species of fossil fish
from, described by Sir P. Egerton, 446.
Oxyrhina, notice and figure of new
species of, from Pondicherry, 586.
Palzontology : — See Fossils.
Paleozoic rocks of the British Islands,
notice of the President’s speech for
1843, 70.
—— older, of North Wales, 251.
comparison of those in N. Wales
with those of Cumberland, 576.
of Scandinavia and the Baltic pro-
vinces of Russia, 601.
- of Canada, 450, 584.
- Paleozoic fossils, notice of M. de Ver-
- neuil’s labours concerning, 83.
Paludina Stricklandiana, 380.
vivipara, 390.
sp. (cast), 573.
Parallel roads of Glen Roy, probable
origin of, 98.

649

Parkfield colliery near Wolverhampton,
on a fossil forest there, by Mr. Beck-
ett, 287.

Mr. Ick on dicotyledonous trees
found in the coal there, 289.

Parnassus, Mount, Mr. Trevelyan on
scratched rocks near, 203.

Pearce, Mr. J. C., on the locomotive
powers of the family Crinoidea, 159.

on a new Encrinite from Dudley,
160.

Pembrokeshire, Silurian rocks of, 76.

Percy, Dr., analysis of plumbago and
anthracite from Massachussetts, U.S.,
419.

Permian rocks of Russia, notice of, 105.

Permian system as developed in Russia
and other parts of Europe, by R. I.
Murchison, Esq. and M. E. de Ver-
neuil, 327.

recapitulation of its fauna, 333.

Phillips, Mr., his investigations in the
Malverns, 77.

Pholidophorus crenulatus, 184.

Hartmanni, 184.

Phosphorite, Dr. Daubeney and Capt.
Widdrington on its occurrence in
Estremadura, 298.

Physeter, on the occurrence of,in the
red crag of Felixstow, by Mr.
Charlesworth, 286.

Pictou (Nova Scotia), coal-measures of,
273, 506.

Piedmontese Alps, notice of M. Sis-
monda’s researches in, 115.

Pipes in the chalk, Mr. Trimmer on, 6.

Planorbis Spratti, 380.

Plastic clay, on a bed of septaria con-
taining freshwater shells in, 389.

Pleistocene beds near Copford, Essex,
164,

“Pleta,”’ or orthoceratite limestone of
Russia, 616.

Plumbago and anthracite, Mr. Lyell on
the age and origin of a’bed ef, from
the mica-schist of Massachussetts
(U.S.), 416,

analysis of, by Dr. Percy, 419.

Polished rocks not necessarily pro-
duced by glacial action, 599.

Polyparia, account of six (cretaceous)
species obtained from Timber Creek
(U.S.) by Mr. Lyell, described by Mr.
Lonsdale, 311.

Pondicherry, fossiliferous beds near, 204.

cretaceous fossils from, 325.

Sir P. Egerton’s account of re-
mains of fishes found near, 381.

Porth Treiddyn, Carnaryonshire, Mr.
Byres on traces of glacier action at,
370.

650

Portlock’s report on the geology of
Londonderry, notice of, 81.
Portlock, Capt., on the white limestone
of Corfu and Vido, 355.
Post-tertiary formations of Tuscany,
469.
Pratt, Mr., on the geology of the neigh-
bourhood of Bayonne, 157.
President’s address for 1843, 65.
Primary and transition rocks of Canada
and Labrador, Capt. Bayfield on, 584.
Protozoic recks of North Wales, 251,
268

Psaliodus n. g., description, 156.
Pseudocrinites, a proposed new genus
of Encrinites, description of,.160.

Pseudocrinites bifasciatus, 160.

—— quadrifasciatus, 160.

Pulborough, on greensand fossils found
at, 201.

Radicofani in Tuscany, account of the
basalt of, 477.

Rain- and ripple-marks in the new red
sandstone of New Jersey, U.S.,23.
Raised beaches, notice of, in the Presi-

dent’s speech, 91.

explanation of, by Mr. Harkness,

178.

on the western coast of Ross-shire,
account of, by Mr. Jeffreys, 434.

Ray, fossil (Cyclobatis oligodactylus),
from Mount Lebanon, account of, by
Sir P. Egerton, 442.

Redfield, Mr., on fish beds in the new
red sandstone of New Jersey, U.S., 23.

Rees, Dr., on the existence of. fluoric
acid in recent bones, 373.

Reports, annual, for 1843, 41; for 1844,
345 ; for 1845, 527.

Ridges, raised beaches and bonider for-
mation of Canada, Mr. Lyell on, 19.

Riley, Dr., his discovery of a bone-
cavern near Bristol, 90.

Ringerigge (Scandinavia), section a-
cross, 603

Ripple-marks in the new red sandstone
of New Jersey, U.S., 23.

Robertson, Mr., on the oolitic coal of
Brora, 173.

Rochester, U.S.,
found there, 38.

Rogers, Prof. H. D., notice of his me-
moir on the disturbances of the Appa-
lachian chain, 118.

Ross-shire (N.B.), Mr. Jeffreys on
raised beaches on the western coast
of, 434.

Rotalina, figure of a new species of, from
the New Jersey cretaceous beds, 310.

Royle, Dr., on the tin-mines of Tenas-
serim, 165.

Mastodon remains

INDEX.

Russell, Mr. Scott, his theory of waves,
91

Russia, notice of the geology of, in the
President’s speech, 100.

account of the Permian system

of, by Mr. Murchison and M. de

Verneuil, 327.

palzeozoic deposits of, in the Bal-
tic provinces, 601.

St. Lawrence, valley of, on the ridges,
boulder formation, &c. of, 19.

Saliferous marls of the new red sand-
stone, Mr. Williams on the origin of,
365.

Salter, Mr., and Mr. Sowerby, their
table of the fossils of the Denbigh
flagstone and sandstone series of
North Wales, 267.

Sand-galls or pipes in the chalk, Mr.
Trimmer on, 6.

in the Norfolk chalk, Mr. J.
Trimmer’s account of, 482.

Sandown Bay, Dr. Fitton on the lower
greensand section in, 101.

Santa Fe de Bogota, Prof. Edw. Forbes’s
account of fossil (cretaceous) shells
pala there by Mr. E. Hopkins,

91.

Seaglia of Tuscany, its position, 458.

Scandinavia and Baltic provinces of
Russia, Mr. Murchison on the pa-
leozoic deposits of, 601.

Silurian fossils of, compared with
those of other regions, 626.

Schomburgk, Sir Robert, on the geology
of British Guiana, 480.

Scottish border, rocks of, 79.

Scutella Jonesii, 574.

Secondary British rocks, notice of, in
Mr. Murchison’s speech, 86.

Secondary formations of Tuscany, re-
marks on, by Mr. Hamilton, 457.

Sedgwick, Prof., his view of the palzo-
zoic rocks of Cumberland stated, 70.

his views of the structure of
North Wales, 73, 212, 251.

—— his views in geological dynamics,
91.

comparative classification of the

fossiliferous strata of Cumberland

and North Wales, 576.

account of two fossil species of
Creseis collected by him, 362.

Selagite of Tuscany at Monte Catini,477.

Semionotus minutus, 183.

— Pentlandi, 183

pustulifer, 183.

Septaria, Mr. Warburton ona bed of,
containing freshwater shells in the
plastic clay at New Cross, Kent, 389.

Serpentine of Tuscany, 473.

INDEX.

Sharpe, Mr., on the Bala limestone, 10.

— on the Silurian rocks of West-
moreland and Lancashire, 23.

account of his investigations into
the Cumberland palzozoic rocks,
70.

—— his views of the classification of
a palzeozoic rocks of North Wales,

Shingle terraces, notice of, in the Pre-
sident’s speech, 96.

Shubenacadie (Nova Scotia), carbonife-
rous rocks at, 279.

Sierra Leone, geology of, by Dr. Stan-
ger, 190.

Silurian fossils of Scandinavia as com-
pared with those of other regions,
626.

Silurian rocks, progress of our know-
ledge with regard to, 70.

extension of, into Carmarthen-

shire and Pembrokeshire, 76.

of Westmoreland and Lancashire,

Mr. Sharpe on, 23.

of Sweden, and their relation to
the older crystalline rocks, 611.

— (metamorphosed) of Norway, 604.

of the Baltic governments of Rus-

sia, 615.

of Nova Scotia, notice of, by Dr.
Gesner, 186.

Simms, Mr., his account of a section
near Hythe, 206.

on the thickness of the lower

greensand beds of the south-east

coast of the Isle of Wight, 322.

account of the strata observed in

the Bletchingley tunnel, 357.

on the junction of the lower
greensand with the Wealden at the
Teston cutting, 406.

Sismonda, M., notice of his researches
in the Piedmontese Alps, 115.

Slate-rocks of Wales below the Silurian,
di.

Slates, Cambrian, fossils of, 220.

Smith, Lieut. R. Baird, on the delta of
the Ganges, 4.

Smith, Mr. (of Jordan-hill), on ter-
tiary deposits in the south of Spain,
A52.

— on the geology of Gibraltar, 298.

Smyrna, Gulf of, Lieut. Spratt on the
geology of, 373.

Prof. Edw. Forbes on the fresh-
water fossils collected by Lieut.
Spratt there, 379.

— geological map of,
p- 381.

Smyth, Mr. Warington W., geological
features of the country round the

opposite

651

mines of the Taurus, described by,
512.

Solvsberg (Norway), section across, .
604

Sowerby, Mr., and Mr. Salter, their
table of the fossils of the Denbigh
flagstone and sandstone series of N.
Wales, 267.

Spain, Mr. Smith (of Jordan-hill) on
the tertiaries of the south of, 452.
Species of named fossils in the Society’s

collection, their number, 44.

Sperm whale (Physeter), Mr. Charles-
worth on fossil remains of, from the
crag, 286.

Spherodus rugulosus, 384.

Spratt, Lieut., on the geology of the
Maltese islands, 225.

on the geology of the southern
part of the Gulf of Smyrna and the
promontory of Karabournou (Asia
Minor), 373.

Staffordshire, South, igneous rocks of, 84.

Stanger, Dr., on the geology of part of
the west coast of Africa, 190.

Sternbergia, remarks on, by Mr. Dawes,
359.

Stevenson, Mr., on the stratified rocks
of Berwickshire, 29.

account of his section through the
old red sandstone of the Scottish
border, 79.

Stigmaria in fire-clay in the coal-mea-
sures of Cape Breton, 271.

Stonesfield slate of the Cotteswold Hills,
account of, by the Rev. P. B. Brodie
and Mr. Buckman, 437.

Striated and fluted surfaces of rocks
not necessarily due to glacial action,
596

Strickland, Mr., on concretions in the
tertiary beds of the Isle of Man, 8.
— on impressions in the lias bone-
bed of Gloucestershire, 16.

—— account of calcareo-corneous bo-
dies found in Ammonites, 449.

Stutchbury, Mr. S.,his remarks on open-
ing a bone-cayern near Bristol, 90.

Surrey, Mr. Austen on the geology of
the S.E. of, 167, 196.

Dr. Fitton on the lower greensand
of Redhill near Reigate, in, 101.

Sweden, Silurian rocks of, 611.

Sydney coal-field, Cape Breton, se-
quence of strata at, 269. :

Table of fossil Ophiuride, 234.

Tatmagouche to Truro (Nova Scotia)
section, 273.

Taurus, geological features of the coun-
try round the mines of, by Mr. W. W.
Smyth, 512. ;

652

Tenasserim, Dr. Royle on the tin-mines
of, 165

Terebratula Seatoniana, 357.

Vanuxemiana, 308.

Wilmingtouensis, 565.

Tertiary beds of the Isle of Man, Mr.
Strickland on concretions in, 8.

—— of Malta and Gozo, described by
Lieut. Spratt, 225.

Tertiary deposits from the south of
Spain, 452.

of Tuscany, 458.

— of Mount Lebanon, 442.

—— of Smyrna, 373.

— Miocene, of N. America, 547.

Eocene, of N. America, 563.

of Martha’s Vineyard Island,
Massachussetts, 31.

Tertiary fossils. See Fossils (Tertiary).

Tertiary freshwater shells from plastic
clay, 389.

Tertiary geology, notice of contributions
to, 89

Thalassina Emerii, 360.

Thickness of the lower greensand beds
on the south-east coast of the Isle
of Wight, 322.

Timber Creek, New Jersey (U.S.), ac-
count of fossil corals found in the
cretaceous strata at, 311.

Tin-mines of Tenasserim, Dr. Royle on,
165.

Tornatella sp. (cast), 309.

Transition and primary rocks of Canada
and: Labrador, Capt. Bayfield on, 584.

Translation, waves of, and their effects,
91.

Trap rocks, extent of, near Wolver-
hampton, 85.

of Westmoreland and Lancashire,
29.

of Bleadon Hill (Somersetshire),

Rev. D. Williams on, 293.

in the coal at Darlaston, 292.

in the Parkfield colliery near Wol-
verhampton, 287, 289.

Trees, fossil, upright, in Nova Scotia,
176.

Tremenheere, Capt., his account of the
tin of Tenasserim, 167.

Trevelyan, Mr., on scratched rocks near
Mount Parnassus, 203.

on fractured boulders found near

Arbroath (N. Britain), 364.
on glacier marks in North Wales,

482,

Trimmer, Mr., on cliffs of northern
drift on the coast of Norfolk, 435.
on the pipes or sand-galls in the
chalk and chalk rubble of Norfolk,

6, 482

INDEX.

si eae a fossiliferous beds near,

and Verdachellum (S. India), cre-
taceous fossils of, 325.

Troost, Dr., on the Western States of
N. America, 1.

Tubulipora megera, 315.

Tunnel at Bletchingley (Surrey), Mr.
Simms on the strata there, 357.

Turkey in Europe, notice of M. Boué’
work on, 114

Tuscany, Mr. Eadiien on the geology
of some parts of, 455.

geological map of part of, opposite
p. 478.

Tympanic bones of the whale found
fossil in concretions in the red crag
of Felixstow, 283.

Ungulite sandstone of Russia, 616.

United States, Mr. Lyell on the creta-
ceous strata in those parts bordering
on the Atlantic, 301.

—— (Western), Dr. Dale Owen on
their geology, 1. See also America,
North.

Ural mountains and Russia, notice of |
the geology of, 100.

Verdachellum, fossiliferous beds near,
205,

and Trinchinopoly (S. India), cre-
taceous fossils found at, 325. _

Verneuil, M. de, HS paper on palzeozoic |
fossils, 83.

—— and Mr. Mur chicos their account
of the Permian system, 327.

Vido and Corfu, Capt. Portlock on the |
white limestone of, 355.

Virginia, U.S., Mr. Lyell on the Mio-
cene tertiaries of, 547.

on the Eocene tertiaries of, 564.

Volterra (Tuscany), account of the
basin of, 459.

Voluta (casts of three species), 309. |

Wales, North, Mr. Sharpe on the Bala
limestone of, 10.

Prof. Sedgwick on the geological —

structure of, 2]2.

Prof. Sedgwick on the older pala- |

ozoic rocks of, 251. )

map of, to illustrate Prof. Sedg- |

wick’s memoir, opposite p. 267.

palzozoic rocks of, 72.

—— Mr. Macintosh on the BEEBE |
traces of glaciers in, 594.

Mr. Trevelyan on glacier sues |

in, 482. {

and Cumberland, comparative |
classification of the fossiliferous strata ~
of, by Prof. Sedgwick, 576.

Wallace, Mr., on the classification of |

granitic rocks, 193. |

_-

INDEX.

Walton in Essex, on the appearance of
the strata at, 523.

Warburton, Mr., on a bed of septaria
containing freshwater shells at New
Cross, 889. .

Wave of trarslation, its effects, 91.

Weald clay of Atherfield, Isle of Wight,
198.

Wealden beds, Mr. Simms on their
junction with the lower greensand
at the Teston cutting, by Mr. Simms,
406.

account of those in Surrey, 167.

— fossil insects of, 88.

Westmoreland, Mr. Sharpe on the Silu-
rian rocks of, 23.

Westmoreland, Cumberland and Lan-
cashire, comparative classification of
the fossiliferous roeks of, with those
of North Wales, 576.

Whale, sperm, Mr. Charlesworth on its
occurrence in the red crag, 286.

Whale’s ear-bones found fossil in the
red crag, 283.

White limestone of Corfu and Vido,
Capt. Portlock’s remarks on, 395.
Widdrington, Capt., and Dr. Daubeny,
on the phosphorite of Estremadura,

298.

653

Wight, Isle of, thickness of the green-
sand beds of the south-east coast of,
322. :

Dr. Fitton on the lower greensand

of Atherfield in, 198.

Dr. Fitton on the Atherfield sec-

tion of the lower greensand, 396.

Prof. E.Forbes and Capt. Ibbetson

on the section from Black-Gang-

Chine to Atherfield, 407.

distribution of fossils in the lower

greensand of, 413.

and Kent, comparative remarks on
the lower greensand of, 2U8.

Williams, Rey. D., on the trap rock of
Bleadon Hill, Somersetshire, 293.

on the origin of the gypseous and
saliferous marls of the new red sand-
stone, 365.

Windermere rocks, 26.

Wollaston medal, award of, for 1843,
62.

Wollondilly river, Argyle county, N.S.
Wales, Mr. Clarke on dykes of mar-
ble and quartz at, 524.

Worms, impressions of, on the surface
of lias, 18.

Zamia Sussexiensis, n.s., described, 34.

PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR,
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