bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Classification and Nomenclature of the Lower Palæozoic Rocks of England and Wales
Authors: Sedgwick
Published: October 2009

In a former paper, of which this is a continuation, I endeavoured to ascertain the geological place of some groups of slate-rocks which are seen in certain parts of Westmoreland and Yorkshire near the base of the carboniferous limestone; and I endeavoured to show that the several groups which appeared on one or more of the sections were the equivalents, respectively, of the
Coniston limestone
, the
Coniston flagstone
, the
Coniston grits
, and the
Ireleth slates
, &c. These equivalents are well known, having been described by myself in former published papers. But a new question may arise respecting their true place in the lower divisions of the whole palæozoic system. In the Cumbrian cluster of mountains, the whole series of deposits below the Old Red Sandstone has been long separated into three great physical subdivisions ; the lowest of which included the Skiddaw slate; the middle was represented by a vast development of green slate and porphyry; while the highest included all the rocks of Westmoreland and Lancashire, from the calcareous slates of Coniston to the highest beds that were overlaid by the old red conglomerates, or were covered by the beds of the great Scar-limestone. Such were Mr. J. Otley's three physical groups; and they were adopted as the basis of classification by myself and others who followed him.
On a Reversed Fault at Lewisham
Authors: De la Condamine H. M.
Published: October 2009

A recent section on the northern slope of Loam-pit Hill exhibits distinctly a small “reversed” fault in the lower tertiary strata; and the comparative rarity of this phænomenon appears to render it desirable that its existence in this locality should be noticed.
Notes on St. Helena
Authors: Blofeld J. H.
Published: October 2009

In this paper the author briefly noticed the general external characters of the island and some of its geognostical phænomena, and more especially described the conditions under which the fossil shells of
Bulimi, Succineæ
and
Helices
are found in the superficial soils of the island. The
Bulimus auris-vulpina
is not now found in a living state. The shells are met with in various elevated parts of the island. The specimens accompanying this communication were found by the author about half a mile behind Longwood, at an elevation of about 1700 feet above the level of the sea, on a hill-side which is worn into numerous clefts or ravines by the heavy rains. The surface of the hill to a depth of 5, to 6 feet consists of dark mould, and under this is a stratum of a greyish-brown friable earth about 3 to 4 feet thick; in this latter bed the shells occur. This earth also contains birdbones§, perfect and fragmentary, in abundance; and it was suggested by the author, that possibly in some cases the shells may have been brought to the spot by birds that fed on their living occupants.
On the Foot-prints occurring in the Postdam Sandstone of Canada
Authors: Logan W. E.
Published: October 2009

Since the reading of the paper communicated to the Society last year on the track and footsteps of an animal in the Potsdam Sandstone of Lower (East) Canada, the lowest member of the Lower Silurian rocks, farther investigation by my assistants on the Provincial Survey and myself have brought to light a considerable number of similar tracks in the same rock; and, although quite convinced in my own mind of the age of the rock, the importance attached to these impressions has induced me to search for additional evidence on the point, in order that others as well as myself might be satisfied that no mistake had been made in regard to it.
On the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Kotah, Deccan
Authors: Bell Thomas L.
Published: October 2009

The village of Kotah is situated on a plain, on the left bank of the Pranheetah River, twelve miles above its junction with the Godavery, in latitude 18° 51′ N., and longitude 80° 2′ E.

This is the locality selected by the late Dr. Walker for the experiment of boring for coal, and from whence the specimens of fossil Fish (
Lepidotus Deccanensis
) were obtained that were figured and described in Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. vii. p. 272, Pl. XV. The “Station,” where the bore was made, is situated on the bank of the river, about half a mile to the N.N.W. of the village.

To the westward the country (after crossing the river) is slightly undulating, as far as the town of Chinnoor, distant twenty miles; to the east the plain is bounded by an abrupt ridge of hills, distant five miles, which also, in consequence of their north-west and south-east direction, bound the plain to the north ; on the south the country is open and flat.
On the Structure of the Strata between the London Clay and the Chalk in the London and Hampshire Tertiary Systems
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

The first part of this paper, containing a description of that portion of the Lower Tertiaries immediately under the London clay, and which I termed the “
Basement Bed of the London Clay
,” was read before the Society in January 1850. On that occasion my object was to show, that over the whole of the south of England tertiary area, a stratum forming a distinct and constant geological horizon clearly separated the London clay from the group of strata beneath it. The variable and interesting set of deposits between the Chalk and the London clay, including the “Basement Bed” of the latter, form the group hitherto called “the Plastic Clay Formation,” which has been described “as composed of an indefinite number of sand, clay, and pebble beds,
irregularly alternating
,” and as being “members of one great series of nearly contemporaneous deposits,” and essentially of fresh and brackish water origin. A careful examination of these strata has led me to believe, on the contrary, that a regular and definite order of superposition does exist, and that, instead of one series of alternating and intercalated strata, the conditions of structure and changes in the fauna show that there are five well-marked and distinct groups. Three, however, of these groups are apparently synchronous. Therefore the number of consecutive and separate divisions of the Lower Tertiaries may be reduced to three.
On the Geology of Catalonia
Authors: Pratt S. P.
Published: October 2009

The general aspect of the Spanish Province of Catalonia is a series of hills, which take a direction from the north-east to the south-west, nearly parallel to the coast; they are separated from each other by undulating plains or valleys of nearly the same width as the ridges, varying from five to twelve miles. These hills occasionally rise to a considerable elevation, from 2000 to 3000 feet. As great disturbance has taken place near the chain of the Pyrenees, these parallel ridges do not assume their predominant character nearer than about twenty miles from the base of these mountains; but even beyond this distance, they are considerably disturbed here and there throughout their extent by igneous action and the protrusion of masses of granite. The pass of the Pyrenees by Bellegarde to Jonquera represents the general character of several other ridges in the province, the base being granite, covered by gneiss, and surmounted by very thick deposits of schistose beds, with occasional masses of limestone and red marly sandstone.
On the Superficial Accumulations and Surface-markings of North Wales
Authors: Ramsay A. C.
Published: October 2009

During several summers, while investigating the more solid geology of North Wales in connexion with the Geological Survey of Great Britain, my attention has been occasionally directed to the subject of the action of ancient glaciers in that country, which were first described by Dr. Buckland in 1841; and I have especially endeavoured to discover traces of a sequence of events characterizing the glacial epoch.

On both sides of the Menai Straits, the low ground of Anglesea and Caernarvonshire is often covered by a coating of “drift,” composed of beds of sand, gravel, and occasionally of clay, mingled with boulders, and sometimes bearing marine shells characteristic of the period.
Description of some Graptolites from the South of Scotland
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

Mr. Harkness has been so good as to send me specimens of many Graptolites he has collected, and information respecting several of the localities mentioned in his paper, on the Silurian Rocks of the South of Scotland, which appears in this Number of the Journal.

He has added one very interesting species to the British list, by finding the
Diplograpsus teretiusculus
, Hisinger, a species characteristic of the alum slates of Sweden, at Glenkiln, Dumfriesshire. He has also found
D. ramosus
. Hall, at Hartfell in the same district: this previously was only known in Wigtonshire.

Numerous specimens collected by him of the
Rastrites triangulatus
, Harkness, prove it, as Prof. M'Coy had surmised, to be only the younger portion of
Grapt. Sedgwickii
, Portlock. A large series too of
G. incisus
, Harkness, enables us to refer that species to
G. sagittarius
of Hisinger, of which there are good specimens in the Society's Museum, and which has been lately well-figured by Geinitz. A figure of its young and full-grown stages are given, Pl. XXI. fig. 8.

Mr. Harkness also permits me to correct an error into which he was led in his previous memoir. The strata of South Kirkcudbrightshire have been hitherto referred to the age of the Wenlock shale, but the species of Graptolites quoted by Mr. Harkness from that locality, would invalidate this reference; viz.
Graptolites
(
Diplograpsus
)
foliaceus
, Murch.,
G. tænia
. Salter, and
G. ludensis
, Murch.
On the Silurian Rocks of the South of Scotland, and on the Gold Districts of Wanlockhead and the Lead Hills
Authors: Harkness R.
Published: October 2009

Mr. Harkness considers that the mineral axis of the system of Silurian rocks in the south of Scotland is the syenitic mass of Criffel. The rocks lying next to the syenite are in a highly metamorphic state, but wherever bedding can be traced, it is found that the strata on the south side dip to the south, and on the north side to the north; which last northerly dip (or to speak more correctly N.N.W. dip) continues with little exception to the northern margin of the Silurian rocks.

The lowest regularly stratified beds which can be observed on the north of Criffel are near Woodside Hill, in the parish of New Abbey, Kirkcudbrightshire, where the dip is N.E., but at no great distance to the west of this the usual N.N.W. dip obtains. By following these beds northward from Lochaber (where the syenite again occurs), an ascending section is procured for six miles, the dip exceeding 70°. The rocks consist of thick and thin greywacke sandstone (in contact with the igneous rock), frequently showing the laminæ of deposition, succeeded by thin-bedded flaggy greywacke, resembling flinty slate. Then follow in succession (at Longwood) greenish-grey, curved, laminated beds, intersected by calcspar veins,—a series of chloritic shales, interstratified with thin beds of fine-grained greywacke sandstone,— shales,—and lastly sandstone and flaggy beds, which form the hills up to the Nick of Bennerick.
Additional Notes on the Red Sandstones of Nova Scotia
Authors: Dawson J. W.
Published: October 2009

In a paper on the New Red Sandstone of Nova Scotia, read before the Society, June 1847, in which I endeavoured to separate the true New Red Sandstones skirting the Bay of Fundy from the red beds associated with the gypsiferous series and other members of the Carboniferous system,—after having traced these beds to the mouth of the Shubenacadie, and again observed their continuation in Cornwallis and Horton, west of the estuary of the Avon,—I remarked that, while the intervening county of Hants is occupied chiefly by carboniferous deposits, there are on its north shore patches of nearly horizontal sandstone which might belong to the New Red.
On the Geology of some parts of Central India
Authors: Sankey R. H.
Published: October 2009

I
n
this paper the author gave a very general sketch of the distribution of the different classes of rocks and soils of Central and Southern India. The “red-soil” and calc-tuff(Kunkur) of the granitic districts, the “black-soil” of the basaltic districts, the “laterite” of the Konkun coast and other districts, called also locally “iron-clay” and “lithomarge,” and perhaps the diamond-breccia of Southern India, are superficial deposits.

The age of the immense basalt or trap formation of Central India is unknown. An extensive freshwater deposit (or series of deposits occurs in this trap-formation; and Lieut. Sankey observes that it is invariably found between two layers of trap. The author considers it probable that these freshwater beds are the remains of a lacustrine or fluviatile formation extending from Bombay to Rajamundry, or entirely across the peninsula from sea to sea, in one direction; and from Medcondah (in the centre of Hydrabad) to Saugor (towards the north of Bundelcund in the other direction); an extent of nearly 700 miles in length and 500 in breadth.

These freshwater beds in the trap have been especially observed at Nagpoor, Jubbulpoor, and in the Sichel Hills.

In the same district sandstone and limestone occur to a great extent—the former known as the diamond-stone; the latter characterized by fish-remains of Jurassic age. But the relations of these rocks with the basalt are not evident.

Lieut. Sankey makes especial reference to the late researches of the Rev. Messrs. Hislop and Hunter in the vicinity of Nagpoor¶, aud concludes by detailing the observations made by himself and Dr. Jerdon in the Kamptee, Oomrait, and Pachmurra districts, on the coal, coal-shale, and sandstone there met with. The coal occurs about five miles north of the village of Oomrait (which is in Lot. 22° 8′. Long. 78° 46′, and fifteen miles to the west of Chindwarra), on the bank of a stream at the village of Chota Burkoi, where it outcrops as a layer about 1 foot thick. The shale and sandstone with which the coal is associated have afforded numerous remains of plants, as
Pecopteris, Glossopteris, Sphenopteris, Phyllothecæ
, and
Vertebrariæ
, such as occur in the Burdwan coal of N.E. India.

On the north and west of Kamptee this fossiliferous sandstone forms a series of great thickness. Sandstone also makes its appearance ten miles south of Nagpoor.

In the Pachmurra Range the sandstone is calculated by the author to be at least 2700 feet thick, and he thinks it probable that it is continuous with the coal-fields of Jubbulpoor, &c. to the North, and to the N.W., with that beyond Baitool. Lieut. Sankey, together with Dr. Jerdon, traced the sandstone almost up to Hurdagur, twenty miles S.W. of Pachmurra ; and he does not doubt that, by its continuation under the trap.range of Muttoor, it is connected with the coal-bed of Oomrait.
On the Age of the Fossiliferous Sands and Gravels of Farringdon and its Neighbourhood
Authors: Sharpe Daniel
Published: October 2009

A
lthough
the various maps and memoirs hitherto published, which have included the neighbourhood of Farringdon, have all agreed in classing with the Lower green sand the fossiliferous gravel full of the remains of sponges, which lies on the south of that town, there has been a suspicion in the minds of several palæontologists that this classification had been adopted on imperfect evidence, and that a more careful examination might lead to a different result. As the correct determination of this point seemed likely to throw light upon other localities, I determined to spare no pains in collecting and examining the organic remains upon which the decision must ultimately rest.

In justice to those whose views I am about to combat, I must confess that I returned from my first visit to Farringdon, in the spring of 1850, convinced that the Sponge-gravels belonged to the upper part of the Lower green sand, the
Terrain Aptien
of M. d'Orbigny. My first doubts on the subject arose from Mr. Morris pointing out to me how many of the Farringdon fossils agreed with those of the Upper green sand of England, and of the
Tourtia
of Belgium: this led to a closer examination of the matter, which at last brought me to the conclusion that the deposit, though belonging strictly to the cretaceous series, is a more modern member of that series than the Chalk.

The Lower green sand is the only member of our cretaceous series of marine origin, yet recognized, containing any
Observations on the
Chonetes comoides
(Sowerby)
Authors: Davidson Thomas
Published: October 2009

T
he
external characters of
Chonetes comoides
have been carefully described by several authors†, but little or nothing appears to have been written on its internal arrangements. Sowerby's figure does not convey a correct idea of the double area, fissure, and cardinal process belonging to this species; he simply represents a bivalve shell possessing a convex and concave valve, finely striated, with a flat parallel space between the beaks. Better illustrations were, however, subsequently published by Count Keyserling, and reproduced by M. de Koninck: therein the characters of the double area, cardinal process, and fissure are faithfully delineated ; but the recent discovery of several more perfect examples has made it desirable to publish a few observations and illustrations additional to those we already possess.

The
Chonetes comoides
may be deseribed as a large semicircular, inequivalve shell, with a straight hinge-line, generally (but not always) as long as the greatest width of the shell, and articulated by means of teeth and sockets.
The ventral or dental
valve is exteriorly more or less eonvex, with ear-shaped expansions.
The dorsal or socket valve concave
, following the curves of the other. The beak of the ventral valve is variably developed in different examples,—a circumstance due to the lesser or greater convexity of the shell : thus in specimens with a moderately convex valve the beak is rarely produced or visible above the cardinal edge, while in more convex individuals (as in the typical examples figured in the ‘Min. Con.’) the beak is more or
On the Superior Limits of the Glacial Deposits in the Isle of Man
Authors: Cumming J. G.
Published: October 2009

I
n
a paper, read before this Society on the 4th of February, 1846, on the Tertiary Formations of the Isle of Man, I detailed the position and relations to each other of certain pleistocene accumulations, which I classed under the heads of,—1st. Boulder-clay, and erratic blocks; 2nd. Diluvium; 3rd. Drift-gravel; and 4th. Alluvium.

In a subsequent paper, read before this Society on January 6th, 1847, on the Geology of the Calf of Man, I stated that I felt inclined to remove to the division of Boulder-clay a large portion of the accumulations which I had classed under the head of “diluvium,” confining this term to those masses of
insular
granite and detritus which had been carried from their original position to higher localities, and, as I then presumed, by violent diluvial or cataclysmal action. I thought it impossible that any
ordinary
action of icebergs could elevate to a height of upwards of 600 feet (and that within a distance of a mile and a half from their parent source) such immense quantities of granite and other rocks which I traced to the very summits, and abundantly on the other side of our highest southern mountains. In the same paper I stated my conviction that the sea-bottom of the glacial period had in this neighbourhood been depressed and raised again to an extent of not less than 400 feet.

Mr. Darwin in his paper “On the Transportal of Erratic Boulders from a lower to a higher level, read before this Society
On the Geology of Rainy Lake, South Hudson Bay
Authors: Bigsby J. J.
Published: October 2009

G
eographical Position
, &c.—Rainy Lake, or Lake Lapluie, is placed on the great commercial route from Canada to Prince Rupert's Land and the north-west fur countries.

It is 225 miles west of Lake Superior, and 85 miles south-east of the Lake of the Woods, from the head of Rainy River; but at Nahcatchewonan River it is only 37 miles distant from that lake.

This lake, 50 miles long by 38½ miles broad, is 294 miles round by canoe-route. Its form, like that of most bodies of water resting on plutonic rocks, is extremely irregular, being in three great troughs (with deep lateral indents), one of these running easterly, and the other two in a northerly direction. See Map, Plate X.

The immediate shores are usually low, rarely cliffs or earthy banks; but they rise in shapeless masses of rock, often naked, with broad marshy intervals; or in ridges, which become hills 300-500 feet high at distances from the lake varying from half a mile to four miles.

The low grounds are well covered with small trees, such as are common in these regions, and the higher abound in
Vaccinecæ
and other useful fruit-bearing bushes.

Rainy Lake is 1160 feet above the level of the sea, according to Capt. Lefroy. Its water is pure and clear, bul seldom deep, and the spring-freshets rise to the height of from 3 to 5 feet. Its magnetic variation is 10°-12° E.

We counted 515 islands; but there are more. There are mostly small and marsy
On Pipes and Furrows in Calcareous and Non-Calcareous Strata
Authors: Trimmer Joshua
Published: October 2009

I
propose
, in this communication, to give a brief summary of the evidence on which I rely for proof of the formation of those remarkable cavities in the chalk, known as pipes and sand-galls, by the mechanical action of water, before the matter which fills them was deposited. I shall describe the various forms which they assume, the different strata, besides the chalk, in which they are found, and the various deposits of the tertiary epoch with which they are filled.

1.

The Pipes are terminations of Furrows
.—In the first place, then, they are the termination of furrows, which widen and deepen as they approach the pipes. This becomes evident, when we have an opportunity of seeing a ground-plan of them, in consequence of the removal of the matter covering the chalk, without disturbance of the surface of the rock. Until I drew attention to this fact*, they had only been studied in sections; and when seen in section, they frequently present very deceptive appearances.

It was the connexion of these furrows with pipes and other cavities in the chalk which caused me to venture to dissent from the theory of their formation by acidulated water percolating the strata above them, as promulgated by Sir Charles Lyell, and adopted by some of our most eminent geologists.

Detailed descriptions of several such cleared surfaces of chalk in Kent and Norfolk, which I had watched from day to day, during several weeks and even months, while the clearing was
On the Physical Geology of the Himalaya
Authors: Strachey Richard
Published: October 2009

T
he
author having, in a previous communication to the Society*, described the geological structure of a part of the Himalaya mountains, in the present paper he proposed to complete that sketch, at the same time taking a rather larger field of view, offering some explanation of the manner in which the chain in general had been raised to its present position—first, with reference to the mechanical action of the forces in operation; and secondly, as to the epochs at which the upheavement took place.

Attention was first directed to some of the more prominent points of the physical structure of the great mountain mass, of which the Himalaya forms a portion. Among these were specially noticed :— 1st. The general form of the section of the mass, which shows that the Himalaya mountains are merely the southern slope of a great protuberance, the summit of which forms the table-land of Tibet, while the northern slope is a mountainous region, marked on our maps as the Koneulun, similar to the Himalaya, and terminating in the great plains of Central Asia. 2nd. The parallelism to one another, and to the outer edge of the mountain area, of the great ridges or lines of elevation; of the great valleys or lines of drainage, which are also lines of rupture; of the strike of the strata; of the lines of igneous action; and of the distribution of the various deposits, considered both in reference to their mineral character and geological age. 3rd. The arrangements of the drainage, in accordance to which the crests of the northern and southern slopes of the great mass form two main lines of water-shed, proposed to be termed the “Turkish and Indian Water-sheds,” to the north and south of which, respectively, the rivers flow off directly to the plains of Turkistan on the one side, and to those of Northern India on the other; while the waters of the summit of the table-land are collected into two streams alone, the Brahmaputra and the Indus, which are discharged from the mountains at two distant points, at opposite ends of the chain. 4th. The constancy maintained for great distances along the length of the chain, both in the geological structure, and in the elevations to which the mountains rise; which last character is particularly shown by the almost perfect horizontality of some of the most elevated stratified deposits, by the extremely small slope of the main drainage-channels of the Tibetan table-land, and by the general similarity of the altitudes even along the most rugged ridges.
On the Geology and Mineralogy of Mount Alexander, and the adjacent Country, lying between the Rivers London and Campaspe
Authors: Selwyn Alfred Richard Cecil
Published: October 2009

T
he
whole of the above district is occupied by four different geological formations—

1.

Granite

2.

Metamorphosed palæozoic strata.

3.

Basalt

4.

Auriferous drift

The extent of country occupied by the first three of the above formations may be seen on referring to the accompanying map; [by which it is shown that Mount Alexander forms part of a granitic range, extending from the River Coliban, on the east, to the Loddon on the west, with a breadth varying from four to twelve miles, and describing an irregular semicircle, with its convexity to the north. The granite is bounded on all sides by metamorphic rocks, and at its eastern extremity it is overlaid by patches of basaltic lava, amongst which the Coliban runs. The basalt occurs also to the east of the Coliban in still greater extent, overlying the metamorphic rocks along the course of the Campaspe River. At the western limit of the granite also, similar basalt forms the lava-plains on the Loddon.] The fourth is more or less universally distributed over the area occupied by the second.
On the Gems and Gold-Crystals of the Australian Colonies
Authors: Stephen G. Milner
Published: October 2009

U
ntil
the discovery of the great gold deposits in Australia, the colonists considered no other mineral productions than copper and lead deserving their research; although specimens of native gold were publicly exhibited (and seen by myself) in a jeweller's shop in Sydney so far back as 1836, brought by a Bathurst shepherd periodically from that locality; and although in the sister colony of South Australia a vein of red ferruginous earth, richly charged with gold (specimen G.), had been found in a copper-mine near Adelaide in the year 1845,
six years
before Mr. Hargreaves made his first communication to the Sydney government.

And yet the colonists (those of South Australia especially, who were the earliest pioneers in the mining-field) could not be justly taxed with apathy on the subject of their hidden treasures, inasmuch as there was little inducement for them to make discoveries, whilst they found ample employment for their limited capital and scanty supply of labourers in their highly profitable: agricultural and pastoral occupations. Indeed, in the colony of New South Wales, and in Van Diemen's Land, its offspring, there was a motive directly operating upon the mind of the landed proprietor (whose flocks and herds roamed unmolested over tens of thousands of acres) to
conceal
, if possible, the teeming wealth of the soil, as his title-deeds or land grants expressly reserved to the Crown all gold and silver, &c. The working of coal in New South Wales, moreover, was secured by the Government as a monopoly for
On the Geology of some parts of Madeira
Authors: Lyell Charles
Published: October 2009

D
uring
a stay of two months in Madeira, Sir C. Lyell had an opportunity of examining a considerable portion of the island, and extracts from his letters to Mr. L. Horner, read at this evening's meeting, contained observations on the geological structure of Madeira and the neighbouring islands of Porto Santo and Baxo. In nearly all his excursions. Sir Charles was favoured by the company of Mr. Hartung, a German naturalist resident at Funchal, who proved a most active fellow-labourer.

Sir Charles agrees with Mr. Smith, of Jordan-hill, in attributing a subaërial origin to the great mass of the volcanic rocks of Madeira. Some of the earlier igneous formations were submarine, and are associated at San Vincente, in the northern part of the island, with deposits containing corals and sea-shells. These marine strata are elevated at least 1200 feet above the sea.

A long and complicated series of volcanic eruptions, for the most part subsequent in date to the above, and which took place in the open alr, built up the island. They have given rise to a mountain-chain about thirty miles in length, running east and west. This chain in its middle and loftiest portion rises to the height of 5000, and in some peaks to more than 6000 feet. Its composition is displayed in the precipitous sides of valleys more than 3000 feet deep, and is seen to consist entirely of scoriae, lapilli, breccias with angular fragments of volcanic rocks, tuft, scoriaceous lava, and some beds of solid
On some Intrusive Igneous Rocks in Cawsand Bay, near Plymouth
Authors: Horner Leonard
Published: October 2009

S
everal
of the principal features in this locality are described by Sir Henry De la Beche, in his “Report on the Geology of Cornwall, Devon, and West Somerset;” but the plan of that work was, of necessity, limited in a great degree to general views. To have entered into detailed descriptions of local phænomena, in so large a field, would have required the labour for many years of several observers in the investigations, and the results would have filled many volumes of description. The author of that Report has however dwelt upon many of the more remarkable places where the phænomena throw light upon important questions of theory; but, in these days, when geological researches demand far more minute observation, when, as our President has on more than one occasion inculcated, the ground must in many cases be gone over inch by inch, ample opportunities will long remain for diligent observers to fill-in details in the masterly outlines of the geology of the West of England, which have been drawn by the skilful and practised hands of De la Beche, Sedgwick, and Murchison. Devon, and West Somerset;” but the plan of that work was, of necessity, limited in a great degree to general views. To have entered into detailed descriptions of local phænomena, in so large a field, would have required the labour for many years of several observers in the investigations, and the results would have filled many volumes of description. The author of that Report has however dwelt
On the May-Hill Sandstone, and the Palæozoic System of the British Isles
Authors: Sedgwick
Published: October 2009

In a former commurncation† the author and Professor M'Coy had shown that the sandstone of May-Hill contains a group of fossils of the true Wenlock type, and that it must therefore he cut off from the Caradoc sandstone, and arranged with the base of the Wenlock group; also that on the western flank of the Malverns, the upper portion of what had been called Caradoc sandstone is the equivalent of the May-Hill sandstone. In the present paper Professor Sedgwick treated of the Mathyrafal and Glyn Ceiriog sections, on the east side of the Berwyns, and sections on the western side, together with the sections of the Pentamerus limestone of Norbury and Linley, on the flanks of the Longmynd, the sections of Horderley, the Onny, and of Caer Caradoc; and lastly, the sections of Builth, Llandovery, and Llandeilo.

From the examination and considera6on of these sections, and of their fossil evidences, the author concludes that in those great physical regions there is not so much as one continuous unbroken section throughout which we can ascend in the way of passage from the Cambrian to the overlying Silurian groups ;--that there is a physical break between them exactly on the horizon oi'the May-Hill sandstone ; —and that, in exact co-ordination with that break (often distinctly marked by a discordancy in the position of the beds), there is a great change in the fossil species ;—thus pointing out the true physical and palæontological base of a Silurian system. Professor Sedgwick appended a corrected tabular arrangement of the Palmozoic rocks*, in accordance with the above ; and concluded with some remarks on the nomenclature of British geology.
Palichthyologic Notes. No. 7. On Two new Species of Lepidotus from the Deccan
Authors: Egerton P. de M. Grey
Published: October 2009

T
he
discovery of remains of fossil fishes in the table-land of the Deccan was first brought under the notice of the Geological Society in 1851 by Colonel Sykes*. The only specimen he had then received sufficiently perfect for description, proved to be a new species of the genus
Lepidotus
. In the course of last year† further specimens were received from the same district, but apparently from a different bed, which indicated a new species of the genus
Tetragonolepis
of Agassiz, now
Æchmodus
(
vide supra
, p. 367).

The specimens described in this memoir were sent to me a few days since by Colonel Sykes. They are bedded in a similar bituminous shale to that containing
Lepidotus Deccanensis
, and are stated to have been found in the same locality. They are both clearly distinct from that species and from each other, although they all possess in common the characteristics of the Liassic section of the genus
Lepidotus
.
Palichthyologic Notes. No. 8. On some Ichthyolites from the Nummulitic Limestone of the Mokattam Hills, near Cairo
Authors: Egerton Philip de M. Grey
Published: October 2009

T
he
fish-remains contained in the six specimens submitted to me by Mr. Homer for examination are derived from not fewer than sixteen individuals.

With the exception of one mutilated tail, the posterior portions of all are deficient. The cranial bones are for the most part in good preservation; some of the fins are also well shown, more especially those parts composed of hard spines. The teeth and scales are also in perfect condition. The anterior portion of the endo-skeleton is displayed in several of the specimens, together with the dermal apparatus for supporting the dorsal and anal fins. Unfortunately the precise character of the dorsal fin is not recognizable, nor can the soft rays of any of the fins be counted with accuracy. The branchiostegous rays are also indefinable, both as to form and number; and the vomer and palatine bones are not visible.

These deficiencies render doubtful the determination of the family or genus to which the species is to be referred. Enough, however, is preserved to afford, if not conclusive evidence, at all events an approximation to the truth.

There is no question but that all the specimens belong to one and the same species, and the crowded position of their remains warrants the conclusion that it was a gregarious species. The characters of the scales and fin-rays determine it to be a true Ctenoid of Agassiz, or Acanthopteroid of Müller, and belonging to one of the most typical families of the Order.

In the absence of the
On the Pegmatite of Ireland
Authors: Delesse M. A.
Published: October 2009

T
he
author observes that the Pegmatite of the Mountain of Mourne in Ireland is very remarkable for its cavernous structure. This structure is especially found in pegmatites which contain topazes; it is therefore probable that the cavities in the pegmatite are owing to the separation of fluoric gases, the fluor of which is subsequently fixed in the topaz and mica.

The Irish pegmatite is also very remarkable for the presence of fayalite and of ferruginous peridote; for peridote is the characteristic mineral of rocks of igneous origin which have not an excess of quartz.

M. Delesse remarks, in conclusion, that cavernous pegmatite is formed under circumstances markedly different from those under which granite properly so called is produced.
On the Structure and Affinities of the Hippuritidæ
Authors: Woodward S. P.
Published: October 2009

T
hese
fossils were regarded by the author as bivale shells, forming a distinct family, related most nearly to the
Chamidæ
and the Cardiadæ.

The Hippurite was shown to have its valves articulated by a hinge essentially like that of the Radiolite. The internal ligament or cartilage is divided into two portions, situated at the sides of the first or most anterior of the three inflections of the outer shell-wall; this ligamental inflection is very prominent in the
Hippurites cornuvaccinum
, but obsolete in
H. bioculatus
. Two prominent straight teeth are developed from the upper valve, parallel with the hinge-margin, in
H. bioculatus
and
H. radiosus
, transverse to it in
H. cornuvaccinum
. The anterior tooth supports a curved horizontal muscular apophysis, shaped like the adductor impression in the lower valve, the posterior tooth has a long vertical process, sometimes more prominent than itself, which is received by the cavity between the first (or ligamental) and second (muscular) inflection, which corresponds to the muscular ridge in
Diceras
and
Cardilia
. The third ridge in the lower valve of the Hippurite, which meets a corresponding inflection of the upper valve, was compared to the siphonal ridge of certain bivalves, which divides the inhalent from the exhalent current of water.

In a series of specimens of
Radiolite, Hoeninghausii
, presented by Mr. Pratt to the British Museum, there was evidence that the
umbo
of the upper valve was marginal when young; and the ligamental inflection, though obsolete externally, was always manifest inside the upper valves which had
On a Section lately exposed in some excavations at the West India Docks
Authors: Blanford W. T.
Published: October 2009

A
n
excavation lately made to join two portions of the West India Docks has exposed a section of the deposits in the valley of the Thames to a depth of above 30 feet, showing beds of peat with stems of trees, and, below these, gravels containing organic remains. The thickness of the different beds varies considerably, but their general succession and their measurement where best exposed are shown by the accompanying diagram, p. 434.

The two beds,
c
&
d
, vary in character and thickness; stems of trees, most of which lie horizontally, though some of the smaller ones are vertical, are scattered throughout the peat, and this deposit is interspersed with specks of blue phosphate of iron. Throughout the clay,
c
, are sparingly scattered the following species of freshwater shells:—

Bithinia tentaculata.

Limnæus palustris.

Limnæus pereger.

Ancylus fluviatilis.

At the bottom of the bed of peat at one place a considerable number of land and freshwater shells of the following species occur (the bivalves having both valves together):—

Helix nemoralis.

H. rotundata.

Clausilia laminata.

Succinea putris.

Valvata piscinalis.

Bithinia tentaculata.

Ancylus fluviatilis.

Pisidium amnicum.

Unio.
On the Correlation of the Lower Tertiaries of England with those of France and Belgium
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

I
n
this paper Mr. Prestwich treated of those Tertiary beds which, commencing immediately above the Chalk, are in England limited superiorly by the Bracklesham Sands; in France, by the
Calcaire grossier
, and in Belguim, by tne
Système Bruxellien
of Mr. Dumont; and he endeavoured to show the exact correlation of the several divisions of these lower tertiaries, and claimed for the “London Tertiaries,” as a group, a distinct and separate position beneath that of the Paris group, of which latter the
Calcaire grossier
may he taken as the centre and type. The chief points of importance are—that the Lower Bagshots are the equivalents of the
Lits coquilliers
; and that the well-known
Sable de Bracheux
, with its marine fossils, corresponds with the lower part of the Woolwich series.

The author first pointed out that the known equivalents among the Tertiary beds in question are—

1.

Calcaire grossier, France = Bracklesham Sands, England = Système Bruxellien, Belgium.

2.

Lits coquilliers, France = Syst. Ypresien supérieur, Belgium. (The zone of Nummulites planulatus.)

3.

Lignites of the Soissonnais = Fluviatile beds of Woolwich and Lewisham.

Mr. Prestwich then described in detail the grouping of the tertiary strata in France, Belgium, and England respectively; and, having pointed out the local differences and peculiarities exhibited by these deposits, he entered upon a detailed comparison of the different divisions of the tertiaries of the several districts.
On the Geology of portions of the Turko-Persian Frontier, and of the Districts adjoining
Authors: Loftus William Kennet
Published: October 2009

T
he
geological researches detailed in this memoir were made in the years 1849–52, during the progress of a joint commission appointed by the English, Russian, Turkish, and Persian governments for the demarcation of the Turko-Persian frontier.

The line of country investigated during the Survey hears in a N.N.W. direction from Mohammerah, at the head of the Persian Gulf (Lat. 30° 26′ N.), to Mount Ararat (Lat. 39° 42′ N.); a direct distance of rather more than 600 geographical miles.

The first 250 miles, from Mohammerah to near Mendali, is an arid and deserted waste, infested by plundering parties of Arabs and Kurds, but capable for the most part of extensive cultivation.

From Mendali to Zohab (50 miles) the exterior tertiary chain of low gypsiferous ridges, which everywhere skirt the west flank of the Zagros, is crossed; and at the latter place the nummulitic limestone and cretaceous rocks are first reached.

From this point to near the Lake Zerribar (60 miles) is a succession of regular, saddle-formed, limestone anticlinals, with alternate synclinals, containing disconnected portions of the gypsum series, and underlaid by older blue schists.

The remainder of the frontier exhibits a lofty range composed of igneous rocks, which, bursting through the stratified deposits, constitutes the axis of the vast barrier ridge nearly as far as Bayazid, at the south foot of Mount Ararat, a distance of 270 miles.

Other traverses were made as far south as Shiraz (Lat. 29° 36′ N.), and many valuable sections obtained, which are referred to
On the Insect Beds of the Purbeck Formation in Wiltshire and Dorsetshire
Authors: Brodie P. B.
Published: October 2009

P
rof
. E. F
orbes
, in a valuable paper† in Jameson's Edinburgh Journal, was the first to divide the Purheck Series in Dorsetshire into upper, middle, and lower, and to define the varied conditions under which the whole was accumulated. In this memoir he pointed out that this Series consisted of alternations of freshwater, marine, and brackish water deposits, differing as much in their lithological as in their zoological characters, giving us also a new and more enlarged view of the distribution of freshwater and marine life during this portion of the Oolitic period.

At the time when I first (now nearly thirteen years ago) laid before this Society an account of the occurrence of Insects and other new fossils in the Purbecks in the Vale of Wardour, I was induced to consider the Insect and Isopod limestones as belonging to the
lower
part of the
lower
Purbecks. Since then, however, the subdivisions of Professor Forbes, and the joint investigations of my friends the Rev. Messrs. Austen and Fisher, have led me to examine the few available sections in the Vale of Wardour again, and to pay a visit to Durlstone Bay, in order to institute a more careful comparison between these two distant portions of the formation,—the result of which I now proceed briefly to describe.
On the Occurrence of Copper in Tennessee, U.S.
Authors: Bray W.
Published: October 2009

T
he
gneiss and mica-schist of Eastern Tennessee strike south-west and north-east (about 47° E. of N.), and dip to the south-east (at angles of about 25°), running parallel to and forming an outer range of the Alleghany Mountains. Veins of copper and iron ores, with occasional quartz veins, lie in the schists, dipping parallel with them, and consisting of porous oxide of iron at top, with iron pyrites and carbonate and sulphuret of copper lower down. The veins are described as being sometimes 45 feet wide, and traceable for upwards of 70 miles ; but they are worked chiefly in the extreme south-east corner of Tennessee, in the township of Duckton, in the county of Polk, a district ceded by the Indians to the States about four years ago.
Additional Remarks on the Skull of the
Baphetes Planiceps
, Ow
Authors: Owen
Published: October 2009

Since the communication of the notice of the portion of cranium of the Labyrinthodont Reptile above-named (Quarterly Journal of the Geol. Soc. May 1854), I have been favoured with the view of some other fragments of the same cranium, including parts of the interior or under-surface, with several teeth buried in the coal-matrix, and exposed at the fractured surfaces.

In the ordinary Labyrinthodont Reptiles of the European Trias, one or two teeth at the fore-part of the jaws have the form and proportions of large canines, the rest are smaller and more slender pointed teeth.

One of the present fragments includes the fore-part of the right maxillary and premaxillary bones, and shows a single large laniariform tooth descending from the fore-part of the maxillary into the substance of the subjacent matrix: in front of the tooth is one of the smaller, pointed, serial teeth: of which teeth other fragments show other examples, the base of the teeth being anchylosed to shallow sockets in the bone.

So much, therefore, of the dental system of the
Baphetes
, as is here exhibited, accords in the general characters of shape and relative size, of disposition and mode of fixation to the jaw, with the dentition of the Labyrinthodonts.

A transverse section was taken from about the middle of the large tooth, and exhibited the usual labyrinthic structure: rather less complex than in the
Labyrinthodon Salamandroides
.

The character of the exterior surface of the cranium was indicated in the specimen originally submitted to me by
On a Specimen of Nummulitic Rock from the neighbourhood of Varna
Authors: Hamilton W. J.
Published: October 2009

In offering to the Society the accompanying specimen of Nummulitic Limestone from Buyuk Aladyn in the neighbourhood of Varna, I am desirous of making one or two observations respecting its occurrence. The specimen was forwarded to me by my brother. Col. F. W. Hamilton, Grenadier Guards, who, in a first communication (since published in the Literary Gazette, July 29, 1854, p. 690), expressed an opinion that the hollow depressions which occur abundantly on the surface of these limestone hills were the result of artificial excavations, and that the columnar-looking rocks which remain standing in the middle, were the pillars by which the roof was originally supported. In a subsequent letter he observes that the hollow depressions occur in so many parts of the country on the limestone plateau, that he believes he must give up his former opinion that they are artificial, and look upon them as natural depressions.

On referring to Boué's ‘Esquisse Géologique de la Turquie d'Europe’ (Paris 1840), I find that, after mentioning the fact of the vast development of the cretaceous formations in Turkey (p. 17), he alludes to the occurrence in Bulgaria of enormous masses of
Orbitolites
, constituting a portion of the nummulitie group. Further on (p. 21), he observes that the upper beds of these cretaceous rocks are full of
Orbitolites
, to which he has given the name of
O. Bulgarica
.

He also alludes to the great prevalence of caverns and grottos in some portions of the cretaceous beds of Turkey in Europe, many