bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Occurrence of Glacial Traces on the Rock of Dumbarton
Authors: Brickenden L.
Published: October 2009

A
s
the very peculiar and remarkable positions in which glacial striæ and abrasions are sometimes observed on the surface of rocks in Scotland may tend, if carefully examined, to explain the particular mode in which such phænomena have been produced, it is probable that the occurrence of glacial traces beneath an overhanging rock bordering a fissure at Dumbarton Castle is, amongst others, worthy of being recorded.

The hard whinstone, which here rises up abruptly from the alluvial shores of the River Clyde, exhibits in a very interesting and beautiful manner the crystalline arid prismatic structure peculiar to such trappean effusions, but the lines of fracture or divisional planes of the Rock of Dumbarton are observed to incline generally at an angle of about 70° giving to the Rock on one of its sides a rather precipitous and overhanging appearance. The effect of denudation or abrasion has therefore been to wear or score it in certain parts into fissures, the sides of which have a parallel inclination; and across the centre of the Dumbarton Rock there is one of considerable depth, dividing the hill into two parts or summits, as shown in fig. 2.

It is on the sides of this fissure, which now forms a passage, and the only mode of approach to the buildings on the Rock, that striaæ and abrasions are observed, which constitute the subject of this notice.

The fissure intersects the Rock from south to north, pointing directly up the valley of the Leven, through which
Description of the Cranium of a Labyrinthodont Reptile,
Brachyops Laticeps
, from Mangali, Central India
Authors: Owen
Published: October 2009

T
he
fossil obtained by the Rev. Messrs. Hislop and Hunter† from the sandstone series of Mángali, about sixty miles to the south of Nágpur, and transmitted for my examination, is a considerable portion of a skull, wanting chiefly the tympanic pedicles and the lower jaw; it is imbedded in a block of bright brick-red compact stone, with its upper surface exposed. The skull (Pl. II.) is broad, depressed, of an almost equilateral triangular form ; the occipital border or plane rather exceeding in extent each lateral border, which borders converge with a slight convex curve to the rounded obtuse muzzle. The breadth of the occiput is 4 inches 9 lines, and the extent of each lateral border of the skull in a right line is 4 inches 6 lines. Most of the cranial bones are impressed by rather coarse grooves, radiating in each from a prominence which indicates the primitive centre of ossification; the intervening ridges being in some parts broken up by communicating grooves into tubercles. The orbits (
o, o
) are entire, of a moderate size, of a full oval form, and situated in the anterior half of the skull. The middle line of the upper surface of the skull is slightly depressed; at the upper and fore part of the skull on each side, there is a smooth continuous groove of a sigmoid form, with a strong curve, convex outwards anterior to the orbit, and with a less strong curve, convex inwards on the inner side of the
Additional Observations on the Occurrence of Pipes and Furrows in Calcareous and Non-calcareous Strata
Authors: Trimmer J.
Published: October 2009

T
he
following observations, which are necessary for the full understanding of the views I have taken on the origin of sand-pipes and furrows in and on the surface of strata, are offered in support of some positions I have taken in my former papers on the subject, and which, from their not having been fully elucidated, require some explanatory remarks in their defence.

1. It was not my intention to assert in a former paper‡ “On Pipes and Sand-galls in the Chalk of Kent” that the Thanet Sands are calcareous, as Mr. Prestwich has been very naturally led to infer in his memoir read before the Society, Jan. 18, 1854, from the expression, “The sand with which the pipes are filled contains much calcareous matter.” This calcareous matter was chalk, redeposited near the lining of the pipe from water charged with bicarbonate of lime. Having sent a specimen of it with the paper, I did not think it necessary to enter into fuller explanations.

2. I have stated § that I saw miniature pipes actually forming by the mechanical action of water on blocks of siliceous sandstone, on the sea-shore near Reculver. Mr. Prestwich replies, that this sandstone contains some carbonate of lime. It appears by Mr. Prestwich's papers ‖ on the Eocene Tertiaries, that the cliffs at Reculver yield two sandstones, the one belonging to the Thanet Sands, the other to the London Clay series,--the former calcareous, the latter but slightly so. On blocks of one of these, I
On a Fossiliferous Drift near Salisbury
Authors: Prestwich Joseph , Brown John
Published: October 2009

T
he
great extent of bare and clean-denuded chalk hills forms a very striking feature of the scenery around Salisbury. But, although the more prominent parts of the country are so free from drift, the small valleys which traverse these great undulating downs contain, scattered along their base and often extending for a short distance up the slopes of the adjacent hills†, a considerable quantity of gravel, flint- and chalk-rubble, and brick-earth. This drift is, in greater part, of local origin, and is very irregular in its structure and distribution; one material predominating at one spot, and another taking its place close by. Flint-rubble and sandy clays preponderate usually in the lower parts of the valleys, chalk-rubble being more common on the hill-slopes, whilst the brick-earth is irregularly and only occasionally patched on the base of the hills, alternating with and replacing the flint- and chalk-rubble.

Three of these small valleys are confluent at Salisbury. It is on the north-easteru side of the one through which the Willey flows that one of the best exhibitions of the Drift is obtained. The following section shows the prevailing relation and structure of this deposit, which here rises about 30 to 40 feet above the level of the Willey*.

The railway-cuttings between Salisbury and Wilton expose some good continuous sections, whilst several brick-fields give a few deeper excavations. In a cutting adjoining Wilton, large subangular gravel, chalk-rubble, and coarse rubbly brick-earth alternate and pass laterally one into the other. The following section of a
On Land-Surfaces beneath the Drift-Gravel
Authors: Austen R. Godwin
Published: October 2009

I
stated
several years since § that the thick gravel-beds of the valley of the Wey below Guildford were underlaid by an old terrestrial surface, indicated by peat, trees, and sedimentary deposits,—that the remains of the extinct mammalia were usually associated with this old surface,—and that it was in mud and silt of this age that the nearly perfect skeleton was found on the Pease Marsh, as was also the other of the parallel valley of the River Mole. As the great end to which geological inquiry is now tending is that of the past physical conditions which the earth's surface has undergone, and as the value of such inferences is wholly dependent on the accuracy with which observed facts may have been described, I am desirous of adding to the instances I before adduced respecting this ancient terrestrial surface, more particularly as the facts referred to have been represented in another way by Mr. P. J. Martin, in his “Additional Observations on the Anticlinal Line of the London and Hampshire Basins,” published in the Philosophical Magazine, March 1854.

With reference to the phænomcna of the Wealden area, considered physically, Mr. Martin is of opinion that “the key to the whole is in the conception of the cotemporaneity of upheaval and denudation,” and that “there is no drift that is not of the age of the denudation.” The circumstance that there should occur marl-beds, showing tranquil accumulations for long periods,—peat-bogs in old valleys, with trees of large growth,—and all now
On the Tertiary Formations of the North of Germany; with special reference to those of Hesse Cassel and its neighbourhood
Authors: Hamilton W. J.
Published: October 2009

T
he
observations contained in the following pages are intended as supplementary to those which I laid before the Society on the 22nd February last. The subject is one of growing interest, and is, I am happy to say, attracting the attention of the geologists of the north of Germany and of Vienna. We have therefore every reason to hope that, from their combined exertions, many years will not elapse before we shall possess a complete table of the chronological history of the marine tertiary beds of Germany. Under these circumstances, and considering the comparatively limited extent of my additional observations, made last autumn, I should have deemed it premature to bring them on this occasion under the notice of the Society, had I not been desirous of availing myself of this opportunity to correct an error into which I was unconsciously led in my former communication, in which I have attributed an opinion to a distinguished German geologist which he never entertained, and which is at variance with what he has already published on the subject. I trust that my friend Dr. Sandberger will accept this explanation as sufficient reparation for the error which I have committed.

At page 292 of the 10th volume of our Journal, in alluding to the tertiary deposits of Westeregeln near Magdeburg, I have stated, apparently on the authority of Dr. Sandberger, that its exact relations to the beds of the Mayence basin have been made out, and that it overlies the Brown-coal formation of
Additional Observations on the Silurian and Devonian Rocks near Christiania in Norway,—on presenting M. Theodor Kjerulf's new Geological Map of the District
Authors: Murchison Roderick I.
Published: October 2009

In conclusion, let me say that, although I failed in leading Prof. Keilhau to agree with me respecting the order of succession from flanks to centre, or in the identity in age of his “harte schiefer” and my Lower Silurian, it was the simple inspection of his own geological map of the Christiania Territory which first led me to entertain views which I realized by personal surveys. By inspecting the map of Keilhau, the geologist will see, that the whole of that which is now called the “Silurian basin,” as circumscribed by gneiss, has a major axis of 120 miles long from Langesund, on the S.S.W., to the Lake Miosen, on the N.N.E. He will further observe, that the northern and southern portions of this region, particularly the latter, have been occupied by vast masses of those eruptive rocks (whether grouped as granites or porphyries) which have been emitted subsequently to the formation of the Old Red Sandstone. Hence it is, that in the parallel of Christiania only is there to be seen a full and symmetrical development of all the Silurian strata; the eruptive rocks merely showing themselves in that district as dykes and bosses of protrusion, or partial superjacent sheets.
On the Causes producing Foliation in Rocks; and on some observed cases of Foliated Structure in Norway and Scotland
Authors: Forbes David
Published: October 2009

T
he
study of the metamorphic and crystalline rocks has of late years attracted much attention, and the researches of Darwin, Sharpe, and others have brought forward many facts particularly interesting and important.

It will probably, however, be admitted, that, notwithstanding the labours of these geologists, great difference of opinion exists as to the formation and structure of these rocks, and that at present we are not in possession of sufficient data to enable us to place the question upon a firm basis. It is therefore of importance that as many observations as possible be laid before geologists working at this subject; and it is consequently hoped that the present communication may not prove unserviceable in advancing the inquiry.

The observations here brought forward have with a few exceptions been made during a residence of some years in Norway, where the foliated rocks play so important a part. The others are the result of some short excursions in Scotland made for the express purpose of comparison.

For a long period, and it may be said until late years, it was the generally received opinion that the lines of foliation in rocks were lines corresponding in direction or identical with the lines of stratification, and were produced by the alteration of these lines by metamorphic action. This view of the case can no longer be considered tenable, and the observations of many geologists have shown that foliation frequently takes place at a different angle to that of stratification.

Darwin seems to consider
On the Occurrence of Angular, Subangular, Polished, and Striated Fragments and Boulders in the Permian Breccia of Shropshire, Worcestershire, &c.; and on the Probable Existence of Glaciers and Icebergs in the Permian Epoch
Authors: Ramsay Andrew C.
Published: October 2009

The sedimentary strata which contain the fragments of striated and polished rocks to which I am about to call attention belong to the inferior portion of that which has been defined as the “Permian Group” by Sir Roderick Murchison, the true geological horizon of which in England was first explained by Professor Sedgwick, in his celebrated memoir, “On the geological relations and internal structure of the Magnesian Limestone and the lower portions of the New Red Sandstone series,” &c. It is of the last-named division of this series that they probably form a part.

The speciality of the subject of this memoir scarcely requires me to enter upon points connected with descriptive geology further than may be needful to explain the true position of the Breccias alluded to; and the detailed sections subsequently given, having that object in view, should therefore be considered chiefly as explanatory of the general relations of the subdivisions of the Permian and Bunter strata to each other. It is, however, proper to state that the general position of the Permian rocks skirting the coal-fields of North Wales, Coalbrook Dale, and Staffordshire was first indicated in Sir Roderick Murchison's Map, published in 1839. They are there coloured as Lower Red Sandstone with subordinate calcareous conglomerates; and their lower boundary he defined by the outcrop of the Coal, while the upper he shaded off into the New Red or Trias properly so called. The line of demarcation between the Permian and Bunter rocks has, however, lately been
On the Geology and Fossils of the Neighbourhood of Nágpur, Central India
Authors: Hislop S. , Hunter R.
Published: October 2009

In tracing the geological history of this district from the facts that have been brought forward, we are made to feel that the early epochs are involved in the utmost obscurity. While in many other countries the records of what took place in Palæozoic times have been preserved in successive strata of the earth's crust, in the Dakhan they have been wholly obliterated. It is not until we come down to the Jurassic era that we meet with archives whose characters can be read. Then we find that Central India was covered by a large body of fresh water, which stretched southward into the Peninsula, and eastward into Bengal, while on the north and west it communicated by some narrow channel with the sea. On the shores of this lake earth-worms crawled, and small reptiles (frogs) crept over the soft mud. In its pools sported flocks of little Entomostracans resembling the modem
Estheria
, mingled with which were Ganoid fishes and Labyrinthodonts. The streams which fed it brought down into its bed the debris of the plutonic and metamorphic rocks which then constituted the greater part of the dry land, and which were covered with an abundant vegetation of Ferns, most of them distinguished by the entireness of their fronds. Low-growing plants with grooved and jointed stems inhabited the marshes ; and Conifers and other Dicotyledonous trees, with Palms, raised their heads aloft. Meanwhile plutonic action was going on, and strata, as they were formed, were shattered and reconstructed into a
On the Occurrence of Obsidian Bombs in the Auriferous Alluvia of New South Wales
Authors: Clarke W. B.
Published: October 2009

I
n
Mr. Darwin's ‘Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle’ (p. 38), that author describes and figures a volcanic bomb of green obsidian from the plain between the Rivers Darling and Murray, and which he received from Sir T. L. Mitchell.

The explanation given by Mr. Darwin appears to be satisfactory as to the origin of that individual specimen, and it is confirmed by the parallel examples cited from M. Beudant. Sir T. L. Mitchell's specimen would seem either to have been drifted from a very long distance, or, which is more likely, from the known habits of the aboriginals, to have been dropped by one of them, who probably found it in the trap-hills of the Lachlan to the north-eastward. This specimen was unique as to Australia, until recently.

During the last two years, several similar specimens have been found in the auriferous detritus of the western and northern Goldfields.

The first which I met with was found in the cradle of a gold-washer on the Turon River, who dug it from a depth of 30 feet below the surface. This was a small, irregular, roundish substance, 0·6 inch in diameter, having a specific gravity of 2·7 at a temperature of 66°.

It was undivided, and more like those examples described by M. Beudant than tile figure given by Mr. Darwin. A similar specimen, but of a rude elliptical form, ½ inch diameter in the major axis, and having a sp. gr. of
On the Occurrence of Fossil Bones in the Auriferous Alluvia of Australia
Authors: Clarke W. B.
Published: October 2009

I
n
a pamphlet published by me at Sydney in 1851, I mentioned the fact, that the gold-alluvia of New South Wales contained osseous reliquiæ of extinct animals, and I quoted a private letter from San Francisco, dated 23rd February 1850, showing, that bones of extinct animals have been also found in the gold-alluvia of California. The inference was, that, in this respect, there is a resemblance in the alluvia of the two countries. These facts were, I believe, first mentioned by myself; for, though it was known long before, that the alluvia and caverns of New South Wales contained numerous remains of extinct animals, no one had before ascertained, that in some localities these remains had been accumulated in the bottoms of creeks contemporaneously with gold, before much of the materials forming the present banks of those creeks had been deposited. In 1853 I received direct information from Professor John B. Trask, of California, confirming the facts stated in the private correspondence above-mentioned, as to the manner in which the extinct mammalia of that State have been exhumed by the gold-diggers north of the Consummes and the Tuolumne. He bears testimony also to their occurrence in that district, in his “Report on the Geology of the Sierra Nevada” (p. 11), 1853.

Interesting to the Society as, I presume, such well-authenticated facts must be, the following section of one of the auriferous localities on the Turon River, New South Wales, will illustrate them ; especially as this locality is on the
On the St. Cassian Beds between the Keuper and the Lias in the Vorarlberg Alps
Authors: Merian
Published: October 2009

I
have
lately visited, with my friend Escher von der Linth, the Alps of the Vorarlberg, and the neighbourhood of the Lake of Lugano and the Lake of Como. In the Vorarlberg we found immediately under the Lias, which is well developed, the beds of the Dachstein Limestone, characterized by numerous Corals and a large bivalve (
Megalodon scutatus
of Schafhäutl, “Dachstein bivalve” of the Austrians). Below the Dachstein limestone are the Gervillia-beds (lately called Kössen-beds by Von Hauer). The
Cardita crenata
, Goldf., the Aviculæ of the family of the
Gryphæatæ
, and small turrited univalves, contained in these beds, induced me to refer them to some of the St. Cassian beds. Lower still are thickly developed masses of dolomite, under which sandstones with impressions of Keuper plants occur.

The exact relation of the Salzburg beds containing
Ammonites globosus
with the Gervillia-beds has not yet been made out. We have not hitherto been able to find in the Alps of the Vorarlberg this characteristic family of Ammonites.

In the vicinity of the Lake of Como, the dolomitie masses change their appearance ; but beneath the lias the Gervillia-beds form a good geological horizon, which can be found in numerous places when once one has become accustomed to its position. This bed is also found under the Lias of the chain of the Stockhorn, Canton Berne ; and Escher has found it in the neighbourhood of Geneva.

We have called the whole of the beds situated between the Lias and the Keuper
Notice of some Cretaceous Rocks near Natal, South Africa
Authors: Garden R. J.
Published: October 2009

T
he
discovery of these fossiliferous rocks, near the Umtafuna (on some maps spelt “Umtavooma”) River, on the coast of South Africa, was made by Mr. H. F. Fynn, in 1824. About three miles to the southward of the river commence certain excavations in the cliffs, formed by the action of the sea, and called by the natives “Izinhluzabalungu.” These caves extend for about 800 yards. In 1851 Capt. Garden visited the spot with Mr. Fynn, and, with the aid of his servant (the late Private Thomas Souton), and the natives, collected a suite of fossils from the walls of the caves and from the adjoining cliffs. The cliffs vary considerably in height, and their tops are covered with vegetation; the
Strelitzia alba
grows abundantly in the hollows. The lowest rock visible is a hard shelly rock with pebbles; above it is a brownish-red sandstone, traversed in every direction with white veins, which are the broken edges of colossal bivalve shells (
Inoceramus
). These shells are thin, and too easily broken to be extracted from the rock; the corrugated surface of a portion of one was exposed to the extent of 2 feet in length by 1 foot in breadth, and the author estimated others to be nearly 3 feet in length. This shell is common to all the strata in the cliff. Alternate layers of the above-mentioned two rocks occur to the height of about 18 feet ; above which are hard bluish-black, brown, and greenish argillaceous and sandy beds.

Shells were found in all these clay-beds, and Ammonites at different heights and in certain of the strata. Many fossils are exposed on the cliffs, and washed out on to the shore by the action of the sea.

Fossil trees are seen at low water on a reef of fiat rocks near these caverns ; and about three miles to the southward Capt. Garden found at the extreme point of the left bank of the Umpahlanyani* stream a piece of fossil wood, imbedded in a rock similar to that at the caves.

About half a mile beyond the caves runs the Umzambanit River, across which the cretaceous rocks are continued, appearing on its right bank ; after which they are lost sight of, except at a few places: the author, however, believes this ibrmation to extend as far as the Umtata River, having been informed by the late Mr. W. H. D. Fynn that fossil Turtle remains were to be procured from the rocks at the mouth of that river.
Notes on the Geology of Natal, South Africa
Authors: Sutherland P. C.
Published: October 2009

T
he
sea-coast of Natal, to a distance of twenty to thirty miles inland, appears to be composed of beds of sandstone and shale alternating with trap-rock, the former containing thin layers of woody coal and very faint vegetable impressions. These beds of trap and sedimentary matter are not individually of great extent. Six of each sometimes occur in a linear space of a quarter of a mile.

The best specimens of the coal yet found are only slightly bituminous; and much is of very inferior character. The thickness of the seams varies from a mere film up to about 2½ to 3 feet. Where the best coal exists, three seams crop out in a space of 20 feet; the aggregate thickness of which is upwards of 4 feet. From the manner in which they run into each other, thin out, again thicken, and are separated by lenticular deposits of arenaceous shale and grit, I have hopes, by following them, we may find them passing permanently into one or more thick beds. The distance, however, of this locality from a sea-port (200 miles) is such, that the value of the coal will not repay the expense of working and carriage. It is of importance, however, for use in the Colony [Natal], and since it began to be wrought the imports of coal into Natal have ceased.

Judging from the cursory examination I have been able to make of the impressions of leaves and stems contained in the shale, they resemble the
Notice of the Occurrence of Coal near the Gulf of Nicomedia
Authors: Sandison D.
Published: October 2009

H
earing
of the existence of fossil coal in this District, I lately sent to a person of some experience in such matters to make research, and trials, by digging up a certain quantity where seams might be found; for which purpose he was furnished with the necessary orders from our Kaïmakam.

The result was, that he met with one or more coal-seams in the Sub-district of Bazarkuy, about three hours distant from Ghio, and three to four hours from Yallova in the Gulf of Nicomedia, and sent some horse-loads to Ghio, whence the first report I received was, that the coal was superior to that of Heraclea, and gave promise of being serviceable for steam-navigation.

With respect to the coal last received at Ghio, and taken, I believe, also from the surface, the information which has just reached me is not so favourable. There has been no time, however (particularly with the agitation prevailing here since the earthquake shocks commenced), for me to get the coal-bed in question, which has been reported as extending over many miles of country, and containing various sorts of coal, visited by a competent person worthy of confidence.

Some previous attempts have been made, seven to five years ago, to extract coals from seams belonging to the same bed, but were not followed up, either from the coals proving worthless, or on account of the expense of land-carriage to the sea-side, and subsequent transport to the capital, coming too high to answer at the low rate then paid for coals from England.

Notwithstanding the small amount of information contained in this communication, it becomes of great importance, when taken in connexion with the well-known coal-field of Heraclea. If we draw a line, N.E. and S.W., from Heraclea to the head of the Gulf of Nicomedia, all the hitherto known Devonian and Palæozoic formations of this part of Asia Minor will be found on the N.W. side of this line, whereas the greatly-developed systems of Cretaceous and other rocks extend on the E. and S.E. of this line. A considerable development of the Carboniferous formation may therefore be looked for in the direction between Heraclea and the Gulf of Nicomedia, with great probability of finding other valuable coal-fields in the intervening district.
On the Geology of Georgia, United States
Authors: Bray W.
Published: October 2009

I
n
this communication the author gave a sketch of the distribution of the alluvial, tertiary, cretaceous, palæozoic, and crystalline formations of the State of Georgia, through which he had lately travelled.
On the Fossil Cranium of
Dicynodon Tigriceps
, Owen, from South Africa
Authors: Owen
Published: October 2009

I
n
this paper Professor Owen described in detail the cranial bones of a large species of
Dicynodon
from South Africa. The specimens described were transmitted by A. G. Bain, Esq., to England in 1849, and are now in the British Museum. The skull surpasses in size that of the largest walrus, and resembles that of the lion or tiger in the great development of the occipital and parietal ridges, the strength of the zygomatic arches, and the expanse of the temporal fossæ,— all indicating the possession of the temporal (biting) muscles as largely developed as in the most powerful and ferocious of the carnivorous mammalia. Hence Prof. Owen names this species
Dicynodon tigriceps
. Like the smaller forms of
Dicynodon
, already described by the author, this species has two long, curved, canine tusks in the upper jaw; the jaws being otherwise destitute of teeth.
On the Section of the Metamorphic and Devonian Strata at the Eastern Extremity of the Grampians
Authors: Nicol James
Published: October 2009

One of the most instructive sections of the crystalline rocks composing the Grampian Mountains is seen at the termination of that chain on the coast of Kincardineshire, between Stonehaven and Aberdeen. Having found this section to differ in some important points from the structure usually ascribed to these mountains, I now offer a short account of it to the Society. The section at p. 547 is only intended to illustrate the general position of the strata without entering into minute details.

Commencing with the southern portion of the section, the first rock is the Old Bed Sandstone (
a
) forming part of the great formation which underlies the Scottish coal-field. It is well seen on the coast in this district, where it is quarried near Stonehaven. This rock is often described as evidently made up of the detritus of the mountains on the north, but its mineral characters in this place hardly bear out the statement.
Notice of some Raised Beaches in Argyllshire
Authors: Bedford E. J.
Published: October 2009

T
wo
of these raised beaches are in the Lunga Islands, one of them in Lunga Proper, the other in North Fullah. Their present altitude was calculated to be 40 feet 8 inches above high water mark. A third was found in Kerera Island, and has the same height as the former. These were illustrated by highly finished sketches by the author, which also indicated the position of other raised beaches, in Oronsay at 38 feet 6 inches in elevation, in the south-western angle of Jura at 34 feet 8 inches, and at Loch Tarbert, in Jura, at 42 feet 1 inch, and 105 feet 5 inches.
On the Origin and Formation of the Red Soil of Southern India
Authors: Gilchrist W.
Published: October 2009

The conclusion, therefore, at which I have arrived, after extensive and repeated observations over some hundred miles of country, re- garding the origin and character of the Red Soil, is that it is the water-spread debris of the ferruginous hornblendic rocks of Southern India, which were under water either during or subsequent to decomposition. The rough dark ridges of the hornblendic hills, as at present seen, are the remains of the less decomposable nuclei of the rock, piled on each other, after the matrix in which they were originally enveloped has been decomposed and washed away.
On the connexion of the Umret Coal-Beds with the Plant-beds of Nágpur; and of both with those of Burdwan
Authors: Hislop S.
Published: October 2009

I
n
the observations on the Jurassic Formation of the Nágpur Territory, which I had the honour to submit to your Society, I showed that it consisted of four members in the following descending order:
a
, thick-bedded coarse ferruginous sandstone with a few stems of trees;
b
, laminated sandstone, exceedingly rich in vegetable remains:
c
, clay-shales, of various colours, in which are found the traces of reptiles and worms; and
d
, limestone, which within our area is generally crystallized from its contact with plutonic rocks. At the time of penning these remarks, not having had an opportunity of inspecting any of our Indian coal-measures, I was inclined to regard them as the equivalents of our argillaceous strata marked
c
; but having recently enjoyed this privilege, while out on a mission tour with my friend the Rev. R. Hunter, I propose to communicate the modifications which have, in consequence, been wrought on previously-formed views.

Our tour extended abont 120 miles N.N.W. of the city of Nágpur, —a distance which carried us past the carbonaceous strata near Umret, as far as the bituminous shales at the south base of the Pachmadi or Mahádewa Hills. These localities had both been visited by Dr. Jerdon and Lieut. Sankey in 1852, and the results of their investigations have been laid before your Society*.

The coal-field of Umret is about five miles north of the village, near a small hamlet dignified with the name of Bari, or Great, Barkoi, to distinguish it from Chhoti, or Little, Barkoi
On some Minute Seed-vessels (
Carpolithes ovulum
Brongniart), from the Eocene beds of Lewisham
Authors: Hooker J. D.
Published: October 2009

O
f
this remarkable and beautiful little fossil three or four specimens have been detected in the Eocene clays of Lewisham, by the late Rev. H. de la Condamine, and one of them in so perfect a state that I have had little difficulty in making out the details of its structure. They occurred associated with freshwater shells in the “
Planorbis
bed” at Counter Hill, and are alluded to in Mr. Prestwich's valuable memoir on the “Woolwich and Reading Series” of the London Tertiaries, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. x. pp. 119 and 156 (see also Pl. 3. fig. 4).

A few other vegetable remains were found associated in the same bed with this
Carpolithes
, but none that throw any light upon its affinities. Amongst these are two kinds of Dicotyledonous leaves, together with the pinnm of a Fern not differing in venation from the existing genus
Asplenium
*, and the remains of Monocotyledonous leaves. To the same formation, however, Mr. Prestwich has referred some fragments of couiferous and other Dicotyledonous woods, and a Fir-cone, referable apparently to the existing genus Abies†. Dr. Mantell also, in his ‘Geology of Sussex,’ has figured some vegetable remains alluded to by Mr. Prestwich as apparently agreeing with some of the Reading species, of which latter a beautiful series of forms, chiefly of leaves of Dicotyledonous trees, are given at P1. 4 accompanying the Memoir before mentioned‡. The whole assemblage appears to indicate that the climate of the period during which they flourished did not materially
On the Coal of the North-western Districts of Asia Minor
Authors: Poole H.
Published: October 2009

Mr. Poole, in his Reports to Government on the result of his journey to Asia Minor to examine into the probability of workable coal being found in the country near Brussa and Ghio (Bithynia), in which coal had been reported to occur, states that he travelled from Ghio inland along the south bank of the river flowing from the Lake Ascanias, around the shore of the lake by a south-east route, passing Nicæa and along the north shore, until he returned to the village of Ortokol, without finding any trace of coal. Marble and limestones prevailed along the whole line, except at Solis, where a narrow band of nearly vertical sandstone cropped out. On the south and east sides of the lake a conglomerate occurred, dipping with a slight inclination towards the lake. Ouram Mountain, in the rear of Nicæa, appeared to be composed of tufa. Tufa also occurs on the shore near Keramid.

Between Ghio and Brussa the prevailing rocks are limestone, conglomerate, and sandstone.

In consequence of rumours of the existence of coal near the Lake of Apollonia, Mr. Poole travelled round that lake, but met with none. Limestone and sandstone prevail there.
On the Newer Tertiary Deposits of the Sussex Coast
Authors: Godwin-Austen R.
Published: October 2009

From Brighton, westwards, between the chalk-hills and the sea, the surface of the country is formed, first, by a raised terrace of “red gravels,” lying on the sloping base of the chalk-hills, and on the old tertiary deposits; secondly, the gravels of the Chichester levels, or the “white gravels.” These latter are distinctly bedded and seamed with sand, and are more water-worn than the red gravels which pass under them; thirdly, the white gravels are overlaid by “brick-earth,” which is somewhat variable in its characters. These, with their equivalents, are the Glacial deposits of the district in question.

The coast-sections, though very limited in extent, exhibit several important phænomena illustrative of the history of these newer tertiary accumulations. At Selsea, where the Glacial deposits are about 25 feet thick, the underlying Eocene clay is seen, at extreme low water, to be perforated by a very large variety of
Pholas crispata
, and to be overlaid by a deposit containing
Lutraria rugosa, Pullastra aurea, Tapes decussata
, and
Pecten polymorphus
, contemporaneous with the
Pholades
. Elsewhere brown clays, or local ferruginous gravels, cover unconformably the Eocene beds. The surface of the brown clay is deeply eroded, and bears a yellowish clay, which contains large chalk-flints, and a great variety of pebbles and boulders of granitic, slaty, and old fossiliferous rocks, such as are now found in the Cotentin and the Channel Islands. One boulder of porphyritic granite measures 27 feet in circumference. A few sea shells (
Littorina
, &c.) occur in the yellow clay.
On the Discovery, by Mr. Robert Slimon, of Fossils in the Uppermost Silurian Rocks near Lesmahago in Scotland, with Observations on the relations of the Palæzoic Strata in that part of Lanarkshire
Authors: Murchison Roderick Impey
Published: October 2009

The preceding sketch of the general relations of the palæozoic and igneous rocks of the parish of Lesmahago indicates the value of the researches of Mr. Slimon, more particularly in his discovery of the uppermost Silurian fossils. Having incited that gentleman to send to the Museum of Practical Geology a complete suite of his carboniferous fossils, all observations on the deposits of that age are reserved for a future occasion.
On some new Crustacea from the Uppermost Silurian Rocks
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

The occurrence of large
Crustacea
other than Trilobites in the older Palæozoic rocks is so rare, that we are scarcely prepared for the simultaneous discovery of five or six new forms, of dimensions equalling those of the crabs and lobsters of the present day.

Except the large
Pterygotus
of the Tilestone beds, and the
Ceratiocaris
from Westmoreland, scarcely any remains of these have yet been made out in Britain. But there have been sundry indications in the occurrence of large tail-spines and fragmentary carapaces, all of which have been most carefully treasured up to wait for further evidence, such as that now afforded by the discoveries of Mr. Slimon. His admirable collection not only fully explains the meaning of much that was fragmentary before, as in the case of the
Ceratiocaris
, but gives us new forms of a group of which we knew very little, except that it contained the gigantic
Eurypterus
of De Kay and the
Pterygotus
of Agassiz, and was doubtfully referable to the
Pæcilopoda
.
On the Possible Extension of the Coal-Measures beneath the South-Eastern Part of England
Authors: Godwin-Austen R.
Published: October 2009

The views contained in the present communication, and which are essentially speculative, require the admission of certain generalizations, from which, however, competent geologists will not perhaps be disposed to dissent.
On the Last Elevation of the Alps; with Notices of the Heights at which the Sea has left Traces of its Action on their Sides
Authors: Sharpe Daniel
Published: October 2009

In the following pages I have attempted to show, that, after the Alps had assumed their present form, and when they already stood as much above the surrounding lowlands as at present, they must have been nearly submerged below the sea, out of which their rise must have been, by a series of steps or starts of unequal amount, separated by long intervals of time. The evidence on which these views rest is derived from three sources; 1st, from the traces of erosion on the sides of the mountains, ending upwards in lines of uniform level; 2ndly, from the levels to which the valleys have been excavated; 3rdly, from the elevation of the terraces of alluvium in the valleys; and lastly, from the harmony of the results obtained from these three sets of observations, when compared together.
On some Geological Features of the Country between the South Downs and the Sussex Coast
Authors: Martin P. J.
Published: October 2009

The object of this paper is not so much to give a minute description of the district I am about to review, as to promote a discussion amongst the members of the Society here present on some of its phænomena, which seem to be singularly illustrative of the superficial changes that have been effected in the south of England by dynamic forces of comparatively modern date.

The district is to be found in the ninth section of the Ordnance Map, and extends from near Portsmouth to Shoreham, or that flat country which is to be seen from any part of the tops of the South Downs from Portsdown Hill eastward to the Shoreham River.
Notice of a Visit to the Dead Sea
Authors: Poole H.
Published: October 2009

Mr. Poole went to this district to look for nitre, which was reported to occur there; but he met with none, and found reason to suppose that the report was unfounded. The same word in Arabic means “bitter or rock salt,” as well as “nitre,” hence possibly the erroneous information. Further, the cave (at Usdum) in which the nitre was said to have occurred is called “the cave of the Gun-men,” not from the Arabs getting their nitre there for gunpowder, but as the spot from which they watch for the crossing of the hostile tribes across the plain.

Mr. Poole and Mr. E. Mashallam spent nearly two days at Usdum, going to several caves (in which fine stalactites of salt occur), climbing nearly to the top of the mountain, and walking about the shore, but in no instance could they find a deposit or even a sample of nitre. Mr. Finn, H.M. Consul at Jerusalem, also informed Mr. Poole that he had never seen any; nor had the Sheik Aboo Daook and his men. The Arabs generally make their own nitre by boiling the dung of goats; others scrape it off old walls or limestone-caves, but never in any large quantity.

The Arabs charge 60 piastres or 10 shillings for a camel-load of salt, about 500 lbs., delivered in Jerusalem, and the purchaser pays the Turkish government 15 piastres more for duty. Each camel will make about twenty-four trips in a year, thus carrying altogether 12,000 lbs. a year.
Description of some Mammalian Fossils from the Red Crag of Suffolk
Authors: Owen R.
Published: October 2009

From the foregoing details it will be seen that the researches now applied during fifteen years to the mammalian fossils of the Red Crag of Suffolk have led to the very interesting result, that the majority of them are identical, or closely correspond, with miocene forms of Mammalia, and especially with those from the Eppelsheim locality, described by Prof. Kaup. In Suffolk, as in Darmstadt, we find the
Mastodon longirostris, Rhinoceros Schleiermacheri, Tapirus priscus, Sus palæochœrus
, and
Cervus dicranocerus
, associated together, in the same formation; and, with these miocene forms of extinct Mammalia in the Red Crag, we have, likewise, a Cetacean which most closely resembles a miocene species of that order, previously recognized in the crag or molasse of the continent. At the same time there are, as
e. g.
in the
Megaceros
, specimens of newer pliocene or pleistocene forms of Mammalia mingled with the older tertiary species; whilst on the other hand eocene forms of fish, as
e. g. Edaphodon
, with
Myliobatidæ
and eocene Crustacea, have been obtained from the Red-crag pits.

As, however, several of the Mammalia which occur in miocene formations are also found in the older pliocene deposits in parts of France, it would be rash, perhaps, to pronounce positively on the miocene age of any of the above-cited crag-fossils; but it is certain that the majority of those mammalian fossils, and by far the greatest proportion of individual specimens, belong to an older tertiary period than the Mammalia of the newer pliocene drifts, gravels, brick-earths, and bone-caves.
On the Lowest Sedimentary Rocks of the South of Scotland
Authors: Harkness R.
Published: October 2009

It is stated in Sir Roderick Murchison's ‘Siluria,’ page 151, on my authority, that the axis of the Silurians of the South of Scotland ranges in the direction of the Dryfe Water. In order to satisfy myself as to the exact position of this axis, and of the deposits with which it is more immediately associated, I examined in detail, during last summer, that portion of the county of Dumfries where this axis occurs. Its position in the adjoining county of Roxburgh is laid down by Professor Nicol as near the course of the River Teviot. West from Hawick, however, it appears to leave this stream, and follows nearly the direction of the Borthwick Water.
On Fossil Remains in the Cambrian Rocks of the Longmynd and North Wales
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

The occurrence of any organism in those ancient sediments which have been so often called Azoic is of sufficient interest for an account of it to be laid before the Society. We have hitherto been acquainted with but one genus—and that doubtfully an animal or a plant—in the oldest Cambrian schists of Ireland. No fossils from rocks of this age have been recorded from England except the forms which I now describe, and of which a brief notice was sent to the last meeting of the British Association. They are a new Sea-weed, or Zoophyte, traces of marine worms, and a Crustacean of the Trilobite group.

When, a few years back, I crossed the Longmynd with Prof. Ramsay and Mr. Aveline, the unaltered and flat-bedded sandstones which abound on the eastern side, and which are quite unaffected by cleavage, appeared most promising for fossil remains, if any organisms existed at the time when these rocks were deposited. Some of these beds were ripple-marked, and the sandstones and flaggy beds of greenish-grey stone were evidently not deposits from very deep water. I hoped, therefore, that at least
Oldhamia
or Fucoids might be found in them, if not more highly organized fossils; and in the summer of the past year, I was able to devote three or four weeks to the search.
On the Lowest Strata of the Cliffs at Hastings
Authors: Beckles S. H.
Published: October 2009

The strata of which this communication is intended to be a very brief notice form the base of that range of cliff which extends from Hastings to Cliff End.

The group that I am about to describe consists of sandstone and clays, remarkable for their great diversity of hue, and are subordinate to those beds of conglomeratic shale and ironstone which Mr. Webster has described as the lowest strata visible in the series. They are supplemental, therefore, to the strata comprised, or intended to be comprised, in that author's notice. At the date, however, of his Memoir they were partially disclosed, although perhaps not at those detached points where he traced his lowest strata.

Mr. Webster, in speaking of the strata to the east of Hastings, remarks, that “the lowest strata visible in this series consist of a dark-coloured shale (
m, m
), which is seen at the Govers and at Cliff End, and contain small roundish masses of sandstone, together with several layers (two of them from two to three inches thick) of rich argillaceous iron-ore.” On the west of Eaglesbourne this last bed rises, in an arch, to the height of about twelve feet and then descends to the east. At Cliff End it reappears, and may be traced at low-water, forming a ledge.
On the Formation of Craters, and the Nature of the Liquidity of Lavas
Authors: Scrope G. Poulett
Published: October 2009

It is now some thirty years since I published two works upon the Phænomena of Volcanos, Active and Extinct. I described in them, as accurately as I could, by pen and pencil, what I had observed during a residence of some duration among the volcanic districts of France and Italy; and explained, in considerable detail, the laws which, from those observations, I believed to regulate the remarkable developments of subterranean energies usually called volcanic, which have played so important a part in the construction of the superficial crust of our planet.

The general principle on which I proceeded in the theoretical portion of these works was the same which had been previously employed by Hutton and Playfair, and was subsequently adopted, with signal success, by Sir Charles Lyell,—namely, to refer, so far as is possible, appearances the origin of which has not been witnessed, to such causes as are seen or known to produce analogous appearances in the present day,—instead of resorting for the purpose to imaginary hypotheses.