bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Structure of the Albion Coal-Measures, Nova Scotia
Authors: Dawson J. W.
Published: October 2009

T
he
Coal-measures of the Albion Mines present some features very different from those observed in other parts of the coal-formation in Nova Scotia. This must he very evident to any one who compares the published sections and descriptions of the coal-measures of the South Joggins and Sydney, and those of the Pictou coal-field by Mr. Logan, Sir C. Lyell, and Mr. Dawson. Unfortunately the natural sections at Pictou are so imperfect, that the order of succession of the beds is much less fully known than at the other places referred to. Recent exploratory works, conducted by Mr. Poole, Superintendent of the Albion Mines, have, however, brought out some important facts which are exhibited in the Plan and sectional lists appended to this paper, to which these remarks relate, and with the aid of which I propose to state the more important points in which the Albion measures differ from the rocks of similar age in their vicinity, and, if possible, to indicate the causes of these differences.

1.

The coal of the Albion Mines is somewhat peculiar in its structure and chemical composition. It is more highly laminated, abounds more in mineral charcoal, is more bituminous and much more free from sulphuret of iron, than the coals of other parts of Nova Scotia. I t has also white and very light ashes, and has a remarkable power of continuing in a state of combustion when covered with ashes, and of remaining alight until all the coaly matter
On the Superficial Deposits of the Isle of Wight
Authors: Trimmer Joshua
Published: October 2009

T
he
following observations on the superficial deposits of the Isle of Wight were made in 1847, while studying the Eocene Tertiaries of that district, preparatory to the mapping of the same strata in Hampishire and Dorsetshire for the Government Geological Survey.

An examination of the coast-sections of the greater part of the island, namely from Ryde to Culver Cliff, from Shanklin to Freshwater Bay, and from the Needles to Yarmouth, showed that there are no traces there of the Lower Erratic Tertiaries or Boulder Clay. There is, however, abundance of flint-gravel, having much of the aspect of the Upper Erratics; and a deposit answering to the warpdrift, which has been described in former communications as spread in other districts over the denuded surface of that and of older formations, and mainly influencing the variations of soil.

Part of the undercliff at Ventnor consists of a mass of partially water-worn chalk and chalk-marl, enveloping and covered by flint-gravel, closely resembling some of that which occurs similarly associated in the Cromer Cliffs. It has evidently slipped from a considerable height in the cliffs which overhang the town.

Flint-gravel only slightly water-worn occurs, in its greatest development, on the summits of the lower range of hills throughout the island. A mass of it, at least 60 feet thick, caps Headon Hill ; and a considerable thickness of it may be seen on the high ground in the neighbourhood of Osborne. The same kind of gravel, more water-worn, and evidently formed during the denudation
On the “Caradoc Sandstone” of Shropshire
Authors: Salter J. W. , Aveline W. T.
Published: October 2009

The conclusions to be drawn from the foregoing data may be thus shortly stated. The rocks east of the Longmynd hitherto known as Caradoc sandstone are now divided into two groups. The lowest and greatest portion is equivalent to the middle and upper portions of the Llandeilo and Bala rocks, and were accumulated in the following order:—

1.

Fine shales, with small Trilobites (
Olenus, Asaphus, Agnostus
) and shells, deposited in deep water (most probably the equivalents of the Black Shales, Malvern).

Elevation of Land, or Shallowing of Sea.

2.

Coarse calcareous grits and conglomerate; a littoral or shallow water deposit.

3,4.

Sandstones, with occasional pebbles, laminated in the upper parts, and in some localities northwards with many beds of shale. finer deposit than the last, and indicating a greater depth of water. Fossils exactly those of Bala.

5.

Thin-bedded arenaceous shales, with fewer fossils, but of the same species;
Trinucleus concentricus
very abundant. A still greater depth of water is here indicated. (The higher part of the Llandeilo or Bala series.)

Evidence of upheaval and partial dislocation.

6.

A coarse deposit (unconformable on Nos. 1 to 5) in the immediate neighbourhood of the Longmynds, and derived from them (in part deep water around steep land,
Forbes
). A great change in the organic remains. The characteristic Llandeilo and Bala fossils have given place to a mixed series, including several species found in the Upper Llandeilo flags, but with many others more characteristic of the Wenlock limestone.

7.

Finer sandstones, with much shale and great abundance of
Pentameri
, and other Brachiopoda. Land gradually sinking (
Ramsay
, Geol. Journ. vol. ix. p. 175). Fossils chiefly Upper Silurian.

8, 9.

Grey and greenish shales, very fine sediment: deep water. Trilobites, Graptolites, and Cephalopods abundant. Fossils all Upper Silurian.
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

O
n
two former occasions I have given some account of the deposit immediately underlying the London Clay, as well as of that which, to the eastward of London, lies upon the Chalk, and which I have respectively termed the “B
asement
B
ed
of the
L
ondon
C
lay
” and the “T
hanet Sands
†.” Between these divisions, which form the upper and lower portions of the
Lower London Tertiaries
, is a group of sands, pebble beds, and mottled clays, extending from Sandwich to Mariborough and from Newhaven to Dorchester. This group, with the two above-mentioned, completes the series of these Lower Tertiaries, and is the one which more particularly embraces the beds which have hitherto been described as the “
Plastic Clay Formation
,” exhibiting in one part of its range the mottled clays of Reading and Newbury, and, in another, the clays and sands, with fluviatile and æstuarine shells, of New Cross, Woolwich, and Bromley. Some of the principal sections in these localities have been described by Parkinson, Webster†, Dr. Buckland‡, Phillips and Conybeare§, Morris∥, Mitchell, Richardson††, Warburton‡‡, and more recently by the Rev. Mr. De la Condamine§§; whilst outlines of some underground sections have been planned by Mr. R. W. Mylne∥∥, and a short notice relating to the superposition of these and the other Tertiary strata has lately been given by M. Hébert***. But nevertheless the correlation of. the beds at the different sections has not, I conceive, been correctly shown, and the position which the strata of the Reculvers and Herne Bay hold with
On the Occurence of Fossil Insects in the Wealden Strata of the Sussex Coast
Authors: Binfield William R. , Binfield Henry
Published: October 2009

T
he
specimens which we have the honour to present to the Geological Society are, we believe, the first remains of Insects from the Wealden of Hastings which have been brought before the notice of the Society; the details we have been able to collect respecting the position and character of the beds containing them may, therefore, Cliffs, including many localities where the insect-beds occur, will be found in the ‘Geological Transactions,’ 2nd ser. vol. ii. Part 1. pl. 5, appended to Professor Webster's memoir “On the Strata near Hastings” (p. 31, &c. of the same vol.), to which we shall frequently refer, as well as to Dr. Fitton's memoir “On the Strata below the Chalk,” Geol. Trans. 2nd ser. vol. iv. Part 2.

The lowest beds in which we obtained traces of Insect-remains are the courses of ironstone (Webster, loe. tit. p. 34,—No. 1 of our General Section,
infra
, p. 175) exposed, near low-water mark, at the Govers (or Covehurst), Ecelesbourne, East Cliff, and Bulverhythe (near the place where Tower No. 42 formerly stood); and which cover a bed of light blue clay, darker downwards, with red stains. The lower courses are very carbonaceous, as described by Webster, but the two highest are much less so, afford fewer traces of Plants, are very compact, and exhibit the peculiar mineral structure shown by the specimens* No. 40 and No. 90 : the highest bed is conspicuous on the shore from its smooth pavement-like appearance, with the surface traversed by numerous vertical
On a New Species of Volkmannia
Authors: Hooker J. D.
Published: October 2009

T
he
subject of the present communication is one of the most remarkable of the many botanical puzzles presented in such abundance by the shales of the Carboniferous period. It was procured by my friend Mr. W. Gourlie, of Glasgow, and forwarded to me with the request that I would lay some account of it before the Geological Society. As the specimen presented no characters by which its botanical affinities could be determined positively, and as our fossil flora is rapidly advancing towards the state of a chaos of synonymy, I felt that my most prudent course was to exhibit the drawing and specimen for several successive evenings at the Geological Society, in the hope that some amongst our Fellows, more familiar with the nomenclature of fossil botany than circumstances have, of late, allowed of my becoming, might be able to point out the genus to which it should be referred. Nor have I been disappointed ; for I am indebted to Mr. Morris for indicating to me its very considerable similarity to the genus
Volkmannia
of Sternberg, and its probable identity with it. Mr. R. Jones, also, has referred me to a drawing of a fragment of a fossil, apparently belonging to the same genus, made under his own eye, for Dr. Johnston's ‘Natural History of the Eastern Borders,’ and which is there given as
Coniferites? verticillatus
, Tate.

The general appearance of the Carluke fossil is accurately represented in the accompanying drawing (P1. VII.): it consists of a straight, undivided
On a Fossil imbedded in a mass of Pictou Coal, from Nova Scotia
Authors: Owen
Published: October 2009

T
he
fossil imbedded in the mass of Pictou Coal, from Nova Scotia, submitted to my inspection by the President of the Geological Society, consists of the anterior extremity of the cranium and upper jaw, with the exterior of the bone imbedded in the matrix, and its substance, for the most part, reduced to a thin layer by abrasion of the exposed inner surface (see Plate IX.). It displays accurately the contour of the fore-part of the upper jaw, which was broad, obtuse, and rounded : and some portions of the bone, with the inner surface entire, prove this part of the cranium to have been broad, flat, and of very little depth or vertical diameter.

The parts preserved include the premaxillaries, 22, nasals, 15, and portions of the frontal, 11, prefrontal, 14, and maxillary, 21, bones, the proportions and connexions of which best agree with those in the skull of the
Capitosaurus
,—a Labyrinthodont Batrachian, from the Bunter sandstone of Bernburg.

The premaxillaries, which show some obscure traces of a symphysial suture at the median line, anterior to the nasal or naso-palatine vacuities, extend outwards, on each side, for an extent of 2½ inches, and there join the maxillaries. Traces of round alveoli for teeth, some of which are 2 lines in diameter, are visible on the alveolar border of the premaxillaries. The alveolar border is continued, by the maxillary bone, for an extent of 4½ inches beyond the premaxillaries ; and this border shows still more distinct traces of aveoli
On the Tracks of a Crustacean in the “Lingula Flags”
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

W
hile
investing in the past autumn the fossil contents of the lowest fossiliferous zone in Wales—the “Lingula flags”—my attention was frequently directed to very numerous evidences of the existence of marine worms during the formation of these ancient deposits.

Nearly all the sandy and ripple-marked surfaces present worm-tracks, whether in the higher or lower division of these strata, and in all the localities visited : viz. the elevated country between Arenig and Ffestiniog, the vale of Ffestiniog itself, and the valley of Tremadoc in Caernarvonshire.

The latter locality, besides exhibiting a very complete section of the whole series of these ancient rocks, exposes particularly well the lower or lower middle portion, in which only the
Lingula Davisii
is found in any great abundance, but in which the
Hymenocaris vermicauda
also occurs. The latter fossil, a crustacean of the phyllopod tribe, was described by me in the ‘Reports of the Sections of the British Association’ for 1852. About a mile and a half west of Tremadoc, the Lingula beds are well exposed; and along the road to Criccieth, and on the bye-roads near Penmorfa, they are loaded with the Lingula ;--just above Penmorfa church the beds are particularly rich in this fossil. At the village of Y-Felin-Newydd, the sandy surfaces are seen to be broadly ripple-marked; and the beds, alternately of coarse and fine materials—many different layers often occurring in the space of an inch,—have quite the appearance of having been accumulated near shore, or at least in shallow water. The
On the Origin of the Sand and Gravel Pipes in the Chalk of the London Tertiary District
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

A
fter
referring to the observations and researches of earlier writers on these peculiar cavities, the author dwelt upon the theory advocated by Dr. Buckland and Sir C. Lyell, that these cavities were due to the action of water, holding carbonic acid in solution, constantly percolating through the same cavity, dissolving the chalk and letting down the superincumbent sand and gravel. After pointing out the difficulties in the way of the hypothesis of mechanical water-action, such as the frequently great depth of the pipes (upwards of fifty feet), and the general absence of the rounded pebbles that should have remained in the cavities after having been the immediate agents in the perforation, the author (allowing that irregularities of the surface may have been caused by denuding action) proceeded to point out that the pipes occur wherever a stratum permeable to water overlies the chalk or other calcareous rock to any considerable extent, and suggested that they must have had their origin during a period when the chalk and the superincumbent tertiaries formed an extensive tract of horizontal dry land, previously to the surface assuming its present configuration ; that at these former periods the tertiary sands or the gravel constituted extensive water-bearing strata, whilst, owing to the form of the surface, the water-level in the chalk stood at a height very much less than in the superincumbent beds ; consequently the atmospheric waters, more or less charged with carbonic acid, percolating freely through the superficial sandy beds, rested on the chalk, and by its tendency to find a lower level, gradually dissolved passages through the chalk to that lower level at which water would stand in the latter formation. The superincumbent sands or gravels, as the case may be, gradually subsided, more or less conformably, into the deepening cavity caused by the loss of the chalk in the funnel or pipe below. When the chalk and overlying tertiary beds were locally upheaved, shattered, and partially denuded, the newly made valley-courses gave exit, in springs along their sides, both to the water of the lower water-level and the water of the superficial sands and gravels ; the sand-pipes becoming almost all deserted as water-channels, except in such local instances, perhaps, as are now seen where cavities are forming in the chalk beneath existing gravels, or where “swallow-holes” in the chalk continue a somewhat analogous action.—
Vide ,supra
, p. 223.
On Auriferous Quartz-Rock in North Cornwall
Authors: Pattison S. R.
Published: October 2009

T
he
parish of Davidstowe in the north of Cornwall is situated at the edge of the granitic boss of Roughtor. Next to the granite occur coarse slaty rocks, much affected by quartz-veins, and interrupted by large developments of trap.

By the aid of
Spirifer Verneuilii
in the slates at Trevivian (which I found in the bed of a water-course there), and obscure traces in the limestone at Treblary, we may confidently state that these slate-rocks are the prolongation of the Petherwyn beds, which, with all their associates, here sweep round the northern flank of the granite. We therefore characterize the district as
uppermost
Devonian.

These slates are succeeded, on the east of the parish, by still coarser shales and grits, which, by the aid of plant-fragments in the latter, are ranked as Carboniferous.

The actual junction with the granite is concealed by a covering of detrital matter, and similar beds occur irregularly on the hill-sides throughout the district. This deposit is in all cases unrolled, and evidently local, the result of some action of brief duration.

The Devonian rocks dip at an angle of about 40° away from the granite, or rather from a point in advance of the latter, so that the district forms a dome of elevation, having the high ground of Cadonbarrow (slate) for its centre, and connected with the granite by an anticlinal line one portion of the dome dips into the sea, another towards the south in the great Delabole quarries, a third towards the
On the Gold Regions of California
Authors: Wilson James S.
Published: October 2009

H
aving
explored, during a residence of nearly three years, some of the richest auriferous tracts of California, I have been requested by Sir R. I. Murchison, to present through him to the Geological Society of London an outline of my personal observations.

Sonora Diggings

The neighbourhood of Sonora was the place selected for the first operations of my associates and myself in gold-digging. Several kinds of rock presented themselves, identical with what I had seen in the mineral districts of South Australia; the prevailing rocks, and that on the surface of which the gold was deposited, were slates and gneiss.

Sulivan’s Creek Diggings

We commenced working at a place called Sulivan's Creek, about two miles south from Sonora. The diggings at this place were considered to be among the richest in the southern mines; but the greater part of the gold found there was supposed (and with great probability) to have been swept down by floods from Sulivan's Gulch, which is a ravine, rich in gold, about one mile in length, following the strike of the rocks, and having the gneiss on one side and a white crystalline limestone on the other.
On the Coromandel Gold-Diggings in New Zealand
Authors: Heapley Charles
Published: October 2009

T
he
gold which was obtained here (Coromandel, near Auckland) during the summer was all dug from either the surface, or from a depth of 18 inches varying to 4 feet below it, and was taken in some instances from the gravel of a stream bed, or in others from a bed of quartz-grit near the foot of a granite mountain.

Only in one instance had any one sunk a shaft to the bed-rock. At a depth of 33 feet, a shaft, which I dug, fell in from the looseness of the surrounding earth. Mr. Stephenson, a digger, however, came upon the bed-rock at a depth of 27 feet; but there it was on so steep an inclination, that but little gold could have been expected to have been found lodging upon it. Some small pieces, of a more solid nature than any found elsewhere, were, however, washed from its surface. (See fig. p. 323.)

The unusually wet summer induced the diggers, who were chiefly men from Port Philip, men used to a dry climate and firm soil, to abandon the idea of sinking shafts to the bed-rock. The New Zealand diggers contented themselves with digging near the surface, and when the small stratum of quartz-grit, where Coolahan got his gold, was exhausted, they left the district.

It cannot, however, be denied, that the limited extent of the Government district was a source of discouragement to men, who, in Australia and California, look to an unlimited field for exploration. But, had
On the Geological Formation and the Gold-Bearing Rocks of the Colony of Victoria
Authors: Hopkins Evan
Published: October 2009

With this communication, the author laid before the Society, and explained, a geological section of this south-eastern portion of Australia, extending from the Gleneig River, on the west, to beyond Mount Kosciusko, in the Australian Alps, on the east. This section exhibited the structure of this region as formed of great parallel bands of schistose and granitic rocks, having a north and south bearing and a vertical position. Along the line of section first appear the limestone-beds of the Gleneig Valley, resting on the foot of Mount William, in the Grampians, which consists of granite, capped by sandstone formed of the reconsolidated decomposed granite. Mount Cole, in the Pyrenees, next in order, consists of hornblendic schists. The Valley of the Loddon and Forest Creek are on the edges of the great gold band of argillaceous schists, interlaminated with auriferous quartz. These schists constitute the author's “great auriferous band,” extending north and south, from the south of Ballarat to the north of Bendigo and Korong. The granite of Mount Alexander succeeds; then the auriferous argillaceous band of the Campaspe Valley and the M'Ivor. This is the “M'Ivor auriferous band.” Granite, then the “Goulburn auriferous band,” the granite of Violet Town, and the “Ovens River auriferous band,” succeed in order to the eastward, and then the great granitic bands of the Australian Alps, occasionally interlaminated with clay-slate, &c.
On Yedmandale, as illustrating the Excavation of some Valleys in the Eastern Part of Yorkshire
Authors: Sorby H. C.
Published: October 2009

T
he
Tabular Hills of the Eastern Moorlands of Yorkshire in their eastern part, that now under consideration, are very flat-topped, gradually rising from the vale of Pickering, on the south, where the elevation above the sea is about 100 feet, and attaining a height of about 600 feet at the escarpment six miles north of this, overlooking Harewood dale. The surface rock of the southern part is coralline oolite, which, however, has been removed from the northern part, where the calcareous grit is laid bare. Numerous ravine-like valleys, whose sides are inclined at an angle of about 30°, have been excavated in them, chiefly trending N.N.W.; but some are at right angles to that direction, being respectively nearly in the lines of the dip and strike of the beds, which, on the whole, lie nearly parallel to the surface. Many of these have been much modified by the streams now running in them, and present such appearances as might lead one at first to conclude that they had been altogether excavated by their action; and, indeed, there is nothing in their structure to prove decidedly that such was or was not the case. The peculiarity of Yedmandale, however, is, that there appears never to have been any brook or stream of modern drainage in its upper eastern branch, and that it is now in very nearly the same state as when first it emerged from those conditions of submersion which denuded the district. It is situated about four miles west
On some Mammaliferous Deposits in the Valley of the Nene, near Peterborough
Authors: Trimmer Joshua
Published: October 2009

I
n
the collection of the Marchioness of Huntly there are bones of the Elephant and other large mammals, which have been obtained from two gravel-pits near Orton Hall. Some of them have been submitted, I believe, to the inspection of Professor Owen; and through the kindness of the Marchioness I am enabled to exhibit the whole of them to the Society.

While making, in company with Mr. Bailey Denton, a rapid examination of the geology of the Orton estate in its agricultural relations, I had lately an opportunity of seeing these deposits, which present some interesting features bearing on my communication, published in a late number of the Journal, “On the Soils which cover the Chalk of Kent.”

I place the Orton gravel on the parallel of the Nar clay and the mammaliferous deposits of the Thames Valley, which I refer to that portion of the Pleistocene epoch which I have called the second stationary, or second elephantine period, and which I have described as intervening between the elevation of the erratic tertiaries and the distribution of the Warp-drift over their denuded surface.

In the Nar clay the shells are wholly marine, although it is probable that it terminates, on the east, in freshwater deposits similar to those of the parallel valley of Gaytonthorpe. In the ancient wide-spread alluvium of the Thames the shells are exclusively those of the land and fresh water. The Orton gravel is a fluvio-marine deposit.

These facts accord with the sketch-map which accompanied the paper
Postscript to Palichthyologic Note, No. 4
Authors: Egerton P. de M. Grey
Published: October 2009

I
t
having been shown, that, in accordance with the established rule of priority in scientific nomenclature, the generic prefix
Tetragonolepis
is applicable solely to those species which coincide in generic character with the typical species originally described by Bronn, which has been proved to belong to the Pycnodont family, it becomes necessary to make some provision for the remainder of the species hitherto classed under that title, but which undoubtedly belong to the Lepidoid family. These fishes have been distinguished from those of the genus Dapedius mainly by the character of their teeth; and, although that character is shown to have been subject to occasional variations, nevertheless on taking a comprehensive view of all the Dapedioid species, it seems to have been sufficiently constant to warrant the continuance of the separation of the group into the unicuspid and bicuspid species. With this view, and with the sanction of Professor Agassiz, I now propose the generic prefix Æ
chmodus
(from α ἰ χ μ ὴ ì,
a point
, and ὀ δ ο ὺ ς
a tooth
) for the unicuspid species, the bicuspid species continuing as formerly under the genus
Dapedius
.
Palichthologic Notes. No. 6. On a Fossil Fish from the Upper Beds of the New Red Sandstone at Bromsgrove
Authors: Egertone P. de M. Grey
Published: October 2009

T
he
second division of the Lepidoid family of fossil fishes, the
Ganoidei homocerci
, is distinguished from the first, or
Ganoidei heterocerci
, by having the more or less symmetrical form of tail common to the generality of existing bony fishes, and to those fossil species (with rare exceptions) found in strata more recent than the Trias.

Although this character, derived from the organization of the caudal fin, is one of great value and significance in the determination of various genera of fossil fishes, it is nevertheless necessary, in drawing general conclusions, to be careful not to assign to it more importance than it is strictly entitled to; for we find, by the comparison of several genera, that it is not one of those well-defined trenchant characters which can be affirmed to exist or not, as the case may be, but that it is variable in amount, passing from extreme
heterocercy
to absolute
homocercy
by a sliding-scale so gradual, that it is (at all events in fossil examples) most difficult to define a positive line of demarcation between the two forms.

The researches of one of the most distinguished naturalists in Europe, Professor Müller, tend to show that as much difficulty prevails in determining this point in recent fishes ; and in his valuable paper on the structure and characters of the
Ganoidei
, communicated to the Academy of Sciences at Berlin in December 1844, he comes to the conclusion that
heterocercy
, anatomically considered, passes insensibly into
homocercy
. As proof of this fact
Contributions to Fossil Entomology
Authors: Westwood J. O.
Published: October 2009

T
he
microscopical examination which I have been compelled to make of so many hundreds of fossil insect-remains, for the most part in a fragmentary condition, from the Lower Plirhecks of Dorset, although beyond measure tedious from the unsatisfactory results afforded hy the nature of the specimens, has still enabled me to arrive at some results, and to form a general comparison of these insect-deposits with those which I similarly investigated whilst preparing the plates of Mr. P. B. Brodie's work on the fossil insects of the Wiltshire Purbecks, &c.

If we take into consideration the small, and even minute size of the great majority of the insects, and indeed of the whole of the
Coleoptera
, which have been passed under review, the idea, that we have before us the wreck of an Insect Fauna of a temperate region, is at once raised; for although it would be rash to assert that a mass of remains of the existing tropical insects might not be accumulated in which a large quantity of minute beetles and flies would not be present, yet I cannot conceive any process, either arising from currents of water, or chemical dissolution of insect matter, which would carry off or destroy the many gigantic forms of insect life always occurring in the tropics.
Geological Notices of the Isle of Sheppey, and of its Outlier of Bagshot Sand
Authors: Weston Charles Henry
Published: October 2009

T
he
north-western and southern parts of the Isle of Sheppey are low and marshy, as well as a portion of the north-eastern coast from Sheerness to Scrap Gate. From this point the cliff begins to rise, and from Minster to Warden attains a considerable height. The highest points must be at least 200 feet above the level of the sea.

The elevated coast-line shelves off towards the interior of the Isle, leaving such parts low and marshy; but from some circumstances connected with the cliffs near Warden and the inclination of the strata near Scrap Gate, I strongly suspect that this depression toward Elmley Isle is rather the result of an actual sinking of the strata in that direction, than the effect of mere denudation. I had not time, however, to substantiate this as a fact.

The extent of the marsh and low ground on the north side from Sheerness to Scrap Gate is about two miles. At Scrap Gate there is a kiln for the manufacture of draining tiles, showing the existence of clay intermingled with sand, as well as the absence of lime. To these points we shall have occasion to refer.

From Scrap Gate the coast-line begins to elevate itself towards the S.E., and attains its greatest height at a point about 1 ½ mile distant. On its first emergence it is composed of a stratum of ferruginous-coloured clay ; but before reaching East End Lane Preventive station, another stratum of blue clay is seen coming out
On the Thickness of the London Clay; on the Relative Position of the Fossilferous Beds of Sheppey, Highgate, Harwich, Newnham, Bognor, &c.; and on the Probable Occurence of the Bagshot Sands in the Isle of Sheppey
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

H
aving
frequently had my attention directed by Mr. Searles Wood to the question of the exact position in the London Clay of the peculiar and remarkable fossiliferous beds of Sheppey, and of the thickness of the London Clay itself at that place, I have, with that special object in view, made a further examination of the Island, and now beg to lay before the Society the result of these observations. I have availed myself of this opportunity to determine also more correctly the importance of the London Clay in other parts of its range, and to settle approximately the position of the strata of some other localities, well known for their fossils—separate lists of which I give at the end of this paper.

This question of the thickness of the London Clay remains nearly in the state in which it was left by Phillips and Conybeare in 1822. The impression likely to be conveyed by the observation on this subject in their valuable work* is one which would suppose its development to be more irregular, and in places considerably greater, than will, I believe, prove to be the case. They state,—" The actual thickness of the London Clay in Sheppey may be estimated, by adding the height of the cliff to the depth of the wells, at 530 feet.” They then proceed to say that “it may be supposed to be much thicker in Essex,” estimating it at “High Beech to be about 700 feet thick;” and further, they report
On the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Nágpur, Central India
Authors: Hislop Stephen , Hunter Robert
Published: October 2009

I
n
the first place the authors describe the physical features of that portion of the Nágpur district to which this Memoir particularly refers, and give a full account of the geological observations already made in that and the neighbouring territories.

In pointing out the general geology of the district, they show that the basis of the country is gneiss, quartz-rock, mica-schist, and granite, on which reposes a sandstone very much interrupted, but stretching far and wide. It is without fossils at Nágpur, but fossiliferous elsewhere; and, according to the authors, of the Jurassic age.

Near Nágpur this sandstone is overlaid by a thick mass of trap rock, an isolated patch of which forms the mass of the Sitábaldi Hill. This trap is compact below and vesicular towards the top, and is surmounted by thin patches of a nodular trap. Between these two trap-rocks is found a thin clay or cherty bed full of the remains of freshwater shells and other fossils. In some places (as in the Tákli plains) the freshwater bed rests immediately on the sandstone, in which case the vesicular trap is wanting, and the overlying trap is sometimes present and sometimes absent. Sometimes a single thin sheet of trap is present without any sedimentary deposit.

The extent and relations of these several formations and of the superficial deposits having been pointed out, the authors proceed to describe their characters and contents, and to offer some observations on their respective ages.
Additional Observations on the occurrence of Pipes and Furrows in calcareous and non-calcareous Strata
Authors: Trimmer Joshua
Published: October 2009

The author considered that, for the full understanding of the views he has taken on the origin of sand-pipes and furrows in and on the surface of strata, some further remarks were required; and offered these additional observations in support of some positions he has taken in former papers on the subject, and which, from their not having been fully elucidated, appeared to require some explanatory remarks in their defence.
On the Structure of Mont Blanc and its Environs
Authors: Sharpe Daniel
Published: October 2009

M
ont
Blanc has been represented by Professor James Forbes, in his admirable work on the Alps, as consisting of a mass of stratified granite, in which the strata are arranged in the form of a fan with one vertical axis running through the whole chain: on both sides the granite is stated to overlie a great formation of limestone, its beds dipping under the granite in perfect conformity with the strata of the granite itself, and a similar conformable superposition of granite upon limestone is stated to occur in the Montagne de la Saxe on the east of Mont Blanc*.

The section given by Professor Studer adopts the above views with the following modifications: instead of granite, the chain is stated to consist of protogine flanked by gneiss and metamorphic slates, the beds dipping under these are described as black limestone and slate, and the Montague de la Saxe as felspar-slate.†

There are two apparent anomalies in these statements which stand in contradiction to the general experience of geologists elsewhere: 1st, the alleged conformity of stratification between the crystalline and the secondary rocks; 2nd, the superposition of the granite or protogine upon the latter. It is of such vital importance to the progress of geology that we should have correct views upon these points, that no apology is needed for a re-examination of the evidence on which they rest ; since the higher the authority on which an error is promulgated, the more pernicious is it to the progress of
On a Pterichthys from the Old Red Sandstone of Moray
Authors: Brickenden Captain L.
Published: October 2009

T
his
communication had reference to a species of
Pterichthys
, remarkable for its great size (estimated by the author at 25 inches [average] in length, and 6 inches in breadth), and its peculiarly ornamented and wrinkled surface. The paper was illustrated by drawings, in which the author had made a conjectural restoration of the external bony armour and the lateral appendages of the fish, from the numerous characteristic fragments that he had obtained in the upper division of the Devonian strata, chiefly from the Vale of Rothes.

The central dorsal plate of this species has some resemblance to, but is much larger than Agassiz's figure (Poiss. V. G. R. pl. 30
a
. figs. 17, 18) of the specimen referred by him to
Coccosteus
, but more lately by Sir P. Egerton and Hugh Miller to
Pterichthys
(Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. iv. p. 310, 311); and the jointed side-spines or “cephalic oars” resemble those referred by Agassiz to the
P. major
, but belong to a very much larger fish.
On the Geology of the Vicinity of Nice
Authors: Charters
Published: October 2009

T
he
author, having first alluded to the geological researches of Sir H. De la Beche* in this district, noticed the more recent additions to our knowledge of the geology of Nice accruing from the observations of the Marquis L. Pareto, Prof. A. Sismonda, and Prof. A. Perez.

The views of the last-named gentleman especially, by whom the proofs of the identity of the divisions of the cretaceous series in that region with those of England have principally been obtained, were brought forward by the author in this communication.

Prof. Perez has studied the structure and succession of the rocks of this district in great detail, and accumulated a large series of fossils; but his only publication on the subject hitherto has been a summary of his observations, read before the Italian Association at Genoa in 1846. Major Charters, having seen many of the principal sites along with Prof. Perez, and conversed much with him, concurs fully in his views.

Major Charters described the topography of the district, with its three river-basins and its numerous mountains, and then noticed the geological formations in the following o r d e r :- 1. Postpliocene (
quaternaria
of the Italians); 2. Pliocene; 3. Eocene; 4. Cretaceous ; 5. Jurassic, including the Dolomite.

This memoir had special reference to the following points of interest :--The separation and definition of the nummulitic and the cretaceous rocks; the subdivision of the latter; the association of the gypsum of the Hill of Cimies with the cretaceous series ; and the intimate relation of the dolomite with the Jurassic series.

Major Charters also mentioned his visit to a volcanic district about ten miles west of Nice.
On the Structure and Affinities of the Hippuritidæ
Authors: Woodward S. P.
Published: October 2009

It is now forty years since Mr. Parkinson, the most distinguished palæontologist of his day, read a paper before this Society, descriptive of some
Hippurites
from Sicily. The paper was printed in the second volume of the ‘Transactions’ (p. 277); the specimens are yet in the Society's Museum. Mr. Parkinson adopted the notion of Baron Picot de Lapeirouse, that
Hippurites
were chambered shells related to
Orthoceras
, and pointed out the means by which he thought they might have been capable of “raising themselves occasionally to the surface of the sea” (
loc. cit.
p. 282).

Since that time many eminent palæontologists have devoted attention to the subject; but, owing doubtless to the incompleteness of their materials, scarcely two authors have formed a similar opinion, and some of the latest-published views are more improbable than those promulgated by Mr. Parkinson.

The collection of Hippurites and allied fossils in the British Museum has been rendered so complete by the liberality of Mr. S. Peace Pratt and Sir Roderick I. Murchison, and by the assistance of Dr. Krantz of Bonn and M. Saemann of Paris, as to leave very little to be desired in the way of additional data. It is due to M. Saemann to say, that some of the most instructive specimens were procured by him with his own hands, and that he was fully aware of their scientific value.

My own observations, so far as they are new, would be scarcely intelligible if stated alone, and not of sufficient importance to
On the Origin of the Sand- and Gravel-Pipes in the Chalk of the London Tertiary District
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

T
he
peculiar funnel- and shaft-shaped cavities, so common in many places on the surface of calcareous rocks, sometimes only a few feet but not unfrequently many yards deep, and filled with sand, gravel, and loam belonging to deposits of various subsequent dates, form a very remarkable geological feature, especially in Chalk districts. They have long been the object of occasional attention, and various suggestions have been made to account for their origin. The explanations, however, have mostly had reference only to the mode in which these cavities could have been excavated, and have not often embraced any general view of the conditions which led to the wide-spread operation of the required causes. The Chalk district around London is peculiarly favourable for the study of this phænomenon; and my object in the following pages is to endeavour to determine the general law which has led to a result so common here, and so universal in almost all calcareous districts.

Cuvier and Brongniart† make frequent mention of sand-pipes (
puits naturels
) in the Chalk and the
Calcaire grossier
, ascribe their origin to the percolation of water, and show that they belonged to different geological periods. Of the exact mode of operation, or the causes which produced the phmnomena, they offered no explanation.

These general views, as guiding the line of argument, have, with few exceptions, been usually received by geologists. Amongst others M. Passy‡, in describing the Chalk district of Normandy, alluded to the gravel-pipes, and briefly ascribed their origin to the eroding
On a Fossiliferous Deposit in the Gravel at West Hackney
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

I
n
the summer of 1853, Dr. Beeke informed me of the discovery of some large mammalian bones in a gravel-pit belonging to Mr. Hindle, at Shacklewell Lane, between Hackney and Stoke Newington. In company with the former of these gentlemen, I visited the spot, which is 60 feet above the level of Trinity high-water mark, on several occasions, and found many points which I deem of sufficient interest to lay before the Society.

I found that the bones were not actually in the gravel, but in a bed of clay between two beds of gravel,—which clay forms a distinct and separate deposit with an abundance of freshwater and land shells. The occurrence of the bones was an exceptional case, no other bones having been previously met with at this pit, though common at some others in the neighbourhood. The following is a sketch of part of the pit :-

No fossils have been found in the brick-earth (
a
) of this district. The gravel (
b
) is spread out in large sheets which produce an appearance of rough stratification; it consists of subangular broken flints, with some very large nearly whole flints hardly at all worn, flint-pebbles from the Lower London Tertiaries, a few quartz and sandstone pebbles, and some rolled pieces of very. hard, compact, siliceous sandstone. Only a few feet square of the underlying clay (
c
) was uncovered. The line of separation between these two beds is merely slightly waved, except at one spot, where the gravel lay in an
On a Modern Submerged Forest at Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia
Authors: Dawson J. W.
Published: October 2009

T
he
extraordinary tides of the Bay of Fundy, and its wide marshes and mud-flats, are well known to geologists as affording some of the best modern instances of rapid tidal deposition, and of the preservation of impressions of footsteps, rain-drops, and sun-cracks. Attention has not, however, been called to the fact which I propose to notice in this paper, that much, if not the whole, of the marine alluvium of the Bay of Fundy rests on a submerged terrestrial surface, distinct indications of which may be observed in the mud-flats laid bare at low tide, and in the deep ditches dug for drainage.

In their natural state, the alluvial soils of the Bay of Fundy are mud-flats overflowed by the high tide, and either quite bare or covered in part with salt-grass. Large tracts have, however, been reclaimed from the sea, and are distinguished by the name of “dyked marsh,” or more shortly “dyke.” There are in Nova Scotia 40,000 acres of dyked marsh, and in New Brunswick perhaps 10,000 acres. The soil of the marshes is everywhere a fine marine mud, deposited in thin layers by the tides, and of a brownish-red colour ; except in the subsoil and in the lower parts of the surface where the colour has been changed to grey by the action of sulphuretted hydrogen on the ferruginous colouring matter. Though remarkably productive of grasses and cereals, no part of the marsh-land supports forest trees. Dyked and salt marshes occur in nearly every creek
Notice of a New Species of an Extinct Genus of Dibranchiate Cephalopod (
Coccoteuthis latipinnis
) from the Upper Oolitic Shales at Kimmeridge
Authors: Owen
Published: October 2009

T
he
subject of the present notice is the internal shell, ‘sepium’ or cuttle-bone of a large Dibranchiate Cephalopod, combining some of the characters of that of the Cuttle (
Sepia
) with that of the Squid (
Loligo, Sepioteuthis
, &c.). The specimen was discovered by W. R. Brodie, Esq., at low-water-mark, in the shales at Kimmeridge, in a layer of which it lies imbedded, with the dorsal surface exposed. It is 1 foot in length, although the hinder pointed end is broken away, and 5½ inches in breadth at its broadest part, about one-third from the hinder end; proportions which indicate the entire animal yielding it to have been about a yard in length from the end of the outstretched arms (see Pl. VII.). The sepium is slightly convex along the middle of the dorsal surface, which is the one exposed, and this convexity is beset with hard calcareous granules; the largest, occupying the middle of the convexity, are about half a line in diameter, and gradually diminish in size to the anterior border, and to within two inches and a half of the fractured posterior end. The substance of the plate which sustains these granules is calcified, but the calcareous layer is very thin, about one- third of a line, and it coats a black internal horny layer, which extends to the lateral margins, where the calcified outer layer gradually changes into a horny one. This albuminous or horny part of the body is much more extensive than in the Cuttle-bone, and
On the Correlation of the Eocene Tertiaries of England, France, and Belgium
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

If the synchronism of the Bracklesham series with that of the “Calcaire grossier” be admitted, then the independence of the London Tertiaries with respect to the former deposit will apply with equal force to the latter. For I have lately shown that the London series contains 485 species of organic remains (plants excluded), and that only eighty-eight or 18 percent, of these pass upwards into (or through) the Bracklesham series; or taking the fossils of the two series together, there are only 9·4 per cent. common to both. There are altogether 397 species peculiar to the London group, and they form—the Fishes, Reptiles, Crustaceans, and Echinodermata especially—a very characteristic fauna. The distinctiveness of age and origin shown by the fauna is fully corroborated by the physical evidence.

The large proportion of species peculiar to the three lower divisions of M. d'Archiac also shows a well-maintained distinction between these beds and the Calcaire grossier; although in this case the fauna of the Lits Coquilliers serves as an intermediate link, and tends to lessen the apparent force of that difference. Nevertheless, these lowest French divisions are evidently in closer relation with our more distant London Tertiaries than with the overlying series in the Paris area.

I conceive, therefore, that we may take the “London Tertiaries” as a good natural group, constituting an important and independent division of the Eocene period perfectly well marked by its organic remains. In this country it is equally well distinguished by structure and physical characters ; whereas