bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Chesil Beach, Dorsetshire, and Cahore Shingle Beach, County Wexford
Authors: Kinahan G. Henry
Published: October 2009

S
-beaches
are common around our coast lines; but none seem to have attracted so much attention as the Chesil Beach on the north-east margin of Lyme Bay, Dorsetshire. This is probably due to the circumstance of the beach being situated on a much resorted-to coast, its great length, and the peculiar assortment of the fragments composing the accumulation, these being arranged as if they had been passed through a series of sieves of gradually decreasing coarseness. This last particular has even attracted the attention of the fishermen, who say they can tell, on the darkest night, at what part of this beach they have landed, by the size of the pebbles at the place.

The latest published paper on the Chesil Beach is that of Prof. Prestwich, read before the Institution of Civil Engineers, February 2nd, 1875; and from the discussion at the reading of it it is evident that opinions still differ much on the subject. This has emboldened the writer of this paper to come forward, more especially as no previous writer seems to have taken into consideration the special effects that the “flow” of the tide, which is most accelerated at the nodal or hinge-line in the English Channel, must have on the east shore of Lyme Bay—also because he has specially studied Cahore shingle beach, co. Wexford, which in many points is analogous to the Chesil Beach.

Tides in the English Channel and Irish Sea.

At Portland Bill on the English Channel, and at Cahore Point

At Portland Bill on the English Channel, and at Cahore Point on
On the Echinodermata of the Australian Cainozoic (Tertiary) Deposits
Authors: Duncan P. Martin
Published: October 2009

I.
Introduction
.

W
hen
the Cainozoic or so-called Tertiary deposits of Australia were found to be fossiliferous in some parts, great interest was excited respecting the possibility of the Echini being able to afford satisfactory evidence regarding the geological age of the strata in relation to the European types. It was hoped that the fossils of this great group would present some of the anomalies which characterize almost every class of organism found in the great distributional province; and it was thought to be probable that relics of very ancient forms would be discovered. But the number of species of Echini which were found in the marine deposits beneath the older basalt was small; and at the commencement of their study the amount of knowledge of the living Echinodermal fauna of the coasts and neighbouring seas was not great; consequently disappointment ensued. Year by year more specimens of the fossil Echini have been discovered, and careful collecting has produced many with their ornamentation wonderfully preserved; and, contemporaneously, the labours of Gray, Agassiz, and others, increased our knowledge of the recent Australian fauna.

Of necessity, therefore, the literature of the fossil Echini of Australia is scanty; and those palæontologists who have contributed to it have only paid attention to the relation of the forms to those of other geological ages, and neglected to consider the affinities with the existing fauna.

The principal contribution to the Echini of the Australian Tertiaries is that of Laube, “Ueber einige fossile Echiniden von den Murray cliffs
On the Ice-Fjords of North Greenland, and on the Formation of Fjords, Lakes, and Cirques in Norway and Greenland
Authors: Helland Amund
Published: October 2009

The observations recorded in the following paper were made during two years of travel among the fjords and mountains of Norway, and during a visit to the ice-fjords of North Greenland in the summer of 1875. These travels were almost wholly undertaken with the view of seeing how far these countries confirmed tho views entertained by Prof. Ramsay and other English and American geologists as to the origin of fjords and lakes.

We will first examine the fjords of North Greenland, ascend to the Inland Ice which covers the whole country, so far as is known, then visit the glaciers which descend into the fjords, measure their rate of flow, and examine the other phenomena which they present. As these are, in many respects, of the greatest importance to geology in general, they shall be described more fully than is necessary for explaining the formation of fjords and lakes.

The tract over which I travelled in North Greenland extends from the colony of Egedesminde (60° 42′ 9″ N. lat., according to Nordenskjöld) to the fjord of Kangerdlugssuak (about 71° 15′ N. lat.) in the district of the Colony of Umanak.

Of ghe great ice-fjords which produce bergs of large dimensions, the following were visited, viz. those of Jakobakavn and Torsukatak; of the smaller, which produce only little bergs, those of Sarkardlek, of Alangordlek (in the district of Christianshaab), and of Kangerdlugssuak. The ice-filled valley of Ilartdlek, by Pakitsok, was traversed, and the Inland Ice here ascended. A large number of
On the Remains of a large Crustacean, probably indicative of a new Species of
Eurypterus
, or allied Genus (
Eurypterus? Stevensoni
), from the Lower Carboniferous Series (Cementstone Group) of Berwickshire
Authors: Etheridge Robert
Published: October 2009

1.
Introduction
.—Of the genus
Eurypterus
, so largely represented in the Upper Silurian rocks of Great Britain, and much more sparingly in the Old Red Sandstone, we have but a single Carboniferous species,
Eurypterus Scouleri
, Hibbert, from a freshwater limestone of the Lower Carboniferous Limestone series at Kirkton, near Bathgate, Linlithgowshire. The bibliography of this species is not heavy. We have first Dr. Scouler's original description under the name of
Eidothea
, next the memoir of Dr. Hibbert† wherein the specific name is suggested, then a notice by the late Mr. J. W. Salter‡, and lastly Mr. H. Woodward's more detailed description and magnificent figures§.

Last year Mr. W. Stevenson, of Dunse, presented to the collection of the Geological Survey of Scotland three fragmentary specimens of great interest, which he had collected at Kimmerghame quarry, near Dunse. I at once saw, as had previously been surmised by Mr. Stevenson, that these specimens were, in all probability, portions of a very large
Eurypterus
, of far larger size than
E. Scouleri
, Hibbert. A rough drawing of one of the fragments was sent to my friend Mr. H. Woodward, F.R.S., who, so far as he was able to form an opinion from the drawing, confirmed my view. Since Mr. Stevenson presented his specimens to the Survey Collection, one of the fossil-collectors of the Scotch branch of the Geological Survey (Mr. A. Macconochie) has visited Kimmerghame quarry in the course of his duties, and succeeded in obtaining five more specimens, similar, speaking generally, to those found
On the Pre-Cambrian (Dimetian and Pebidian) Rocks of St. David's
Authors: Hicks Henry
Published: October 2009

I
ntroduction
.

In the Geological-Survey Map of North Pembrokeshire, published in 1857, there is in the promontory of St. David's a wide band, coloured as a mass of intrusive syenite and felstone, with altered Cambrians on the north of it, and on the south Cambrians unaltered. In the year 1864, when making a section from this so-called syenite to the south through the Cambrians, I noticed that a considerable portion of it was made up of altered rock, in which the bedding was quite distinct. This portion I then believed to be altered Cambrian, like that marked on the north, and to be quite distinct from the central mass, to the influence of which I thought possibly this change might have been due. On further examination, however, it seemed clear that the syenite did not penetrate any of these beds, and hence that the alteration was in no way due to it. Moreover the masses of rock forming the Cambrian conglomerate appeared to have been derived from rocks apparently identical with those forming this ridge. This discovery led Mr. Salter (whom I guided over the section in that year) and myself to suspect that the ridge of so-called syenite therefore was a portion of what had previously been a “Pre-Cambrian island;” and these views were communicated for the first time by Mr. Salter to the British Association in 1864. At that time no lines of bedding had been discovered in the central or more crystalline part; and we were satisfied to look
On Pharetrospongia Strahani, Sollas, a fossil Holorhaphidote Sponge from the Cambridge “Coprolite” bed
Authors: Sollas W. J.
Published: October 2009

In the collection of Cambridge-Greensand fossils exhibited in the Woodwardian Museum, Cambridge, may be seen some rather large and irregular fossil sponges bearing the name of
Chenendopora
, sp. These are the sponges referred to under this name by Mr. Bonney, in his Text-book of Cambridgeshire Geology (p. 41), and included, also with the same generic designation, by Mr. Jukes-Browne in the lists of fossils given by him at pages 311 and 313 of his paper “On the Relations of the Cambridge Gault and Greensand.” The responsibility for the name rests, however, solely with the Museum authorities, the authors cited having simply quoted from the labels attached to the specimens in the Museum, the correctness of which they naturally took for granted. Why the sponge is named “
Chenendopora
” I do not know; certainly it does not possess the characters of that genus as founded by Lamouroux, nor does it correspond with any of the subsequently described species of the genus with which I am acquainted; it is, though long known to Cambridge collectors as an abundant form, an undescribed species, and, from the very important features it presents, merits a detailed investigation.

Outer Form
.—The Sponge consists essentially of a somewhat thick plate, which, by folding in various ways, and by uniting with itself wherever its sides are folded into contact, gives rise to a great diversity of forms; thus it is sometimes merely a curved plate, sometimes more or less cup-shaped, while often it is contorted into an intricate pattern, which
On New Species of
Belemnites
and
Salenia
from the Middle Tertiaries of South Australia
Authors: Tate Ralph
Published: October 2009

C
ontrary
to my determination not to publish any facts connected with the Middle Tertiaries of South Australia until I could present a detailed account of them, and of their palæontological characters, I herein communicate to the Geological Society the discovery of the presence of two genera in these rocks, which, on account of their distribution in time in European strata, must be regarded as of especial interest.

A species of Belemnite (
Belemnites rugifer
) has been recorded from the Older Tertiaries of Ronca, in Northern Italy; but the occurrence of the genus in the South-Australian Tertiaries greatly extends its duration, inasmuch as the epoch of the deposition of the River-Murray beds is generally regarded as not older than Miocene, and by some is placed in the Pliocene period. I refrain from offering an opinion on this question, as hitherto the corals and echinoderms only have been critically examined. At this time I am engaged in comparing the fossils of the South-Australian Tertiaries with existing forms, particularly those inhabiting the South-Australian shores. This task is rendered great from the circumstance that there is no available collection in this colony for study, and I have been obliged to supply the deficiency by my own labour. But this has borne good results, as I have added 78 unrecorded marine shells to Mr. Angas's list (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867), some of which occur in the Middle Tertiary beds, and I have made several important additions in other departments of marine zoology.

The discovery of a
Description of a new Species of
Araucarites
from the Coralline Oolite of Malton
Authors: Carruthers W.
Published: October 2009

A
raucarites
H
udlestoni
, Carruthers, sp. nov.

Cone oblong-ovate, supported on a thick branch, which is clothed with leaves to the base of the cone. Scales numerous, supported on a thick axis. Scales small, wingless, with a well-marked lepidium or upper scale. Seed small, oval, borne at the base of the scale.

The two cones, found by Mr. Hudleston, are mature, and each scale, except those imperfectly developed at the apex and base of the cone, bears a seed. The cones are small, being 3¾ inches long by 2½ inches broad. The scales also are small in proportion to the thickness of the axis. The axis must have been the first part of the organism to decay, as the matrix in which the cones were imbedded was yet unsolidified, and has been pressed into the cavities left by the decayed axes. The scales, however, persisted until the rock became indurated; and when this decay took place, the cavities were filled in with crystalline calcite, which now represents the external form of the scales and seeds, often with singalar minuteness.

The fragment of branch which still adheres to one of the cones, exhibits the bases of the leaves, which were of considerable size and thickness, as is shown by the transverse section of the calcite cast.

The characters which I have described as found in the scales show that this
Araucaria
belonged to the
Colymbea
section of the genus, now represented by two species in
On certain Ancient Devitrified Pitchstones and Perlites from the Lower Silurian District of Shropshire
Authors: Allport S.
Published: October 2009

T
he
principal object of the present communication is twofold:—in the first place, to bring under the notice of the Society the occurrence in Shropshire of an extremely interesting series of ancient vitreous and semivitreous lavas, with their associated agglomerates and ashes; and in the second, to show, from an examination of their structure and composition, that originally they were absolutely identical with some of the glassy volcanic rocks ejected during the most recent geological periods.

In a previous paper (published in vol. xxx. pp. 529-567, of the Quarterly Journal) I arrived at the same result as to the identity of ancient and recent volcanic products, from an investigation restricted to the basic group of rocks; and I am now enabled to show that those of the acid type afford equally strong evidence in the same direction.

The discovery of several highly characteristic varieties of glassy rocks and volcanic ashes of Palæozoic age is, I think, a matter of considerable interest from a petrological point of view, more especially as their mode of occurrence and their relations to the surrounding strata afford the clearest evidence that the geological structure of a part of the district in which they occur has hitherto been misunderstood.

On Sheet 61 of the Geological-Survey map a band of “greenstone” is represented as constituting the axis of the somewhat irregular narrow ridge of which Ercal Hill and the Wrekin form the greater portion. It commences half a mile south of Wellington, and extends in a south-westerly direction
On the Remains of
Hypsodon, Portheus
, and
Ichthyodectes
from British Cretaceous Strata, with Descriptions of new Species
Authors: Newton E. Tulley
Published: October 2009

D
r. Mantell
in the year 1822, in his ‘Geology of Sussex,’ described and figured certain fossil bones, obtained from the Upper Chalk near Lewes, as the parts of an unknown fish (p. 241, pl. 42). These remains, which it appears were all obtained from one block of chalk, consisted of an upper jaw with teeth, including the maxilla and præmaxilla, with a vertebra and an indeterminable bone. The maxilla, which is there referred to as a lower jaw, is said to “contain twelve smooth pointed teeth. These are slightly convex, very brittle, and possess a glossy surface. The three anterior ones are gently curved; their fangs are hollow, and placed in sockets that extend almost to the base of the jaw. The nine posterior teeth are of a lanceolate form, and probably destitute of fangs, appearing as if attached to the jaw by anchylosis.”

The appearances which led Dr. Mantell to think the posterior teeth differed from the anterior ones, must, I think, have been due to the condition of the specimen, the teeth of which are somewhat obscured by the matrix; for, after a comparison with other specimens, I see no good reason for thinking that the teeth of this jaw differ otherwise than in size.

The præmaxilla, which has the remains of “five tusks or defences,” is broken away from the maxilla.

Prof. Agassiz, in the year 1843 (‘Poissons Fossiles’), without definitely characterizing his genus
Hypsodon
, alludes to Dr. Mantell's description, and then proceeds to describe the fossil
Remarks on the Coal-bearing Deposits near Erekli (the ancient Heraclea Pontica, Bithynia)
Authors: Spratt T.
Published: October 2009

Towards the end of March 1854, after the combined fleets of England and France had entered the Black Sea, as coal was known to be procured by the Turkish Government from the south coast, near Erekli (the ancient Heraclea), I was ordered to proceed there, and examine and report upon its quality and fitness for the use of war-steamers; for although two or three cargoes of the coal were seen at Constantinople by some naval engineers, the quality appeared to be so inferior as coal (from being so mixed with slate and rubbish), that a general opinion prevailed that it was only a better quality of lignite than that procured from the Tertiary deposits of the Sea of Marmora and the Archipelago.

It was therefore of first importance to ascertain the age of the Erekli coal-beds, as well as the quantity that could be procured from them with sufficient economy and of sufficiently good quality for the use of our war-ships for steaming at high speeds.

I could obtain no fragment of a fossil from the coal at Constantinople that I examined, nor any information regarding the deposits associated with them; for, although M. Tchihatcheff had shown that rocks of the Devonian age existed, no mention was made of these coal-deposits or of any Carboniferous strata in the neighbourhood, in his valuable work on Asia Minor, published in 1853. I now find, however, that M. Schlehan had, in the ‘Zeitschrift der deutschen geologischen Gescllschaft’ for 1852, given a full description
Notes on the Fossil Plants from Kosloo
Authors: Etheridge R.
Published: October 2009

Admiral Spratt's collection consists entirely of plants, the whole of them of undoubted Coal-measure age. The genera and many of the species are precisely those of the Coal-measures of Britain.

Twenty-six specimens occur in the collection:—
On the Mammal-fauna of the Caves of Creswell Crags
Authors: Dawkins W. Boyd
Published: October 2009

T
he
exploration of the caves of Creswell Crags carried on by the Rev. J. M. Mello, F.G.S., in 1875, and brought before the Society in that and the following year, was finally concluded last summer; and the results have been handed over to me, by the Committee, for description—a task of no little difficulty, from the vast numbers of the fossil remains which have been discovered. The results are of considerable importance, not merely because they confirm the conclusions which were arrived at from the previous explorations, but because they add new facts to the history of palæolithic man in Britain. In dealing with these the Robin-Hood Cave will be taken first; and then I shall check the evidence which it offers by that furnished by the cavern on the other side of the ravine of Creswell Crags known as the Church Hole. It must, however be remarked that the history of both these caverns is rendered imperfect from the promiscuous diggings carried on by unauthorized persons, the results of which have not been brought before the Committee.

II The Robin-Hood Cave.

A. Distribution of Species in the Lower and Middle Strata.

In the description of the remains from the Robin-Hood Cave in this Journal (August 1876, p. 245), attention was drawn to the fact that the cave was inhabited by hyaenas during the time of the deposition of the red sand below, the cave-earth, and the breccia above, and that no traces of man were found below the cave-earth.
On a new Area of Upper Cambrian Rocks in South Shropshire, with a Description of a new Fauna
Authors: Callaway Charles
Published: October 2009

In March 1874 I communicated to this Society a paper entitled, “On a Tremadoc area near the Wrekin in South Shropshire, with description of a new Fauna,” which was published in abstract in the Society's Journal, vol. xxx. p. 196.

In that paper I described certain shales, commonly supposed to be Caradoc, which I had examined at Shineton, two miles S.S.W. of the Wrekin. In these shales I had found
Conocoryphe, Lingulella
, and other fossils of a Cambrian type; and from this and other evidence I had concluded the beds were of Tremadoc age. My views, however, were not accepted by the Fellows present at the reading of my paper, on account of the alleged imperfection of the fossil evidence; and, as I was at the time absent in America, I had no opportunity of defending my position. Since my return home I have collected more abundant and satisfactory evidence, both geological and palæontological, which I venture to think will establish my original conclusions. I have also made out some additional points of interest in the geology of the neighbourhood of the Wrekin.

Previous Information.

Sir R. Murchison has described the area under examination, from the Wrekin on the north-east to the May-Hill Sandstone at Kenley on the south-west, as composed of strata of Caradoc age, the Wrekin itself being an igneous outburst altering the Caradoc sandstone on its flanks into quartzite.

The Geological Survey has followed Murchison, but has included, under the name of “quartzite,” certain sandstones in which
On the Rank and Affinities in the Reptilian Class of the Mosasauridæ, Gervais
Authors: Owen
Published: October 2009

1.
Introduction
.—The fortunate acquisition by the British Museum of the “Van-Breda Collection,” which includes the best specimens that have been found since the times of Camper and Cuvier of the large saurian and chelonian fossils from Maestricht—the Mosasaurian fossils brought to Europe from America by Prince Maximilian of Neu-Wied, and by Prof. H. Rogers, of Pennsylvania—supplemented by the richer collections of similar fossils from the western Cretaceous beds of the United States, due to the important and praiseworthy labours of Professors Leidy, Marsh, and Cope,—have accumulated a mass of materials by the study of which the rank and affinities in the Reptilian class of
Mosasaurus
and its near allies can, as I believe, be definitely determined.

When Cuvier initiated the present inquiry his subjects had been referred to the
Cetacea
by Camper, and to the
Crocodilia
by Faujas; and Cuvier's comparisons, leading to the conclusions as to the closer affinities of the fossils to the
Lacertilia
, are preceded by the classical ‘Ostéologie des Lézards,’ from which he derives most of his illustrations of the genus which Conybeare had called
Mosasaurus
.

To the Ophidian order Cuvier makes but one reference, which is decisive as between Serpents and Lizards; and he seems to have felt as little called upon to discuss the osteology and dentition of Fishes for a refutation of an early reference of parts of the
Mosasaurus
to that class.

The question, however, of the relations of Mosasaurians to Ophidians has of late grown to dimensions which command more detailed comparisons
On a number of new Sections around the Estuary of the Dee which exhibit Phenomena having an important bearing on the Origin of Boulder-clay and the sequence of Glacial Events
Authors: Mackintosh D.
Published: October 2009

Introductory Remarks
.—In his Survey ‘Memoir on the Geology of North Wales,’ p. 207, Professor Ramsay remarks “how necessary it is to map every possible formation in detail before we can arrive at just conclusions concerning either the completeness or the fragmentary nature of the succession of strata.” It is only by keeping a keen outlook in a particular district or districts for new sections that such details can be obtained. As regards drift-deposits, sections are likely to vary so much with the extent of the excavations, the state of the weather, &c., that, before they can furnish reliable facts, it is necessary that they should be leisurely and repeatedly observed. Though familiar with a number of sections around the estuary of the Dee for many years, I have lately seen the necessity for making a series of more connected and systematic observations than time had previously permitted; and as some of the sections may soon become obliterated, I lose no time in communicating the results to the Geological Society.

Results of Additional Visits to the Dawpool Sea-coast Section
.—Since the time I very briefly described this scction in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. for Nov. 1872 I have often visited it, and on each occasion have seen fresh faces exposed by the rapidly encroaching sea, at intervals, along the whole cliff-line, which is about three miles in length. In every instance the

Around the Estuary of the Dee.

Line of Junction between the Lower and Upper Boulder-clays
, whether straight or undulating
On the Structure and Affinities of the Genus Siphona
Authors: Sollas W. J.
Published: October 2009

S
ome
years ago my friend and tutor Mr. Bonney was kind enough to procure for my examination a collection of phosphatic nodules from the Gault of Folkestone, amongst which were included several specimens of what I considered to be species of
Siphonia
in a phosphatized condition. Knowing well, from a previous investigation of phosphatized Ventriculites from the Cambridge Greensand, how perfectly sponge-structure is sometimes preserved in this state, it occurred to me that I had here a good opportunity of determining the minute structure of this sponge and its relations to recent forms.

Accordingly I requested Mr. Cuttell, of 52 New Compton Street, Soho, to prepare a series of transparent slices from my specimens; and on examining under the microscope the beautiful sections he made for me I saw displayed, in all its details, the characteristic structure of a Lithistid sponge. I then submitted my preparations to my kind friend Mr. Carter, who not only confirmed my observations, but gave me the benefit of several valuable suggestions, and generously sent me pieces of the recent
Discodermia polydiscus
, Bocage, for comparison. Subsequently Mr. Vicary, with great kindness, put a large number of siliceous specimens of
Siphonia
from the Blackdown Greensand at my disposal, and I obtained from Mr. Bryce Wright an example of
Siphonia (Hallirhoa) costata
, Lamx., from the Greensand of Wiltshire. Finally my friend Mr. Moore afforded me every facility for the examination of the beautiful collection of Choanites preserved in the Liverpool Free Museum; and transparent slices taken from
On the Occurrence of a Macrurous Decapod (Anthrapalæmon? Woodwardi, sp. nov.) in the Red Sandstone, or lowest group, of the Carboniferous Formation in the South-east of Scotland
Authors: Etheridge R.
Published: October 2009

I
have
had the honour on two previous occasions (with the permission of the Director-General of the Geological Survey) to bring under the notice of the Society two important additions to the Carboniferous fauna of Scotland,
Astrocrinites
?
Benniei
(mihi), and
Productus complectens
(mihi). Again the pleasure devolves upon me of calling attention to a further discovery of considerable palæontological interest—the occurrence of a Macrurous Decapod, probably referable to the genus
Anthrapalæmon
, Salter, in the basement beds of the Carboniferous formation, as developed in the neighbourhood of Dunbar.

To the prolific hammer of Mr. James Bennie, whilst engaged in his duties as one of the collectors of the Geological Survey of Scotland, we are again indebted for the valuable and unique fossil in question. The specimen, with its counterpart, was forwarded by Mr. Bennie as a Crustacean, amongst a collection of plants from the Red Sandstones of Belhaven Bay, near Dunbar. I at once saw that it was not only a Crustacean, but a member of one of the higher divisions of the class,—a fact of very considerable interest, in so far that it extends the range of the Macrura, if I am correct in so referring the fossil, downwards to a lower horizon than they have hitherto occurred at in this country. After a careful examination, I came to the conclusion that the form was closely allied to Salter's genus
Anthrapalæmon
, and, in the absence of any further evidence than is afforded by the specimen, must be regarded as a
Further Notes on the Diamond-fields of South Africa, with Observations on the Gold-fields and Cobalt-mine in the Transvaal
Authors: Dunn E. J.
Published: October 2009

A
visit
made to the Diamond-fields in December 1874 enables me to make some additions to, and corrections of, my previous paper, read before the Geological Society in 1873.

At De Beer's, mining-operations have clearly established the fact that the “pipes” are more recent than the sheets of dolerite and other intrusive rocks surrounding them; for on the east side of the mine the rudely tabular dolerite, forming the wall of the “pipe,” is tilted at an angle of about 40°(fig. 7.) Included masses and nodules of dolerite occurring in all the pipes hitherto opened, help to confirm this view.

In no case are the “pipes” traversed by dykes of hard rock; and the only instance of dykes of any description intersecting the material forming the “pipes” is at De Beer's, where, at a depth of 100 feet from the surface, and at the east side of the mine, long, narrow, dyke-like masses, from 2 to 5 feet wide, vertically cut through the soft diamond-bearing rock; one having the latter width runs for about two hundred yards in a straight line. These dykes(?) are lighter in colour and somewhat harder than the bounding rock, but earthy in texture and so much altered that specimens sent to the British Museum were undeterminable, though evidently quite distinct from the surrounding soft rock. The general opinion of the miners who have these dykes(?) cutting through their claims, is that they contain no diamonds.

The wall of De Beer's Mine, except on the north
Notes on the Chemical Composition of some of the Rocks of the Lizard District
Authors: Hudleston W. H.
Published: October 2009

These rocks may be roughly divided into four principal groups (without enumerating others of less importance), viz.:—

1.

The Serpentines.

2.

The “Greenstones” in the Serpentine.

3.

The Hornblende Schists.

4.

The Gabbros.

Features in common
.—In all specimens of the above rocks examined by me, alkalies are extremely scarce, if not altogether absent in most cases. They are all basic, rarely containing as much as 50 per cent. of silica.

Differences
.—Chemically they divide themselves into two groups:—Group A (poor in lime and alumina) includes the serpentines; Group B (rich in lime and alumina) includes the “greenstones,” hornblende schists and gabbros—rocks which, however much they may differ in appearance, have considerable resemblance in their fundamental constitution.

Some of the Rocks of the Lizard District.

Group A. The Serpentines.

These rocks, as usual, present an infinite variety as regards external appearance; but there is considerable resemblance in their chemical composition. A specimen has been selected for careful analysis.

Black Serpentine from “near Cadgwith.”
—Black to greenish black, opaque; fracture splintery; charged with numerous crystals of a highly cleavable mineral of a pale brass-eolour and metallic lustre. Sp. gr. of the mass 2·587. Freed as far as possible from the crystals, the black matrix yields a greenish-grey powder, which adheres in considerable quantity to the magnet. Composition:—

Two or three kinds of crystalline fragments are noticeable in the undecomposed residue; one is prebably enstatite.

As the amount undeeomposed is so small, the quantity of unaltered augite, diallage
On the Action of Coast-Ice on an Oscillating Area
Authors: Milne John
Published: October 2009

[In this paper the author commenced by discussing those theories which have been proposed to account for glacial markings by the assumption of a polar ice-cap. He argued that even if such vast sheets of ice as are accepted by many geologists could have produced the grooves and other markings, and the drift deposits ascribed to their agency, the action of the sea during subsequent submergence and upheaval of the regions where these phenomena are displayed would certainly have effaced all such traces of ice-action. Other objections might also be raised to the hypothesis of great ice-sheets; and he thought it desirable to consider fully “whether other agents may not have shared the work with which they have been credited.” He proceeds as follows:—]

Excepting glacier-action, which will generally have taken place in elevated regions, I think it can be shown that the modelling and scratching has in many instances been produced by an agent the existence of which is certain, and which acted under conditions favourable to the preservation of its work. Such an agent is coast or floe-ice acting on a rising area.

Examples of the work done, and being done, by such an agent under the stated conditions I shall take from Newfoundland, Labrador, and Finland. Every year the shores of these countries are surrounded by a fringe of ice. During the process of freezing and at other times, by various causes, such as tides, currents, wind, the driving in of pack-ice from the sea, this is
On Coal-pebbles and their Derivation
Authors: Jordan H. K.
Published: October 2009

T
he
author commenced by referring to the discovery by the late Sir William Logan, as early as 1840, of a pebble of cannel coal in a layer of indurated clay at Penclawdd, and of coal-pebbles interstratified with the Pennant Sandstones in considerable abundance (Proc. Geol. Soc. vol. iii. p. 276). The late Sir Henry de la Beche also discovered coal-pebbles in several areas of the coal-field both in Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire (Mem. Geol. Surv. vol. i. pp. 193, 194).

The author noticed the division of the coal-bearing strata of the part of the Welsh coal-field east of the Vale of Neath into two groups. The higher, consisting of the sandstones known as the Pennant Grit, with comparatively few coal-seams, varies from 3000 feet in thickness at the Vale of Neath to 900 feet at its eastern outcrop near Pontypool; the lower, consisting chiefly of argillaceous shales with numerous seams of coal and ironstone, is about 1600 feet thick to the lowest workable coal-seam. According to his observations, coal-pebbles are not found in the shales of the lower group, but they occur towards the base of the Pennant Sandstones, sometimes associated with granite pebbles.

Sir W. Logan's pebble of cannel-coal was found in a layer of indurated clay overlying a seam of ordinary coal; and it was supposed to have been derived from a coal-seam about 2000 feet lower in the series. This view the author regards as untenable, as it would imply the elevation and denudation of the lower in
On our Present Knowledge of the Invertebrate Fauna of the Lower Carboniferous or Calciferous Sandstone Series of the Edinburgh Neighbourhood, especially of that Division known as the Wardie Shales; and on the First Appearance of certain Species in these Beds
Authors: Etheridge R.
Published: October 2009

Little or no attention has been paid to the organic remains of the great series of strata below the Gilmerton or No. 1 Limestone of the Midlothian coal-field (adopted as the conventional base of the Carboniferous Limestone series by the Geological Survey), when compared with the numerous papers and other publications bearing on the fossils of the overlying strata or
Carboniferous Limestone Series
. It is true the fishes were examined by Agassiz*, and the plants to some extent by Lindley and Hutton, but in both cases only to a limited extent. Dr. Hibbert's celebrated paper on the Burdiehouse Limestone appears to have been the first memoir in which any systematic observations were recorded; and, with the exception of a few miscellaneous publications in the interim, it was not until the Geological Survey broke ground in the Edinburgh neighbourhood that any further detailed work of this nature was undertaken. We have the result of Mr. Salter's examination of a collection of fossils made by Messrs. R. Gibbs and W. Rhind during Prof. Geikie's survey of the district, in the Appendix to the ‘Geology of the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh.’ Notwithstanding that Mr. Salter's observations were confined to a mere list of the species obtained by the collectors, there can be no doubt that his were the first systematically carried out, and that they laid the foundation for future research.

In this communication I propose to give :—first, a summary of our present knowledge of the Invertebrate Fauna of the Calciferous Sandstone series
Discovery of Silurian Beds in Teesdale
Authors: Gunn W. , Clough C. T.
Published: October 2009

O
ur
colleague Mr. J. R. Dakyns, a few months back, put the question to geologists, “Is there a base to the Carboniferous rocks in Teesdale?” (Geol. Mag., Decade ii. vol. iv. p. 58), and briefly mentioned the reasons which had induced him to ask the question. Some time previously to the visit of Mr. Dakyns to Teesdale mentioned in the article referred to, Mr. Howell, of the Geological Survey, had made the same suggestion to one of us.

We have already, in the Geol. Mag. (
tom. cit.
p. 139), stated that there is no doubt that this suggestion is correct. In the present paper we offer to the Society the detailed proofs of this.

It will be advisable in the first place to say something about the physical structure of the dale, in order that the mode of occurrence of the older beds may be better understood.

It is generally well known in the dale that there is a great disturbance, going by the name of the Burtreeford Dyke (from Burtreeford, in Weardale, where the disturbance is well seen), entering the dale near Langdon Head and running diagonally across it roughly from north to south, and that this disturbance lifts the beds up to the west very considerably. As far as we have been able to make out in this district, the dyke does not appear to consist so much of an actual break as of a
sharp run-up
of the beds, with possibly local breaks here and there as
On the Cretaceous Dentaliidæ
Authors: Gardner J. S.
Published: October 2009

I
n
this paper are described and grouped the shells of the family Dentaliidæ which have been obtained from the Cretaceous rocks of Great Britain. It includes all the forms I know of; but there may be in local museums and private collections specimens I have not seen.

In the genus
Dentalium
I have included all the forms belonging to this family which are not fissured at the apex, and those which are not swollen or constricted at the aperture.

The Cretaceous species here described, included in the genus
Dentalium
thus constituted, may for the present be arranged under two subdivisions.

A.

Dentalium
proper, comprising the larger forms, all of which are striated.

B.

The smaller and smooth forms.

In the first of these groups four species are described: two of these are new ; and two,
D. decussatum
and
D. medium
, which were given by Sowerby in the ‘Mineral Conchology,’ are redescribed, as it seemed to me that his descriptions are incomplete. My description of
D. decussatum
is based on more than 50 specimens in my collection ; and with it I have been able to incorporate
D. Striatum
and
D. ellipticum
of Sowerby, as they are not distinct species. The latter was regarded by D'Orbigny as a synonym of
D. decussatum
. The description of
D. medium
is based upon specimens in the British Museum, the Jermyn-Street Museum, and Mr. Meyer's collection. Sowerby's figured specimen is evidently an internal cast, in which,
Notes on Fossil Plants discovered in Grinnell Land by Captain H. W. Feilden, Naturalist of the English North-Polar Expedition
Authors: Heer Oswald
Published: October 2009

I
n
the vicinity of Discovery Harbour, where H.M.S. ‘Discovery’ wintered during 1875–76, a thick bed of lignite was found. The locality referred to is on the western shore of Robeson Channel, in about latitude 81° 45′ N., and longitude 64° 45′ W., north-west of Cape Murchison; the exact position is designated Watercourse Ravine in the Charts of the English Expedition.

This coal-bed has a thickness of from 25 to 30 feet, and lies in a depression, the foundation of which consists of the unconformably stratified azoic schists which constitute the chief mass of Grinnell Land. On the coal-bed rest immediately black shales and sandstones. The black, fine-grained shales, which very closely resemble the
Taxodium
-shale of Cape Staratschin on the Ice-fiord of Spitzbergen, contain many remains of plants, which were collected by Captain Feilden and handed over to me for examination. The coal-seam and the superincumbent beds of shale and sandstone dip to the east under the sea of Robeson Channel at an angle of about 10°. These beds are cut through by a stream which has formed a deep gully, wherein the strata are laid bare ; whilst at different points on the upper strata rest beds of fine mud and glacial drift, which contain well-preserved shells of marine Mollusca (
Saxicava rugosa, Astarte borealis, &c.
) now found in the neighbouring sea. This glacial marine deposit is met with up to a height of 1000 feet above the present sea-level, and shows that the land was sunk beneath the surface of
On
Argillornis longipennis
, Ow., a large Bird of flight from the Eocene Clay of Sheppey
Authors: Owen
Published: October 2009

T
he
fossils on which the above genus and species of extinct bird are propounded were discovered in the London Clay of Sheppey Island, and form part of the collection of W. H. Shrubsole, Esq., of Sheerness-on-Sea, by whom they have been kindly submitted to me, with permission to take casts of them for the Geological Department, British Museum.

They consist of parts of fractured humeri, the right and left, of the same species or individual, and include the articular head of the bone, with portions of the upper and lower parts of the shaft. They are in the usual petrified condition of the Sheppey fossils, more or less impregnated with pyrites, and, from the fractured and abraded condition of the more prominent parts of the bones, seem to have been subject to the forces of transport and rolling.

The texture of the shaft, the thinness of the compact outer bony wall, and the large size of the obviously pneumatic cavity, recall the characters of the wing-bones of the large Pterodactyles of the Cretaceous period. This leads me to refer to the ‘Supplement’ No. iii. to the Monograph on the Cretaceous Pterosauria (Palæontographical Society's volume, 4to, for 1860), in which descriptions and figures are given of the proximal portion of the right humerus of
Pterodactylus Sedgwickii
, Ow., a species about the size of a large vulture (
Vultur monachus
, L.), of which bird comparative views of the answerable bone and part are added in the same plate (pl. iii.).

A comparison of
On the Pre-Cambrian Rocks of Bangor
Authors: Hughes T. McKenny
Published: October 2009

I
n
a paper entitled “Outline of the Geological Structure of North Wales,” read before the Geological Society, June 21, 1843, and published in abstract in the Proc. Geol. Soc. vol. iv. pp. 212–224, Prof. Sedgwick gives a general sketch of the Cambrian rocks from the Bangor and Caernarvon series to the Bala beds. The general character he describes as follows:—“The rocks occupying the region are chiefly composed of
felstone
(compact felspar) and felstone porphyry, trappean conglomerates, plutonic silt (exactly like the chloritic varieties of German
Schaalstein
), and other erupted or recomposed igneous products; and the above-named rocks alternate indefinitely with fine masses of roofing-slate, and with great masses of greywacke—and with greywacke slate, often calcareous, but rarely containing beds and masses of limestone” (p. 215).

Further on he states that “the group of chlorite, slate, &c. contains no organic remains, and forms no passage into the rocks of the other division; it therefore offers no sure means of classification; but it seems to be inferior to the other slate-rocks in the southern promontory of Carnarvonshire” (p. 219). Passing over these, and “commencing with the line of the Nant Francon and Llanberis slate-quarries, the author (Prof. Sedgwick) describes a series of regular ascending sections, continued through a horizontal distance of three miles,”
i. e.
up into the Bala beds.

In a subsequent paper, read before the Geological Society, Dec. 16, 1846, and published in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. iii. p. 133, though it is clear he has not yet
On some Pre-Cambrian (Dimentian and Pebidian) Rocks in Caernarvonshire
Authors: Hicks H.
Published: October 2009

I
n
consequence of the remarks made by Prof. Hughes in the discussions following the reading of my paper on the Pre-Cambrian rocks of St. David's on Nov. 22, 1876, in which he expressed the opinion that there was much reason for considering some beds passed through in the adit to the slate-quarry at Moel Tryfaen in Caernarvonshire, to be Pre-Cambrian, and also of the statement made by Mr. Maw in the discussion of my paper read on Dec. 2, 1874, that under the Cambrian rocks at Llanberis there are unconformable beds which may be the equivalents of the Pre-Cambrian rocks of St. David's, I determined last summer to examine these areas for the purpose of seeing whether there was sufficient evidence to support the above-mentioned supposition.

I was assisted in these examinations by Prof. Hughes, Mr. Hudleston, and Mr. Homfray, of Portmadoc, and am greatly indebted to each for much kindly help and advice. We first visited the neighbourhood of Moel Tryfaen, since it seemed probable that, by the aid of the adit, the basal beds of the Cambrian would be seen in direct contact with the underlying rocks.

Moel Tryfaen.
,

In the Geological-Survey maps the mountain of Moel Tryfaen is coloured as unaltered Cambrian on the east side, and as altered Cambrian on the west, the line of junction being marked by a great fault running from N.E. to S.W. The adit passes through the north side of the mountain from the Alexandra slate-quarries in the Cambrian beds on the
On the Stratigraphical Position of the Corals of the Lias of the Midland and Western Counties of England and of South Wales
Authors: Tomes Robert F.
Published: October 2009

The following stratigraphical list of Lias corals must not be regarded as by any means a complete one, even for the district above mentioned, but rather as a record of such species as I have either collected myself, or such as have been collected within my knowledge, and of which I can therefore speak definitely. This will perhaps afford a sufficient reason for the somewhat personal mode of expression made use of throughout the paper. The nomenclature for horizons which I adopt may possibly be regarded as rather antiquated. For instance, instead of speaking of the zones of
Ammonites angulatus
and
A. Bucklandi
, the words “
Lima-beds
” are often used. This is done advisedly, and for the following reasons:—
Ammonites Bucklandi
is a very rare species throughout the midland counties, and it becomes therefore an uncertain guide. And although
Ammonites angulatus
is abundant enough; its vertical range is so great that, unless assisted by other associate organisms, it becomes practically useless in determining the stratigraphical position of a coral. The greater number of Isastrææ and Septastrææ occur in a rather restricted bed underlying the so-called
Lima
-beds; and in this
Ammonites angulatus
occurs abundantly. :But it also appears up through the whole of the Lima-series, though less abundantly, and through the clays containing
Ammonites semicostatus
and
A. Turneri
*, and upwards to the top of the zone in which
A. planicostatus
and
Hippopodium ponderosum
appear. From this zone I have myself taken it at the north-west end of Welford Hill, four miles west
The Moffat Series
Authors: Lapworth Charles
Published: October 2009

Disregarding for the present the small patch of Glenkiln Shales last described, it is evident that the strata of the Moffat series exhibited in the Main Cliff of Dobb's Linn are naturally arranged in two main divisions palæontologically distinct. Each of these divisions, again, falls naturally into two well-defined mineralogical subdivisions, each of which is, in turn, composed of several subordinate bands or zones, individually distinguishable by peculiar lithological and palæontological features.