bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Notes on the Geology of some parts of South Africa
Authors: Rubidge R. N.
Published: October 2009

Dr. Rubidge first referred to the occurrence of gold at Smithfield in the Orange River Sovereignty, as detailed in his letter of May 1854, published in the Society's Journal, vol. xi. p. 1; and stated that several pieces of gold had since been found at the spot described in the letter referred to. Besides being found in the alluvium there, gold was met with in a quartz-vein in the trap traversing the stratified rock,—in other quartz associated with the trap,—and in a mass of limestone enclosed in the trap-dyke;—but none in the stratified rock itself (which belongs to the Dicynodon or Karoo Series).

Dr. Rubidge next alluded to the fossil plants which he there found in the strata; some of these he referred with doubt to
Calamites
. Six years ago, also, the author found numerous vegetable remains (some of which were possibly referable to
Lepidodendron
) at Jackal's Kop, on the eastern side of the Stormberg Range, in the same formation as that of the Drakensberg and Smithfield; and Calamite-like plants in the western part of the Zuurbergen. The author remarked that the plant-remains above referred to much resembled those collected by Mr. Bain at the Ecca Heights in rocks of the Karoo Series. Dr. Rubidge had also found bones of the Dicynodon near the Caledon River and at Halse's farm six miles from Smithfield.
Notes on the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Sydney, Newcastle, and Brisbane, Australia
Authors: Wilson James S.
Published: October 2009

The country about Sydney is composed nearly altogether of sandstones belonging to the Carboniferous era, and similar in appearance to those of the same age in the north of England. Although in the vicinity of Sydney no coal has been found, with the exception of a few very thin seams, seldom exceeding a quarter of an inch in thickness, yet a thin seam of coal-shale of small extent occasionally occurs.

The sandstone-rocks about Sydney are generally white, consisting of a clear quartz-sand united by a white earthy cement; there are, however, two principal exceptions, viz. the top bed, which is a red conglomerate, principally pebbles of trap, cemented with oxide of iron,—and one of the lower beds, containing iron; but in whichever matrix the sand is found, it appears, when examined with a microscope, to consist of minute crystals of quartz, partially rounded by abrasion.
On the Lignite Deposits of Bovey Tracey, Devonshire
Authors: Croker J. G.
Published: October 2009

The author first described the physical features of the basin, surrounding the junction of the Teign and Bovey Rivers, in which these beds of lignite and their associated clays (used in pottery) are found. The lignite-beds come to the surface at Bovey Heath towards the north-western margin of the basin; they underlie towards the southeast about 11 inches in the fathom, and are covered by clays and gravels; their vertical thickness is about 100 feet. In the upper portion of the lignitic series are several (five and more) beds of loose lignite, covered and mixed with variously-coloured clays and granitic detritus; a ferruginous sandy clay, 9 feet thick, succeeds, which is followed downwards by ten beds of “good coal” or lignite, separated by bluish clay-beds, and worked for fuel.

Fir-cones, referable to the Scotch fir (
Pinus sylvestris
), have been found in one of the uppermost layers of loose lignite. Large flabelliform leaves also are represented by fragments 2 feet long and 20 inches wide in some of the higher beds, together with tangled masses of vegetable remains. In the second and fourth beds of good coal (the latter about 80 feet from the surface) the lignite abounds with the little seeds lately described as
Folliculites minutulus
by Dr. Hooker in the Society's Quarterly Journal. The lignite generally is composed of compressed coniferous wood, and retin-asphalte is locally abundant.
Analysis of the Cleveland Iron-Ore from Eston
Authors: Dick A.
Published: October 2009

The ore was weighed after drying at 100° C.

Composition of the residue insoluble in hydrochloric acid:

The ore contains no metal precipitable by sulphuretted hydrogen from the hydrochloric acid solution.

In the residue insoluble in hydrochloric acid, minute, bright, black crystals were detected, which were proved to contain titanium, and were supposed to be anatase. Prof. Miller of Cambridge has been able to measure certain of the angles, and found them to be identical with similar angles of anatase. The discovery of this mineral in the Cleveland ore is at least a point of considerable mineralogical interest, and may possibly furnish some additional indication of the nature of the rock from which it was derived.
On the Upper Keuper Sandstone (included in the New Red Marls) and its Fossils at Leicester
Authors: Plant James
Published: October 2009

Beds of Keuper sandstone were first ascertained to exist in this locality by my brother, Mr. John Plant, in 1849; they were then found in the cuttings of a short branch line made to connect the Leicester and Swanington Railway with the Midland Railway.

At the time that several short hills on the line were excavated, an opportunity occurred for selecting specimens of the superficial casts and markings, together with the cololitic remains of
Annelida
, from the thin shaly beds of grey marls and sandstones which were abundantly exposed to view; thus a large collection was got together, and specimens were distributed to the museums of the metropolis and to others in the country. A notice of their occurrence was also read at the Meeting of the British Association in that year at Birmingham.

The finishing of the railway debarred a satisfactory examination in that direction; but as the strike and dip of the beds had been exposed in the cuttings, it was not difficult to follow them along a low and narrow ridge for about two miles in a north-east direction, and one and a half mile to the west, until lost under a part of the town.
On an
Orthoceras
from China
Authors: Woodward S. P.
Published: October 2009

The specimen in question is one of several that were obtained by Mr. Lockhart of Shanghae, from some place 200 miles distant, and transmitted by him in 1854 to Daniel Hanbury, Jun., Esq., of Plough Court. They are longitudinal sections in thin plates of limestone, and seem to have been used as screens, for they were mounted in carved-wood frames with stands. The same gentleman at an earlier period communicated some Devonian
Brachiopoda
, identical with French and Belgian species, described by Mr. Davidson in the Geological Journal, 1853, p. 353.

The largest specimen measures in length 29 inches, and 4 in its greatest diameter; it wants the last chamber and about 5 inches of the spire. The angle of the spire is only 6°, and the intervals between the septa vary from ½ to less than ¼ the diameter of the cells. The siphuncle is central and quite simple.

The most instructive specimen is smaller, measuring 18 inches in length and 4 in diameter; it only wants the last chamber (see Pl.VI. fig. 1). The angle of the spire is 12 degrees, and the depth of the chamber is from ½ to less than ⅓ their diameter.
Further Notice of the Recent Eruption from the Volcano of Mauna Loa in Hawaii (Owhyhee)
Authors: Miller W.
Published: October 2009

The stream of lava burst forth in August, 1855, from the side of Mauna Loa, which rises to a height of 14,000 feet above the sea, at a short distance below the summit, and about sixty miles in a direct line from the harbour of the town of Hilo in Byron's Bay. At the date of Mr. Miller's letter it had not ceased to flow, and had then continued for a period of twenty-three weeks, and the stream had a length of about fifty miles in all its windings. For the first three weeks it had flowed uninterruptedly about thirty-eight miles, when it met with a dense forest of trees and jungle which arrested its rapid progress. It had forced its way through ten or twelve miles of the forest, at the rate of about half a mile in a week. There still remained about three miles of the forest to the open ground which extends to the town of Hilo, the lava being about five or six miles distant from the town.
On the Geology of Trinidad
Authors: Bowen H. G.
Published: October 2009

The northern district of the Island of Trinidad, with the islands between it and the mainland, is composed of flagstones, slates, and schists, with quartz-veins and some dark-coloured intercalated limestone. These rocks are all apparently unfossiliferous; the slates often abound with iron-pyrites and magnetic iron-ore, and some of the ochreous quartz-veins (gossans) are slightly auriferous. Stalactitic caves occur in the limestone of the Island of Gaspar Grande, and at Las Cuevas and Arouca. Alluvial beds of clay and gravel are extensive in this district, and are sometimes 60 feet thick. At Lateen Bay, in Chicachicare Island, a patch of aluminous clay-slate occurs, with seams of crystalline limestone. The soil of this northern district is fertile on the limestone, and barren on the slates. The slate-rocks appear to be the same as those of Venezuela, which overlie the quartz-rock that crops out at Upata; and rounded boulders of quartz-rock occur in the flagstones.
On the Cretaceous Fossils of Aberdeenshire
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

No apology need be offered for presenting to the Society a list of the cretaceous fossils discovered in Aberdeenshire by Mr. W. Ferguson, and figures of the new and characteristic species; for there are many points of interest connected with the former extension of the cretaceous rocks from Sweden over the northern part of Britain, and thence to the north of Ireland, which must receive illustration by the recording of such facts as those which he has observed. (See Appendix, p. 88.)

His own impression is, that there might be a possibility of the fossils in question having been drifted to their present position. But, setting aside the improbability that masses of soft sandstone containing still perfectly preserved casts should be drifted from any known locality in Britain
northwards
, the point of greatest interest is that the indications are not only of the near neighbourhood of some members of the cretaceous formation, but actually of the “Upper Greensand” itself,—a formation not known to exist further north in Britain than Cambridgeshire. It is probably, however, represented in Antrim.

There appears to me every reason to believe too, that the Greensand is
in situ
, occurring as it does at a low level compared with those local accumulations of Chalk-flints which are described in Mr. Ferguson's memoir on the subject.
Additional Notice of the occurrence of Volcanic Bombs in Australasia
Authors: Clarke W. B.
Published: October 2009

The author sent in 1855 a notice of the occurrence of Volcanic Bombs in the gold-bearing alluvium of New South Wales; and in this communication adds Victoria and Tasmania as countries in which these obsidian-bombs have been found in the alluvial drift.

One specimen was found by Mr. Milligan, Secretary of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land, on the Supply Rivulet, Spring Bay, River Tamar, in Tasmania, about twenty miles from Bass's Strait; the other specimen (like a bung in shape, an inch high and 1 and two-tenths inch thick at the upper part) was found near the River Wannon in the district of Portland Bay.
Notice of the occurrence of Metalliferous Ores and of Coal in Siam
Authors: Moyle H. J. , Hillier C. B.
Published: October 2009

Mr. Moyle states that in the hilly districts extending north and south, in lat. 15° 25′, near the River Chaw-Phya (Meinam)in Siam, he has discovered several apparently valuable veins of copper-ore, principally in grauwacke, and that he has applied for and obtained from the Siamese government authority to work them. He also refers to his discovery of ores of lead and silver, with enormous beds of magnetic and specular iron-ores in the same district; and describes the country to the north as consisting of carboniferous limestone, with indications of coal.

Mr. Moyle states that the numerous rivers and canals afford great facilities for the transport of the minerals from the hills; and he believes that Siam will rival any country in the East in the richness of its mineral productions.

Mr. Hillier mentions a report that beds of coal have been discovered near the sea in the district of Chantabun on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Siam.
Notice of an Ice-carried Boulder at Borgholm
Authors: Wolley John
Published: October 2009

At Borgholm, several weeks ago, there was shown to me a large boulder, with several smaller ones by its side, which had been brought to the place where they lay by the ice this year (1856). It was just to the north of the town, which is on the western coast of the island of Öland. This stone, like most of the large boulders in that country, was of red granite, of an oblong form, with all irregularities rounded off. Between perpendiculars it was in length about 10 feet, and in breadth about 7 feet, and it was 6 feet deep. It lay 2 or 3 feet above the present water-line, and was supported by several smaller stones, so that its under side could be seen. This under side presented indications of recent grinding, but no continuous scratches or furrows. The upper part of the stone had yellow lichens growing sparingly upon it, proving that it had been for some time above water; whilst below the yellow lichens at some distance was a belt of black colour, probably of a vegetable nature, like what is to be seen on other stones in the islets of which I am about to speak.
On the

Dichodon cuspidatus

, Owen
Authors: Owen R.
Published: October 2009

In June 1847 I communicated to the Geological Society of London a description of certain teeth and portions of jaws of an extinct Artiodactyle Mammal, from the Upper Eocene sand of Hordwell, Hants, from which were deduced the dental characters of the genus
Dichodon
and of the species
cuspidatus
.

The parts described were of an immature individual, retaining, probably, the deciduous molars; and having, certainly, acquired, in the upper jaw, only the first and second true molars, and in the lower jaw only the first true molar. The second true molar in that jaw was just beginning to appear above the alveolar border; the crown of the third true molar was calcified in the upper jaw, but not in the lower one,—not sufficiently, at least, to give the true form of its crown.

I have since been favoured, by the experienced and indefatigable palæontologist. Dr. Wright, of Cheltenham, with the opportunity of examining and describing an instructive portion of the right ramus of the lower jaw of the
Dichodon cuspidatus
containing the three permanent molar teeth,
in situ
, and thus supplying the tooth,
m
3, which was wanting to complete that part of the mature dentition of the genus.

This specimen was found by Dr. Wright near Alum Point, Isle of Wight, in a bed of greenish tough tenacious clay, No. 35 of his Section, which he regards as the equivalent of the Hordwell beds from which Mr. Pytts Falconer obtained the original fossils described by me.
On some Permian Fossils from Durham
Authors: Kirkby J. W.
Published: October 2009

This communication comprises a notice of the occurence of a malacostracous Crustacean and of a new species of
Chiton
in the Magnesian Limestone of Durham, together with remarks on some other Permian fossils.
On the Rock-Basins of Dartmoor
Authors: Cleghorn John
Published: October 2009

I have just seen in the ‘Athenæum’ (No. 1510) of 4th October 1856 a letter from G. Wareing Ormerod, Esq., F.G.S., headed “Druidical Antiquities,” giving the particulars of a “Rock-Basin” discovered by him on Dartmoor. The account given of this basin and the others in its neighbourhood, and the generally received opinions as to their origin, induce me to think they are misunderstood by antiquaries and geologists.
Notice of the late Earthquake at Crete
Authors: Ongley H. S.
Published: October 2009

This notice was communicated in three despatches relating to the occurrence of the earthquake in Crete, in October 1856, which was accompanied with much destruction of property and loss of life at Canea, Retimo, and the neighbouring villages.
Description of Two Species of the Fossil Mammalian Genus
Plagiaulax
from Purbeck
Authors: Falconer H.
Published: October 2009

Until very lately, the only fossil mammifer known to science from the Upper Oolite beds (Purbeck series) was the
Spalacotherium tricuspidens
of Professor Owen, a small insectivorous form referred by him, with some reserve, to the placental series. It was discovered by Mr. W.R. Brodie in one of the so-called “Dirt-beds” of Durdlestone Bay, Purbeck. That meritorious collector continued his researches during the years 1855–56, and had the good fortune to discover some other mammalian remains, which were transmitted to London about the end of last December for description by Professor Owen, They were all found in what is called the “Dirt-bed” No. 93, of Austen's “Guide.” Before these remains had reached London, Mr. Samuel H. Beckles, so favourably known from his researches in Sussex and the Isle of Wight, after free communication with Sir Charles Lyell about the importance of a close and sustained search for mammalian remains at Purbeck, proceeded to Swanage for the express purpose of carrying it out. Before a fortnight had elapsed, Mr. Beckles, by a series of well-directed excavations, had discovered several mammalian jaws besides numerous reptilian remains, in the “Dirt-bed” No. 93. When the first line of section ceased to be productive, or could no longer be worked, he opened new ground, under difficulties which would have damped the ardour of a less earnest inquirer. The labours of Mr. Beckles have been crowned with the success which they deserved.
On the Geology of Strath, Skye
Authors: Geikie A.
Published: October 2009

The first notice of the district described in the present paper was that published in 1800 by the late Professor Jameson in his ‘Mineralogy of the Scottish Isles.’ It is exceedingly meagre, having been compiled from the notes of a brief excursion in bad weather, and contains only a list of minerals found in the ascent of Beinn na Cailleaich, with the mention of numerous basalt-veins that traverse the limestone in every direction. Eighteen years later Dr. Macculloch published his ‘Description of the Western Islands’ wherein he pointed out the existence in Skye of secondary strata—the equivalents of the lias and oolite of England, extending in broken and irregular series up to what has since been determined to be the equivalent of the Oxford Clay. He also described with considerable minuteness some of the more remarkable features in the geology of Strath. Yet of the structure of the district he seems to have had but a vague general idea—not a few of its most important features having escaped his notice, while of some of the facts which he mentions he has failed to perceive the true bearing. I shall even have occasion to show that, notwithstanding the minuteness of his description, he can only have examined a limited portion of the district, and that too but superficially.

Several years later Sir ttoderick Murchison examined the eastern coast-line of Skye, and, from a comparison of fossils, ascertained the existence and limits of strata belonging to the lias, and the lower and
Notes on the Fossils collected by Mr. Geikie from the Lias of the Isles of Pabba, Scalpa, and Skye
Authors: Wright Thomas
Published: October 2009

A
t
the request of my friend Professor Ramsay I made an examination of the fossils collected last summer by Mr. Geikie from the Lias of Pabba, Scalpa, and Strath; first, for the purpose of determining the species to which they belonged; and, secondly, to assign the subdivisions of the formation which they characterized.

Previous to laying before the Geological Society my notes on the different species contained in this interesting collection, it is necessary that I should premise a few remarks on the classification of the Lias, in order that I may rigorously define the portion of the formation I include in the term
middle
; so that the true stratigraphical position of the beds which yielded these organisms may be fixed with certainty.

English authors in general divide the Lias into
Upper Lias, Marlstone
, and
Lower Lias
; but these subdivisions require additions and modifications in order to place our liassic beds in correlation with those of French and German authors. For on the Upper Lias clays are superimposed beds, which, previously to the publication of my memoir on the “Upper Lias Sands”*, were grouped with the Inferior Oolite; and with the Lower Lias are placed several beds which, with the Marlstone, constitute the Middle Lias of the Continental authors.

Taking the Lias-beds as they occur in Gloucestershire, in descending order, and naming each bed by the species of Ammonite which characterizes it, we find the series tabulated at p. 25, which is nearly the equivalent of the Lias-beds of
On a New Genus of Cephalopoda,
Tretoceras* (Orthoceras bisiphonatum
, Sowerby); and on the occurrence of the Genus Ascoceras, Barrande, in Britain
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

T
his
unique fossil is figured in the ‘Silurian System,’ pl. 21. f. 23. The anomaly presented by it, as a Cephalopod shell having apparently two distinct siphuncular tubes perforating the septa, has always appeared very great; since, however, so many species with large
lateral siphuncles
are known (
Cameroceras
and
Endoceras
), the analogy with these has always offered itself for consideration, and prevented inquiry as to which was the true siphuncle, and what might be the nature of the supplementary tube.

I think, however, that the structure of another and very rare group of
Orthocerata
will explain the peculiarities of this fossil.

That the remarkable lateral tube is not produced by the intrusion of any smaller
Orthoceras
into the cavity of a larger one—a circumstance very common indeed among these fossils, and one which has been often commented upend, is evident from the fact that the edges of the septa (
a, a
) where they abut upon the large tube are decurrent upon it ; so that the perforation is a natural one. Nor is it comparable with the large lateral siphuncle of
Cameroceras
, seeing that there exists another and a true siphnncle close to it, and the tube itself is not at all annulated as in the shelly siphuncle of species of the group last mentioned.

There is one form indeed of
Orthoceras
(fig. 4) doubtfully referable to the genus (and which Mr. S. P. Woodward considers an evolute form of
Discites
§, M'Coy, or
Nautiloceras
, D'Orbigny) which offers a triangular section
On some Peculiarities in the Microscopical Structure of Crystals, applicable to the Determination of the Aqueous or Igneous Origin of Minerals and Rocks
Authors: Sorby H. C.
Published: October 2009

I
n
this paper the author showed, that when artificial crystals are examined with the microscope, it is seen that they have often caught up and enclosed within their solid substance portions of the material surrounding them at the time when they were being formed. Thus, if they are produced by sublimation, small portions of air or vapour are caught up, so as to form apparently empty cavities; or, if they are deposited from solution in water, small quantities of water are enclosed, so as to form
fluid-cavities
. In a similar manner, if crystals are formed from a state of igneous fusion, crystallizing out from a fused-stone solvent, portions of this fused stone become entangled, which, on cooling, remain in a glassy condition, or become stony, so as to produce what may be called
glass-
or
stone-cavities
.

Applying the general principles resulting from his examination of these phenomena to the study of natural crystalline minerals and rocks, the author showed that the fluid-cavities in rock-salt, calcspar, gypsum, and some other minerals usually indicate that these minerals were formed by deposition from solution in water at a temperature not materially different from the ordinary; also that the constituent minerals of mica-schist and the associated rocks contain many fluid-cavities, indicating that they have been metamorphosed by the action of heated water, and not by mere dry heat and partial fusion.

From the study of the stone- and glass-cavities in slags and Iavas, and from the examination of the microscopic characters of quartz-veins and felspar, which contain both fluid- and stone-cavities, the author arrived at the conclusion that granite is not a
simple igneous rock
, like a furnace-slag, or erupted lava, but is rather an
aqueoigneous rock
, produced by the combined influence of liquid water and igneous fusion, under similar physical conditions to those existing far below the surface at the base of modern volcanos.
On the Evolution of Ammonia from Volcanos
Authors: Daubeny Charles G. B.
Published: October 2009

I
n
the year 1849, Wöhler ascertained that the copper-coloured crystals found so frequently in the ferruginous mass, technically called “bear” or “horse” which accumulates in the hearths of the iron-smelting furnaces, and which Dr. Wollaston a long time before had pronounced to consist of titanium, were in reality composed of the cyanide and nitride of that metal, containing 18 per cent. of nitrogen and 4 per cent of carbon.

It has been since found, that the same nitride is also obtained in the process recommended by Rose for procuring the metal, when chloride of titanium together with sal-ammoniac is heated in a glass flask; in which case metallic scales, which had been formerly regarded as consisting of metallic titanium, but which now turn out to be a compound of it with nitrogen, are left in the vessel after the other matters had sublimed.

The facts just mentioned, however interesting to a chemist, would not be of a nature to bring before this Society, were it not for their bearing upon one part of the Theory of Volcanos, namely on the evolution of ammonia, and the consequent presence of ammoniacal salts amongst the products of their operations.

This, then, is my excuse for proposing to occupy a few minutes of your time on this occasion with some comments upon these facts, and upon the inferences to which they appear to conduct us.

I should, perhaps, in the first instance remind you, that sal-am-moniac, or ammonia combined with muriatic acid, ranks amongst
Experimental Researches on the Granites of Ireland
Authors: Haughton Samuel
Published: October 2009

I
n
the concluding part of my paper on the Granites of the Northeast of Ireland†, I have expressed the opinion that the granites of the neighbourhood of Newry are divisible, like those of Leinster, into two types, viz, potash- and soda-granites; and that, if a line north of east be drawn through Newry, the granites south of this line are potash-granites, including the Mourne granites, while the granites to the north of this line are soda-granites. As I have obtained additional confirmation of this opinion since the reading of my paper, it will be useful here to sum up the facts known relative to the two kinds of granite in the two districts under consideration.
On the Palæozoic Rocks and Fossils of the State of New York. Part II. The Stratigraphy and Classification of the Series
Authors: Bigsby J. J.
Published: October 2009

In the synoptical view of the strata and fossils of the palæozoic basin of New York, read before the Society Nov. 18, 1857, the author desired to arrange the vast stores of information contained in the Official Reports of the State Geologists of New York in a methodical and accessible form; and in this Second Part of the Memoir he treated succinctly of the stratigraphical arrangements hitherto used, and the classification now adopted by himself. This is but little modified from that proposed by De Verneuil; and is mainly characterized by the union of certain sections of the series into natural groups, and by the establishment of a distinct middle Silurian stage, and an equally distinct middle Devonian stage. The lithological and palmontological characters of the several groups of strata were then treated of in succession; their resemblances and differences, in these respects, being carefully noted. From the consideration of the stratigraphical details contained in this and the preceding paper, Dr. Bigsby deduces two main conclusions; namely, 1. That, from the Potsdam sandstone to the summit of the Carboniferous rocks, these strata were laid down in comparative quiet ; subject to occasional, vertical, variable, secular oscillations, which led to considerable superficial changes. 2. That their elevation, foldings, fractures, and metamorphism were effected after the deposition of the whole; in a single prolonged transaction, and principally in a N.E. and N.W. direction, along the present Appalachian ridges and their continuation from Labrador to near the Gulf of Mexico. The evidences on which these two propositions rest were next detailed; and the views of the Professors Rogers on these points, and the author's objections, were stated in full.
On the Microscopical, Structure of Crystals, indicating the Origin of Minerals and Rocks
Authors: Sorby H. C.
Published: October 2009

I
n
this paper I shall attempt to prove that artificial and natural crystalline substances possess sufficiently characteristic structures to point out whether they were deposited from solution in water or crystallized from a mass in the state of igneous fusion; and also that in some cases an approximation may be made to the rate at, and the temperature and pressure under which they were formed.
On the Fossil Pleistocene Deposits of Aberdeenshire
Authors: Jamieson T. F.
Published: October 2009

I
n
the lower districts of Aberdeenshire, all along the coast, we find the rocks almost entirely hidden by a clothing of superficial matter, varying in quality from fine clay to stony earth, loose shingly gravel, and sand. In some places this covering is of great depth, exceeding even 100 feet in thickness, and is most developed in wide basin-shaped tracts, where the rock sits low. Much of it seems to have been gradually accumulated under the waters of a former sea, and, when now exposed to the light of day, presents a series of stratified layers of silt, sand, and clay, occasionally disposed in laminæ as thin as paper.

A careful search now and then discloses traces of marine shells scantily dispersed, either in the shape of broken fragments or, more rarely, in a perfect condition—bivalves entire and shut, with the delicate skin or epidermis in complete preservation, apparently in the spot where the animals had lived and died. In other places, however, we find large boulders, and blocks sometimes of gigantic size, together with deposits the character of which cannot be accounted for by the causes at present operating on our coast.
On the Geology of the Gold-fields of Victoria
Authors: Selwyn Alfred R. C.
Published: October 2009

I
have
now a very large collection of genera and species of Silurian fossils, many of them known forms, and many new. M'Coy is going to examine, describe, and figure the new ones. I shall, I hope, soon be able to define the boundaries of the Upper and Lower Silurian rocks in this colony. Melbourne stands on “May Hill Sandstone;” and to the eastward I find a very gradually-ascending series, including probably Wenlock, Ludlow, Devonian, and true Carboniferous rocks, with Oolitic coal-bearing beds resting unconformably on the Palæozoic strata. To the westward there is a descending series, from Melbourne towards Ballarat, which I much suspect to be Cambrian.

Lingulæ
, like those of Tremadoe, are abundant in the rock associated with the Bendigo gold-quartz mines. In beds which I take to be equivalents of the Llandeilo flags, Trilobites are very abundant—many of them recognizable European species. I enclose a list of genera (p. 537). This list is now, however, much increased, and is being added to daily.

Gold-bearing quartz-veins extend throughout the Silurian rocks; and their richness appears to me to be dependent more on their proximity to some granitic or other plutonie mass than on the age of the rocks in which they occur. As far as I am aware, these gold-quartz veins do not extend into the Oolitic (?) coal-bearing rocks, which are evidently of newer date than any of the granitic masses I have yet examined.

At Steiglitz (fig. 1), we have granite (
a
) intruded among Silurian sandstone
On the Gold-field of Ballaarat, Victoria
Authors: Phillips John
Published: October 2009

A
ll
the Victorian gold-fields are near granite, and some are on it. The granite at Ballaarat is fine and even-grained; and the schists lie against it. Between these rocks the junction is abrupt; there is little or no gneiss, and no porphyritic or other veins were observed. The schists are greenish, and are occasionally chloritic, micaceous, aluminous, and siliceous, and are traversed by quartz-veins, from less than an inch to one foot in thickness. The schists in the upper portion are more quartzose, and contain oxides of iron; lower down they are more aluminous and contain pyrites. Their strike is rather uniform, nearly coinciding with the true meridian, while the deavaee and quartz-veins are not regular in strike.
On the South-easterly Attenuation of the Lower Secondary Formations of England; and the probable Depth of the Coal-measures under Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire
Authors: Hull Edward
Published: October 2009

From the foregoing considerations the following conclusions may be drawn:—

1st. That during the deposition of the Tipper Palæozoic and Lower Mesozoic Rocks an extensive tract of land existed to the north-west of the British Isles, which afforded the materials of which these rocks are composed; and it is probable that this region embraced the western isles and coast of Scotland.

2nd. That the Lower Permian Rocks were deposited in a channel, of which we can trace approximately the borders to the west and north-east; and that this group attains its maximum development along a band of country stretching west and east, from the southern borders of Salop, across Staffordshire to Warwickshire.

3rd. That at the close of the Permian Period there ensued considerable changes in the distribution of land and sea, involving a large increase in the latter. That a highway was opened between North Wales and Westmoreland, along which the sediment for the formation of the Lower Secondary rocks was transported by an oceanic current and spread over the plains of England, filling up old Palæozoic valleys.

4th. That all the Lower Secondary formations decrease in thickness, and actually die out towards the south-east; that this attenuation is due to the increase of distance from the sources of supply, and the consequent failure of sedimentary materials which have come from land occupying the region of the North Atlantic.

5th. That there probably exists a tract of Coal-measures stretching from the southern borders of the Staffordshire and Warwick-shire Coal-fields
Some Observations on the Flora of the Oolite
Authors: de Zigno Achille
Published: October 2009

I
n
presenting to the Geological Society of London the Second Part of my ‘Flora of the Oolite,’ I wish to submit to the Society some explanations and some observations on the work I have undertaken.

The comparative study of the numerous materials discovered in the beds subjacent to the Oxfordian group of the Venetian Alps has rendered it necessary to pass in revision all the species belonging to the Oolite that are at present known.

Although I am quite aware of the difficulty of the task which I have imposed on myself, and of the numerous imperfections which must be inevitable in a general work of this nature, in the present state of our information on this subject, still I have not hesitated to undertake it, encouraged as I am by the hope, that in any case it may be of some use to those who would wish to undertake the study of the Flora of the Oolite.

The publication of the generalizations which are usually placed at the beginning of a work has been purposely postponed by me, in order that I might profit by new discoveries, and thus present as complete a view of the subject as possible.

The sketch of these generalizations (from vol. vi. of the ‘Memoirs of the Imperial and Royal Institute of Venice’) which I had the honour of presenting to the Society last year, will undoubtedly be perceptibly modified by the new facts which may hereafter enrich science. I accordingly published in 1856
Notes on the Geology of Victoria
Authors: Selwyn A. R. C.
Published: October 2009

R
especting
the impoverishment of gold-bearing quartz-veins in depth, the only evidence I have been able to obtain of such being the case in this country consists solely in the great richness of the older drifts, and the very large lumps of the precious metal so frequently found in them, and never, or very rarely, in the solid unmoved quartz-vein. A 13 lb. and a 12 oz. “nugget” are, so far as I can learn, the largest pieces of solid gold ever known to have been procured
from a vein
in Victoria. From about one-half a dwt. to one-half an oz. is the usual limit to the size of “nuggets” even in the richest veins (such as have yielded, on crushing, from 5 to 30 oz. to the ton of quartz), whereas there does not appear to be any limit to the size of the lumps found in the drifts. This is an undoubted fact, and apparently a very strong argument in favour of the upper, now denuded, portions of the “reefs” having been much richer than anything we ever find either on or beneath the present surface. At the same time I must add that I am unable myself to discover, neither have I ever heard, any satisfactory explanation of this peculiar distribution of the precious metal in the quartz-veins. The very frequent intimate mixture of gold, both chemically and mechanically, with other metalliferous ores and native metals in the same vein or “quartz-reef,” seems to me to preclude the
Further Observations on the Ossiferous Caves near Palermo
Authors: Falconer
Published: October 2009

D
r
. F
alconer
first described the physical geography of that portion of the north coast of Sicily in which the ossiferous
caves abound, namely between Termini on the east and Trapani on the west. The geological structure of the tract had been ably investigated and
mapped by Hoffmann. A great mass of Hippurite-limestone stretches from Termini to the eastern side of the Bay of Castellamare, which on the
side towards Termini forms rugged precipitous or scarped cliffs skirting the sea-shore. From Cape Zaffarana to Capo di Gallo, a distance of
about twenty miles, the coast-line is deeply indented by the Bay of Palermo; west of Capo di Gallo there is a smaller indentation, backed by
Carini; and still further to the west there is the deep Gulf of Castellamare. At the bottom of these indentations the mountains of
Hippurite-limestone recede from the coast, forming inland precipitous cliffs or rugged slopes, from the base of which stretch slightly inclined flats of marine Pliocene deposits, which disappear under the sea. These latter form nearly horizontal strata of a calcareo-argillaceous sandy breccia, full of marine shells and fragments of corals, &c. Philippi identified 209 species of Mollusca from this deposit in the neighbourhood of Palermo, the great majority being of living species. The ossiferous caves had been known from remote antiquity, and notices of them occur in Valguarnera, II Mongitore and other Sicilian historians. The botanist Cupani had figured and identified some of the bones. The author’s investigations had been directed to the caverns near Palermo and Carini. At Palermo the littoral pliocene plain, celebrated for its richness as the “Concha d’Oro,” or shell of gold, is from a mile to one and one-half mile broad, and where it abuts against the Hippurite-rocks is from 180 to 200 feet above the level of the sea. The ancient Pliocene sea-margin is very distinctly seen at this elevation all round the bay, and the ossiferous caverns chiefly occur at from 30 to 50 feet above this level. Some of them, such as the “Grotta di Belliemi,” are at a higher level. The caves are studded all round the bay. The Hippurite-limestone hills skirting the coast are here from 1200 to 1800 feet above the sea; some of the heights more inland, such as Monte Griffone and Monte Cuccio, attain a height of upwards of 3000 feet.
On the Passage-beds from the Upper Silurian Rocks into the Lower Old Red Sandstone, at Ledbury, Herefordshire
Authors: Symonds W. S.
Published: October 2009

T
he
transition, or passage-rocks, which connect the Upper Silurian deposits with the basement-beds of the Old Red Sandstone epoch, are most interesting to the geologist; and as a very remarkable section of these rocks is now visible on the line of railway near Ledbury, in Herefordshire, a few notes with a sketch and section may be acceptable.

In my communication on “The Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire,” published in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal (April 1, 1859, p. 232), I expressed my opinion that the Ludlow sections on the horizon of the passage-beds above the Downton Sandstone are broken by faults, and that the true succession is therefore destroyed. I had come to this determination long before the beds now developed in the railroad-cutting at Ledbury were exposed to view; and, having again lately visited Ludlow, and compared the passage-rocks of that district with those of Ledbury, I am convinced that nowhere perhaps in the world is there such an exhibition of passage-beds presented to the eye of the geologist as at the Ledbury tunnel, on the Worcester and Hereford Railway. Fortunately most of the passage-beds are laid open to the sunlight, and the important points exposed.

When engaged upon the section, I was accompanied by my friends Mr. Edmond Richards, and the Messrs. Ballard, the Engineers on the Worcester and Hereford Railway, to whom I return my best thanks for their hearty and efficient cooperation.

The strata dip at an angle of 71° north-by-west. The accompanying sketch (see fig.
On the so-called Mud-volcanos of Turbaco, near Carthagena
Authors: Bernal F.
Published: October 2009

T
urbaco
is a village, about fifteen miles from Carthagena, at an elevation of about 980 feet above the sea. At a distance of about three miles from the village, and at a rather higher elevation, in the midst of a forest, are some twenty or thirty conical hillocks, about 8 or 10 feet high, each with its little crater or orifice, about 2 feet in diameter. These are filled with a muddy water; and every two or three minutes a slight noise is heard, a bubbling-up of air or gas takes place, the muddy fluid runs over, and forms into cakes of blue clay. The water is quite cool, nor is there any present or anterior marks or vestiges of the action of fire or heat†.
On some Bronze Relics found in an Auriferous Sand in Siberia
Authors: Atkinson T. W.
Published: October 2009

T
he
accompanying fragments of worked metal were discovered in Siberia, at a gold-mine on the River Shargan, in about lat. 59° 30′ N. and long. 96° 10′ E. They were found at a depth of 14 feet 8 inches beneath the surface, near the middle of a bed of gold-bearing sand‡, which was 20 inches thick, and composed of yellow sand, pebbles, small fragments of quartz, with other pulverized or decomposed rocks. Imbedded in it were pieces of gold, varying in size from small grains to nuggets of one to four pounds in weight. This deposit rested on a bed of rock.

Immediately above the sand there was a stratum, 5 feet in thickness, consisting of coarse gravel, dark-coloured sand, and some earthy matter, containing pieces (but not of large size) of quartz, granite, and porphyritic rocks. Overlying this, there was another stratum, 6 feet in thickness, composed of yellow sand and rough pebbles, in which were imbedded blocks of granite, porphyry, and jasper. Some of these were large, and their angles were worn away by attrition. Over this was a bed of dark-coloured sand, about 10 inches thick; and above that, 2 feet of good vegetable mould, formed by the decayed trunks of trees and herbage.

There were no fissures in the strata through which these bronze relics could have fallen, nor did they appear to have ever been disturbed by man since the gold was deposited.

The relics were found in the presence of one of the officers
On the Volcanic Country of Auckland, New Zealand
Authors: Heaphy Charles
Published: October 2009

B
y
the map of New Zealand it will be seen that in the 36th degree of south latitude the Northern Island of New Zealand is so much narrowed as to form an isthmus of about six miles in width from east to west, connecting the broader and higher land on either side.

This isthmus, like the land immediately to the north and south of it, has an undulating surface, rising in some places to hills of about 600 or 7OO feet above the sea. The cliffs which bound its eastern side show beds of soft sandstone, indurated clay, and mud-rock, with layers of volcanic ashes, and, occasionally, seams of lignite and coal. The whole seems to belong to the Tertiary formation, and probably to the Eocene period. Organic remains are rarely met with. But at one locality, between Kohuroa and Omaha,
Terebratulœ
. (of which specimens are forwarded to the Society) occur at the junction of the volcanic ashes and clay-beds above-mentioned.

The higher land to the south of the isthmus—beginning on the eastern coast—consists of, first, clay-slate, then rocks of the Cretaceous formations, and lastly, a magnetic sandstone-rock, mixed with a black conglomerate. This series rises into hills of 800 of 1000 feet above the sea.

To the northward of the isthmus the Tertiary is bounded on the eastern slope by a black trap-rock of a very close texture, next by a black boulder-rock, and finally, on the west coast, by a trachytic breccia, rising into peaks and ridges of
On a Terrestrial Mollusk, a Chilognathous Myriapod, and some New Species of Reptiles, from the Coal-Formation of Nova Scotia
Authors: Dawson J. W.
Published: October 2009

O
n
revisiting the South Joggins in the past summer, principally with the view of collecting material for the further prosecution of my researches on the structure of coal, I was informed by Mr. Boggs, the superintendent of the mine at that place, that a second erect tree had been exposed by the wasting of the cliff, in the bed which had afforded to Sir Charles Lyell and the writer in 1851 a fossil stump containing the remains of
Dendrerpeton Acadianum
and other terrestrial animals. I at once proceeded to the place, and found, still
in situ
in the ledge at the base of the cliff, the lower part of an erect trunk, about fifteen inches in diameter, and much more richly stored with animal remains than that previously found. It was carefully removed from the rock, and all the fragments containing fossils carried off for examination. They contain numerous specimens of the land-shell found in the tree previously discovered in this bed; several individuals of an articulated animal, which I believe to be a Myriapod; portions of two skeletons of
Dendrerpeton
, and of seven small skeletons belonging to another Reptilian genus, and probably to three species. I propose in the present paper to notice the mode of occurrence of the remains in this curious repository, to describe the invertebrate animals contained in it, and to state shortly the characters of the new Reptilian species.

§1.
Mode of occurrence of the Fossils
.—The reptiliferous tree of 1851 had fallen from the cliff