bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On some New Species of
Eurypterus
; with Notes on the Distribution of the Species
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

T
he
genus
Eurypterus
of De Kay, though long known in America* and on the Continent, has attracted but little notice in this country since the time that Dr. Hibbert published his outline-sketches of this strange crustacean, in the ‘Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’ for 1836 (vol. xiii. pl. 12). His species, by far the largest in the genus, and probably not less than 3 feet long, had been previously noticed, under the name of
Idotea
, by Dr. Scouler, in the ‘Edinburgh Journal of Natural Sciences’ for 1831. Dr. Harlan too, in his ‘Medical Researches” had given similar, but rather more perfect figures of two species from Williamsville, Buffalo, in the State of New York. All these representations showed that the
Eurypterus
possessed at least three pairs of appendages, of which the hinder pair wore dilated for swimming. More lately Dr. Ford. Roomer gave a beautiful lithograph of the principal species in Meyer’s ‘Palæontographica’ (vol. i. pl. 27); and Eichwald has since published in the ‘Bulletin of the Imp. Soc. Nat. Moscow’ for 1854 a complete series of illustrations of the Baltic species,
E. tetragonophthalmus
Fischer, but under the name of
E. remipes
. The number and character of the appendages are the same in this as in the species previously published by Dr. Harlan.

Now that the structure of
Pterygotus
* is fully understood, and the position of the eyes found to be lateral, and not on the surface of the carapace, it is easy to distinguish that genus from
Description of a New Fossil Crustacean from the Lower Greensand
Authors: Gould Charles
Published: October 2009

I
regard
the Crustacean which I am about to describe with peculiar interest, on account of its belonging to that group of the
Brachyura
which comprehends the highest forms of the class, and of which hitherto but one species (
Mithracia libinoides
, Bell*) has been described as occurring in the fossil state in Great Britain.

At present I am only aware of the existence of two specimens of the species which I shall here describe,—one in the collection at the British Museum, the other in that of the Geological Survey of Great Britain; both are from the Lower Greensand of Atherfield in the Isle of Wight, and in each the carapace only is preserved. It is from an examination of these specimens that I have taken the following characters.
On the Relations of the different parts of the Old Red Sandstone in which Organic Remains have recently been discovered, in the Counties of Moray, Nairn, Banff, and Inverness
Authors: Malcolmson J. G.
Published: October 2009

Conclusion

From the facts above detailed, we may conclude—

1st.

That the primary stratified rocks of the southern shores of the Moray Frith were elevated at very considerable angles previously to the deposit of the Old Red Sandstone, and that the granite by which they are penetrated also belongs to a prior epoch. The elevation of the secondary strata to their present situation, the fracture of the boulders contained in the great conglomerate, and the faults and fissures in the sandstone, may have been caused by elevations in the line of the Grampians or of the great Caledonian Valley at an epoch, most probably, posterior to the deposit of the lower Purbeck beds, which, at Linksfield, have been bent and fractured by the elevation of the subjacent cornstone.

2nd.

The great conglomerate and red sandstones, containing fish of the genera
Dipterus, Diplopterus, Cheirolepis, Cheiracanthus, Coccosteus, &c
., represent the Orkney, Caithness, and Gamrie rocks in Scotland, and the inferior division of the Old Red Sandstone of England.

3rd.

On these are superimposed a series of marly conglomerates and sandstones (containing cornstones), which are characterized by a distinct and very characteristic series of fossils, and are equivalent to the central division of the Old Red system to the south of the Grampians, and in England.

4th

and lastly, the superior siliceous conglomerates and sandstones without fossils occur, but no indications of the coal-strata.

These conclusions are perfectly consistent with the appearances presented by the strata containing ichthyolites in other parts of the north of Scotland. The Rev. Mr. Clouston, of Shandwick, informs me that the
On the Succession of the Older Rocks in the Northernmost Counties of Scotland; with some Observations on the Orkney and Shetland Islands
Authors: Murchison R. I.
Published: October 2009

Introduction

In this memoir I propose to give a general sketch of the succession of the stratified rock-masses which occupy the northernmost counties of Scotland, or those of Sutherland, Caithness, and Ross, followed by brief notices on the Orkney and Shetland Isles, as determined by former and recent observations.

Having commenced to labour in this region in 1826, I then simply gave, as a first result, the account of the Oolitic coal-field of Brora, and of the Lias and Oolites of both the east and west coasts, including the Hebrides, with brief allusions to the bituminous schists of Caithness containing fossil fishes*. For, although I even then had traversed portions of the crystalline rocks, I considered all such masses as out of the sphere of my observation, presuming that their mineral and other characters had been adequately made known by Macculloch and others who were looked upon as authorities. In short, it was deemed a sufficient effort for a young geologist, as I then was, to point out the relative position of certain members of the Secondary series, to collect their organic remains, and to show the relations of such strata to their equivalents in England.

In the following year Professor Sedgwick and myself, devoting our efforts to the examination of the structure of the Northern Highlands, produced a memoir in which, after a brief allusion to the older and crystalline rocks, we gave the first account of the true order of the Old Red Sandstone and superposed masses, which we
On the Sandstones of Morayshire (Elgin, &c.) containing Reptillian Remains; and on their Relations to the Old Red Sandstone of that Country
Authors: Murchison Roderick I.
Published: October 2009

Introduction

In the preceding memoir the whole succession of the inferior crystalline and stratified rocks having been indicated, the triple arrangement of the Old Red Sandstone in an ascending order was shown to consist of a lower red sandstone and conglomerate, of a central deposit—the grey Caithness Flags, and of certain overlying sandstones, occasionally red, but of prevailing yellowish colour.

In this manner the whole of the Old Red series (or the equivalent of the Devonian rocks of other countries) is exhibited in the Orkney Islands, Caithness, and Easter Ross.

The lower division of the series in those tracts has not (see above, p. 400) afforded any of those fossils (the
Pterygotus, Cephalaspis, Pteraspis
, or
Parka decipiens
) which characterize the lowest Old Red of Forfarshire, Perthshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire: the middle division (or Caithness Flags) is abundantly characterized by ichthylites and the small crustacean
Estheria
: the third, as known to the north of the Moray Firth, has afforded, as yet, certain terrestrial plants only, which, approaching to the Carboniferous types, are forms hitherto unknown in any true Carboniferous deposit.

In following this natural physical group westwards along the north coast from Caithness into Sutherland, or northwards from the Orkneys into the Shetland Isles, its bituminous flagstone or central portion is seen to thin out. Such is also particularly the case in the southern extension of the group; which we proceed to consider.

Thus, after passing along the east coast of Sutherland, where the lower member only is visible, it is already
On the
Stagonolepis Robertsoni
(Agassiz) of the Elgin Sandstones; and on the recently discovered Footmarks in the Sandstones of Cummingstone
Authors: Huxley Thomas H.
Published: October 2009

Introduction

In establishing the genus
Stagonolepis
Prof. Agassiz remarks*—“I have founded this genus upon a slab on which the impression of many series of great rhomboidal scales, arranged in the same way as those of the
Lepidosteidæ
, is observable. The angular form of these impressions allows of no doubt that the fish whence they proceeded was a great ganoid similar to
Megalichthys
. The absence of the fins, of the head, and of the teeth, however, renders the exact determination of the family to which the fossil belongs impossible. I arrange it provisionally in the neighbourhood of the genus
Glyptopomus
to which it presents some analogy in the ornamentation of its scales.”

Prof. Agassiz goes on to say, in a subsequent paragraph, that the fossil came from the Upper Old Red at Lossiemouth; that he had not himself seen the original, and that he was acquainted with it only through Mr. Robertson’s drawings.

Stagonolepis
has remained ranged among the fishes in all the works on Geology and Palæontology which have been published Since the appearance of the ‘Mononographie.’ Sir C. Lyell, however, informs me that some years ago, after perusing the memoir on
Mystriosaurus
by Dr. A. Wagner, to which I shall have occasion to refer by and by, his suspicions were roused as to the real affinities of this so-called fish ; and he even communicated to the late Mr. Hugh Miller his doubts (based on the strong resemblance which he perceived between the sculpture of the dermal plates of
Stagonolepis
On Fossil Foot-prints in the Sandstone at Cummingstone
Authors: Beckles S. H.
Published: October 2009

M
r
. B
eckles
, during a late tour in the Highlands, examined the Sandstone-quarries at Covesea, near Elgin; and, having exposed and removed several square-yards of the Sandstone-slabs bearing fossil foot-prints at this place, has sent a large collection of them to London, but has not yet had the opportunity of studying them in detail. Mr. Beckles says that he has secured several varieties of footsteps, differing in size and form, and in the number of the claws, which vary apparently from 2 to 5. One foot-print, of a circular shape, measured 15 inches in breadth. Some of the smaller footprints are evidently formed by young individuals of the same species that made some of the larger marks. Some of the prints have been left, in the author’s opinion, by web-footed animals.

Most of the surface-planes of the rock, at different levels, bear foot-marks. The majority of the tracks, Mr. Beckles says, are uniserial, the double (or quadrupedal) series being exceptional.

Mr. Beckles noticed also impressions of rain-prints, well marked on some of the surface-planes, and indicating the direction of the wind blowing at the time of the rain-fall.
On the Succession of Rocks in the Northern Highlands
Authors: Miller John
Published: October 2009

M
r
. M
iller
in this communication explained the history of our knowledge of the geology of this district ; and, having given in detail an examination that he made of the coast last autumn, he drew particular attention to the faithful and comprehensive descriptions of the Old Red district by Sedgwick and Murchison in former years, and showed that his own observations quite coincide with the results of Sir Roderick Murchison’s late correlation of the Gneissic, Cambrian, Silurian, and Old Red strata of the coasts of Sutherland, Ross-shire, and Caithness.

In conclusion, Mr. Miller pointed out that the Durness Limestone and the fossiliferous beds of Caithness were still open fields for careful and energetic explorers.
On Fossil Plants from the Devonian Rocks of Canada
Authors: Dawson J. W.
Published: October 2009

I
n
1843–44, Sir W. E. Logan ascertained, and published in his Report* for the latter year, the occurrence of a series of beds of Devonian age in the Peninsula of Gaspé, Lower Canada, containing fossil plants, apparently of terrestrial origin, and some of them evidently
in situ
. Nothing was done toward the precise determination and description of these remains until 1856, when Sir William kindly permitted the writer of this paper to examine his collection, and to describe before the American Association for the Advancement of Science the most interesting specimen contained in it—a fossil trunk exhibiting a very remarkable and previously undescribed coniferous structure†. The other specimens in the collection were so fragmentary or obscure, that it was not deemed expedient to attempt their description before studying them (as all fossil plants should, when practicable, be studied) in the rocks in which they occur. With this view I visited Gaspé in the past summer, and examined the localities indicated on the plans and sections of the Geological Survey. The facts and specimens thus obtained will probably be fully described and illustrated in one of the forthcoming Decades of Canadian Fossils; and in the meantime I propose to notice some of the species observed, which appear to be of especial interest in the present state of our general knowledge of the Devonian flora.

Before proceeding to these descriptions, it may be necessary to state that the deposit in which the fossils occur consists of sandstone and shale, of various colours
On some Points in Chemical Geology
Authors: Hunt T. Sterry
Published: October 2009

§ I. In a paper read before the American Association at Montreal in August 1857, as also in some previous communications to the Royal Society, and in the ‘Report of the Geological Survey of Canada’ for 1856, I have endeavoured to explain the theory of the transformation of sedimentary deposits into crystalline rocks. In considering this process we must commence by distinguishing between the local metamorphism which sometimes appears in the vicinity of traps and granites and that normal metamorphism which extends over wide areas and is apparently unconnected with the presence of intrusive rocks. In the former case, however, we find thatthe metamorphic influence of intrusive rocks is by no means constant, showing that their heat is not the sole agent in alteration, while in the latter case different strata are often found affected in very different degrees; so that fossiliferous beds but little altered are sometimes found beneath crystalline schists, or even intercalated with them.

We cannot admit that the alteration of the sedimentary rocks has been affected by a great elevation of temperature, approaching, as many have imagined, to that of igneous fusion; for we find unoxidized carbon in the form of graphite both in crystalline limestone and in beds of magnetic iron-core; and it is well known that these substances, and even the vapour of water, oxidize graphite at a red heat, with formation of carbonic acid or carbonic oxide. I have, however, shown that solutions of alkaline carbonates in presence of silica and earthy carbonates
On the Fossils of the Lingula-flags or “ Zone Primordiale.”
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

Paradoxides and Conocephalus from North America
.

The occurrence of an isolated new fossil, either at home or abroad, is seldom worth illustration in the pages of our Journal, unless, as in the present instance, it extends the range of a new or little-known formation, or has some other special geological interest.

It is now several years since M. Barrande began to lay stress on the most ancient of his Bohemian formations, and to draw strong lines of demarcation between what he called his
Faune primordiale
and all the succeeding faunæ of the Silurian series; and further investigation, either by himself or other naturalits, has only tended to confirm the distinctnes of this lower zone, and to show a marked similarity in the types which characterize it wherever found.

Barrande himself was the first to point out the existence of this formation in the United States (Wisconsin, &c.), as he had before indicated it for Britain. It has since been recognized in Spain and Normandy. Some few connecting links have been discovered, to unite it with the great overlying group; but, as a whole, both in its contained species and genera, it remains a perfectly distinct and well-marked formation, incomparably more cut off from the Lower Silurian, than the latter is from the Middle or Upper portions of the same system.

Among the characteristic genera of this zone none is more conspicuous than
Paradoxides
, one of the largest forms of Trilobites, and possessing marked peculiarities of structure. Numerous species are known
On the Geology of Malaga and the Southern Part of Andalusia
Authors: Ansted D. T.
Published: October 2009

Introduction.
—The south coast of Spain has been frequently the subject of geological description; but many most essential points have hitherto been left unnoticed, and the general relations of the different groups of rocks, as well as the special characteristics of the various deposits, still remain very imperfectly known, although they are likely to prove of sufficient importance to justify a complete revision of the existing views concerning the geology of the western part of the Mediterranean. I propose in the present memoir to give the result of a somewhat minute investigation in various parts of the district, dwelling particularly on the rocks in the neighbourhood of Malaga, where I first obtained the clue that seems likely to clear up the difficulties and obscurities hitherto felt with regard to other parts.

The Spanish geologists who have described the tract of country under consideration are (1) Don Ramon Pellico and Don Amalio Maester, in a memoir in the second volume of the ‘Anales de Minas’ of Madrid, 1841; (2) Don Amalio Maestre in the ‘Revista Minera’ of Madrid; and (3) Don Antonio Linera, the present Inspector of Mines of the province of Malaga, in the same publication (vol. ii. pp. 161 & 193). There is also a notice of the geology of the neighbourhood of the town by Don Pablo Prolongo, published in the ‘Topografia Medica’ of Dr. Martinez, and dated 1852. Some notice of particular points in the immediate vicinity of Malaga will be found in the ‘Bulletin de la Société
On some Minerals from Persia
Authors: Murray C. A.
Published: October 2009

The mineral specimens referred to were obtained from the district between Tabriz and the Caspian, especially from the Karadagh range, at the distance of less than 100 miles from Tabriz. The ores are found near the surface. Besides those mentioned in the appended note, ores of silver and tin are also said to be found in considerable quantities outcropping on the banks of a stream near the city. Browncoal also occurs in a bed a foot thick, on the banks of a river within a few furlongs of Tabriz; and at the distance of about twelve leagues in the opposite direction (to the south, there is a plain (near Maragha) with an enormous amount of fossil bones. Alabaster is abundant in the mountain; and hot mineral springs (saline, ferruginous, and sulphurous) are numerous and of good medicinal properties. The general geological features of the district are given in Grewingk's ‘Die geognostischen -und orographischen Verhältnisse des Nördlichen Persiens.’ 8vo. St. Petersburg, 1853.
On some Amphibian and Reptilian Remains from South Africa and Australia
Authors: Huxley Thomas H.
Published: October 2009

At the Evening Meeting of this Society held on the 17th of November 1858, a paper by Mr. Stow “On some Fossils from South Africa” was read. In the course of the discussion which followed, my opinion as to the nature of one of those fossils was asked. With so much reserve as was due to the cursory character of my examination of the remains, I expressed my conviction that the organism in question was the skull of a Labyrinthodont Amphibian, and briefly stated the grounds upon which I based that conclusion. The Chairman of the Meeting then called upon me to undertake a thorough investigation of the matter; and I now report the results of my inquiries in the first of the following papers, in which I have embodied, incidentally, the description of an allied Australian Amphibian.

1.
On
Micropholis Stowii
and
Bothriceps Australis.

Micropholis Stowii
—The skull in
question is 1 ⅝ inch long, and has, when viewed from above, a parabolic
outline (Pl. XXI. fig. 1), or it might be compared to the half of a long ellipse, half of the longer diameter of which is to its shorter diameter as 13 to 10. The bony plates which formed the roof of the skull (fig. 1) have entirely disappeared, as have those which constituted the greater part of its right lateral parietes; but on the left side (fig. 2), the lateral walls are in a tolerably good state of preservation.

The matrix has split in such a manner that that portion of it which is bounded by the contour of the skull
On
Rhamphorhynchus Bucklandi
, a Pterosaurian from the Stonesfield Slate
Authors: Huxley Thomas H.
Published: October 2009

Since the description of the fossils belonging to this species of Pterosaurian which originally came into my possession, I have met with so much additional material, that I have thought it better completely to remodel the present Memoir, than to add the subsequently acquired information in cumbrous notes.

Some time ago, the Earl of Ducie was good enough to place in my hands, for description, a portion of a lower jaw,
about 3½ inches in length, which was obtained from a quarry known by the name of ldSmith's
Quarry,” at Sarsden, near Chipping Norton, in Oxfordshire. Bones of Pterosaurians abound in
this locality, associated with remains of
Megalosaurus
and of Oolitic fishes; and
Lord Ducie considers that the beds in which his fossil was discovered are the representative of the
Stonesfield slate. In this conclusion, I find, my colleagues of the Geological Survey concur.

The symphysial part of the lower jaw in question, and the whole of what remains of the right
ramus, are extremely well preserved (Pl. XXIV. figs. l
a
, 1
b
.);
but the inferior part of the left ramus is broken away at a distance of about an inch behind the
symphysis. The latter measures ⅞ of an inch in length, and exhibits no suture. Its posterior boundary is nearly a
quarter of an inch thick and looks downwards as well as backwards.

The distance between the two edges of the rami opposite the posterior extremity of the symphysis
is fifteen-sixteenths of an inch, the depth of a ramus measured
On the Fossil Corals of the West Indian Islands.—Part II
Authors: Duncan P. Martin
Published: October 2009

Species already described
28

New varieties of known species
7

New species
48

New varieties of new species
20

Doubtful

3

106
On the Sandstones and Shales of the Oolites of Scarborough, with Descriptions of some New Species of Fossil Plants
Authors: Leckenby John
Published: October 2009

The “Grey Limestone” of Scarborough, and its associated and alternating beds of sandstone and shale, have lately attracted the attention of geologists from other parts of England, who, aided by their knowledge of the Oolites of their own districts, and of France and Germany, have done much to establish more accurate views of the correlations of the Yorkshire beds.

I do not, therefore, hope to add much to the general information which is now possessed as to the true position of the fossil plant-yielding beds at Gristhorpe Bay, Cloughton Wyke, and the neighbourhood of Whitby; my chief intention being to describe and figure some new or imperfectly known species, and to point out certain affinities and differences that have hitherto escaped detection.
On the Correlation of the Oligocene Deposits of Belgium, Northern Germany, and the South of England
Authors: von Kœnen Herr Adolf
Published: October 2009

English geologists have lately become very much interested in certain Tertiary deposits which contain marine fossils hitherto unknown in England, and which were discovered first in a railway-cutting about one mile north of Brockenhurst, and afterwards at Lyndhurst and Roydon in the New Forest. The fossils from these localities were chiefly collected, and some of them described, by Mr. Frederick E. Edwards, to whom we are so much indebted for our knowledge of the fossils of the English Lower Tertiaries. By his extreme kindness in allowing me the use of his cabinet, and in giving me all the information in his power, I have been enabled to judge for myself of the age of the Brockenhurst beds.
On the Liassic Strata of the Neighbourhood of Belfast
Authors: Tate Ralph
Published: October 2009

General Portlock, in his Geological Report on Londonderry, Tyrone, and Fermanagh (1843), was the first to direct attention to certain beds linking the Triassic and Liassic formations. In that Report he refers to the occurrence of beds at Colin Glen, Belfast, characterized by the same Shell (
Cardium striatulum
) as that which occurs in the Lisnagrib section (pp. 49, 56, 107).

It is now my purpose to describe in detail the strata thus referred to, and their extension to neighbouring localities.

Within the last few years the stratigraphical relations and the fauna of the Lower Liassic and
Avicula-contorta
series, as developed in England, have been made known by the labours of Dr. Wright and Mr. Charles Moore.
Experimental Researches on the Granites of Ireland.—Part IV. On the Granites and Syenites of Donegal, with some remarks on those of Scotland and Sweden
Authors: Haughton Samuel
Published: October 2009

The author discussed in detail the minerological composition of each of the fifteen Donegal granites, and described the method usually employed by him in solving lithologico-chemical problems, coming to the conclusion that nearly half of these granites are not composed altogether of the four minerals (Quartz, Orthoclase, Oligoclase, and Black Mica) which are found in them in distinct crystals, and that the remaining varieties, even if they be composed of these minerals, must have a paste composed of the same minerals, but with a slightly different composition. Prof. Haughton then discussed the composition of the syenites of Donegal, and instituted a comparison between the granites of that district and those of Scotland and Sweden, remarking that those of the last-named region have the same stratified structure as the granites of Donegal.
Extracts from Letters relating to the further discovery of Fossil Teeth and Bones of Reptiles in Central India
Authors: Hislop S.
Published: October 2009

The remains alluded to consist of (1) a series of Reptilian bones, some bearing teeth, mostly Labyrinthodont, and some probably Dicynodont, from the (Triassic?) red clay of Maledi, in which teeth of
Ceratodus
occur; and (2) several teeth similar to one from the Eocene clays of Takli, near Nagpore, and another like a conical tooth from the Eocene beds (with
Physa Prinsepii
) of Physura, from the same neighbourhood as that in which the set No. 1 was found.

At Phísdura (Tertiary) large Reptilian bones (including a femur 1 foot across at the condyles, and a vertebral centrum 7 inches across) have been found associated with large coprolites,
Physa Prinsepii
, and
Paludina Deccanensis
.
Observations on Supposed Glacial Drift in the Labrador Peninsula, Western Canada, and on the South Branch of the Saskatchewan
Authors: Hind Henry Youle
Published: October 2009

Conclusion

The opinion that many of the phenomena attending the surface-geology of a large portion of North America were caused by glacial ice, appears to be gradually gaining ground among American geologists. First enunciated by Professor Louis Agassiz, it received the sanction, wholly or in part, of some well-known geologists. In a recent paper by Dr. Newberry, it is stated that “in this ‘glacial epoch’ all the Lake-country was covered with ice, by which the rocky surface was planed down and furrowed, and left precisely in the condition of that beneath modern moving glaciers in mountain-valleys”.

Dana considers “the glacial theory the most satisfactory, but the iceberg-theory required, in some cases, for the borders of continents”.
Notes on the Drift-deposits of the Valley of the Severn, in the Neighbourhood of Coalbrook Dale and Bridgnorth
Authors: Maw George
Published: October 2009

The general subject of the drift-deposits distributed so abundantly throughout the counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Shropshire, and Cheshire, and extending east and west beyond their limits, has been so frequently and fully written upon, by Sir R. I. Murchison in his ‘Silurian System,’ by the Rev. W. S. Symonds in the ‘Transactions of the Malyern Naturalists’ Field-Club,’ by Professor Buckman in his ‘Ancient Straits of malvern,’ and by Mr. Prestwich, the Rev. Mr. Lister, and others in the ‘Transactions’ and ‘Quarterly Journal’ of the Geological Society, that, in recording my observations, I am enabled to add but little to what is already known; and my reason for making a further communication on the subject is that some remarkably good sections of the drift have recently been exposed in the cuttings of the Severn Valley, Wenlock, and Coalbrook Dale Railways, some of which, in connexion with old sections exposed in gravel-pits, enable examination to be made of superimposed strata upwards of 200 feet in thickness.
On the Permian Rocks of the North-West of England, and their Extension into Scotland
Authors: Murchison Roderick I. , Harkness Robert
Published: October 2009

Conclusion

The Permian rocks of the county of Durham have hitherto been regarded as the type of this formation in England. In this county, however, excepting the middle member, the strata appertaining to this portion of the Palæozoic period are very imperfectly represented. Of this group the base is almost absent, the Penrith sandstones occurring only to a very slight extent as soft sandstones, supporting the base of the magnesian limestones—the equivalents of the Hilton series—and in many localities these sandstones disappear altogether. In the county of Durham the portions of the Permian strata which occur are transgressive on the coal-measures, and are spread out upon the eroded surfaces of the latter rocks. At Tynemouth, beneath the “brecciated limestone” forming the upper portion of the cliffs, this eroded surface is seen in the light-coloured sandstone supporting the Permian breccia-beds. This light-coloured sandstone is said to pass downwards into another sandstone with a purple tint, and the latter rests conformably upon shale which equally conforms to the seam of coal seen at Cullercoats and known as the Hebburn scam.
A Monograph of the Ammonites of the Cambridge Greensand
Authors: Seeley Harry
Published: October 2009

In this paper the Ammonites and Scaphites of the Cambridge Coprolite-bed were described, with the endeavour to elucidate the nature of Ammonite-species in a single stratum and a limited area. It was the result of five years′ study of about 12,000 specimens.

The special peculiarity of the paper was that many “species’ hitherto thought distinct were connected together. This was called “resolving species into the varieties of which they appear to consist.” The specific names became varietal, “the idea of the system followed being to make certain forms the indices as it were to their groups,” without disturbing the existing nomenclature.

There are three “great species,” or groups, called
Ammonites rostratus, A. splendens
, and
A. planulatus
; and a few “small species,” mostly new; besides these were a small group of
Scaphites
, and a
Crioceras
from Hunstanton.
Further Discoveries of Flint Implements and Fossil Mammals in the Valley of the Ouse
Authors: Wyatt James
Published: October 2009

Since my commimication to this Society of discoveries of Flint Implements associated with fossil remains of extinct Mammalia in the Post-tertiary gravels near Bedford, I have been so fortunate as to have the opportunity of examining in this valley several good sections; and there is one especially of which it is desirable to have a record, as it furnishes several important data in reference to the question of the Drift.
On the Discovery of the Scales of
Pteraspis
, with some Remarks on the Cephalic Shield of that Fish
Authors: Lankester E. Ray
Published: October 2009

Prof. Agassiz was the first to described certain remains found in the Cornstones of Herefordshire, associated with the well-known
Cephalaspis Lyellii
. He considered these remains as portions of the cephalic shield of three distinct species of
Cephalaspis
, which he named
C. rostratus, C. Lewisii
, and
C. Lloydii
, respectively. At the same time he expressed his doubts as to whether, on account of the peculiar structure of the test, it might not be advisable to place these three Fish in a distinct genus. In 1847, Dr. R. Kner, writing in Haidinger's ‘Abhandlungen,’ considered the fossils in question as the remains of Cephalopoda, and he proposed, therefore, to place them in a new genus,
Pteraspis
, remarking that the structure of the test preserved in these fossils corresponded closely with that of the calcareous plate or “cuttle-bone” of
Sepia
, Prof. Huxley has since investigated the structure of both
Cephalaspis
and
Pteraspis
, and published his results in this Journal. It will therefore only be necessary to remark that he came to the conclusion that
Pteraspis Lewisii, P. Lloydii
, and
P. rostratus
were the remains of Fish, and presented no real analogy to
Sepia
in the microscopic structure of the test. This, he showed, was similar to that of
Cephalaspis
, but differed in the absence of bone-cells or lacunæ; and he adopted Kner's name of
Pteraspis
for these Fish, considering that the differences in form and structure between the two groups warranted a generic separation.
On some Remains of
Bothriolepis
from the Upper Devonian Sandstones of Elgin
Authors: Roberts George E.
Published: October 2009

Remains of a large Dendrodoid Cœlacanth, obtained by the author in Elgin, were referred by him to the genus
Bothriolepis
. These consisted of two large casts of a central head-plate, with portions of the test; a natural cast considered by him to represent the parietal, squamosal, scapular, and coracoid boces; casts of the nasal bones, and teeth of the upper jaw; together with tooth-like bodies, which were suggested to be teeth originally situated in the posterior region of the mouth.
Extracts from Letters relating to the further Discovery of Fossil Teeth and Bones of Reptiles in Central India
Authors: Hislop S.
Published: October 2009

The following extracts from letters, relating to late discoveries, by the Rev. S. Hislop and Major Gowan, of fossil Bones in Central India, are offered to the Society, not only as being of interest in themselves, but as being the last remarks on the subject by Mr. Hislop, whose sudden removal, in the prime of life, we most deeply feel.
Notes on the Geology and Mines of Nevada Territory (Washoe Silver Region, U. S.)
Authors: Blake William Phipps
Published: October 2009

The territory of Nevada is limited by the following boundaries:—on the west by the State of California, following for a considerable distance the crest of the Sierra Nevada; on the north by Oregon, as far east as the Goose Creek Mountains; and on the south by the northern line of New Mexico, or the parallel of 37°; it thus extends over about five degrees of latitude and longitude, and contains more than 65,000 square miles.
On the Hunstanton Red Rock
Authors: Seeley Harry
Published: October 2009

In the ‘Annals of Natural History’ for April 1861, the author discussed what others had written on the age of the Red Rock, and in this paper he gave such account of the bed, where seen in the Huns'ton section, as subsequent observation had enabled him to prepare.

The cliff is a curve, partly running nearly due north and south, and partly facing more to the east; so, as the deposit rises from the beach at the eastern end, its dip is south-easterly.
On some Remains of Fish and Plants from the “Upper Limestone” of the Permian Series of Durham
Authors: Kirkby James W.
Published: October 2009

The object of the present paper is to record the discovery of Fish-remains in the Upper Magnesian Limestone of the Permian formation, the occurrence of these fossils in that subdivision being of interest in several respects, though more especially so on account of their having there been found at an horizon considerably higher in the Permian series than any vertebrate remains had been previously known to occur.
On a Deposit at Stroud containing Flint Implements, Land and Freshwater Shells, &c.
Authors: Witchell Edwin
Published: October 2009

In the course of some excavations for the construction of a reservoir near the summit of the hill above the town of Stroud, made during the past summer, the author observed in the clay, at a depth of 2 feet from the surface, a deposit which, on examination, he found to be full of Land-shells, with a few freshwater Bivalves. The deposit was a kind of tufa; it contained near its base numerous flat-stone fragments of the stony bands formed of the valves of
Ostrea acuminata
(a Shell which characterizes the upper portion of the Fuller's Earth), some of them being of considerable size; and the surface of the whole showed traces of erosive action. This deposit was traced up the slope of the hill to the extent of 126 feet, and along the hillside about 60 feet; in the latter direction its extent was not disclosed by the works, but traces of it were found in a pit at a distance of 120 yards.
On the Fossiliferous Rocks of Forfarshire and their Contents
Authors: Powrie J.
Published: October 2009

As stated in a former paper, the lower members of the Forfarshire Old Red Sandstone consist of gritty beds and pebbly conglomerates having a highly indurated matrix, passing upwards into conglomerates formed of the same kind of pebbles as in the lower, but imbedded in a softer, matrix, it being of a consistence similar to that of the intercalated and overlying sandstones. Occupying a position intermediate between the more indurated lower and the softer upper strata are found the flaggy beds which yield the well-known Arbroath paving-stones. These flaggy beds, although rather intercalated than interstratified in the conglomerates, are of great extent and very considerable thickness, especially along and on both sides of the anticlinal line of Forfarshire (its position is pointed out in the paper above referred to); they consist of alternating layers of shales and freestones. The freestones are sometimes thick and solid-bedded, affording an excellent building-stone, sometimes raised in layers thin enough to be generally used as roofing-slates, although of very inferior quality, and sometimes of sufficient thickness to form good, but rather soft, paving-stones.
On some Bone- and Cave-deposits of the Reindeer-period in the South of France
Authors: Evans John
Published: October 2009

The deposits to which the author particularly called attention in this paper are those which have been and are still being explored under the direction of MM. Lartet and Christy, and which were visited by him under the guidance of the latter gentleman, and accompanied by Mr. Hamilton, Prof. Rupert Jones, Capt. Galton, Mr. Lubbock, and Mr. Franks.

Mr. Evans first gave a detailed description of the physical features of the valley of the Vézère, and of the content of the caverns of Badegoule, Le Moustier, La Madeleine, Laugerie-Haute, Laugerie-Basse, the Gorge d'Enfer, and Les Eyzies, with a list of the animal-remains discovered, which are for the most part of the same species from all the caverns.
On the Former Existence of Glaciers in the High Grounds of the South of Scotland
Authors: Young John
Published: October 2009

The heights bordering the counties of Peebles and Dumfries contain the well-preserved remains of a group of Glaciers, to one of which Mr. Chambers published, in 1855, a brief allusion. In the autumn of 1862 Mr. Geikie and myself found moraines in several of the valleys of this district, and the description of them given by my colleague in his paper on “The Phenomena of the Glacial Drift in Scotland” is the first published account of Glaciers occurring south of the Clyde. Last summer the investigation of this district by the Geological Survey began: I had the advantage for a short time of Mr, Geikie's advice and assistance, and am further indebted to him for the Sketch in Talla Valley (fig. 3), as well as for much of the details regarding Loch Skene and Mid Law Den, of which he prepared, in 1862, the Map accompanying this paper (fig. 2).
A Sketch of the Principal Geological Features of Hobart, Tasmania
Authors: Wintle S. H.
Published: October 2009

Trap-rocks
.―The hills upon which Hobart is built, as well as those for the most part immediately surrounding it, are composed of New Red Sandstone, capped, in nearly early every instance, with trap or greenstone, which varies considerably in mineral composition, from a felspathic suberstalline rock to a compact hornblendic greenstone which is used for metalling the roads. This trap seldom exhibits that step-like appearnce said to be characteristic of the the English trappean rocks; but this may be ascribed to two causes, namely, its invariably exhibiting numerous joints, which cross each other at different angles, and also to its having been shattered by eruptive forces at some subsequent period. The thickness of this trap in certain localities is very considerable. A quarry near the High School, in this rock, is at the present upwards of 100 feet in depth, and, from the dip and strike of the underlying sandstone, I estimate that it will attain in a depth of 200 feet more before the sandstone is reached.

From Professor Selwyn's Report on the Coal-measures of the island, it would seem that a capping of trap is the preaviling feature of sandstone-hills throughtout the district. At Knocklofty this trap is not met with until two-thirds of the ascent is gained. After walking over New Red Sandstone, which is quite bare for several hundred yards, we come to where the soil is sufficiently deep for the growth of scrub. Crossing a steep valley of dislocation, which is densely overgrown with underwood, we have before us the abrupt acclivity of this hill; and at every fifty paces or so immense blocks of sandstone are met with, having been removed from the parent mass by landslips; while a little higher up there are several quarries in the sandstone, most of which are being worked. As yet, not a vestige of trap is seen; but when about two-thirds of the way to the top; it is seen in small fragments, intermingled with sandstone-rubble. A few yards nearer the summit, and the sandstone is no longer visible, but in its stead large masses of half-decomposed trap are found, with which the top of the hill is covered, amid the densest vegetation imaginable.
On the Fossil
Echinidæ
of Malta
Authors: Wright Thomas
Published: October 2009

The following classification of the Maltese rocks is a modification of that originally proposed by Capt. Spratt, R. N., and followed by Earl Ducie in constructing his Geological Map of the Maltese Islands, and with some differences by Dr. Wright in his ‘Monograph on the Fossil Echinoderms of the Island of Malta’.
On some Spaces, formerly occupied by Selenite, in the Lower Eocene Clays of the London Basin; with remarks on the Origin and Disappearance of the Mineral
Authors: Duncan P. Martin
Published: October 2009

The preservation of the impressions of selenite is doubtless exceptional, and it is very probable that this mineral, like many others, is formed; decomposed, and removed without any trace being left of the complicated chemical operations which determined its existence and decay. The existence of soluble salts in the Woolwich clay is remarkable, for they cannot be all derived from the percolating surface-water, but from the original constituents of the bed. It is a proof of the great lapse of time required, even with the assistance of alterations in the level and dip which determine increased drainage, before such beds can be reduced to the mineralogical simplicity illustrated by clay-slate.

The formation of gypsum, and of its more durable replacing crystalline form selenite, suggests the decomposition and destruction of organic remains, and the disappearance of these minerals is equivalent to the destruction of the evidence of the former existence of organisms.

How organisms are preserved and destroyed in sedimentary strata, are questions constantly before the geologist; and these observations have been made with the intention of correlating the disappearance of selenite with that of the organisms to whose former existence it owed its origin. It is clear that if organisms deposited in sediment contribute at the commencement to the formation of such minerals as selenite, which are removeable in their turn, after a while the sediment may become free from all trace of former organic matters. In other words, there is no reason why the purest clay-slate may not have
On the Relation of the Norwich or Fluvio-marine Crag to the Chillesford Clay or Loam
Authors: Fisher O.
Published: October 2009

During the month of August last, in company with Professor Liveing, I visited Orford and Aldborough, and we made some observations which may tend to clear up the uncertainty which hangs over the relations of the Red Crag, Chillesford beds, and Fluvio-marine or Norwich Crag. We took with us the paper by Mr. Prestwich on the Chillesford Beds, in vol. v. of the Society's Journal, that by Mr. S. Y. Wood, jun., “On the Red Crag and its Relation to the Fluvio-marine Crag, and on the Drift of the Eastern Counties” (Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., March 1864), and the same author's “Map of the Upper Tertiaries of the Eastern Counties, with remarks thereon,” privately printed, 1865. After having begun to digest the materials we had collected, I visited the same neighbourhood again in the beginning of September.

Mr. Prestwich has left it open as to “whether the Chillesford deposit may not be identical with the Mammaliferous Crag of Norwich ''*, or whether it “may not belong to a period one stage more recent than the Mammaliferous Crag; whether in fact it may not be the marine representative of that thin marine, freshwater, and land series, which, on the north-eastern coast of Norfolk, is spread over the patches of the Norwich Crag, and immediately underlies the great northern clay drift,” i. e., I conclude, Mr. Gunn's “laminated beds.” Sir Charles Lyell, however, in his work on the Antiquity of Man, decidedly adopts the former view, saying that ”the most
On the Conditions of the Deposition of Coal, more especially as illustrated by the Coal-formation of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
Authors: Dawson J. W.
Published: October 2009

In several former papers presented to this Society, I have endeavoured to illustrate the arrangement of the Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia, and to direct attention to their organic remains, the structures found in their coals, and the evidence which they afford as to the mode of accumulation of that mineral. The present paper is intended as the summing up and completion of these researches, with the addition of the new facts resulting from a careful study of the microscopic structure of more than seventy beds of coal occurring in the South-Joggins section, and of the fossil plants associated with them. These results will, I hope, throw much additional light on some of the more difficult problems connected with the theory of the accumulation of vegetable matter in the Carboniferous period, and its conversion into coal.

The subjects to which I propose to direct attention may be conveniently arranged under the following heads:—

(1)

General considerations relating to the physical conditions of the Carboniferous period in Nova Scotia.

(2)

Details of the character and contents of the several beds of coal in the Joggins section, arranged in the order of Logan's Sectional List.

(3)

Remarks on the genera of animals and plants whose remains occur in the coal, and on their connexion with its accumulation.

§II. G
eneral
C
onsiderations
Relating to P
hysical
C
onditions
.

1.
Physical Gharavters of the several Coal-formations
.—The total vertical thickness of the immense mass of sediment constituting the Carboniferous system in Nova Scotia may be estimated from the fact that