bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Distribution of the British Postglacial Mammals
Authors: Dawkins W. Boyd
Published: October 2009

§1.
Introduction
.—The materials on which this essay is founded are the result of ten years' work on the Pleistocene Mammalia of Great Britain, during which every public Museum and private collection of note in the United Kingdom has been examined, either by myself or by some one on whose judgment I could depend. To “The specimen of Gault,” Mr. Forbes writes, “is, properly speaking, a marl (not a clay), being a mixture of ferruginous clay with a considerable quantity of carbonate of lime. The iron contained in it is all in the state of protoxide, amounting to 5·96 per cent., which would be equivalent to 6·606 per cent. of sesquioxide (red oxide) of iron, or to 4·62 per cent. metallic iron. The Hunstanton Red Chalk contains more carbonate of lime and much less clay than the above; and all the iron it contains is in the state of sesquioxide (red oxide), which amounts to 5·96 per cent., or is equivalent to 5·28 per cent. of protoxide of iron, or 4·10 metallic iron in the substance; it consequently, notwithstanding its red, or what generally would be termed ferruginous appearance, in reality does not contain quite as much iron as the Gault does, which has no such aspect; there seems to be no objection, from a chemico-geological point of view, why these rocks may not be representatives of one another. If the Gault were subjected to any oxidizing influences it would assume the red colour of the Hunstanton rocks, as it does
The Cretaceous Strata of England and the North of France compared with those of the West, South-west, and South of France, and the North of Africa
Authors: Coquand Henri
Published: October 2009

E
nglish
geologists may fairly claim the honour of having established in the Cretaceous formation the great divisions which are now generally received, and which find on the European continent their direct application to the strata of the same period. This is more especially true as regards the basin of the Seine, which is in fact but an appendage of that of England.

When, however, we leave the valley of the Seine and approach the Departments of the west of France, we find that the divisions previously recognized become altogether insufficient. For example, between the first beds with
Inoceramus labiatus
(the base of the Lower Chalk) and the highest layers of the chalk marl (with
Ammonites Mantelli
), some important beds of sandstone and limestone, characterized by
Ostrea biauriculata
, Lamk., intervene. These beds are known by the name of
Grès du Mans
. and they seem to be wanting in England, as also in the north of France.

If from the Anglo-Parisian basin we pass to that of the Pyrenees, of which the Departments of the two Charentes and the Dordogne constitute the northern limits, at least in a geological point of view, we meet with still more important modifications. Thus, the Grès du Mans are here more highly developed, and force themselves upon the notice of the palæntologist on account of the great abundance of Rudistes which they contain, such as
Sphœerulites foliaceus
, Lamk.,
Caprina adversa
, C. M. D'Orb.,
Caprina Fleuriausii, Mono-pleura polyconilites
, &c. Above this layer, of which the Oyster-beds (
Ostrea
On the Structure and Affinities of
Sigillaria
and allied Genera
Authors: Carruthers W.
Published: October 2009

T
he
genus
Sigillaria
is one of the most abundant and important among the plants of the Carboniferous period. But, except that it was a large tree with a fluted and scarred stem, and had immense succulent roots, little is certainly known regarding it. The structure of the root is well known, having frequently formed the subject of investigation. Numerous specimens of stems have been published, as examples of the genus; but with the exception of that described by Brongniart under the name of
Sigillaria elegans
, they belong rather to the genus
Lepidodendron
; and even
S. elegans
does not represent the most characteristic form of the genus. The stem was most probably simple, though in some species it was certainly branched. The foliage in some forms was composed of long linear leaves; and Goldenberg has figured organs of reproduction in the form of small round sporangia, several of which were borne on the somewhat dilated bases of the leaves at the termination of a branch.

The affinities of the genus have chiefly been deduced from the structure of the stem and roots; and in accordance with the views taken by the different interpreters has been the place they have given it. Some, like Corda and Martius, have held it to be a polypetalous dicotyledon, while, on the other hand, Dr. Hooker, with a little hesitancy, places it among
Lycopodiaceœ
beside
Lepidodrendron
. The generally received opinion is somewhat intermediate, that it is a gymnosperm belonging to an extinct type. Brongniart first enunciated
On the Coal-mines at Kaianoma, in the Island of Yezo
Authors: Adams F. O.
Published: October 2009

T
he
writer stated that the works at Kaianoma have made considerable progress since they were reported upon by Mr. Mitford last year*. There are four seams of coal, each about 7 feet thick and at a distance from each other of from 50 to 100 feet. Mr. Adams mentions a tunnel, 430 feet above the sea-level, bored through the whole thickness of one of the seams for a distance of between 150 and 250 feet. A cross tunnel near the mouth of this reached coal at a distance of 50 feet. The coal is carried down to the shore by men, mules, and ponies; its price on the spot is 4 dollars per ton.

Mr. Adams also stated that, from what he had heard, there are unworked coal-seams in the neighbourhood of Otarunai, and indications of lead, copper, and even gold in various parts of the island.
On a Peculiarity of the Brendon Hills Spathose-Iron-Ore veins
Authors: Morgans M.
Published: October 2009

A
ccording
to the author the Brendon Hills consist of a Devonian Slate, dipping about S. by E. at 30° and N. by W. at 60° on the two sides of the axis of elevation. The cleavage-laminæ dip nearly S. by W. at 80°; and the cleavage-strike varies but little from E. by N. and W. by S., forming only a slight angle with the
main axis
of elevation.

The clay-slate of the Brendon Hills contains very fine lenticular veins of spathose iron-ore exceedingly rich in manganese, the dip and strike-lines of which are not influenced by irregularities in the strata, but for the most part follow the direction of the cleavage-planes, although, as they are often tortuous, they do not constantly coincide with them (fig. 1).

The depth of the veins has not been ascertained. The main ones extend for several miles in length, sometimes dividing and reuniting. The greater part of each vein is “dead” or unproductive; the productive portions or “pockets” vary from a few yards to 100 fathoms in length and from a few inches to nearly 30 feet in thickness. The pockets are sometimes very close together, sometimes more than a mile apart in the same vein; in all cases they are connected by a vein-“track,” consisting chiefly of softened clay-slate and quartz with occasionally a little iron-ore (fig. 2).

The “pockets” are found not to descend parallel to the line of their dip, but to
slope endwise
, generally to the west, but in one or
On a peculiar Instance of Intraglacial Erosion near Norwich
Authors: Wood Searles , Harmer F. W.
Published: October 2009

T
he
authors described the general structure of the valley of the Yare, near Norwich, in which the fundamental chalk-rock is covered by the following drift-beds:—1, the Chillesford sand and clay; 2, pebbly sands and pebble-beds; 3, the equivalent of the contorted Drift of Cromer; 4, the middle glacial sand; and, 5, the Boulder-clay. The valley is hollowed out in these beds. Sewer-shafts sunk in the bottom of the valley near Norwich have shown the existence of an abrupt hole or narrow trough in the chalk, having one of its sides apparently almost perpendicular. This is filled up in part by a deposit of dark-blue clay, full of chalk débris, exactly resembling the Boulder-clay at a distance from Norwich, but quite different in character from that occurring in the vicinity (No. 5); and this is overlain in part by a bed of the middle glacial sand (No. 4), and in part by a postglacial gravel. The authors believed that this peculiar hole or trough was excavated by glacial action after the deposition of the bed No. 3, and that it belongs to the earliest part of the middle glacial period. At Somerleyton Brick-kiln, near Lowestoft, a perfectly similar bed occurs between the drift and sand (Nos. 3 and 4).
Notes on Apparent Lithodomous Perforations in North-west Lancashire
Authors: Mackintosh D.
Published: October 2009

T
he
author, after referring to the discovery of perforations in lime-stone rocks, at various altitudes above the sea, by Mr. Pengelly in Devonshire and Mr. Darbishire in North Wales, proceeded to describe the character and mode of occurrence of those he lately observed near the shores of Morecambe Bay. They were stated to be most numerous in the neighbourhood of Great Urswick, at altitudes of between 200 and 300 feet; but after a persevering search he found them on the eastern or Grange side of Hampsfell up to 667 feet above the sea. “They occur in limestone rocks of varying structure . . . . They have been excavated irrespectively of any hardness or softness of the rock, and of any susceptibility to decay in one part of the rock more than another. Their circumference runs continuously through portions of rock of varying composition,” and the holes often run into and through fossils.

Mr. Mackintosh believed that a minute study of the actual effects of rain and other atmospheric agents would convince any one that these perforations were not the result of weathering. “The pits, holes, or crevices produced by chemical decomposition, or the slight mechanical action of rain-drops*, are either rough or present no regularity of outline, and they always conform to the varying composition and structure of the rock. The distinction between the perforations under notice and all other indentations in limestone rocks is obvious.” In one large specimen Mr. Mackintosh noticed that the perforations were more circular
On the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy
Authors: Nicol James
Published: October 2009

T
he
general characters and appearance of these celebrated roads are so well known as scarcely to require to be mentioned. Running apparently with perfect horizontality and complete parallelism along the two sides of a long Highland glen, turning up every lateral valley and encircling every hill, they form a spectacle altogether unique in this country, and which, when once seen, can never be forgotten. Their mode of origin, on the other hand, still remains one of the open, undecided questions in Scottish geology. Various theories have been proposed, each enjoying popularity for a time, but no one permanently remaining master of the field. The horizontality, parallelism, and general character of the lines leave no doubt that they have been formed by water standing at the level of each line or road for a very considerable period, and then suddenly subsiding to the level of the next lower road. Thus far all recent observers seem agreed. But fresh water and salt—mountain loch and sea-firth—have still each their own supporters; and some who once advocated the one of these views, may now be found supporting the other. It is thus evident that no facts very decisively in favour of either theory have yet been adduced. But that such facts do exist I hope to be able to show in the following observations, and thus to contribute some evidence tending to decide this question.

As the general aspect and characters of these lines or roads are so well known, and have been so
Notes on the Geology of the Cape-York Peninsula, Australia
Authors: Rattray Alexander
Published: October 2009

P
erhaps
no country in the world, Papua and the South Polar continent excepted, possesses a greater extent of unexplored territory than Australia. So much of its interior and of its northern or tropical portion (about one-fifth, or 60,000 square miles, according to Neumayer) is still a terra
incognita
, and so much of its natural history remains enveloped in mystery, that the following remarks with regard to one of its last-settled but still least-known parts may not be altogether devoid of interest.

Altogether apart from the attention long fixed on limited portions of this vast land, on account of its extensive and valuable mineral resources and the gold, copper, and coal found in its eastern and southern colonies, much curiosity of a more strictly scientific nature centres in it as a whole. And geologists are desirous of knowing the special and distinctive characteristics both of the settled districts and of the unoccupied and little or altogether unknown parts, in order to determine their relation to those of the adjacent islands of Tasmania, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the Indian Archipelago (especially Papua, so close at hand), all known to possess a totally distinct fauna and flora, and of ascertaining whether these resemble or differ from those of other and perhaps better-known portions of the globe, especially their Antipodes in Europe, and particularly Great Britain, necessarily the chief standard of comparison to which English observers turn. Every item necessarily furthers this object; and hence these notes, which form an expansion of a
On the Occurrence of
Terebratula Diphya
in the Alps of the Canton de Vaud
Authors: Tawney E.
Published: October 2009

I
n
answer to certain statements of Prof. Hébert as to the probability of the non-occurrence of
Terebratula diphya
in the Jurassic Series (Bulletin Soc. Géol. de France, vol. xxiii, p. 530, 1866), it may be well to put on record the following discovery of this species in strata in the Alps of the Canton de Vaud, which belong indubitably to the Oxfordian series. This is, I believe, the first time that this species has been found in Jurassic beds in the Canton.

In the summer of 1867, when exploring the geology of the valley of the Sarine, near Château d’Oex (Canton de Vaud), I came upon this fossil in a block of Oxfordian limestone, among the “éboulis” around the chalets of Paray Charbon: these blocks, which are nearly all Oxfordian, have fallen from the ridge of the Vanil Noir. This range, from Merit Cray to Dent de Branleire, which forms here the boundary between the Cantons de Vaud and Fribourg, is formed by an arch of Bajocian (Inf. Ool.) dark grey limestones and shales, surmounted by the Oxfordian series at the N.E. end (Dent de Branleire, &c.); but the vault rises higher where the chain becomes lower, so that at the S.W. end the Oxfordian is thrown off only at the sides, and is quite cut away from the top, the summit of Mont Cray being Bajocian.

As our locality is about the middle of the range, the Oxfordian is seen at some height in the precipices above the chalet.
Note on the Locality of the Fossil above described
Authors: Miall Louis C.
Published: October 2009

F
ragments
of the fossil above described were found last summer in the roof of the Black-Bed or Royd's Coal, at Toftshaw, near Bradford. Much difficulty was experienced in extricating the remains uninjured, for the coal beneath had yet to be worked. The greater portion was ultimately removed in a fair state of preservation, owing to the persevering attention of William Firth, a miner whose zeal was stimulated by some knowledge of geology and in particular of coal fossils.

The shale which forms the roof of the Black-Bed Coal has long been known to collectors as a repository of interesting and well-preserved fish-remains.

The Black-Bed Coal is in the middle division of the Yorkshire Coal-field, lying about 40 yards above the Better-Bed Coal, and separated by about 220 yards from the Halifax Coals, which are the lowest workable seams. The exact horizon of important fossils is, perhaps, worth noting, though within the Coal-measures no true vertical limits of species are known to exist.

Judging from a cursory survey of several public and private collections, I am inclined to think that the remains of various interesting Carboniferous Batrachians are still unrecognized as such, and taken by their possessors for parts of fishes. When we are in a position to make a correct estimate, it will probably be found that the Batrachia of the Coal-measures are not only specifically numerous but individually abundant.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI.

Fig. 1. Part of the upper jaw with teeth of
Pholiderpeton scutigerum
.

Fig. 2, 3, 4
On the Upper Jaw of
Megalosaurus
Authors: Huxley T. H.
Published: October 2009

As all who have paid attention to the
Dinosauria
are aware, our knowledge of the structure of the skull in these extinct reptiles is very defective. This is particularly true of
Megalosaurus
, of which, up to the present time, only a portion of the lower jaw has been known. I am therefore very glad to be enabled, by the kindness of Mr. Abbay, the possessor of the magnificent left upper jaw of
Megalosaurus
now exhibited, to make a definite addition to our means of reconstructing that monstrous Saurian.

The jaw (Plate XII.) is 17·75 inches in length. At its anterior end it measures 4·3 inches in a direction perpendicular to its length. For about an inch and a half from the anterior edge (
a
), which is entire and shows the natural face of this part of the bone, the upper, or nasal, margin is nearly parallel with the lower, or alveolar, margin; but further back the bone was evidently produced into a great ascending process (
b
), which divided the nasal from the orbital region. The base of this process is fully four and a half inches long. Its anterior margin slopes rapidly backwards and upwards, and seems to have been nearly straight; while the posterior margin is concave backwards and presents a natural edge, which formed the front boundary of the orbit. The distance in a vertical line from the alveolar margin to the broken upper extremity Of the ascending process is 6·75 inches. Behind the ascending process, the vertical
Notes on the Sutherland Gold-Field
Authors: Joass J. M.
Published: October 2009

I
ntroduction
.

T
he
district of Sutherland in which gold has been recently discovered and worked, in certain waterworn materials and gravelly detritus which cover the crystalline Lower Silurian rocks in several depressions at and near Kildonnan in Sutherland, is the eastern extremity of a region which I have personally explored at intervals for the last forty-three years. It was, however, only in the year 1858 that I fully satisfied myself as to the relative ages and order of superposition and character of all the various rock-formations which occur between the western and eastern coasts of Sutherland and Ross. It was then that for the first time I was enabled to show distinctly ascending order from the fundamental gneiss or Laurentian rocks of the northern highlands, through great masses of sandstone and conglomerate of Cambrian age, upwards through overlying quartz-rocks and limestones, which, thanks to the fossil discoveries of my friend Mr. C. Peach, were proved to be of Lower-Silurian age. It was also shown that these Lower Silurian rocks, in their extension eastwards and dipping slightly to the east south-east, became more and more crystalline as they trended in that direction, and that when perforated by bosses of eruptive rocks, chiefly granite, they rolled over in undulations in a highly metamorphosed condition, until they were surmounted unconformably by the Old Red Sandstone and younger deposits of the eastern coast.

In order to be able to reason upon the probable sources of the gold detritus which occurs in the gullies (valleys) of
Observations on the “Nuggetty Reef,” Mount-Tarrangower Gold-Field
Authors: Ulrich George H. F.
Published: October 2009

T
he
Mount-Tarrangower Gold-field lies about eighty-five miles due N.W. of Melbourne, at a mean elevation of 1200 feet above the level of the sea. Mount Tarrangower, from which the field derives its name, is a fine, massive, symmetrical hill, 1844 feet above the level of the sea by barometric measurement, thus rising several hundred feet above the level of the surrounding hilly country, and forming a conspicuous landmark for a great distance round. It and its eastern, northern, and southern spurs consist mainly of bluish-grey, hard, metamorphic Lower-Silurian Sandstone (“Hornfels”) which crops out in beds, generally thick, but much cleaved, showing a mean strike of N. 12° W., and an easterly dip of 70°–80°.

About 500 feet down the rather steep western slope of the mount we meet the boundary of the extensive granitic tract, here generally known as “Bryant†s Ranges,” but forming part of the large horseshoe-shaped mass of which Mount Alexander, near Castlemaine, forms the highest point at an elevation of about 2800 feet. All along this boundary, which runs nearly due N. and S. for above six miles, numerous ramifications of the granite into the metamorphic rock can be observed, and there are also several small patches (inliers) of Silurian rock cropping out of the granite, which show in places round their boundaries an evident gradual passage into dark, fine-grained, micaceons, sometimes gneissose granite. It is singular that the strike and bedding of these Silurian inliers appear to be in no way disturbed or to deviate from
Notice of Plant-Remains from Beds interstratified with the Basalt in the County of Antrim
Authors: Baily William Hellier
Published: October 2009

T
he
existence of deposits containing vegetable remains, interstratiffed with the basaltic rocks of the Island of Mull, was first made known by the Duke of Argyll, through the medium of this Society, in January 1851†.

This important discovery, from its supplying reliable, indications as to the climatal condition and period of eruption of the basaltic rocks of that portion of Scotland, also led to the inference that a corresponding age might reasonably be assigned to the basalt of the north of Ireland, a conjecture which could only be satisfactorily determined by actual proof of the association of similar plant–beds with the basaltic rocks of that part of the country.

This question is now rendered capable of solution by the required evidence having been obtained, during the progress of the Geological Survey of Ireland, in the neighbourhood of Antrim, where the late Mr. G. V. Du Noyer, District Surveyor, discovered a bed containing fossil plants, a large proportion of which are dicotyledonous leaves, interstratified with and lying between masses of basalt, and therefore occurring under very similar conditions to the leaf-beds of the Isle of Mull.

This plant–bed was exposed in a cutting through the basalt on the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, between Templepatrick and Doagh Stations, about seven miles east of Antrim. From a rough section furnished me by Mr. Du Noyer in September 1868, being enumerated in descending order.

(1); Basalt, 15 feet; (2); brown earth, 3 inches; (3); layer of impure earthy lignite, 8 to 12 inches;
On two New Species of
Gyrodus
Authors: de M. Grey-Egerton Philip
Published: October 2009

1. G
yrodus
G
oweri
, Egerton

M
onsieur
T
hiollière
in his splendid work on the fossil fishes of the Jura formation of Bugey—a work of singular merit cut short by his untimely death—when speaking of the Pyenodontì of Agassiz, says truly that “this family has the advantage over many others of the Ganoid Order in the circumstance that the characteristic features are true and easily appreciable, such as the form and arrangement of the oral apparatus, the peculiarity of the scales, and the structure of the vertebral column.”" In fact, this family is in a manner isolated from all others, and consequently (if the Acanthodei be excepted) has been subjected to fewer modifications than any other of the Ganoid Order during the long period which has elapsed since its establishment by Professor Agassiz. Some of the most distinguished palæontologists have directed their attention to this subject: Quenstedt, Wagner, Heckel, Thiollière, Pictet, Costa, Xnerr, Sauvage*, and Lütken have all written on the Pycnodonti, and have contributed much information in developing the characteristics of the family, and rectifying some of the generic characters assigned by Agassiz. Many more species have also been added, exemplified by specimens of rare perfection, as may be seen by consulting the beautiful plates given in the works of Thiollière and Heckel. Perhaps the latter author has contributed more than any other observer to the typical characters of the several genera; but as his work is limited to specimens found in the Austrian dominions, other writers must be consulted for species
Note on a large Saurian Humerus from the Kimmeridge Clay of the Dorset Coast
Authors: Hulke J. W.
Published: October 2009

F
or
the opportunity of bringing before the Society this remarkable bone I am indebted to the great courtesy of J. C. Mansel, Esq., who, in reply to an inquiry addressed by me to him respecting the genus
Pliosaurus
, most liberally transmitted to me for study a large number of specimens from his unrivalled collection of Saurian bones from Kimmeridge, amongst which was the subject of this note. Mr. Mansel writes to me that this bone was found last year “amongst the layers of shale immediately above the band of cement-stone which rises from E. to W. on the west side of Clavell's Tower, between Kimmeridge Bay and Clavell's Head;” and he called my attention to it as differing from the common Enaliosaurian limb-bones.

Description
.— This stupendous bone has transversely elongated extremities and a subcylindrical shaft. It has been broken across at about 7 inches from its proximal extremity, and again 1 foot from its distal end. Owing to the loss of small portions by splintering and abrasion, the surfaces of the distal fracture do not meet accurately. A long slip, reaching from this fracture to the anterior* angle of the proximal terminal surface and including a small piece of this latter, has been broken off the anterior (outer) border of the bone and is wanting, as are also both the terminal epiphyses†. The terminal surfaces are mammillated and rugous, and scarcely at all abraded. The surface of the shaft is smooth and polished, composed of a very dense cortex which
On the Geology of a portion of Abyssinia
Authors: Blanford W. T.
Published: October 2009

T
he
geology of Abyssinia has been more or less examined by several eminent French and German travellers—Rüppell† Roth‡, D'Abbadie§ Rocher d'Héricourt‖, and especially Ferret and Galinier¶ but still there is very much left to be ascertained before the geological structure of the country can be said to be thoroughly known. The peculiar circumstances under which the late expedition was carried out limited the area of observation to the line of march from Annesley Bay to Mágdala; but along that line and, in some instances, in its immediate neighbourhood a very fair opportunity was afforded for judging of the general geological structure of the country, and of the relations of the most important rock-systems to each other. Roughly speaking, after passing the Posttertiary or late Tertiary volcanic rocks and alluvial deposits of the coast, the formations met with presented a regular ascending series as far as Mádala, where the rocks belong to the highest group, with the exception of recent alluvial deposits, met with on the highlands.

After the departure of the expeditionary force, a few additional observations were made in Northern Abyssinia about Massowa, the Bogos country, and the Anseba valley.

The following are the formations which have been noticed in Abyssinia, in descending order:—

7.

Recent.—Soils of the highlands. Alluvial deposits near the coast.

6.

Posttertiary?—Aden series of volcanic rocks.

5.

Tertiary? or Cretaceous?—Bedded traps, basaltic and trachytic. Mágdala group.

4.

Cretaceous? or Jurassic?—Bedded traps, chiefly basaltic. Ashángi group.

3.

Jurassic.—Antalo limestones.

2.

Infrajurassic (Triassic?).—Adigrat sandstones.

1.

?—Metamorphic

It is unnecessary to dwell on the physical
On the Connexion of the Geological Structure and Physical Features of the South-east of England with the Consumption Death-rate
Authors: Whitaker W.
Published: October 2009

T
he
author stated that his investigation of this subject, which was carried on in conjunction with Dr. Buchanan, was suggested by the fact that improved drainage had been found to exert a marked influence upon the average number of deaths by consumption in certain districts. The chief result arrived at by an examination of fifty-eight registration districts in Kent and Sussex was, that “wetness of the soil is a great cause of consumption;” and this depends not only upon the perviousness or imperviousness of the soils, but upon their position as regards elevation and slope.
On the Fossil Myriopods of the Coal Formations of Nova Scotia and England
Authors: Scudder Samuel H.
Published: October 2009

I
n
this paper the author discussed and described the species of Chilognathous Myriopods which have been detected in the Coal measures. Of these he recognized 6, viz.
Xylobius sigillariœ
(Daws.),
X. similis
, sp. n.,
X. fractus
, sp. n.,
X. Dawsonii
, sp. n.,
X. Woodwardii
(═
sigillariœ
, Woodw.), and a species upon which he founded a new genus,
Archiulus xylobioides
. He regarded these forms as constituting a peculiar family, for which he proposed the name of
Arehiulidœ
.
On the Geology of the Country surrounding the Gulp of Cambay
Authors: Rogers Alexander
Published: October 2009

T
he
author described the surface of the country as consisting chiefly of deep alluvial soils, derived from the denudation of the primary and metamorphic rocks surrounding the district, the former making their appearance in groups of isolated peaks, projecting, as it were, from a sea of alluvium. The author considered that this alluvium could not have been produced by the action of the existing rivers, and suggested that the Indus may formerly have flowed into the sea by the Gulf of Cambay, the land at the same time being much depressed below its present level. He indicated the evidence in favour of this view furnished by various facts in the geology of the district, and referred especially to the mode of occurrence of laterite.
On a peculiar Instance of Intraglacial Erosion near Norwich
Authors: Wood Searles V. , Harmer F. W.
Published: October 2009

T
he
object of the present brief notice is to bring before the Society, while the works are in progress, a feature of intraglacial structure disclosed by the sewerage works at Norwich, in order that, since the case appears to us to be peculiar among the perplexing features presented by the glacial beds as far as yet known, the opportunity may be afforded, to any who may suspect that some mistake has been made, of investigating the accuracy of our representation before the means of doing so are removed. For this reason we have ventured to bring the subject forward now, instead of reserving it for description with the general glacial structure of the east of England, which we hope at some future time to lay before the Society.

All the valleys of Suffolk, and of Central and Eastern Norfolk, are excavated out of the glacial beds, and possess no connexion whatever with any preglacial condition of the surface. They appear, however, to have had their configuration and direction determined in several places by a denudation of the glacial beds themselves, which was effected during the progress of their deposit. Of this the case before us affords one instance.

The accompanying section shows the structure of the valley of the Yare, near the places of its inosculation with that of the Tese and that of the Wensum.

The sewer-works, up to the present time, have been carried on by shafts, sunk in the bottom of the valley, where the surface is
Appendix.—Description of Specimens sent by Mr. Stow
Authors: Jones T. Rupert
Published: October 2009

In a letter, dated October 10, 1871, Mr. G. W. Stow states that, after a three week's visit to the Vaal-River Diamond-fields, he feels Certain the description given of the diamond-gravels in the foregoing paper is correct, and that no other agency than that advocated in it could have formed the accumulation of boulder-drift, the river-deposits being distinct.

In determining the nature of these specimens, Thomas Davies, Esq., F.G.S., of the British Museum, has kindly given mo his assistance.

No. 1.
From Gong-gong
. See page 7.

Washed, coarse, agate gravel†, containing:—

Veined Jasper, one pebble.

Yellow and white Quartz, several pebbles.

Agate, various, and largely predominating; rounded and subangular, mostly polished or glazed.

No. 2.
From Cawood's Hope
. See page 6.

Two rolled pieces of fossil Wood.

No. 3.
From Pniel
. See page 7.

Washed agate gravel*, containing:—

Lydite, rounded (pebbles).

Jasper and Quartzite, subangular and much worn (more than in the gravel from Klip drift).

Fossil Wood, much rolled, one piece.

One fragment of Quartz, off a worn crystal.

Agate, various; subangular and rounded; largely predominating.

No. 4.
From Pniel
. See page 7.

Some unwashed ochreous agate gravel. (Not nearly so ochreous as some sent from the Klip-drift diggings by Mr. E. T. Cooper and Dr. G. Grey; ‘Mining Journal,’ March 4, 1871.)

No. 5.
From Pniel
. Page 7.

A small weathered subangular block of light-greenish Amygdaloidal Greenstone, weathering brown.

No. 6.
From Pniel
. Page 7.

Another, similar, but of a dull-greenish tint. Both are studded with chalcedonic Agates.
Notes on some Fossils from the Devonian Rocks of the Witzenberg Flats, Cape Colony
Authors: Jones T. Rupert
Published: October 2009

Through the courtesy of Mr. G. S. Hayward, of Edmonton, and Mr. Rudler, of the Geological-Survey Museum, I have had the opportunity of examining some fossils from the Tulbagh Division, Cape Colony, and wish now to point out the interest they have for South-African geologists.

They were sent to England by Mr Thomas Hayward, of Witzenberg, and were found, some on the surface, and some in the shafts made in the search for coal and other minerals on the Witzenberg Flats, in the south-western part of the Tulbagh Division, on two farms belonging to Mr. Louw, who, I am informed, has gone to considerable expense in his endeavours to develope the resources of the Colony.

The above-mentioned flats constitute a valley, sharply elliptical in outline, between the Witzenbergen on the west and the Schurftebergen on the east. It is about 6000 Cape roods long from north to south, and about 1500 broad across the middle. The shafts were made on the Flakte farm, at the foot of the Schurftebergen, at about 300 Cape roods from the Government boundary-line along these hills. In one shaft, at 35 feet depth, were found hard and soft, earthy, purplish strata, with clay bands, and a hard, mottly-grey schist, full of casts of Encrinital joints and stems.

In the other shaft, at 50 feet, was soft dark-grey mudstone, with obscure casts of
Orthis palmata
and Trilobites; and at 50 to 67 feet similar rock, with casts of
Phacops africanus
*,
Homalonotus Herschelii
, and
Spirifer antarcticus
, also
On the Geology of Fernando Noronha (S. lat. 3° 50′, W. long. 32° 25′)
Authors: Rattray Alexander
Published: October 2009

Although the visit of H.M.S ‘Bristol’ to Fernando Noronha, situated in the South Atlantic, was limited to one full day, the following notes on the geology of the seldom visited group, of which, it forms by far the largest, may be of some interest. So little known are these islands, except to whalers, and the Brazilians, who have converted them into a penal settlement, that the present Admiralty chart, an imperfect one from French authorities, dates as far back as 1735. The chief object of the ‘Bristol's’ visit was to ascertain the height of the principal peak (one of singular shape) and the nature of the anchorage, &c.

Fernando Noronha itself is about four miles long, and on an average one mile broad, and consists chiefly of an undulating plateau from 100 to 300 feet above the sea-level, sloping steeply towards sandy beaches and bays, or ending in bold bluffs or cliffs and rising occasionally into what the inhabitants term “mountains,” of which there are four or five, from 500 to 700 feet high. At the eastern end of Noronha lie the remaining islets, five or six in number, chiefly small and almost unused.

The surface rock of the group appears to consist of a very coarse conglomerate, composed of large rounded basaltic boulders and pebbles, enclosed in a hard dark-red clayey matrix, of which (disintegrated) the abundant and highly fertile soil apparently consists, dry and fissured during the sultry season, but soft, tenacious, and muddy during the heavy rains
Appendix to a “Note on a new and undescribed Wealden Vertebra,” read 9th February 1870, and published in the Quarterly Journal for August in the same year
Authors: Hulke J. W.
Published: October 2009

On the 9th of February, 1870, I brought under the Society's notice the neural arch of a huge Wealden vertebra which in the preceding summer I had obtained at Brooke, on the south coast of the Isle of Wight. As it was quite unlike any known form, I referred it to a provisional genus
Eucamerotus
. From certain peculiarities of its internal structure I strongly suspected that when evidence of the form of its missing centrum should be obtained, it would be found to resemble a Mantellian Streptospondylian centrum in the British Museum, labelled “No. 28632. Wealden, S. E. England,” And in a foot-note to my paper, I wrote “should their identity be hereafter established, there will still be the further question, What is this
Streptospondylus
?”

During the past summer my suspicion has been verified, and the question concerning this
Streptospondylus
is also solved. I find that my
Eucamerotus
,
Ornithopsis
, Seeley, probably
Streptospondylus Cuvieri
, and the huge
Cetiosaurus
, Owen, whose recently restored remains strike the visitor to the Oxford Geological Museum with amazement, are all members of one genus (the first two are probably one species) characterized by opisthocœ trunk-vertebræ, having an unusually complex and very highly developed neural arch, but more particularly marked by a large and deep excavation in the side of the centrum beneath the root of the neuraphophysis†. I have learned from Prof. Phillips that this
Cetiosaurus
furnished the moterials out of which Prof. Owen constructed his genus; it claims, therefore to be its type. Should this
On the presence of a Raised Beach on Portsdown Hill, near Portsmouth, and on the occurrence of a Flint Implement on a high level at Downton
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

A few years ago* I traced the well-known old beach of Brighton past Arundel to Chichester and Bourne Common—a distance of 42 miles. At Brighton it is only from 8 to 12 feet above the level of the present beach; near Arundel it attains a height of 100 feet, near Chichester possibly of 130 feet, and at Bourne Common of 140 feet. Westward of this point it had been found on the east coast of the Isle of Wight; but I failed to detect it at any point inland, or at any considerable elevation.

I now beg to call attention to an interesting section which I have more recently observed at a spot 10 miles westward of Bourne Common, and 5 miles inland. It is a mile and a half E.N.E. from Fareham, on the right-hand side of the lane leading from East Cams to Nelson's Monument, which stands on the western extremity of Portsdown Hill. This hill, as is well known, is a bare narrow chalk ridge, running 6 miles from east to west, and rising in the midst of a lower surrounding Tertiary area to a height of from 300 to 400 feet. The subangular flint-gravel of Chichester, Havant, and Portmouth ranges up to the southern foot of the hill, to a height of about 40 feet above the sea-level. It may be seen in a pit by the side of the railway half a mile west of Porchester station.

Above this lower level the slope of the
Letter on the discovery of Gold in New Caledonia, and of Tin in New South Wales
Authors: Stephen G. Milner
Published: October 2009

“As I regard yourself as the
prophet
of gold-discovery in Australia &c., I cannot refuse myself the pleasure of asking you to become the medium of my communicating to the Geological Society of London two very interesting discoveries recently made in this hemisphere.

“1. That of
gold
on the banks of the River Bondé on the N.E. coast of
New Caledonia
. It was discovered by a party of four men (two being Australian mines), in consequence of a splendid reward offered by the French Government in the island for the discovery of a gold-field. The head of the party brought up to Sydney about
2 1/2
tons of auriferous drift which was highly charged with very fine, almost invisible, gold-dust; and having seen my two patent machines he offered me one-fifth of their grant of 500
hectares
for a ‘plant’ of the machines and steam-engine. Accordingly I accepted the offer, having ascertained from the Master of the Mint that the auriferous drift contained about 16
oz. to the ton
! And my son, who is now in the island watching over our interests, finds my expectations quite confirmed, and predicts a fortune and the near proximity of a quartz ‘reef,’ having recently found a small quartz-boulder studded with
coarse gold
.

“I shall be much surprised if they do not shortly find the ordinary quartz-veins, and of great richness, as the micaceous sandstone containing three fourths of the gold they are getting at present bears evidences of being the
Remarks on the Greenland Meteorites
Authors: Nordenskiöld A. E.
Published: October 2009

The meteorites which I discovered at Ofivak, in Greenland, in 1870, most of which have now been brought home by the expedition of this year under the command of Baron v. Otter, seem to have formed the principal masses of an enormous meteoric fall, which took place during the Miocene period, extending over an immense area (some 200 English miles) not only of the region occupied by the Greenland basalt, but also where the country is composed of granite-gneiss.

The native iron is very variable in appearace; but as far as I yet can judge, it is free from silicates, notwithstanding that pieces of basalt (apparently?) are imbedded in the exterior of the blocks, apparently filling cavities in the outer surface of the original meteorites.

The basalt at a distance from this locality does not contain any native iron; it is only in the immediate vicinity of the iron masses themselves that native iron along with pebbles is found in the basalt, which at this place is clearly seen to be a subsequently consolidated basalt-tuff and not congealed lava.

That this iron is of eruptive origin appears impossible to me, because:—(1) the iron, upon being heated, evolves gaseous matter even up to as much as 100 times the volume of the iron itself; (2) it contains distinct isolated paritcles of sulphide of iron, which are imbedded in the rest of the mass of iron, which in itself is free or nearly free from sulphur; (3) the external form of the
On the Infralias in Yorkshire
Authors: Blake J. F.
Published: October 2009

Comparatively little attention has been paid to the Lias of Yorkshire for some time past; and consequently it is behind the Lias of other parts as to our knowledge of it. This is especially the case with the lowest beds—the zones of
Ammonites angulatus
and
Am. planorbis
—constituting the so-called Infralias, whose presence has as yet been scarcely even recognized. It has long been known that
Am. angulatus
occurs at Redcar, under the name of
A. Redcarensis
; and blocks of stone containing
Am. planorbis
(syn.
erugatus
) are thrown up on the coast; but no section, or list of fossils, has as yet been given of the beds.

In the present paper I hope chiefly to describe some remarkable sections at Cliff, near Market-Weighton, where the Infralias is well exposed, and the fauna it contains is large and interesting. But, while I describe this as the Infralias of Yorkshire, I must express my opinion that it does not form part of the typical Yorkshire basin. On glancing at a geological map of this part of England, it will appear probable that there has existed a ridge in Carboniferous-Limestone times, stretching west from a little south of Flamborough Head, which has separated the coal-basin of South Yorkshire from that of Durham, and made a gap in the overyling Permian rocks; and though the New Red Sandstone does not appear to be affected by it, all the overlying Jurassic beds are bent round in a curve on its north side, and to the south
Further Notes on the Geology of the neighbourhood of Malaga
Authors: d'Orueta M. D. M.
Published: October 2009

In this paper, which is a continuation of a former note laid before the Society (see Q. J. G. S. xxvii. p. 109) the author commenced by stating that his former opinion as to the Jurassic age of the rocks of Antequera is fully borne out by later researches upon their fossils. They apparently belong to the Portlandian series. The author made considerable additions to his description of the Torcal, near the foot of which he has found a sandstone containing abundance of
Gryphœa virgula
and
Ostrea deltoidea
. This he regards as equivalent to the Kimmeridge Clay. In the Torcal he has also found a soft, white, calcareous deposit, overlying the limestones of supposed Portlandian age, and containing a fossil which he identifies with the Tithonian
Terebratula diphya
. The author discussed the peculiar forms assumed by the rocks of the Torcal under denudation, which he supposed to be due originally to the upheaval caused by the rising of a great mass of greenstone, portions of which are visible at the surface on both sides of the range.
On the Carboniferous Flora of Bear Island (lat. 74° 30′ N.)
Authors: Heer Oswald
Published: October 2009

It has long been known that strata of Coal and Mountain Limestone are found in Bear Island; but the true geological conditions of this island were first ascertained by Professor Nordenskiöld, who visited it with the Swedish expedition of 1868. He and Professor Malmgren collected a large number of fossil plants out of the coal and the associated rocks. These plants, according to Nordenskiöld, point to the following relations of the strata:—

Mountain limestone.
Siliceous schists.

Productus
-limestone with large, thick-shelled species of
Productus
.

Spirifer
-limestone with gypsum. Many
Spiriferi
, some of them of colossal size.

Cyathophyllum
-bearing limestone and dolomite.

Sandstone with intercalated coal and clay-shale. Contains the plants.

Russian-island limestone. Greyish yellow dolomite with beds of calcareous shales.

Red Devonian (?) shales.

The plants, therefore, were found under the Mountain Limestone. The Russian-island limestone contains no determinable fossils; and its geological position is therefore doubtful, as is also that of the red shales, which last Nordenskiöld is inclined to place in the Devonian. The plants lie partly in the coal itself, partly in the sandstone, and partly in the dark-coloured shale, which in some places is quite filled with plant-remains. They are all land-plants; no trace of marine plants or animals is to be found. The whole deposit containing the plants is therefore probably of