bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On new Labyrinthodonts from the Edinburgh Coal-field
Authors: Huxley
Published: October 2009

1.
Note respectlng the Discovery of a new and large Labyrinthodont
(Loxomma Allmanni,
Huxley
)
in the Gilmerton Ironstone
.

During my visit to Edinburgh in January last, my friend Professor Allman, becoming aware that I was engaged in collecting materials for the study of the genus .Rhizodus (Owen), very liberally granted me free access to the large collection of vertebrate fossils from Burdie Holme and Gilmerton, in the Museum of the University. I thus became acquainted, for the first time, with the upper and under aspects of the head, and with the indubitable scales of this remarkable fish; and, putting the information thus obtained with that derived from the study of specimens in many other collections, I am now in a position to prove that
Rhizodus
is one of the cyclifcrous Glyptodipterini.

But, while looking through the large series of remains from the Gilmerton ironstone in the Edinburgh Museum, most of which are referable to
Rhizodus
, I came upon two or three specimens of a very different character. The most important and significant of these is the fragment of the Mndcr part of the upper wall of a large cranium (P1. XI. fig. 1)presenting its smooth inner, or under, surface to the eye. Where the substance of the bone has been broken away, however, the impressed surface of the matrix shows that the outer, or upper, surface was ornamented with strong inoscnlating ridges separated by intermediate grooves. The serrated sutures of the bones composing this frag-ment of a skull are, for
On the Metamorphic Rocks of the Banffshire Coast, the Scarabins, and a Portion of East Sutherland
Authors: Harkness R.
Published: October 2009

Introduction
.—I am not aware of any memoir which has reference to the metamorphic rocks of Banffshire, save that of Mr. R. J. H. Cunningham, published in the ‘Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland’ (vol. xiii.). In this memoir there is a great amount of information concerning the
lithology
of the rocks which compose the metamorphic strata of this portion of Scotland, but comparatively little can be gleaned as to the mode in which the several rocks forming these metamorphic deposits are associated together.

Along the Banffshire coast the sections exposing rocks of a metamorphic nature are, on the whole, very satisfactory; and the mode in which these rocks are here arranged can, in most instances, be distinctly made out. In this part of the North of Scotland there is laid down on geological maps an area represented as occupied by strata analogous to those which make up the Lower Silurian of the South of Scotland ; and in this area it has been stated that
Graptolites
occur. With reference to the latter, I have reason to believe that what have been assumed to be
Graptolites
are simply dendritic markings of oxide of manganese; and, as concerns the affinity in the mineral nature of the deposits of Banffshire and the South of Scotland, although there is a general resemblance between them, still the ibrmcr have a decidedly more crystalline character. This crystalline character of the rocks of Banffshire is by no means equally uniform; and a section along
On the Geology of the Gold-fields of Nova Scotia
Authors: Honeyman D.
Published: October 2009

The observations which are the subject of this memoir were made at the request of the Provincial Government Commission for the International Exhibition. While engaged in their service, procuring a representation of the geology and mineral resources of the Province, I was specially directed, about the end of November last, to give some attention to the illustration of the geology of the gold-fields. The field of observation being very extensive, and the time fit for the work short, I deemed it most expedient to select, from the many, that locality which might appear to be the most interesting and instructive, and to examine it as thoroughly as time ad circumstances would permit. The gold-fields known as “Allen's” and “Laidlaw's” appeared best to meet the above conditions. They are interesting beyond a doubt, and are contiguous to excellent sections of rocks on two lines of railway, and are therefore somewhat favourably situated for the purpose of observation.

In describing these gold-fields, we shall begin with the position that is lowest, gcolo~cally and otherwise ; this is Allen's field. The rock
in situ
is dark-coloured clay-slate; it is often talcose. This contains abundance of crystals of mispickle. It is pervaded by a number of vertical veins of auriferous quartz. These are exposed on the sides and bottoms of pits and trenches. It is only from report that I can say that they are auriferous; I could not get any information on the spot. The top of the slate-rock was glacierscratched; and in
On some Fossil Crustacea from the Coal-measures and Devonian Rocks of British North America
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

One of the Devonian fossils is apparently allied to the Stomapods, and is named
Amphipeltis paradoxus
by Mr. Salter; it was obtained by Dr. Dawson near St. John's, New Brunswick, where it occurred with plant-remains; another Crustacean fossil from the same locality is a new
Eurypterus—E. pulicaris
. Other remains of
Eurypteri
have been sent also by Dr. Dawson, from the Coal-measures of Port Hood, Cape Breton, and of the Joggins, Nova Scotia; and with these a new Amphipod—
Diplostylus
, having some characters of alliance with
Typhis
and
Brachyscelus
.
On some Species of
Eurypterus
and Allied Forms
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

After alluding to the late and complete researches on
Eurypterus
by Dr. Wieskowski and Professor J. Hall, Mr. Salter explained some formerly obscure points in its structure, and proceeded to describe the
E. Scouleri
, Hibbert, from the Carboniferous limestone of Scotland, and the Upper Old Red Sandstone of Kilkenny; the
E. (Arthropleura) mammatus
, a new species from the Upper Coal-measures near Manchester; and
E.? (Arthropleura) ferox
, sp. nov., from the Coal-measures of North Staffordshire.
On the Disputed Affinity of the Mammalian Genus
Plagiaulax
, from the Purbeck Beds
Authors: Falconer Hugh
Published: October 2009

One of the most accurate observers and original thinkers of our time has discoursed with emphatic eloquence on the imperfection of the geological record*. Besides what is yet to be discovered, so much has been irrecoverably lost that we may never hope to write more than disconnected pages of the palæo-biography of nature. The truth of the assertion comes home to the conviction of all; but so far from discouraging, it only renders us the more eager to pursue what we may attain. Every now and then, in palæontology, an unknown form is discovered of so unexpected a character, that our habitual train of ideas is diverted by it into a new avenue of thought. It may confirm a position which has before been merely conjectural, or but faintly shadowed out; or it may shake the foundations of some cherisher, but unsound, hypothesis. It is hailed with more especial satisfaction if it contribute to fill up any of the great gaps in our existing knowledge. The form itself is often presented to the first observer in such a mutilated or imperfect aspect, that at the best he can effect little beyond an approximative idea of the outline. From the same cause, or from a balanced conjunction of unusual characters, he may fail in his first attempt at the interpretation ; but he has no reason to be ashamed of the failure, if he has devoted his powers fairly to the investigation; for a great part of the solid progress made
On a Stalk-eyed Crustacean from the Carboniferous Strata near Paisley
Authors: Huxley Thomas H.
Published: October 2009

In a paper published in the Geological Society's ‘Journal’ (vol. xiii. p. 363, 1857), I described several specimens of a Stalk-eyed Crustacean, from rocks of Carboniferous age, to which I applied the generic name of
Pygocephalus
, referring the genus to either the Decapodous or Stomapodous group of the Class.

My friend and colleague, Mr. Geikie, F.G.S., has been so good as to draw my attention to what I believe to be another specimen of the same Crustacean, obtained by the Rev. Mr. Fraser, M.A., from one of the coal and ironstone mines in the Strath of the Clyde, about two miles from Paisley, in dark shale*, and, by the obliging permission of its owner, has placed it in my hands for examination and description. I say, I
believe
the new fossil to be another specimen of
Pygocephalus
, because, in consequence of the different position in which the present specimen is imbedded in the matrix, a strict comparison with the others is almost impossible; and my determination is based rather on general analogy of the forms than on a complete identification.

While the other specimens presented a view of the ventral surface, this shows the lateral aspect of the animal, exhibiting a sideview of the carapace, of the thoracic and some of the cephalic appendages, and of the large and curved abdomen. The carapace, the lateral surface of which is convex from above downwards, is narrow and apparently truncated in front, but deep behind, its postero-inferior angle being somewhat produced, but
On the Old Red Sandstones of Fifeshire
Authors: Powrie James
Published: October 2009

Introduction
.—In a paper which I communicated to the Geological Society laut year *, I stated my belief in the conformability of all the 01d Red Sandstones as exhibited in Forfarshire. In that paper as originally framed, I had even questioned the correctness of Sir C. Lyell's section of the Forfarshire rocks (‘Manual of Geology‚), in so far as this shows an overlying unconformable conglomerate atthe White Ness, near Arbroath. Somewhat more careful investigation convinced me that in this at least I was mistaken; and this fortunately in time to have the copy of my paper so far altered before it appeared in the Society's Journal for November 1861. From subsequent investigation, I have seen no cause for supposing that ill any other locality in Forfarshire has this want of conformity been exhibited; and in order to be able to fix the horizon of the overlying and unconformable conglomerate at White Ness, I have been induced to extend my investigations into such parts of Fifeshire and Perthshire as I thought might throw light on this subject. I was the more induced to this, as it was shown in Mr. Geikie's paper*, of January 1860, that a break existed in the Old Red Sandstone of the South of Scotland; aad hence I suspected that, in all probability, the unconformable conglomerate at White Ness might belong to the upper members of the Old Red. In no instance have I yet found a section sufficiently continuous, and showing the upper and lower portion of
On some Upper Coal-measures, containing a bed of Limestone, at Catrine in Ayrshire
Authors: Binney E. W.
Published: October 2009

Some years since the writer described, in a short communication read before the Society and printed in the Quarterly Journal, the breccia at Ballochmoyle and the red and purple strata found near Catrine in Ayrshire. As to the latter, he expressed no opinion whether or not they were Permian or Carboniferous, evidence being then wanted to decide that question; but his impression was that they were Carboniferous strata much higher in the series than any which had yet been described in Scotland. A visit to the locality a few days since enabled him to establish beyond doubt that the strata at Ballochmoyle Braes, Catrine, and Sorn represent a coal-field as high as any in the English series,—in fact, one similar to those at Ardwick, near Manchester; Uffington and Leebotwood, near Shrewsbury; Buxterby, near Nuneaton; and Lane-End, Potteries. Mr. Ralph Moore, in his valuable sections of the Scottish coal-fields, gives the Ayshire strata as follows:

In the remarks accompanying the ‘First Sketch of a New Geological Map of Scotland’, published in 1861, Sir R. I. Murchison and Mr. Geikie say, at p. 13,—

“Another chief feature of the present map, as distinguished from all other maps of the country, consists in the subdivision of the Carboniferous formation.

“This group of Rocks consists in Scotland of the following members:—

“The Upper Coals represent, wholly or in part, the true English Coal-measures, which lie above the Millstone-grit. They occur, in Scotland, in four basins,—one in Mid-Lothian, a second in Fife, the third and
On a Section at Junction-Road, Leith
Authors: Carruthers William
Published: October 2009

The investigation of changes in the earth's surface which have been effected since its occupation by man, or within the historic period, deservedly receives a large amount of attention in the present day. Any facts which will enable us to form an estimate of the time in which geological changes are produced are of the utmost value to science. Hence the importance of Mr. Leonard Horner's investigations in the Delta of the Nile, Mr. Geikie's observations on the coast of the Forth, and similar recent contributions, if based on certain and incontrovertible data, can scarcely be over-estimated. But while the multiplication of such observations is desirable, the elimination of erroneous data forming the bases of important deductions is no less so. And if the pottery raised from such a depth in the Nile sediment as to convince Mr. Horner that it was deposited there 14,000 years ago be Roman pottery, or if the Roman pottery of Mr. Geikie's Forth section be of modern manufacture, it is of as much, if not of more value to science, that such received errors be corrected, than that new truths be added.

In August last year I read Mr. Geikie's paper, “On a Rise of the Coast of the Frith of Forth*.” Being in Edinburgh at the time, I visited the section which formed the basis of his hypothesis. With his sketch in my hand, I had no difficulty in recognizing the various beds he describes in his paper. But the story that the
Descriptions of some Fossils from India, discovered by Dr. A. Fleming, of Edinburgh
Authors: de Koninck L.
Published: October 2009

A
memoir
by my friend Mr. Davidson, in vol. xviii. p. 25 of the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, contains the description of the fossil
Brachiopoda
discovered in the Punjaub by Messrs. A. Fleming* and W. Purdon. The determination of these fossils could not have been confided to better hands. A great number of the species were susceptible of being identified with European and American Carboniferous species, some are new, and others do not possess the palæozoic aspect which a somewhat experienced palæontologist easily perceives among the fossils of the Carboniferous period. That which occurs in connexion with the
Brachiopoda
may be remarked likewise among the fossils of other classes which accompany them, and the description of which has been confided to me by their discoverer. Among these fossils, certain species belong to genera that have hitherto only been found in the Secondary formations, and occur principally in the lower groups of that great geological period. Such, above all, are the
Ceratites
, which appear to be tolerably abundant in a rock of the Punjaub Salt-range, and are remarkable from the fact that they are all new to science. But for this last circumstance, one might have entertained serious doubts relative to their geological position, although Dr. Fleming had ascertained by personal examination that they occurred in the same beds as those which contained the Carboniferous
Producti
and
Spiriferœ
. At all events there is still this remark to make, that the rock which contains the
Ceratites
has not shown me
On the geology of a part of the Masulipatam District
Authors: Applegath F.
Published: October 2009

T
he
country west of the Palair River, and north of the Kistnah River, is covered with a thinly stratified limestone (E) of a dark blue or black colour, which is about 150 feet thick, and alternates sometimes with dark purple slates (A), sometimes with a lighter-coloured speckled slate, and occasionally with some cubical pieces of clay iron-stone. The extent of this district is 24 square miles*. The limestone here has a strike due north, and a dip about 19° east: this description mainly applies to all the limestone west of the Palair River. The slates are considered old, and have attracted much attention at Madras. No quarries have been opened in these limestone-fields; but the stone is burnt for lime by the natives, who use the slates extensively for the floors of their houses and verandahs. The slabs are usually about 6 feet long, three and one-half feet wide, and from 2 to 8 inches thick.

The dark-coloured limestone contains casts of shells, and rings when struck by a hammer. A similar limestone in appearance at Kurnool, Province of Ballaghaut, on the Toombuddra River, 250 miles N.W. of Madras, contains large quantities of lead; and in every ton of lead there are 400 oz. of pure silver; at least, a specimen analysed showed this per-centage.

The limestones on the east side of the Palair differ much in colour, appearance, and position from those on the west side, indicating great disturbance of strata; they are principally of a pale yellow, salmon, or red
On the Association of Granite with the Tertiary Strata near Kingston, Jamaica
Authors: Sawkins J. G.
Published: October 2009

T
he
object of my writing at present is to inform you that, during the last few months, I have been tracing out a very interesting granitic formation traversing this island from the S.E. to the N.W., the direction of our earthquake-shocks.

My interest in the investigation was enhanced because it was generally supposed that lower rocks of this intrusive class did not appear on this island, and also by frequently observing small crystals of the carbonate of copper associated with it, by which I was encouraged in the belief that I should find this metal accompanying the granitic formation.

This formation first appears in the parish of Port Royal, piercing through the carbonaceous series; then west of the Hope River, in the parish of St. Andrew, between the white limestone and conglomerates. It is consequently of Tertiary age. It sinks below the white limestone at Stony Hill, rises again through the same to the N.W., and trends off into the parish of Metcalfe, where I found the copper associated with the granitic series in the manner the specimens sent with this note will illustrate, which I consider an interesting fact to lay before you.

The character of the granitic rock differs materially in the quantity of each constituent, and it is more frequently accompanied with hornblende than mica, the amount of felspar being greater than the quartz. It has, in many instances, undergone decomposition to so great an extent that it is recognized with difficulty.

After I surveyed Anguilla, some
On the Cambrian and Huronian Formations
Authors: Bigsby J. J.
Published: October 2009

P
art
I.—R
emarks on the
G
eographical
C
onditions of the
C
ambrian
S
ystem
.

I.
Introduction
.—Some of the following statements, and the conclusions to which they have given rise, were originally intended to refer, in chief, to the presence or absence of organic remains in the Cambrian rocks; but led on by points of interest that gradually presented themselves, the inquiry has been conducted further than was at first anticipated.

I may perhaps be allowed, for the present, to take for granted that the Cambrian of Western Europe passes conformably upwards into the Silurian series, with certain changes introduced by altered conditions. Usually these two sets of rocks are mutually conformable, and pass into each other, sometimes by insensible gradations*.

It is also true that their unconformity is very frequent, from the local operation of plutonic forces. I shall not stop now to bring forward proofs of these several assertions.

I have given as a Table a synoptical list of all the Cambrian deposits known to me, and also other Tables of some use. On these Tables is grounded much of what is advanced in this paper.

II.
Characters of the Cambrian
.—The Cambrian formation is so varied in its particulars, and so familiar as a whole, that a definition of it need not be attempted.

We find in it, however, the following characters:—

§ 1. In Northern and Western Europe alone (or nearly alone) it consists principally of purple and black clay-slates, often chloritic and micaceous, together with conglomerates, grits, and sandstones, placed almost
Description of Anthracosaurus Russelli, a new Labyrinthodont from the Lanarkshire Coal-field
Authors: Huxley T. H.
Published: October 2009

I
n
September last, Mr. James Russell, Mineral Surveyor, of Chapelhall, near Airdrie, called at the Museum of Practical Geology to make some inquiries respecting the probable nature of a fossil (supposed to be a fish) lately brought to light by the workmen engaged upon the Monkland Iron and Steel Company's estate, about a mile from Airdrie and twelve miles east of Glasgow, and found in what is known as the Airdrie or Mushet's black-band Ironstone*. I was at that time absent from London; but Mr. Etheridge, to whom Mr. Russell described the fossil, strongly advised that a careful drawing should be made and sent up to London, for my examination. This was eventually done, and the sketch, faithfully executed in its general characters, which reached me on the 6th of November, appeared so conclusively to indicate the Labyrinthodont nature of the fossil, that I at once requested Mr. Russell to permit me to have it sent up to the Museum for closer examination. Mr. Russell very obligingly consented to this proposition, and the specimen reached me in perfect safety on the 27th of November, my interest in it having in the meanwhile been greatly heightened by the reports respecting its characters which had reached me from Professor Rogers, Mr. David Page, and Mr. Armstrong of Glasgow.

A glance at the fossil was sufficient to satisfy me that these reports had not unduly exaggerated its merits. It exhibited, in fact, the greater part of the contour of a skull, 15 inches
On the Thickness of the Pampean Formation, near Buenos Ayres
Authors: Darwin Charles
Published: October 2009

M. S
ourdeaux
and J. Coghlan, Esq., C.E., have had the kindness to send me, through E. B. Webb, Esq., C.E., some excellent sections of, and specimens from, two artesian wells lately made at Buenos Ayres. I beg permission to present these specimens to the Geological Society, as they would be of considerable service to any one investigating the geology of that country. The Pampean formation is in several respects so interesting, from containing an extraordinary number of the remains of various extinct Mammifers, such as
Megatherium, Mylodon, Mastodon, Toxodon
, &c., and from its great extent, stretching in a north and south line for at least 750 geographical miles, and covering an area folly equal to that of France, that, as it appears to me, a record ought to be preserved of these borings. Southward, at the Rio Colorado, the Pampean formation meets the great Tertiary formation of Patagonia; and northward, at Sta. Fé Bajada, it overlies this same formation with its several extinct shells.

In the central region near Buenos Ayres no natural section shows its thickness; but, by the borings there made in two artesian wells (figs. 1 & 2), the Pampean mud, with Tosca-rock, is seen to extend downwards from the level of the Rio Plata to a depth of 61 feet, and to this must be added 55 feet above the level of the river. These argillaceous beds overlie coarse sand, containing the
Azara labiata
(a shell characteristic of the Pampean formation), and attaining a thickness of
Geological Notes on the Locality in Siberia where Fossil Fish and Estheriæ have been found
Authors: Austin C. E.
Published: October 2009

I
n
1858 I had the pleasure of presenting to the Society some slabs of fossiliferous shale, containing specimens of the fossil fish mentioned by Dr. von Middendorf† as having been obtained by him at Nertchinsk, during his last journey in Siberia, and named
Lycoptera Middendorfii
by J. Müller‡.

The slabs also contain the remains of a number of
Estheriœ
, referred to by Müller as
Limnadiœ
§, as well as portions of reeds and stems of plants, some lignite, and two imperfectly preserved shells which probably belong to a species of
Limnæus
, but may possibly be
Paludinæ
. They were taken by me from the bed,
in situ
, in the year 1848.

The bed lies about 160 versts south by east of Nertchinsk, at the base of a cliff from 6 to 10 feet high, extending north and south, and forming the west or right bank of a small clear stream, called the Toorga, which flows southward into the River Onon. The bed dips westward about 25°.

The east bank of this stream, where it flows by the fossiliferous strata, rises gradually, and extends, above the level of the water, into a plain, on which conspicuous masses of igneous rocks are distributed.

At a point eight versts to the south of that where the fossils were found, an abrupt hill of augite-porphyry rises from the plain to an elevation of more than 100 feet. Its southern face is composed of rhomboids cemented together by quartz into one solid mass, and thus a rock
On some Fossil Crustacea from the Coal-measures and Devonian Rocks of British North America
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

D
r.
Dawson, so well known for his researches in the Coal-measures of Nova Scotia, has entrusted to me several fragments of
Crustacea
from the Coal-measures and Devonian rocks of that region for description. These form a most welcome supplement to the late discoveries in Scotland, recorded in the last volume of the Society's Journal†, which Dr. Dawson could not have seen when he kindly sent these specimens for examination.

Accompanying the
Crustacea
, there are eight specimens‡ of other fossils, of which three are shells (see further on, p. 80) agreeing closely in character with some from our own Coal-measures, and tending to confirm, if proof were needed, the age of the Crustacean fragments. They are numbered by Dr. Dawson from 1 to 5.

Of these, No. 1 is most probably the abdomen of an Isopodous Crustacean, and is from a rich plant-bed in the Coal-measures of the Joggins, Nova Scotia. No. 5 is part of a large species of
Eurypterus
, also from the Coal-measures. Nos. 3 and 4 belong to a small species of
Eurypterus
, a genus already well known in the Devonian. They are from St. John's, New Brunswick.

Of No. 2, from the Devonian slate of St. John's, I know no analogue, and can only guess that it has some relation to the Stomapods. It is well preserved, however, and there can be no doubt of its general structure. I have here called it
Amphipeltis
.

I am obliged to propose new generic terms for some of these Crustacea
On some Species of
Eurypterus
and Allied Forms
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

S
ince
the appearance in 1859 of the memoir by Prof. Huxley and myself on
Pterygotus
and its allies, the great work of Prof. Hall, of Albany, has appeared (‘Palæontology of NewYork,’ vol.iii.), containing the fullest material for the illustration of this genus; and following, as it did, upon the very full account given by Dr. Wieskowski, it has completed our knowledge of the structure of this remarkable genus. And there seems to be now no doubt whatever that the anomalous plates and processes about the position of which Prof. Huxley and myself were compelled to guess, and which for many obvious reasons were compared with the under portion of the head, really belong to the under part of the thorax.

All this was as satisfactorily made out by the Russian author as by Prof. Hall's independent researches. We had also arrived at the same conclusion before Wieskowski's admirable paper reached us. For previous to the Meeting of the British Association at Aberdeen in 1859, I was sent by the Director-General of the Geological Survey to examine the collections made by Mr. Slimon, of Lesmahago; and in that fine series (which was sent to the Meeting for exhibition) we found abundant proofs of the true position of the sternal plates, such as Wieskowski and Hall have figured, and of the place of the post-oral plate, previously assigned by Prof. Huxley to the hinder margin of the mouth. The position of the chelæ in these new specimens also confirmed the Professor's judgment
On the Skiddaw Slate Series
Authors: Harkness E.
Published: October 2009

§ 1.
Introduction
.

T
he
several memoirs by Professor Sedgwick on the older Palæozoic rocks of the north of England, published in the ‘Transactions’ and ‘Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,’ have indicated the nature and the arrangement of the older Palæozoic rocks as they occur in the Lake-district. Among these rocks, and forming the base of the sedimentary series in the north of England, is a mass of strata designated the
Skiddaw Slates
by Professor Sedgwick, from the circumstance that these slates comprise the Skiddaw range of mountains. They have hitherto been regarded as all but unfossiliferous, the described organic remains consisting only of
two
species of
Graptolites
and
four
forms which have been attributed by Professor M'Coy to Fucoids.

The Skiddaw slates occupy a large area in the northern portion of the Lake-district. They also occur in the south-western extremity of Cumberland, where they form the mountain of Black Comb; and they are seen in Westmoreland on the eastern margin of the Lake-district, exhibiting themselves in
three
small patches. The object of this memoir is to point out in detail the circumstances under which they occur in their several areas, and to show that they are more fossiliferous than they have hitherto been regarded, and also to point out their equivalents elsewhere.

§ 2.
The Skiddaw Slates of the West Side of Derwentwater, Bassenthwaite, and Binsey Crag
.

The Skiddaw slates on the west of Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite Lakes, and Binsey Crag, form a portion of the area where they
On Fossil Estheriæ and their Distribution
Authors: Jones T. Rupert
Published: October 2009

Introduction
.—In 1856* I offered to the Society some remarks on the probably Crustacean character of the little fossil that used to be termed
Posidonomya minuta
, on its Estherian relationship, and on some points in the geological distribution of
Estheria
†. Much of the material that I have used for my ‘Monograph of Fossil Estheriæ,’ published by the Palæontographical Society, was then in my hands, but much information and very many specimens have been contributed since by friends, abroad and at home, so that I am now enabled to recognize fourteen fossil species, with several varieties. These are from the freshwater or brackish-water deposits of the Devonian, Lower and Upper Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Rhætic, Oolitic, Wealden, and Tertiary formations.

Though often imbedded in shales or marls in close proximity to other beds containing truly marine organisms, and even near beds impressed with casts of salt-crystals, yet the fossil
Estheriœ
have rarely any unmistakeable sea-shells associated with them in the same bed; and, when such do occur (as in the case of
Lingula tenuissima
), the marine mollusk sometimes appears to have been dwarfed by deteriorating influences. From what we know of the habits of existing bivalved Entomostraca, it is probable that some degree of saltness could be borne by
Estheriœ
, temporarily or continuously; but the recent
Estheriœ
(of which 22 species are known) have been mostly found in rain-water pools and other fresh waters, and a few only have been met with in brackish marshes, and none in the sea. So also, of
On the Lower Carboniferous Brachiopoda of Nova Scotia
Authors: Davidson Thomas
Published: October 2009

A
t
the request of Dr. J. W. Dawson, F.R.S., F.G.S., Principal of M'Gill University, Montreal, I have examined the
Brachiopoda
collected by him from the Lower Carboniferous formation of Nova Scotia, as well as those obtained by Sir C. Lyell during his first journey in America, and I now submit the result of this examination to the Geological Society.

The geology of Nova Scotia has already received the attention of several distinguished observers; and I may mention that, although prior to Sir C. Lyell's visit to the country in question Mr. R. Brown had described the limestone of East River and Cumberland as Lower Carboniferous, the limestones of Windsor and Shubenacadie were at that time regarded as “New Red Sandstone” or “Permian.” Sir C. Lyell was the first to maintain that the whole was of Carboniferous age; and, by so doing, he unravelled a complication which might for a time have involved the geology of the country in much confusion. He may therefore justly claim to have been the first geologist who was able to determine the geological age of the Gypsiferous strata of Nova Scotia, which he considered to be a member of the Carboniferous group instead of the Triassic or the Permian, or both of them, as previously conjectured*. Dr. Dawson informs me that his first papers on the subject were the results of investigations which he made to test Sir C. Lyell's views, and that Mr. Brown and he followed up these observations, and accumulated a vast
On the Geological Structure of the Southern Grampians
Authors: Nicol James
Published: October 2009

1.
Introduction
.—The nature and origin of the crystalline or metamorphic strata have recently formed the subject of various memoirs, both in this country and abroad. Living in a region in great part composed of these rocks, and having for many years been engaged in examining them in various parts of Scotland, I have naturally taken much interest in these discussions. I now venture to lay before the Society an account of some sections which I have recently examined (several of them not for the first time), as they appear to me to throw light on some points of high importance both in the history of the earth and the structure of our own country.

Before noticing special sections, it is right to mention that I have long held the view of the metamorphic origin of these so-called primary strata. In my ‘Guide to the Geology of Scotland,’ in 1844, I pointed out the close resemblance of some parts of these formations to the Silurian strata in the South of Scotland, and indicated that they were merely the metamorphosed representative of the latter. In a paper read before the Geological Society in 1849 I again stated this opinion, and specially noted the “band of clay-slate from Stonehaven to Arran as forming the continuation of the Silurian beds in the south, rising up on the other side of the synclinal valley in which the Carboniferous strata of Scotland have been deposited”*. The same views of the identity of the crystalline strata in
On some Crustacean Tracks from the Old Red Sandstone near Ludlow
Authors: Roberts George E.
Published: October 2009

I
lately
received some sandstone-slabs from the Lower Old Red Cornstones, obtained by Mr. Alfred Marston, of Ludlow, which exhibit more clearly than is usual tracks and trails of
Crustacea
. They were obtained from a somewhat noted quarry at Bouldon, a village seven miles north of Ludlow. Mr. Marston has furnished me with the following details of the Bouldon section:—

A zone of fine-grained and thin-bedded deposits, indicating quiescent conditions and shallow water, is thus seen dividing two conglomeratic beds, the lower of which I am inclined to regard as the rock wanting above the plant-bearing bed at Linley,
but which is seen to accompany that deposit at Trimpley, in Worcestershire, and elsewhere.

The Crustacean tracks occur as casts abundantly upon the under surface of the thin sandstone-layer,
f
, of
the above section.

Of the three or more varieties, the most important in size and distinctness (fig. 2) is a slightly curved trail about one and
one-half inch in width, formed by two series of oval or, rather, flask-shaped prints, one-quarter of an inch long, each bearing a
number of transverse wrinkles parallel to the direction of the trail. The prints taper inwardly, and have a slight upward curve at
the same end. Their distance from each other varies, as also does the height of the cast, but these inequalities may be regarded as
results of peculiarities of the condition of the surface which received them.

The indentations made by another Crustacean (?) upon the slabs (see fig. 3) are longer and
On the Correlation of the several Subdivisions of the Inferior Oolite in the Middle and South of England
Authors: Holl Harvey B.
Published: October 2009

Introduction
.—The Inferior Oolite in the South of England comprehends two well-defined subdivisions: namely, an upper member, consisting of light-coloured, coarse-grained, more or less thin-bedded or flaggy oolite, containing few fossils, and those chiefly in the form of casts; and a lower member of hard, brown, ferruginous lime-rock, often much speckled with ovoid grains of peroxide of iron, and abounding in fossil remains. The relationship which these two beds hold with respect to the other members of the Inferior Oolite has been differently viewed by geologists.

The late Mr. Strickland evidently regarded the lower brown fossiliferous limestone as the equivalent of the Cephalopoda-beds of Haresfield Hill*.

On the other hand, Dr. Lycett, referring to the same bed at Dundry, remarks that, “considering the position of the Mollusca-bed beneath the Freestones, and overlying the Cynocephala-stage, it may approximately be placed upon the parallel of the Cheltenham ferruginous pisolite.”*

More recently, Dr. Wright communicated to the Geological Society a paper in which these lower beds at Dundry form the type of his “zone of
Ammonites Humphriesianus
,” while the white-oolite beds above constitute his “zone of
Ammonites Parkinsoni
.” The former he has referred to the horizon of the Upper Freestone of the Northern Cotteswolds, and the latter to that of the Trigonia- and Gryphitegrits†.

The result of my own investigations is at variance with each of these views; and, having followed the beds stratigraphically along the line of their outcrop, I shall endeavour to show that their true position is higher in the series
On Recent Changes in the Delta of the Ganges
Authors: Fergusson James
Published: October 2009

I.
General Considerations
.

1.
Introduction
—It may seem presumptuous in one who is neither a geologist nor has any pretension to geological knowledge to venture to address this Society on a subject so nearly akin to their special science. My excuse must be that, having resided for five years on the banks of one of the most active of the Bengal rivers, I have had opportunities which are not vouchsafed to every one of observing their phenomena, and have been a witness of the changes I am about to describe. I may also, perhaps, be allowed to state that, when I first became aware of the disturbance that was taking place around me, I set myself carefully to measure and observe what was passing; and , in 1835, made a sketch-survey of the lower Ganges and Brahmapootra, from Jaffiergunge to the sea. This was published by Mr. Tassin a few years afterwards, and is, so far as I know, the only survey that was made—certainly the only one published—between that made by Major Rennell and the survey now in progress, but which has not yet been given to the world. I may also mention, in extenuation, that I have waited for more than a quarter of a century in order that some one more worthy might undertake the task; but, as no one has come forward, I may perhaps be now excused for venturing upon it.

In order, however, to obviate the reproach of presumption, my intention is to confined myself
On the Original Nature and Subsequent Alteration of Mica-schist
Authors: Sorby H. C.
Published: October 2009

That micaceous schists were originally deposited as sand and mud, and that their present mineralogical and mechanical structure is due to subsequent metamorphic action, may appear to some geologists so thoroughly established as to make further proof needless. Since, however, some geologists in our own country and on the Continent have, within the last few years, argued that the bands of varying mineral character do not represent original stratification, but were due to causes similar to those which have produced thin-bedded and almost laminar trachytes, or to some little-understood force of polarity, it appears to me far from superfluous to describe certain facts very completely establishing the sedimentary and metamorphic origin of the schistose rocks of the localities mentioned in the sequel. That the mere repetition of layers of different mineral character is of itself no absolute proof of sedimentary formation is sufficiently apparent from what is often seen in well-known igneous rocks; but mica-schist sometimes possesses other peculiarities, to which I beg to call attention.
On the Relations of the Ross-shire Sandstones containing Reptilian Footprints
Authors: Gordon George , Joass J. M.
Published: October 2009

In the introduction Sir R. I. Murchison gave a sketch of the geology of the Tarbatness promontory, which is composed of variously coloured sandstones, having a conformable dip to the N.W. In these strata the authors had found footprints (of animals believed to be Reptiles) similar to those found in the sandstones on the coast of Elgin; and it was therefore desirable to prove whether these rocks really belonged to the Palæozoic series, or, as some geologists suppose with regard to the Elgin sandstones, to the Trias. In order to solve this problem, if possible, the Rev. Mr. Joass made a careful survey of the coast from Geanies to Tarbatness Lighthouse, and round along the north shore of the promontory to the inlet at Inver; and he found a conformable succession between the undoubted Old Red Sandstone of Geanies and the track-bearing sandstone of Tarbatness.

The Rev. Dr. Gordon gave a description of the various tracks: the smaller kind were referred by him to an unknown Crustacean; the larger and more definite impressions, however, he considered to be the footsteps of some kind of Reptile. He also stated, as confirmatory of the ‘Old Red’ age of the beds, that the Oolitic beds of Shandwick are unconformable to the Old Red Sandstone.
On some Tertiary Shells from Jamaica
Authors: Moore J. Carrick
Published: October 2009

The late Mr. Barrett formed a collection of Tertiary fossils in Jamaica from some beds which were referred to in the ‘Geologist’ for 1862, p. 373. The collection was forwarded to Mr. Woodward, who, seeing their relation to the San-Domingan fossils, asked me to examine the Mollnsca, while the Corals were submitted to Dr. Duncan. In comparing the Shells with fossil and recent forms, I have been kindly assisted by Mr. Woodward, Dr. Baird, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. Lovell Reeve, and now lay the results before the Society.
Notes on the Mineralogy and Geology of Borneo and the adjacent Islands
Authors: de Groot Mijnheer Corn.
Published: October 2009

The steam-coal formation of Borneo underlies the Nummulitic Limestone, and, so far as I am at present able to judge, belongs to the “Étage Suessonien” of D'Orbigny. From the Nummulitic Limestone the following fossils have been obtained, namely,
Nummulina depressa, N. lenticularis, N, mamilla
, and
N. polygyrata
; also
Eupatangus ornatus
and
Phaculina Faujasii
. The last-named fossil is, I know, found in the Maestricht Beds; but, according to Bronn, it occurs also in the ‘Etage Suessonien.’

In a search for lodes of copper in the western part of Borneo, north of Pontianak, made on behalf of private adventurers by Mr. Everwijn, the strings of copper that were found, though very rich, were too small to pay for working. There are also some poor copper-lodes near the Singkarah Lake, in the mountains east of Padang, in the Island of Sumatra; but the veins, though large, are too poor to be worked.

A search for tin-veins was made in the Island of Blitong (Billiton), by Mr. Akkeringa, one of our mining-engineers, in 1860–61, with the following result:—at Brang no metalliferous veins were found; but on the Tadjouw Hill (goenoeng Tadjouw) a vein 4 to 5 feet wide, and containing much tin-ore, was discovered; its exploitation was commenced last year. Granite and elvan were found on the south, and eurite (elvan) on the north of Tadjouw Hill.
On the Sandstones and Shales of the Oolites of Scarborough, with Descriptions of new Species of Fossil Plants
Authors: Leckenby J.
Published: October 2009

The true position of the well-known Plant-bed at Gristhorpe Bay, below the grey limestone, was first pointed ont by Prof. Williamson, and afterwards by Dr. Wright; and Mr. Leckenby showed that all the Plants hitherto referred to the Upper Sandstone, Shale, and Coal belong to the Lower Sandstones and Shales, but few Plants having been found in the true Upper Sandstones and Shales overlying the grey limestone. The author gave lists of fossil Plants occurring in the two sets of strata, as well as of those occurring at the separate localities; and he concluded by describing some new and some imperfectly known species of Ferns.
A Monograph of the Ammonites of the Cambridge Greensand
Authors: Seeley H.
Published: October 2009

The excavations in the Upper Greensand of Cambridge have furnished Mr. Seeley with an opportunity of examining a great number of specimens of the different species of Ammonites occurring in that formation, and he now communicated the results of his examinations to the Society, giving detailed descriptions of the species.
On a new Crustacean from the Glasgow Coal-field
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: October 2009

In a previous memoir I endeavoured to collect together what was known of the long-tailed Malacostraca of our coal-fields,—fields, it may be observed, almost untrodden by the palæontologist. My friend Mr. James Russell has since found a new species, which I call
Palæocarabus Russellianus
.

It is from the Palace Craig “Black band,” in the Upper Coals, above the “Rosslyn Sandstone or Moor Rock,” and lies some 20 or 24 fathoms above the Ell Coal.
Anthrapalæmon Grossarti
, described by me in the above-quoted memoir, was from a bed 960 feet below that coal.
On the Recent Earthquake at St. Helena
Authors: Elliot C.
Published: October 2009

T
his
earthquake, which is stated to be the fourth that has occurred during the two centuries that we have been in the occupation of the Island, occurred at about 4h. 10m.
a.m.
on July 15th, and in this paper Sir C. Elliot described the nature of the shock and the circumstances attending it.
On the Structure of certain Organic Remains in the Laurentian Limestones of Canada
Authors: Dawson J. W.
Published: October 2009

A
t
the request of Sir William E. Logan, I have submitted to microscopic examination slices of certain peculiar laminated forms, consisting of alternate layers of carbonate of lime and serpentine, or of carbonate of lime and white pyroxene, found in the Laurentian Limestones of Canada, and regarded by Sir William as possibly fossils*. I have also examined slices of a number of limestones and serpentines from the Laurentian Series, not showing the external forms of these supposed fossils.

The slices were prepared by the lapidary of the Survey, and were carefully examined under ordinary and polarized light, with objectives made by Ross and Smith & Beck, and also with good French objectives.

The specimens first mentioned are masses, often several inches in diameter, presenting to the naked eye alternate laminæ of serpentine, or of pyroxene, and carbonate of lime. Their general aspect, as remarked by Sir W. E. Logan (Geology of Canada, 1863, p. 49), reminds the observer of that of the Silurian Corals of the genus
Stromatopora
, except that the laminæ diverge from and approach each other, and frequently anastomose or are connected by transverse septa.

Under the microscope the resemblance to
Stromatopora
is seen to be in general form merely, and no trace appears of the radiating cells characteristic of that genus. The laminæ of serpentine and pyroxene present no organic structure, and the latter mineral is highly crystalline. The laminæ of carbonate of lime, on the contrary, retain distinct traces of structures which cannot be of a