bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Note on a Crocodilian Skull from Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset
Authors: Hulke J. W.
Published: October 2009

A
closer
examination lately made by Mr. Davies, Sen., of the fossils presented to the British Museum last year by J. C. Mansel, Esq., has led to the identification of a large crocodilian head with the Saurian the lower jaw of which I described last session, and identified with
Dakosaurus maximus
of Quenstedt. Covered with matrix, this head had been previously put aside as Pliosaurian, other Pliosaurian remains having been presented to the Museum by the same munificent donor; but now that its identity has been correctly established, a short account of it seems to be a fit sequel to my last paper. The general agreement of their dimensions, and their discovery near together (in a reef exposed at low water in Kimmeridge Bay), make it highly probable that this head and the lower jaw both belonged to one individual. The considerable part of the head discovered by Mr. Mansel includes the back of the skull, the left upper temporal arcade, and the entire snout. The extremity of this latter is completed by the præmaxillæ figured in the last number of our Journal, the sutures in which so exactly coincide with those in the broken end of the snout that there cannot be any doubt of the correctness of this restoration.

The shape of the head is a long triangle; its sides converge from the occiput to the end of the snout, with a slight outeurve of the temporal arcade, a moderate incurve in front of the orbits, and a
Australian Mesozoic Geology and Paæontology
Authors: Moore Charles
Published: October 2009

T
he
early pioneers of Australian colonization were too intent upon the practical concerns of daily life to give much attention to scientific investigations, and they consequently overlooked many sources of wealth which they have since learnt were within their reach.

The subsequent discovery of the mineral treasures possessed by the Australian colonies has shown the importance of their more minute and careful survey, and has given an impetus to the study their geological characters.

The first steps in the exploration of a new country would naturally be the determination of the prevailing geological formations; and as time and opportunity permitted their minuter subdivisions would have to be worked out, and correlated with any of their equivalents in other parts of the world.

In this way it was soon established that the chief sedimentary deposits in Australia were either Palæozoic or Tertiary, and it seemed to be the prevailing opinion that the great intermediate formations included in the Mesozoic group, comprising the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous rocks, were altogether absent.

We have been slowly learning that these conclusions were too hastily arrived at; and it is at last incontrovertibly established that some of the missing Mesozoic beds are represented on the great Australian continent.

Setting aside the question of the geological age of the coal-beds of Newcastle in New South Wales, respecting which there was a difference of opinion amongst both Australian and other geologists (the Rev. W. B. Clarke considering them to be of true Carboniferous age, a fact which
On the Crag of Norfolk and Associated Beds
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

The author commenced by referring to his last paper, in which he divided the Red Crag into two divisions—a lower one, of variable oblique-bedded strata, and an upper one, of sands passing up into the clay known as the Chillesford clay. In 1849 he had alluded to the possibility of this clay being synchronous with the Norwich Crag. He has since traced this upper or Chillesford division of the Red Crag northwards, with a view to determine its relation to the Norwich Crag. He has found it at various places inland; but the best exhibition of it occurs in the Easton Bavant Cliffs. He there found in it a group of shells similar to those at Chillesford, and under it the well-known bed of mammaliferous or Norwich Crag, with the usual shells. The author also showed that in this cliff and the one nearer Lowestoft traces of the Forest-bed clearly set in upon the Chillesford clay. He traced these beds at the base of Horton Cliff, and then passed on to the well-known cliffs of Happisburgh and Mundesley. He considered the Chillesford clay to pass beneath the Elephant bed, and to represent some part of the Forestbed. The same clay may be traced to near Weybourne. The Crag under these beds he referred to the Chillesford sands. Mention was then made of the sands and shingle above the Chillesford, for which the author proposed the names of “Southwold Sands and Shingle.” These usually are very unfossiliferous; but at two or three places near Southwold the author found indications of an abundance os shells (
Mytilus
&c.) and Foraminifera in some iron-sandstones intercalated in this series. In the Norfolk cliffs these beds contain alternating seams of marine and freshwater shells. The inland range of the beds to Aldeby, Norwich, and Coltishall was next traced, and the Chillesford clay shown to be present in each section, and the sands beneath to be referable to the Chillesford sands, as already shown by other geologists, on the evidence of the organic remains. Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys, who had carefully examined the shells of the Norwich Crag for the author, stated that a considerable number of arctic species were found in the Norfolk Crag which did not occur in Suffolk. While, therefore, the Norwich Crag seems to be synchronous with a portion of the Suffolk Crag, that portion is the upper division; and therefore the triple arrangement proposed by Mr. Charlesworth and advocated by Sir C. Lyell, together with the fact of the setting in of a gradually more severe climate, pointed out by the late Dr. Woodward and by Sir C. Lyell, are confirmed.

Mr. Prestwich then referred to the origin of the materials of the Southwold shingle, and showed that, with few exceptions, they came from the south. In it he had found a considerable number of worn fragments of chert and ragstone from the Lower Greensand of Kent. He considered this a convenient base-line for the Quaternary period, as then commenced the spread of the marine gravels over the south of England, and soon after commenced the great denudations which have given the great features to the country.
Note on the Middle Lias in the North-east of Ireland
Authors: Tate Ralph
Published: October 2009

P
ortlock
in his ‘Survey of Londonderry’ makes no mention of the presence of the Middle Lias in Ireland; and an examination of the species of fossils collected by him proves that no higher member of the Jurassic series than the Lower Lias is represented by them. In a former communication I demonstrated the presence of the whole series of the Lower Lias, and, till recently, was unaware of the occurrence of strata newer than that formation.

Mr. William Gray has sent me several blocks of a grey, marly, micaceous sandstone, charged with organic remains of Middle Liassic age; these were obtained near the town of Ballintoy, “in fields and cultivated patches of drift,” and conjectured by the discoverer to have been derived from the immediate vicinity; but up to the present time they have not been referred to their parent site.

With the exception of
Plicatula spinosa
,
Avicula novemcostæ
, and
Rhynchonella variabilis
, which range throughout the Lower and Middle Lias, the majority of the determined species indicate an horizon below the Marlstone but above the highest beds of the Lower Lias. The close similarity in lithological composition, and in part in fossiliferous contents, between the Pabba shales and the blocks found at Ballintoy suggests the probability of the latter having been transferred during glacial times from the Hebrides.

Nevertheless the sandstone blocks from Ballintoy belong unquestionably to the Middle Lias, and appertain to the lower division, which includes the
Jamesoni
-bed, the
Ibex
-bed, and the
Capricornus
-bed, and are contemporaneous (if not.
Additional Observations on the Neocomian Strata of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, with Notes on their Relations to the Beds of the same age throughout Northern Europe
Authors: Judd John W.
Published: October 2009

Conclusion

We have thus seen that the Neocomian beds of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are the most westerly development of a great mass of strata, of the same age, stretching over a wide area in Northern Europe. It is true that the beds of this age are neither so well exposed nor do they attain so great a thickness as in the south of Europe; but they nevertheless present us with a remarkably similar succession of faunas. At the eastern and western extremities of the area, in Brunswick and in Yorkshire respectively, the marine series is complete, and we have the three divisions of the Neocomian formation all developed; but in the intermediate districts of Westphalia, Hanover, and the Hartz, the marine beds represent only the Upper and Middle Neocomian, and these rest upon the freshwater strata of the North-German Wealden.

The section at Speeton Cliff derives additional interest from the fact that it is by far the most complete exposure of the Neocomian beds over the whole of the great North-European area. The sections elsewhere are more or less isolated and fragmentary; but at Speeton we find the key by means of which they may be identified and correlated.

We have seen that, over the North-European area, a remarkable uniformity of character is maintained among the Neocomian strata (and the same is, to a certain extent, true also of the Cretaceous and Jurassic), indicating that this district forms a natural province, not improbably representing an ancient sea-basin. The ridge of Palæozoic
On Deep-mining with Relation to the Physical Structure and Mineral-bearing Strata of the South-west of Ireland
Authors: Hyde Samuel
Published: October 2009

T
he
author described the general structure of the country in the south-west extremity of Ireland, which he stated to consist of a series of rocks analogous to the “Killas” of Cornwall, and belonging to the upper part of the Lower, or the lower part of the Upper Devonian series. He combated the opinion which had been expressed by the late Professor Jukes, that copper-ores would not be found in the district in sufficient quantities to make mining there a remunerative process. In support of his thesis, he cited the Bearhaven mines, established about fifty years ago, the Allitries and Ballycummisk mines, and the Coosheen mine. He stated that in the Ballycummisk mines a depth of 200 fathoms has been reached, and that some of the shafts at Bearhaven are much deeper. These deep workings were said to yield large returns of ore. In opposition to the opinions stated by the late Professor Jukes, the author maintained that the copper lodes were of the same nature as those of Cornwall, and he described them as running in a similar direction, namely, 10°–25° N. of E. From the similarity in the geological constitution of the country, and in the direction of its mineral veins, the author was inclined to infer a former continuity between the south-western promontories of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.
On the Structure of a Fern-stem from the Lower Eocene of Herne Bay, and on its Allies Recent and Fossil
Authors: Carruthers Wm.
Published: October 2009

T
he
Royal Fern (
Osmunda regalis
, Linn.) is the noblest and most striking of our British ferns. The tuft of fronds under favourable circumstances attains a height of nearly 12 feet, and the erect stem is sometimes more than 2 feet long. The stem is perennial, growing in tufts, formed by the repeated dichotomous division of the terminal bud; the whole is matted together by a large mass of adventitious wiry roots. The different stems are stout and firm, and densely covered with the permanent bases of the petioles. It is found in wet, springy, or boggy places all over Britain, and is indeed generally distributed over the northern temperate zone. With one other genus,
Todea
, it forms a small but well-marked natural group of ferns, the
Osmundaceæ
.

I have determined the existence of
Osmunda regalis
in the Norwich Forest-bed from large specimens collected by the Rev. J. Gunn. It is common in the newer submerged forests, having maintained its ground through all the changes that have taken place.

Three closely allied forms have been found in the later Tertiary strata; the oldest was obtained from a bed at the base of the Miocene period. I have now to add a fourth from the Lower Eocene at Herne Bay.

This species is based upon a portion of a stem in the collection of George Dowker, Esq., F.G.S. It is somewhat unequally weathered and water-worn, one of its sides being rubbed nearer to the centre than the other. The whole of the
Notes on a New Species of Starfish from the Ironstone Beds of the Inferior Oolite of Northampton
Authors: Wright Thomas
Published: October 2009

T
he
genus
Goniaster
was proposed by Prof. Agassiz, in his ‘Prodrome,’ to include Starfishes with a large pentagonal body, having the margin bordered by a series of wide, thick plates or tesseræ, superimposed in pairs, and which support spines, granules, &c. The upper and under surface of the disk is covered with small polygonal plates, set closely together like a mosaic, and fitted into this marginal framework: the free surface of the ossicles is smooth or covered with granulations. The ambulacral furrows are narrow, with two rows of pedal suckers therein; the vent opens near the dorsal surface, and the mouth-opening is slit-like and pentagonal.

Müller and Troschel, in their ‘System der Asteriden,’ suppressed the genus
Goniaster
, and instead thereof erected the genera
Astrogonium
,
Goniodiscus
, and
Stellaster
. The diagnostic characters of these groups were chiefly obtained from the structure of the marginal plates and appendages thereof, the figure and arrangement of the discal plates; and the form and development of the rays:—

1.

Astrogonium
. Marginal plates large and smooth towards the centre, their inner border encircled by granules.

2.

Goniodiscus
. Marginal plates having the entire upper surface covered with close-set granulations.

3.

Stellaster
. Marginal plates granulated, the ventral segment supporting a pendent spine, the rays elongated and tapering to a lanceolate extremity.

Many of these characters are absent in fossil
Goniasteridæ
and are therefore valueless for palæontological purposes; for this reason I have retained the genus
Goniaster
for the large pentagonal short- rayed forms, and that of
Stellaster
for those with a smaller.
On Fossil Remains of Mammals found in China
Authors: Owen R.
Published: October 2009

S
ince
making known in 1858 the fact of a fossil tooth of an elephantine species having been obtained at Shanghai, China, I have omitted no opportunity of acquiring further evidences of the extinct mammals of that part of the Asiatic continent; and I am now enabled to communicate characters of remains of several other mammalian genera, through the kindness of Robert Swinhoe, Esq., late H.M. Consul in the Island of Formosa, and to whom zoology is indebted for several interesting discoveries.

Before proceeding to the description of Mr. Swinhoe’s specimens, I may premise a more complete description than has appeared of the first-mentioned fossil, of which outlines of the grinding-surface and inner and outer side views are appended, of the natural size (Pl. XXVII. figs. 1, 2, 3).

The tooth in question is the second upper molar (
d
3 of the type series) from the right side. Its crown, in a length of three inches, is divided into five transverse ridges, the proportions of which, as to height and basal breadth, with the ridged and wrinkled character of the enamel, suffice for its reference to a species of the group of Proboscidians discovered by Crawfurd in the Irrawadi Tertiaries of Ava, and described by Clift in the second volume of the second series of the Transactions of the Geological Society (p. 369, pls. 36-39, 1828). And here I beg leave to express my sense of the wise appreciation of the needs of the palæontologist by the Council of the Society
On two Gneissoid Series in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, supposed to be the Equivalents of the Huronian (Cambrian) and Laurentian
Authors: Hind Henry Youle
Published: October 2009

T
he
descriptions contained in this paper, so far as they relate to Nova Scotia, are in the main the results of observations during the summers of 1868 and 1869, while making geological surveys for the Nova-Scotian Government, in the gold-districts of Waverley and Sherbrooke. The comparisons with New Brunswick are based on my official Report on the Geology of that Province, published in 1865; and the references to Cape Breton, when not otherwise stated, are from MS. notes of explorations in that island during 1866.

The accompanying maps (Pl. XXX.) embrace part of Halifax, Hants, and Guysborough Counties in Nova Scotia, and in New Brunswick a broad belt extending from the Bay of Chaleurs to the boundary line between New Brunswick and Maine.

Geological maps of Nova Scotia were published by Dr. Abraham Gesner in 1836, by Dr. Dawson in 1865§ and in 1868∥, and by Sir William E. Logan in 1865 ¶ and in 1869.

Sir William Logan states, in the introduction to his ‘Atlas of Maps and Sections,’ that for the geology of Nova Scotia “a manuscript map by Dr. J. W. Dawson, compiled from his own researches and those of Messrs. R. Brown and H. Poole, has been the source of information.” Hence, in making the necessary comparisons between the subject of this paper and the published descriptions and maps of Nova Scotia, I shall have to refer almost exclusively to Dr. Dawson’s maps of 1868, accompanying the 2nd edition of his beautiful work on Acadian Geology.
Contributions to a Knowledge of the Newer Tertiaries of Suffolk and their Fauna
Authors: Lankester E. Ray
Published: October 2009

1. A definite step in the progress of the solution of the problem presented to geologists by the confused highly fossiliferous strata of the eastern part of the Eastern Counties has been made, on the one hand, in the recognition of the character of the fauna of the so called “coprolite-” or bone-bed of Suffolk, as distinct from that of the superposed shelly strata known as Coralline and Red Crags; and, on the other hand, in regarding the fauna of the Norfolk stone-bed, first recognized by Mr. Gunn, as distinct from that of the superposed shell-beds of the Norwich Crag. The bone-bed underlying the Suffolk Crags and the stone-bed underlying the Norfolk Crags must be looked upon as having a different history and containing a quite distinct fauna from that indicated by the Mollusca of the higher beds, the two not having been contemporaneous, nor related to the same physical conditions. Until quite recently, these two distinct sets of accumulations have been confounded under the common term Crag. It is a matter for regret that the term Crag, locally applied to the shelly strata of the eastern counties, should also have been extended to the whole series of deposits of Antwerp; for whilst the upper or Yellow Crag, forming the Scaldisien system of Dumont, is clearly equivalent to our Red and Coralline Crags, the Lower or Black Crag, better called Diestien, is not represented in England by any existing strata in their true position, and is simply connected with the
On the Distribution of Wastdale-Crag Blocks, “Shap-Fell Granite Boulders,” in Westmoreland
Authors: Harkness Robert
Published: October 2009

T
he
dispersion of blocks of porphyritic granite, which have been originally derived from Wastdale Crag, a hill lying three miles south of Shap, in Westmoreland, has long excited the attention of geologists. These granite blocks, to which the term “Shap-granite” boulders has been applied, are alluded to as early as 1836 by Professor Phillips, who has described the direction which these blocks have taken during the period of their dispersion; who also mentions the occurrence of these blocks on Stainmoor, a pass in the Pennine chain, and their having travelled over some of the hills and valleys of Westmoreland, South Durham, and Yorkshire.

Wastdale Crag, from which these blocks have been derived, is a low rounded hill, a little more than four miles N.W. of Tebay station, on the Lancaster and Carlisle railway. It is composed wholly of porphyritic granite, which, on the western side of the granitic area, attains an elevation of about 1600 feet above the level of the sea.

This area of porphyritic granite is flanked, on the western side, by ashes and porphyries, which belong to the Bala age ; and these ashes and porphyries on this side, immediately adjoining the granite, attain to a greater elevation than the granite, rising to a height of 1853 feet in the summit of Wastdale Pike ; and a little further westward some of the hill-tops are somewhat higher.

The granitic area of Wastdale Crag has a somewhat irregular outline. Its greatest breadth is from E.S.E. to W.N.W., being
Observations on some Vegetable Fossils from Victoria
Authors: von Müller Ferdinand , Smyth R. Brough
Published: October 2009

Mr. S
myth
stated that the fossils, of which specimens were forwarded by him, were obtained in one of the deep leads at Haddon, near Smythesdale. No leaves have been obtained from the bed, which consists of a greyish-black clay; the fruits and seed-vessels were obtained about 180 feet from the surface, and represent a flora not very dissimilar to that now characterizing some parts of Queensland. The specimens sent include the fruits of a supposed new genus of Coniferæ, described by Dr. von Müller under the name of
Spondylostrobus
. It is most nearly allied to
Solenostrobus
, Bowerbank; but its five valves are not keeled. The columella forms the main body of the fruit; and the seeds are apparently solitary. The species was named
Spondylostrobus Smythii
. The remaining specimens consisted of:—a solitary fruit of a genus of Verbenaceæ; an indehiscent compressed fruit, probably belonging to the proteaceous genus
Helicia
; a nut nearly allied to the preceding; a large, spherical, unilocular, 3-seeded nut with a thick pericarp, perhaps from a Capparidaceous plant; a 5-valved capsule of an unknown genus; and fruit-valves of three other plants, probably belonging to the Sapindaceæ, and perhaps allied to
Cupania
, One of the last may belong to the Meliciaceous genus
Dysoxylon
, Dr. Müller considered that these remains indicate a former flora analogous to that of the existing forest-belt of Eastern Australia.
On
Dorypterus Hoffmanni
, Germar, from the Marl-slate fo Midderidge, Durham
Authors: Hancock Albany , Howse Richard
Published: October 2009

W
ithin
the last few years four specimens of
Dorypterus Hoffmanni
have been discovered in the Marl-slate of Midderidge, in the county of Durham, by Joseph Duff, Esq., two of them in the year 1865, and the other two in the autumn of last year, 1869. A few traces of other individuals were also observed at the same time and in the same locality. These are, we believe, the first specimens of this very singular fish that have been obtained from the Marl-slate of this country.

The Midderidge quarry, in which these examples were found, is situated on the Darlington and Wear Valley Railway, not far from Bishop’s Auckland, and is well known as being the locality where the Marl-slate fishes were first discovered. Prof. Sedgwick a long time ago (Trans. Geol. Soc. 2nd series, vol. iii. pp. 76, 77) accurately described the position of this quarry and the stratum in which these specimens were found.

Through the kindness of Mr. Duff, we have had the opportunity and pleasure of examining and studying all the specimens of this interesting fish: and this has happened fortunately; for each specimen, being in a different state of preservation, has assisted much towards the working out and comprehension of the structure of this extraordinary ichthyolite.

When Mr. Driff’s original specimens were first seen, they were supposed to be merely the skeletons of a species of Platysomus ; but a short examination soon showed that this opinion was entirely erroneous; and happily the discovery of two
On the Physics of Arctic Ice, as explanatory of the Glacial Remains in Scotland
Authors: Brown Robert
Published: October 2009

I have thus given what I honestly conceive to be a correct description of glaciation in Greenland, with logical deductions regarding glaciation in Britain and, by context, in northern Europe. The paper resolves itself into two parts:—1st, fact; 2nd, theory. Still our facts are too few to allow any theory to be more than tentative; and it is only by making frequent ventures, and being content to see our first efforts fail, that we can ever arrive at any conclusions regarding the glacial epoch in Scotland. Though we have a number of so-called facts ready-made to our hand, yet the difficulty is to believe them, simply because the recorders, though perfectly honest and upright, see these facts through a preconceived theory, and, unknown to themselves, twist them into a form which will support their views, and omit (unintentionally) to record the very things most necessary to be observed. I conceive, however, that we are on the right track, and that it is only by long observation of the glacial system of Greenland (because in Spitzbergen the glaciers are on such a small scale as to show us glaciation but imperfectly) that we can ever arrive at a sound knowledge of the causes of the glaciation or ice-markings of Europe. Nature never works by one means alone, but accomplishes her ends by many agents, all working, each in due proportion, towards the same end. So in these, glaciers have accomplished much, but bergs and sea-ice have also done their part in
On an Altered Clay-bed and Section in Tideswell Dale, Derbyshire
Authors: Mello J. M.
Published: October 2009

The object of my present communication is to call attention to an interesting section that has lately been exposed in a quarry on the eastern side of Tideswell Dale in Derbyshire. The locality is exactly pointed out by the words “Tideswell Dale” in the Ordnance Map No. 81, S.E. At this spot it will be seen, by a reference to the map of the Geological Survey, that an outcrop of toadstone occurs. Another outcrop of toadstone is also exposed by the railway-cutting on the right bank of the Wye, opposite Litton Mill; this rock is fully described in the recently published memoir of the Geological Survey relating to this county. Above this are found thinly-bedded limestones; whilst lower down the river the loadstone is wanting, and a considerable thickness of fossiliferous limestone occurs with “thin lenticular partings of shale and red clay.” At the bottom of Miller's Dale a toadstone, capped by about 150 feet of limestone, is seen running along the roadside on the left bank of the river; this bed is hard and massive in part, with calcareous veins and hæmatite; and is also amygdaloidal except where it has been exposed to the atmosphere; it is then vesicular and in places much decomposed. An upper bed immediately beneath the limestone is very green and soft, is veined with calcite, and has also here and there a little iron pyrites; the limestone above is very hard, and also has specks of pyrites in it. Going on now up Tideswell
Observations on Ice-marks in Newfoundland
Authors: Kerr J. H.
Published: October 2009

Whilst engaged on the survey of part of the coast of Newfoundland, the author observed and noted some of the phenomena produced by the former action of ice. In this paper he enumerated the following localities where grooves and scratches were noticed, and indicated the direction of these markings.

At Burke Point (No. 3) is a groove 22 feet wide and 20 inches deep, rising out of the water S.W. for a distance of 70 feet over a steep, polished and scratched surface, at an angle of about 40° to the horizon; in this groove there are two sets of scratches, one in the direction of the groove, the other, and more recent one, in a direction N. 31° E. On Campbell's Hill (No. 4) there are numerous boulders, many of them curiously poised. At Cat Point (No. 5) there are grooves on perpendicular surfaces just above the level of the sea, very similar to those occurring on the Blue Hills (No. 6), at a considerable altitude. The west side of Signal Hill, north of St. John's Harbour (No. 22
a
) has the surfaces of the highly inclined strata of coarse sandstone smoothed, grooved, and scratched at all angles of inclination. The marks are lost at the eastern edge of the hill, which forms a precipice 300 feet high, bounding a valley 1000 feet wide, running N.E. and S.W., and they reappear on the opposite boundary of this valley, which rises about 80 feet, and consists of highly inclined strata of coarse conglomerate. After passing over about 1000 feet of this conglomerate, the marks disappear at the sea-shore.

North of Bonavista Bay the granite has the rounded appearance of a glaciated region; but the rock is easily weathered, and the scratches had to be sought under perched blocks. On Ladle Island (No. 23) there is a groove 10 feet wide and 12 inches deep, ex-tending completely across the island (a distance of 200 yards). The surface of the island is formed by the edges of highly inclined beds of schist.

The author discussed the extent and effects of the glacier-system to which these markings are due, and indicated that its great ter- minal moraine is probably the 80-fathom bank across the mouth of Conception Bay, and that smaller terminal moraines exist in the form of submerged banks at the entrance of Holy-rood and Collier’s Bays. He expressed the opinion that the country has not been submerged since its glaciation, and considered that the assertion that it is now rising is exceedingly doubtful.

The paper was illustrated with numerous drawings of localities and rubbings of scratched surfaces.
On the Geology of Natal, in South Africa
Authors: Griesbach Charles Ludolf
Published: October 2009

I.
Geography of the Country: Watersheds.

The
colony of Natal presents the appearance of a series of terraces; the first terrace begins to rise about thirteen to twenty miles from the coast, and forms a hilly country, about 1000 feet above the level of the sea. It forms plateaux in abrupt rising steps until it reaches the height of about 2300 feet, after which the country sinks gradually again to the level of Pietermaritzburg (2080 feet above the sea); but it soon rises again to the high plateaux of the Town Hill and Zwartkop (about 5000 feet high). In a very few steps it forms the long and mighty range of the Draakensberge, which form the great watershed line between the rivers of the Atlantic and the Indian oceans. We find in this range the Mont aux Sources (12000 feet above the level of the sea), a knot of mountains, which sends spurs in five directions, forming the Witteberge and the Quathlamba Mountains. All these great steps and plateaux run parallel to the coast, and consist of more or less broad belts of country. The small belt on the seashore shows tropical vegetation. The sugar-cane, the coffee, and now recently the tea shrub, and the greatest variety of tropical fruits find here suitable climate and ought to be sources of immense riches to the country if properly managed. When we ascend the first terrace, the change in the landscape is at once remarkable, and the vegetation has quite a different
On Lower Tertiary Deposits recently Exposed at Portsmouth
Authors: Meyer C. J. A.
Published: October 2009

T
he
excavations in progress at Portsmouth in furtherance of the works known as the “Dockyard Extension Works,” have exposed to view, during the last three or four years, many fine and highly interesting sections in the Lower Tertiaries.

I propose to lay before the Society, by way of record, a brief account of these sections, and of the numerous fossils which have been obtained from them.

The site of the “Extension Works” lies to the east and northeast of the existing Dockyard. A description of the works themselves would be out of place in this paper; I shall therefore confine my mention of them to such points only as may serve to illustrate the geology of the district.

Previously to the commencement of these works, in 1867, the ground intended to be occupied was, for the most part, a vast mud-flat, covered at every tide by the waters of the harbour. The mud, of which I shall have more to say hereafter, was of the soft and sticky character so prevalent in tidal basins, and attained over some parts of the area to the formidable depth of from 35 to 40 feet.

In 1868 the sea was excluded by means of a dam of sheet-piling; and the enclosed area has been since reduced, by pumping and deep drainage, to almost perfect dryness to the depth of 40 feet beneath low water.

Excavations had been already commenced in the higher portion of the ground before the shutting out of the sea-water;
On Some Points in the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Malaga
Authors: d'Orueta Don M.
Published: October 2009

M
uch
remains to be done in the investigation of the geological structure of Spain. The Spanish geologists have principally described in a general manner the mineral character of the soil in various districts, but they have not paid sufficient attention to the order of superposition and the character of the fossils, and few foreign men of science have made this country the subject of their investigations. For this reason, what we know at present about the formations of the province of Malaga is principally owing to the able memoir and excellent map of M. Verneuil, However, as I believe this gentleman did not travel in the northern part of this district, he has not given any particular description of many geological formations which, by their order of superposition, mineral composition, and the character of their fossils, might be of great help in ascertaining the place in the geological scale of the analogous strata which exist in other localities of the province, but which do not present so many interesting data and facilities for study. Although I am only acquainted by reference with the opinions of this gentleman (possessing only the map he published in conjunction with M. E. Collomb), I believe that he dwelt principally on the Tertiary formations in this vicinity, and, above all, on those on which the city of Malaga is built. I think that he was the. first person that ever described them, publishing also a list of several shells, which he collected at the “Tejares”
On the Punfield Formation
Authors: Judd John W.
Published: October 2009

Conclusion

The grounds on which I have ventured to suggest that the strata, the nature and relations of which I have endeavoured to illustrate in the preceding pages, are worthy to rank as an independent formation are as follows:—

1.

They present very distinct mineralogical characters, separating them alike from the overlying Neocomian and the subjacent Wealden proper.

2.

They are of considerable thickness, attaining a maximum of 230 feet.

3.

They present evidence of having been deposited under conditions differing alike from those of the marine Neocomian above and the purely freshwater Wealden below.

4.

They yield a considerable marine fauna (between 30 and 40 species being already known), which is remarkably distinct and well characterized.

5.

They are the undoubted representatives of a formation which in Spain attains to a vast thickness, and which, alike from its marked palæontological characters and its great economic value, is of great importance.

6.

Their relations to the Wealden and Neocomian are precisely analogous to those of the Purbeck formation to the Oolite and Wealden; and they are therefore equally deserving with it of a distinctive title.

At the same time I have endeavoured to show that these beds may be regarded indifferently either as the highest member of the Wealden in our classification of the series of terrestrial strata, or as a portion of the Neocomian in our grouping of the marine series. The application to them of a distinctive name is therefore, although a necessary, perhaps only a provisional expedient; but the same is to a greater or less extent true of most of our geological terms.
On the Red Rocks of England of older date than the Trias
Authors: Ramsay A. C.
Published: October 2009

In a previous paper I stated that the red colour which stains the New Red sandstone and marl is due to the presence of peroxide of iron, the iron probably having found its way into the water as a carbonate, which by contact with the air, afterwards became peroxidized, and encrusted the sedimentary grains as a thin pellicle. I further stated that I believed that iron could not have been deposited in this manner in an open sea, but rather in inland isolated waters, and I confirmed this opinion by other facts which tended to prove that our New Red strata were formed in a lake or lakes, which at the period of the deposition of the Keuper marls, were salt.

I now propose to examine the bearing of the red eolour due to peroxide of iron in other formations of older date, as to the physical conditions under which those strata were deposited that is to say, whether they were formed in the open sea or in inland waters. In doing this I will also take into consideration any other circumstances, physical or palæontological, that may tend either to confirm or to throw doubt on the idea stated above. I will not treat of the pretriassic red rocks either in ascending or descending stratigraphical order, but simply in the manner that seems most convenient to illustrate the points at issue. I f some of the following passages appear like a partial repetition of arguments used in my previous paper
On the Formation of “Cirques,” and their bearing upon Theories attributing the Excavation of Alpine Valleys mainly to the Action of Glaciers
Authors: Bonney T. G.
Published: October 2009

T
he
following paper is an attempt to examine how far a theory which during the last few years has obtained more or less support from many very eminent geologists, can be applied to one of the most remarkable features in several mountain-valleys. Although “cirques” are more commonly associated with the Pyrenees, they are by no means infrequent or on a small scale in the Alps; and as I know the former mountain-chain only at second handy I shall confine myself to the latter, and to those instances which I have personally examined.

In venturing to treat of a subject so fall of difficulty, and to oppose the opinions of persons far more eminent than myself, I may venture to plead as my excuse that I do not write without some experience of mountain-regions, seeing that I have twelve times visited the Alps, have wandered, generally on foot, over almost the whole chain, and have had during many of these journeys this subject of mountain-sculpture especially present before my mind, so as to be constantly on the watch for evidence bearing upon the various theories that have been advanced.

First let me briefly describe a few of the most remarkable cirques, beginning with the Creux de Champs.

This is an approximately semicircular amphitheatre on the northern face of the Diablerets, forming the head of a short glen terminating the valley of la Grande Eau, which joins the Rhone at Aigle. Vast precipices of limestone and shale enclose it, which are crowned
On the Structure of the Crag-beds of Suffolk and Norfolk, with some Observations on their Organic Remains
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

Conclusion

In the former part of this paper, I remarked that the Coralline Crag had, during its latter stages, been subject to a process of slow elevation, but probably without rising above the sea-level. It had, however, emerged above the sea at the commencement of the Red-Crag period, as evinced by the shore-line at the base of the Red Crag at Sutton (see Pl. VI.), when the Coralline-Crag reef or islet stood some 40 feet or more above that shore-line. The difference of level between the lower shore-line and the surface of the London Clay under the Red Crag in the adjacent district is not more than a few feet, whence the Red Crag must have been accumulated in a shallow sea. Mr. Searles Wood, Jun., considers that the lower division of the Red Crag is arranged in successive beach-stages. There seems to me, on the contrary, to be an absence of definite order; and the lamination and bedding which he considers referable to beach-action, I think may in all cases be referred to the variable bedding and oblique lamination produced by the shifting of shoals and sand-banks at the bottom of the Red-Crag sea, as was the case with the upper division of the Coralline Crag (
ante
, fig. 3, p. 120). Mr. Wood, Sen., has already expressed his opinion that the peculiar stratification of the Red Crag must b e owing to the constant shifting of the sands and shingle caused by variable and changing currents ; and this
Notes on the Minerals of Strontian, Argyllshire
Authors: Scott Robert H.
Published: October 2009

W
hen
I first proposed to visit Strontian, in the year 1866, I consulted two well-known Scotch geologists as to my chance of picking up minerals there. The two authorities directly contradicted each other. One, who was a professed mineralogist, stated that he had spent three weeks there, and that nothing whatever
new
was to be found there. The other was more encouraging, and informed me that whatever I found was nearly sure to be new.

Greg and Lettsom enumerate a fair series of specimens from the locality; but the experience I have gained as to their accuracy as regards Irish localities, leads me to be somewhat dubious of receiving all their statements as absolutely correct for out-of-the-way districts, such as Strontian.

The longest listwhich has been printed is that given by Mr. Hall in his Mineralogical Directory, and it is as follows :—

Apophyllite.

Asbestos.

Baryte.

Blende.

Brewsterite.

Calcite.

Galena.

Garnet.

Harmotome.

Pyrites.

Pyromorphite.

Sphene.

Strontianite.

Talc.

Zircon.

This list contains no notice of the various feldspars, of which there are certainly two, Orthoclase and a clear anorthic feldspar, in the granite, or of the Hornblende and other pyroxenic minerals which occur in the syenites and crystalline greenstones of the district, and of which fine, though not perfectly crystallized, specimens, are easily to be had. Nor does it mention Natrolite in geodes in the trapdykes, or Schorl, or either of the micas, white and black, although very large plates of the former are found on Ben Resipol associated, as usual
On the Ancient Rocks of the St. David's Promontory, South Wales, and their Fossil Contents
Authors: Harkness R. , Hicks Henry
Published: October 2009

I
n
an early edition of Siluria (1854) there is a figure of a specimen of
Paradoxides Forchhammeri
? Angel., from the black slates of North Wales. In the third edition of the same work (1859) the same figure occurs, with the remark “locality unknown, probably from Pen Morfa, near Tremadoc, North Wales.” In this edition there is also a note with reference to the occurrence of this form, stating that “only one species of
Paradoxides
has yet been found in Wales; although the specimen is imperfect, Mr. Salter believes it to be identical with
P. Forchhammeri
of the alum slates of Andrarum in Scania.”

In the last edition of Siluria (1867) the same figure is named
Paradoxides Hicksii
; its locality is indicated as “near Dolgelly, North Wales;” and it is further stated that” this fossil has been found both at Dolgelly and in Pembrokeshire, about a hundred feet above the lowest black Lingula-slates.”

Respecting the discovery of another form,
Paradoxides Davidis
, Salter, in Pembrokeshire, the late Mr. Salter has described this species, and named the locality whence it has been obtained*.

In this memoir a Table is also given of the strata which make up the “Lingula-flags in Wales ;” and Mr. Salter has described the lower portion of this series as a “thick mass of black shales very uniform in its upper part, but with hard sandstones in the lower, probably accumulated in a deep sea.” The fossils of the Lower Lingula-flags are stated to be “
Lingulella
, rare,
On the Discovery of the Glutton (
Gulo luscus
) in Britain
Authors: Dawkins W. Boyd
Published: October 2009

T
he
caves in the Mountain Limestone which forms the magnificent gorge of the Elwy, near Cefn, St. Asaph, have furnished from time to time a remarkably complete series of pleistocene mammals. That which opens on the terraced side of the cliff in the grounds of Cefn, first described by the Rev. E. Stanley in 1833, and subsequently by Dr. Falconer, contained abundance of Reindeer, associated with Cave-lion, Cave-bear, Grizzly Bear, Hyæna,
Elephas antiquus, Hippopotamus major, Rhinoceros tichorhinus
, and
R. hemitæchus
. And nearly all these animals occurred in a second cave, at Cefn, explored by Mr. Williams Wynn in 1869–70. A third cave, at Galtfaenan, explored last winter by Mr. Mainwaring and Mr. Hughes, has furnished the remains of Reindeer and Bear, and the traces of Hyænas; while a fourth, at Plas Heaton, in part dug out by Mr. Hughes and Mr. Heaton, has yielded Wolf, Bison, Reindeer, Horse, and Cave-bear, and a remarkably fine lower jaw which proves that the Glutton inhabited Great Britain during the pleistocene, or quaternary age. Mr. Ayshford Sanford and myself had, indeed, obtained, in 1865, the crowns of three canines from the caves of Banwell, and Bleadon, and of Gower, which belonged to this animal; and we accordingly inserted it, without figure or description, in the list of the British Pleistocene Mammals, published by the Palæontographical Society in 1866. This discovery at Plas Heaton renders any doubt as to its being a true pleistocene British species altogether impossible.

The jaw consists of the left ramus
On some supposed Vegetable Fossils
Authors: Carruthers William
Published: October 2009

T
he
baneful influence of the imagination in science is seldom more clearly seen than in the way in which fossil botany has been too often pursued. The determination of the name of a recognizable fragment can of course be made by any one who can intelligently compare a specimen with a drawing or a description; but the interpretation of the affinities of a fossil or the restoration of a plant from the few fragments known, can be accomplished only by one who has some acquaintance with living organisms, and with the essential and non-essential characters which combine or separate them. When this knowledge is wanting, a lively imagination supplies its place to the complete satisfaction of the investigator, but to the great injury of science. From its very nature, moreover, an imaginative interpretation is more tenaciously adhered to by its author than if it were the legitimate deduction from known facts; and it is more satisfactory, because it does not present the difficulties that are always encountered in
real life
.

It is quite in keeping with this that a considerable contributor to the subject of fossil-botany has declared that a knowledge of recent plants is a serious hindrance to the investigation of fossil vegetables—and that another has recently expounded in a science-lecture his important determination of the affinities of
Lepidodendron
and
Calamites
to
Lycopodium
and
Equisetum
, although his descriptions make it evident that he never has examined, and probably never has seen a single specimen of either a club-moss or
Notes on the Geology of part of the County of Donegal
Authors: Green A. H.
Published: October 2009

I
n
this paper the author described the geological structure of the country in the neighbourhood of the Errigal Mountain, with the view of demonstrating the occurrence in this district of an interstratification with mica-schist of beds of rock which can hardly be distinguished from granite, the very gradual passage from alternations of granitic gneiss and mica-schist into granite alone, and the marked traces of bedding and other signs of stratification that appear in the granite, to which the author ascribed a metamorphic origin. He also noticed the marks of ice-action observed by him in this region, and referred especially to some remarkable fluted bosses of quartzite, and to the formation of some small lakes by the scooping action of ice.