bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Notes on some Lamellibranchs of the Budleigh-Salterton Pebbles
Authors: Edgell Arthur Wyatt
Published: October 2009

It will be recollected that in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, vol. xx. p. 283, there is a paper by Mr. Vicary, of Exeter, drawing attention to the pebble-bed of Budleigh-Salterton; appended to this is a description of some of the included fossils by the late Mr. Salter. Since this a paper on the Brachiopoda from the pebbles has been given (in vol. xxvi. p. 70) by Mr. Davidson. In the former paper a full description of the bed is given by Mr. Vicary, to which there is little or nothing to add. It is sufficient to say that it consists of a bed of nearly 100 feet of pebbles of various rocks, inclined at a low angle to the horizon, lying on and covered by the Trias, that the pebbles contain fossils, as a rule, unknown elsewhere in England, that the fossils in some are Silurian and in others Devonian, and that the matrix including Silurian and Devonian fossils is often identical. Through the kindness of Mr. Vicary I have been allowed to figure some of the more remarkable Lamellibranchs in his collection which were undescribed by Mr. Salter (or of which the descriptions and figures have been lost); and I have added a few of my own. This task would not have been attempted had there been any chance of a more competent person's undertaking it.
On the Mud-craters and Geological Structure of the Mekran Coast
Authors: Stiffe A. W.
Published: October 2009

The coast of Mekran (the ancient Gedrosia) extends in an east and west direction for abont 500 miles, between the town of Sonmiâni, on the Pûr Ali river near the frontier of Hindustan, and Râs Jâshak, near the entrance point of the Persian Gulf (fig. 1).

It is an almost rainless district, but occasionally subject to heavy storms of rain not of long duration, and generally occurring in the winter months. Sometimes no rain falls during the whole year, or even for two years successively. There are no rivers of any size; but the large watercourses after heavy rain discharge large volumes of water.

The appearance of the coast is singular, and the hills near the sea are all of similar formation—table hills with abrupt, almost perpendicular sides, fantastic peaks, pillars, and pinnacles rising out of extensive plains of clay being the universal type.

These clay plains are irregularly veined in places with crystalline gypsum, and are impregnated with saliferous matter, which effloresces on the surface. It need hardly be added that nearly the whole country near the sea is a desert.
On the Trimerellidæ, a Palæozoic Family of the Palliobranchs or Brachiopoda
Authors: Davidson Thomas , King William
Published: October 2009

I. Bibliography of the Trimerellids.

The important group of shells forming the subject-matter of this memoir is, comparatively speaking, of recent acquisition in palæontology; for, though two of its species were made known in 1853, under the designations of
Obolus Davidsoni
and
O. transversus
*, it is only of late years that a beginning was made towards gaining a correct view of its remarkable internal features. So little understood were the interiors of these species at first, that they were confidently, but erroneously, referred to the genus
Obolus
by one of the present writers. Billings did not escape the same error when he described his
Obolus canadensis
†.

The next stage, one decidedly in advance, was gained by Billings, who, finding some Canadian specimens with a singular interior, was led to institute a new genus for them under the name
Trimerella
-observing, at the same time, that it “is allied to
Obolus
, but from which it differes in the possession of longitudinal septa”‡. He erred again, however, in describing anaother species of the present family under the name
Obolus galtensis
§

In 1867, Lindströ published an important paper, describing some specimens found in the Island of Gotland as far back as 1859, and which he had no hesiation in referring to the genus
Trimerella
of Billings, throwing at the same time further light on the internal sturcture of the group. He also referred to some specimens of the so-termed
Obolus Davidsoni
which had been discovered in the same island.*

for the first time, in
The Secondary Rocks of Scotland. Second Paper. On the Ancient Volcanoes of the Highlands and the Relations of their Products to the Mesozoic Strata
Authors: Judd John W.
Published: October 2009

For the preservation of the most valuable illustrations of the institutions, manners, and arts of Ancient Rome, the archæologist is indebted to the action of a volcano: the relics of Pompeii have survived in consequence of being buried under the ejections of Vesuvius. To a similar agency, operating at a distant epoch and on a far grander scale, the geologist owes the escape from destruction, in the Western Isles of Scotland, of most wonderful monuments of physical change and highly interesting records of life-history during the Secondary periods; for such, indeed, are those remarkably preserved fragments of sedimentary rocks which it is the object of this memoir to describe.

As he prosecutes an examination and comparison of all the circumstances under which the scattered relics of the Secondary formations present themselves in the West of Scotland, the geologist will be again and again impressed by the extent of the protective influence which the vast masses of Tertiary lava have evidently exerted upon the subjacent stratified rocks. And when he has concluded that survey, he can scarcely have failed to arrive at the conclusion that, but for this protective influence, every vestige of the Mesozoic deposits in the district must have been inevitably swept away by denudation.
Note on the Occurrence of Sapphires and Rubies
in sitû
with Corundum, at the Culsagee Corundum-mine, Macon County, North Carolina
Authors: Jenks C. W.
Published: October 2009

The oriental ruby and sapphire are, mineralogically considered, merely coloured crystals of corundum, which mineral species has been shown by chemical analysis to consist of the earth alumina in a crystallized state and nearly pure condition. Where these gems have been met with, they appear almost always, if not invariably, to have been discovered in the beds of rivers as waterworn pebbles; and although the existence of corundum in small quantities in granular limestone in Asia Minor and the United States has long been known, any thing like a deposit of this mineral
in sitû
, sufficiently abundant for commercial exploration, appears to have been altogether unknown, until the author's attention was directed to the occurrence of numerous fragments of corundum on the surface and in the river-beds of Macon County, North Carolina, which encouraged him to make a minute examination of this district, and resulted in the discovery, in the summer of 1871, of the deposits of corundum now known as the Culsagee Corundum Mine.

The locality of this mine is a hill, situated about nine miles east of Franklin, the principal town of Macon County, the summit of which is some 400 feet above the valley and about 2500 feet above the level of the sea; geologically it is a boss of serpentine protruded through the surrounding granite.
On the Relationship existing between the
Echinothuridæ
, Wyville Thomson, and the
Perischoechinidæ
, M'Coy
Authors: Etheridge R.
Published: October 2009

A considerable degree of light has lately been thrown on the relationship existing between palæozoic and recent Echini, from materials obtained during the cruise of the ‘Porcupine’ in 1869.

Prof. Wyville Thomson, in his ‘Depths of the Sea’, described two new and peculiar genera of Echinoidea,
Calveria
and
Phormosoma
, which, in certain peculiarities of structure, such as the overlapping of the constituent plates of the test, appear to unite the Echini of the present seas with certain of those genera which existed during palæozoic times.

Although the structure referred to had previously been noticed, in the case of Cretaceous Echini, by the late Dr. S. P. Woodward, and in that of a Palæozoic genus by Prof. James Hall, of Albany, yet it was not until Mr. J. Young, of Glasgow, drew attention to the nature of the plates in the Carboniferous genus
Archæocidaris
that such structure had been observed in any palæozoic genus found in this country.
On the Cretaceous Rocks of Beer Head and the adjacent Cliff-sections, and on the Relative Horizons therein of the Warminster and Blackdown Fossiliferous Deposits
Authors: Meyer C. J. A.
Published: October 2009

The Cretacous rocks which capt the higher ground over a considerable portion of the south-east of Devonshire, and from the partial destruction of which vast beds of gravel have accumulated over the same area, are exposed on the coast-line between Seaton and the west of Sidmouth in numerous fine cliff-sections. The strata thus exposed, while resembling in great measure the various corresponding deposits of other parts of England, possess at the same time a certain
facies
of their own which renders their correlation in part a matter of uncertainty. I purpose to offer in this paper a description of certain of these cliff-sections, to point out the various petrological and palæontological subdivisions of the strata therein exposed, and to leave to the consideration of others the chief point of interest which I have been as yet unable to determine, namely the age of the lowermost deposit.

This paper probably contains little which is not already to be found in the writings of previous observers. But so far as it is the result of independent observation, it may not be without its value.

Reference to Previous Descriptions.

The following papers, to some of which I shall have occasion to refer, are amongst the principal contributions to the literature of the subject:

De La Beche, Sir H. T. (1822). “Remarks on the Geology of the South Coast of England,”, &c. Trans. Geol. Soc. ser. 2, vol. i. pp. 40 & 95.

De La Beche, Sir H. T. (1826). “On the Chalk and
Note regarding the Occurrence of Jade in the Karakash Valley, on the Southern Borders of Turkestan
Authors: Stoliczka Ferdinand
Published: October 2009

The portion of the Kuen-Lun range which extends from Shahidulla eastwards towards Koten, appears to consist entirely of gneiss, syenitic gneiss, and metamorphic rocks, the latter being quartzose, micaceous, and hornblendic schists. On the southern declivity of this range, which runs along the right bank of the Karakash river, are situated the old jade-mines, or rather quarries, formerly worked by the Chinese; they are about seven miles distant from the Khirgiz encampment of Belakchi, which is itself about twelve miles S.E. from Shahidulla.

I had the pleasure of visiting the mines in company with Dr. Bellew and Captain Biddulph, a Yarkundee official being our guide.

We found the principal jade locality to be about one mile and a half from the river, and at a height of about 500 feet above its level. Just in this portion of the range, a few short spurs spring from the higher hills, all of which, however, as is usual, are thickly covered with débris and sand, the result of disintegration of the original rock; the whole has an appearance as if an extensive slip of the mountain-side had occurred.
New Carboniferous Polyzoa
Authors: Young J. , Young J.
Published: October 2009

The specimens described in this paper were found by one of us in the limestone shales near Glasgow, and recognized as new to Scotland; but we were not prepared to find that, in all the literature accessible to us, neither figures nor descriptions of similar forms occurred.
On Cervical and Dorsal Vertebræ of
Crocodilus cantabrigiensis
(Seeley) from the Cambridge Upper Greensand
Authors: Seeley Harry Govier
Published: October 2009

At rare intervals remains of a procœlous Crocodile have been found in the Cambridge
Greensand, which, in cranial bones, smaller limb-bones, and vertebræ, approximates so
closely to the living crocodilian type as only to indicate a distinct species. This species was
recorded in the index to the Secondary Reptiles in the Woodwardian Museum as
Crocodilus
cantabrigiensis
; and I now offer some account of its characters.

A cervical vertebra shows the centrum to be inclined slightly forward, like the
vertebræ of Lizards; the narrowness and small size of the parapophysis shows it to have
been an early cervical, probably the third or fourth. The centrum is
⅝ inch long, and is divided from the neural arch by a distinct suture,
which runs parallel to the base of the centrum, and so is inclined to the articular faces.
In front the centrum has a quadrate aspect (fig. 1), the two neurapophyses widening inward to
make the upper corners of the articular face angular, while the parapophyses form corresponding
lower angles. The articular face of the centrum is about seven-sixteenths inch broad, widest in
the upper part, and about six-sixteenths inch high. Around the margin is a narrow flattened
articular area, within which
is a moderately excavated cup, which only differs from that of other Crocodiles in being less
deep. The neurapophyses rise vertically above the centrum, and terminate back and front in the
zygapophysial facets at a height
On the Composition and Structure of the Bony Palate of
Ctenodus
Authors: Miall L. C.
Published: October 2009

The Museum of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society has lately acquired by purchase a specimen of
Ctenodus
, which displays the bony framework of the roof of the mouth. The bones are nearly perfect, and exhibit little of the distortion or displacement so common in vertebrate remains from the Coal-measures. A description of this fossil will do something to elucidate the structure of the palate of
Ctenodus
, which is as yet known only from imperfect or conjectural restorations.

The fossil (Pl. XLVII. fig. 1) is from the roof of the Low Main Coal-seam of Newsham, Northumberland. It has roughly the form of a broad arrow, each of the sides being deeply notched, and measures 6 inches in length, by 6½ inches in extreme breadth. The component bones are a parasphenoid and a pair of pterygo-palatals.

The lateral expansions or posterior portions of the pterygo-palatals (
pt. pl.
2) have been broken transversely and displaced forwards, so as to expose more of the underlying parasphenoid than would appear in the natural position of the bones. The upper surface of the fossil is entirely cleared from the matrix; it presents everywhere a granular or shagreen-like appearance, due to close-set and minute excavations or pores.
On a new Modification of Dinosaurian Vertebræ
Authors: Owen
Published: October 2009

In Dinosauria, after the character of “number of coalesced vertebræ with alternate disposition of their centrums and neural arches in the sacrum,” that of “the complex development of the neural arch with par- and diapophyses in antecedent trunk-vertebrae” prevails; the modifications of the articular surfaces of the centrums are less constant.

Most commonly those surfaces, through the major part of the spinal column, are more or less flattened, the deviation from flatness being usually toward concavity on the hinder surface.

In this modification it is usual to find a few vertebræ at the fore part of the column with such concavity deepened to a cup and fitted to a ball on the fore end of the next centrum: such modification is termed “opisthocœlian;” but I have not seen any example of a Dinosaur in which it prevailed throughout the dorsal region. In certain caudal vertebræ the deviation from flatness is toward concavity on both articular surfaces of the centrum; but I have not met with any instance in which the depth was such (as in the
Ichthyosaurus
e.g.) as to merit the term amphicœlous; and I know of no Dinosaur from the Lias upwards in which the dorsal vertebræ are so modified. The nearest approach is made by the vertebræ of the phytophagous Dinosaurian genera
Tapinocephalus
and
Pareiasaurus
; but it is so far from the true, or commonly understood, amphicœlian character, that I venture to hope the Society will hold me justified in proposing another term for such vertebral modification.
On some New Macrurous Crustacea from the Kimmeridge Clay of the Sub-Wealden Boring, Sussex, and from Boulogne-sur-Mer
Authors: Woodward Henry
Published: October 2009

It has always appeared to me to be a point of special interest to geologists to record those forms found in a fossil state which have a considerable vertical range, and yet belong to genera existing at the present day. Among higher groups now living, we find the vertical range exceedingly small; but when we examine the Invertebrata, we meet with such genera as
Lingula, Pentacrinus
, and
Limulus
having an extremely high antiquity; but the higher forms of these types follow precisely the same general law, having a much more restricted range in time than the lower and humbler genera.

One of the Crustacea about to be described by me belongs to a very interesting group, the family of the Thalassinidæ.

Most if not all of the members of this family are fossorial in their habits, burrowing in the sand or mud with great rapidity and remaining concealed in their burrows, save their large claws, which have in many instances been caught and devoured by fishes, or have been cut off by the dredge, whilst the animal itself in its burrow escaped.

Of living British representatives we have four genera:—

1.

Callianassa
, Leach (1 species):
C. subterranea
, Leach.

2.

Gebia
, Leach (2 species):
G. stellata
, Leach;
G. deltura
, Leach.

3.

Axius
, Leach (1 species):
A. stirhynchus
, Leach.

4.

Calocaris
, Bell (1 species):
C. Macandreœ
, Bell.

Formerly only one fossil species of this remarkable group of burrowing Crustaceans was known, the
Callianassa (Pagurus) Faujasii
, from the uppermost Chalk of Maestricht, first noticed in an admirable
On a new Fossil Crab from the Tertiary of New Zealand
Authors: Woodward Henry
Published: October 2009

The fine fossil Crab which I have now the pleasure to describe was obtained by my friend Dr. Hector, F.R.S., F.G.S., from the “passage-beds,” Ototara series, Woodpecker Bay, Brighton, north-west coast of the South Island, New Zealand, considered by him to be probably equivalent in position to the very lowest Eocene, or the uppermost Cretaceous of Europe.

I have compared it with various genera of fossil Crabs with which I am acquainted, and am of opinion that its nearest alliance is with the genus
Harpactocarcinus
of Alphonse Milne-Edwards*, from the Nummulitic series of France, Spain, and Italy. Of this genus Alphonse Milne-Edwards has described the following six species, namely:—

Of the above species the specimen from New Zealand most nearly approaches to
H. quadrilobatus
, Desm., in general proportions; but the carapace of the New Zealand crab is much more tumid, and the relative proportions between the depth of the anterior and posterior halves of the carapace differ considerably. Thus, if an imaginary line be drawn transversely across each carapace from the epibranchial spine on the lateral border of each, we shall find the proportions to be as under:—

The carapace of the New-Zealand crab is 83 millims. broad and 73 millims. in depth from the rostrum to the posterior border. if measured along the
curve
of the carapace, the depth is 83 millims.; but, owing to the curvature of the carapace this is less apparent.

The carapace is remarkably tumid, especially on the branchial and gastric regions; the surface of
Notes on the Occurrence of
Eozoon canadense
at Côte St. Pierre
Authors: Dawson J. W.
Published: October 2009

Côte St. Pierre, in the Seigniory of Petite Nation, on the river Ottawa, is the locality whence some of the most instructive specimens of
Eozoon
were obtained by the late Mr. Lowe, whose collections are referred to in papers presented to this Society by Sir W. E. Logan and the writer. Believing that a reexamination of this place would afford a good opportunity for collecting additional specimens, and for the study of the fossil
in situ
, as well as for testing the validity of objections recently raised to the animal nature of
Eozoon
, I made arrangements for visiting it in September last; and, through the kindness of Mr. Selwyn, Mr. T. C. Weston, of the Geological Survey, a skilful collector, and who has had much experience in preparing and examining specimens of
Eozoon
, was permitted to accompany me, and subsequently prepared slices and photographs of some of the specimens obtained.

The Lower Laurentian rocks of this region have been carefully mapped and described in the Reports of the Geological Survey, to which I may refer for their general description. The limestone, which has afforded
Eozoon
at Côte St. Pierre, is a thick bed belonging to the Grenville band of Sir W. E. Logan, and included between the two great belts of orthoclase gneiss (the third and fourth gneiss) which in this region constitute the upper beds of the Lower Laurentian. Its average thickness, according to the measurements of Sir William Logan, is 750 feet ; but it varies from 1500
On the Influence of various Substances in Accelerating the Precipitation of Clay suspended in Water
Authors: Ramsay William
Published: October 2009

I
t
has been noticed by several observers that clay suspended in water settles more quickly if the water is salt than if it is fresh. This fact is contrary to what would naturally be supposed—namely, that suspended matter should settle more easily in a liquid of low than in one of high specific gravity.

The earliest notice which I have been able to find relating to this subject, is a note by Skey in the ‘Chemical News’ for 1868, p. 160, in which he advances the following hypothesis to explain the phenomenon.

After taking notice of the fact that those salts which accelerate the precipitation of clay are too stable to be decomposed, by mere contact with it, he suggests that such salts have a strong affinity for water compared with that of clay for water. They therefore tend to abstract water from the clay, and cause it to coagulate and settle. In corroboration of this he instances the fact that iron ferrocyanide is thrown down by numerous salts; that silica is precipitated from its solution in ammonia by chloride of ammonium; and that nitrate of baryta is precipitated by nitric acid.

In the ‘Chemical News’ for August, 1874, Durham advances an electric hypothesis; he supposes that clay, in falling through water, “generates electricity by friction, and, as water is a bad water remains for some time, hence they are mutually attracted; but when an acid or salt are added, the liquid becomes a good conductor, the potentials are equalized
On the Physical History of the Dee, Wales
Authors: Ramsay A. C.
Published: October 2009

T
he
surface of Bala Lake is 600 feet above the level of the sea, and is bounded on the north-west and south-east by hills that near the lake have elevations of about 1200 and 1300 feet, and therefore rise to heights of 600 and 700 feet above its level, while at greater distances, but still not far off, they rise to heights of 1800 and 1900 feet. On the south-west there is a long gentle slope, which attains a height of about 800 feet above the sea at the watershed close by the road to Dolgelli, or 200 feet above the lake, beyond which the river Wnion drains the country in a south-westerly direction into the estuary of the Mawddach.

The lake is about 130 feet in depth; and at its north-eastern end the waters of the Dee, escaping from this basin, first traverse an alluvial tract nearly three miles in length, the detritus of which has been carried from the adjoining hills by rivers, the largest of which enters the Dee near Pont Treweryn, about half a mile below Bala. Other good-sized streams form tributaries of the Dee below this point, and have helped to distribute the materials of the alluvial plain, beyond which, for a space of about a mile, the hills close in upon the banks of the river between Glan-dwynant and Pont Llanderfel. Between this point and the neighbourhood of Corwen, the river, for more than six miles, again wanders through broad alluvial flats, after which
On the Mammalia and Traces of Man found in the Robin-Hood Cave
Authors: Dawkins W. Boyd
Published: October 2009

T
he
discovery of the fossil remains in the Robin-Hood Cave, brought before the Geological Society by the Rev. J. Magens Mello in the preceding paper, is of no common interest. It proves not only that the caves of Derbyshire were the lairs of Hyænas in ancient times, but that they were inhabited by the same kind of Palæolithic men as those of the caves of the south of England, of France, Belgium, and Switzerland. The remains have been handed over to me for description by Mr. Mello and his coadjutor Mr. Heath, and are the subject of the following remarks.

1.
Cave occupied by Hycenas during deposition of Lower and Middle strata
.

A comparison of the bones and teeth from the lower red sand and clay, and from the cave-earth, with those from Wookey Hole, Kent's Hole, Kirkdale, and other hyæna-dens, renders it impossible to doubt that the great majority of the animals in the cave were killed and eaten by the Hyænas. With few exceptions the solid bones are alone perfect, the long bones containing marrow and the vertebræ being represented merely by gnawed fragments. All the lower jaws have lost their angles and eoronoid process; and the number of teeth stands in a greater ratio to the quantity of bones, than would have been the case had not their possessors fallen a prey to a bone-destroying animal. The only long bones and vertebræ which were found without marks of the teeth of Hyæna were met with in the
On the Genus
Merycochœrus
(Family Oreodontidæ), with Descriptions of two New Species
Authors: Bettany G. T.
Published: October 2009

A
valuable
series of mammalian remains, chiefly consisting of skulls and portions of skulls, collected by Lord Walsingham in the valley of John Day's river, a tributary of the Columbia, in Upper Oregon, in the winter of 1871–72, was presented by him to the Woodwardian Museum, Cambridge. Most of the specimens were obtained from near the head of a small stream called Bridge Creek; but a few were from the Great Cañon, higher up on John Day's River, nearly opposite Old Camp Watson. Lord Walsingham secured indeed a rich prize in the portions of three days which he devoted to a search for these remains.

The specimens were, fortunately, for the most part brought to England in masses of the original rock, and had therefore the great advantage of Mr. H. Keeping's care and skill in developing them from the matrix. His labours have given us a valuable and, I believe, unique series of specimens, which serve to extend very largely our acquaintance with the two principal genera of the family Oreodontidæ.

A summary of these fossils may here be given :—

1.

A large nearly complete skull, with lower jaw attached, the zygomatic arches being, however, almost destroyed (Merycochœrua Leidyi, n. sp.).

2.

The greater part of a large skull preserving very completely one zygomatic arch with posterior crest (Merycochœrus temporalis, n. sp.).

3.

Another skull of Merycochœrus temporalis, showing the part anterior to the bifurcation of the sagittal crest.

4.

Another skull of
Merycochœrus
, probably
M. Leidgyi
wanting the greater part of
Notice of the Occurrence of Remains of a British Fossil
Zeuglodon
(Z.
Wanklyni
, Seeley) in the Barton Clay of the Hampshire Coast
Authors: Seeley Harry Govier
Published: October 2009

I
n
1872 my late college friend Dr. Arthur Wanklyn, who had for a long time devoted himself to a study of the Barton Clay, was so fortunate as to obtain, from the Barton Cliff, nearly the whole of the skull of a zeuglodont of moderate size. The skull was extracted entire; but the local collectors, in carrying it up the cliff, had the misfortune to reduce it to fragments. The day before Dr. Wanklyn was leaving London for professional duties, he desired me to draw up some notice of the specimen for publication; but the time at my disposal was too brief for me to attempt a full description of the whole of the remains, and I contented myself with some memoranda on the maxillary bones, teeth, and roof of the brain-case. These I have hitherto kept for myself in the hope that Dr. Wanklyn would be able to bring the fossil to London, in a more perfectly restored condition, for fuller study. But the specimen never came; and since Dr. Wanklyn's death I have been unable to get any tidings concerning it. It has therefore seemed desirable to offer to the Society the notice which I made four years ago; and I do this the more gladly that it enables me to associate with the species the name of its discoverer, of whose enthusiasm for science this may serve as a slight memorial.

Maxillary Bones
.

The maxillary bones are imperfectly preserved posteriorly. They show a length of about 8
On
Crocodilus icenicus
(Seeley), a second and larger Species of Crocodile from the Cambridge Upper Greensand, contained in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge
Authors: Seeley Harry Govier
Published: October 2009

I
t
is a curious coincidence that the evidence of the fossil now described, like that of
Crocodilus cantabrigiensis
, consists of one cervical and one dorsal vertebra. The vertebræ in this species, however, are associated; and their striking resemblance to existing Crocodiles had, I believe, already been recognized by Mr. Walter Keeping.

The centrum of the cervical vertebra is two and one-quarter inches long, and is divided from the neural arch by a rather deep suture, more than usually well marked by the neural
arch projecting laterally a little beyond the centrum. In front the procœlous articulation is as deeply cupped as in any recent species. The cup is circular, about one and one-eighth inch in diameter; it was surrounded by a narrow border, now somewhat worn, so that the transverse diameter of the centrum,
which was about one and five-eighths inch, cannot be exactly determined. Its depth appears to have been as great—though,
as the small anterior hypapophysis is broken away, the depth as preserved is only one and one-half inch.

The neurapophyses are very strong. As they rise from the centrum they are directed outward and upward, constricted and rounded anteriorly above the centrum for the passage of the
cervical nerve. The neurapophyses are constricted between the parapophyses and diapophyses, as well as between the diapophyses and zygapophyses. The least measurement of the neural arch
from front to back is rather more than one inch.

The anterior zygapophysial facets are inclined at an angle of about 45° looking upward and inward; they measure about
three-quarters inch from
On Remains of
Emys hordwellensis
(Seeley) from the Lower Hordwell Beds in the Hordwell Cliff, contained in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge
Authors: Seeley Harry Govier
Published: October 2009

B
y
the intervention of Mr. Henry Keeping the Woodwardian Museum acquired in 1868 some fine Chelonian fragments mineralized nearly black (now arranged on shelf
d
of case 109)—which after a little effort I found to reunite themselves into a plastron from which the xiphoid bones are lost, and a large connected part of the carapace which comprises the nuchal plate and the two adjacent marginal plates, the first six neural plates, and portions more or less perfect of the first five pairs of costal plates. The marginal plates are all or nearly all lost, having probably been washed away by the sea while the specimen was lying on the shore. Two disconnected marginal bones were collected with the other remains.

Mr. Keeping tells me that the horizon of the fossil is about 20 feet below the bed which yields the chief remains of
Crocodilus Hastingiæ
, and about 10 feet above the brackish-water Upper Bagshot beds, which are seen in the cliff rising westward at an angle of 3° at Mead End; so that the position of the specimen is low down in the Lower Hordwell series.

The fragment of carapace as preserved is 9 inches long and 6 inches broad; so that when perfect it probably measured about 12 inches length and nearly 10 inches in breadth. In length it is gently inflated, so that in the portion preserved (nine inches) the highest part of the curve rises more than an inch above a base-line drawn from the ends of
On the Mechanism of Production of Volcanic Dykes, and on those of Monte Somma
Authors: Mallet R.
Published: October 2009

I
n
the year 1864 I was enabled to employ some time in the study of some of the chief volcanic phenomena presented by the cone of Etna, devoting my attention principally to the laws which govern the flow of lava currents, the formation of the parasitic cones which abound upon certain portions of the surface of the great mountain, of which Monte Rosso and Monte Peleri in the neighbourhood of Nicolosi are amongst the largest examples, and in examining the Val del Bove and the many so-called dykes which intersect its surrounding escarpment in so many places. These last objects were examined by me with the able memoir of Sir Charles Lyell, published in the Philosophical Transaction for 1858, in hand, the title of which is “on Lavas of Mount Etna,” &c.

In the second part of that memoir the author rests part of the evidence upon which he concludes that an ancient great vent existed in the Val del Bove at Trifoglietto, upon the convergence at about that point of the prolonged lines of direction of thirteen dykes existing in the surrounding escarpment, in accordance with the views previously promulgated by Von Waltershausen (Phil. Trans., Part ii. 1858, page 703). I have no intention of casting any doubt here upon any part of the above able memoir of Sir Charles Lyell, in all the main conclusions of which, indeed, I concur, my present object being limited to remarking upon some of the conditions which affect the formation of volcanic
On Gigantic Land-Tortoises and a small Freshwater Species from the Ossiferous Caverns of Malta, together with a List of their Fossil Fauna; and a Note on Chelonian Remains from the Rock-cavities of Gibraltar
Authors: Adams A. Leith
Published: October 2009

The Maltese fossil remains described in this memoir were collected by Admiral Spratt, C.B., and myself in various ossiferous deposits in the island. A few of the bones have been referred to in a note I communicated to the Geological Society in 1866. Having now, however, for the first time had an opportunity of comparing the reptilian remains from the Zebbug Cavern with my own gatherings (in consequence of the collection made by Admiral Spratt having been lately presented to the British Museum), I find the combined assemblage of Chelonian remains display so many features of interest that I have no hesitation in laying the details before the Society.

The singular characters of the associated Proboscidian, Rodentian, and Avian relics have been already described; so that, with the exception of the
Hippopotami
, this contribution may be said to complete the palæontographical portion of the explorations up to the termination of my researches in 1865.

The following specimens are contained in the Museum of the Society and in the British Museum.

I am indebted to T. C. Archer, Esq., Director of the Museum of Science and Art, Edinburgh, for his kindness in lending me the typical skeleton of
Testudo ephippium
of Günther, to compare with the Maltese remains; and my best thanks are also due to Dr. Günther, F.R.S., for his assistance in the determination of a few of the specimens.

Although Dr. Falconer recognized Chelonian bones and fragments of shields in Admiral Spratt's collection, I can find in his writings
On the Silurian Grits of Corwen, North Wales
Authors: Hughes T. McKenny
Published: October 2009

I
beg
to offer a few notes, made chiefly in the summer of 1876, while endeavouring to correlate the base of the Silurian rocks of North Wales with the corresponding beds in the Lake-district and South Wales.

I found that some important changes in the mapping and consequent classification of the rocks in the neighbourhood of Corwen were necessary. These corrections being made, I obtained a key by which I was able to detect, over the whole of the district I then examined, a very variable but yet a more satisfactory and easily recognized base for the Silurian rocks.

It will be seen by reference to the Geological-Survey map of the Corwen district, that the Denbigh Grits are represented as thrown down by a fault (running W.S.W. and E.N.E.), while no Grits are are shown on the map between this and Pennyglog Quarry.

I found, however, that the Grits at Corwen were not the Denbigh Grits, as seen
e. g.
on top of the Flags at Penyglog Quarry E.S.E. of Corwen, but that the Corwen Section is as follows (fig. 1):—
On the Discovery of Plants in the Lower Old Red Sandstone of the Neighbourhood of Callander
Authors: Jack R. L. , Etheridge R.
Published: October 2009

1.
Introduction
.—Before proceeding to describe the plants from the localities in question, and their geological horizon, we append a brief historical outline of the vegetable remains of the Scotch Old Red Sandstone. The gradually accumulating evidence of a terrestrial flora in the Old Red Sandstone of Scotland since the first discovery of plants in that formation by the Rev. Dr. Fleming and Hugh Miller, and the reference of many of them to land rather than aquatic forms, by Charles William Peach, leads all observers interested in the subject to hope that ere long botanists may be in possession of sufficient material to enable them to illustrate the flora of that remote period in a more satisfactory manner than can be done at present, and to restore, in some degree at least, the bygone vegetable organisms which then existed. As a slight contribution to this end, we have now the pleasure of announcing the discovery by one of us (R. L. J.) of land plants in the Old-Red-Sandstone series of the neighbourhood of Callander, during the progress of the Geological Survey of that district under the direction of Prof. Geikie, F.R.S.

2.
Bibliography
.—One of the earliest notices which has come under our observation is a short paper, in 1811, by the Rev. Mr. Fleming, entitled, ‘A Mineralogical Account of Papa Stour, one of the Zetland Islands’, wherein it is stated that in Bressay, near Lerwick, “the sandstone includes beds of slate-clay, and contains vegetable impressions similar to those common in the
On the Chemical and Mineralogical Changes which have taken place in certain Eruptive Rocks of North Wales
Authors: Phillips J. Arthur
Published: October 2009

At Penmaenmawr, in the county of Caernarvon, six miles southwest of Conway, a crystalline felspathic rock has been erupted through Silurian strata, and rises to a height of 1553 feet above the sea-level, forming a boss-like elevation two miles in length and one in width.

This stone, which is of a greenish-grey colour, is moderately fine-grained, and to the unassisted eye, appears to consist of felspar associated with minute crystals of some dark hornblendic or pyroxenic mineral. The general mass is divided into beds by a series of predominating joints dipping north at an angle of about 45°; and these are again divided by a system of double jointings which are sometimes so developed as to the cause the rock to become distinctly columnar.

On the northern flank of the mountain, where four large quarries have been opened upon it, this stone is extensively worked both for general building-purposes and for road-making. Of these quarries the two more easterly ones belong to Messrs. Kneeshaw, Lupton, and Co., while those situated further towards the west are worked by Messrs. Brundrit and Co. The crystalline rock at the eastern extremity of the outcrop, near its point of contact with the slates, sometimes encloses small schistose fragments, but is fine-grained and frequently assumes a columnar structure.

Here the stone is often so close in texture as to almost resemble chert, and to break with a conchoidal fracture; but particles of kaolinized felspar show that it has, even here, been subjected to a certain
On the Beds between the Gault and Upper Chalk near Folkestone
Authors: Price F. G. Hilton
Published: October 2009

We have no better section of the Upper Cretaceous rocks than at Lydden Spout, which is a name given to a portion of the cliff between Folkestone and Dover.

The chalk cliffs at this locality were carefully measured by Mr. C. E. De Rance, F.G.S. (of H.M. Geological Survey), and myself; and the height was found to be 433 feet above the mean sea-level. The thickness of the beds between the Upper Gault and the first bed of flints (Upper Chalk) is 348 feet.

These beds I propose to divide into three general groups,
i. e.
Chalk Marl, Grey Chalk, and Lower Chalk, the former two corresponding with the
Cénomanien
of D'Orbigny, and the latter with his
Turonien
. As these divisions contain several well-marked lithological bands or beds, I have again subdivided them into six zones and nine beds, distinguishable by their palæontological contents or lithological characteristics.

Mr. Whitaker, in vol. iv. p. 33 of the Geological-Survey Memoirs, quoting Phillips, estimates the Grey Chalk or Chalk Marl at about 200 feet, and describes it as varying in colour and texture, but softer, more sandy, and less compact than the other divisions. He makes his division extend to the top of the thin yellowish bed, the zone of
Belemnites plenus
.

It will be seen from the present paper that I have given the same limits for the Grey Chalk and Chalk Marl together as Mr. Whitaker, and that I have estimated the thickness of those beds at 197 feet; but instead
Observations on Remains of the Mammoth and other Mammals from Northern Spain
Authors: Adams A. Leith
Published: October 2009

My friend Mr. O'Reilly, Professor of Mineralogy to the Royal College of Science, Dublin, has kindly permitted me to examine a collection of fossil remains made by himself and Professor Sullivan, of Queen's College, Cork, when engaged in surveying the mineralogy and geology of the province of Santander.

The conditions under which the remains were found are fully detailed in the able reports of these gentlemen, published in the 4th volume of the ‘Atlantis,’ and reprinted in a separate volume entitled ‘Notes on the Geology and Mineralogy of the Spanish Provinces of Santander and Madrid.’

It appears that, during the sinking of a shaft in search of calamine in limestone underlying the dolomite of the valley of Udias, the workmen,at about 12 metres from the surface, suddenly broke into a cavern of considerable dimensions. At the north end of the cavity was a mound of soil which had fallen down a funnel blocked up at the time of the discovery by surface-soil and débris. Close to this mound were found many bones of mammals and birds. The remains were either partially or entirely buried in calamine, which covered the floor and formed an enormous bed of variable thickness. It appears, therefore, not only from the large funnel, which was evidently the original opening, but also from the remains, that the cavern was an enlarged joint or rock-fissure, into which the entire carcasses or else the live animals had been precipitated from time to time.

The following, I am informed, does
On the Agassizian Genera
Amblypterus, Palæoniscus, Gyrolepis
, and
Pygopterus
Authors: Traquair Ramsay H.
Published: October 2009

W
hat
is an
Amblypterus
? What is a
Palæoniscus
? How do we distinguish them? What special reasons have we for referring any of our smaller Carboniferous fishes to the one or the other genus? These are questions to which, I fear, few collectors of Carboniferous fossils could offer very definite answers, and for the very good reason that the definitions of these two genera, which are found in the works usually consulted by palæontologists, are, it must be owned, of a somewhat unsatisfactory nature.

Gyrolepis
and
Pygopterus
also are terms frequently met with in lists of fossils from British Carboniferous localities. But by what characters do we distinguish
Gyrolepis
as a genus? Or what are the special marks which justify us in assuming any of our larger Carboniferous Palæoniscidæ to be generically identical with the
Pygopteri
of the Magnesian Limestone and Kupferschiefer? Here, again, we shall find our subject enveloped in an obscurity which can only be dispelled by fresh and careful original observation in a field which, since the days of the illustrious Agassiz, has been comparatively little trodden.

The present communication embodies the results of my own recent investigations into these subjects, though there is room and need for much additional inquiry, as is self-evident from the nature of the remains with which we have to deal.

Amblypterus and Palæoniscus

The definition of
Amblypterus
given by Agassiz in his “Tableau synoptique” is as follows:—

“Toutes les nageoires très-larges et composées de nombreux rayons, P. très-grandes; A. large; D. opposée
The Bone-caves of Creswell Crags.—3rd Paper
Authors: Mello J. Magens
Published: October 2009

I
t
will be remembered that on two previous occasions the history of the Creswell-Caves Exploration has been brought before the Society, on the latter of which the results of the work were given up to the close of 1875.

During the early part of last summer the exploration has been carried on under the auspices of a Committee, consisting of Sir J. Lubbock, M.P., F.R.S., as President, Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S. (Secretary), F. Longdon (Treasurer), Prof. G. Busk, F.R.S., W. Bragge, F.G.S., R. D. Darbishire, B.A., F.G.S., J. Evans, F.R.S., A. W. Franks, F.R.S., Rooke Pennington, LL.B., F.G.S., Prof. Prestwich, F.R.S., and the Rev. J. M. Mello, M.A., F.G.S. (Director and Reporter), Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins and T. Heath, F.R.H.S., being Superintendents.

It will hardly be necessary to do more by way of recapitulation than just allude to the first papers read, which have established the fact that we have at Creswell a series of highly important caves, illustrating by their contents two periods of human occupation during the Palæolithic age in Britain, when man was contemporary in Derbyshire and the adjoining district with the characteristic Pleistocene fauna. The remains of animals belonging to this fauna, in great abundance and representing a remarkably large number of species, have been found in these caves, in conjunction with quartzite and flint implements of two different types:—the one ruder than the other and underlying it, corresponding in character to the rude implements of the Lower Breccia of Kent's Hole and of the
The Exploration of the Ossiferous Deposit at Windy Knoll, Castleton, Derbyshire
Authors: Pennington Rooke , Dawkins W. Boyd
Published: October 2009

Introduction
.—In the spring of 1876, by the courtesy of the owner of the land, Mrs. Champion, we were able to carry on the exploration of the ossiferous deposit at Windy Knoll, near Castleton, begun in 1874 by Mr. Rooke Pennington, and described in the ‘Quarterly Journal’ (May 1875, p. 241), with the following results.

If reference be made to the above paper (p. 242) it will be seen that the fissure in which the remains were first met with was traced to a sort of basin filled with clay and packed full of bones of animals and large and small blocks of stone. We resolved to have this thoroughly examined by a body of experienced miners, working under the constant supervision of Mr. John Tym, of Castleton, while we were, as far as possible, present during the six weeks spent in the work.

Exploration
.—We began operations on the east side of the mound of clay, and rapidly exposed the following section (fig. 1) in descending order:—

C.

Clayey débris forming the summit, without bones, and probably rubbish piled up when the quarry close by was worked at that level 6 feet.

B.

Yellow clay with large blocks of limestone, fragments of Yoredale shale washed down from the adjoining heights of Mam Tor, bits of elastic bitumen or elaterite, and of fluor spar derived from the deposits of those minerals close by, together with bones of bison, reindeer, wolf, fox, and grisly bear 8

A.

Below this