bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Age and Correlations of the Plant-bearing Series of India, and the former Existence of an Indo-oceanic Continent
Authors: Blanford Henry F.
Published: October 2009

T
he
Peninsula of India (by which term I denote the whole of the country lying to the south of the Indo-Gangetic plain) has but little in common, in point of geological structure, with the ranges that encircle that plain on the north, or, indeed, with any of the neighbouring countries beyond, as far as these are known. The marine fossiliferous formations of Palæozoic age which are known to be largely developed in the Himáalaya and the Salt range of the Punjáb, have no assignable representatives to the south of the Ganges; and the Neozoic marine formations of the same mountains, of the western ranges, and those of Eastern Bengal are represented in the Peninsula only by the Jurassic and Tertiary rocks of Cutch, the small Cretaceous formation of Trichinopoly, the somewhat older deposits of Bagh, &c. on the Lower Nerbudda, and the Nummulitic conglomerates of Broach and Surat. With these exceptions and the probably estuarine deposit of Rajamundry (of the date of the Deccan traps), and some recent coast-formations, the peninsula is formed exclusively of crystalline (chiefly metamorphic) rocks of high antiquity, of volcanic rocks, and great sedimentary formations, which are either unfossiliferous, or which contain the remains of plants and animals such as, with rare exceptions, indicate a freshwater origin and the immediate proximity of land.

The oldest of these, termed by the Geological Survey the Vindhyan and Infra-Vindhyan formations, have hitherto proved quite unfossiliferous; and their age is consequently unknown. But overlying these (very unconformably), and occupying much
Notes on the Gasteropoda of the Guelph Formation of Canada
Authors: Nicholson Henry Alleyne
Published: October 2009

T
he
“Guelph Formation” of Canada forms the uppermost portion of the Niagara group of American geologists, and is composed of dolomitic limestones, which have a thickness of about one hundred and sixty feet. The establishment of the formation as a distinct subdivision of the Niagara series is due to the labours of the Geological Survey of Canada (Sir William Logan, ‘Geology of Canada,’ p. 336). Subsequently Prof. James Hall recognized the occurrence of similar magnesian limestones lying above the Niagara limestone at the Leclaire rapids on the Mississippi river; and he expressed the opinion that they were identical with the Guelph formation of Canada (Geology of Iowa, vol. i. p. 73). At a still later period, Professor Hall detected limestones of the same mineral characters, holding the same stratigraphical position, and charged with similar fossils, at Racine and some other localities in Wisconsin (Report on the Geology of Wisconsin, p. 67). Finally, beds of the same nature and with the same organic remains have been recognized as forming the summit of the Niagara series in Northern and South-western Ohio (Report of the Geological Survey of Ohio, 1870, p. 277, and 1873, p. 129).

The lithological characters of the Guelph limestones, wherever they may occur, are very constant. The characteristic rock of the formation is a rough, cellular, yellowish or creamy dolomite, of a rough texture and crystalline appearance, exhibiting innumerable cavities, from which fossils of various kinds have been dissolved out. The organic remains which at one time existed in
The Physical Conditions under which the Cambrian and Lower Silurian Rocks were probably deposited over the European Area
Authors: Hicks Henry
Published: October 2009

W
herever
the base-line of the Cambrian rocks is seen throughout the European area, it is found invariably to rest unconformably upon an earlier series of rocks, which are supposed to be of the age of the Laurentian rocks in Canada. These præ-Cambrian rocks in Europe therefore, like the Laurentian rocks in America, indicate that large continental areas existed previous to the deposition of the Cambrian rocks. The European continent seems to have occupied at that time a larger area than at present, and to have extended in a continuous line from above Norway and Lapland to the south coast of the Mediterranean, portions of this continent being now apparently visible in Algiers and to the south of the Black Sea. In an east-and-west line it would extend from at least the 100-fathom line beyond the British Isles, to Asia. The higher land would be towards the north-east; and the trend of the land would be in a direction towards the south-west, a difference of level of probably 15,000 feet occurring between the higher lands to the east and the low lands in the west. The surface of this continent seems to have been more or less of an undulating character, with the higher ranges running in the direction of east-north-east and west-south-west. The strike of the immediately overlying beds usually takes this course also; and the now exposed portions of the old continent, which then formed the higher points of the ranges, show also a long axis in that direction.
On some Fossil Alcyonaria from the Australian Tertiary Deposits
Authors: Duncan P. Martin
Published: October 2009

A
mongst
the collection of corals which was submitted to me for examination from the Tertiary beds of Cape Otway in Victoria, were some specimens of Isidinæ. My memoir on the Fossil Corals of the Australian Tertiary Deposits, which was published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, vol. xxvi. 1870, p. 284, did not allude to these Alcyonaria. Now, however, it becomes necessary to examine and describe them; for there are Tertiary beds in New Zealand which contain somewhat similar organic remains (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxix. p. 375). The Cape-Otway Tertiaries were described in the above-mentioned communication from the writings of Messrs. Daintree and Wilkinson, of the Geological Survey of Victoria; and I ventured to correlate them with particular Tertiary deposits elsewhere in Australia.

Amongst the most interesting of the strata of the Cape-Otway section was that called No. 3, or the Upper Coralline bed. It contained, besides
Amphihelia incrustans
(nobis) and
Balanophyllia Selwyni
(nobis), the specimens about to be noticed. Being the equivalent of the Polyzoan limestone of Wood, which is of Mount-Gambier age, it is a deep-sea deposit, and covers an important series of shallower-water deposits. It is younger than they are, and forms the Upper Miocene of Daintree, the Crag of Wood, and my Upper Cainozoic stage.

The specimens may be divided into three groups, which have a specific significance. In one the Isidian characters are well shown, and the furrows on the calcareous bodies are well developed; in the second the bodies are
On some Fossil Alcyonaria from the Tertiary Deposits of New Zealand
Authors: Duncan P. Martin
Published: October 2009

M
r
. F. W. H
utton
, F.G.S., the Curator of the Otago Museum in New Zealand, has forwarded me some specimens from the Awawoa railway-cutting, Oawaru. They are from the upper part of the Oawaru formation, or what Mr. Hutton calls the Trelissic group. He considers the strata to be of that ill-defined age which some geologists term Oligocene, and others Upper Eocene.

The specimens are hadly preserved, and consist of fragments of Isidinæ belonging to the genus
Isis
, and of Corallinæ belonging to the genus
Corallium
. There are no true Corals or Sclerodermic Madreporaria in the collection.

The calcareous bodies and some of the bases or roots of the Isidinæ are amongst the collection; and there are many fragments of a slightly branching species of
Corallium
.

I
sidinæ

Genus
Isis
. Plate XXXVIII.
b
. figs. 1—4.

1

The calcareous bodies are longer than broad, circular in outline, slightly constricted; and the ridges and furrows are distinct. They greatly resemble the specimens described from No. 3 bed, Cape Otway, Victoria, of group 1. (See the last communication.)

2

The calcareous body (fig. 2) is longer than broad, slightly bent; and the ridges are represented by straight series of long low granules; the furrows do not exist. This is quite a new form.

3

A long tapering basal piece (fig. 3), with a base of incrustation. The ridges and furrows are waved and very distinct.

C
orallinæ
.

Genus
Corallium
.

The specimens are fragmentary.

Some are with frequently branching furrows and ridges of the surface exceedingly developed and irregular
On some Fossil Corals from the Tasmanian Tertiary Deposits
Authors: Duncan P. Martin
Published: October 2009

I
have
lately received some specimens of fossil corals from the Royal Society of Tasmania, which were collected from the Tertiary deposits of Table Cape, North Tasmania. They are interesting forms; for some of them belong to a new section of the well-known genus
Dendrophyllia
; and one other specimen must be classified with reef-building corals. The geological horizon of the Tertiaries in which the corals were found can fortunately be decided; for they are associated with a very characteristic coral of the group of beds which I have suggested should be classified as Lower Cainozoic, so far as Australia is concerned.

The specimens which I refer to the genus
Dendrophyllia
are very remarkable. They have a fully developed wall-like epitheca, such as is not possessed by any other species, fossil or recent*. In all other respects they are essentially Dendrophyllian in their characters. This very perfect epitheca, acting as it does as a wall or theca, or perfectly or organically merged as it is into the wall, recalls the thin epitheca-like wall of many Palæozoic simple corals.

The genus belongs to the Madreporaria Perforata, and is closely allied to
Balanophyllia
; this last, however, is a simple form, whilst the first branches out. Nevertheless, although many
Balanophylliæ
have an epitheca, it is only slightly visible in a few
Dendrophylliæ
; but its presence in the allied genus renders the association of the new species with the branching forms very reasonable.

The diagnosis of the genus
Dendrophyllia
is as follows:—

“Corallum compound, and
On some Bone-Caves in Creswell Crags
Authors: Mello J. Magens
Published: October 2009

O
n
the north-eastern border of Derbyshire a low range of hills, rising from the plateau of the Magnesian limestone, is somewhat abruptly cut through by a short ravine known as Creswell Crags (fig. 1). It is about a third of a mile in length, running nearly east and west, and is bounded on either side by beautifully wooded cliffs, which in places are some 50 or 60 feet high. The limestone is the Lower Permian, and is very hard and massive here, with an easterly dip, which is rather difficult to trace. On either side of the ravine the crags are much fissured, the fissures now and then forming tolerable-sized caverns, opening some 15 feet or less above the level of a sheet of water that has been formed by the damming up of a small stream flowing between the crags from W. to E. Some years ago I had formed a strong wish to examine the fissures in this locality, but until lately could never find the opportunity. Last April, however, I was enabled to pay a preliminary visit to the spot. A very brief inspection sufficed to show me that it was one well worth careful exploration; and in answer to an application to His Grace the Duke of Portland, he very kindly gave me leave to carry on the work.

On the southern side of the ravine there is a cavern (Fissure C) with a large mouth; but it contracts at a very short distance in, where
On some Mica-traps from the Kendal and Sedbergh Districts
Authors: Bonney T. G. , Houghton F. T. S.
Published: October 2009

Under the convenient generic term mica-trap the Geological Survey of England has included a group of rocks which are generally rich in that mineral, and occur among the older Palæozoic strata of the north-west of England. These rocks are found in dykes usually of no great thickness, and often very imperfectly exposed; and they have been mapped on quarter-sheet 98 N.E., and in the adjacent corners of the yet unpublished 98 S.E. and 97 S.W. A brief notice of the dykes is also given in the accompanying memoirs, ‘Kirkby Lonsdale,’ p. 42, and ‘Kendal and Sedbergh,’ p. 16. Without microscopic examination and chemical analysis, it was not possible, as a rule, to attempt a more exact nomenclature, so that, in our opinion, the use of the term mica-trap, like felstone, greenstone, &c., is not only convenient, but justifiable, where for any reason a more exact investigation is not practicable at the time. The present paper, although very far from being a complete history of all the mica-traps of North-western England, may form, it is hoped, a first chapter in it, and be the means of evoking further contributions to the lithology of this interesting and not very common group of rocks.
On some Tin-deposits of the Malayan Peninsula
Authors: Doyle Patrick
Published: October 2009

There is a striking resemblance in the mineral characteristics of all parts of the Malayan Peninsula, especially in regard to the mode of occurrence of the deposits of tin-ore (cassiterite).

The Malayan tin-field, including the islands of Banca and Billeton, extends over 17 degrees of latitude and 10 of longitude; but the observations of Messrs. logan, Horsfield, and others, in different parts of this area, correspond with those which have been noted in Larnt. The peninsula consists of granitic rock overlain generally by sandstone, and frequently also by laterite or cellular clay-ironstone, and, to the north, by limestone. A granitic mountain-range extends along the whole length of the peninsula, on both sides of which, but especially on the western or Sumatran one, are extensive alluvial plains, but little above the level of the sea. Iron, tin, and gold are the principal metals. Ores of the first are found everywhere; and tin has hitherto been found in all parts where search has been made.

Perak is the second Malay State on the west side of the peninsula, counting from the north; and Larnt, its chief province, is an irregular strip of land about 70 miles long and varying from 10 to 25 miles broad, bordering the coast.
Note on
Poikilopleuron Bucklandi
of Eudes Deslongchamps (père), identifying it with
Megalosaurus Bucklandi
.
Authors: Hulke J. W.
Published: October 2009

One difficulty, and not the least, which besets the student beginning to study fossil reptiles is the great embarrassment occasioned by the not unfrequent description of the same reptile under different names, involving the worse than merely useless multiplication of genera and species. Wherever, then, the identification of a newer with an older genus can be established, entailing, as it should, the abandonment of the newer generic name, it is to be looked on as a positive gain. I now submit to the criticism of the Geological Society the evidence which appears to me to identify beyond reasonable doubt
Poikilopleuron Bucklandi
of Eudes Deslongchamps, père, with an older acquaintance,
Megalosaurus Bucklandi
.

The literature of
Poikilopleuron
is, fortunately, not extensive. The following list comprises all the principal papers relating to the genus which I have found, arranged according to priority of publication:—

I.

“Mémoire sur le
Poikilopleuron Bucklandi
, grand Saurien fossile, intermédiaire entre les Crocodiles et les Lézards, découvert dans les carrières de la Maladrerie, prés de Caen, au mois de juillet 1835.” Par M. Eudes Deslongchamps. Mém. de la Soc. Linn. de Normandie, vol. vi. p. 36, pis. ii.-viii. (1838).

II.

“Report on British Fossil Reptiles.” By R. Owen. Brit. Assoc. Report, 1841, pp. 84–88.

III.

“Contributions to the Anatomy and Taxonomy of the
Dinosauria
.” By T. H. Huxley. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1869, xxvi. pp. 28–34.

IV.

Poikilopleuron valens
. Contributions to the Extinct Vertebrate Fauna of the Western Territories. Part i. pp. 279 and 338, pl. xv. figs. 16–18. By Dr. J. Leidy. 1873.

V.

Poikilopleuron pusillus. Supplement vii. to the Monograph on Fossil Reptilia of the Wealden and Purbeck Formations, in Pal. Soc. vol. 1876, p. l, pl. i. By R. Owen.
Note on some Devonian Stromatoporidæ from Dartington near Totnes
Authors: Champernowne A.
Published: October 2009

I desire to present to the Society some specimens chiefly representing what some observers look upon as the natural group, and others as the heterogeneous mixture named
Stromatoporidæ
.

I have for some time been finding these fossils in large numbers; and as the subject has of late aroused considerable interest, it occurred to me that the Geological Society might be glad to possess a few from this locality.

I will not pretend to offer a decided opinion myself as to which set of observers are right, and yet, as far as the important question of the original constitution of the skeleton is concerned, I think it is very hard to believe in the uniform replacement of siliceous by calcareous matter in all or nearly all of these forms, and from so many different localities. On the other hand it is difficult to regard them as forming a compact group of Calcispongiæ, since whatever may be held as to their embracing true Hexactinellid (and, if so, siliceous structures), or, again, Foraminiferal structures, they clearly seem to embrace structures similar to that of the Milleporidæ. Among these some varieties of
Caunopora (Stromatopora) placenta
(Lonsd.) are remarkable.
On a new Species of
Loftusia
from British Columbia
Authors: Dawson George M.
Published: October 2009

In 1869, Dr. W. B. Carpenter and Mr. H. B. Brady described, in the ‘Transactions’ of the Royal Society, two remarkable types of gigantic arenaceous Foraminifera, under the generic names of
Parkeria
and
Loftusia
. For the description of the latter form Mr. Brady is more particularly responsible, and to the genus then created by him I have now to add another species, for which the name of
Loftusia columbiana
is proposed.

The original specimens of Loflusia were obtained many years a by Mr. W. K. Loftus in Persia. They were referred to in his paper on the geology of the Turco-Persian frontier and districts adjoining, published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society in 1855, but remained undescribed till they came into Mr. Brady's hands. From the geological descriptions by Mr. Loftus, and other forms Foraminifera found in the same stones, Mr. Brady believes the geological position of
Loftusia persica
to be in the oldest Tertiary rocks.
On the Range of the Mammoth in Space and Time
Authors: Dawkins W. Boyd
Published: October 2009

The Mammoth is one of the most important animals for purposes of classification, on account of the large size and abundance of its remains, and because of its range in ancient times over more than one half of the land-surface of the world. According to some authorities, among whom may he reckoned M. Lartet, it is taken to characterize an early stage in the history of the Palæolithic caverns of France and Belgium, and according to others, among whom may be reckoned Dr. James Geikie, to have found its way into Europe after the Glacial period; it is supposed to have disappeared from Europe before the close of the Glacial period. In Dr. Falconer's opinion it was a Pre- as well as a Postglacial inhabitant of Britain, a view which I was unable to accept on the evidence offered at that time. The new materials, however, accumulated during the last ten years render it advisable to reexamine the evidence by the light of a wider experience. The results of a re-examination which are brought before the Society this evening show that Dr. Falconer's conclusion as to the Mammoth being Preglacial in Britain is fully justified; and the additional details brought together since his death merely serve to fill in to some extent the picture of the life arid times of the mammoth, without affecting the outlines drawn by the hand of the master.
On the Occurrence of Pebbles with Upper Ludlow Fossils in the Lower Carboniferous Conglomerates of North Wales
Authors: Strahan Aubrey , Walker Alfred O.
Published: October 2009

Nearly forty years ago Mr. Bowman drew attention to “a small patch of Silurians west of Abergele,” in which he described the following subdivisions in descending order:—

f.

A conglomerate of pebbles of greenish micaceous sandstone in a light loamy earth resting on a similar sandstone.

c.

Thick red marl with numerous pebbles of red sandstone, micaceous, with many bivalves.

d.

A hard compact conglomerate of green sandstone and quartzose rock.

c.

Compact red limestone.

b.

Fine blue loamy clay.

a.

Clay-slate.

He makes the observation that the red-sandstone pebbles in bed
e
resemble Ludlow rock, and names four Ludlow species as occurring in them.

Our attention was directed to these beds by numerous excavations made in them at the time of the recent activity in the iron trade. The only good exposure is in Ffernant Dingle, a deep ravine running from the Pen-y-Cefn lane southward past Cefn-y-Fran, about one mile south of Llysfaen.

The southern or lower end of this dingle is occupied by Wenlock shale, a pale blue slaty clay, with occasional sandy beds. The beds are much jointed, and sometimes cleaved so as to weather into pencil-like fragments. At the south end of the dingle they are nearly horizontal, but dip gently to the north higher up, near Cefn-y-Fran.

At this point the Wenlock shale is unconformably overlain by hard, mottled, red and green brecciated limestone, containing beds of green sandstone pebbles in a sandy matrix. The limestone and the conglomerates dip to the N.N.E. at 28°.
On a new Group of Pre-Cambrian Rocks (the Arvonian) in Pembrokeshire
Authors: Hicks Henry
Published: October 2009

During my researches in Pembrokeshire last year, I was fortunate enough to discover some new areas of Pre-Cambrian rocks, and, moreover, to make out that the rocks which chiefly occupied those areas were generally unlike those which I had previously described under the names Dimetian and Pebidian.
On the Pre-Cambrian (Dimetian, Arvonian, and Pebidian) Rocks in Caernarvonshire and Anglesey
Authors: Hicks Henry
Published: October 2009

Conclusions

Collectively, these additions to the Pro-Cambrian areas hitherto known are large and important, and many of them were not in the slightest degree suspected until we commenced our researches amongst them a few years since. Of others, especially some of the rocks in Anglesey, Professors Sedgwick and Phillips many years ago expressed the opinion that they were older than the Cambrian rocks. These views, however, did not receive much support from geologists, but were for the time crushed by the combined weight of authority vested in the Geological Survey as represented by its chiefs, who all declared that these must be altered Cambrian and Silurian rocks only. Consequently they were so marked on the geological maps, and still remain so.
On Community of Structure in Rocks of Dissimilar Origin
Authors: Rutley Frank
Published: October 2009

Speculations upon the origin of rocks have always been fraught with more or less grave difficulties; and although much has from time to time been written upon the subject, those writings are in very many instances open to the objection that they are merely speculations, and that the data from which they have been educed are often by no means of a comprehensive nature. Within the last few years the microscope has afforded a large amount of information respecting peculiarities which were previously unknown in the structure of rocks—
microscopic
peculiarities it is true, but still amply sufficient to demonstrate that the cubic inch and the cubic mile of rock are often identical in mineral constitution, and built up in the same manner.

Given a patent community of origin, and often a coexisting community in the mineral constitution of rocks, we then see little or no reason to doubt the truth of many of the deductions which have been made; and the geological literature of twenty years ago then appears to be often quite as satisfactory as that of to-day.

It is, however, very common to find that the origin of certain rocks is by no means so evident, and the darkness which veils their past history, and the conditions under which they were formed, is not always to be dissipated even by the most patient and unbiassed research.
On the Occurrence of
Branchipus
(or
Chirocephalus
) in a Fossil State, associated with
Eosphæroma
and with numerous Insect-remains, in the Eocene Freshwater (Bembridge) Limestone of Gurnet Bay, Isle of Wight
Authors: Woodward Henry
Published: October 2009

There is hardly a spot in the British Islands so well known to geologists at large as the Isle of Wight.

Exhibiting, as it does, so many fine and varied natural sections in its cliffs, from the Wealden up to the Quaternary, it has attracted the attention of observers from the days of Sir H. Englefield, Bart. (1816), and since that date of Captain L. L. Boscawen Ibbetson (1849), of Dr. Mantell, Prof. Prestwich, Prof. Edward Forbes, Mr. H. W. Bristow, and quite recently of Dr. C. Barrois, of Lille, who has added considerably to the geological literature of the island.

The sections and map of the Isle of Wight published by the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and accompanying Mr. Bristow's valuable memoir, leave apparently little to be desired; but much has yet to be done in order to complete our knowledge of the vast series of fossil remains which are constantly being discovered, especially the large collections gelded by the fluvio-marine series.
A Contributions to the History of Mineral Veins
Authors: Phillips J. Arthur
Published: October 2009

Certain districts in California are remarkable for their hot springs; and in some of the counties included between the 38th and 40th parallels, and consequently north of the city of San Francisco, sources of this description are of such frequent occurrence that, when viewed from elevated ground, almost every valley is seen to he more or less occupied by wreaths of steam rising from a flow of highly heated waters.

The vents giving issue to these heated waters usually evolve carbonic acid, which is frequently accompanied by various sulphurous gases; such waters are generally alkaline, containing carbonate and sulphate of sodium, as well as, occasionally, alkaline borates. They generally give rise to abundant local incrustations of either silica or calcite, usually more or less mixed with free sulphur. These deposits of sinter often extend, in nearly horizontal layers, to a considerable distance from the orifices from which the waters issue.

When water is ejected from such vents in the form of steam and spray only, while gases are abundantly given off and large amounts of sulphur deposited, the aperture becomes a solfatara.
On Perlitic and Spherulitic Structures in the Lavas of the Glyder Fawr, North Wales
Authors: Rutley Frank
Published: October 2009

(Communicated by permission of the Director-General of the Geological Survey.)

Among the specimens belonging to the rock-collection in Jermyn Street of the various rocks which constitute the Glyders on the north side of the Pass of Llanberis, and which have been mapped by the Geological Survey as felstones and felspathic traps, and described by Professor Ramsay as lava-flows, I have discovered one which presents unquestionable perlitic structure. (The specimen is marked 376, wall-case 41 in the published catalogue.) The rock is associated with Bala-beds, and ia overlain by shales containing fossils similar to those which occur in the Bala Limestone.

It presents the appearance of a felstone to the naked eye, and by polarized light, under the microscope, it shows the microcrystalline structure which felstones so commonly exhibit. It is now practically a felstone; once it was a vitreous lava. Portions of the specimen show a coarsely vesicular structure; and the vesicles are, for the most part, filled by crystalline aggregates of quartz.

The above observations perfectly confirm the early conclusions formed by the Survey, which express as much truth as it was possible to arrive at in the absence of microscopic investigation.

The only additional information now procured is that the lava in question was once vitreous, and that it still shows the perlitic structure as clearly as the perlites of Saxony, which are of Tertiary age. The accompanying figure will sufficiently demonstrate this fact. Some of the other felstones of the Glyders show spherulitic structure; and in some
Contributions to the Knowledge of Fossil Crustacea
Authors: Woodward Henry
Published: October 2009

I.
On a fossil Squilla from the London Clay of Highgate
—
part of the “Wetherell Collection” in the British Museum
. (Plate XXVI. fig. 1.),

The Stomapoda (as restricted by Prof. Huxley, and) represented at the present day by
Squilla
,
Pseudosquilla
,
Gonodactylus
, and
Coronis
, are not only interesting from tho fact that they differ widely in many important points of structure from all other Crustacea; but, from their extensive distribution over the seas of the globe, they bear evidence of high antiquity, and justly challenge the attention of the palæontologist.

Two causes, however, may probably assist in explaining the rare occurrence of
Squilla
in a fossil state :—first, the thinness of its test, which would render it less likely to be preserved ; and, secondly, the fact that
Squilla
lives in, comparatively speaking, deep water, and prefers
clear water
undisturbed by sedimentary deposits.

Fossil Squillæ have been described by Münster, in 1839, from the lithographic stone of Solenhofen, Bavaria, under the name of
Sculda pennata
(Beitriäge, vol. iii. t. 4. fig. 4), and by the same author from the Eocene of :Monte Bolca, near Verona, Italy, under the name of
Squilla antiqua
(Beiträige, vol. v. t. 9. f. 11).

The British Museum possesses very perfect specimens of
Squilla
from the lithographic stone of Solenhofen (part of the late Dr.Häberlein's collection, see Plate XXVI. fig. 5); but I have not seen the fossil
Squilla
from Monte Bolca, and, although the figure given by Münster is sufficient to prove it to be a veritable
On the Endothiodont Reptilia, with Evidence of the Species
Endothiodon uniseries
, Ow.
Authors: Owen
Published: October 2009

I
n
the ‘Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Fossil Reptilia of South Africa in the Collection of the British Museum’ a genus
Endothiodon
and the species
bathystoma
were founded on a portion of a skull and of a mandible from the Trias of Gouph (p. 66, pis. lxvi. & lxvii.). The alveolar border of the upper jaw was subtrenchant, with a caniniform process on each side, as in
Oudenodon
. A section being made of this part, there was exposed, as in
Oudenodon magnus
(op. cit. p. 56, pl. liv., c′), a close osseous tissue, without trace of a canine or of a socket for any rudiment or germ of tooth (
op. cit
. p. 66, pl. lxvi., c′ c′); whence I inferred that such premaxillo-maxillary margin might have been sheathed, as in Chelonia, with horn. The opposing outer border of the portion of the mandible presented a similar toothless, subtrenchant character, but was extended in an unusual degree internal to such margin, giving great transverse thickness to the rami from the symphysis as far backward as the dentary element was preserved.

On the palatal surface of the crushed cranial fragment a single median palato-narial aperture was exposed, and some small cylindroid teeth appeared to be scattered in two or more rows on each side of the palate (
ibid.
pl. lxvii. figs. 1 & 4). Sections of the mandible showed that such teeth had been opposed by similar ones developed in the thick inner border internal to the edentulous alveolar margin.

In
A Contribution to South-American Geology
Authors: Attwood George
Published: October 2009

The paper which I have the honour to present to the Society, entitled “A Contribution to South-American Geology,” refers to a tract of country about 150 miles in length, commencing from a small port called Puerto de Tablas on the Orinoco river in the State of Guayana, Venezuela, and taking a south-easterly direction into the interior as far as the Caratal Gold district, as shown on the Map (Pl. XXXIII.).

Mr. Carlos Seigert, a German surveyor who has spent many years in the country, has lent me his notes in relation to the line of country I have surveyed and described; and his observations confirm the map I have compiled. The elevations marked on the section have been computed by the aneroid and mercurial barometers, and they were carefully checked by the boiling-point test made with Casella's hypsometers, as shown in the following Table (p. 583).

After landing at Puerto de Tablas and climbing up the sandbank, large exposures of weathered rock-masses are seen. I t is only after a careful examination that the rock is found to be crystalline and of igneous origin. Parallel lines of alteration are so distinct and so regular on the outer surfaces that, until the weathered portions have been broken off and the unaltered rock exposed, it is not possible that a definite conclusion can be arrived at. The rock presents a highly crystalline appearance, and consists chiefly of felspar, with some quartz and a dark green mineralI t contains 64·83 per cent. silica,
On the Dinosauria of the Cambridge Greensand
Authors: Seeley H. G.
Published: October 2009

I
ntroductory
N
ote
.

The remains of Dinosaurs were for many years very rarely met with in the Cambridge Upper Greensand; and several important parts of the skeleton have never yet been found. But a considerable collection of more than 500 bones is now preserved in the Woodwardian Museum alone; and since the greater number of these fossils have been discovered in larger or smaller sets of naturally associated remains, each of which is obviously a portion of the skeleton of a single individual, they afford evidence on which it is possible to establish many species which belong to several genera. Occasionally the series of remains is sufficiently large to give grounds for a conjectural reconstruction of the animal; but more frequently the bones are limited to a few caudal vertebræ; and even the larger sets of associated bones come chiefly from the caudal and sacral regions of the vertebral column. With the exception of
Macrurosaurus
, already described, and also known from a long sequence of large caudal vertebræ, all the remains indicate animals of small or of moderate size, varying between the magnitudes of a sheep and an ox. The majority of the species were characterized by possessing comparatively short tails; though one animal, at least, had a tail in which the vertebræ were more than usually elongated. These remains possess a peculiar interest in being the latest known representatives of the Dinosauria in British geological deposits; and they help to define the limits within which the osteological structure of the
On the Diorites of the Warwickshire Coal-field
Authors: Allport S.
Published: October 2009

I
n
a paper communicated to the Geological Society, and published in the 30th volume of the ‘Quarterly Journal,’ I briefly described the microscopical structure and composition of the various masses of igneous rocks which occur in the Carboniferous strata of the Midland Counties, with the exception of those found in the Warwickshire Coal-field. I now propose to complete the series with a short account of the only hornblendic rocks to be found among them.

Although they form but a small group they are of considerable interest, as some of them present remarkable varieties of structure, and others a mineral constitution which distinguishes them from any British rocks hitherto examined.

The geology of the Warwickshire Coal-field has been described in the Memoir of the Survey published in explanation of sheet lxiii. S.W. ; and a reference to that map will show that the rocks now to be described are restricted to the district between Atherstone and the village of Marston Jabet, about two miles south of Nuneaton, and also that the several bands and larger masses occur only in the lower unproductive beds of the Coal-measures and in the underlying Millstone Grit. Although the sheets usually run very regularly between the beds of shale they are clearly intrusive, as they sometimes pass from lower to higher beds, and have invariably altered the shales in contact with their upper and under surfaces. The junction of the eruptive and sedimentary rocks may be seen in several clear sections. In a quarry in Purley
The Precambrian Rocks of Shropshire.—Part I.
Authors: Callaway C.
Published: October 2009

I
n
a paper communicated to this Society on March 21st, 1877, entitled “On a new Area of Upper Cambrian Rocks in South Shropshire”*, I intimated that certain volcanic rocks associated with the shale in question, which had been usually regarded as eruptive greenstones, were for the most part composed of bedded material; but details were deferred

Mr. S. Allport, in a paper “On certain Ancient Devitrified Pitchstones and Perlites from the Lower Silurian District of Shropshire”†, read before this Society in May 1877‡, announces the same conclusion from entirely independent observations, devoting his attention, however, chiefly to the chemical and microscopic side of the question, and arriving at the very important conclusion that these (so-called) Lower Silurian pitchstones and perlites are identical in character with the most modern volcanic rocks.

In June 1878, I read to this Society a paper on “The Quartzires of Shropshire”§, in which I gave several sections across the Wrekin volcanic chain, and assumed that the bedded rocks of which it is mainly composed were of Precambrian age.

Messrs. Hill and Bonney, in their second paper “On the Precarboniferous rocks of Charnwood Forest” ∥, infer the same conclusionfrom my determination of the (at least) Upper Cambrian age of the quartzites which flank the Wrekin axis.

It is proposed in the present paper to describe the lithological and stratigraphical character of these rocks, and to state in full the evidence for their Precambrian age. In a subsequent communication an attempt will be made to trace the physical
On a Mammaliferous Deposit at Barrington, near Cambridge
Authors: Fisher O.
Published: October 2009

D
uring
the latter part of the summer of 1878 I heard from Mr. Griffith, of Christ's College, Cambridge, that large bones were being met with in a “coprolite-pit” at Barrington, on land belonging to Trinity College. Accompanying him there, we found the workmen had reserved for him fragments of three canines of a Hippopotamus, with some of the molars, a tooth of Rhinoceros, and other specimens. Further discoveries were made; and in September, when the work had been discontinued for harvest, I went there with two friends, and, armed with no tool better than a knife~ obtained an excellent specimen of an incisor of the Hippopotamus. Upon this I advised Mr. Keeping, of the Woodwardian Museum, to get permission to commence a regular search for fossils, which, term not having commenced, and the Professor being in the country, he took upon himself the responsibility of doing, and through the kindness of Messrs. Smith and Badcoek, the lessees of the coprolite-works, began a systematic exploration of the deposit. This was carried on after the Professor's return under his authority, and has been rewarded with great success.

The locality is easily recognized upon the Ordnance Map as being just south of where the final
n
in the word Barrington is printed. It is on the edge of a nearly level tract of ground at the foot of the hill between Haslingfield and Barringten, at an elevation of about 20 feet above the alluvial ground of the present stream of the present stream
On the Silurian Rocks of the Valley of the Clwyd
Authors: Hughes T. M'Kenny
Published: October 2009

In the following paper I offer a preliminary sketch of the Silurian rocks of the southern and western part of the Valley of the Clwyd, and an attempt to correlate the details with the sequence established elsewhere.

In the northern part of the district flaggy shales with subordinate more sandy beds occur; and though fossils are abundant at various horizons, I could not detect any group so marked that I could easily trace it across the country in the limited time at my deposal, while the endless rolls and folds made it difficult to determine, even within short distances, which were higher and which lower beds. A full list of the fossils of Llansannan from “beds above the Denbigh grits” is given by Salter, Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iii.; but I think it will be found that there are two horizons, both well up in the Denbigh beds, at which Grits occur, and that the Llansannan fossiliferous beds occur between them.

At Pontyrddol, a tittle over three miles W.S.W. of St. Asaph, I procured the following fossils in a black and grey flaggy sandy shale:—Petraia sp., Encrinite stems,
Atrypa reticularis, Chonetes lata, Leptvena minima
?,
Orthis elegantula, Orthis
, sp. (vat. of
elegantula
),
Rhynchonella navicula, Spirifera elevata, Strophomena depressa, Pterinea retroflexa

On Moel Fodia, about three miles to the south, the beds are very fossiliferous; I obtained the following from various small openings near the top of the hill :—

West of Denbigh similar beds can be followed rolling into the
On the so-called Midford Sands
Authors: Buckman J.
Published: October 2009

At the village of Midford, some three miles to the south of Bath, is a fine section of the upper beds of the Inferior Oolite rock, consisting of a cap of oolitic freestones of some 20 feet in thickness, resting upon a mass of sand, of which 25 feet are exposed at the station, and which presents all the features of the sand at Bradford Abbas and Bridport Harbour, as the sands are loose, vary in colour, and present occasional bands of hard compact stone.

From these sands being so well shown at this place, Prof. Phillips was induced to name them, after the village, the “Midford Sands;” and he thus writes upon the section:—

“If we wish to draw a hard limit of mineral deposits, it should probably be between the sand and its calcareous cover (which is often absent); but if we desire to study organic sequence, we shall unite the sands and their shelly cap into a transition group”*.

Now as this “shelly cap” is the one so highly charged with
Cephalopoda
we further quote the following :—

“The ‘Cephalopoda-bed,’ as Dr. Wright proposes to call the cap limestone of this sandy series, exists where the shells to which it owes its name were specially abundant, or by some natural circumstances were brought together. It is not known in the valleys of the Cherwell or Evenlode, and very partially in any of the branches of the Windrush, Coln, or Churn; but on the western front of the
On
Lepidodiscus Lebouri
, a new Species of Agelacrinitidæ from the Carboniferous Series of Northumberland
Authors: Sladen W. Percy
Published: October 2009

On this side of the Atlantic the
Agelacrinitidœ
are forms of the Echinodermata of such rarity of occurrence that each may well be spoken of as a veritable Phœnix amongst fossils! More than thirty years have elapsed since the first-discovered and hitherto solitary British species,
Agelacrinites Buchianus
, Forbes*, was found in the Bala Limestone of North Wales; and to this there can be added only two other forms, viz.
A. bohemicus
, Römer†, from the Silurian of Bohemia, and
A. rhenanus
, Römer‡, from the Devonian of the Eifel, to make up a full list of the representatives of the group in Europe. Indeed so great is the rarity of these Cystideans that the number of individual specimens obtained from the whole area may literally be counted in units on the fingers alone.

Turning, however, to the American continent, where
Agelacrinites
was originally made known, the group of species is found to be somewhat more numerous, whilst forms occur amongst them which rank as allied genera, and the vertical distribution extends from Lower1 Silurian up to Lower Carboniferous strata.

The organism which furnishes the subject of the present communication was obtained at East Woodburn, in Northumberland, from a schistose limestone belonging to the Lower Carboniferous series, aud is especially interesting as being the first example of a Carboniferous form of the Agelacrinitid~e occurring in Europe. We are indebted for the diseoveD- of this remarkable Echinoderm to Prof. G. A. Lebour, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to whose energy and industry geologists already owe much information
Note (3rd) on (
Eucamerotus
, Hulke)
Ornithopsis
, H. G. Seeley, =
Bothriospondylus magnus
, Owen, =
Chondrosteosaurus magnus
, Owen
Authors: Hulke J. W.
Published: October 2009

T
he
following paper contains a description of an unusually perfect dorsal vertebral centrum of
Ornithopsis
, additional information respecting the cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrm, and a comparison of its prmsacral vertebrm with those of several recently discovered Colorado Dinosaurs, bringing out several concordances but also such differences as prove the generic distinctness of
Ornithopsis
.

Our knowledge of the skeleton of this remarkable Wealden Dinosaur is still so incomplete that I deem myself fortunate in being able to submit to the notice of the Society an unusually well-preserved vertebral centrum, which I obtained from the sea-cliff, near Chilton, Isle of Wight, in 1875 ; the description of which and the remarks that follow may be regarded as a continuation of two former notes on the vertebrae of this Saurian*.

This new centrum (No. 178, Coll. H†) (fig. 1), like that with which

I identified my neural arch (No. 67, Coll. H) in the summer of 1870 (the Mantellian fossil, No. 28632, Brit. Mus. Catal., Wealden, S.E. England), is characteristically opisthoccelous, the posterior cup being deeply hollow, and the anterior convexity correspondingly prominent. The contour of the articular ends is oval, the longer diameter vertical, the upper end of the oval cut off. In its present state the vertical diameter of the posterior surface is about 3·5 inches, the horizontal diameter about 2·9 inches ; but these measures must be regarded only as approximative, because the edge of the cup is worn, and the whole form is slightly distorted by pressure. I
On the Ancient River-deposit of the Amazon
Authors: Brown C. Barrington
Published: October 2009

It is my intention to endeavour to describe in this paper the mode of occurrence, deposition, and general characters of a vast deposit of ancient alluvial matter which forms a great portion of the valley of the Amazon, and to deduce therefrom some facts regarding the deposition of detrital matters by this great river.

In ascending the Amazon, one cannot fail to be struck by the appearance of lines of cliffs at long intervals apart⁁ first on one hand, and then upon the other⁁which, rendered conspicuous by their bright colouring, form a pleasing contrast to the monotonous line of low greyish.clay river-sides which elsewhere meets the eye. In fact, they on the one hand, and a great plain of recent alluvium on the other, when the river is flowing on one side or the other of its present valley, are the chief features in the physical geography of the Amazon and its tributaries.

The accompanying diagrammatic section (fig. 1) will explain the relative position of the two.

Exceptions to the above-described conditions are only seen on the Lower Amazon at Almeyrin and Montealegré (where views of some picturesque scenery are obtained, produced by sandstone mountains of doubtful Triassic age), and at Santarem, on the Tapajos river, on the Trombettas river, at Parintins, Juruty, and Faro (where there are table-lands rising, in some instances, to a height of 460 feet above the general level, which are composed of beds of friable sandstone and clay, of grey, white, and reddish colours). The