bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On a new
Lingulella
from the red Lower Cambrian rocks of St. Davids
Authors: Salter J. W. , Hicks H.
Published: October 2009

F
ossils
in the red Cambrian rocks are so rare, that no apology seems due for introducing a single small specimen, lately gathered, after great research, by one of the authors of this paper. The search has been systematically pursued since 1862, when the first fossil of the Menevian group was described by Mr. Salter from this neighbourhood; and the labour has chiefly fallen upon Mr. Hicks, who resides at St. Davids. He has literally not left a stone unturned to find the true place of
Oldhamia
, and, if possible, of the mythical
Palæopyge
, in these old red rocks. He has been rewarded, during the search, by many additions to the Menevian fossils, found at successively lower and lower horizons, in the grey rocks which form the passage from the Lower to the Upper Cambrians. But, until quite lately, not a vestige had occurred to him in the actual red rocks themselves.

The fossil is but a small one, a line and a half long; but it is unquestionably a
Lingulella
, and apparently of the same species as one very common in the lowermost of the layers which have yielded
Paradoxides
, and the fossils of which will be described in our next memoir. With the
Paradoxides Hicksii
, Salter (the species formerly published in Siluria, 2nd edit., as
P. Forchammeri
?), several species of shells, Brachiopod and Pteropod, occur—and among them a
Lingulella
, of which figures and a description are appended, and which appears to be the same as that now found 200
Observations on certain Points in the Dentition of Fossil Bears, which appear to afford good Diagnostic Characters, and on the Relation of
U. priscus
, Goldf., to
U. ferox
Authors: Busk George
Published: October 2009

A
fter
noticing the difficulties which attend the study of the bones of the skeleton generally in fossil Bears, and the somewhat confused and contradictory opinions as to the distinction of species which have arisen in consequence, Mr. Busk states that his object in the present communication is merely to call attention to some points in the dentition which seem to afford more certain and more readily ascertainable characters than can at present he drawn from the bones, and which, at any rate in the absence of other evidence, are a sufficiently sure guide in the distinction of species.

The characters derived from the teeth depend—

1

On their dimensions, absolute and relative.

2

On their form.

It is not necessary, however, to consider all the teeth. The canines vary too much even within the limits of one species to be of much utility; and, with certain exceptions, the differences exhibited in the molars are not sufficiently marked to allow of their being employed.

The teeth upon which reliance is to be placed are the upper and lower fourth premolars, and the last molar in each jaw; and the distinctive characters of these teeth in
U. spelœus, U. priscus, U. ferox
, and
U. arctos
are pointed out by the author.

It is also endeavoured to be shown that in the size, proportions, and form of the teeth no essential differences can be perceived between
U. priscus
and
U. ferox
; and the opinion is expressed that, so far as cranial and dental characters are concerned, those two species are at present indistinguishable.
Notes on the Geology of the Province of Canterbury, N. Z., principally in reference to the deposits of the Glacial Epoch at the western base of the Southern Alps
Authors: Haast Julius
Published: October 2009

I. I
ntroduction
.

I
n
a paper laid before the Society at its Meeting of the 7th December, 1866, I offered a résumé of my views on the causes by which the glaciation of the Southern Island of New Zealand had been produced in Postpliocene times, giving at the same time a short description of the deposits of that interesting epoch, by which the slopes and valleys on the eastern side of the dividing range are almost everywhere covered.

The western side of that important mountain-chain, called properly the Southern Alps, in this Province, was then not known to me; but I had the satisfaction of visiting that part of the country last year, and of finding that the physical features confirmed in many respects my former deductions, based upon my researches on the opposite slopes.

My notes on such an important subject would not be complete did I not lay before the Society a short description of that interesting region, where, perhaps more than anywhere else, the deposits of the Glacial (or here perhaps better named glacier) epoch are developed on such a huge scale that even the morainic accumulations on the eastern side sink into insignificance when compared to those of the opposite slopes. Moreover any addition to the knowledge of the Postpliocene beds in the southern hemisphere, deposited by glacial or glacier action, and of the changes wrought by them in the physical aspect of the country, will not be unwelcome to those who are occupied in unravelling the
The Sulphur-springs of Northern Formosa
Authors: Collingwood Cuthbert
Published: October 2009

I
lately
had an opportunity afforded me, by a cruise in H.M.S ‘Serpent,’ Commander Bullock, of visiting the remarkable sulphur-springs in the neighbourhood of Tamsuy, in the north-east part of the island of Formosa. These springs are situated among the hills about equidistant from Tamsuy (or Hoowei) and Mangka, the capital of the Tamsuy district, and are highly interesting from a geological point of view, indicating as they do the existence of volcanic action near the surface in these regions—a circumstance which we might have been led to expect from the frequent occurrence of earthquakes.

The sulphur-springs which I am about to describe are not the only springs of the kind in those parts; others are indicated at no great distance. The road to them runs through a beautiful and highly cultivated district. Besides numerous paddy-fields situated upon the hillsides, and ingeniously irrigated by a series of platforms, down which the water flows from one to the other after the manner of the cascades of St. Cloud, a remarkable feature is an immense pineapple-plantation of many acres in extent; so that the verdure of these hills leaves one unprepared for the fact of subterranean heat finding a vent in such close proximity.

About halfway up the ascent we cross a stream having the character of a mountain-torrent, the stones at the bottom of which are covered with a deep-green deposit, very copious in the quieter and more sheltered spots; and upon dipping one's hand into this tream, the temperature is
Report on the Existence of a large Coal-field in the Province of St. Catherine's, Brazil
Authors: Thornton Edward
Published: October 2009

T
he
Tubaraõ basin is situated in the southern extremity of the province of Sta. Caterina, lat.
28.5° S., long. 5.5° to 6° W. of Rio de Janeiro, and 48° 14′ to 48° 44′ W. of Greenwich, distant about forty-five miles north-west of the seaport of Laguna, and intersected by the river Tubaraõ and its tributaries, which stream is navigated by small vessels for about twenty-five miles.

The existence of coal in this district has for some years been an established fact; and the Belgian traveller, Van de Lede, in 1842, visited and reported upon the small seams which were exposed to view on the route from Laguna to Lages; but from 1861 to 1863 a practical exploration was carried out by the Viscount Barbacena (who engaged Mr. James Johnson, an experienced Lancashire coal-viewer, and the engineers Messrs. Borell and Klap), which resulted in his purchase of a tract of land containing the best seams, and his acquisition of a concession of mineral rights in the valley of the Tubaraõ from the Imperial Government, dependent upon the formation of a railway and the opening of the mines.

The exploration, by driving several levels and sinking pits over an area of about twelve miles, proved the existence of a series of
Coal-beds at nine different levels, underlying a sandstone formation, in almost horizontal strata of different qualities, and of thickness
varying from one and one-half to 10 feet, all more elevated than the waters of the adjacent streams.

The longest adit was driven 78
On Abnormal Conditions of Secondary Deposits when connected with the Somersetshire and South Wales Coal-Basin; and on the age of the Sutton and Southerndown Series
Authors: Moore Charles
Published: October 2009

I. I
ntroduction
.

M
y
attention has for some time been directed to the peculiar physical conditions under which many of the Secondary rocks have been deposited on the southern edge and in the interior of the Somersetshire Coal-basin, and to the remarkable evidences of unconformability everywhere present. My observations have also been extended into South Wales, where to a considerable extent the same phenomena prevail. Within the last two years I have on several occasions accompanied friends to the interesting coast-sections of Sutton and Southerndown, which have lately been the subject of a paper by Mr. Tawney, when I have pointed out that, instead of representing, as they are supposed by him to do, beds older than the Rhætic and probably on the horizon of the St. Cassian or Muschelkalk deposits, they are only abnormal conditions of the Liassic rocks which are so familiar to us in many parts of England and on the continent.

Elaborate physical descriptions of some parts of the districts I shall have to notice have already been given by Messrs. Buckland and Conybeare, in the Geological Transactions*, under the title of “Observations on the South-western Coal-district of England,” and more recently by the late Sir Henry De la Beche, in a paper contained in the Memoirs of the Geological Survey, “On the Formation of the Rocks of South Wales and the South-west of England.” I shall hereafter have to refer to some interesting points not discussed in these Memoirs.

II. T
he
M
endip
H
ills

This range of
Australian Mesozoic Geology and Palæontology
Authors: Moore Charles
Published: October 2009

T
he
author referred to the observations of Professor M‘Coy and the Rev. W. B. Clark on the occurrence of fossils of Mesozoic age in Australia, and then proceeded to notice the species which he had obtained from that region. Fossils of Mesozoic type occur both in Western Australia, in the centre of the Continent on Stuart’s route, and in Queensland; but the specimens have hitherto been found in apparently drifted blocks, and nothing is known of the bedded rocks from which they are derived. The author stated that the Australian Mesozoic fossils agree, not only in genera, but also in many cases in species, with British forms; and he gave a list of species from Western Australia, identical with British species from the Middle and Upper Lias, the Inferior Oolite, and the Cornbrash. Of the fossils from Queensland also, many are said to be identical with, or very nearly allied to, British species; but the author regards the general type of the Queensland remains as referring them to the Upper Oolite. A gigantic species of
Crioceras
is regarded by the author as possibly indicative of the occurrence of Neocomian deposits in Australia. The fossil evidence upon which Professor M‘Coy inferred the occurrence of the Muschelkalk in Australia was said by the author to be nugatory, his supposed
Myophoria
proving to be a
Trigonia
nearly allied to
T. gibbosa
of the Portland Oolite, and his doubtful
Orthoceras
a small
Serpula
. The author had found no indications of the existence of Triassic or Liassic deposits in Queensland.

The blocks from Western Australia, referred by the author to the Middle Lias, contain
Myacites liassianus
(Quenst.), and are quite as highly ferruginous as the English Marlstone. The species identified by the author with British Oolitic species would indicate a range from the Inferior Oolite to the Cornbrash; the author suggested that the species may have had a longer range in time in Australia than in England, or that the subordinate divisions of the Oolite were not clearly marked in the Australian Mesozoic deposits. He is inclined to refer the fossils to the period of the Inferior Oolite.

The author inferred, from the occurrence of these Mesozoic fossils in drifted blocks at the two extremities of Australia, separated by 38° of longitude, that an enormous denudation of rocks of the secondary series has taken place over a considerable part of Australia.

Descriptions of a great number of new species were appended to the paper.
Further Evidence of the Affinity between the Dinosaurian Reptiles and Birds
Authors: Huxley T. H.
Published: October 2009

O
n
my way to Birmingham, in October 1867, I chanced to meet with Prof. Phillips; and mentioning some palæontological inquiries, chiefly relating to the Ichthyosauria (with which I then happened to be occupied), he very kindly urged me, as I returned to London, to pay a visit to the collection under his charge in the University Museum at Oxford. I did so; but as we were traversing the museum towards the Ichthyosaurian cases, we stopped at that containing the Megalosaurian remains, and I may say with Francesca—

It is indeed a wonderful collection, ample enough to occupy the working hours of many a day; and it was particularly attractive to me, as some difficulties in the organization of
Megalosaurus
and its allies had long perplexed me.

As Prof. Phillips directed my attention to one after the other of the precious relics, my eye was suddenly caught by what I had never before seen, namely the complete pectoral arch of the great reptile, consisting of a scapula and a coracoid ankylosed together. Here was a tangle at once unravelled. The coracoid was totally different from the bone described by Cuvier, and by all subsequent anatomists, under that name. What then was the latter bone? Clearly, if it did not belong to the shoulder-girdle it must form a part of the pelvis; and, in the pelvis, the ilium at once suggested itself as the only possible homologue. Comparison with skeletons of reptiles and of birds, close at hand, showed it to be.
The Physical Geography of Western Europe during the Mesozoic and Cainozoic periods elucidated by their Coral Faunas
Authors: Duncan P. Martin
Published: October 2009

The oldest Mesozoic reefs appear to have been formed upon the same plan as those which succeeded them through the consecutive geological ages; and all had the same general grouping of families, genera, and shapes which prevails in every modern reef. The scheme, which was feebly represented in the oldest reefs, became more fully developed in the Oolitic period, and was as perfect during the Nummulitic age as it is now. The faunas of the consecutive reefs rarely had species in common, but the genera were most constant and persistent. Certain coral-shapes and methods of growth and of reproduction prevailed during the whole of the periods; and there is a fair inference to be drawn that the external physical conditions which now are absolutely necessary for the formation and persistence of great aggregations of corals were present during the Mesozoic and Cainozoic periods.

These physical conditions have a geographical importance; and the same disposition of islands, deep and shallow seas, with remote continental spaces and rivers, which now prevails in the coral-areas, must be suggested to have existed in the reef-bearing seas of the past. The simplicity of the physical conditions, and their continuance on some one area during all ages, offer an explanation why the species and genera of the reefs and deep seas are respectively so representative and so evidently formed upon one definite plan.

There are relations, which can only be hinted at in this communication, between the floras and the reptilian and mammalian faunas of present
Notes on the Brachiopoda hitherto obtained from the “ Pebble-bed ” of Budleigh-Salterton, near Exmouth in Devonshire
Authors: Davidson Thomas
Published: October 2009

O
n
the 16th of December, 1863, Messrs. W. Vicary and J. W. Salter made an important communication to the Geological Society on the “pebble-bed” at Budleigh-Salterton, wherein some thirty-six different fossils were described and illustrated; of these, ten or twelve were Brachiopoda.

Since that period Messrs. Vicary, Valpy, Edgell, Box, Winwood, and others have been zealously at work collecting additional information, and every specimen that might assist in determining the age of the rock from which these drifted pebbles were derived has been carefully preserved*.

The Brachiopoda were transmitted to me at various times for examination. I have studied and compared them, so far as this was compatible with the preservation of the specimens. These fossils occur in the shape of internal casts and external impressions only; but by the aid of gutta-percha it was often possible to reproduce the external as well as the internal surface of both valves, and thus describe and figure the entire shell in as complete a manner as if taken from the sea. There are, however, a number of species which have occurred but once, or very rarely, and in so incomplete a state of preservation that it has frequently been impossible to arrive at a decided or satisfactory specific identification; and in such a difficult problem as the age of these pebbles at Budleigh Salterton, one cannot be too cautious in the identification of the fossils which they contain.

After the careful examination of several hundred specimens, I have been able to recognize
On the Graphite of the Laurentian of Canada
Authors: Dawson J. W.
Published: October 2009

I
n
my paper of 1864, on the Organic Remains of the Laurentian Limestones of Canada, as a sequel to the description of
Eozoon Canadense
, I noticed, among other indications of organic matters in these limestones, the presence of films and fibres of graphitic matter, and insisted on the probability that at least some of the lower forms of plant life must have existed in the seas in which gigantic Foraminifera could flourish. Dr. Hunt had previously, on chemical evidence, inferred the existence of Laurentian vegetation, and Dana had argued as to the probability of this on various grounds; and my object in referring to these indications in 1864, as well as to the supposed burrows of annelids, subsequently described by me§, was to show that the occurrence of
Eozoon
was not to be regarded as altogether isolated and unsupported by probabilities of the existence of organic remains in the Laurentian deducible from other considerations.

Now that the questions which have been raised regarding
Eozoon
may be considered settled, not only by the adhesion of the greatest authorities in palæontology and zoology, but by the discovery of similar organisms in rocks of the same age elsewhere, by specimens preserved in such a manner as to avoid all the objections raised to the mineral condition of the fossil, and by the discovery of such modern analogies as that furnished by
Bathybius
, it may be proper to invite the attention of geologists more particularly to the evidence of vegetable life afforded by the.
On the Iron-ores associated with the Basalts of the North-east of Ireland
Authors: Tate Ralph , Holden John Sinclair
Published: October 2009

General Conclusion

1.

That during the period of volcanic activity in the N.E. of Ireland, there was a cessation of igneous eruption over certain areas, during which lacustrine deposits were formed, and a growth of terrestrial plants took place.

As to the extent of the lake, or of the land-surface, the data are incomplete to form any conclusions. The lignite in the Giant's-Causeway basalt, the leaf-beds of the Isle of Mull, and the bituminous deposits in other localities may be on the same horizon. However, it is perhaps more probable that these several land-accumulations may have been formed in isolated areas, though during the one period of rest in the volcanic forces.

2.

The preceding remarks imply that there were at least two periods of volcanic activity, the plant-beds or lignite marking an unconformability of an upper basaltic series to a lower. The plants being of Upper-Miocene age enables us to assign a position in the scale of geological time to the superior basalts. What may be the age of the inferior series, is a question that can only be approximately answered. That it is newer than the White Limestone (Upper Chalk) and older than the upper Miocene, is apparent.

3.

The older basaltic series has undergone metamorphic changes in the composition of some of its interstratified lavas. The boles and ochres, which are decomposed basalts, are probably connected with subaqueous igneous flows, whilst the pisolitic iron-ore band, which is a metamorphosed
bole
, indicates subaerial action, and that during the period of emergence the bole
On the Geological Position and Geographical Distribution of the Reptilian or Dolomitic Conglomerate of the Bristol Area
Authors: Etheridge Robert
Published: October 2009

I
t
is so long since any communication has been made to the Society upon the Dolomitic Conglomerate in a physical sense, that it appeared to me the time had arrived when a paper in our Journal embodying some general notice or history of the conglomerate might not be unacceptable, especially as the Dinosauria of the Trias have lately been so ably treated by Prof. Huxley. This paper is therefore devoted to a consideration of the geological position and geographical distribution of the conglomerate so widely spread over the Bristol area, and containing the remains of the Dinosaurian reptiles
Thecodontosaurus
and
Palæosaurus
.

I have little to communicate that has not been noticed by the older writers; and the mention of the names of Bright, Gilby, Buckland, Conybeare, De la Beche, and Murchison, will show how little is left for me to do; but uninviting as this nearly unfossiliferous rock may appear at first sight, it nevertheless possesses a history even yet not written, and its origin, date, and fauna are still matter for investigation and research.

This old breccia is a grand and striking feature over many parts of the area where it is well exposed, and is a marked condition in the geological history and physical structure of Britain, to be studied and understood only over the limited and complicated area occupied. by the palæozoic rocks of the Bristol coal-basin.
On the Surface-deposits in the Neighbourhood of Rugby
Authors: Wilson J. M.
Published: October 2009

I
believe
no detailed information about the surface-deposits in the neighbourhood of Rugby has been communicated to this or to any Society; and I therefore offer the following observations, which fall under two heads:—

(1)

The surface-deposits of the high levels.

(2)

The deposits in the valleys.

In the present paper I confine myself strictly to facts for which I hold myself responsible as resting on my own observation, or on information obtained on the spot on which I can rely.
Notes on a Plant-and Insect-bed on the Rocky River, New South Wales
Authors: Moore Charles
Published: October 2009

S
ince
my paper on Mesozoic Australian Geology was written, a lady, who had for some time resided in New South Wales, whilst on a visit in Bath, requested me to look at some minerals she had brought with her from Australia; and these consisted chiefly of auriferous quartz, variegated sandstones, and other specimens most likely to attract a lady collector. Amongst them, however, was a block, a few inches square, of what was supposed to be coal, which at first view looked very much like the Tertiary brown coal of Germany, and which Dr. von Hochstetter, in his account of the Geology of New Zealand, has shown to occur extensively in that colony. Its examination led me to observe that it was not bituminous, and that it was only a piece of chocolate-coloured, micaceous, laminated marl. Thinking it possible that it might contain Microzoa, the request that I might have it for examination was readily assented to.

A memorandum on the block of marl indicated that the bed from which it came was ten feet thick, and that it was met with in sinking a shaft for gold, at a depth of from 100 to 110 feet, on the banks of the Rocky River, Sydney Flats.

In the New-South-Wales Catalogue of the International Exhibition, T. Dalton, Esq., remarks, on the Rocky-River district, that vegetable remains were found in a silicified state amongst the lowest strata of sand, resting upon the granites, beneath the basalt on all parts of this gold-field.
Note on a New and Undescribed Wealden Vertebra
Authors: Hulke J. W.
Published: October 2009

T
his
vertebra was found on the shore near Brooke, Isle of Wight, almost completely hidden in a large block of stone. Last autumn, when I obtained it, I showed the block to Mr. Fox, of Brighstone, whose knowledge of the Wealden strata in this neighbourhood is unrivalled; and he without hesitation referred it to a bed which occurs near the top of the high cliff between Brooke and Chilton.

The centrum has unfortunately been broken across, and the greater part of it, including both articular faces, is missing. Only a small part of it, including the floor of the neural canal, remains, surmounted by a singularly framed superstructure, which, although much distorted by pressure, is yet sufficiently preserved to afford a good idea of its perfect form.

The bony tissue is very compact, which makes the outer surface very smooth, and even polished. It takes principally the shape of thin plates, many of which are not thicker than stout writing-paper. Where the interior of the stouter parts of the vertebra is exposed, the broken surfaces show a thin outer shell of bone enclosing an extremely coarse cancellated tissue, the spaces of which are immense, exceeding by many times those of the cancellous tissue of all the contemporary Dinosaurs yet known to us, and reminding us in some measure of those of Pterodactylian bones.

The neurapephyses (P1. XXII. figs. 1 & 2,
np
), in their present mutilated state, measure about 5 inches from front to back; but their real length was
The Oolites of Northamptonshire
Authors: Sharp Samuel
Published: October 2009

I
t
is not without misgiving that I venture to offer to the notice of the Geological Society the following Memoir—justified in its production only by the fact that, during a residence of some years in Northamptonshire, I have been enabled, in the intervals of much other occupation, to acquire some familiarity with the geology of my own neighbourhood, and to make a collection of local fossils, which, in deference to “the inexorable logic of facts,” I cannot but anticipate will prove of greater importance, as illustrative of the geology of the district, than any paper of which I may be the author.

It is fortunate for me that, as compared with some other districts, little has been written upon that of which I treat.

The earliest geological notice of the locality is, I believe, to be found in Conybeare and Phillips, 1822; but it must not be forgotten that Morton, in his quaint and, for his time, learned, “Natural History of Northamptonshire,” published as early as 1712, described and figured, generally with accuracy, numerous fossils now as then obtainable from the geological formations of the county, including a
Trigonia
of a species not yet recorded as occurring in equivalent beds in other districts, and which Dr. Lycett has done me the honour of distinguishing by the name of
T. Sharpiana
.

A “Notice of the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Stamford and Peterboroug,” by the late Capt. Ibbetson, F.G.S., and Mr. (now Professor) Morris, F.G.S., was published in the ‘Transactions’ of
Notice of a Fragment of a Reptilian Skull from the Upper Cretaceous of Grünbach
Authors: Bunzel Emmanuel
Published: October 2009

T
he
bone described by the author was found by Prof. Suess in a coal-mine belonging to the Gosau formation at Grünbach, near Wiener Neustadt, from which Prof. Suess obtained numerous other bones also belonging to terrestrial reptiles.

The author stated that the reptilian character of the bone appeared at the first glance, as it shows a single condyle and a temporal fossa resembling that of a Crocodile; but it has some peculiarities, such as the convexity of the occiput and its gentle passage into the roof of the skull, without forming an angle as in other reptiles, the transverse ridge in the occipital region, the want of sutures between the bones, the globular form of the condyle, the horizontality of the base, the ascending direction of the clivus, and the large brain-cavity, which render it impossible to refer the animal to which this bone belonged to any recognized order of Reptiles.

The known skulls of Dinosaurians have a steep occiput, and exhibit more of the Lacertilian type; the fragment described by the author rather resembled that of a bird. The author consequently suggested the formation of a new order of fossil Reptiles,
Ornithocephala
, nearly allied to the
Ornithoscelida
of Prof. Huxley.

For the animal of which this fragment is the only known relic, the author proposed the generic name of
Struthiosaurus
.
Geological Observations on the Waipara River, New Zealand
Authors: Hood T. H. Cockburn
Published: October 2009

I
n
1859, whilst travelling in the Province of Canterbury, I discovered certain beds underlying the Waipara tertiaries, which I referred at the time to the Liassic series, and obtained from the bed of the River Waipara bones of an Enaliosaurian, which were placed in the British Museum, and which were recognized by Professor Owen as belonging to a new species of Plesiosaur, named by him
P. australis
.

Returning to the colony after ten years’ absence, I found that a survey of that province had been completed by the Government Geologist, Dr. Haast, whilst the northern and southern portions of the Middle Island had been explored by that accurate and painstaking observer Dr. Hector. The Canterbury and Wellington museums afford interesting evidence of their careful labours: in the latter a collection of fossils from Triassic deposits of the Nelson Province is placed; and an excellent one adorns the former, from the Tertiary beds of the Waipara and other adjacent districts, which crop out here and there from beneath the vast accumulations of Postpliocene gravels.

With the exception of some small fragments of bones (ribs chiefly) of Reptilian origin, nothing appeared to have been found to assist in determining the species of the antipodean monsters. I determined therefore to make as thorough an exploration of the wild ravines of the Waipara as possible, with the assistance of my friend Mr. Innes, who is the proprietor of the Mount-Brown estate, under the base of which the river here runs, and who had taken
On the Species of Rhinoceros whose Remains were found in a Fissure-cavern at Oreston in 1816
Authors: Busk George
Published: October 2009

I
n
the year 1816, during the course of the quarrying of the limestone-rock at Oreston for the construction of the Plymouth Breakwater, a cavernous fissure wag opened, containing numerous more or less fragmentary remains of
Rhinoceros
, but none of any other animal.

Notice of this discovery was given by Mr. Whidbey, the engineer of the works, to Sir Joseph Banks, at whose instance the bones were submitted to Sir Everard Home for examination, by whom a short paper on the subject was communicated to the Royal Society, which was published in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ for 1817.

This paper contains little more than a mere enumeration of the bones and teeth, which are all assigned to
Rhinoceros
; and it was considered probable by Sir Everard Home that they belonged to three individuals.

In 1821 several other cavities in the limestone, of the same kind, were encountered, in one of which, amongst other mammalian remains, chiefly of Bear, a single tooth of
Rhinoceros
was met with, “lying apart from the rest;” this is described by Sir E. Home as the “fourth grinder from the front, right side, of the Single-horned Rhinoceros.”

The above appear to have been the only Rhinocerine remains discovered at Oreston; for, although in 1823 a further set of caverns was laid open, whose contents have been ably described by Mr. Clift in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ for 1824, nothing belonging to
Rhinoceros
was there found.

The specimens enumerated by Sir E. Home are about twenty two in number; but
Notes on some Specimens of Lower Silurian Trilobites
Authors: Billings E.
Published: October 2009

T
his
specimen was collected in the Trenton Limestone, at the city of Ottawa, about ten years ago. When discovered it was lying flat upon a thin slab of limestone, and well preserved, with the exception of the eyes, which seem to have been forced inwards by pressure from above. It was also divided into two pieces by a fissure which extended diagonally across, from the first segment of the thorax on the left side to the fifth segment on the right.

It remained in the Museum for several years without attracting particular attention, until one day, observing that the part in front of the fissure was somewhat loosely attached, I removed it, and was surprised at finding, on the underside, not only the hypostoma in place, but also what appeared to be some of the legs of the animal. As the part behind the fissure was more firmly attached to the stone, I had it cut across just behind the eighth segment by the lapidary of the Survey. The remainder of the thorax was then easily split off. The pygidium came off with difficulty and in two pieces. All the pieces were then fastened together; and we thus obtained two specimens, one of which shows the underside of the Trilobite, and the other its impression on the stone.

On the underside (P1. XXXI. fig. 1) a broad shallow grooye extends from the space between the two lobes of the hypostoma, where we must suppose the mouth to be situated, backwards
Notes on the Geology of Arisaig, Nova Scotia
Authors: Honeyman D.
Published: October 2009

In the year 1864 I communicated a paper to the Society on the Upper Silurian rocks of Arisaig and their fauna. I observed then that these rocks were the type of a considerable proportion of the Nova-Scotian Silurian system. My field experience since then has confirmed this opinion. All the Upper Silurian rocks that I have examined appear to be repetitions of the Arisaig series, wholly or partially fossiliferous, and partially metamorphic, or highly metamorphic, and without appearance of fossils, as at Arisaig itself. I then observed, in connexion with the B, or second lowest member of my Arisaig series, “that the conditions under which it had been formed appeared to have been of a kind not the most favourable to the development of life.” This statement requires modification. I have found B strata in Arisaig, and elsewhere, somewhat rich in fossils. At Arisaig Cove, south of the pier, I found, in the summer of 1868, many beautiful specimens of Orthids, Trilobites, Crinoids, and
Favosites
. In other localities I found abundance of
Lingulæ
of various species, and a peculiar fossil, singularly and beautifully milled.

I also observed, in my former paper, that A had been transformed into porcellanous jasper at Arisaig pier, Frenchman’s Barn, &c.

In the summer of 1868, I found, connected with these jaspideous rocks, beds of soft material resembling silicates of magnesia, but which are now found to be silicates of alumina, which may be employed for ornamental and useful purposes.

In reference to A and B
On the relative Position of the Forest-bed and the Chillesford Clay in Norfolk and Suffolk, and on the real Position of the Forest-bed
Authors: Gunn John
Published: October 2009

A
t
a meeting of the Geological Society, held May 20th, 1868, I stated, in opposition to the view entertained by Mr. Prestwich of the Forest-bed being placed above the Chillesford clay, that I had seen it at Easton Bavent, in Suffolk, upon the beach, at a lower level than the Chillesford clay in the cliff, and also that I had seen it at Kessingland and Pakefield, on the beach and at the foot of the cliff, underlying the Chillesford clay.

I have visited these places several times since; and a fall of the cliffs and the partial clearing away of the beach at Kessingland have exposed the strata in the following ascending order:—The Forest-bed on the beach; the freshwater Unio-bed, similar to those at Mundesley and Runton; the Fluvio-marine bed; the Marine (including the Chillesford clay, both the blue-laminated below and the brown-laminated above); the sands and gravels which contain the
Tellina balthica
crag at Wroxham Weybourne; and the Glacial series, which, as it does not enter into the present inquiry, I have not particularized.

The Forest-bed at Kessingland and the adjoining parish of Pakefield is one of the richest depôts of Elephantine and Cervine remains, and also of the
Rhinoceros etruscus
; and, judging from its position on the same horizon, and from its mineral and fossil contents, it can scarcely be doubted that it is an extension or continuation of the Bacton and Mundesley Forest-bed.

The Chillesford clay here and in a gorge between Kessingland and Pakefield, a few
Notes on the Lower portion of the Green Slates and Porphyries of the Lake-district between Ulleswater and Keswick
Authors: Nicholson Henry Alleyne
Published: October 2009

O
verlying
the Skiddaw slates of the Lake-district and underlying the Coniston limestone is a great series of rocks which are mostly of igneous origin, and were originally named by Prof. Sedgwick the “Green Slates and Porphyries.” These rocks consist essentially of stratified felspathic ashes associated with sheets of contemporaneous trap. The ash-beds are mostly cleaved, and they constitute the well-known “green slates” of Cumberland and Westmoreland, whilst the traps are often porphyritic. The origin, therefore, of the name proposed by Prof. Sedgwick is obvious; but there are many reasons why some local name would be preferable. Near the summit of the group is a band containing Caradoc fossils, so that the age of this portion of the series is unequivocal; but no organic remains have ever been detected as yet in the lower portion of the green slates, so that the exact age of this is somewhat uncertain. The entire series of the green slates and porphyries is exhibited over a very extensive superficial area, comprising the central portion of the Lake-district proper, and extending about twenty-five miles along the strike, from E.N.E. to W.S.W., and about thirteen miles in the direction of the dip, from N.N.W. to S.S.E.

So much repetition, however, takes place, in consequence of folding and of faults, that it is very questionable if the entire thickness of the series is more than some 5000 or 6000 feet, though it doubtless varies considerably in different parts of this area.

It is the object of this communication
Note on some Plesiosaurian Remains obtained by J. C. Mansel, Esq., F.G.S., in Kimmerldge Bay, Dorset
Authors: Hulke J. W.
Published: October 2009

T
hese
remains form part of the rich series of Enaliosaurian fossils obtained from Kimmeridge Bay, by J. C. Mansel, Esq., to whose courtesy I am indebted for the opportunity of bringing them under your notice. They consist of five vertebræ, four of which are nearly entire, with pieces of several ribs, a digital phalanx, and a carpal bone (?), imbedded in two slabs of clay-stone, indicating an undescribed species of
Plesiosaurus
,—and of a large number of associated bones representing another species characterized more particularly by the proportions and peculiar construction of its paddles, which sharply separate it from the typical
Plesiosauri
of the Lias, and show an extremely close affinity with
Pliosaurus
.

The middle dorsal vertebræ (the only ones in Mr. Mansel’s collection) of the species for which I propose this name, are characterized by the extreme shortness of the centrum, which in three of the vertebr’ lying in one slab has a length, or antero-posterior diameter, of 1 inch only, measured along the outer, non-articular surface. The length of the fourth centrum, in the other slab, is ⋅3 inch more; but this centrum is a little obliquely distorted by pressure. The breadths (or horizontal transverse diameters) of the centra are respectively 4⋅6, 4⋅5, 4⋅3, 4⋅4 inches; and their heights (or vertical diameters) are 4, 4, 3⋅8 inches.

Span between ends of transverse processes 6⋅7 inches. Height of neural spine about 3⋅6 inches. Height of entire vertebra from lower border of centrum to top of neural spine about 9⋅4 inches.
On some points in South-African Geology.—Part II
Authors: Stow G. W.
Published: October 2009

T
his
paper commenced with a detailed account of the Forest zones, coal, and other strata of the Karoo formation, as seen in sections in the Winterberg and Stormberg. The author particularly pointed out the position of the Fern-beds at Dordrecht, of the Reptilian remains found on the Upper Zwartkei, and of the Coal on the Klaas Smits River. He next referrd to the climatal changes of South Africa, as indicated by its geology and fossils, particularly the Karoo beds, the
Enon
-conglomerate, the
Trigonia
-beds, the several post-Tertiary shell-beds, and especially the present surface conditions, which he regarded as due to ice-action, as evidence of which he adduces
roches moutonnées
, moraines, basins, and striæ, both north and south of the Stormberg, in British Kaffraria, and even in Lower Albany. He concluded with remarks on the probable succession of periods, and on the former existence of a great southern continent.
On the Diamond-districts of the Cape of Good Hope
Authors: Gilfillan G.
Published: October 2009

I
n
this paper the author gave an account of a visit paid by him in June last to the diamond-bearing districts of the Cape of Good Hope.

Between Cradock and Hope Town there seemed to be no indications to warrant the expectation of finding diamonds. The geological structure of the country between Cradock and Middelburg is very uniform, showing few traces of upheavals. The rocks are chiefly sandstones of various degrees of fineness, with alternating beds of red or blue marl, in hard nodules of which
Dicynodon
-remains are formed.

On the “Karoo” the author noticed that all the springs in that country rise on the eastern side of dykes which run about N.E. and S.W. Near Hope Town there are immense tracts of sand. This village is surrounded by low bluffs of a peculiar rock, consisting of a calcareous matrix with waterworn pebbles. At Hope Town an active trade in diamonds is carried on.

The author crossed the Orange River at Hope Town, and describes the tract of country between that and the Vaal River, called Albania, as very barren of geological interest, being chiefly a sandy waste, with a few low hills dykes of greenstone, trap, &e., and occasionally an outcrop of hard blue schist. Where the sandy covering is removed, a deposit of tufaceous nodular limestone is exposed.

Crossing the Vaal River at the Griqua mission-station of Back-house, the author entered the true diamond-district. At Nicholson’s farm, about six miles up the river, he observed the outcrop of a hard conglomerate, sometimes assuming the aspect of a breccia, composed of angular and rounded pebbles and blocks of quartz, jasper, &c. of all sizes to upwards of a foot in diameter. Overlying this was a highly ferruginous soil containing numerous pebbles of quartz, jasper, iron ore, &c., in which, the author was informed, several diamonds had been found.

From Baekhouse the authOr pushed on to Likatlong, about sixty miles further north. On the road along the banks of the Vaal River he occasionally observed schistose rocks, and also a great deal of unstratified limestone, containing quartz and other pebbles, in which diamonds were said to have been found with limestone adhering to them. Beneath this limestone, when denuded away, a ferruginous clay, the same as above described, makes its appearance, and is searched by the natives for diamonds. The author considers that the number of diamonds found at .Likatlong had been greatly exaggerated. He states that the diamonds were everywhere obtained from the ferruginous soft, and that the spots which had been searched were always near the river, and, as far as he observed, only on the right bank, where the level of the country for some distance from the river is lower than on the opposite side. He considers that the finding of diamonds on this side only is due to the absence of the great deposit of sand which raises the country on the opposite bank to a much higher level.
Notes on some new Crustaceans from the Lower Eocene of Portsmouth
Authors: Woodward Henry
Published: October 2009

Having
been favoured by Messrs. C.J.A. Meyer and Caleb Evans with the opportunity of examining three new Crustaceans recently obtained by them from the Lower Tertiary Deposits exposed during the excavations for the “Dockyard Extension Works” in Portsmouth Harbour, I beg to submit the following notes thereon.

I. Family C
orystidæ
. (Genus
Palæocorystes
, Bell.)

This family, represented at the present day by the genus
Corystes
common on our own coast, and in the Chalk, Greensand, and Gault by the genera
Palæocorystes
and
Eucorystes
, has now been discovered in the Lower Eocene, at Portsmouth, by Mr. Caleb Evans, F.G.S.

The specimen (see Plate IV., figs. 1 a, b), although far from perfect, is sufficient to indicate at once the genus to which it belongs, namely
Palæocorystes
, and also that it is specifically distinct from those occurring in the Cretaceous rocks, already described by Prof. Bell and others*. The carapace measures one inch in length; but (both its anterior and posterior borders having been injured) it was, originally, probably nearly one-fourth of an inch longer. In breadth it measures 10 lines. Some portion of the anterior (orbital and suborbital) border can still be traced out; but the rostrum is quite destroyed. The surface of the carapace is smooth and devoid of ornamentation, save a few widely scattered and very minute puncta ; but where the delicate cortical layer has been removed, the carapace presents a finely granular structure. The two sigmoid markings, observable on the carapaces of all the Corystidæ are also clearly
On the Chalk of the Southern Part of Dorset and Devon
Authors: Whitaker William
Published: October 2009

As my rambles through Dorset and Devon (in 1867–68) were made from east to west, the same course will be followed in transcribing my notes, a course that will also have the advantage of starting from the point nearest to the Isle of Wight, the Chalk of which has been described in a paper of which this may be taken as a continuation†.

At the northern side of Swanage Bay, where the rocks are almost vertical, the Upper Greensand, consisting of green-grey sand with layers of nodular stones, is capped by evenly bedded Chalk Marl, made up of alternations of lighter-coloured thicker and harder beds, with darker thinner and softer, and forming a sort of ridge-and-furrow foreshore, as in the Isle of Wight. The Chalk Marl has a thick grey bed at top, and seems to be about 60 feet thick. It is succeeded by hard bedded Chalk without flints, which again is soon succeeded by a thin layer of the Chalk-rock, hard, with the usual irregular-shaped green-coated nodular lumps (chiefly at the top) and iron-pyrites. Above this is Chalk that weather to a rough surface, and higher up contains flints. Further east, at the highest part of the cliff, the Chalk is less rough, and not so full of flints as in the Isle of Wight.

I was not able to get at the section between Ballard Hole and the Foreland ; but enough has been already written on that part‡. I may remark, however, that two of the