bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Cotteswold, Midford, and Yeovil Sands, and the Division between Lias and Oolite
Authors: Buckman S. S.
Published: October 2009

It has been observed that attention to lithology is likely to insure success in the matter of correlation. I am bound to confess, however, that my experience of Jurassic rocks tells me that in many cases this observation is quite incorrect. Within the limits of one basin it may happen that the same horizon can often be identified by the similarity in lithology; but even within such limits it certainly will not be safe to place much reliance on such a guide; while in correlating the strata of one basin with those of another, such an idea will probably lead to very decided errors. The strata now to be discussed have suffered singularly in the matter of correlation from this similarity of lithology.

In the counties of Dorset, Somerset, and Gloucester there occur in most places, between clay of Upper Liassic age and limestone of the Inferior-Oolite period, certain yellow micaceous sands, which contain, at intervals, in some places regular bands, in others lines of more or less lenticular masses, of a hard, greyish, sometimes blue-hearted, sandstone.
Observations on some undescribed Lacustrine Deposits at Saint Cross, South Elmham, in Suffolk
Authors: Candler Charles
Published: October 2009

The well-known freshwater beds of Hoxne in Suffolk have attracted so much attention that a short account of some closely related deposits which I have recently met with in the same district will not, I hope, be without interest to students of our Pleistocene formations.

The beds in question are situated in the parish of Saint Cross, South Elmham, in the basin of the
River Waveney, 3¾ miles E. by N. of the town of Harleston, and 9 miles E.N.E. of Hoxne. The road from Homersfield Bridge to Halesworth, after first skirting and then crossing the terrace of gravel which here flanks the river on the Suffolk side, leaves the valley and enters the parish of Saint Cross, on the verge of the plateau of Chalky Boulder-clay which covers with a thick cap the district locally known as “High Suffolk.”

The parish is intersected by the “South Elmham Beck,” which has scoured a channel through the Boulder-clay deep into the underlying sands of the Middle Drift. Just beyond the village street the Halesworth Road crosses a broad and shallow trough, which a few yards lower down converges with the valley of the Beck. On the eastern slope of this lateral depression is a brickyard, and it is here that the beds to be described are exposed. On the same spot the Boulder-clay was for some time excavated, and this may perhaps account for the fact that the more recent formations have hitherto escaped notice.
Notes on the Hornblende-schists and Banded Crystalline Rocks of the Lizard
Authors: McMahon C. A.
Published: October 2009

I have visited the Lizard on three occasions, namely, in 1887 in company with several Members of the Geologists' Association under the able guidance of Messrs. Howard Fox, F.G.S., and E. A. Wiinsch, F.G.S.; in 1888 by myself; and in February of the present year in company with Mr. Howard Fox, to whom I feel under the greatest obligation, his intimate acquaintance with the Lizard rocks and his local knowledge rendering his aid in the field extremely valuable.

On each occasion I collected numerous specimens of the rocks, and studied thin slices of them under the microscope during the intervals between my visits, so that I have had an opportunity of correcting the impressions made in the field by microscopic work in the study, and of again testing ideas formed in the study by fresh observations in the field. I have examined under the microscope over ninety thin slices of my own specimens, nearly fifty have been lent me by Mr. Howard Fox, and Mr. J. J. Harris Teall kindly placed those of his own collection at my disposal.

Before stating the results of my own investigations I think it desirable to refer briefly to the views expressed by previous observers. Sir Henry De la beche's opinion may be gathered from the following extract from his ‚Report on the Geology of Cornwall and Devon ‚∗:—

"if it were not for the occurrence of the hornblende slate in the conglomerate of the Nare Point, we might suppose that it [the hornblende
On some Bryozoa from the Inferior Oolite of Shipton Gorge, Dorset—Part I.
Authors: Walford Edwin A.
Published: October 2009

So little attention appears to have been paid by British palæontologists to the Jurassic Bryozoa, that a few scattered papers constitute the literature of the subject, and hardly a dozen new forms have been described since the appearance of Haime's Monograph in 1854. In a paper on some Lias Polyzoa, I believe I have given the titles of nearly all of the papers. Mr. Vine's Richmond report and two later contributions complete the list. This neglect can scarcely be accounted for by the absence of material to work upon, for though the argillaceous seas of the Lias were not favourable to the development of the Bryozoa, either in numbers or species, yet under the calcareous conditions of the Inferior and Great Oolite the contrary was the case. The reason may be sought for, perhaps, in the frequently unsatisfactory state of preservation of the delicate features necessary for their study, as well as in the difficulties into which the classification has drifted. Certain it is that too many species have been created out of ill-preserved examples, and thus another barrier has been raised in the way of systematic nomenclature. It can scarcely, however, be said that there is yet formed a natural system of classification for the division to which most of the Lower Jurassic forms belong.
On the Subdivisions of the Speeton Clay
Authors: Lamplugh G. W.
Published: October 2009

Twenty years ago Professor J.W. Judd, in a paper
*
which has become classical, described to this Society the Clays which emerge from beneath the Chalk at Speeton on the coast of Yorkshire, and showed that they comprise the fullest development of marine beds of Lower Cretaceous or Neocomian age to be found in England; and, in a later paper†, he pointed out that the section at this place furnished the key by means of which might be identified the more or less isolated and fragmentary exposures of beds of this age scattedred over the whole of the great North-European area. He showed, moreover, more clearly that had hitherto been done, that the uppermost beds of the Jurassic formation were also represented in the series, and defined the limits of the two systems.

In spite of the acknowledged importance of the section and the uncertainty which still pertained to parts of it, there has been practically no addition to our knowledge of the of the locality since these papers were published — the reason for this being, no doubt, the generally obscure and difficult state of the cliffs, as it is rarely, except in the winter or in stormy weather when this bleak coastline has few visitors, that the conditions of the section are favourable for observation.

It neeeds a high and stormy tide, to reveal a fresh unweathered surface of clay at the foot of the slopes, or a heavy onshore gale, to sweep aside the sand and shingle of the beach, before the student of the section can make any really satisfactory progress either in collecting the fossils or in studying the sequence of the deposits; and many repetitions of such conditions are necessary before the many difficulties of the section can be grasped.
The Catastrophe of Kantzorik, Armenia
Authors: Corpi F. M.
Published: October 2009

Kantzorik, a small village of 215 inhabitants in the Caza de Tortoum, a dependency of the vilayet of Erzeroum, was situated in a narrow valley at an altitude of about 1600 metres. It was at a distance of 60 kilometres from Erzeroum, and of 10 kilometres from Nikhah, the seat of the “Kaïmakamlik.”

The inhabitants of Kantzorik having noticed certain subterraneous noises, and that the springs of a great mountain situated at the western opening of their valley had dried up, were alarmed at these phenomena and gave notice to the local authorities, who directed them at once to evacuate their village; but before they had time to execute this project, towards noon on the 2nd of August, 1889, a frightful noise was heard, a part of the Eastern Mountain burst open, the village was buried under a great muddy mass, and 136 villagers perished in it. Such is the account given by the survivors of this terrible catastrophe, who affirm that they saw a red torrent, which would lead one to think that this fluid mud was in a state of ignition.

His Excellency Samit Pacha, Governor General of the vilayet of Erzeroum, moved by the great misfortune which had happened at Kantzorik, hastened to send assistance to the sufferers; and to prevent fresh disasters to the other villages which seemed to be menaced with the same fate, he took prompt and intelligent measures, placing their inhabitants in safe places, and did me the honour of entrusting to me the task of going to investigate this phenomenon on the spot from a geological point of view.
On the Occurrence of the Striped Hyæna in the Tertiary of the Val d'Arno
Authors: Lydekker R.
Published: October 2009

In cataloguing the remains of fossil Carnivora preserved in the British Museum*, I entered, under the head of
Hyœna striata
, a portion of the left maxilla of a hyæna obtained by the late Mr. Pentland from the Tertiary deposits of the Val d'Arno, in Tuscany. At that time I had no evidence of the existence of this species in the Pliocene, and the specimen was accordingly provisionally regarded as of Pleistocene age, since beds of that epoch are known to occur in the Val d'Arno. At a later date I again referred to this specimen in a paper read before the Society on May 12th, 1886 †, and concluded that it might be from beds of Upper Pliocene age. In the same communication I also described and figured a right upper carnassial of a hyæna from the Red Crag, which was likewise referred to the existing Striped Hyæna (
H. striata
). Following, however, the lead of Professor A. Gaudry, I was at that time disposed to regard
H. arvernensis
, of the Upper Pliocene of the Auvergne, as nothing more than a large variety of
H. striata
. It was also considered that the premolars from the Red Crag, described as
H. antiqua
, were in all probability referable to the same existing species.

In a recent memoir on the fossil Hyænas of the Val d'Arno, Dr. K. A. Weithofer ‡, who appears to have had the opportunity of examining actual specimens, concludes that
H. arvernensis
is entitled to rank as a valid species.
The Igneous Constituents of the Triassic Breccias and Conglomerates of South Devon
Authors: Worth R. N.
Published: October 2009

In the paper on “The Elvans and Volcanic Rocks of Dartmoor” which I had the honour of laying before this Society on the 3rd of April last, I mentioned that the examination of a number of fragments of igneous rocks included in the Triassic breccias and conglomerates of South Devon had shown that many so-called “porphyritic traps ” among them were really “ elvans” or felsites, whilst others presented a near approach to true volcanic types.

My present purpose is to follow up that remark by giving the results of a detailed investigation of the igneous constituents of these beds. The subject is by no means a new one ; for the origin of these fragments has now and again engaged the attention of geologists, some of great eminence, for nearly seventy years. But the opinions expressed have been diverse, and the problem can neither be regarded as settled nor as having approached a definite solution. So far as I am aware, indeed, no recent attempt has been made at a general investigation; and there has certainly been no such application of modern methods of petrological research.

Under these circumstances it is hoped that the present paper may prove of service as a record of observed facts affording material for judgment; and that it will not be thought the attention of the Society has been needlessly called to a topic in itself perhaps unimportant, but which, nevertheless, has weighty bearings on the physical history of the West of England. There
On the Relation of the Westleton Shingle to other Pre-Glacial Drifts in the Thames Basin, and on a Southern Drift, with Observations on the Final Elevation and Initial Subaerial Denudation of the Weald: and on the Genesis of the Thames
Authors: Prestwich Joseph
Published: October 2009

1. Distinctive Characters of the Southern Drift.

Taxing the strata in their order of succession, this paper ought to have preceded the last, but for the fact that for the purpose of classification it was essential to have a base-line of which the position had been previously determined, such as that offered by the Westleton Shingle, before the relation of the other pre-glacial Drift-deposits in the Thames Valley to one another and their relative age could be established. It is for this object that I attach importance to the Westleton Beds last described ; but besides these, which are confined almost entirely to the north side of the Thames, there is another closely allied hill-drift, which I propose to call the “ Southern Drift,“ of more limited range and confined chiefly to the south side of the Thames. I at first thought it possible that they might be synchronous *, but now I have come to the conclusion that the Southern Drift is the older of the two, in the sense afterwards to be explained. Both of them are so restricted to outliers, often very small and far apart, and have been so much encroached upon by Glacial Drifts of later date, that the relation they bear to one another is generally much obscured.

The leading points on which we have mainly to depend are the relative levels and the differences in the character and origin of the rock-fragments and pebbles composing the two deposits, and in the proportion and condition of those which are common to both.
On Remains of small Sauropodous Dinosaurs from the Wealden
Authors: Lydekker R.
Published: October 2009

Among the Dinosaurian remains from the Upper Jurassic of the United States, recently described by Prof. Marsh, none are perhaps more interesting than the vertebræ and teeth upon which the genus
Pleurocœlus*
has been based, since they indicate a comparatively small form closely allied to the gigantic
Morosaurus
, and less nearly so to the still more huge
Brontosaurus
. In the type species of
Pleurocœlus
the teeth are said to be of the same general type as those of
Morosaurus
, but are not distinctly spoon-shaped, and are thus more like a compressed cone. The centra of the dorsal vertebræ, which are less than four inches in length, are elongated and very markedly opisthocœlous, with a long and deep lateral cavity, of which the upper portion gradually shelves towards the arch.

Recognizing the Sauropodous nature of the teeth from the Wealden of Sussex and the Isle of Wight, provisionally referred by Mantell and subsequently by Sir R. Owen to
Hylœosaurus
(one of which is shown in the woodcut), I proposed † some time ago to regard them provisionally as indicating a European representative of the American genus, with the name of
Pleurocœlus valdensis
. These teeth indicate a very small member of the Sauropoda, and, although their crowns are subject to considerable variation in form, many of them show the absence of a decided spoon-shape, characteristic of those of the type species.

In the same notice I referred to the imperfect centrum of a dorsal vertebra from the Wealden of Cuckfield, preserved in the
On a Horn-like Dinosaurian Bone from Wealden
Authors: Lydekker R.
Published: October 2009

Among a small series of vertebrate remains lately sent from the Dorsetshire County Museum to the British Museum there is an imperfect bone from the Wealden of Brook, Isle of Wight, so unlike any specimen from those beds which has hitherto come under my observation that I deem it worthy of a brief notice. This specimen, which is represented on a reduced scale in the accompanying woodcut, is a stout and short cone-like bone, of some
5 1/2
inches in length, with the larger basal diameter measuring 4 inches. The cone is somewhat compressed, with a distinct backward curvature, the summit being imperfect. The outer surface is rugged, with irregular longitudinal ridges; while the base is extensively hollowed, and has a smooth and mamillated surface, recalling that of the cancellous cavities found in the base of the horn-cores of the Bovidæ. In all these respects this specimen appears to present a close resemblance to the horn-cores of the Dinosaurian skull from the Jurassic of North America, described and figured by Prof. Marsh in the ‘Amer. Journ.’ ser. 3, vol. xxxvi. pl. xi., under the name of
Ceratops
. A less marked resemblance is also presented to the longer horn-like bone from the Greensand of Austria, figured by Prof. Seeley in vol. xxxvii. pl. xxvii. fig. 4, of the Society's ‘Quarterly Journal,’ under the name of
Cratæomus
, which Prof. Marsh (Geol. Mag. dec. 3, vol. vi. p. 207) regards as a veritable horn-core. The dermal spines of
Hylæosaurus
and
Polacanthus
do not
On the Crystalline Schists and their Relation to the Mesozoic Rocks in the Lepontine Alps
Authors: Bonney T. G.
Published: October 2009

At the close of the year 1888 I read before this Society a paper “ On two Traverses of the Crystalline Rocks of the Alps,“ in which I maintained that these rocks could be arranged in certain fairly definite groups, which exhibited a stratigraphical succession. On this communication only two criticisms of importance were offered. Of these one expressed a doubt of the value of the method which I had adopted in my work; the other affirmed that certain schists, regarded by me as members of a very ancient series, probably Archæan, had been demonstrated by the presence of Mesozoic fossils to be of the latter age ; or, in other words, that, in the Alps, ordinary sediments deposited in the Jurassic epoch had been subsequently converted into true crystalline schists, a result of metamorphic action which I had implicitly affirmed to be incredible. The former criticism, which amounted to an assertion that the general succession of the Alpine rocks could only be ascertained by very detailed mapping, in my opinion, indicated an imperfect knowledge of the subject, while it was scientifically unsound and historically incorrect. It indicated an imperfect knowledge, because, as a matter of fact, a considerable part of the Alps has already been mapped, not by irresponsible amateurs but by official surveyors, and it was with the interpretation of these maps that I was largely concerned; and because it assumed that an impossibility could be performed.As I have had the honour to fill the same position in the Alpine Club that I have done in this Society, I may be affirm without fear of contradiction that a very elaborate petrographical mapping of the Alps is impossible ; for the most painstaking and conscientious of surveyors must assume much that is incapable of demonstration.
The Pebidian Volcanic Series of St. Davids
Authors: Morgan C. Lloyd
Published: October 2009

1. Introduction.

Two strongly contrasted interpretations of the structure and geological genesis of the St. David's promontory are before geologists. The first of these is that advocated for many years by Dr. Hicks and finally summed up by him in 1884 (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xl. p. 507). On this view there are at St. Davids, besides the strata of Cambrian age, three distinct Pre-Cambrian systems the Dimetian, Arvonian, and Pebidian. Each is unconformable to the others. The Dimetian was very much in its present state before the Arvonian was laid down. The Arvonian hälleflintas, again, were brought to their present mineral condition before the Pebidian series was deposited. The Pebidian volcanic beds, once more, were nearly as highly metamorphosed as they are at present before the Cambrian Conglomerate was formed. Each is therefore separated from the succeeding group by a systematic unconformity, and we have, on this view, to quote the words of Mr. Tawney, ”a vista opened up to us in the rocks of St. Davids of age behind age most pleasing to the imagination of the geologist.”

The second interpretation is that advocated by Dr. A. Geikie (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxix, p. 261). According to this view the Pebidian constitutes a volcanic series at the base of and forming an integral part of the Cambrian system; the Dimetian consists of granite intrusive into the Cambrian and of much more recent age; while the Arvonian group comprises portions of the Pebidian volcanic breccias and tufts, where these
On a Crocodilian Jaw from the Oxford Clay of Peterborough
Authors: Lydekker R.
Published: October 2009

The symphysis of the mandible of a Thecodont Reptile recently obtained from the Oxford Clay near Peterborough, by Mr. A. N. Leeds, and entrusted to me for description, affords evidence of a species new to the English fauna, and apparently belonging to a genus not hitherto recorded from the Oxfordian.

The specimen, which is represented of one third of the natural size in the diagram (fig. 2), belonged to a comparatively large reptile, and comprises the anterior portion of the splenial and dentary elements ; that part of the dentary which still remains including the whole of the alveolar region. The symphysial portion of the jaw is very broad and flat, with a rugose inferior surface ; but the original flatness has been abnormally increased by pressure, which has crushed the oral floor into the dental alveoli, and has thus destroyed the original circular contour of the latter. The splenials enter extensively into the formation of the symphysis, reaching as far forward as the seventh tooth on the left side. No traces of teeth remain, and the empty dental alveoli are thirteen in number on the left, and twelve on the right side. The alveoli, in their original condition, must have been nearly circular; and none of them are markedly enlarged, or separated from one another by spaces in the neighbourhood of the muzzle. On the interior aspect the dentaries and splenials are completely anchylosed together, this feature, taken together with the rugose surface of the bones themselves, indicating that
On the Monian and Basal Cambrian Rocks of Shropshire
Authors: Blake J. F.
Published: October 2009

§ I. I
ntroduction

In my memoir “On the Monian system” as developed in Anglesey, I suggested that the Longmynd rocks might belong to the Upper Monian, on account of their general similarity to those of Bray Head, and that the Uriconian rocks of Dr. Callaway might be Middle Monian, because they were at once Precambrian and Volcanic. As these suggestions, which would be of some importance if true, were matters of conjecture only, I have taken the first opportunity to examine the district with care in order to arrive at a definite conclusion.

At the time of my writing, it was the universal opinion that the Longmynd series were essentially, even if not typically Cambrian ; but about the same date Dr. Callaway was suggesting to the local geologists of Shropshire that in view of the break that existed between his "HoUybush Sandstone," which he regarded as Menevian, and the Longmynd series, it was doubtful if the latter were really Cambrian, and he proposed that till this was decided, they should be called Longmyndian. The same argument was more strongly enforced last year by Prof. Lapworth, who writes, “the presence of
Olenellus
in the (Comley) Sandstone appears at first sight to fix distinctly the Precambrian age of the so-called Uriconian rocks of the Wrekin and their English equivalents, and even to render the Precambrian age of the Longmynd a matter of fair probability.” It will be seen that in both these cases the age of the Longmynd rocks was made
On Ornithosaurian Remains from the Oxford Clay of Huntingdonshire
Authors: Lydekker R.
Published: October 2009

Mr friend Mr. Thomas Jesson recently forwarded to me a few small associated bones obtained from the Oxford Clay of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, which are of a certain amount of interest as being the only specimens referable to a Pterodactyle hitherto described from these deposits in England, or, indeed, so far as I am aware, in any other part of Europe. The specimens comprise seven vertebræ, portions of the ilia and ischia of both sides; one femur and the distal portion of the corresponding bone of the opposite side; part of a bone, probably from the shaft of the tibia; and two undetermined fragments. When they came into my hands they were partially bedded in their native clay, and their broken surfaces show the pyritous impregnation so characteristic of Oxfordian specimens.

The Ornithosaurian nature of the specimens is at once shown by the hollow shafts of the long bones and the structure of the vertebræ, the latter having procœlous centra, with complete obliteration of the neuro-central suture. The two fragments of the femur (fig. 3), which I have placed in apposition, do not exactly fit together, so that there may be a portion missing from the middle of the shaft, and it is quite possible that I have not put the proper distal half in apposition with the proximal one. The bones indicate an individual of somewhat smaller size than the examples of the Lower-Kimeridgian
Rhamphorhynchus Gemmingi
figured by Professor von Zittel in the ‘Palæontographica,’ vol. xxix. pl. xii.

The
Notes on a “Wash-out” found in the Pleasley and Teversall Collieries
Authors: Hendy J. C. B.
Published: October 2009

The Top Hard Coal-seam of the Midland Coal-field is being worked at these collieries at a depth of 217 yards at; Teversall, and 514 yards at the Pleasley pits; the average thickness of the seam is 5 feet, with a band of cannel in the middle, varying from 4 to 14 inches. The general dip of the coal-seam is 1 in 12 to the N.E.

The “Wash-out” was first met with in the Teversall workings, about half a mile east of those pits, and from this point it has been proved to run for a distance of a mile and a quarter in a northeasterly direction, as shown in the plan, fig. 1.

The coal has now been worked off on each side of the “Wash” for a length of over 600 yards in the Teversall mine, and for 200 yards in the Pleasley workings, the boundary of the “Wash” being shown on the plan by strong lines where actually proved. Headings have been driven through the “Wash” at five different places, four of these from the Teversall and one from the Pleasley colliery. In each case these headings were driven next the ordinary sagar-clay floor of the mine; this under-clay is about 18 inches thick, and contains numerous nodules of ironstone. Careful sections of these “headings” have been taken, plans of which are given.

Section
No. 1 (fig. 2).—At a distance of about 60 yards from the “Wash” the coal commenced to thicken; this continued until immediately adjoining the
On some New Mammals from the Red and Norwich Crags
Authors: Newton E. T.
Published: October 2009

Notwithstanding the many additions which within the last few years have been made to our knowledge of the Pliocene Mammalian Fauna, by Mr. Lydekker, in the Quarterly Journal of this Society, in the ‘Geological Magazine,’ and in the British-Museum Catalogues (1885–87), several species new to the British Crags, and others altogether new to science, have come to light during a critical investigation of the Crag Yertebrata, which it has been my official duty to undertake.

As it is likely to be some time before the results of this investigation can be published, it is hoped that an account of the new forms will be acceptable to the Fellows of this Society.

For several of the specimens here described I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. E. C. Moor, of Great Bealings, Suffolk, who has most courteously placed these and many other fossils at my disposal. Mr. James Reeve, of the Norwich Museum, has likewise been good enough to lend me many specimens, and among them the unique tooth which is now to be named after him. For the opportunity of studying the rostrum of
Mesoplodon Floweri
*
I am under obligation to the genial Curator of the Ipswich Museum, Dr. Taylor. To all these friends of science I tender my best thanks for their kindly assistance.

Description of Species.

1. L
utra
D
scubia
, Blainville. (P1. XVIII. figs. I a-1 c.)

Within the last few years Mr. E. C. Moor, of Great Bealings, has obtained from the nodule-bed of the Red
A Monograph of the Polyzoa (Bryozoa) of the Red Chalk of Hunstanton
Authors: Vine George Robert
Published: October 2009

It is not my intention in this monograph to discuss any of the stratigraphical questions raised by authors who have written about the Red Chalk of Hunstanton. I have to deal with one group of fossils only; but, before entering on my investigations, it was necessary to make myself familiar with the views of others, and more especially with the palæontological evidence afforded by the study of the fossils from the various zones of the Chalk. One source of information has been, however, more helpful to me than all the others. When compiling material for my British-Association Reports on Fossil Polyzoa, I was allowed to examine all the type series in the Museum of Practical Geology, from the Cambrian to the Upper Chalk; and recently (September 1889) I have re-examined, for the purpose of this and another paper on the Polyzoa of the Upper and the Lower Greensands (Bibliographic List, 21; see page 458), all the Cretaceous forms mentioned in the Catalogue of that Museum (Bibliogr. 12). Besides the examination of these forms Mr. Alfred Bell has placed in my hand for study and description a fine series of Polyzoa preserved on flints, as well as free examples, from the Upper Chalk at Chatham. Thanks to the kindness shown towards me by Prof. Judd, F.R.S., and Dr. Pergens, of Belgium, I have been enabled to study the Polyzoa of the Faxoe Limestone and Maastricht Beds, by the gift of beautiful examples derived from these typical horizons of Cretaceous Polyzoa.

In
On the so-called “Upper-Lias Clay” of Down Cliffs
Authors: Buckman S. S.
Published: October 2009

In a former paper I gave a section of part of Down Cliffs, near Seatown, Dorset; but I had obtained no evidence of the palæontological contents of the Bed 19.

Partly, no doubt, on account of its position (only a little above the Marlstone), and partly on account of its blue colour, this bed has been called by Day and by H. B. Woodward “Upper-Lias Clay;” and I think that I am correct in saying that this term has, in this country, usually signified those argillaceous deposits which, occupying a very similar position above the Marlstone, contain the fauna of the
Falciferum
- and
Commune
-zones.

Last summer I had an opportunity of further examining Down Cliffs, and, after some search, was enabled to procure sufficient evidence to show what is really the correct horizon of the clay- or marl-bed in question. The evidence consisted of Ammonites of the genus
Dumortieria
; but their condition was unsatisfactory for preservation, since they were little else than impressions or casts in the marl, and were often crushed. I was, however, able to preserve a few specimens; and, having frequently met with similar Ammonites in the Cotteswolds, I was able to determine even those specimens which I could not preserve. One species I could make out with certainty, namely
Dumortieria radians
. Accompanying this, was a wider-ribbed form of the same genus—a genus so easily recognized by the peculiar straightness of the ribbing. The wider-ribbed species was most probably
Dumortieria
Levesquei.

Now, species of the genus
Dumortieria
Origin of the Basins of the Great Lakes of America
Authors: Spencer J. W.
Published: October 2009

1.
Introduction
.

Even as recent as a decade ago very little was known as to the origin of the Great Lakes of North America. Whilst we find such generalized statements as “most lakes are due to terrestrial crush-movements,” yet such crust-movements had not been tested in the American lake-region. Again, from the time of early geological investigations in America, statements are found that the basins werethe result of erosion; but the methods of erosion were not explained, and this was the more necessary as most of the basins have rockbound outlets. Later, in some geological literature, the method of excavation was hypothetically attributed to glaciers. Such was the unsatisfactory condition of our knowledge of the problem when the writer first commenced the study, in attempting to solve the origin of the Dundas Valley, at the western end of Lake Ontario, more than a dozen years ago. This investigation has developed results bearing not only upon the origin of the lake-basins, but also upon the physical history of the lakes, and broader questions of the building and sculpturing of the continent.

The methods of investigation have been the studying—(1) of the hydrography of the modern lake-basins and submerged channels upon the coast of America; (2) of the deep wells bored into, or through, the Drift deposits, by which buried channels, and their relation to or contrast with the modern valleys, have been discovered ; (3) of the elevation of the continent ; (4) of the direction of the glaciation in the
Note on the Plateau-gravels of East Berks and West Surrey; their Age, Composition, and Structure
Authors: Irving A.
Published: October 2009

In the year 1883 my first paper on Tertiary geology was published by the Geologists' Association. In dealing with the gravels of the Bagshot district I pointed out that my observations up to that date had led me to regard the Plateau-gravels as Pro-glacial and contemporaneous with the Crag. This view has been worked out in fuller detail by Prof. Prestwich in Part III. of his recent paper “ On the Mundesley and Westleton Beds and their extension inland.” It was a gratification t0 find myself in accord with him as to their pre-glacial age. For several years past it has been in my mind to give the results of further studies in this subject to the Society; he has happily forestalled me, and brought to the consideration of the subject a much wider range of data than I could command. Still it seems that the argument by which he arrives at the conclusion that these Plateau-gravels are of
later
Pliocene age is not a very strong one ; for, when the Diestian age of the Lenham deposits is admitted (and Mr. Clement Reid's conclusion that they both are of older Pliocene age is also admitted), the assumption (which forms the cardinal point of the whole argument) that certain outlying sands high up on the slope of the North Downs are contemporaneous with the Lenham deposits has no other support than their being at approximately the same height; while the lithelogical evidence points to their Eocene age §. This might
Contact-Alteration near New Galloway
Authors: Gardiner M. I.
Published: October 2009

§ 1. I
ntroduction
.

The eastern end of the northern edge of the Cairnsmore-of-Fleet granite-mass follows the crest of the Knocknairling Hill to the west of New Galloway for about half a mile. The metamorphism of the rocks of this hill has been briefly alluded to in the “Memoir Explanatory of Sheet 9 of the Geological Survey of Scotland,” p. 22, but is so extreme as to deserve a fuller description.

There are many exposures on the hill-side; and the Knocknairling Burn gives a good section across the series at a distance of about half a mile from the granite. It is a pity that the beds cannot be traced farther from the granite, especially as there is some doubt as to the series to which they belong. The Cairnsmore-of-Fleet granite is some twelve miles by six in extent, with its greatest elongation in the direction of the prevalent strike of the Silurians. The Survey has given the name of “Queensberry Grits” to the series into which it has been intruded, but suggests that the altered rocks of Knocknairling Hill consist of the underlying Moffat shales and Upper Ardwells, brought up here during the folding of the district. The Upper Ardwells, where unaltered, to the east of the granite, consist of rapidly alternating flags, shales, and greywackés.The flags and shales are often sandy and micaceous. The greywackés do not seem to differ from those of the overlying Queensberry Grits.

§ 2. T
he
K
nocknairling
-B
urn
S
ection
.

In working up the Knocknairling Burn from
On the Valley-gravels about Reading, with especial reference to the Palæolithic Implements found in them
Authors: Shrubsole O. A.
Published: October 2009

§ 1. I
ntroduction

Having had the Pleistocene deposits of this part of the Thames Valley under observation for some years past, and more particularly (since first finding worked flints here fifteen years ago) in reference to the evidence which they afford of the former presence of Man in the district, I desire to offer to the Society a few notes on some of the sections which have proved of especial interest. It is not pretended that this communication aims at presenting a complete view of the subject; but, as sections are liable to be covered up or to change their character in the course of time, I have thought it well to put on record what has come under my own observation, as it may serve to present a general view of the manner of the occurrence of the relics of Man within a definite area.

The Valley of the Thames in this vicinity forms in the deepest part a trough, cut in the Chalk, about a mile and a half wide, beyond which the levels ascend more gradually. Gravel is found here as elsewhere at various elevations, creeping up the valley-slopes, often for a considerable distance where the form of the ground has been such as to retain it.

Of the plateau- and hill-gravels which succeed the valley-terraces I do not here speak; but there is often some difficulty in making out a clear line of demarcation. At about the 300-feet contour-line or less, however, we find that we
North-Italian Bryozoa
Authors: Waters Arthur W.
Published: October 2009

C
hilostomata
.—The Bryozoa dealt with in this paper are, for the most part, from well-known localities in the Vicentine, as Val di Lonte, Montecchio Maggiore, and Brendola. Most of them have been described by Reuss, but at a time when chief attention was paid to the zoarial mode of growth (the shape of the oral aperture and other zocecial characters being considered to be of secondary importance) and when the avicularia and ovicells did not receive the attention now given to them.

The first paper treating of North-Italian Bryozoa, of this series, is one by Reuss , in which he refers to a number of species as from an unknown locality in the Vienna Basin; but these, he subsequently found, came from the Val di Lonte, called also Val dell' Onte (but the exact position is Casa Fortuna), in the Vicentine. Although this correction has been made, references are constantly given which show that authors overlook this rectification.

From a similar marl in Montecchio Maggiore, a few miles further sout, Reuss also described a number of others, and a couple from Brendola, in the Colle Berici, south of Vicenza; and from Crosaro, some distance to the north-east, a few which appear to be of nearly the same age. In the first three localities the marl contains a very similar fauna; and, having collected from all, I found the Brendola beds the most instructive, and there the preservation is the best.

The late Dr. G. B. Gottardi has also given a list
On the Porphyritic Rocks of the Island of Jersey
Authors: de Lapparent A.
Published: October 2009

Having been supplied some years ago, through the kindness of my friend the Rev. C. Noury, of St. Helier, with a good series of specimens of porphyritic rocks from the Island of Jersey, I was struck by the exceptional appearance of some felsitic and globular varieties, in which the spheroidal concretions, instead of being minute globules, as in the usual pyromerides, attained a size of two feet and more in diameter. According to the information which I then possessed, the porphyritic rocks occupied the whole of the north-eastern part of the Island, resting on Cambrian schists, and underlying, from Rozel to St. Catherine's Bay, a coarse conglomerate, which had been described by Ansted as
New Red Sandstone
.

At that time I strongly advocated the views entertained by my distinguished friend M. Michel-Lévy, on the relation between structure and geological age in eruptive rocks; and, judging from many examples collected in various districts of France, I believed that every felstone and pyromeride would be found to be of Permian age. Accordingly, as this belief seemed to be warranted by the facts in Jersey, I described the whole of the porphyritic rocks of the Island as Permian . Moreover, I even ventured to lecture my English predecessors for having failed to recognize the true age of the eruptive series, the felsites of Jersey having been described by Mr. Davies as “
old rhyolites
.” This was a mistake on my part, which I now feel myself bound to confess before the Geological Society of
On the North-west Region of Charnwood Forest, with other Notes
Authors: Hill Edwin , Bonney T. G.
Published: October 2009

I. I
ntroduction
.

I
t
is now more than ten years since the last of our papers on the pre-Carboniferous rocks of Charnwood Forest was laid before this Society. At that time, as we stated, we had no expectation of writing further upon the district. But since then, though little has been changed in the Forest, beyond the enlargement of some quarries, the general progress of knowledge has affected our interpretation of some of the facts which we had ascertained, and much has been learnt in regard to the whole subject of metamorphism, especially as to the effects of pressure, due to movements of the earth's crust, in modifying rock-structures and initiating, if not producing, mineral changes. We have, we hope, more knowledge and a wider experience, so that our interpretation might be altered, though the facts might be unchanged.

Now there was one district in the Forest, that of Peldar Tor, with Sharpley and Bardon Hill, in regard to which, as stated at the time, we had found great difficulty in deciding whether the rocks had been originally ashes or lavas; that is to say, whether the fragmental structure, which could be dimly traced, had been present from the very first, or had been superinduced. We discussed the question at length, giving, to our best ability, the arguments on each side, and coming to the conclusion that the rocks of Peldar Tor, of Sharpley, and of Bardon Hill were all of pyroclastic origin. Still, as expressed at the time, this view
Note on a Contact-Structure in the Syenite of Bradgate Park
Authors: Bonney T. G.
Published: October 2009

B
uilt
into a wall at the ruins, Bradgate, is a block which exhibit a clear junction between the “syenite” and a pale green argillite Microscopic examination of a fragment which we contrived to detach throws light on an apparent anomaly and offers some suggestions of a wider bearing. The argillite, though in contact with a rock apparently rather coarsely crystalline, is only converted into a natural porcelain; it is “baked” rather than “metamorphosed.” Is this due to the refractory nature of the materials or to a comparatively low temperature in the intrusive rock ? Microscopic examination shows that within a quarter of an inch of the actual junction the argillite does not materially differ from one of the “flinty slates” common in the Forest. If a slice were cut exclusively from this part it might be passed over without any suspicion of it proximity to a contact-surface. The syenite, macroscopically, is slightly finer in grain, and less definitely mottled with dull green than the normal rock, but on microscopic examination it exhibits some important differences. The line of junction of the two rocks is slightly wavy; for about ·02″ to ·04″ the argillite is darkened and one or two tiny roundish patches occur, occupied by viridite and chalcedony (?), which may possibly be minute cavities subsequently filled. The intrusive rock lias at its margin an ill-defined zone, about ·06″ wide, consisting of a microgranular matrix, in which an many small fragments (apparently of felspar and possibly of quartz) very like
On
Agrosaurus Macgillivrayi
(Seeley), a Saurischian Reptile from the N.E. Coast of Australia
Authors: Seeley H. G.
Published: October 2009

In July 1879 the Geological Department of the British Museum obtained by purchase from Mr. E. Charlesworth some fossil bones, which were dispersed at the sale of the collection of Mr. S. L. Waring, F.G.S., of Norwood, then recently deceased. They are labelled, in a small, delicate handwriting, “‘Ply,’ 1844. Jn. Macgillivray, from the NE. coast of Australia.” I believe this to indicate that the specimens were collected by Mr. Macgillivray during the voyage of the ‘Fly,‘ from some locality which was then unnamed. The bones were placed in the Mammal Gallery, where they have since remained. They comprise a complete left tibia, a less perfect proximal end of the corresponding right tibia, a fragment which I regard as a portion of a fibula, attached to matrix, which besides other fragments of bone contains two laterally compressed claw-phalanges. There is necessarily no direct evidence of their geological age. But as they indicate a new Saurischian reptile, which has its nearest known allies in the lower Secondary rocks of Europe and the Trias of South Africa, it is not improbable that the animal belongs to the Lower Oolites or Trias. I have not noticed any reference to the specimens by Professor Jukes in the “ Voyage of the ‘Fly’” or in his other books and papers, or in the writings of Mr. Macgillivray.

The left tibia (figs. 1, 2) is about 20 cm. in extreme lengthy with the usual sub-triangular flattened proximal articular surface. That surface is nearly 5 cm. deep
On
Saurodesmus Robertsoni
(Seeley), a Crocodilian Reptile from the Rhætic of Linksfield, in Elgin
Authors: Seeley H. G.
Published: October 2009

Linksfield is north of Elgin and west of the River Lossie. The locality was fully descrihed by Professor Judd, F.R.S., in 1873, and the strata, previously regarded as Lias and Wealden, were interpreted as a large boulder of Rhætic beds in Boulder-clay. A number of freshwater shells occur in these beds, associated with land plants, marine invertebrata, fishes, and reptiles ; but very few of the species are identical with those found in other European localities. And, although there is not much room for doubt as to the age, I could have wished the evidence stronger in determining the horizon of the interesting specimen now described, which was found by Mr. A. Robertson, of Inverugie. It appears to be an isolated bone, first noticed nearly fifty years ago by Sir R. Owen in his second report to the British Association on British Fossil Reptiles. “I have been favoured by Mr. Robertson of Elgin with the examination of a Chelonian femur 4½ inches in length from a stratum at Linksfield in which remains of
Plesiosaurus
and
Hybodus
occur; and this femur, though not identical in form with that of any
Trionyx
with which I could compare it, yet resembles the modifications of the bone in that genus more closely than in Tortoises, Emydians, or Turtles.” This guarded determination has sometimes been read as referring the specimen to
Trionyx
, but it amounts to no more than a statement that the bone is a femur, and probably Chelonian. It was figured in 1842 by Mr.