bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Lower Lias or Lias-Conglomerate of a part of Glamorganshire
Authors: Bristow Henry W.
Published: October 2009

O
n
the 6th December, 1865, a paper was read before the Society, by Mr. E. B. Tawney, “On the Western Limits of the Rhætic Beds in South Wales, and on the position of the ‘Sutton Stone’”*.

The chief object of the above communication was (to quote the author's own words), “to discuss the ‘Sutton Stone’ as to its stratigraphical, lithological, and palæontological relations; to show from organic remains that its affinities were with the Triassic formation, and not with the Lias, as commonly supposed, and then to claim it as Rhætic, and in so doing to extend, for the first time in England, the range of Ammonites down into the Rhætic series” (p. 70).

In order to render his views still more intelligible, the author reiterates (at p. 72 of his Memoir), “These beds I now claim as Rhætic, and would unquestionably separate from the Lias. As developed on the coast, they are between 80 and 90 feet in thickness: to the lower half of this the term ‘Sutton Series’ may apply; and for the upper half I propose the name of ‘Southerndown Series,’ as they are best seen in the fine cliff-exposure under the hamlet of Southerndown.”

In further elucidation of the views already expressed, the author gives two sections at p. 75—one a vertical section representing, in the lower part, 39 feet of “Sutton Series” overlain by a thickness of 50 feet 9 inches “Southerndown Series,” which, again, is surmounted by acknowledged Lias, represented by the zone of
On the Strata which form the Base of the Lincolnshire Wolds
Authors: Judd John W.
Published: October 2009

I. I
ntroduction
.

T
hat
the geology of Lincolnshire has been generally neglected is perhaps easily accounted for when we consider the difficulties of observation in this district, arising from the absence of sea-cliffs, the paucity of good inland sections, either natural or artificial, and the enormous development of the superficial deposits. This neglect, however, is much to be regretted, as a careful study of the strata of this county, besides revealing many phenomena of great intrinsic interest, is calculated to afford much assistance in working out the mutual relations of the remarkably different sections of Yorkshire and the south of England. It is in the hope of contributing Some materials towards the solution of this important geological problem that the present paper has been prepared.

The only previous notices of the district described in this essay, which I have been able to discover, are as follows:—

A paper* written by Mr. Bogg, in the year 1816,at the suggestion of Dr. Buekland, gives a tolerably correct account of the succession of beds lying to the west of Louth. Unfortunately, however, the author, relying on mineralogical characters only, was betrayed into the mistake of supposing the highly bituminous, slaty, and shaly beds of the Bain valley to be part of the Coal-measures, and, like many others before and since his time, spent considerable sums in boring for beds of coal in Lincolnshire.

In 1820 the district was examined by Professor Phillips†, who was then assisting William Smith to complete the Geological Map of
Notes on Fossils recently obtained from the Laurentian Rocks of Canada, and on objections to the Organic nature of
Eozoon
Authors: Dawson J. W. , Carpenter W. B.
Published: October 2009

I. S
pecimen of
E
ozoon from
T
udor
, C. W.

T
his
very interesting specimen, submitted to me for examination by Sir W. E. Logan, is, in my opinion, of great importance, as furnishing a conclusive answer to all those objections to the organic nature of
Eozoon
which have been founded on comparisons of its structures with the forms of fibrous, dendritic, or concretionary minerals,—objections which, however plausible in the case of highly crystalline rocks, in which organic remains may be simulated by merely mineral appearances readily confounded with them, are wholly inapplicable to the present specimen.

1.
General Appearance
—The fossil is of a clavate form, six and a half inches in length, and about four inches broad. It is contained in a slab of dark-coloured, coarse, laminated limestone, holding sand, scales of mica, and minute grains and fibres of carbonaceous matter. The surface of the slab shows a weathered section of the fossil (Pl. XI.); and the thickness remaining in the matrix is scarcely two lines, at least in the part exposed. The septa, or plates of the fossil, are in the state of white carbonate of lime, which shows their form and arrangement very distinctly, in contrast to the dark stone filling the chambers. The specimen lies flat in the plane of stratification, and has probably suffered some compression. Its septa are convex toward the broad end, and somewhat undulating. In some places they are continuous halfway across the specimen; in other places they divide and reunite at short distances. A
On Subaerial Denudation, and on Cliffs and Escarpments of the Tertiary Strata
Authors: Whitaker W.
Published: October 2009

F
rom
the fact that escarpments differ from cliffs in all their chief features, the author infers that the two could hardly result from the same action, but that, whilst the latter were made by the sea, the former seem to have been cut out by subaerial agents.

The chief contrasts between the two kinds of ridges are:—

1

Escarpments always run along the strike. Cliffs rarely do so.

2

The bottom of an escarpment is not at one level throughout. That of a sea-cliff is.

3

At the foot of an escarpment one does not find a beach or other trace of the action of the sea, but often such débris as would be left by a slow and quiet denuding agent.

4

Two escarpments facing the same way often run near and parallel to one another for many miles. Not so with cliffs.

5

The ridge of an escarpment is a nearly even line, and forms the highest ground of the neighbourhood. The top of a cliff is often very uneven and bordered by higher ground.

From an examination of escarpments of the Chalk and of the Tertiary beds, it was shown that though at first sight they might seem like old lines of cliff, yet a little study would destroy the fancied likeness, and it would be found that they are quite unlike cliffs
in the same beds
; for though, from their winding outline, these ranges of hills might remind one of some irregular coast, caused by rocks of different hardness wearing away at different rates, they have little in common with the far more even coast that is formed where there is but one kind of rock.

It was then pointed out that along the present coast the sea is not the only force engaged in the work of destruction, but that it is largely helped by atmospheric agents (the latter acting from above downwards, to detach and hurl down masses of rock, which the former, acting horizontally below, pounds down and sweeps away); and it was inferred that the joint action of the two kinds of force had a far greater effect than either alone.

In conclusion it was argued that as deposits of great thickness (such as the Wealden beds) had been made by rivers, it must be granted that (allowing for waste) still greater masses of rock had been destroyed by streams and by subaerial actions generally. The denuding power of the sea, however, was by no means denied; but it was allowed that as marine deposits much exceed in quantity those of freshwater origin, so the great denudations, the planings-down of vast tracts of which examples are given by unconformities, have been worked out by the action of the sea, but that, on the other hand, the far smaller denudations and
comparatively
trifling irregularities of the surface (our hills and valleys) have been worn out by the long-continued action of rain, rivers, and ice.
On the Bone-Caves near Crendi, Zebbug, and Melliha, in the Island of Malta
Authors: Spratt T. A. B.
Published: October 2009

I. I
ntroduction
.

T
his
paper was, for the most part, written several years ago, but its publication has been delayed with a view to its accompanying the description of the remains of the extinct animals found within the several caverns, and more particularly the detailed description of the
Elephas Melitensis
(the Pigmy Elephant) by the late Dr. Hugh Falconer. His lamented and premature death causing a still further delay, it is now presented to the Society in anticipation of the immediate publication of Dr. Falconer's prepared drawings and final notes upon the Little Elephant, with other posthumous papers, under the editorship of his friend Dr. Murchison, F.R.S.,—and also in anticipation of an elaborate paper upon the same subject, which is being prepared by Mr. G. Busk, F.R.S., to whom the bones were transferred at Dr. Falconer's decease. The bones of birds have been described by Mr. W. K. Parker, F.R.S. &c.

II. T
he
M
aghlak
B
one-cave
.

The first of these bone-caves was discovered in the summer of 1858, on the south coast of Malta, near the town of Crendi. That part of the coast, for a distance of about six miles on either side of the cavern, presents a line of almost precipitous cliffs or bold scarps, extending from Marsa Scirrocco Bay, at the south-eastern extremity of Malta, to the small bay Foum el Rieh, at the north-western extremity and the base of the Bengemma heights or plateau.

These bold features terminate above in tWO distinct plateaux of nearly equal extent—the eastern
On the Fossiliferous Development of the Zone of
Ammonites angulatus
, Schloth., in Great Britain
Authors: Tate Ralph
Published: October 2009

I. I
ntroduction
.

T
he
beds comprised between the
Avicula-contorta
series and the limestones of the zone of
Ammonites Bucklandi
vel
bisulcatus
have been divided into two lithological horizons, the lower of which, that of
Ammonites planorbis
, presents no marked zoological facies when contrasted with the upper, that of
A. angulatus
, which has a fauna exceeding in richness of species the remainder of the Lower Lias. The term “Infra-lias” has been given to this group of beds; but as its applicability varies with the classificatory views of individual authors, it seems, therefore, inadmissible; and, in my opinion, that of “Hettangian,” as suggested by Prof. Renevier†, should be used instead.

The classification of the members of the Lias would then stand thus:—

In England the Hettangian series contains a well-developed zone of
Ammonites planorbis
, whilst according to: Dr. Wright* “the zone of
Ammonites angulatus
, so far as it has been exposed, appears to be imperfectly developed in the British Isles; and from the difficulty experienced in separating its beds from the Bueklandi-series, they were grouped with the latter in my memoir.”

This difficulty I have been enabled to overcome; and the determination of the zone of
Ammonites angulatus
with its characteristic fauna, in the localities hereafter to be mantioned, rests on lithological, stratigraphical, or palæontological evidence, or on a combination of two or all of these
indices
to the age of the horizon in question.

II. O
ccurrences of the
Z
one of
A
mmonites angulatus
.

1.
Ireland
—The development of this zone in the neighbourhoods of
On some striking Instances of the Terminal Curvature of Slaty Laminæ in West Somerset
Authors: Mackintosh D.
Published: October 2009

1.
Introduction
—During the last two years I have been making a series of observations in the West of England and in Wales, with the hope of being able to throw some fresh light on the relative nature and extent of oceanic and atmospheric denudation, and on the origin of superficial accumulations. In some parts of Siluria, during the spring of last year, I supposed I had met with a proof of tranquil marine deposition in horizontally arranged chips of slate resting on the edges of highly inclined laminæ, until I found that I had been looking on a continuation of these edges in a curved-back position, instead of seeing the curvature in profile.

In the autumn of 1866 I noticed several instances of the above phenomenon, which have not yet been described by geologists*. On the
nearly level
floor of one of the valleys which indent the southern slope of the eastern part of the Quantock range of hills, I found the laminæ of the Devonian (Carboniferous?) slate very regularly and distinctly bent or curved backwards, or towards the south. The idea of a more powerful agency than rain or frost then seemed to suggest itself; but it was not until I had examined more extensive sections further to the west, on the east Exmoor hills, that I became convinced o the necessity of having recourse to a more uniformly efficient cause than even the most exaggerated form of what is commonly called atmospheric action. The object of this paper,
On
Cyclophyllum
, a new genus of the Cyathophyllidæ, with remarks on the genus
Aulophyllum
Authors: Duncan P. Martin , Thomson James
Published: October 2009

1.
Introduction
—A very fine series of specimens of the Palæozoic corals usually classified under the genus
Aulophyllum
†, Milne-Edwards and Jules Haime, has been submitted by us to careful examination. Numerous sections of the specimens have been made, and especial attention has been given to the anatomy of weathered fossils of the genus. Our examination has resulted in the determination that the corals called
Aulophyllum fungites
‡ and
Aulophyllum Bowerbanki
cannot remain in the genus
Aulophyllum
as established and defined by Milne-Edwards and Jules Haime. Numerous specimens were examined which had their calices perfect; and these gave evidences of a columella, whose structure was revealed both by transverse and longitudinal sections. One form, however, had no columella; and the space which ought to have been filled by it was noticed to be occupied by tabulæ. This was clearly an
Aulophyllum
, but it differed from
Aulophyllum fungites
and
A. Bowerbanki
as described by Milne-Edwards and Jules Haime.

We propose to form a form a new genus which will admit the species with a columella. Thus
Aulophyllum fungites
will become
Cyclophyllum fungites
, sp., and
A. Bowerbanki
will be called
Cyclophyllum Bowerbanki
, Edw. and Haime, sp. The new form will be named
Autlophyllum Edwardsi
, Dunc. and Thomson.

M'Coy suspected that the
Aulophyllum
of Edwards and Haime had a columella, but he mistook the general anatomy of the calicular structures: he named the genus
Clisiophyllum
, or rather did not separate it from
Clisiophyllum
. The genus
Clisiophyllum
has a lamellar columella, and the larger septa are continued
On the Chemical Geology of the Malvern Hills
Authors: Timins Rev. J. H.
Published: October 2009

I
n
the year 1861, I commenced an examination of the rocks composing the Malvern Hills; and the results of the analyses of some of the eruptive rocks, taken from various parts of the chain, were published in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, vol. xv. pp. 1–7. Since then, a minute and accurate description of the structure of these hills has been given by my friend Dr. Harvey B. Holl (Quart. Journ. Geol, Soc. vol. xxi. p. 72), to which I shall have to refer, in the course of this paper, for a more particular account of the physical geology of the district under investigation. I have also had the advantage of visiting the hills with him, and, with his assistance, I have been able to make many valuable additions to my collection of specimens of the various rocks for analysis.

In the present communication I propose to examine the rocks with a view to the discovery of the sources from which they have been derived, and the chemico-physical processes which have resulted in their development, confining myself more especially to the consideration of those which appear to be, wholly or in part, the products of eruptive action, whether they occur as intrusive masses, lava-flows, or beds of ash mechanically deposited. Those of which the materials were originally furnished by the decomposition and disintegration of other rocks, and the nature of the metamorphic influences to which they have been subsequently exposed, I hope to investigate in another paper.

I.
Lava and
On the Relative Distribution of Fossils throughout the North Devon Series
Authors: Hall Townsend M.
Published: October 2009

I. I
ntroduction

A
lmost
all observers since the time of Messrs. Weaver and Williams, in 1837 and 1838, have shown that the slates, shales, and sandstones which constitute a large portion of the north of Devon differ so much in their lithological and mineralogical structure as to render it necessary to subdivide them into several successive zones or groups. In the ‘Palæozoic Fossils of Cornwall, Devon, and West Somerset,’ Prof. Phillips pointed out, by means of a synoptical table, the relative occurrence of fossils throughout these different subdivisions of the North Devon series, which he named the Lynton, Combe Martin, and Pilton groups respectively, each of these three fossiliferous beds being separated from each other by a considerable thickness of grits and shales, which have hitherto proved destitute of organic remains. More than a quarter of a century, however, has now elapsed since Prof. Phillips's work was published; and since that date not only have many new fossil-localities been observed, but so great a change has taken place in the system of nomenclature as to render it at present anything but easy for the geologist to identify the names of some of the species, or to ascertain in which group they occur. Thus the
Leptœna caperata
of Phillips was placed a few years later in the genus
Strophalosia
, and the name of the species has since been altered into
productoides
, so that in
Strophalosia productoides
of the present day no trace whatever of the original name can now be recognized. Again
On the Geology of Benghazi, Barbary; and an account of the Subsidences in its vicinity
Authors: Stacey G. B.
Published: October 2009

T
he
town of Benghazi is built on a sandy foundation with a super-stratum of clay. It is protected from the sea by a reef of sandstone rocks, now only 2 or 3 feet above the level of the water.

Inside the reef, the water reaches nearly to the clay cliffs, on which, during the winter gales, it has a very destructive effect.

Fifty years since, according to the testimony of natives, horse-races were held inside the reef, where now the water is in some places 5 feet deep; and, according to a European inhabitant, only a small strip of water existed there twenty-five years ago.

On the reef, remains of buildings are to be seen under water; and at Juliana Point the sea has made a breach, forming an island of the point, between which and the mainland the water is very shallow.

Hamilton, in his ‘Travels in North Africa’ mentions that the land has sunk, and supposes a sudden catastrophe; but, from the above and other evidence, I imagine that the land is sinking regularly, and comparatively quickly.

Small hills of sandstone exist to the north-east and south-east of the town, and are quarried for the stones of which the town is built.

The fundamental rock of the country is a Tertiary limestone, in which several interesting subsidences have occurred, some of which (the “Gardens of the Hesperides” of Beechey) are cultivated; others, more extensive, are filled with brackish water, and contain a large eel and another fish of
On the Sources of the Materials composing the White Clays of the Lower Tertiaries
Authors: Maw George
Published: October 2009

I
n
examining some light-coloured deposits that occur between the Boulder-clay drift and the Carboniferous Limestone of North Wales, an account of which has recently appeared in the Geological Magazine*, I was led to the conclusion that some of the beds of very white and pure clays occurring in “pockets” in the limestone could not have been derived from the mere mechanical degradation of any previously existing materials; and an analysis showed that they consist of silica and alumina in nearly similar proportions to the silica and alumina in the limestone, and, therefore, that they were probably left behind after its calcareous matter had been removed by watery dissolution.

The Tertiary formations of Hampshire, Dorsetshire, the Isle of Wight and Devonshire, contain vast deposits of similar white clays; and I beg to lay before the (Society a few facts bearing on the probability of their having had an analogous origin by the dissolution of the calcareous portion of the chalk.

The white clays of North Wales are contained in pockets in the limestone, and could have had no other origin than by the gradual dissolution of the latter, the cavities being complete
culs de sac
to which a mere mechanical abrading power could gain no approach; and the fact that vast quantities of redeposited lime, as tufa, occur in the neighbourhood of the pockets proves an extensive removal of the limestone by watery dissolution. That a similar process has been going on with the chalk (distinct from the mere mechanical effects
On the Structure of the Postglacial Deposits of the South-East of England
Authors: Wood Searles V.
Published: October 2009

S
ome
years ago I entered upon an examination of the Glacial and Postglacial deposits of the East of England, and began to map the general distribution of the beds upon the small Index Map of the Ordnance Survey (10 miles to the inch), and, simultaneously with that, during a regular geological survey, on the ordinary inch to the mile Ordnance sheets 1 and 2.

I was induced to select the latter sheets for this purpose, principally because they comprised that part of England where the most important members of the Glacial and Postglacial series approached nearest to each other, and therefore the part likely to throw the greatest light on their relative structure—and in some measure because my place of residence afforded facilities for the task.

This survey, when I had made some progress, led me to believe that the entire valley-system of the East of England originated in centres of arc-like or curvilinear disturbance, which immediately preceded the elevation of the bed of the sea from which was deposited the wide-spread deposit of Boulder-clay forming the latest of the Glacial beds of the South of England. My view is that, these disturbances having given an impress to the surface, the denudation accompanying and ensuing upon the elevation of the sea-bed, by wearing more deeply the impress thus imparted, made it more conspicuous in the parts where this denudation was most prolonged. I found also that the rectilinear upheaval along the Wealden line of disturbance appeared to have been a
Notes on the Geology of the Valleys of the Upper Part of the River Teign and its Feeders
Authors: Ormerod G. Wareing
Published: October 2009

A
memoir
on “The Bovey deposit,” by J. H. Key, Esq., was read before the Geological Society of London, on November 20th, 1861†; and a memoir “On the Lignite and Clays of Bovey Tracey, Devonshire,” by W. Pengelly, Esq., was read before the Royal Society November 21st, 1861‡. The district noticed in the following pages consists of the portions of the valleys of the River Teign and its feeders, that lie north of that described in these papers.

The Teign is formed for the most part by the North and South Teigns, the Walla Brook, Easter Brook, and Bovey River.

The South Teign rises near Fernworthy, about 1400 feet above the sea level§, and joins the North Teign at Leigh Bridge.

The North Teign rises on Dartmoor, about 1600 feet above the sea-level, near the upper end of a valley that is crossed at its western extremity by the East Dart; and near the Tolmen, 1192 feet above the sea, it receives the Walla Brook, which brings the drainage of an extensive granitic district to the north. Both these streams, near and at their junction, run in artificial courses, walled at the side with blocks of granite, and cut through a rising bank, the diversion having probably been made by tin-streamers to drain the broad level that occupies a hollow of the hills at this point. From this place the North Teign runs in a narrow gorge to a level in an opening of the hills at Gidley Park, where
On a Plant-and Insect-bed on the Rocky River, New South Wales
Authors: Moore Charles
Published: October 2009

T
he
organic remains noticed by the author were found by him in a small block of chocolate-coloured micaceous laminated marl, obtained from a bed about ten feet thick, at a depth of 100-110 feet, in the auriferous drifts of Sydney flats, on the banks of the Rocky River. The author found the leaves of two forms of Dicotyledonous plants, fragments of a flat narrow leaf which he refers to the Coniferæ, a seed-vessel, and the impressions of several seeds. The insect-remains consist principally of the elytra of Beetles, among which Buprestidæ appear to predominate. The vegetable-remains seem to indicate that the deposit is of Tertiary age.
On the Classification of the Dinosauria, with observations on the Dinosauria of the Trias
Authors: Huxley T. H.
Published: October 2009

T
he
recognition of what are now commonly termed the
Dinosauria
, as a peculiar group of the
Reptilia
, is due to that remarkable man whose recent death all who are interested in the progress of sound palæeontology must deplore–Hermann von Meyer. In his ‘Palælogiea,’ published so long ago as 1832 ∗, Von Meyer classifies fossil reptiles according to the nature of their locomotive organs; and his second division, defined as “ Saurians, with limbs like those of the heavy terrestrial Mammalia,” is established for
Megalosaurus
and
Iguanodon
. To this group Von Meyer subsequently applied the name of
Pachypodes
or
Pachypoda
.

Nine years afterwards Professor Owen, in his “Report on British Fossil Reptilia,” conferred a new name upon the group, and attempted to give it a closer definition, in the following passages :–

“
Dinosaurians
.–This group, which includes at least three well established genera of Saurians, is characterized by a large sacrum composed of five ankylosed vertebræ of unusual construction, by the height and breadth and outward sculpturing of the neural arches of the dorsal vertebræ, by the twofold articulation of the ribs to the vertebræ, viz. at the anterior part of the spine by a head and tuberele, and along the rest of the trunk by a tuberele attached to the transverse process only; by broad and sometimes complicated coracoids and long and slender clavicles, whereby Croeodilian characters of the vertebral column are combined with a Lacertian type of the pectoral arch ; the dental organs also exhibit the same transitional
On the Relation of the Boulder-clay, without Chalk, of the North of England to the Great Chalky Boulder-clay of the South
Authors: Wood Searles V.
Published: October 2009

I
n
a paper read before this Society by myself and the Rev. J. L. Rome, F.G.S., and published in the Journal, we described the Glacial clay of the Yorkshire coast as consisting of two main parts. Of these, the lower, distinguished both in our sections and in the vertical section accompanying the present paper (see Pl. VII.) by the letter
a
, presents characters identical in all respects with the ordinary Boulder-clay, with chalk as its prevailing constituent, which forms the uppermost member of the Glacial series of the east and east centre of England; while the upper (
c
) is a purple clay, in which chalk is only a subordinate constituent, even in the lower part, and which, gradually losing its chalk upwards, is in the upper part entirely destitute of it. We also endeavoured to show that, north of Flamborough Head, the whole of the clay, (which is destitute of chalk), belonged to this upper part only—and that, though lying at the foot of the northern escarpment of the chalk, as well as enveloping both the escarpment and the Wold, this clay, thus destitute of chalk, was not deposited until, by the complete submergence of the Wold, all source of chalk débris had been removed. We also suggested that the absence of any clay with chalk débris in these parts was due to their having been occupied by ice during the time that the clay containing that material was accumulated, and to this ice not having been removed until the
A Few Remarks on the Geology of the Country surrounding the Gulf of Cambay, in Western India
Authors: Rogers Alex.
Published: October 2009

T
he
rapid silting up of the Gulf of Cambay gives particular interest to an inquiry into the geological conditions which probably shaped it in remote ages, and the gradual changes which have modified its original form, and brought it to its present state. The geological features of the country surrounding the Gulf afford, when taken as a whole, an unusually clear clue to the nature of some of these changes, and may assist us in tracing what may have taken place in the region between the head of the Gulf and the present mouths of the Indus, and in the desert between Rajpootana and Sind. The former comprises within itself the Great Runn of Cutch, which has already received much attention from the most distinguished geologists. It will be seen, from the accompanying rough geological map of the Gulf and its neighbourhood (fig. 1), that primary or metamorphic rocks are traceable in its immediate vicinity only in a small tract on its west coast. Here they appear in isolated peaks of from a few to two or three hundred feet in height above the alluvium that surrounds them near Chumardee, but are also found on and below the general level of the country for about fifty miles to the north and north-west of that village. They also appear on the east of the river Myhee to the north and north-west of the hill of Powaghur in a precisely similar position with reference to the surrounding country to those on the.
On the Rodentia of the Somerset Caves
Authors: Sanford W. A.
Published: October 2009

H
aving
recently examined the collection of Rodentia from the Somerset Caves in the Taunton Museum, I find that several of the specimens cannot be referred to species which have hitherto been considered members of the fauna cotemporary with the Mammoth (
Elephas primigenius
) in Britain.

1.

1. Genus
Arvicola
.—As usual, bones and teeth of one or the other of the closely allied species, or perhaps varieties, which are about the size of, and have a dentition similar to that of
Arvicola amphibius
, abound in the Somerset Caves; but they are all fragmentary, and, as the observed differences between these species principally depend on the proportions of different parts of the animals, and not upon differences of form of the parts themselves, it is useless with our present materials to attempt to determine to which of these forms the fossils belong; it will be convenient to class them, as hitherto, as the bones of our common Water-rat (
Arvicola amphibius
, Linn.).

2.

2.
Arvicola glareolus
(Schreber)=
pratensis
(Baillon)=
riparia
(Yarrell), appears to be a rare cave animal. We have never met with but two jaws; one of them is from Hutton Cave, and is in the Taunton Museum.

3.

We have met with several lower jaws the dentition of which is identical with that of
Arvicola agrestis
(Linn.); but the diastema between the molars and incisor is longer, and the lower jaw itself is straighter in this part than in the recent jaws with which we have compared it. In this the jaws approach
Arvicola ratticeps
(Blasius); but we do
On the Superficial Deposits of Portions of the Avon and Severn Valleys and adjoining Districts
Authors: Lloyd T. G. B.
Published: October 2009

I
n
the following paper I propose to describe first of all the facts which I have collected together upon the subject, and secondly to show what probable inferences may be drawn from them, in explanation of the relative antiquity of these river-valleys and their superficial deposits.
On the Fossil Corals (
Madreporaria
) of the Australian Tertiary Deposits
Authors: Duncan P. Martin
Published: October 2009

Conclusion

When the list of the fossil corals of the Australian tertiaries is compared with that of the forms living in the Australian and New Zealand seas, it becomes evident that none of the recent species are represented in the Cainozoic strata. Of the twenty genera now existing around Australia, out of the immediate vicinity of coral reefs, only three had species in the Tertiaries.
Trochocyathus, Flabellum
, and
Amphihelia
, very world-wide genera, were represented in the tertiary strata by species which were very distinct from those now inhabiting the South-Australian and New-Zealand seas. The species which have been found as fossils, and which still exist in the Chinese, Japanese, and Red Seas, are
Flabellum Clandeanum
, and
F. distinctum
, The Chinese
Placotrochus Candeanus
is very closely allied to
P. elongatus
from the Hamilton tertiaries and Cape Otway, and the
Deltocyathus
is equally so to a West-Indian recent species. The alliance of the coral faunas of the Australian Tertiaries and of the surrounding coral seas is thus very slight; and the recent species have not been found in the uppermost of the Tertiaries. There are three species common to the Australian and the European Cainozoic deposits; so that the alliance of the Australian fossil fauna is as great with the European Cainozoic fauna as it is with that of the corals of the tropical seas to the north-east. There is a well-marked species of the Lower Miocene or Oligocene of Mayence, still living in Port Jackson, but it has not been found in
On the Palæontology of the Junction Beds of the Lower and Middle Lias in Gloucestershire
Authors: Tate Ralph
Published: October 2009

P
revious
to the writings of Messrs. Oppel and Wright on the classification of the various members of the Lias, that portion of the system which intervenes between the great limestone series of the Lower Lias below and the Marlstone above was referred to the Lower Lias; but these authors have drawn the line of demarcation between the Lower and Middle Lias through the mass of clays and shales which constitute the median portion of that system, the zone of
Ammonites raricostatus
being the uppermost member of the Lower Lias, and that of
Ammonites Jamesoni
the lowermost member of the Middle Lias. Now it has not been shown in any English publication that this separation harmonizes with the distribution of organic remains, and by the superficial reader the boundary-line may well be considered an arbitrary one; it will be my endeavour to establish the division of the Lower and Middle Lias as drawn by Oppel.

That the zone of
Ammonites capricornius
is intimately connected with the Marlstone there cannot be a doubt, and in the Yorkshire Lias it has for many years been grouped with it; but as the zones of
Ammonites Jamesoni
and
A. ibex
, in this country, have usually been regarded as imperfectly fossilfferous, the necessary data for comparison being absent, the position of these zones in the Middle Lias has, with some degree of reasonableness, been questioned, more especially because the lithologieal conditions of the upper zones of the Lower Lias (
sensu stricto
) are repeated in the zone
On the Fall of an Aerolite in Fezzan
Authors: Coumbary M.
Published: October 2009

T
he
object of this communication was to describe the fall of an aërolite or bolide, which took place on the 25th December, 1869, at Mourzouk, in Fezzan (lat. 26° N., long. 12° E. of Paris), in the presence of a group of Arabs. The bolide is described as a globe of fire nearly a metre in diameter, which, on falling, exploded with a sound resembling pistol-shots and a strong odour.

It is further stated that the whole or portions of the bolide will be forwarded—and that, according to information given, the poignards, sabres, and lances of the principal people of Waddai are constructed of meteoric iron, much of which has fallen in that district.
Note on the Palpus and other Appendages of Asaphus, from the Trenton Limestone, in the British Museum
Authors: Woodward Henry
Published: October 2009

H
aving
been requested by Sir William Logan to examine the Trilobite sent over by Mr. Billings from Montreal, I was led to compare it with certain specimens in the British-Museum collection, presented by Dr. J. J. Bigsby, F.R.S., some years since.

I was at once attracted by a specimen of Asaphus, from the Black Trenton Limestone (Lower Silurian), which has been much eroded on its upper surface, leaving the hypostoma, and what appear to be the appendages belonging to the first, second, and third somites, exposed to view, united along the median line by a longitudinal ridge. The pseudo-appendages, however, have no evidence of any articulations. But what appears to me to be of the highest importance, as a piece of additional information afforded by the Museum specimen, is the discovery of what I believe to be the jointed
palpus
of one of the maxillæ (Fig. 1), which has left its impression upon the side of the hypostoma—just, in fact, in that position which it must have occupied in life, judging by other Crustaceans which are furnished with an hypostoma, as
Apus
,
Scrolls
, &e.

The palpus is 9 lines in length; the basal joint measures 3 lines, and is 2 lines broad, and somewhat triangular in form.

There appear to be about seven articulations in the palpus itself, above the basal joint, marked by swellings upon its tubular stem, which is 1 line in diameter.

There can be no reason to doubt that the Trilobita possessed antennules, antennæ, mandibles, maxillæ
On the Superficial Deposits of the South of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight
Authors: Codrington Thomas
Published: October 2009

The chief points to which attention has been called in the foregoing paper are as follows:—

1.

That the gravel plains of the New Forest and the neighbourhood are portions of a tableland rising slightly to the northward and attaining an elevation of 420 feet: and that the remains of similar tablelands exist on the cast side of Southampton Water, and, in a more fragmentary state, in the Isle of Wight, having a slope greater and in other directions.

2.

That while the gravel covering these tablelands at the highest levels is of a far greater age than the valley-gravels of the rivers, the gravel near Bournemouth, on Beaulieu Heath, Titchfield Common, and at similar levels appears to be equivalent in position and age to the high-level valley-gravels, and also to the beach-deposits of Avisford and Waterbeach containing marine shells; and that a lower tract of gravel bordering on the northern shore of the Solent and Spithead appears to correspond on the one hand with the low-level valley-gravels of the rivers, and on the other with the marine gravel covering the low land of Selsea.

3.

That the spreading out of the gravel, and the levelling of the tablelands, probably was effected in an inlet of the sea shut in on the south side by land which connected the Isle of Wight with the mainland, and opening to the eastward.

4.

That a gradual upheaval appears to have gone on from the time of the oldest and highest gravels down to the date of the low-level valley-gravels, by which the inlet was narrowed into an estuary which received the waters of all the rivers from Poole Harbour eastward, the Isle of Wight being still connected with the mainland.

5.

That of this upheaval in its latter stages there is evidence remaining in the marine gravel of Sussex, in the raised shingle of the Foreland, and in the beach-deposits of Waterbeach and Avisford.

6.

That the flint implements of Bournemouth and Southampton Common are from gravel covering tablelands at elevations corresponding to the high-level valley-gravels, and that the implements from the coast between Southampton and Gosport are from gravel corresponding to the low-level valley-gravels.

7.

That the position of the flint implement found above the raised shingle of the Foreland appears to prove that an upheaval to the extent of 70 or 80 feet has taken place since its deposition in the brick-earth; and that if the origin of the gravel covering the plains be as above supposed, the flint implements of Bournemouth show that the upheaval has been as much as 120 feet, and the implements in the gravel on Southampton Common as much as 150 feet, since the appearance of man.
On a new Labyrinthodont Amphibian from the Magnesian Limestone of Midderidge, Durham
Authors: Hancock Albany , Howse Richard
Published: October 2009

Among the important additions to the fauna of the Permian rocks of Durham made by Joseph Duff, Esq., last autumn, not the least interesting, perhaps, maybe reckoned the remains of a Labyrinthodont having numerous finely striated, rhombiform scutes or scales, resembling in shape those of some Ganoid fishes, though very superior in size. These remains were found at the Midderidge quarry (a portion of which has recently been removed for the purpose of widening the Darlington and Wear-valley Railway), in a bed of yellow marly limestone 7 or 8 feet above the marl-slate properly so called.

The section at this quarry is thus described by Prof. Sedgwick, Geol. Trans. ser. ii. vol. iii. p. 76:—

“1.

Bed of light-coloured siliceous sandstone, worked as a coarse flagstone and also as a building-stone. The upper beds alternate with blue-coloured calcareous shale. At East Thickley they are about 3O feet thick.

“2.

Yellow-coloured calcareous shale and shale-slate, in thickness about 9 feet. Some of these beds are incoherent and sandy ; the marl-slate forms a series of indurated bands, which divide the more incoherent shale.

3.

A series of thin beds with marly partings ; the whole about 20 feet thick. The average thickness of the several beds is not more than a few inches; their surfaces are often covered with yellow marl ; at their natural partings they are generally covered with dendritical impressions,” etc.

In the above section, No. 1 represents the uppermost member of the Coal-measures, which in this part of Durham have
On
Proterosaurus Speneri
, von Meyer, and a new species,
Proterosaurus Huxleyi
, from the Marl-slate of Midderidge, Durham
Authors: Hancock Albany , Howse Richard
Published: October 2009

I
n
the preceding paper it has been stated that the requirements of a railway company for increased accommodation of their traffic, and the continuous indefatigable exertions of our friend Joseph Duff, Esq., to enlarge the knowledge of the Marl-slate fauna of Durham, have led to the discovery of some fossil remains which are certainly the most interesting palæontologically of recent acquisitions. These consist of a considerable portion of the skeleton of that earliest-recorded and still oldest-known reptile,
Proterosaurus Speneri
, v. Meyer, and also in close association with it of the greater portion of the skeleton of a smaller species, for which we propose the name
Proterosaurus Huxleyi
. Through the obliging kindness of Mr. Duff these specimens have not only been placed in our hands for description, but have also been added to the collection of the Natural-History Society of Newcastle, Durham, and Northumberland.

Perhaps we may be allowed to reflect that in England we have now arrived, after the lapse of more than a century and a half, at the same point of palæntological discovery, bathymetrically considered, which was attained in Germany in the year 1706 through the intelligent observations of a learned physician of Berlin, whose name has been properly attached to this earliest discovered reptile ; and also to consider this fact, that after the expiration of 164 years, and notwithstanding the exertions and multiplication of observers and enlarged fields of inquiry, these reptilian remains, described by Spener and compared by him to the Crocodile and Lizard, still
Notes on the Geology of the Lofoten Islands
Authors: Bonney T. G.
Published: October 2009

T
he
author described the general appearance of the Lofoten Islands, which have commonly been described as composed of granite, but which, he stated, really consist of gneissic rocks. The scenery of some of the islands on which he did not land resembled that of the Cambrian and Cambro-Silurian districts of Wales and Cumberland; and the interior of Hassel showed dark rounded fells, resembling in outline some of the softer Welsh slates. At Stokmarknæs and at Melbo there is a granitoid rock of pinkish-grey colour, consisting of felspar and platy hornblende, with some mica and quartz. The Svolvaer Fjeld in Ost Vaagö shows a distinctly bedded structure in the cliffs near Svolvaer, the débris at the foot of which consists of a rock resembling syenite, and a quartzite containing a little hornblende and felspar. Bedding was also observed towards the Oxnæs Fjord. The islets near this coast consisted chiefly of a granitoid rock resembling a syenite, showing traces of bedding to the west of Svolvaer. Veins of quartz and seams of hornblende &c. occurred in some of the islets; and the latter were too regular to be explained by deposition in fissures. Near the Svolvaer post-office there was gneiss coarsely foliated, containing hornblende and mica, with pink orthoclase felspar. The author concluded, from his observations, that, with few exceptions, the so-called granites of the Lofoten Islands are stratified, highly metamorphosed rocks—quartzites and gneiss, generally with much fel-spar in the latter, and with more or less hornblende in both—and that they are inferior in position to the gneiss and schists of the mainland, and to the more slaty rocks of the southern and western parts of the same islands. He compares them with some gneiss from Dalbeg on the west coast of the island of Lewis, and thinks it highly probable that they also are of Hebridean age. The remainder of the paper described some raised beaches and moraines. The latter are frequent in the Raftsund at the mouth of tributary glens, and just above the sea-level.
Observations on Modern Glacial Action in Canada
Authors: Bleasdell W.
Published: October 2009

Sir Charles Lyell, in his ‘Principles of Geology,’ has drawn attention to the effects of glacial action in Canada in the transportation of large stones and boulders on the shores of the river St. Lawrence to new positions by the powerful agency there exercised, more or less, every winter. As this subject possesses much geological importance, I write down a few observations of this kind that may be of interest.

There can be no doubt that in every portion of the province where large rivers, streams, and lakes abound, the effects of ice may be seen in the removal of gravel, stones, and shingle from sites where they have remained since the Boulder-drift period.

On that arm of Lake Ontario which commences at the outlet of the river Trent, at Trenton, and runs in a zig-zag direction for nearly 90 miles until it meets the main lake near Kingston, named the Bay of Quinte, the waters are frozen over every winter to a thickness of from 1½ to 2½ feet. Near the head of the bay (with which, from a residence of nearly twenty years, I am more especially conversant), and at some period during the season, a crack occurs right across from shore to shore. If this strikes a gravelly shore at either end (as it frequently does), the ice forming the crack being lifted up on each side, gravel, shingle, or stones may be seen imbedded in the ice which has thus been lifted up. These have been