bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Geological Notes on the Country Near Melbourne, Victoria
Authors: Harrison Thos.
Published: March 2016

Australia offers both advantages and the reverse as a field wherein geology may be studied. Mesozoic strata being absent, or very sparingly developed, the variety of fossils is not extensive; but some of the phenomena observable are by no means devoid of interest.

The very limited portion of the Australian continent which I purpose describing is delineated upon sheet number 1 of the geological map lately issued by Mr. Selwyn,—a reduced sketch-copy of which is enclosed with the present communication (Pl. VI.).

By this map it will be seen that there are at least three classes of strata to be noticed—Silurian, Tertiary, and Volcanic. The site of the Victorian metropolis, together with the suburban townships, comprises the whole of these in various proportions. Melbourne proper, with the exception of its extreme western portion, which is situate on an older volcanic formation, is built almost wholly upon May Hill sandstones and soft laminated shales. The whole of this stratum has evidently been subjected to immense disturbance, it being a matter of no little difficulty to discover a patch many yards in extent within which the beds even approach to a horizontal position. The general inclination of the stratification more often verges on the perpendicular, whilst numerous contortions, folds, and doublings—theupper edges being cut away by denudation, at the same time that the lower are hidden far below the exposed portion—offer an interesting but withal most difficult problem to the geological student.
Notes on the Evidence of Glacial Action in Scotland
Authors: Simmons P.
Published: March 2016

In the parish of Baldernock, county of Stirling, and in the neighbourhood of “fragments of stone reared by creatures of clay,” Craigmadden Castle, the pedestrian will find three large stones well worthy of his notice. They are situated in the centre of a bog; consequently, if the said pedestrian desires to observe, measure, and minutely examine them, he must, as three friends lately did, take off boots and stockings and wade through the water that surrounds the stones to within two feet; that is to say, if he desires such articles to remain dry. The bog forms part of an extensive natural amphitheatre, situated in the Craigmadden moor; and the stones have received the name “Auld Wives' Lifts,” from the absurd tradition that they were placed, once upon a time, among the heather by three old women, natives of Baldernock, Strathblane, and Campsie.

The Lifts are considered by some antiquaries to be nothing more or less than a cromlech or sepulchral monument; others, however, think they are an altar which the Druids used. The former opinion is maintained by Dr. Daniel Wilson in his ‘Archæology.’ His words are: “It is remarkable as an example of a trilith, or complete cromlech, consisting only of three stones. Two, of nearly equal length, support the huge capstone; a block of basalt measuring fully 18 feet in length, by 11 in breadth, and 7 in depth. A narrow triangular space remains open between the three stones, and through this every stranger is required to pass on first visiting the spot, if, according to the rustic creed, he would escape the calamity of dying childless.
Note on Stone ‘Celts” from Chiriqui
Authors: Blake Charles Carter
Published: March 2016

Five stone “celts” have been submitted to me, from the collections of antiquarian objects from Chiriquí formed by my friends William Bollaert, Esq., F.R.G.S., Corr. Mem. Univ. Chile, etc., and W. Duprée, M.D., F.R.G.S., of Panamá.

No information has been given to me respecting the locality, condition, or probable age of these “celts.” I understand, however, that they were obtained from the same graves in Chiriquí whence have been derived the various objects wrought in gold and moulded in pottery, some of which have been lately described in the United States, and in this country by Mr. Bollaert.

All the celts exhibited the well-known scalpriform sharpening of the larger end, and are sharpened laterally by a succession of blows, producing facets, analogous to those of the chipped flints which have been found at Abbeville, at the Kjökkenmöddings in Denmark and in various European localities, and which probably belong to a period antecedent to the known historical era.

Four of the celts, marked B 2, B 3, D 1, and D 2, are composed of the porphyritic stone found in great abundance on the Isthmus of Darien. One only, marked B 1, is hewn more roughly than the others from an indurated clay, and closely resembles some of the European worked flints.
On the Age of the Dartmoor Granites
Authors: Pengelly W.
Published: March 2016

Though our science has risen above the stage from which she taught that all granites are parts of the original crust of the earth; though she has advanced so far as to doubt whether, in all cases, the granitic was the first phase of rock-existence which the materials composing it assumed, and to entertain the question whether such rocks may not be the extreme form of metamorphism, which has obliterated all traces of an earlier condition; and though she may prudently decline to point out, in the large circle of her rocky acquaintances, one mass of crystalline unstratified rock which, as such, can be proved to be older than some known beds of mechanical origin; it remains to be the rule rather than the exception to meet with persons, frequently veil-informed, and not without an interest in geology, who still cling to the notion, or allow it to cling to them, that every mass of granite is a primitive rock, in the strict chronological import of the term; and represents a period in the earth's history prior to the possible existence of sedimentary strata, or of organized beings. Indeed the opinion that granite is, in all cases, a primary rock, has so large a place in the public mind, that one might prudently hesitate before throwing such a question as “What is the age of the Dartmoor granite?” before any audience having a very large admixture of the popular element.
The Geology of Maidstone
Authors: Bensted W. H.
Published: March 2016

There only remains now to notice the post-Tertiary deposits to complete this account of the geology of Maidstone. The surface-soil and the earth filling in and covering over the faults and large fissures consist of clay, gravel, “sharp” drift-sand, and fine sand, all being sedimentary deposits from water under different rates of motion. The exteriors of the highest masses of rock show the effects of a powerful erosion continued for a long period of time; but this action was not the dashing of billows, for some surfaces of the rock, although worn to a great extent, have portions of fragile shells standing out from their surfaces, just as in the cavernous gutters of the rock masses of spiculæ jut out from the walls, the loose sand or soft hassock having been washed away.
The Geology of Maidstone
Authors: Bensted W. H.
Published: March 2016

The lower mandible of a chimæra—the first discovered in the Lower Greensand—is now in the collection of Sir Philip Egerton, who informs me it belongs to the species Ischyodus Agassizii. Since this discovery I have met with many more specimens, some of smaller size; but, from the difficulty of extracting them from the stone, I have never succeeded in getting one so perfect. Several good specimens have been procured from the Lower Chalk at Burham. The chimæra approaches in form to the shark tribe, but it is far from being so ravenous in its disposition. Recent species are found in the Arctic and in some of the European seas, and attaining the length of two or three feet. Being often taken in the company of the herrings in their migrations, it has thus gained the patronymic of “king of the herrings.” The mouth of this odd-looking fish is furnished with hard and undivided plates instead of teeth, four of which are placed on the upper and two on the lower jaw.

Fossils are very rare in the succeeding “rugged flint layers,” which have an average thickness of eight inches.
The Geology of Maidstone
Authors: Bensted W. H.
Published: March 2016

The Kentish Ragstone is a source of very considerable trade to Maidstone, and gives employment to many workmen. Several barges are constantly engaged in conveying to the coasts of Kent and Sussex, in the marshes of which it is very extensively employed for the banks or sea-walls. In Romney Marsh and on the eastern side of the Isle of Sheppey a large expenditure is yearly incurred in thus protecting large and valuable tracts of land from the ravages of the sea. The ragstone is also extensively used as a road-stone and for buildings, large quantities of the stone being sent to London and other places especially for the former purpose. A small quantity is burnt into lime of a very superior quality; but the abundance of chalk in this neighbourhood, and the greater cheapness of that rock, prevents the general use of the stronger but more costly stone-lime.

Many handsome buildings in Maidstone and other places in the county are built of it. Of these in Maidstone may be mentioned the new gaol, the lunatic asylum, and the new church. Of ancient buildings constructed of it are the old parish church of All Saints, the Episcopal Palace and College. Many of the London churches, and nearly all of those on the banks of the Thames and Medway, have a great proportion of this stone in their walls; and proofs of its durability and early application to building purposes may be seen in the present condition of Allington and Rochester castles, and most of the bridges from Aylesford to Tunbridge.
On the Evidence of Glacial Action Over the South of Ireland During The Drift Period; And of a Subsequent Slight Elevation Followed By A Depression of the Land, to its Present Level
Authors: Du Noyer George V.
Published: March 2016

When “the waters were divided from the waters” and they were called “seas,” the level at which they were allowed to rest, being determined, has ever since remained immutably fixed. With the land, however, it is very different; its elevation above the sea, and consequent outline, has varied from the very moment it “appeared” or in other words arose from beneath the “waters,” and each successive geological era comprised within itself countless changes in this relative distribution of Land and Water, and many marked variations in the climatal agencies effecting the one, and in the tides and currents which sorted the shingle, sands, and finer sediments formed by the other. If proof of the truth of this be required we have but to pause before any bed of conglomerate, in any strata from the lowest to the most recent, and we have there presented to us a clear evidence of a period of local destruction in rocks previously formed and consolidated, and a consequent reproduction out of their disintegrated masses; but should we find in that conglomerate a block of a still older conglomerate, and this, on examination, was found to contain pebbles derived from ancient fossiliferous rocks in which we discover the remains of shells and corals, we clearly see that the process of formation, consolidation, destruction and reproduction has been going on during countless ages before the formation of the conglomerate we first examined.
Notes upon Human Remains from the Valley of the Trent, and from the Heathery Burn Cave, Durham
Authors: Huxley
Published: March 2016

The skull from Muskham, in the valley of the Trent, a side view of which is given in Plate XI., like the animal bones with which it was associated, is stained of a dark-brown colour. The whole of those parts of the cranial bones which bound the cranial cavity are well preserved; but the facial bones, with the exception of a small portion of the nasals, are broken away, so as to expose the whole of the under-surface of the base of the skull.

The considerable development of the frontal sinuses and of the different ridges and processes of the skull, shows it to be that of an adult, and the same characters lead me to believe that it belonged to a male. Otherwise it is small enough for a female, as its extreme length does not exceed 7·2 in., its extreme breadth 5·4 in., and its horizontal circumference 20½ inches.

The skull has a very peculiar form. If a line drawn from the glabella to the superior curved line of the occiput be made horizontal, the highest point of the longitudinal median contour of the skull will be seen to be situated about the middle of the length of the sagittal suture, and from this point the contour shelves rapidly downwards, to the brow on the one hand, and to the centre of the space between the apex of the lambdoidal suture and the occipital protuberance on the other. This last is the most prominent portion of the back part of the skull, the median contour below it bending forwards to the occipital protuberance, which is a very strong, projecting, triangular process.
Further Notes on the Genus Cainotherium
Authors: Blake Charles Carter
Published: March 2016

The genus Cainotherium was founded by Bravard in the year 1835. Since his time it has received the following names:—Cyclognathus, Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 1835; Microtherium, Herm. von Meyer, 1837; Oplotherium and Plectognathus, Laizet and De Parieu, 1838; whilst the characteristically synthetic mind of De Blainville reunited it to the genus Anoplotherium, under the title of latecurvatum.

Gervais says it is probable that many species, and not one only, can be recognized amongst the remains which have been discovered, and that this conclusion has been admitted by all palæontologists who have studied these small pachyderms.
Section of the Lias Clay in a Railway-Cutting Near Stow-on-the Wold
Authors: Lucas S.
Published: March 2016

As Mr. E. Hull of the Geological Survey, in his ‘Geology of the Country around Cheltenham’ (1857), p. 24, complains of the scarcity of sections of the Upper Lias in that district, and as a section in the Railway, near Oddington and Stow-on-the-Wold, exhibits a section of Liassic clays, which appear to me to belong to the upper series, I beg to offer you the following rough but accurate account of the bed there exposed.

The list of fossils has been made with the assistance of a geological friend in London.
Notes on the Metamorphosis of Rocks in South Africa
Authors: Rubidge R. N.
Published: March 2016

It is near eleven years since that in travelling through Howison’s Poort,* one of the most picturesque of the many fine mountain passes through the quartzite ranges of the eastern province of the Cape Colony, my attention was drawn to a geological fact to which observation in other parts of the Colony has since led me to attach no little importance. In the construction of the main road from Port Elizabeth to Graham’s Town, many deep cuttings have been made in the solid quartzite rock. In many instances the rock seen in these works lost its crystalline character gradually, and assumed that of a hard blue sandstone, and at length nearly resembled the blue fossiliferous shales and sandstones of the Ecca.
On the Microscopical Examination of some Bracklesham Beds
Authors: Jones T. Rupert
Published: March 2016

In Vol. I of the ‘Geologist,’ at page 249, was published a paper on the preparation of sands, clays, and chalk, for microscopical purposes, under the heading of “Geological Manipulations;” and, as both pleasure and geological profit are to be obtained from the exact examination of various fossil-bearing deposits, both as to their constituents and their contents, I beg to offer you an example of the results of such an examination of some tertiary beds from Bracklesham. These notes I have had by me several years, and their short-comings are so great in some respects that I should not send them, were it not that they may serve as a plan to some young careful observers who might feel inclined to enter upon the strict examination of some definite series of fossiliferous strata. What the series under notice is deficient of, is a statement of the exact relationship of these several deposits, examined nearly twenty years ago. I received the materials at that time from a friend who was collecting “Bracklesham fossils,”—a term which will be more definite, now that the Rev. O. Fisher, F.G.S., has indicated the exact limits of the Bracklesham formation.

The specimens were chiefly, I believe, from Bracklesham and Selsea; but some may have been brought from the Isle of Wight. By the presence of certain fossils, however, in some of the deposits, their exact place may probably be determined. However deficient in these stratigraphical requirements the following account of the deposits may be, they will serve the purpose here intended, namely, to show young beginners what to look for in sands and clays. Instructions have been already given as to how such materials are to be examine, in the first volume, p. 249.
On some Points in the Structure of the Skull of Fossil Musk-Deer (Cainotherium)
Authors: Blake Charles Carter
Published: March 2016

While examining lately the magnificent collection of fossil musk-deer, from Auvergne, in the collection of the British Museum, in the case devoted to the specimens collected by M. Bravard from the lacustrine calcareous marls of Puy-de-Dôme, a singular anomaly in the structure of the crania of the genus Cainotherium met my view. All the writers who have described the osteology of the skull of Ruminants have noticed those singular deficiencies or lacunæ which exist at the points of junction of the various bones, and which have been variously described as “lacrymal openings” or “facial interspaces.” Their function has been unknown, and their presence, although constant in each individual species, is variable in species nearly allied to each other. In the Cainotherium commune, Bravard (Microtherium Renggeri), nearest allied to the Hyomoschus of the present day, ossification at this lacrymal point of intersection has extended to a much less degree than in its living analogue. The interspace in Cainotherium is longer in proportion to its breadth than the existing musk-deer (Moschus chrysogaster). In the Dorcatherium Naui, Kaup., on the contrary, not the slightest interspace is exhibited, and the lacrymal angle is definitively closed: In some of the specimens named Cainotherium in the British Museum, no interspace exists. These probably belong to a separate species, as De Blainville remarks on the typical Cainotherium commune, termed by him Anoplotherium laticurvatum, that it possesses “des lacunes sous-lacrymales assez grandes, en forme de longues virgules.”
Glaciers in Wales
Authors: Ramsay A. C.
Published: March 2016

In the year 1851 I read a paper before the Geological Society “On the Superficial Accumulations and Surface-markings in North Wales,” in which I attempted to show that there had been two glacier epochs in that country, one before, and the other after the deposition of the boulder drift, which was ploughed out of some of the larger valleys by the secondhand smaller set of glaciers; and in a later work on the old glaciers of North Wales, I went further, showing that cold sufficient to form glaciers lasted during the whole time of submergence and emergence, both when the higher mountain-tops stood out of the sea as a cluster ofsmall islands, and afterwards when the whole land rose out of the water.

The first of these memoirs touched on several subjects not immediately connected with the glaciation of Wales, though bearing in a larger sense on the same Geological period, and on the same set of questions. This the Council of the Geological Society decided not to print in their Journal, on the ground that it was too speculative—an opinion with which, in a great measure, I now coincide. One question was, however, raised in this unprinted matter which I do not yet remember to have seen in any published paper, and I now mention it because of late the attention of many persons have been more and more drawn to the discussion of the subject.
On Metalliferous Saddles
Authors: Rubidge R. N.
Published: March 2016

In the number of your journal for October, 1860, I read with great interest a paper by Dr. Watson “On the Metalliferous Saddles of Derbyshire and Staffordshire.” The Doctor says that, though well known to the miners, he believes these saddles have not hitherto been described by any geologist. If he will refer to the Journal of the Geol. Soc., 1857, p. 233, he will find a paper “On the Mines of Namaqualand,” in which I think he will recognise a description of these deposits under the name of “metallic axes.” With such modifications as the difference in the strata and their metallic contents requires, his description would nearly apply to what I said.

The strata in which my axes occur are gneiss and gneiss-granite with occasional beds of magnesian and micaceous rock at Springbok Vontein and Concordia, and micaceous and calcareous rock, with gneiss at Kodas. The saddles (a better name than mine) in all the productive mines were folds in the strata, with fissures of various sizes and directions intersecting them. The one was in some cases more abundant in the planes corresponding to the original bedding of the rock: this was strikingly the case at Concordia, where the main dip was north and the disturbed one south—the strike of the rocks being nearly east and west. (Sec. 1 and 2).
A Lecture on “Coal.”
Authors: Salter J. W.
Published: March 2016

There is less to be said about the animals found fossil in the coal than about the plants. And for this reason, that the vegetables formed the coal; the shells and crustaceous creatures, and fish, and reptiles, were but visitors: or if they lived upon the spot, bore no larger proportion to the stately jungle that sheltered them, than the denizens of our own forests now-a-days do to the trees and undergrowth which give them food and habitation.

Still, animals are far from rare; and the common ones are chiefly bivalve shells and worms. The truly land animals are but few. A rare insect or two has been found in our own country. Dr. Mantell discovered the wing of a fly not unlike the dragon-fly, and supposed to belong to the American genus Corydalis. This insect is figured in Sir R. I. Murchison's Siluria, and is now in the British Museum. And one or two beetles, or rather what have been supposed to be beetles, have been found in Coalbrooke Dale. Cockroaches and crickets have left their wings in tolerable plenty in the coal-shales of Saxony. No doubt they were welcome there amid the coal-solitudes, and put a little life into them. They are far from welcome now. I recommend all who may live in the neighbourhood of the coals to give a little time to hunting for the relics of these old insects, &c.
Palæontological Notes on the Brachiopoda
Authors: Davidson Thomas
Published: March 2016

In our second group are provisionally assembled a number of Tere-bratula-shaped species, with a curved hinge-line, no defined area, beak entire, or truncated by a circular foramen for the permanent or temporary passage of a peduncle, and with spiral appendages directed outwards, as in Spirifera, but connected by a more complicated system of lamellæ. Much has, however, to be discovered concerning the interior details of the larger number of the species before we can hope to establish permanent and satisfactory divisions in this group.

The genus Athyris has for years attracted the notice of palæontologists, but it. was not until a recent period that all its important characters could be established. The species vary considerably in their external shape; they are circular or angular, elongated or transverse, smooth, ribbed, or striated, some have the entire surface of their valves covered with numerous concentric plates, which are prolonged in many instances nearly an inch from the surface of the shell, while in other species the valves are covered by a vast number of scaly ridges from which radiate closely-set fringes of elongated, somewhat flattened spines; and so close are these sometimes in their arrangement, that no portion of the shell can be distinguished.
On Rocks; Their Chemical and Mineral Composition, and Physical Characteristics
Authors: Plymouth H. S.
Published: March 2016

I. “Il suffit de parcourir des parties très circonstrites de la surface du globe, pour voir qu'elle est composée de matériaux très-variés.” The most striking of these differences were, of course, noticed even in the least civilized times; and, as observation advanced, and experience accumulated, the minor and less obvious variations of constitution and texture were gradually reduced to order, and classified into the science of Mineralogy.

II. So far our science concerned itself merely with what we should now call a correct description of the mineral character of rocks, without entering into the question of their genesis or mode of origin. But at the dawn of geology—that is, when men first conceived that the various rocks and strata at the surface of our earth were formed at different, and often immeasurably remote periods—then the study of rocks entered on a new phase. The age and succession of these formations were judged, in the first place, from the order of their superposition; and when it was found, as a general rule, that each formation, or stage of this succession, was marked by rocks of a specific mineral character, it was hastily concluded that this mineral character was typical of their age, and that the latter could be deduced from the former: nor was this generalization devoid of broad principles of truth; the ancient and more recent formations are each undoubtedly composed of rocks of very different mineral character—the former being made up such of rocks as granite and the so-called primary limestones and clay-slates, while the latter consists of clays, chalk, or slightly consolidated sandstones.
Cambridge Essays, 1857.—Geology:
Authors: Hopkins W.
Published: March 2016

The object of this essay is to view the science of Geology on a more extended scale than is generally attempted in popular treatises; not dwelling on matters of detail, but regarding physical principles and fundamental propositions with those logical sequences by which remoter conclusions are arrived at.

“But how, it may be asked, is the student or mere general reader to enter upon these larger views of the subject without a previous acquaintance with its details? And, doubtless, if any one would make himself an accomplished geologist, and prepare himself to enter fully into the more profound investigations of the science, he must gain a knowledge of its phenomena with a certain degree of detail; but the more complete a science becomes as a science of observation, the less necessary is it for the philosopher who would solve its physical problems to become himself an observer. Newton and Laplace troubled themselves little in looking through astronomical telescopes. They took their facts on the authority of others. And so, also, the general geological reader may accept the facts established by the observations of the field-geologist, when he would acquaint himself with the conclusions of those who have endeavoured to solve the physical or palæon-tological problems which the science presents to us.”
The Physical Structure of Merionethshire and Caernarvonshire
Authors: Ramsay A. C.
Published: March 2016

The view from the summit of Cader Idris is one of the most magnificent in Wales. Turning to the south, the landscape consists of a series of rolling hills, stretching as far as the eye can reach, in smoothly swelling outlines; and it is impossible not to be struck with the circumstance that, though some rise higher than others, they maintain a sort of average height, accompanied by a general gentle inclination towards the sea. Through this broad undulation innumerable valleys have been excavated. The hills have not been formed merely in consequence of disturbance of the strata; but, through the outcropping and smoothed edges of disturbed strata, many great and small valleys have been cut by old marine denudations, atmospheric disintegrations, and the action of running water. The general uniform character of the outlines of this country is due to the sameness of the rocks, which, in the main, consist of slates, occasionally varied by hard or interstratified bands of sandstone, the whole belonging to that part of the Silurian series known as the Caradoc or Bala beds, and the rocks immediately overlying.

Turning northwards, a change in the character of the landscape becomes at once apparent. The mountains are broken and rugged. The summits of the Arans, the great swelling mass of Rhobell-fawr, the cliffs of Rhinog-fawr and Rhinog-fach, that guard the pass of Bwlch-drws-ar-Dudwy, the bold outlines of the Arenigs, the Moelwyns, and Cynicht, all meet the eye almost at a glance; and, far in the distance, the peak of Snowdon sharply pierces the air, rising to a height of 3,571 feet above the sea.
Notices of the Volcanic Rocks and Geysirs of Iceland
Authors: Vaux J. E.
Published: March 2016

The name “Iceland” raises ideas, especially in the winter time, the reverse of cheering; and a subsequent low average of fingers and toes suggests itself as no very unlikely price to pay for witnessing the marvels of Thing Valla. Gentle reader! what think you of an al fresco breakfast taken on the plain, “in shirt-sleeves, with a white handkerchief wrapped round the head for fear of the sun, the whole landscape gleaming and glowing in the beauty of one of the hottest summer days I ever remember?” Such is the description given of the summer climate as the party encamped to examine the place more in detail.

Descending the gorge of the Almanna Gja, they went towards the lake. “The perpendicular walls of rock rose on either hand from the flat greensward that carpeted its bottom, pretty much as the waters of the Red Sea must have risen on each side of the fugitive Israelites. A blaze of light smote the face of one cliff, while the other lay in the deepest shadow; and on the rugged surface of each might still be traced corresponding articulations that once had dovetailed into each other, ere the igneous mass was rent asunder. So unchanged, so recent, seemed the vestiges of this convulsion, that I felt as if I had been admitted to witness one of nature's grandest and most violent operations, almost in the very act of its execution. A walk of about twenty minutes brought us to the borders of the lake—a glorious expanse of water, fifteen miles long, by eight miles broad, occupying a basin formed by the same hills, which must also, I imagine, have arrested the further progress of the lava torrent. A lovelier scene I have seldom witnessed. In the foreground lay huge masses of rock and lava, tossed about like the ruins of a world, and washed by waters as bright and green as polished malachite.
Notices of the Volcanic Rocks and Geysirs of Iceland
Authors: Vaux J. E.
Published: March 2016

Of all the wondrous changes which nature has wrought on the earth's crust, there is scarcely anything that will bear comparison with those which meet the eye of the traveller in volcanic regions. Of the two great agents in. Geological transformation—water and fire, the one moves us with admiration at the delicacy of its operations, the other strikes us with awe at the mightiness of its influences, and the rapidity of its work.

Few, if any, countries present ua with such remarkable or various manifestations of the potency of subterranean heat as Iceland. So much so, indeed, that it appears as though it were the acknowledged safety-valve, in this portion of our globe at least, through which the troubled contents of depths unknown may, on any emergency, find a ready vent.

Interest more than ordinary appears to have been taken of late in this most remarkable region. No less than six parties of tourists having, during the year before last, investigated the natural marvels of the island. One of these adventurers, Lord Dufferin, in a most interesting and amusing book, has given to the world a record of his travels. From his “Letters from High Latitudes” we propose to quote his graphic picture of the result of volcanic action, in producing a very remarkable and very manifest change in the aspect of the large tract of country to which that portion of hiB narrative refers.

But before we proceed to this, it may perhaps be useful to recal to the reader's recollection the two theories which have, up to the present time, been put forth with respect to the causes of internal heat, and hence to the origin of volcanic action in general.
On some New Palæozoic Crinoids from England and Scotland
Authors: de Koninck L.
Published: March 2016

The crinoids, which in this paper I bring under notice, belong to two new genera, which I have designated, the one by the name of Hydreionocrinus (ὑδρϵῖον, a watering-pot), from the resemblance to the rose of a watering-pot of the head of the species referred to, and the other by the name of Pisocrinus (πίσον, a pea). I begin with the exposition of the character of these new genera, and will afterwards describe the species which belong to them, and in doing this I shall make use of the same technical terms as I have done in my other works upon the crinoids.

Genus.—Hydreionocrinus, De Koninck.

Synonyms.—Poteriocrinus (in part), Phillips, 1836, “ Geol. of York,” Vol. II., p. 204.

Cupressocrinus, M'Coy, 1849, Ann. Nat. Hist.,” 2 ser., Vol. II., p. 22 4; non Goldfuss.

Poteriocrinus, De Kon., 1854, “Recherches sur les Crinoides,” p. 90.

Generic Formula.—Basal plates 5, Sub-radial plates 5, of which three are of the same form, the fourth serving as a base to one radial, and the fifth welded to two anals; Anal plates 5; Radial plates 2 × 5, of which one reposes directly on one of the sub-radials; Brachial, or arm-plates, 5 × 10, giving rise to 20 arms, welded together, and composed of alternating articulations, to the number of 18 or 20, and surmounted by a circle composed of 15 fusiform pieces, joined to each other. Vault or dome, composed of a great number of little pentagonal or hexagonal pieces. Stem with cylindrical articulations.
The Common Fossils of the British Rocks
Authors: Mackie S. J.
Published: March 2016

The unstratified Plutonic rocks are considered to form, as we have intimated, the common base of the stratified beds all over the globe. With them, however, we have little to do in this place. Our labours commence with the stratified, and we should even have excluded the so-called “Azoic,” had not that term been recently subjected to considerable restriction by the discovery of organic remains in some of its members; and, as it is still likely, by further researches, to be totally absorbed into the Palæozoic system, we append an ideal section representing the sequence of formation of the most ancient groups of fossiliferous rocks, with the relative position of those primordial conglomerates, flags, and schists in which as yet no organic remains have been found. Whether, at the vastly remote period at which those isolated masses, still ranked as Azoic, were formed, the advent of life had really not taken place on our planet, or whether those masses are the few remnants of a still older stage of our world than any presented to us by the recognised series of fossiliferous rocks, has yet to be determined by the investigations of geologists—but in their massiveness and their vast age they must ever be regarded with veneration and wonder.
The Carboniferous System in Scotland Characterized by its Brachiopoda
Authors: Davidson Thomas
Published: March 2016

The shells of which this genus is composed differ much in their external shape and appearance, hence the great difficulty of correctly determining the limits of certain species. The character of this extinct genus are now so well understood that it is scarcely necessary to make any further allusion to the subject; but we may briefly repeat, for the sake of the less initiated, and in order to shorten the descriptions of the various species, that all possess a straight hinge-line, and a triangular or sub-parallel area, which is divided by a triangular fissure, this last being more or less covered, or contracted, by the means of one or two curved plates, to which the term pseudo-deltidium has been applied. The pseudo-deltidium is rarely preserved in the carboniferous specimens, but did certainly exist in the perfect or living individuals. The valves are articulated by the means of curved teeth developed on either side of the fissure in the ventral valve, and which fit into corresponding sockets in the opposite or dorsal one. In the larger valve the teeth are supported by vertical plates of greater or lesser dimensions, and in the space between these on the bottom of the shell are situated the muscular impressions. The adductor, or occlusor muscle leaves a narrow mesial oval-shaped scar, and on either side are situated the cardinal, or divaricator muscular impressions. In the interior of the smaller, or dorsal valve there exists two large conical spiral coils, which nearly fill the interior of the shell, the ends being directed outwardly towards the cardinal angles, while the bases of the hollow conical spires nearly meet at the hinge side, but are wide apart in front.
The Carboniferous System in Scotland Characterized by its Brachiopoda
Authors: Davidson Thomas
Published: March 2016

This family, which has been termed Orthidœ by some authors, comprises several genera and subgenera, of which Strophomena, Streptorhynchus, and Orthis alone have been found represented in Scottish Carboniferous strata.

The genus Orthis forms a well characterized group, especially specifically numerous and abundant in the Silurian and Devonian systems, is considerably reduced during the Carboniferous period to appear no longer (P) in subsequent stages. Two species alone have been hitherto discovered in the Carboniferous rocks of Scotland.
On Rocks; Their Chemical and Mineral Composition, and Physical Characteristics
Authors: Salmon H. C.
Published: March 2016

All rocks are necessarily composed of minerals,—that is, of certain “substances which, wherever found, present respectively nearly the same forms and physical characters, and are generally composed of nearly the same chemical constituents.” A rock may consist of one single mineral, in which case it is called a simple rock; or it may be made up of an aggregation of several different minerals, when it is called a mixed rock. Crystalline limestone, which consists exclusively of one mineral, calcite, may be given as a familiar example of a simple rock, and granite, made up of an intimate aggregation of three distinct minerals, felspar, quartz, and mica, of a mixed rock.
The Common Fossils of the British Rocks
Authors: Mackie S. J.
Published: March 2016

How sweet the communing with oneself; the thoughts that rise and flee; the dreams of solitude, away from the busy hum of men—quiet—alone with God, thinking of His wonders and His powers, the beauty and skillfulness of His works. As late at night I sat at my open study-window gazing over the forest of roofs and chimneys of the sleeping city, with its towers and church-spires pointing to the holy heavens and star-lit sky, for the first time I heard the great bell of Westminster toll out the midnight hour—sonorous, solemn, slow, as if clinging with throbbing pulse and quivering frame to Time's flowing garments to arrest him in his sturdy march. Solemn and slow the changing hours of past creations have passed away, with no “Big Ben” to mark their passage; but solemn and slow has Time himself impressed his footsteps on the yielding sands of earth, and left us his own record of his onward course.
General Considerations on the Formation of Ore-Veins
Authors: Cotta Bernhard , Salmon H. C.
Published: March 2016

I propose, from time to time, in the pages of this magazine, to bring before geologists and geological students translations or abstracts of some of the most authoritative memoirs of foreign geologists on the subject of mineral veins and metalliferous deposits.

Notwithstanding the great commercial value of the metallic mines of the United Kingdom, the subject of mineral veins and metalliferous deposits has not, of late years, occupied the serious attention of many men of recognized scientific position in this country: the late Sir Henry de la Beche, Mr. W. Jory Henwood, and Mr. Warington Smyth are those best known. The strong distaste which undoubtedly exists to inquiries in this field of geology is due to many causes which it would be out of place to discuss here. I may nevertheless be permitted to say that, however just this feeling may have been in its origin, a continued shrinking from all attempts to grapple with the difficulties which admittedly beset this subject is likely to retard the progress of some of the most important branches of chemical and physical geology. The successful solution of many obscure problems can only be hoped for from a long, patient, and accurate examination of the never-ceasing processes of nature working deep in the recesses of the earth, and which are only open to observation in those wonderful excavations which, by the patient toil of years upon years, have been made accessible to us in our mining districts.
On the Old Red Sandstone and its Fossil Fish in Forfarshire
Authors: Powrie W.
Published: March 2016

As anything calculated to throw light on the peculiar fauna of the Old Red Sandstone period must be interesting to geologists, I send you a short notice of some fossils lately found in the flagstones of Forfarshire, which may aid in adding to our knowledge of the peculiarities of the creatures found in these rocks.

Some six weeks ago, by far the finest specimen of Pterygotus anglicus yet found was discovered in the “pavement” quarries of Cannyllin: this superb specimen is now in the Arbroath Museum. This fossil, coming clean out from the matrix in which it was imbedded, consists of all the body-segments, a part of the caudal plate being also preserved and well seen in the cast from which the fossil had been lifted. It shows no features absolutely new or hitherto unknown, but it is nevertheless very interesting, as exhibiting the manner in which both the dorsal and ventral portions of this creature had been covered and protected by strong sculptured plates. It also proves that Mr. D. Page was quite correct in the place which he latterly assigned to the curious duck-bill like plate with its wing-like appendages, which, as noticed in Hugh Miller's “Old Red Sandstone,” occasioned the name of “Seraphim” to be applied to this fossil. It is found in situ, covering the under portions of the segment next the head. In all probability, as suggested by Mr. Page, it formed part of the sexual organs of this creature, and also a covering for the vent or anal opening, there being no vestige of any such opening in either the sub-caudal segment, in the portion of the caudal plate, or telson, preserved, or on the junction of these segments.
Notice of the Fossil Remains of a New Fresh-Water Mollusc from the Lower London Tertiaries
Authors: Edwards F. E.
Published: March 2016

In making the excavations now in progress for the formation of the great South High Level Sewer in the neighbourhood of Peck-ham and Dulwich, the works have been carried through a series of deposits, constituting part of the lower London, Tertiaries, and distinguished by Mr. Prestwich as the “Woolwich and Reading series.” As I learn from Mr. Charles Rickman, the able and zealous curator of the Lambeth Museum of Natural. History who has laboured assiduously in collecting the fossil remains found in them, these deposit at Dulwich, at the depth of twenty-five feet from the surface, comprise a bed of grey sand, and below this, at a depth of about forty feet, and intercalating a bed of clay containing, shells and a bed of Ostreæ, a band of hard compact sandstone, very slightly calcareous, apparently identical with that at Lee, referred to by Mr. De la Condsmine as known there by the name of the “cookle.”
Notice and Description of Cyrena Dulwich-Iensis
Authors: Rickman Charles
Published: March 2016

In a former communication to the “Geologist,” treating of the fossil fauna and flova observed in Lower Eocesie sttata passed through at Dulwich and Peckhem in the constraction of the Great South High Level Sewesu I mentioned the fact of having discovered in a shelly conglomerate, at Dulwich, a new species of the estuarine genus Gyrena which I proposed to call Cyrena, Dulurichieæsis. In sinking the main shaft, at a depth of fifty to sixty, feet this eonglomerate occurred in nodular masses in green shelly sand, intercalated with wedge-like bands of stiff black clay, highly charged with vegetable remains; bat on driving the gallery eastward the conglomerate became regularly bedded, and attained a maximum thickness of four feet, made up plentifully of the shells of Cyrena cumeiformis, C. cordata, C. Dulwichiensis, Melania inquinata, and the new genus Pitharella, now figured and described by Mr. Edwards. I annex a description of the distinguishing generic characteristics of the Cyrena Dulwichiensis, and, as an accompaniment to the figure, some of the prominent peculiarities noticeable in the species.
The Carboniferous System in Scotland Characterized by its Brachiopoda
Authors: Davidson Thomas
Published: March 2016

The shells composing this species vary but slightly in shape, being marginally semicircular, concavo-convex, and about one-third wider than long. The hingeline is straight, and either a little shorter, with its cardinal angles rounded, or somewhat longer than the greatest width of the shell, with rectangular or slightly acute and extended terminations. Both valves are provided with narrow sub-parallel areas, the ventral one, which is the largest, being divided by a small fissure, partially covered with a pseudo-deltidium; while in the middle of the ventral one there exists a prominent V-shaped cardinal process. The ventral valve is moderately convex, and flattened towards its auriculate cardinal extremities. The beak, which is small and incurved, does not overlie the hinge-line; while the dorsal valve assumes in different specimens a greater or lesser degree of concavity, and follows the curves of the opposite one. Exteriorly the surface of the ventral valve is covered with numerous small thread-like radiating striæ, which increase in number by occasional bifurcation, or interstriations at various distances from the beak, so that as many as one hundred and twenty ribs may be counted round the margin of certain specimens, while at irregular distances small spines projected from the rounded surface of the striæ. In addition to these, on each side of the beak there exists along the cardinal edge from five to nine slanting tabular spines, which become longer and larger as they approach the extremities of the cardinal edge. The surface of the dorsal valve is striated as in the ventral one; and minute perforations or punctures may be perceived over the entire surface of the shell, and which are the exterior orifices of the canals which traverse the shell, as in Productus.
FIR‐filter‐based method for the calibration of model errors in wideband digital array radar
Authors: Li Weixing , Lin Jianzhi , Zhang Yue , Chen Zengping
Published: March 2016

Wideband digital array radar (WDAR) has the potential of achieving high resolution and providing multi‐function simultaneously, but it is limited in practical use due to the effects of frequency‐dependent array model errors. A method to jointly calibrate gain‐phase perturbations and mutual coupling effects in WDRA is presented. First, a sparse‐based method is deployed to calculate the narrowband calibration matrices at a set of discrete frequencies. Moreover, using a group of finite‐impulse response filters, a wideband calibration matrix is constructed, which is capable of compensating the imperfections of array at any frequency in the band. The proposed method is simple and feasible for actual applications, which can be applied to arbitrary array geometries. Simulations and experimental results with measured data demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method.