9. GEOLOGY AND PALÆONTOLOGY.

(Including the Proceedings of the Geological Society.)

AMONGST the publications of the quarter most deserving of notice ranks the volume of the Palæontographical Society for 1865, which has lately appeared. It contains four parts of as many monographs, and although we can convey no idea of their value in this Chronicle, we must not omit to give an outline of the contents of each of them. The first contribution consists of Part I. of a monograph of the Foraminifera of the Crag, by Professor T. Rupert Jones, Mr. W. K. Parker, and Mr. H. B. Brady. From a zoological point of view it may be regarded as a supplement to Messrs. Jones and Parker's paper on Arctic and Subarctic Foraminifera, in the 'Philosophical Transactions.' Geologically, its chief value is as a record of the exact position and relationships of the different groups (whether they be considered genera, species, or varieties) of these lowly organisms, deduced from careful investigations; and it appears that notwithstanding the extremely variable nature of Foraminifera, the authors are enabled to recognize different zoological zones by means of the facies of the assemblages of these fossils which occur in them.

The next memoir is the first part of Dr. Duncan's "Monograph of the British Fossil Corals," being a supplement to the one by MM. Milne-Edwards and Jules Haime. The introduction is a very complete essay on the anatomy, physiology, and classification of corals, and well deserves a careful study. The description of the corals of the Brockenhurst beds will no doubt form the basis of future researches into the relationships of this and other deposits, which have been variously termed Lower Oligocene and Upper Eocene. The mollusca show the Brockenhurst strata to be related to those of Latdorf; but the corals are distinct. Dr. Duncan is therefore probably right in suggesting that the coral-fauna of the former deposit belonged to an oceanic and reef area, and that of the latter to a coast line. This instalment concludes with a description of some additional species of corals from the Eocene of the Isle of Wight and from the London clay.

The introduction to the next monograph, "On the British Fossil Crustacea belonging to the order Merostomata" (Part I.), by Mr. H. Woodward, is of the same character as that to the one just noticed, and deserves the same praise. It is followed by a Bibliography of the order, which does credit to the industry and research of the author, while the description of Pterygotus anglicus, which completes this part, is remarkably exhaustive, and is illustrated both fully and well.

Mr. Davidson's contribution to this volume consists of the commencement of the Silurian portion of his monograph of British Brachiopoda, and includes descriptions of the Silurnia species of the families Lingulidæ, Discinidæ, Craniada, and Spiriferida. It is prefaced by a bibliography of the subject, and by an essay on the Classification of the Silurian Rocks, written by Sir R. I. Murchison. As it requires a close study to appreciate this monograph, it is sufficient to observe that it exhibits the scrupulous accuracy, both in description and illustration, that is so characteristic of all Mr. Davidson's works.

We think we perceive in this volume the evidence of some additional care in the getting up and printing, more especially of the plates; those illustrating Dr. Duncan's monograph being very favourable specimens of English lithography.

In a former chronicle we recorded the discovery near Mons, by Messrs. Cornet and Briart, of a limestone containing Tertiary fossils, apparently of Bracklesham age, beneath strata belonging to the Système Landenien (Thanet sands). MM. Cornet and Briart have since continued their researches, and have given the results in a paper entitled "Notice sur l'Extension du Calcaire Grossier de Mons dans la Vallée de la Haine." Not only are they confirmed in their original conclusion, but they are enabled to prove the extension of the fossiliferous deposit (calcaire grossier de Mons) for a considerable distance. The weak part of the evidence, namely, the proof of the age of the Landenian is not, however, strengthened by this memoir.

In a paper "On the Structure and Affinities of Lepidodendron and Calamites," published in the Journal of Botany, Mr. Carruthers has given his reasons for regarding these plants as Cryptogams, more highly organized than any existing members of the class; and for considering merely analogical, the arrangement of their tissues to that of certain Cycadex and Cactaceæ. Mr. Carruthers warns geologists against taking for granted "that the known conditions of the living species of a genus are true also of the fossil members of the same genus;" and he cites the case of Elephas primigenius in illustration. This warning, coming from a botanist writing on such a subject, should make geologists suspicious of the probability of any of the numberless speculations on the climate and conditions of the Coal-measure period.

Dr. Hector, Director of the Geological Survey of Otago, has published a 'First General Report on the Coal Deposits of New Zealand,' the contents of which will probably surprise many unacquainted with the recent Government publications relating to the geology of the colony. Both brown coal and true coal appear to

Quart. Journ. Science,' No. XI. p. 417.

+ Bull. Acad. Roy. Belgique,' 2me série, vol. xxii.

be abundant in the north island, as well as in the south. Economically, the latter is of course by far the more important, and it is satisfactory to find that it makes a remarkably good steam-coal, notwithstanding its brittleness and its Mesozoic age, while Dr. Hector estimates its quantity at not less than four thousand millions of tons.

Another colonial publication which deserves mention is a memoir on the Physical Geography, Geology, and Mineralogy of Victoria,' by Mr. Selwyn, the Director, and Mr. Ulrich, one of the Geologists, of the Geological Survey of the Colony.

M. Tournouër, who has so long devoted his attention to the geology of the basin of the Adour, has lately published a memoir on the Tertiary deposits of the upper valley of the Saône, in the twenty-third volume of the Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France.' In this memoir, the author gives the results of a most careful and extended investigation into the geological structure of the district treated of; and gives, with considerable clearness, his views of the sequence of events which have produced the various phenomena which we are now called upon to interpret. These events appear to have been as follows:-At the termination of the Cretaceous period, or even before then, the deposits previously formed were upheaved, and lakes were hollowed out in the surface of the Cretaceous beds. In these lakes were deposited, during a period of oscillations of level, the strata characterized by Limnea longiscata, those by Bithynia Duchasteli, and those by Helix Ramondi. To this epoch succeeded a long period of calm, during which the Upper Miocene marine strata were deposited. After this, occurred another upheaval, followed by the establishment of another lake-period, in the deposits of which are found the remains of a fauna of the time of Mastodon Arvernensis and Elephas meridionalis (?). Then followed another change, coupled with a third upheaval, and the destruction of the last system of lakes; and during this period was formed the drift with Elephas primigenius. Hence we get to the existing order of things, and the confinement of the waters of the several rivers within their present limits.

We must not omit to record the publication during the past quarter of the Explanation to Sheet 33, of the Geological Survey Map, entitled The Geology of East Lothian, including parts of the counties of Edinburgh and Berwick,' by Messrs. H. H. Howell, A. Geikie, and John Young.

We have little space left to discuss the many papers contained in the last three numbers of the 'Geological Magazine;' but a few are too important to be passed over in a Chronicle of Geology. Mr. Carruthers's paper, "On some fossil Coniferous Fruits," is of considerable consequence, both geologically and pa

læontologically; from the former point of view because he shows that two species of cones, hitherto considered to be of Cretaceous age, are really of Tertiary date; and from the latter because he considers these, and some other cones, to be truly Coniferous, instead of Cycadean, as determined by Lindley and Hutton. Mr. Carruthers also departs from custom in referring the different species of cones found in the Secondary and Tertiary deposits to one group, for which he uses the general generic term Pinites, while more daring botanists have had no hesitation in assigning them to "the various sections, or so-called genera, into which Pinus is divided."

A very sensible paper, in the January number, "On Denudation, with reference to the Configuration of the Ground," by Mr. A. B. Wynne, inculcates the maxim that "all the forms of the land cannot be fairly attributed to any one kind of denudation with which we are acquainted;" and that the similarity of the general results involves their origin in some obscurity, "which may lead to error, if a prejudice exist in favour of either marine or subaerial agency." In the same number is a valuable abstract of a Danish memoir on Crinoids, by Dr. Lütken, which especially affects palæontologists, as it treats of the classification of the group generally; but there is one structural point which likewise demands consideration:-some Crinoids, especially Paleozoic forms, possess a central opening, terminating a proboscidean tube; this has generally been regarded as the mouth, and any other aperture as the vent. Dr. Lütken, however, shows that in the existing sea-lilies a proboscidean mouth does not exist, but that the intestine always ends in a short or long proboscidean tube; and he therefore considers that this is most probably the anus. In the recent Actinometra the mouth is eccentric, so that there is no reason why this should not have been the case in the fossil species; indeed, "it is the form, and not the place, that must decide if it is the anal-tube or the mouth.”

The February number is full of interesting matter. Professor Owen describes the jaws and teeth of Cochliodonts; and Professor Huxley a new reptile (Acanthopholis horridus) from the chalk-marl of Folkestone, its stratigraphical position being illustrated in a paper by Mr. Etheridge. Professor John Morris gives some interesting information on the occurrence of "Greywethers" at Grays, Essex, which has not been generally noticed before. Then there are two controversial papers, one "On the systematic Position of Graptolites," by Mr. Carruthers, in which the author favours the view of their Polyzoan affinities; and the other "On the alleged Hydrothermal Origin of certain Granites, &c.," by Mr. David Forbes, in which the author impugns the conclusions at which Mr. James Geikie had arrived in his paper

noticed in our last Chronicle, which he supplemented by a note in the December number of the 'Geological Magazine." Mr. Forbes is very hard on Mr. Geikie's Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Petrology. We should imagine, however, that Mr. Forbes would hesitate before seriously opposing the "hydrothermal" theory; and, in fact, his hesitation is so great as to lead to contradiction (see p. 58). It may be that Mr. J. Geikie's language is loose; but a good cause has often an unskilful advocate. However, the moral of Mr. Forbes's criticisms is doubtless true, namely, that Mr. J. Geikie has been too eager to generalize on data, and perhaps with knowledge, insufficient for the task.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The number of the Geological Society's 'Quarterly Journal' for the past quarter contains few papers; but these are chiefly of considerable merit.

Professor Huxley's description of "some remains of large Dinosaurian Reptiles from the Stormberg Mountains, South Africa," is of considerable interest, on account of the uncertainty of the age of the fossiliferous strata occurring in that region. The most important of these remains belong to a new genus, named Euskelesaurus by Professor Huxley, having affinities with Megalosaurus and Iguanodon; but no very definite conclusion can be drawn from them respecting the age of the strata from which they were obtained, as Dinosaurian reptiles have been discovered throughout the Mesozoic formations-from the Triassic to the Cretaceous inclusive. Professor Huxley also remarks that "the affinities of the Thecodonts with the Dinosauria are so close that no one could be surprised at the occurrence of the latter reptiles in rocks of Permian age." According to Mr. Bain, the strata forming the Stormberg mountains are "piled conformably above the Karoo-beds, which have yielded the Dicynodonts and so many other remarkable true reptiles and Labyrinthodonts," so that future discoveries of fossils in the Stormberg rocks may enable us to place, at least, an upper limit to the possible age of the Dicynodon, about which there has been so much discussion.

The paper "On Marine Fossiliferous Secondary Formations in Australia," by the Rev. W. B. Clarke, is worth considering, as a great deal of speculation on the cause of the Mesozoic facies of the recent Australian fauna has been based upon the supposed absence of such deposits from the Australian continent; but we must refer our readers to the paper itself for the evidence brought forward by the author.

The most important paper in the journal is that by Dr. Duncan, * Quart. Journ. Science,' No. XIII., p. 121.