Reports and Proceedings. 373

Z. lalus, Binney, 1. c. p. 57 ; pi. xi. f. 3. Carboniferous. Arran. L. levidensis, Binney, 1. c. p. 54; pi. x. f. i. Carbonifero'erous. Airdrie. L. Russettianus, Binney, 1. c. p. 51; pi. ix. f. 1, 2. Carboniferous. Airdrie. Z. tenuis, Binney, 1. c. p. 53; pi. ix. f. 4. Carboniferous. Airdrie. X. Wuenschianus, Binney, 1. c. p. 56; pi. xi. f. 2. Carboniferous. Arran. Sigillaria, Williamson, Proc. Hoy. Soc. vol. xix. p. 500. Stigmaria, Williamson in Proc. Lit. and Phil. Soc. TOI. X. p. 116. S. areolata, Daws. Foss. PI. Canada, p. 23; pi. iii. f. 33. Devonian. Gaspe. S. minutissima, Daws. 1. c. p. 23; pi. iii. f. 34. Devonian. Gaspe. S. perlata, Daws. 1. c. p. 22 ; pi. iii. f. 32. Devonian. St. John. S. stellata, Eichw.; Thomson, GEOL. MAO. Vol. VIII. p. 236. Carboniferous. Lanarkshire. CTCADILS;. Palaozamia megaphylla, Phillips, Geol. Oxford, p 169; diag. xxx. f. 1. Oolite. Stonesfield. Pterophyllum Buckmanni, Phillips, Geol. Oxford, p. 170. Oolite. Sevenhampton. CONIFERS. Antholithes floridus, Daws. Foss. PI. Canada, p. 63; pi. xix. f. 236. No locality. Arauearites sphcerocarpus, Carr. GEOL. MAG. Vol. VIII. p. 542. Oolite. Bruton, Somersetshire. Brachyphyllum solitarium, Phillips, Geol. Oxford, p. 120. Lias. Bidford. Cardioearpon ovale, Daws. Foss. PI. Canada, p. 60; pi. xx. f. 223, 224. Devonian. St. John. Carpolithet compactus, Daws. Foss. PI. Canada, p. 63 ; pi. xix. f. 229. Devonian. St. John. Dadoxylon Newberryi, Daws. Foss. PI. Canada, p. 14; pi. i. f. 7-9. Devonian. Ohio. Ormoxylon erianum, Daws. Foss. PI. Canada, p. 14; pi. i. f. 10-14. Devonian. New York. Finites dejectm, Carr. GEOL. MAO. Vol. VIII. p. 541. Kinmeridge Clay. Ximmeridge. P. hexagonus, Carr. GBOL. MAG. Vol. VIII. p. 540 ; PI. XV. Gault. Folkestone. Seqttoiites ovalis, Carr. GEOL. MAG. Vol. VIII. p. 541. Gault. Folkestone. Trigonocarpum perantiquum, Daws. Foss. PI. Canada, p. 62; pi. xix. f. 228. Devonian. St. John. INCEKT.S SEDIS. Breea eulassioides, Lloyd; Phillips, Geol. Oxford, p. 96. PermiaYi. Meriden. Carpolithet plenus, Phillips, Geol. Oxford, p. S00; pi. xiii. f. 1. 2. Coralline Oolite. Marcham. Neeggerathia Gilboensit, Daws. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxvii. p. 273; pi. xii. f. 8. Devonian. Gilhoa. It is impossible to determine what this fragment is, and it is to be regretted that it has received a specific name. EXCLUDED. Carpolithes permianus, Gein.; Carruthers, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxvii. p. 446. C. umbonatus, Sternb.; Carruthers, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxvii. p. 446; pi. xix. f. 12-17.

BEPOBTS -A-IEsTD PBOCEEDI25TGS.

GEOLOGIOAX SOCIETY OF LOHDOK.—I.—June 5, 1872.—J. Gwyn Jeffreys, Esq., F.B.S., in the Chair.—The following communications were read:—1. " Notes on Sand-pits, Mud-volcanoes, and Brine-pits, met with during the Yarkand Expedition of 1870." By George Henderson, M.D., F.L.S. Communicated by E. Etheridge, Esq., F.E.S., F.G.S. The author described some very remarkable circular pits which occurred chiefly in the valley of the Karakash river. These pits 374 Reports and Proceedings. varied in diameter from six to eight feet, and were between two and three feet deep, the distances between ihe pits being about the same as the diameters. He accounted for the formation of the pits by supposing that the *water, which sinks into the gravel at the head of the valley, flows under a stratum of clay, which prevents it from rising; the water in course of time, however, flowing in very varying quantities at different periods, gradually washes away small portions of the clayey band, when the sand above runs through into the cavity thus formed, leaving the pits described by the author. The mud-volcanoes at Tarl Dab he accounted for by supposing that after a fall of rain or snow the air contained in the water-bearing stratum would get churned up with water and mud, and be ejected as a frothy mud, sometimes to a height of three feet; while the brine-pits in the Karakash valley he believed to be formed by the excessive rise and fall in the level of that river at various times, which alternately fills and empties the bottoms of the pits, and the water left in the pits gets gradually concentrated by evaporation until a -strong brine remains. Discussion.—Mr. Preatwioh pointed out that the pits seemed due to quita another cause than the pipes in the Chalk and other calcareous rocks, as they did not appear to arise from erosion hy carbonic acid. Mr. Thorp suggested an analogy between the phenomena in Tarkand and those at Nantwych, and thought that the pits might be due to solution of rock-salt below the surface. 2. " On the Cervidse of the Forest-bed of Norfolk and Stiffolk." By W. Boyd Dawkins, Esq., M.A., F.K.S., F.G.S. The author described a new form of Cervvs from the Forest-bed of Norfolk which he based on a series of antlers, and named G. ver- ticornis. The base of the antler is set on the head very obliquely ; immediately above it springs the Cylindrical brow-tyne, which sud- denly curves downwards and inwards; immediately above the brow- tyne the beam is more or less cylindrical, becoming gradually flattened. A third flattened tyne springs on the anterior side of the beam, and immediately above it the broad crown terminated in two or more points. No tyne is thrown off on the posterior side of the antler, and the sweep is uninterrupted from the antler base to the first point of the crown. The antlers differ in curvature and otherwise from those of Cervus megaeeros, but there is a general resemblance between the two animals; and the verticornis must have rivalled the Irish Elk in size. A second species of Deer, the Cervus carnutorum, which had 'been furnished by the strata of St. Prest near Chartres, must be added to the fauna of the Forest-bed. The Cervidse of the Forest-bed present a remarkable mixture of forms, such as the Oervus folignacus, "C. Sedgwiekii, C. megaeeros, C carnutorum, C. elaphus, and G. capreolus, seeming to indicate that in classification the Forest-bed belongs rather to an early stage of the Pleistocene than to the Pliocene age. This inference is strongly corroborated by the presence of the Mammoth, which is so characteristic of the Pleistocene age. 3. *< The Classification of the Pleistocene Strata of Britain and Geological Society of London. 375 the Continent by means of the Mammalia." By W. Boyd Dawkins, Esq., M.A., F.E.S., F.G.S. The Pleistocene deposits may be divided into three groups :—1st, that in which the Pleistocene immigrants lived, with some of the southern and Pliocene animals in Britain, France, and Germany, and in which no arctic mammalia had arrived; 2nd, that in which the characteristic Pliocene Cervidse had disappeared, and the Elephas meridionalis and Rhinoceros etruscus had been driven south; 3rd, that in which the true arctic mammalia were the chief inhabitants. This third, or late Pleistocene division, must be far older than any Prehistoric deposits, as the latter often rest on the former, and are composed of different materials; but the difference offered by the fauna is the most striking. In the Pleistocene river-deposits twenty- eight species have been found, the remains of man being associated with the Lion, Hippopotamus, Mammoth, "Wolf, and Eeindeer. On examining the fauna from the ossiferous caves, we find the same group of animals, with the exception of the Musk-sheep ; and it is therefore evident that the cave-fauna is identical with that of the river strata, and must be referred to the same period. Some few animals, however, which would naturally haunt caves, are peculiar to them, as the Cave-bear, Wild Cat, Leopard, eta The magnitude of the break in time between the Prehistoric and late Pleistocene period may be gathered also from the disappearance in the interval of no less than nineteen species. The middle division of the Pleistocene mammalia, or that from which the Pliocene Cervidas had disappeared, and been replaced by invading temperate forms, is represented in Great Britain by the deposits of the Lower Brick-earths of the Thames valley, and the older deposits in Kent's Hole and Oreston. The discovery, by the Eev. O. Fisher, of a flint-flake in the undisturbed Lower Brick-earth at Crayford,1 proves that man must have been living at this time. The mammalia from these deposits are linked to the Pliocene by the Bh. megarhinus, and to the late Pleistocene by the Ovibos mos- chatus. The presence of Machcerodus latidens in Kent's Hole, and of the Bh. megarhinus in the cave at Oreston, tends to the conclu- sion that some of the caves in the south of England contain a fauna that was living before the late Pleistocene age. The whole assem- blage of middle Pleistocene animals evinces a less severe climate than in the late Pleistocene time. The fossil bones from the Forest-bed of Norfolk and Suffolk show that in the early Pleistocene mammalia there was a great mixture of Pleistocene and Pliocene species. It is probable also that the period was one of long duration; for in it we find two animals which are unknown on the Continent, implying that the lapse of time was sufficiently great to allow of the evolution of forms of animal life hitherto unknown, and which disappeared before the middle and late Pleistocene stages. The author criticized M. Lartet's classification of the late Pleis- tocene or Quaternary period by means of the Cave-bear, Mammoth, Eeindeer, and Aurochs, and urged that, since the remains of all 1 See GEOL. MAG., June, p. 268. 376 Reports and Proceedings. these animals were intimately associated in the caves of France, Ger- many, and Britain, and so far as we know, the first two appeared and disappeared together and the last two lived on into the Pre- historic age, they did not afford a basis for a chronology. The latest of the three divisions of the British Pleistocene fauna is widely spread through Prance, Germany, and Russia, from the English Channel to the shores of the Mediterranean. The Middle Pleistocene is represented by a river-deposit in Auvergne, and by a cave in the Jura, in which the presence of the Machcsrodus latidens and a non-tichorine Ehinoceros, and the absence of the charac- teristic arctic group of the late Pleistocene and of all the peculiar animals of the early Forest-bed stage, prove that that era must be Middle Pleistocene. The early Pleistocene division is represented in France by the river-deposit at Chartres, being characterized by the presence of two non-Pliocene animals, Trogontherium and Gervus carnutorum. The Pleistocene mammalia of the regions south of the Alps and Pyrenees present no trace of truly arctic species, the Mammoth being viewed as an animal fitted for the climatal conditions both of Northern Siberia and of the southern states of America. It con- tains Elephas Africanus and Hycena striata. The fauna of Sicily, Malta, and Crete differ considerably from that described above, possessing some peculiar forms, such as Hip- popotamus Pentlandi, Myoxus melitensis and Elephas melitensis. The Pleistocene mammalia may be divided into five groups, each marking a difference in the climate, the first embracing those which now live in hot countries; the second those which inhabit northern regions, or high mountains, where the cold is severe; the third those which inhabit temperate regions; a fourth those which are found alike in hot and cold; and a fifth, which are extinct. There were three climatal zones, marked by the varying range of the animals. The northern, into which the southern forms never penetrated, the latitude of Yorkshire being the boundary of the advance of the southern animals; the southern, into which the northern species never passed, a line passing through the Alps and Pyrenees being the limit of the range of the northern animals; and an intermediate area in which the two are found mingled together. Two out of the three zones are proved by the physical evidence of the Pleistocene strata. We see by the discoveries of Dr. Bryce, Mr. Jameson, and others, that the Pleistocene mammalia must have invaded Europe during the first Glacial period before the submergence, for the Eeindeer and the Mammoth have been found in Scotland under the deposits of the Boulder-clay. Dr. Falconer and others have also discovered the latter animal in the preglacial Forest-bed. The Glacial period can therefore no longer be looked on as a hard and fast barrier sepa- rating one fauna from another. If man be treated as a Pleistocene animal, there is reason to believe that he formed one of the North Asiatic group, which was certainly in possession of Northern and Central Europe in Preglacial times. Geological Society of London. 377 The Pleistocene mammalia may again be divided into three groups, those which came from Northern and Central Asia, those from Africa, and those which were living in the same area in the Pliocene age. Had not the animals which lived in Europe, during the Pliocene age, been insulated from those which invaded Europe, from Asia, by some impassable barrier, the latter would occur in our Pliocene strata as well as the former. Such a barrier is offered by the northern extension of the Caspian up the valley of the Obi, to the Arctic Sea. The animals of Northern and Central Asia could not pass westwards until the barrier was removed by the elevation of the sea-bottom between the Caspian and the Urals. The same argument holds good as to the African mammalia, which could not have passed into Sicily, Spain, or Britain without a northward extension of the African mainland. The relation of the Pleistocene to the Pliocene fauna is a ques- tion of great difficulty. If the Pliocene fauna be compared with that of the Forest-bed, it will be seen that the difference between them is very great. The Pliocene Mastodon and Tapir, and most of the Cervidae, are replaced by forms such as the Eoe and Eed-deer, unknown until then ; but many of the Pliocene animals were able to hold their ground against the Pleistocene invaders, although they were ultimately beaten in the struggle for existence by the new comers. The fauna which the author adopted as typically Pliocene is that furnished by the lacustrine strata of Auvergne, the marine sands of Montpelier, and the older fluviatile strata of the Val d'Arno. DISCUSSION.—Mr. Prestwich was hardly prepared to accept the proposed division of the Pleistocene mammalia into three groups ; at all events so far as Britain was concerned. Neither could he draw that distinction between the beds at Erith and Grays and those higher up the Thames, which found favour with the author. The barrier offered by the river itself might to some extent account for the absence of Reindeer; and though there was a difference in the fauna in the two cases, it seemed hardly enough to mark any great distinction in time. As to the Hippopotamus, which occurred over the whole of Northern Europe, associated with the Musk Ox and large boulders, he could not see how the conclusion was to be escaped of its having been able to withstand greater cold than its present representative. Though the winters might have been colder, there was evidence in favour of the summers having been warmer ; and the flora seems to have been much like that of the present day. The probable migrations of the different animal groups had already been pointed out by M. Lartet, though Mr. Dawkins had carried his investigation of the subject further. He called attention to the fact of the Mammoth having been found in Italy. Mr. Charlesworth regretted that the author had not included within his province any of the marine Crag-deposits, some of which had been regarded as Pleistocene. In these beds the fish had been regarded by M. Agassiz as tropical in character, while M. Deshayes considered the molluscan remains as arctic. A similar discre- pancy had been observed in other deposits of the same series, and he considered, therefore, that it was unsafe to generalize from any one series of remains, as, unless the whole fauna was taken into consideration, it was probable that erroneous con- clusions would be arrived at. Mr. Flower considered that the ossiferous caves and the river-deposite were se- parable and ought to be separated. Mr. Evans observed that in generalizations of this kind not only the whole of the palaeontological evidence should be taken into account, but the stratigraphical also. With regard to the author's middle division of the mammalia, he thought that even- tually this would have to be modified. If it were to be maintained, there would be a great difficulty in accounting for the presence of the high beds at Shacklewell and High- 378 Reports and Proceedings.

bury, as these, though in a valley confessedly excavated by the river, and regarded as of more recent age than the lower beds, would yet be at a far higher level. Though accepting the probable existence of man in preglacial times, he pointed out that up to the present time the beds in Britain in which his works had been found were all postglacial. Mr. Boyd Dawkifls, in reply, stated that in forming his conclusions, he had not left out of view the evidence afforded by the classes of remains other than those of mammalia, but they threw no light on the classification. With regard to the middle of his divisions of the Pleistocene mammalia, he relied to a great extent on the presence of Rhinoceros megar&inus, and of a large number of Stags, to say nothing of the absence of Reipdeer. He did not attach so much importance to the question of the level, as such descrepancies as those pointed out appeared to him by no means impossible. He gave his reasons for not regarding the Mammoth as an exclusively arctic animal. His remarks with regard to M. Lartet's classification referred rather to the expanded views of his followers than to those of M. Lartet himself. He acknowledged his obligations to Profs. Gaudry, Fraas, Rutimeyer, and Nilsson for various facts of which he had made use.

II—June 19, 1872.—Prof. Eamsay, V.P.G.S., in the Chair.—The following communications were read :—1. " On Trochocyaihus an- glieus, a New Species of Madreporaria from the Red Crag." By P. Martin Duncan, M.B., F.K.S., V.P.G.S., Professor of Geology in King's College, London. The author described a Coral of which a single specimen had been found in the Eed Crag, in the grounds of Great Bealings Beotory, Norfolk. He stated that it belonged to the genus Trochoeyathus, and was distinguished from the other species of that genus by its dense epitheca, its small and prominent columella, and its inverted calicular margin. He proposed to name it Trochotyathus anglicus, and stated that its nearest alliance is with the Australian Upper Tertiary form described by him under the name of T. meridionalis. DISCUSSION.—Mr. Prestwich inquired whether the fossil bore any resemblance to any of the French Eocene forms, and whether there was any possibility of its being derivative. Prof. Duncan replied that the specimen was but little worn, and was therefore probably not remanie, though this point was not absolutely certain. 2. " On the Discovery of Palaeolithic Implements in Associatior with Elephas primigenius in the High-terrace Gravels at Acton anc Ealing." By Col. A. Lane Fox, F.G.S. The gravels in the neighbourhood of Acton have been divided fy Mr. Prestwich into two principal groups, viz. the high-level gravel; on the hills above the valley, and the valley-gravels on the sides am bottom of the valley itself. The valley-gravels have been agaii divided by Mr. Whitaker into three terraces, viz. a high terrace between 50 and 100 feet above the Ordnance datum, a mid terrace between 20 and 40 feet high, and a low terrace, at an averag height of 10 feet, occupying the low ground in the bends of the rivei On both sides of the river the high terrace is separated from th mid terrace by a strip of the London Clay, which is laid bare at a average level of 50 feet. The London Clay is also laid bare on the side of the tributary streams running into the valley on both sides of th river, thus dividing the high-terrace gravel into patches. The mi terrace is continuous, and follows the sinuosities of the valley o Geological Society of London. 379 both sides up to the strip of London Clay. The author accounts for this distribution of the gravels by supposing that a large body of water must at one time have stood at the 50-feet level, and the denudation of the high terrace have been caused by the waves beat- ing on the sides of the valley, and by drainage into this body of water. The mid terrace he conceives may have been caused in part by accumulations beneath this body of water. The position of the high-terrace gravel at Acton corresponded so closely to that of the implement-bearing gravels of the Sonime and the Ouse, that the author was led to examine carefully the excava- tions made in it for the construction of houses. He discovered a number of implements of the drift-type, together with flakes and cores, and a few roughly formed scrapers.; all these were found in close contact with the London Clay, and beneath the gravel. Frag- ments of fern (Qsmunda regalis) and of wood (Pinus sylvesiris) were also found with the implements at the same level. Two implements were found at Ealing Dean, 2 miles westward, on nearly the same level as those of Acton, viz. 90 feet; and these also came from the bottom of the gravel. Another implement was found south of the river at Battersea Rise, in the same position a"bove the strip of London Clay as at Acton, and about 60 feet above the Ordnance datum. The implements are of the pointed and oval types. The only animal remains discovered in the high terrace consisted of a tooth of Elephas primigemus in the Acton gravel. The position of this the author believes to be reliable, although he did not discover it himself in situ. In the mid-terrace gravel a number of pits -were examined be- tween Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith, and in the neighbour- hood of Turnham Green, which resulted in the discovery, at the latter place, of a large quantity of animal remains (noticed by Mr. Busk in the following paper), all of which, like the implements of the high terrace, were at the bottom of the gravel; but no evidence of human workmanship was found in the mid terrace. All these were found together, in the same seam of gravel, 12 feet beneath the surface, and all appeared to have been deposited at the same time. The surface was here 25 feet above the Ordnance datum, and consequently about 50 feet lower than the implements of the high terraee, 1J mile to the north. The section across the valley, taken through the two places, here shows the strip of the London Clay intervening between the two terraces. The chief points of interest which the author submitted to the judgment of geologists, consisted in the presence of drift implements in the high terrace, their presence ia the mid terrace, and reappear- inoe in the existing bed of the Thames; the great rarity or absence of animal remains in the high terrace, and their abundance in the mid terrace, and the occurrence of both, implements and animal re- mains at the bottom of the gravel in both terraces. The writer csoncluded by adducing proofs of the great antiquity of the present river-bed, which it was shown must have run in its present mean- lering course in the bottom of the valley for at least 2000 years. 380 Reports and Proceedings. 3. " On the Animal Eemains found by Col. Lane Fox in the High- and Low-level Gravels at Acton and Tumham Green." By George Busk, Esq., F.E.S., F.G.S. The author described the mammalian bones referred to in the preceding paper. The remains from the High-level Gravels at Acton belong to the genera Bos, Ovis, Equus, and Elephas (?). The greater part belong to the first-named genus, and are probably modern, as are also those of Ovis. The remains of Equus may be of greater antiquity. The other bones found may belong either to Elephant, Rhinoceros, or Hippopotamus ; they include a large portion of an Elephant's molar, and are much rolled. The remains from the mid-level gravel at Turnham Green gene- rally present the characters of great antiquity. They include bones of Bhinoceros JiemitcscTius, Equus caballus, Hippopotamus major (one of them the left frontal of a very young animal almost unworn), Bos (probably B. primigenius, and some perhaps Bison priscus), Cervus (C. Clactonensis, Falc.= C. Browni, Dawk., C. elaphus, and C. tarandus), TJrsus ferox priscus, and Elephas primigenius. DISCUSSION.—Mr. Prestwich complimented the author on the exactness and com- pleteness of his description of the classical district which he had investigated, in which mammalian bones had been found and described by Mr. Trimmer so early as 1815. In that case Hippopotamus remains, very fresh and unworn, had also been discovered. Prof. Morris had also described a deposit near Brentford in which numerous remains of Reindeer were present, showing how variable was the distri- bution of mammalian remains even in a limited area, and how unsafe it was to base theories upon merely negative evidence. It was to be hoped that other investigators would extend similar discoveries to other parts of the valley of the Thames. Mr. Godwin-Austen did not think that the presence of the youngHippopotamus was absolutely conclusive of its having been born in this country. With regard to the presence of remains of Eeindeer and Hippopotamus in the same beds, not only might there have been an overlapping of fauna such as has been pointed out by Sir Charles Lyell, but there also might be an intermingling of the included remains from two beds of different ages. He was not altogether satisfied with the evidence as to the co-existence of man with Elephas primigenim, nor as to the artificial character of some of the presumed implements. He did not attach any great importance to the merely fragmentary bones. Mr. Evans maintained that the implements exhibited were of necessity artificial, and commented on the nature of the evidence as to the co-existence of man with the Pleistocene fauna. Under any circumstances the gravels containing the implements could only have been deposited at a time when the Thames valley had not been ex- cavated to anything like its present depth; and they were therefore of great antiquity. There was, moreover, a notable absence in them of a number of the animals usually found associated with Neolithic implements; and if man had not subsisted on the animals the remains of which were found associated with his handiworks in the gravels, it was a question on what food he had had to depend. The absence of implements in the low-level gravels seemed to him significant of a diminution in the number of the human beings who frequented the banks of the river. Mr. Carruthers said that as the rhizome, whether it was that of Aspidium or Osmunda, was an aerial, and not a subterraneous rhizome, it must have been carried to its present position; and it consequently indicated, as Colonel Lane Fox had pointed out, the direction of the stream. Mr. Flower regarded Col. Lane Fox's memoir as of great interest, as affording an additional instance of that perfect similarity of these deposits, whether in France or England, which in places so wide apart might reasonably be taken to indicate a common origin. It was indeed generally assumed that these deposits were brought down by rivers; but this, according to his view, was by no means certain. Col. Lane Fox had described the valley as 4 j miles wide; but there was at Croydon, 12 miles distant, a deposit of gravel capped with loess, containing elephant remains, and ex- Geological Society of London. 381 actly resembling the Thames valley-gravels, and communicating with them. This evidently formed part of the Thames valley-system, whatever that system might he taken to be; and if so, he thought it incredible that the loess should have been dis- tributed by river-action over an area 12 or 15 miles in width. In conclusion, he was quite content to adhere to the opinion held by the French geologists, and formerly by several of our own most able writers, that the distribution of these superficial drifts was in the first instance diluvial rather than fluvial. Col. A. Lane Fox, in reply, pointed out the artificial character of the implements, and the manner in which the mammalian remains occurred. He thought that the lower terraces of gravel might have been formed at the bottom of a lake. Mr. Busk, in proof of the animal remains not having been brought from a distance, showed that remains of the same animal were found in close proximity to each other. Prof. Ramsay made some remarks on the undoubtedly artificial character of the implements, and on their position at the base of the gravels. The origin of the Thames valley he had already maintained to be of the Fostmiocene age; and though there was at present no evidence of man's existence at that time, it was still possible. Of the extreme antiquity of the human race there could, however, be no doubt. 4. " On the Evidence for the Ice-sheet in North Lancashire and adjoining parts of Yorkshire and Westmoreland." By E. H. Tidde- man, Esq., M.A. Oxon, F.G.S., of the Geol. Surv. of Engl. and Wales. The country of which the earlier glacial phenomena were de- scribed in this paper lies between the Lake-district on the north and the plains of South Lancashire and Cheshire on the south, and extends from the great watershed of England to the Irish Sea. On the west is a sea-side plain rising to levels of less than 200 feet. On the north-east is a portion of the Pennine Chain, com- prising Ingleborough, Pennigent, and other Fells, rising to heights of from 2000 to 2400 feet. Between these, from south to north, we pass over (1) a range of moorlands from 1000 to 1500 feet high, called the Eossendale Anticlinal, which forms the watershed be- tween the basins of the Mersey and the Eibble; 2, the valley of the Burnley and Blackburn Coal-field, which drains north through gorges in (3) the Pendle chain of hills into (4) the broad valley of the Kibble ; 5, a group of Fells rising to a general level of 1800 ft., between the valleys of the Eibble and the Lune, called for the pur- poses of this paper, "The Central Fells;" 6, north of this the valley of the Lune and the estuary of the Kent. The main direc- tion of all these features, between the sea-side plain and the Pennine Chain, is from north-east to south-west. The paper was illustrated by a map of the district on the scale of 1 inch to a mile, coloured to represent elevations, the level contours having been reduced from the 6-inch scale. Upon this all the ice- scratches found on the solid rocks were inserted. A diagram illus- trating the proportional number of scratches in different directions showed that 20 per cent, of them were due south, although the general direction of the valleys was to the south-west. An instance was mentioned of a ridge of 1400 feet in height, which had scratches at the top running directly across it to the south, although no land of equal height occurred north of it within a distance of seven miles. A similar instance was shown to exist on the ridge north-east of Pendle Hill. A roche moutonnee in the gorge of the Calder at Whalley was shown to have been formed by ice working from the north, although the river drains from the south. 382 Reports and Proceedings. Other systems of scratches were mentioned in detail. All these tended to show that, though the general slope and drainage of the district is to the S.W., the movement of the ice at the period of maxi- mum cold was to the S. or S.S.E., or nearly parallel to the watershed. The author goes on to describe certain disturbances at the surface of the rocks, which are dipping at high angles to the south, they having been overturned by some force coming from the north. Such surface-disturbances are not found on rocks dipping to the north; aad this fact may be explained by an illustration: in one case the brushing was with the nap, in the other against it. It was ghown that these phenomena could not be attributed to any other agent but a great ice-sheet pushing on from its northern gathering grounds, recruited by the greater elevations on its course, but over- riding the lesser, grinding down and smoothing by its friction roeks presenting but a gentle incline, tearing up and turning over the basset edges confronting its approach. The author next described the arrangement of the Till as to- colour and material, and endeavoured to show that all the faets which he has observed are in favour of the existence of an ice-sheet travelling south in this district. Mr. Cumming's observations in the Isle of Man were considered to confirm these views. He describes the general glaeiation of the island as being fr©m the E.N.E. or Lake-country, and describes many large blocks of granite which had been carried from their parent rock up the high hill of South Barruh and down the other side. This was referred by Mr. Gumming at the time to a great "wave of translation;" but the faets are quite easily explained by an ice-sheet. Other observations of Mr. Gumming upon the drifts of the Isle of Man were taken by the author as confirmatory of his views. Mr. Morton's observations on the glaciation of the Mersey basin were touched upon; and it was suggested that the glaciation of that district was produced by an ice-sheet, not coming from the south-east, as Mr. Morton holds, but working to the south-east from the Lake-country, and across a part of what is now the Irish Sea. Professor Eamsay's observations on the glaciation of Anglesey being to the S.S.W. instead of from the Snowdon group, as might be expected, were considered by the author to be confirmatory of his views of a great ice-sheet having filled what is now the Irish Sea and emptied itself by St. George's Ohannel on the one hand, and by the Cheshire plain on the other, as well as by some of the passes in the Pennine Chain. DISCUSSION.—Prof. Kamsay regretted that the late hoar of the evening prevented a proper discussion of this paper, which had been prepared with great eare, and con- tained conclusions of great importance and novel observations. 5. " On the Mammalia of the Drift of Paris and its Outskirts." By Prof. Albert Gaudry, F.C.G.S. (In a letter to W. Boyd Dawkins, Esq., M.A., F.E.S., F.G.S.) In this paper the author briefly indicated those mammals the remains of which have been discovered in the Pleistocene or Qua- ternary deposits of Paris and its vicinity. His list includes flint implements as evidences of the existence of man, and bones of the Geologists' Association. 383

following species:—Cants lupus, Hyana croeuta (spelcsa), Felis leo (spelaa), Castor trogontherium and fiber, Elephas primigenius and antiquus, Hippopotamus amphibius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus (a Rhino- ceros of doubtful species), Sus scrofa, Equus asinus and eaballus, Bos prirnigenius, taunts f, and indicus ?, Bison priscus and Europceus, and Cervus tarandus, Belgrandi, megaceros, Canadensis f, elaphus, and a small species. GEOLOGISTS' ASSOCIATION—June 7, 1872.—The Rev. T. Wilt- shire, President, in the Chair.—1. " On the Classification of the Cambrian and Silurian Rocks," by Henry Hicks, Esq., F.G.S. The author, after mentioning the groups now known to comprise the Cambrian and Silurian Rocks, as exhibited in the British Isles, and the usual mode, hitherto, of dividing and sub-dividing these formations, stated that it was impossible, in a science so progressive as Geology, where new discoveries were continually being made, to accept at present any of these arrangements, which for the most part had been made some twenty or thirty years ago, unless with considerable modifications. The classification approved by the author has already been, to a great extent, adopted by Sir Charles Lyell, in his " Student's Manual," and by the late Mr. Salter and the author in papers to the British Association, and is based on the most recent palaeontological and stratigraphical evidence. In a table exhibited for the purpose of illustrating these facts, the classi- fication of Prof. Sedgwiek and of Sir Roderick Murchison were placed side by side along with the one proposed. The columns in the table showed (1) the lithological characters of the beds comprising each group, (2) the thickness of the strata, (3) the organic remains contained in each group, (4) the number of genera and species which are known to reach from one group into another, (5) the order of the appearance of animal life upon the globe, and (6) the localities where the several groups are best seen in England. By means of the evidence set forth in these columns, the author was enabled to show the most natural divisions and sub-divisions, so far as recent researches are capable of explaining them. The following are the chief divisions, accepted as being the most satisfactory at present: —The Lower Cambrian, to include the Long- inynd (Harlech grits and Llanberis slates, and the rocks at Bray Head, etc.), and the Menevian groups, which were shown to be intimately connected palseontologically, and to be entirely distinct in their faunas from the overlying rocks. The Upper Cambrian, to include the Idngula Flags (Lower, Middle, and Upper—called also Maentwrog, Ffestiniog, and Dolgelly or Malvern) and the Tremadoc groups. These were also shown to be connected closely by some of the genera, especially by Olenus, Cono- coryphe, and Dikelocephalus. The Lower Silurian, to comprise the Arenig (Lower and Upper, the former a series only recently known through the researches of the author, and forming a connecting link between the Tremadocs and the true Arenig rocks), the Llandeilo (Upper and Lower, the former 384 Miscellaneous—Extracting Fossib. being black shales or slates, and the latter calcareous), and the Bal or Caradoc groups. The Upper Silurian, to consist of the Llandovery (Upper an Lower), the Wenloek and the Ludlow groups. The whole of th Llandovery group was placed in the Upper Silurian, in accordanc with the evidence cited by Prof. Bamsay in his memoir on Nortl Wales, along with the facts explained by the table, and which wen to prove that when it was to be separated entirely from the othe; groups, as a Middle Silurian division, this was the most natural anc proper position. 2. " On the Silurian Eocks of the English Lake-district," by Prof Alleyne Nicholson, M.D., D.Sc, M.A. In this paper the author classified the Silurian rooks of the English Lake-district as follows, commencing with the lowest: 1. The Skiddaw Slates. 2. The Borrowdale Series, or Green Slates and Porphyries. 3. The Coniston Limestone and Associated Shales. 4. The Graptolitic Mudstones. 5. The Coniston Flags. 6. The Coniston Grits. 7. The Kendal Eocks. Each of these members of the series was described lithologically and palseontologically, and its geological position discussed, not only with reference to the other beds of the district, but also to the Silurians of Wales and North America.

MODE OF EXTBACTING FOSSILS FKOM LIMESTONE.—Most geologists in the course of their studies have met with hard compact limestones, which show, when broken, the profiles of fossils, but are too hard or too homogeneous to admit of their obtaining any fossil out of them, so that sometimes it is impossible to ascertain their age. The following method may be of some use for obtaining fossils out of such limestones:—Burn the limestone. Prepare a saturated solution of borax (borate of soda) in hot water; let it cool somewhat (from 50 to 70 degrees Celsius), and put the cooled limestone into it, taking care that it continues to cool. There is then formed hydrate of soda (caustic soda) and borate of lime, which is not liable to alteration by the influence of air and water. One or two days, ac- cording to the size of the piece of limestone, will be sufficient for the chemical transformation. Take care that the solution is not too hot and completely saturated, otherwise the caustic lime may be destroyed, as by the action of pure water. The limestone becomes softer, looks as if it were weathered, and allows the fossils to be cut out easily. The results are not so good if the limestone is more or less crystalline or contains calc-spar, because it breaks up by the heat, and for this reason the limestone may be also destroyed.

MABBOKG, GERMANY. A. VON KOENEN.