which has been described by Professor Haughton under the name of Cyclostigma; others have been named Lepidodendron Griffithii and minutum by M. Adolphe Brongniart: there are several additional interesting forms, and these it is intended shortly to describe in the publications of the Geological Survey of Ireland. Of the new fern, Sphenopteris Hookeri, which formed the subject of this communication, two specimens only were obtained, both of which were fragmentary, although, like the other fossils from this locality, very beautifully preserved. It was described as having a slender rachis or stalk, from which, at intervals of from one to one and a half inch, diverged branches, subdivided into branchlets, the second of these branchlets rising to a height of nearly three inches from the central portion of the branch; the leaves are bipinnate, and the leaflets divided into three and four segments, each of these being again subdivided into two or three obtuse segments, broadest at their terminations and marked by two branching and forked veins. It is one of the narrow-leaved Sphenopterides, and nearly allied to Spheno→ pteris linearis, Sternberg, from the coal-measures of Bohemia and Edinburgh, but differs in several important particulars; the species is dedicated to Dr. Joseph Dalton Hooker, distinguished as an authority on both recent and fossil botany. The Ichthyolites or fish remains found in the same quarry, at about three feet from the surface, were imbedded in a highly indurated sandstone of a coarser character than that which contained the ferns; they consisted principally of the osseous plates of ganoid fishes belonging to the Cephalaspides, the majority of them being referred to Coccosteus; there are others, however, belonging to the genera Asterolepis, Bothriolepis, and probably Pterichthys. Two detached teeth were the only remains of a dental character observed, both being conical and ridged; they appear closely to resemble M. Agassiz's figures of the larger teeth of Bothriolepis, a genus of the same Coelacanth family, to which one of the plates may perhaps also belong. To the discovery of these characteristic Old Red Sandstone fish in Ireland, great interest is attached, as a means of determining the position of strata in that country, which has been hitherto somewhat obscure. Their remains being accompanied by the magnificent fossil ferns before mentioned, and other terrestrial plants, together with the Anodonta Jukesi, a large bivalve shell, closely allied to the freshwater Unios of the present day, and a crustacean, Eurypterus Scouleri, would appear to indicate the deposit in which they are imbedded to have been of freshwater origin; and when the investigation into the history of this important assemblage of organic forms is more fully carried out, as it is intended, the results will doubtless add to our knowledge of the conditions under which these strange forms of fish and crustacea existed during the later period of the Old Red Sandstone; a formation to which, in Scotland, a classical interest has been given by the vivid descriptions of the late Hugh Miller. Notice of a Bone Cave near Montrose. By WILLIAM BEATTIE, Hon. Sec. Montrose Nat. Hist. and Antiq. Soc. This cave, in the parish of St. Cyrus, County of Kincardine, is situated near the mouth of the river North Esk, in that range of trap rocks extending eastward from the Northwater Bridge, on the Aberdeen road, to the cliffs of St. Cyrus-the base of the cave being at present 10 or 12 feet above the level of the sea, from which it is distant nearly a mile, and from the nearest point of the river North Esk about half as much. The entrance to the cave is through a hard compact rock of trap, and measures 12 feet wide by 5 high. On entering, the cavity suddenly widens out to the breadth of 20 feet, with a height varying from 20 to 30, the whole having been crammed to the roof with a deposit of fine dark loamy soil, containing a variety of organic remains. It was evident that the work of excavation had been carried on for some time, and we discovered evidences that, to the farmer Mr. Walker, the cave had proved a regular bed of guano, fertilizing his soil and improving his crops. In his operations, however, many of the fossil remains had been allowed to be taken away; still the almost perpendicular section left standing afforded ample field for inquiry and speculation. The bottom, or floor, consisted of rolled stones, or sea beach, in some places mixed or covered with stalagmitic concretion several inches thick. The lowest stratum, 3 feet thick, was composed of dark loam, with a mixture of decayed shells, principally of the Mytilus edulis. Above this, extending round the cave, was a remarkable layer of shells of the Patella vulgata, varying from 1 to 3 feet deep, all in the finest possible state of preservation, and of a large size, many of them measuring upwards of 2 inches across. This extraordinary deposit of shells contained no admixture of sand or earthy matter, but lay pure and clean, as if heaped together by human agency. A few examples of Turbo littoreus of Linn. were picked up. About 8 feet from the floor we found a stratum of decayed animal matter, about a foot deep, with a layer of bones extending throughout the whole width of the cave. The teeth and bones were discovered in this layer, and, so far as yet observed, they belong chiefly to the Ruminantia, and are very similar to some of those from the Kirkdale cave, represented in the plates to Buckland's 'Reliquiæ Diluvianæ,' especially the deer-horns and teeth figured in plate 9, 2nd edition. The whole of the bones have been shattered, except the joints and other solid parts; on these we perceived marks, as if they had been gnawed by some animal. The only examples of carnivora yet met with are the head of a wild cat, and the jaws of a fox or wolf, with teeth belonging to animals of a larger species. About a foot from the floor we turned up part of the left parietal bone of a human skull, extremely thin, but compact, firm, and smooth as a piece of ivory. No other part of the human subject had been found, so far as our investigation proceeded. Two small pieces of a pipkin were also picked up, bearing evident marks of antiquity. The floor of the cave dips inward at an angle of about 10 degrees to the horizon, which leads to the supposition that there is a connexion with some other cavern into which the sea has had access by this opening, or that another cave had existed between it and the sea, through which the shells might have been carried to their present position. It is not improbable that another cave may be found a little to the west of the present, where the rock is hidden by the debris from above and the soil that has fallen from the upper grounds. Speculation on this subject at present would be idle, but we cannot refrain from alluding to the marked similarity which exists between the remains found in this cave and those found in that of Kirkdale,―the natural inference from which leads us to suppose that this also was a hyæna cave, and that remains of this animal may be found on further search being made. On Granite. By Dr. BIALLOBLotzky. On Coal at Ambisheg, Isle of Bute. By Dr. BLACK, F.G.S. On the Elephant Remains at Ilford. By A. BRADY. The tusk of an enormous mammoth was discovered about two years since lying on its side, about 14 feet below the present surface of the soil. It belonged to an animal of the species Elephas primigenius, and is identical with the Siberian mammoth, and, I believe, with the one found in Behring's Straits. The tusk was decayed at each end, the extremities being gone, but the part preserved was over 9 feet long, and of proportionate bulk. Some idea may be formed from this of the huge size of the animal of which it formerly formed a part. It was very much incurved, being so much bent back that the bone was not more than 4 feet 2 or 3 inches across in any part. Owing to the nature of the soil, the whole tusk was very friable, most of the gluten of the ivory being decayed, so that great care was required in moving it to prevent it falling to pieces. Nearly a year afterwards a large tibia was obtained, and two molar teeth, probably belonging to the same animal, as they were not a great way from the tusk. One of the latter was very large, weighing about 12 lbs., though, from long use, much worn. About the same time, several bones of a large rhinoceros were found. These, from their more compact nature, were less decayed; and the tibia and one side of the jaw were very perfect, several teeth being in situ. The other half of the jaw was smashed by the workman's pick; several teeth were saved. Like those of the mammoth, they were very much worn. The species was supposed to be Rh. leptorhinus. Associated with these remains were some of the bones of a large ox, the horns and skull of which were very perfect, with several teeth in situ. There were also turned up, within the last month or two, some bones of a large ruminant, believed to be of the Megaceros, or frish elk. About thirty years since, the late Dr. Buckland discovered the bones of a mammoth in this locality; and about the same time the late Mr. Gibson obtained the beautiful collection of bones now in the Royal College of Surgeons. Associated with the remains of those giants of ancient days, are the shells of Planorbis, Unio, Cyclas, Paludina, &c.: and there are now living in the Roden, and other tributary brooks in the neighbourhood, the lineal descendants of these fossils, the ancestors of which enjoyed the same sunshine as the mammoth and rhinoceros, the aristocracy of those days. Thus we have amongst ns, living on the same estate as their ancestors, the humble Paludina, Planorbis, &c., forming, as it were, the link between the past and the present order of things, On a Horseshoe Nail found in the Red Sandstone of Kingoodie. On the Geology of Lower Egypt. By G. BUIST, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. On the Submerged Forests of Caithness. By JOHN CLEGHORN, Wick. The submerged forests of Caithness are found in the bays of the county into which streams empty themselves. We have them in Lybster Harbour, in Wick Bay, in Sinclair's Bay, and at the mouth of the Thurso. These submerged forests are characterized by the vegetation of the districts through which the streams flow. In that at Lybster there are large trees prostrate, and finely comminuted peaty matter. In those at Wick, in the Links in Sinclair's Bay, and at Thurso, I have found no large trees; only birch twigs and peaty matter. Large trees grow only in the very sheltered districts of the county-in the hollows. The stream at Lybster runs in a deep ravine. The trees and peaty matter in the submerged forest at Lybster are found below high-water mark, and, like the specimen exhibited in the section, are stratified. In Reiss Links, Sinclair's Bay, the peaty matter is covered with blown sand which is finely turfed over; but the small streams there have exposed the peat and made cuttings through it. The peaty stratum is from one to three feet thick, and from eight to ten feet above high-water mark. Similar peaty matter is frequently taken up on the flukes of their anchors by vessels in the bay. I infer that in favourable localities the peaty matter is continuous from the Links to the anchor ground. The specimens exhibited are characteristic of our submerged forests generally, and their striking feature is their stratification, or rather lamination, they being in this respect wholly different from the living mosses of the county. There is another feature of the peaty deposit in the Links to which I beg to call attention. Near the Castle of Ackergill, at the east end of the peaty stratum, we find it to be the impalpable matter of peat, and when dried and broken the fracture is lustrous and conchoidal; but further west we find the stratum to be twigs and the rougher matter of peat-bogs, very regularly and finely laminated. This peat-bed then must have been laid down in deep water; and I infer that it must have been deposited in the deep water of the bay, from the circumstance that it is arranged along shore in the order in which the sand and gravel are arranged along the shores of the bay. Mr. Coode mentions that a crew landing on the Chessel Bank in a dark night can tell their position on the bank by the size of the pebbles around them; but it is true, not of the Chessel Bank only, but of all bays, of all firths, and of all seas, that the debris is laid along shore in a determinate order, which order is due to the regularity of the winds, and consequently of the currents. In Sinclair's Bay there is a sandy district, a gravely district, and a district of boulders; and in each of these districts there is a subarrangement determined by the weight in the materials. In the sandy district we have a siliceous region, and a region of shell-sand. Thus we see that the peaty matter here did not grow where it is now found. How then comes it to be in the Links? The sea is receding. This is proved by our river banks standing at a higher angle at the estuaries than further inland; the denuding process there has not been so long at work; they want the softness of the further inland banks. The high-angled banks, too, are terraced with what are commonly called sheep-walks, but which to my mind are incipient landslips-steps in the process of denudation, that process through which the softness, the swelling character of the interior banks has been attained. Another evidence of the sea's leaving our shores-retiring-is the Limpet (Patella) markings on the rocks, from where limpets now live, to far above high-water mark. The sea then is receding gradually, and the submerged forests are emerging; they are therefore analogous to the wood deposits known to exist at the mouths of the large rivers of Europe, Asia, and America. A Letter to Sir Charles Lyell on the occurrence of a Land Shell and Reptiles in the South Joggins Coal-field, Nova Scotia. By J. W. DAWSON, LL.D., F.G.S. [See Journal of the Geological Society of London.] On certain Volcanic Rocks in Italy which appear to have been subjected to Metamorphic Action. By Professor DAUBENY, M.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. Dr. Daubeny called the attention of the Section to two products of volcanic action met with in Italy, the pecularities of which, he thought, had not been fully explained. The first of these is the Piperino rock, met with so extensively about Albano, near Rome, which is distingushed from ordinary tuff not only by its greater compactness and porphyritic aspect, but likewise by the occurrence in it of numerous laminae of mica and crystals of augite, which tend to give it the appearance of a metamorphic rock, or of one which, although originally ejected as tuil, had been subsequently modified by the long-continued action of heat and pressure. The principal difficulty in the way of thus considering it arises from its alternation in several places with ordinary tuff, or with strata of loose scoriæ, as is well seen near Marino; so that it is difficult to conceive how the materials composing the Piperino could have been exposed to heat after their deposition in the form of tuff, without the intervening layers having been subjected to the same operation. The other volcanic product alluded to was the rock called Piperno, found near Naples, a brecciated material, in which wavy and nearly parallel streaks of a dark grey, brown, and often almost black colour, occur impacted in a matrix which is for the most part ash-grey, and seems, mineralogically speaking, to resemble trachyte. The imbedded masses occur generally elongated in the same direction, as are also the pores which occur in the midst of the mass. These circumstances have been accounted for by supposing a stream of molten trachyte to have invaded a congeries of fragments of ordinary lava, and to have brought about their partial fusion; but the Piperno seems to constitute a part of the great tufaceous deposit which overspreads the neighbourhood of Naples, to which no such metamorphic action is ascribable, and that which has been lately met with in the new road now constructing above the suburb of the Chiaja at Naples lies imbedded in the midst of ordinary tuff. Dr. Daubeny therefore conceives that the peculiarities presented by both the rocks alluded to require further elucidation, and that their study might tend to throw some new light upon the effects of metamorphic action upon rocks in general. On the Constitution of the Earth. By the Rev. J. DINGLE. This paper was intended to be supplementary to one brought before the Association last year on "The Configuration of the Surface of the Earth." Its object was to obviate some objections to the theory then brought forward, arising from the supposed constitution of the earth's mass." Among other objections to the fluidity of the earth's interior which the author endeavoured to controvert, he particularly referred to those which Mr. Hopkins is supposed to have substantiated by mathematical reasoning in his "Researches in Physical Geology," published in the Philosophical Transactions' between 1839 and 1842. He observed that these investigations are assumed to have proved more than the arguments warrant. The fluidity of the interior may be and probably is so imperfect, that what Mr. Hopkins calls the effective crust, may be sufficiently thick to accord with his deductions, while the actual crust may be comparatively thin. The author regarded mathematical reasoning as inadequate to the solution of the question, and pointed out the necessity of relying on more obvious indications. He also showed that the hypothesis of a cavernous structure for the earth's interior is insufficient to account for the great volcanic lines and mountain systems, and con cluded his paper in the following words: "The argument for the true physical character of the earth admits of a much wider induction of particulars than has generally been imagined. The general facts of geology indicate clearly that all the great masses of land in existence have, from the earliest period of the formation of a crust, been gradually rising with an irregular motion from beneath the level of the sea. Scientific men have been able to observe directly, one instance of this motion in Scandinavia; but every part of the land gives almost equally unequivocal indications of the same truth. Thus South America has evidently been tilted up into a slope, the whole continent having been heaved by a continuous force acting through innumerable ages. The volcanoes at its upper edge are but the mere outbreaks of its irregular action. And so in every part of the world, where the strata have not been much disturbed and broken by volcanic agency or denudation, we see the history of the land's emergence in the tracings of every successive deposit as it rose above the influence of the ocean, The southern part of our own island is little more than a series of these tracings. We see them in similar order redoubling part of the outline of North America, and we may find similar indications in every part of the world. All these things point to an interior fluid working slowly and solidifying gradually beneath. Let any one observe how any mass of molten matter, heaving from below and gradually hardening above, forms to itself a surface broken into angular and uneven pieces at different levels; and then, after taking into account the determination of the ocean currents, and allowing for the effect of other obvious agencies, he will be at no loss to account for the irregularities of the earth's crust, or remain in any doubt as to its real constitution, and the true course of its geological history. Its progress only affords a fresh instance how God can bring about the most varied and beautiful effects and the most beneficial results by the most simple means." On the Coal Strata of North Staffordshire, with reference, particularly, to their Organic Remains. By R. GARNER, F.L.S., and W. MOLYNEUX. It is pretty well known that the coal-fields in question repose upon strata of millstone grit, and these latter upon the mountain limestone, with its upper beds of shale. From the area of mountain limestone, situated at the east part of North Staffordshire, and constituting the southern extremity of what has been called the back-bone of England, the strata have a general dip westwards; but this dip is interrupted and the strata elevated along several anticlinal lines, running more or less north and south, and marked by bold ridges or edges of grit; so that several coal-troughs are formed. A cross section would therefore show the strata to be disposed in a zigzag way. On the surface of the largest coal-field, about 50 square miles, the great Potteries have risen, and from its strata 16,000 tons of coal are drawn weekly for manufacturing purposes alone, besides household fuel for 100,000 people, as well as coal and ironstone to feed about thirty smelting furnaces. A line of clay-pits, the purple clay of which is very different in quality from the fire-clays of the coal-measures, and which is accompanied by an extremely hardcemented conglomerate, of a green or yellow colour, marks the south boundary of this principal field. These beds may perhaps be considered to belong to the coal strata, as in the Ordnance sheets; in some respects they seem as referable to the Permian. At the base of the most westerly ridge the limestone is again attainable, but differing in colour, &c. from that mentioned above on the east side of North Staffordshire; its fossils are frequently very small specimens of univalves and Bellerophon. This westerly ridge, constituting the west limit of the Pottery coal-field, diverges S. W., and the comparatively modern strata of new red sandstone are tilted up by it. It is not the original limit of the coal strata, for these are not only raised conformably to it, but identical beds of coal reoccur on the westerly or |