APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB, Oct. 9th.-Rev. H. G. Spaulding read a paper entitled Something about Moosilauk and the Franconia Range; Prof. J. H. Huntington gave an account of the Megalloway river and its physical and topographical features, while Mt. Ascutney, Vt., was described by Mr. Frederic Gardiner, Jr.

:0:

SCIENTIFIC SERIALS.1

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.-July 6, August 16, No. iv. On the Nyassa and a journey from the north end to Zanzibar (with a map), by H. B. Cotterhill. Travels in Western China and on the eastern borders of Tibet, by W. J. Gill. On the Geographical results of the Mission to Kashgar, under Sir T. Douglas Forsyth, in 1873-4, by H. Trotter. No. v contains the president's (Sir Rutherford Alcock) address. No. vi Geographical sketch of the Nile and Livingstone (Congo) basins, by H. M. Stanley. A lecture on plant-distribution as a field for geographical research, by Thistleton Dyer.

SIEBOLD AND KÖLLIKER'S Zeitschrift für WISSENSCHAFTLICHE ZOOLOGIE.-September 6. Contributions to a knowledge of the Julidæ, by E. Voges. On the formation of the blastoderm and the germinal layers in insects, by N. Bobretsky. Additions to a knowledge of the genus Brisinga, by H. Ludwig. Aspidura, a genus of mesozoic Ophiuridae, by H. Pohlig. Fifth article on the structure and development of Sponges. The metamorphosis of Sycandra raphanus, by F. E. Schulze.

THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.-August. On the form of Volcanoes, by J. Milne. On a method of estimating the extent of Geological Areas, by T. M. Hall. September.-Notes on some Arctic Silurian fossils from Beechey island and from Port Dundas, Lancaster sound, by H. Woodward. Cataclysmic theories of Geological Climate, by J. Croll. Land plants in the Irish Silurians, by G. H. Kinahan. Wayside notes in travels over Europe : the great Northern drift, by R. Damon.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.-September. The Treaty of Berlin (with a map). Richthofen on Prejevalsky's journey in Central Asia, Abyssinia. A new Survey of the Amazon. Indian irrigation, by H. P. Malet.

of

PSYCHE.-March and April. The Entomological writings John L. LeConte, compiled by Samuel Henshaw, edited by George Dimmock. Oviposition in Spiders, by J. H. Emerton.

The articles enumerated under this head are usually selected.

1

THE

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

VOL. XII. DECEMBER, 1878. No. 12.

THE EXCURSIONS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE FOR 1878.

THE

BY E. D. COPE.

HE Geological Society of France, though well known in the United States as a publishing body, is not so well known as a school of experts who give practical instruction in their science. In their annual excursions they offer opportunities for acquiring special knowledge in geology of peculiar value. The present season the excursions were arranged in view of the presence of numerous foreigners for a limited time in Paris, so as to exhibit the geology of the country near to, or within easy reach of the capital. There were seven in all, and each one was in charge of a competent geological instructor, while the financial department. was under direction of the indefatigable treasurer of the society, Dr. Bioche. A better opportunity of becoming acquainted with the standard of classification of the Tertiary formations which France furnishes to the world, could scarcely have been presented; while the series of beds of the Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic formations visited by the excursionists is, in many respects, very complete. The explanations on the ground furnished by the masters of the subject was all that could be desired for clearness and pains-taking. The leaders of the excursions were Messrs. Hèbert, Lapparent, Tournouer, Vèlain, etc. Among the excursionists we noticed, besides the resident members; M.M. DeWalck, Rutot and Lefevre, of Belgium; M. Stephanescu of Belgrade; M. Renevier, Lausanne; Prof. Guisgardi, Naples ;' Profs. Almera, Barcelona, and Eulate, Madrid; Fontannes, Lyons; Matheron and Saporta, Provence, and many others.

The first expedition was in the immediate vicinity of the northwest part of Paris, to Vanves, Meudon and Bellvue. At the first

named locality, a beautiful section of the Lower Eocene or Suessonien was examined, which displayed principally the Argile Plastique, below the thin beds of the Lignite of the Coryphodon, Gastornis and Palæonyctis. The whole was crowned by massive beds of the Calcaire Grossier of the Middle Eocene, with its numerous invertebrate fossils. I viewed these exposures with great interest, as the formations contain the remains of a fauna which I rediscovered in New Mexico in 1874. By this discovery I was able to identify the Wasatch horizon of the Rocky mountains with the Suessonien, thus establishing a basis for comparison of formations above and below it, a want not a little felt in North American palæontology. But how different the petrography of the Paris basin from that of North-western New Mexico. Here a thick bed of tenacious lead-colored clay is surmounted by a stratum of more or less impure lignite; in New Mexico heavy beds of hard sandstone alternate with still thicker red and yellow strata of arenaceous marl.

The Calcaire Grossier here yielded its numerous Echini, Cardita planicosta, Nautilus, etc. Further on, along the road towards Meudon, its softer beds formed the banks on either side. Here they were almost composed of two species of Nummulites, N. lævigata and N. lamarcki. Still beyond we visited one of the quarries whence had been obtained many huge blocks of the soft limestone from which so large a part of the city of Paris has been built, and to whose yielding qualities so much of the architectural beauty of the Capital of France is due. Here some of the desolating effects of the German siege were still to be observed. The lowest Suessonien, the Marnes Strontianiferes with their curious mixture of the marine and fresh water shells of the Calcaire Grossier and sands of Rilly, recently discovered, were passed as a white bank on the side of the public way. At Meudon the upper beds of the Cretaceous came in view. The contact of the Pisolitique (Mæstrichtien or Fox hills) with the Marnes Strontianiferes above, was noted as the point of separation between the Tertiary and Cretaceous series. The situation is as though the Wasatch rested immediately on the Fox Hills beds, without the intervention of the great Laramie series; although the Marnes must be regarded as lower in the scale than the lowest Wasatch yet found in North America. A fine exposure of the Chalk, with its characteristic fossils, succeeds the Piso

litique downwards, and various characteristic fossils were found, including previously unsuspected species of the American genera Empo and Saurodon.

An agreeable feature of the occasion was a lunch offered by Prof. Chancourtois, member of the society, in his garden at Meudon, which was appreciated as such occasions generally are by hungry geologists.

The excursionists then examined the orange sands and sandstone of the Lower Miocene, at Bellevue, called the Sables de Fontainebleau, well known as the horizon of the Halitherium. From this point the quarries of the upper beds of the Lower Miocene, of the Meulières de Beauce, were visited. This formation, extensively distributed near to Paris, consists of red and yellow clay, filled with large siliceous concretions which contain the casts of great numbers of seeds of Chara and small Lymnaea. At this locality it forms the summit of a hill, from which a magnificent view of the country to the eastward is had. At its foot is the valley of the Seine, abounding in villages, villas and vineyards, and on its opposite side a range of hills bounds the horizon. The most elevated portion of the ridge bears the fort and hospital of Mount Saint Valerien.

The second excursion was to Etampes, Morigny and Jeurres, at a distance of thirty-five miles from Paris. It passed over the Miocene beds above mentioned, and visited some richly fossiliferous localities of the Sables de Fontainebleau.

The third excursion was to Maignelay, at about the same distance from Paris, where the party explored the lignites of the Suessonien, and the lowest bed of that formation, the Sables de Bracheux.

On the 9th of September the excursionists took the rail to Gournay, on the border of Normandy, from which point they passed on foot and by omnibus over a hilly and beautiful country. The region is rich and one of the most beautiful in France. The farmers have left and planted many trees, and the agriculture is of a superior character. Here under the direction of M. Lapparent, the party viewed the outcrops of the Kimmeridge, Portland, Neocomien, Greensand, Gault, and Cenomanien, and collected Trigonia, Gervillia kimmeridgensis, Hybodus, Terebratula, with numerous species of Ostræa, and Exogyra, etc. The dinner.

at Gournay at the close of the day was an enjoyable event, and was enlivened with toasts and speeches.

The excursion of the 11th of September was again in the immediate neighborhood of Paris, and had for its object the examination of the famous series of the Gypsum. Passing by rail to one of the suburban stations, the party followed on foot the course of the Seine to the village of La Frette. Here a steep bank, having at a distance much the appearance of a terrace, forms the lower part of the boundary of the river valley, passing behind the village of Sarcouville and extending along the foot of the ridge which here separates the valley of the Seine from a valley immediately to the east of it. The escarpment of this ledge does not exceed twenty feet in height, but it displays a beautiful section of that part of the middle Eocene known as the Sables de Beauchamp. As it offers a good illustration of the manner in which the Tertiaries of the region of Paris are subdivided into thin beds, which represent frequent changes in the character of the water and of the sediment, I give them as explained on the spot by Dr. Vèlain. The lowest bed is a marine sandstone which becomes brackish in its superior part, and contains Ostrea cucullaris. Reposing on it is a limestone of lacustrine origin, containing Lymnaea arcnularia; in a part of the escarpment this bed is wanting. It is succeeded above by a thin bed of scarcely adherent sand, containing Melania hordacea, and believed to have been deposited in brackish water. Above this is a stratum of compact marine limestone containing Cytherea clegans and Potamides. A lacustrine limestone called the Calcaire de Ducy rests on the marine limestone. This bed repeats the second bed of the series in the possession of the Lymnea arenularia, the specimens presenting a slight varietal difference. It is this formation which contains the oldest remains of Palæotherium, as I was informed. In the locality described, the soil of the ascending face of the hill conceals higher beds from view, so that it became necessary to pass to other localities in order to study them.

The party accordingly ascended to the crest of the water shed, passing through orchards and vineyards on its slope. The apples were abundant, but not of good quality. On the summit stood a ruined windmill, forming a landmark, and near it a restaurant and cafè commanding a beautiful view of the rich and populous valley on its north-east side, and of the hills beyond. From this