ii6 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Devon, but not in the Exeter district : — " Helix 

 aspersa, M. sinisirorsum, and van exalbida, and 

 H. lapicida, Ashburton ; H. rii/escens, and H. 

 rupestris, Torquay ; H. rufescens, H. rupestris, 

 Zonites excavatus, var. vitrina, and Bnlimus obscurus, 

 Ivybridge ; Bulimus acutus, Thurlestone, near Kings- 

 bridge. Mr. Marquand says of H. rufescens, " It is 

 very curious that I have not yet seen a trace of this 

 common species in this (Exeter) neighbourhood." — 

 T.D.A. Cockerel!, West Cliff, Colorado, Feb. 23, 1889. 



Parasites on Rats and Mice. —I have recently 

 had the opportunity of examining several specimens 

 of field mouse {^Mus sylvaticus), and on some of them 

 I found living specimens of a Laelaps, so closely re- 

 sembling those found on the Vole that I think they 

 must be considered as the same species. The 

 chitinous plates were not quite so dark-coloured, and 

 perhaps the abdominal plate is rather larger, and not 

 ■quite so angular, as in the specimens from the Vole. 

 I also found with them specimens without the chiti- 

 nous dorsal plate, and these appeared to resemble 

 Koch's L. pachypiis, but were, I believe, only imma- 

 ture specimens. It would be very interesting to have 

 the opportunity of examining specimens taken from 

 the other rats and mice, to determine if possible 

 whether there be but one species of Laalaps, or 

 several. — C. F. George. 



GEOLOGY, &c. 



Ledges on Banks or Hill Slopes. — There has 

 been some discussion on this subject in '* Nature " of 

 February last and March 14th. In the first, Mr. Ernst 

 adopts the idea of Mr. Darwin, that these ledges are 

 due to the sliding down of the surface-soil ; but "they 

 will probably depend, first of all, on the conditions of 

 the ground and its vegetation." Mr. E. J. Mills says, 

 " These ledges owe their origin to rain-water," which 

 entering the soil dissolves some of it, and the unsup- 

 ported plot " would collapse to a lower level." The 

 two then coincide partly, but what were the first con- 

 ditions ? On this depends the great problem of the 

 *' sea-level." On all sea shores of the present day where 

 the angle is bet\\een 30° and 50", we find the slope is 

 irregular, that is, there are small ledges here and there 

 formed by the irregular break of the wave, by the 

 uncertain deposit of material, or by the uncertain 

 slip of shingle. During neap tides the wind blows 

 over these ledges and deposits drifts against them. If 

 the spring tides do not cover the highest of these 

 drifts, they assume some consistency, and vegetation 

 grows upon them. These ridges or ledges are very 

 similar in shape and general character to those we 

 now find high above, or extending down to the level 

 of the present sea, on to the level of the plain at the 

 foot of the slope. In looking at some of these ledges 

 in Dorsetshire and Scotland, I found some with and 



some without sand or shingle in their beds ; where 

 these were found, I supposed that ridge was formed 

 by the wave in situ ; where there was no sand or sea- 

 deposit, I supposed the surface had slipped. In both 

 cases another cause made these ledges more pro- 

 nounced — vegetation grew freely on the wind-blown 

 drift, and animals ate it as they walked along at the 

 foot of the slope. They made that deeper — most 

 ledges are steepest down hill — therefore, after actions 

 have made these ledges into what we see, but wind 

 or water began the drifts on which those ledges grew. 

 Gravel beds are high on the hills, they have never 

 been upheaved ; therefore the sea has sunk, and our 

 geological schools had better allow this as a fact. — 

 H. P. Malet. 



The Mammoth in Belfast. — An interesting 

 find is reported from Belfast. Dr. John Moran, of 

 that town, has found a tooth of Elephas pri/nigenius in 

 the drift gravels at Lame Harbour, The following 

 is the succession of beds in ascending order : I, older 

 boulder clay ; 2, coarse gravel with rolled stones (3 to 

 4 ft. thick) ; 3, coarse gravel with rolled stones (6 to 

 10 ft. thick) ; 4, silt, or rather coarse laminated clay 

 (3 to 5 in. thick) ; 5, a second layer of coarse gravel 

 with rolled stones (18 in. to 2 ft. thick) ; 6, dark surface 

 layer (18 in. thick) containing neolithic implements 

 of a rude type. It was in bed No. 4, formed from 

 the denudation of the newer boulder clay, that the 

 tooth was found. 



The Geologists' Association. — The February 

 number of the Proceedings of this Association, besides 

 the list of meetings, etc., contains the following 

 papers : " On the Causes of Volcanic Action," by 

 J. Logan Lobley ; " On Some Bagshot Pebble-Beds 

 and Pebble Gravel," by H. W. Monckton and R. S. 

 Herries ; *' On the Palaeontology of Sturgeons," by 

 A. S. Woodward. The following is the list of 

 excursions of the above Association for 1889 : April 6, 

 College of Surgeons; April 19, 20, Lyme Regis, 22, 

 23, Weymouth (Easter excursion) ; May 4, Boxmoor ; 

 May 25, Brentwood ; June i, Sevenoaks and 

 Ightham ; June 10, li, Ipswich and Suffolk (Whit- 

 suntide excursion) ; June 22, Horsham ; June 29, 

 Medway ; July 13, Epsom ; July 20, Wallingford ; 

 August, North Cumberland, Long excursion, date 

 not decided. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



■ Buteo Lagopus (Rough Legged Buzzard).— I 

 wish to record the capture of a specimen of this bird 

 at Guarlton, in November last. This bird is of so 

 rare occurrence in this district, that the addition of 

 this species to the local fauna will be a welcome 

 one. The bird was captured by a game-keeper, who 

 first observed it in a trap ; on his approach the bird 

 attempted to rise in the air, but was shot and secured 

 by him, and has now been preserved. It is a very 



