7° 



HARDWICKE'S SCI ENCE-GOSSJP. 



in seed. These plants were growing in a sheltered 

 position ; but on Sept. 3, 1890, I found plants ot N. 

 ossifragum on Ashdown Forest, Sussex, in an equally 

 advanced condition, but these were growing in a bog 

 in an open wind-swept gulley. Can any reader 

 inform me whetlier an exposed situation causes such 

 plants to flower and mature earlier than those 

 growing more or less under the shade of trees ? 

 Lastrca Jilatata ; Loinaria spicant (immature), on 

 banks ; Litcobriiiin glaiicum, in clumps, abundantly 

 under the fir-trees. Sphagnum sqtiarosum, S. cyniibi- 

 folium, and S. nciitiim, in bogs. Marckanlia poly- 

 Diorpha, abundant on the banks of ditches. In the 

 case of identification of some of the plants my best 

 thanks are due for help kimlly given by some 

 members of the excursion-party. — Archibald Clarke. 



GEOLOGY, &c. 



Coal Sections. — What is the best and simplest 

 method to make sections of coal, fossils, rocks, other 

 than by the grinding process ? Such as those made 

 by Professor Williamson or Boyd Dawkins, of 

 ^Manchester, and in the Museum (? The transparent). 

 I do not know the acid or bleaching agent. — V. A- 

 Latham, F.R.M.S., F.G.S. 



Boulders in the Midlands. — One of the best 

 and cleanest finished bits of original work we have 

 seen for some time is Mr. F. W. Martin's paper on 

 "The Boulders of the Midland District " (a second 

 report), reprinted from the " Proceedings of the 

 Birmingham Philosophical .Society." It is illustrated 

 by a vigorously drawn map, showing the distribution 

 of Midland boulders and the parent rocks from 

 which they have travelled. Mr. Martin's paper is 

 the most valuable contribution to local geology we 

 have seen for some time. 



The Geology of Barbadoes.— Very few nooks 

 and corners of the globe are more geologically in- 

 teresting than the West Indian Islands. Mr. J. B. 

 Harrison, and Mr. A. J. Jukes-Browne have just 

 issued a pamphlet on the subject published by the 

 Barbadoes Legislature. The chapters relating to 

 the Physical Geology of the Island are extremely 

 interesting. The sections are instructive. Barbadoes 

 is a typical " Oceanic Island," and is therefore worth 

 double study. Messrs. Harrison and Jukes-Browne 

 have here turned out good and well concentrated 

 work. 



The Coral Rocks of Barbadoes. — Messrs. 

 Jukes-Brown and Professor Harrison recently read an 

 interesting paper on this subject before the Geological 

 Society. They first discussed the coral reef growing 

 round Barbadoes, and described a submarine reef, 

 the origin of which was considered. It was pointed 

 out that there is no sign of any .sul)sidence having 



taken place, but every sign of very recent elevation.. 

 They then described the raised reefs of the island^ 

 extending to a height of nearly n 00 feet above sea 

 level in a series of terraces. The thickness of the- 

 coral rock in these is seldom above 200 feet, and the 

 rock does not always consist of coal debris. At 

 the base of the reefs there is generally a certaim 

 thickness of detrital rock in which perfect reef-corals 

 never occur. The collections of fossils made by the 

 authors have been examined by Messrs. E. A. Smith' 

 and J. W. Gregory. Of the corals, five out of ten 

 species identified still live in the Caribbean Sea, and 

 one is closely allied to a known species, whilst the- 

 other four are only known from Professor Duncan's 

 descriptions of foSsil Antiguan corals. The authors 

 are of opinion that the whole of the terraces of 

 Barbadoes, the so-called "marl" of Antigua, and' 

 the fossiliferous rocks of Barbuda are of Pleistocene- 

 age. The authors proceeded to notice the formations 

 in other West Indian islands which appear to be 

 raised reefs comparable with those of Barbadoes, and 

 showed that these reefs occur through the whole 

 length of the Antillean Chain, and indicate a recent 

 elevation of at least 1300 feet, and in all probability 

 of nearly 2000 feet. It appears improbable that 

 each island was a region of separate uplift, and as av 

 plateau of recent marine limestone also occurs in< 

 Yucatan, this carries the region of elevation into 

 Central America, and it is reported that there are 

 raised reefs in Colombia. The authors concluded 

 that there has been contemporaneous elevation of the 

 whole Andean Chain from Cape Horn to Tehuante- 

 pec and of the Antillean Chain from Cuba to Bar- 

 badoes. Before this there must have been free 

 communication between the Atlantic and Pacific 

 Oceans, which is confirmed by the large number of 

 Pacific forms in the Caribbean Sea. Under such 

 geographical conditions the great equatorial current 

 would pass into the Pacific, and there would be no 

 Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, 



The Glacial Period.— We havereceived a copy 

 of Mr. Dugald Bell's paper, republished from the 

 Transactions of the Glasgow Geological Society, on 

 the " Phenomena of the Glacial Period," dealin"- 

 especially with "the great submergence." It is one 

 of the most exhaustive papers on the subject we have 

 come across, and is well illustrated by maps, etc. 

 This is Part ii. and we should be pleased if the 

 author would send us Part i. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Rabiut Dying of Old Age. — In December a 

 male rabbit, which has been in my possession from 

 the age of three months, died, to all appearance of 

 old age ; he would have been ten years old in March 

 next, the claws were considerably over an inch in 

 length. A female of the same litter was so vicious, 

 though always kindly treated, that it was necessary 



