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HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OS SI P. 



by Mr. E. T. Newton as portions of fish-teeth. Mr. 

 Player observes that the phosphate occurs in such a 

 condition that it would not improbably serve as a 

 valuable fertilizer, without conversion into super- 

 phosphate. This condition is probably due to the 

 partial replacement of carbonate of lime by phosphate 

 in the organisms. The removal of the remaining 

 carbonate leaves the phosphate in a honeycombed 

 state, peculiarly favourable for attack by the acids in 

 the soil. Mr. Strahan commented upon the resem- 

 blance of the deposit to the phosphatic chalk with 

 Bekmnitella qiiadrata which is largely worked in 

 Northern France, and upon a less striking resem- 

 blance with that of Ciply, which is at a higher 

 horizon. In the discussion which followed, Dr. G. 

 J. Hinde said that he had examined microscopically 

 the phosphatic chalks of Taplow, and compared it 

 with the similar material from Douillens and Ciply, 

 and he fully agreed with Mr. Strahan's description 

 thereof. The fine, white, powdery portion of the 

 Taplow rock consisted nearly entirely of Coccoliths, 

 Discoliths, and Rhabdoliths, unaltered and of car- 

 bonate of lime similar to those in the normal white 

 chalk. The minute, translucent, angular fragments 

 in the granular portion were shown to be pieces of 

 fish-bone by the occurrence in them of true bone 

 lacunce and canaliculi, and many were likewise 

 thickly penetrated by borings of algre or fungi. 

 Similar fragments were present in the Douillens and 

 Ciply material, but their osseous nature had not 

 previously been recognised. The minute phosphatic 

 pellets were probably coprolites of small fishes. The 

 evidence pointed to the exuviae of fishes as the source 

 of the phosphatic materials in these deposits. Mr. 

 Whitaker said that, from the regularly bedded 

 character of the phosphatic chalk, one would have 

 expected it to occur for some distance from the pit ; 

 but no trace could be seen either of the phosphatic 

 beds or of the flintless chalk in which they occur. 

 It seems as if the topmost chalk here occurs only 

 over a small area, having been eroded elsewhere. 

 That this was the case to the west and north-west had 

 been surmised by Mr. Jukes-Browne ("Geology of 

 London," vol. i. pp. 76-78, 1889), from an examina- 

 tion of fossils collected from the various pits ; but the 

 thinning-out of the top chalk seems to be more 

 sudden than was expected, and not only in the above 

 directions but all round from Taplow. Mr. Strahan's 

 discovery showed how much there might remain to be 

 done, even with regard to so well-known a formation 

 as the chalk. Professor Judd remarked upon the 

 interesting nature of the microscopic borings des- 

 cribed by Dr. Hinde. His attention had been of lata 

 directed to the subject in connexion with the curious 

 organisms found in Oolitic grains, both recent and 

 fossil. Both Mr. G. Murray and Dr. Scott were of 

 opinion that these borings were produced by the 

 plants that had been so well described by the dis- 

 tinguished French algologist, Bornet. A very acute 



observer, Mr. F. Chapman, had noticed that shell- 

 fragments in the gault frequently exhibit these bor- 

 ings, and Dr. Scott had been able to identify several 

 of Bornet's genera, founded on recent specimens, as 

 being represented in these Cretaceous shells. Bornet 

 believed that these boring algai perform a very im- 

 portant part in the economy of nature, by bringing 

 about the destruction and solution of shell-fragments. 

 The president, alluding to the geological and econo- 

 mic interest of the discovery described in the paper, 

 remarked that though the area occupied by the 

 phosphatic layers seemed to be small, there was good 

 reason to hope that somewhere else in the Upper- 

 Chalk districts the same or similar bands might yet 

 be found. The search for such deposits would now 

 be stimulated by the information so fully supplied by 

 the Author, who himself would no doubt follow up 

 his observations at Taplow by a thorough examina- 

 tion of the higher members of the chalk in the east 

 of England. 



Note on the Occurrence of Cockroach 

 Wings in the Coal Measures of the Forest 

 of Dean. — I am indebted to Mr. Lawe, of Pillston 

 Penna, for the information that two entire wings and 

 a fraction of a third were received by him amongst a 

 collection of fossil plants from the above locality and 

 horizon, sent by myself. I noticed the specimens 

 when packing them, but thought them (perhaps new) 

 fern pinnules. I am in ignorance as to whether these 

 insects have been recognised before in that locality or 

 not ; but they are certainly scarce. Of the two 

 specimens one was possibly the counterpart of the 

 other. — T. Stock. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Snails as a Cure for Consumption.— In an 

 old MS. book full of receipts, which were put 

 together by Robert Sexton, an old excise officer, 

 about the year 1794, I find the following recipes as 

 cures for consumption, which show that the snail- 

 cure was recommended to a later date than we 

 generally acknowledge by the medical faculty to 

 the phthisical patients. The first, on the authority of 

 one. Dr. Simmons, runs' as follows :—" Oysters will 

 sometimes be beneficial, and so will snails either 

 swallowed whole or boiled in milk — cow's milk, if 

 warm from the cow, diluted with one-third of water ; 

 in general, buttermilk or whey, either from cows or 

 goats, is far preferable to new milk, but to be bene- 

 ficial it should be the principal food." The second 

 recipe, given on no authority, is in the following 

 words:— "Boil half-a-dozen of red garden snails 

 every evening in a quart of sweet milk or whey, 

 then strain the liquor through a coarse cloth and 

 drink it with sugar every morning gradually upon an 

 empty stomach, and repeat these draughts for a 

 month or two if required." This extract goes on to 

 say that Helix pomatia has been used also for ' ' open 

 hemorrhoids," by applying "fresh snails" to the 

 affected part every two or three hours.— y, IV. 

 Williams, 



