272 



HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



so few Ceratodus teeth have been obtained in recent 

 years. A partial explanation may be found in the fact 

 of the hard work required to extract them. That the 

 locality is rich in such remains is well known. The 

 Higgins Collection recently acquired by the Bristol 

 Museum is a striking proof of it. Many of the Ceratodus 

 teeth of this collection are figured in Mr. Miall's 

 monograph just published. If the visitor at Aust 

 wishes to spare himself trouble, he may sometimes 

 find a few things at one of the cottages in the village. 

 There does not seem to be any well-sustained effort in 

 any quarter at present at extracting the riches of the 

 locality. 



At first view the limestones at Clifton seem barren, 

 but a little careful reseaixh soon opens up a better 

 prospect. Mr. Emery, a gatekeeper at the Suspen- 

 sion Bridge, obligingly rendered me very material 

 assistance. His knowledge of the carboniferous lime- 

 stone of his district is both accurate and extensive, 

 and he has made vthe aluable discoveiy of seams of 

 Rhcetic in the limestone of the Durdham Downs. The 

 upper shales I found exceedingly fossiliferous, and at no 

 greater distance than the new buildings on the Leigh 

 side there were beds exposed in which fine Brachio- 

 pods were abundant. The "Black-rock" quarry, 

 which has yielded such good fish remains, is unfortu- 

 nately closed. Wishing to examine the carboniferous 

 limestone of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, I found 

 myself, almost by accident, in Burrington Combe, a 

 glen produced apparently by the same causes as those 

 which have hollowed out the gorge of the Cheddar 

 Cliffs, with which it is in line, but on the opposite 

 slope of the hills. This combe is of considerable 

 interest both to the physical geologist and palaeonto- 

 logist. The section exposed is one of very considerable 

 thickness, and the fossil-bearing beds are accessible. 

 Brachiopods, lamellibranchs, gasteropods, and corals 

 were abundant. Good Psammodus teeth would 

 reward the diligent collector. A fine one fell to my 

 share. High up on the right-hand side, almost half- 

 way up the combe, I came upon some shales from 

 which the earth had fallen, and was delighted at the 

 display of organic remains. The clip of the beds was 

 about the same as that of Dudley, which I had just 

 seen, and the profusion of extinct life nearly as great. 

 The fossils I observed were chiefly referable to the 

 genera Chonetes and Spirifei'a, S. atspidata being 

 quite common. I am not aware that this locality has 

 been much wrought, but it would unquestionably 

 repay any good work spent upon it. 



Two days upon the inferior Oolite of Bradford, 

 Wilts, and Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, con- 

 cluded the field work of the excursion, and the short 

 time that remained was spent at the Bristol Museum. 

 There is evidence of good work in this museum, 

 especially on the part of the geologists and malaco- 

 logists. It possesses several very valuable type speci- 

 mens, and is, on the whole, well arranged for the 

 display of its collections. It has no funds for pur- 



chases, and when the Higgins Collection was in the 

 market had to resort to the expedient of a public 

 subscription to secure it, but in spite of this draw- 

 back it has done exceedingly well, and has received 

 many valuable donations. The late Mr. Sanders 

 took great interest in it, Mr. Etheridge, palaeon- 

 tologist to the English Geological Survey, and many 

 others, have contributed largely to increase the number 

 and value of its specimens, and the zeal of the gentle- 

 man, recently its curator, and now of the Wood- 

 wardian Museum at Cambridge, has done much to 

 bring it to its present satisfactory state. It occupies 

 beautiful premises on a good site. The upper hall is 

 devoted to Mineralogy, Palaeontology, and recent 

 shells. The fossils are arranged in table-cases, in 

 stratigraphical order, and the light is all that could 

 be wished. A striking feature is the Ichthyosaurus, 

 completely extracted from the matrix, and suspended 

 from an iron support. This way of mounting, as 

 novel as instructive, arose out of a mistake. The 

 wrong faces of the blocks were, in some instances, 

 developed, rendering it necessary for the remains to 

 be entirely extracted, if the specimen was not to be 

 spoiled. 



The lower hall is devoted to Ethnography and 

 recent Zoology. I was sorry and rather surprised to 

 hear that more use was not made of this part of the 

 Natural History collections. The attendance of 

 students is almost nil. No attempt seems to have 

 been yet made by those who have the direction of 

 what biological teaching exists at Bristol, to take 

 advantage of the facilities which the museum offers. 



Edinburgh. T. Stock. 



AN AUTUMN RAMBLE IN EPPING 

 FOREST. 



By Dr. De Crespigny. 

 Part II. 

 * I 'HE genus Coprinus has membranous gills, which 

 become black (with the black spores)* when fully 

 developed, and finally deliquescent. Coprinus contains 

 we gathered in a pasturage below the warren. It is a 

 singular-looking fungus, edible, and remarkable for 

 its scaly cuticle : the scales are seen in the figure as 

 tufted and revolute at their ends. In the same pas- 

 ture grew another and pretty little species called 

 C. plicatilis, with plicato-sulcate pileus and small 

 umbone. As it is a good example of this kind of 

 pileus, a figure in illustration is subjoined. A good 

 specimen of the genus Cortinarius we gathered in 

 Inoloma (C.)violaceus, said by Mr. Worthington Smith 

 to be one of the very best for esculent purposes. 

 Cortinarius has been subdivided into six sections ; 

 they have all persistent membranous gills and a 

 floccose trama ; a veil of arachnoid threads and rust- 



* Specimens of the black spore section of Agaricns may be 

 found on dung-hills everywhere in A. (Copriiiarius or Pan- 

 ixolui) separatus. 



