Geological Society. 513 



by the quantity of plants which occur throughout the Stonesfield 

 slate beds, and also from the relics of land animals, such as the Di- 

 delphis and Pterodactylus. The clays which lie upon the slate may 

 possibly represent the Bradford clay, or if not, are the equivalents of 

 certain clay beds, containing Apiocrinites, which in Wiltshire separate 

 the firestone from a lower stratum of freestone of a coarser texture. 



3. " Description of a Fossil Ray from Mount Lebanon." By Sir 

 Philip Grey Egerton, Bart., M.P. 



The author describes a new and most remarkable fossil fish brought 

 from Syria by Capt. Graves, R.N. It is a true ray, much resembling 

 those of the present period, but entirely surrounded by a broad flexi- 

 ble cartilagino- membranous fin. The skin appears to have been 

 smooth, and there are no traces of dermal spines, tubercles, or de- 

 fensive weapons. From its apparent helplessness, Sir Philip Eger- 

 ton conjectures that it was probably armed like the torpedo, to which 

 it is in some respects allied, with an electrical apparatus. He names 

 it Cyclobatis oligodactylies. 



4. " Description of some New Species of Fossil Fish, from the 

 Oxford Clay of Christian-Malford." By Sir Philip Grey Egerton, 

 Bart., M.P. 



Three new species are described in this communication, the Lepi- 

 dotus macrochirus, the Leptolepis macrophthalmus, and the Aspidorhyn- 

 chus enodus. They were procured by the Marquis of Northampton 

 and Mr. Pratt. 



5. " On certain Calcareo-corneous Bodies found in the Outer 

 Chambers of Ammonites." By Mr. H. E. Strickland. 



These bodies are semicircular, very thin, slightly concave plates, 

 usually corneous, sometimes more or less calcareous. Mr. Strickland 

 regards them as having formed laminar appendages to the animals 

 of the Ammonites, adapted to discharge some unascertained function. 

 They resemble the two expanded valves of Aptychus, soldered toge- 

 ther ; and the author considers them as allied to that fossil, to which 

 he attributes a similar origin. 



November 6. — First Meeting of the Session. The President, Mr. 

 Warburton, in the Chair. A paper was read entitled " Observations 

 on the Geology of some parts of Tuscany," by Mr. W. J. Hamilton, 

 M.P., Sec. G.S. 



One of the principal features of the district examined by the 

 author, is the existence of three distinct mountain ridges, extending 

 from N.W. to S,E. by S. parallel to the direction of the main chain 

 of the Apennines, and all belonging to the cretaceous system. The 

 valleys between these ranges are filled with tertiary deposits. Second- 

 ary formations form the greater part of the mountainous district of 

 Tuscany, consisting of beds of sandstone, indurated marls and shales, 

 and compact gray lithographic limestone or scaglia. These some- 

 times alternate with each other, and are variously developed in dif- 

 ferent localities. Fossils are rare in all of them. The tertiary for- 

 mations are both marine and freshwater. The marine tertiaries at- 

 tain a height of nearly 1800 feet in the basin of Volterra, where 

 they consist of beds of blue marl and sandy limestones, capped by 



Ann. §■ Mag. N.Hist. Vol. xiv. Suppl. 2 M 



