Scientific Intelligence — Geology. 387 



mence formations of marl and sandy clays, in which marine and 

 fresh- water fossils are minofled ; that the two seas communicated with 

 one another for a period by a channel, and had a common fauna 

 even to the formation of the most recent deposits, which include some 

 existing species. — {American Journal, Vol. i., 2d Series, No. 1, 

 p. 123.) 



29. Siliceous Microscopic Sea Animals in Guano. — Professor 

 Ehrenberg has stated to the Berlin Academy of Sciences that he had 

 examined a guano said to be from Africa, although labelled •' Pacific 

 Ocean," received from London by Schomburgh ; a guano of com- 

 merce which had been employed by Professor Henry Rose in his 

 laboratory ; a specimen brought by Humboldt from Arica in Peru ; 

 and lastly, a sample of the guano of commerce which had been used 

 by Magnus in his laboratory ; and that he had found in all the four 

 a large quantity of siliceous marine infusoria, viz., respectively 34, 

 37, 28, and 26 species, in all 75 distinct species. It would there- 

 fore seem that the 0*32 of silica detected in guano by Klaproth 

 in 1827, is derived from these minute animals. 



30. On the Alios of the North West of France. — Messrs Fleury 

 and Lalesque have sent to the Academy of Sciences of Paris various 

 specimens of a vegeto-mineral substance, known in the departments 

 of the Gironde and the Landes under the denomination o^ Alios, and 

 which forms the subsoil of the whole western portion of these two 

 departments. Hitherto the alios has been regarded as a siliceous 

 sand, united together by a ferruginous cement, and the sterility of 

 the superimposed soils has been attributed to it. The researches 

 undertaken by Messrs Fleury and Lalesque tend to shew that it is 

 composed of silica and a substance which has all the characters of 

 ulmine, except its solubility in alcohol. In the letter which accom- 

 panies the specimens, the authors announce their intention of soon 

 submitting to the Academy a complete account of the Alios^ considered 

 in its relations to geology, rural economy, and public health.*— 

 (Comptes Rendus, Vol. xx., p. 1804.) 



31. Ti^aces of Glacial Action at North Berwick, 8fc. — In the year 

 1844, 1 observed evident traces of glacial action (polishing and groov- 

 ing) on some of the trap rocks above high- water mark, on the south 

 side of the ancient burial-ground near the harbour at North Ber- 

 wick ; and in September last (1845), I found also unequivocal traces 

 of the same action on the rocks of the north face of North Berwick- 

 Law, where the unweathered surface had been recently exposed by 

 clearing away the accumulated debris for road material. I may add, 

 that several years since I observed similar traces on the horizontal 

 surface of a very hard bed of the old red sandstone, which forms the 

 summit of the remarkable promontory, the " Red-Head" in Forfar- 

 shire. The direction of the scratches or grooves in all these cases 



• The AlioM seems to be analogous to the moorband-pan of this country. 



