390 Royal Geological Society ofCorii'walL 



phuncule being so often preserved without the external portion of 

 the shell, and the latter, including the septa, being, when retained, 

 extremely thin, he is of opinion that the shell must have been en- 

 veloped in the animal to protect it from injury. This view of the 

 relation of the shell to the soft portions of the creature, he is of 

 opinion, receives confirmation from his having observed only one 

 instance of a parasitic body being attached to Orthocerata. In this 

 instance, indeed, there are evidences that the parasite, a coral, must 

 have been formed after the death of the animal of the shell {Aclino- 

 ceras Simmsii), for the specimen exhibits in some parts, layers of 

 earthy matter, alternating with layers of the coral ; and, therefore, 

 the growth of the latter must have been more than once inter- 

 rupted by the deposition of sediment. The memoir concluded with 

 some remarks on a peculiar subdivision in the septa towards the 

 outer wall of one side of the chambers, noticed by the author in 

 several specimens of Ormoceras, in an Orthoceras from Russia, and 

 in Lituites ; but he refrained from offering any opinion, whether 

 this character is common to the family of OrthoceratidtB, or is con- 

 fined to certain genera only. 



This being the last evening of the Session, the Society adjourned 

 to Wednesday, November the 7 th. 



ROYAL GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF CORNWALL. 



At the Anniversary Meeting held on the 28th of September, 1838, 

 the President, Davies Gilbert, Esq., D.C.L., F.R.S., in the Chair, 

 the Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the Council was read. 



After noticing Her Majesty's reception of the address of congratu- 

 lation and condolence from the Society, and her consent to be its 

 Patroness, the Council proceed as follows : 



" The Map (of what may perhaps not improperly be termed the 

 surface Geology) of Cornwall, executed by Mr. De la Beche, and the 

 illustrative Memoir by which it is to be accompanied, — anticipated 

 in the last Report, — have not yet appeared. 



" Unforeseen circumstances, chiefly on the part of the printer, 

 have delayed the appearance of the Fifth Volume of the Society's 

 Transactions ; but a considerable portion of it, embracing a large 

 part of Mr. Hen wood's Memoir on the Mines of the County, on which 

 he has been more or less occupied for twelve years past, is now on 

 the table ; and, the surveys being all completed, it will be published 

 in the early part of the ensuing year. 



" Dr. Boase has been compelled to delay his Memoir on the di- 

 luvium and other transported matter of Cornwall ; but it is only de- 

 ferred, not withdrawn, and will occupy a prominent place in the 

 next volume of Transactions. 



" The Donations to the Museum and Library, during the past j^ear, 

 have not been very numerous, but in value they have not been often 

 exceeded : among others, the Council desire to particularize the ex- 

 tensive collection of Organic Remains from the Chalk of Sussex, 

 presented by Mrs. Davies Gilbert ; an excellent series of the mag- 

 nesian limestone from Northumberland, by W. Mansel Tweedy, Esq. ; 



