No. 3.] GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 179 



for a few yards inwards, have a coating of solid calcareous mat- 

 ter. Beneath this coating in the substance of the breccia which 

 extends across the cave mouth, as well as throughout the cave 

 earth behind the breccia, a great quantity of bones, with traces 

 of human occupation, have been found. A systematic investiga- 

 tion of the cave, commenced last autumn, is being carried on 

 under the direction of 3Ir. A. J. Corrie and Mr. W. Bruce- 

 Clarke — the discoverers of tlie osseous layer. At the present 

 time the following: amon<j: other remains have been noted: bones 

 of ox, red deer, goat, horse, pig, pine-marten, rabbit, watervole, 

 and other small rodents, together with numerous remains of birds 

 and a few fro<;- and fish bones. Interuiiniiled with these occur 

 fragments of bronze, bone needles, and other bone implements, to 

 the number of more than twenty ; one piece of worked stone (a 

 fragment of greywacke) has been found, but as yet not a single 

 chip of flint. A full account of the cave will be published as 

 soon as the investigations are completed.- — Geological Magazine. 



Fossils of the Lower Potsdam Rocks at Troy, N. Y. — 

 In the August number of the American Journal of Science, Mr. 

 S. W. Ford gives a list of the fossils found in these rocks, includ- 

 ing several which he considers as new — Microdiscus speciosus, 

 Leperditia Troyeiisis, and a bivalve of uncertain affinities. Judg- 

 ing from its fauna he concludes that the Troy series of rocks 

 is of nearly if not exactly the same age as the Oienellus or Geor- 

 gia slates of Vermont, and the Oienellus limestones on the north 

 shore of the Straits of Belle Isle. The fauna is quite distinct 

 specifically from that of the Upper Potsdam of Wisconsin and 

 the true Potsdam of New York, as well as from that of the more 

 ancient St. John's or Menevian group of New Brunswick and 

 its equivalent in the Primordial of Newfoundland : but is connect- 

 ed with each of them generically. 



Saponite. — This mineral occurs in cavities in the trap of 

 George or Hog Island, y small island in Richmond Bay, on the 

 north coast of Princp Edward Island. It is grayish-white to 

 grayish-green in ccior ; subtranslucent before exposure to the 

 air, but afterwart^.s becoming opaque and white. Massive and 

 very soft, but becoming brittle on drying. Sp. gr. 2.23 — 2.27. 

 Before the bj-'^wpipc becomes opaque and fuses at about 4. In 



