82 NATURAL SCIENCE. August, 



Lincolnshire Geology. 



Among the lists of "new occurrences" and the contributions to 

 parochial " floras," which crowd the pages of our provincial natural 

 history magazines, it is refreshing to come across such a paper as that 

 by Mr. J. H. Cooke in the Naturalist for July. Mr. Cooke, who is 

 favourably known for the work that he has carried out during his 

 residence in Malta, has returned to his native country to become the 

 honorary secretary of the Geological Section of the Lincolnshire 

 Naturalists' Union ; and the paper that has attracted our attention is 

 some wholesome advice and valuable suggestions given by him to the 

 members of that Section, indicating how they may "utilise their 

 energies to the best advantage by gathering material for the working 

 out of some of the problems in the geology of the county." Among 

 the problems to which attention is drawn is the demarcation of the line 

 between the Kimmeridge and Oxford Clays, and also of that between 

 the Kellaways Rock and the Cornbrash. " The Spilsby sandstone 

 and the determination of its derived fossils, as well as the tracing out 

 of sections showing the nodule bed which invariably occurs at its 

 base, leave much to be desired. Good work, too, might be done 

 around Gainsborough in distinguishing between, and mapping out, 

 the estuarine and the eolian sands that occur so plentifully in the 

 alluvium of the Trent Valley ; and in the north of the country in 

 studying the lithology and fossil contents of the superficial clays of 

 the Ancholme Valley, for the purpose of determining whether they 

 be true Oxfordian or of Glacial origin." The determination and corre- 

 lation of horizons by careful collection of fossils, especially in the 

 Liassic and Kimmeridge clays, is another desideratum. The various 

 river deposits of Lincolnshire also are practically virgin ground, and 

 like the gravels of the Bain and the Witham will probably yield re- 

 mains of extinct Mammalia. Mr. Cooke then turns to the investiga- 

 tion of the various rocks of the country, such as the phosphate- and 

 iron-bearing beds. He recommends their careful investigation by the 

 chemist and the microscopist, confident that this, besides throwing 

 light on the question of their origin, will lead to valuable commercial 

 results. Finally he urges the systematic study of the erratic blocks 

 of Lincolnshire, upon lines similar to those on which it has been 

 carried on in the neighbouring shire of York. This stimulating paper 

 is doubtless a sample of papers that might be written for every county 

 in England, and shows that there is still plenty of work for the 

 amateur geologist within the limits of his own parish. But Mr. 

 Cooke wisely warns his readers against confining their ambition to 

 the mere collection of records. "They should make themselves en 

 rapport with the philosophy of their subject, and endeavour to keep 

 themselves in touch with all new discoveries and theories appertain- 

 ing to it." 



