130 Miscellaneous. 



fauna consists of a group of specialized sea-urchins and of gastro- 

 pods among which Turritellse are very prominent. 



The Author emphasizes the uniformity of the Lower Eocene 

 throughout Egypt, its triple subdivision being recognizable over 

 vast areas. In the Middle Eocene this uniformity is replaced by 

 differentiation, the well-known regions of the Fayum and the 

 Moqattam Hill differing from the succession in the area selected as 

 typical in this paper. In the latter, five zones have been recognized 

 in the lower division, while in the Upper Moqattam the Turritella- 

 beds and the strata rich in Carolia placunoides and Plicatula poly- 

 morpha are of zonal importance. The Lower Moqattam is considered 

 as beginning with the Nummulites-gizehensis zone and closing with 

 the Gistorti a -bed, to the significance and extent of which attention 

 is especially directed. 



The Author discusses the relation between the Cretaceous and 

 Eocene beds, and points out that they differ lithologically, limestones 

 being dominant in the Lower Eocene and shales in the Upper 

 Cretaceous. 



Palaeontologically, great groups such as the Ammonites still 

 abundant in the Upper Cretaceous disappear in the Eocene and are 

 replaced by the characteristic nummuliuid foraminifera. On the 

 other hand, both periods bear a strong resemblance to each other 

 in the dominance of oysters and sea-urchins over other forms. A 

 notable feature is the comparative rarity of brachiopoda in Egypt 

 throughout both periods, nor have belemnites been recorded from 

 the Egyptian Cretaceous. 



Among post-Eocene formations the calcareous grits are shown to 

 have a wide extension : but in the Desert they differ in character 

 from the mammal-yielding beds of the Fayum. The question as 

 to the Upper Eocene or Oligocene age of these beds is left over. 



The quartz-chert gravels appear to be closely related to the 

 calcareous grits, but are unconformable upon them. This continental 

 phase is accompanied by volcanic and geyser activity. 



The Cretaceous Period in Egypt was therefore one, in the main, 

 marked by the gain of sea over land, the Eocene was one of rest, 

 while at the close of the Eocene and during the Oligocene the 

 approach of a continental phase is clearly indicated. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

 Richard Bowdler Sharpe, LL.D. 



Dr. Richabd Bowdler Sharpe, the eminent ornithologist, died 

 on Christmas Day at his residence in Chiswick. Dr. Sharpe was 

 born in London on November 22nd, 1847, and was educated at 

 Brighton, and at Peterborough and Loughborough Grammar 

 Schools. Even as a boy he was an enthusiastic naturalist, and 

 in his holidays at Cookham made a collection of Birds, which he 



