228 Geological Society. 



through part of Persia, in 1884, was the exploration of a deposit 

 containing Pliocene mammals, discovered thirty years ago near 

 Maragha, east of Lake Urumia, by Gobel and KhanikoflP. The first 

 part of the present paper gives a brief account of the results of this 

 exploration, together with a list of the fossils. 



The ossiferous deposits near Maragha are of fluvio-lacustrine 

 origin, and consist chiefly of reddish marls, similar to those of 

 Pikermi, and formed from the detritus of the volcanic mountain of 

 Sahend, These Pliocene beds rest upon horizontal Cretaceous strata, 

 and pass upwards into Pleistocene deposits with erratic blocks. 



In the list of fossil Mammalia it is shown that several are the 

 same as Pikermi forms. A Hipparion^ probably identical with H. 

 gracile, is the most abundant. The supposed occurrence of Pleis- 

 tocene forms, such as EJiinoceros t ichor Jiinus, associated with the 

 Maragha Pliocene fossils, is probably an error. 



The second part of the paper contains notes on specimens of 

 Elephas primigenlus, chiefly in the Museum of Tiflis. The third 

 part gives very briefly the principal results of the Author's exami- 

 nation of Pleistocene Proboscidea in the various museums of Europe, 

 especially in those of Germany and Italy, and concludes^ with his 

 views with respect to Elephas antiquus, E. melitce (which he con- 

 siders a dwarf form of E. antiquus), E. vieridionalis, E. hysudricus 

 (which the Author considers identical with E. meridionalis), E.jyrimi- 

 tjenius, and a few other species, one of which is believed to be 

 new. 



February 10, 1886.— Prof. T. G. Bonney, D.Sc, LL.D., F.H.S., 



President, in the Chair. 

 The following communication was read : — 



" On a new Species of Psilotites from the Lanarkshire Coal-field." 

 By K. Kidston, Esq., E.G.S. 



The specimen described, which was found by Mr. Walter Burns 

 in 1884, consists of three parallel branchlets with thorn-like projec- 

 tions on one side only. The Author describes these as a form of 

 Goldenberg's genus Psilotites, and points out that they have much 

 resemblance to Dawson's Psilophyton. 



March 24, 1886.— Prof. J. W. Judd, P.R.S., 

 President, in the Chair. 



The following communication was read : — 



"On the Genus Diphyphyllam, Lonsdale." By James Thomson, 

 Esq., F.G.S. 



The Author commenced by giving a definition of the genus Diphy- 

 2>hi/llum, and then proceeded to discuss its relations with some 

 allied forms, such as Lithostrotion, Lithodendron, and Campophyllum. 

 Diphyphyllum was shown to be restricted in Scotland to the lower 

 portion of the CarbouiferouB system, and not to have survived the 

 great development of vulcanic action in the upper part of the 



