]S4 Geological Society. 



to the immediate surface-layer of the muddy deposits, he pointed 

 out in detail the successive stages of the flint-formation, from the 

 period when the chief portion of the silica of which they are com- 

 posed was eliminated from the ocean-water hy the deep-sea sponges, 

 to the period when it became consolidated in layers or sheets con- 

 forming to the stratification of the Chalk. In relation to this 

 subject the author claimed to have sustained the following conclu- 

 sions : — 1. That the silica of the flints is derived mainly from* the 

 sponge-beds and sponge-fields, which exist in immense profusion over 

 the areas occupied by the Globigerine or calcareous " ooze." 2. That 

 the deep-sea sponges, with their environment of protoplasmic 

 matter, constitute by far the most important and , essential factors 

 in the production and stratification of the flints. '3. That, whereas 

 nearly the whole of the carbonate of lime, derived partly from 

 Toraniinifera and other organisms that have lived and died at the 

 bottom, and partly from such as have subsided to the bottom only 

 after death, goes to build up the calcareous stratum, nearly the 

 whole of the silica, whether derived from the deep-sea sponges or 

 from surface Protozoa, goes to form the flints. 4. That the sponges 

 are the only really important contributors to the flint-formation 

 that live and die at the sea-bed. 5. That the flints are just as 

 much an organic product as the Chalk itself. (i. That the stratifi- 

 cation of the flint is the immediate result of all sessile Protozoan 

 life being confined to the superficial layer of the muddy deposits. 

 7. That the substance which received the name of " Eathj/bius" 

 and was declared to be an independent living Moneron, is, in reality, 

 sponge-protoplasm. 8. That no valid UtTiological distinction exists 

 between the Chalk and the calcareous mud of the Atlantic ; and, 

 pro tanto, therefore the calcareous mud may be, and in all proba- 

 bility is, " a continuation of the Chalk-formation." 



2. " Undescribed Fossil Carnivora from the Sivalik Hills, in the 

 Collection of the British Museum." By P. N. Bose, Esq., B.Sc. 



This communication contained descriptions of nine species of 

 Carnivora from the ossiferous Sivaliks, together with an introduc- 

 tion, in which the age of the Sivalik fauna, and several matters of 

 general interest, were briefly discussed. The species described 

 were : — Mach'vrodus sivalensis, M. palaiindicus, Felis grandtcris- 

 tata, Hyaena sivalensis, H. frfina, Viverra Bakerii, Lutra pcda>.indica, 

 Cunis curvipalatus, and C. Gautleyi. 



Canis curvipalatus is so named on account of the curvation of the 

 palate. C. Cautleyi is closely allied to the Wolf, as is. Viverra 

 Bakerii to the Civet. The form of the forehead is peculiar in 

 Lutra palcpAndica. In the form of the skull, the dimensions of the 

 upper tubercular, &c, Hycena sivalensis approximates to the living 

 Indian Hyasna (H. striata); but in the absence or extremely rudi- 

 mentary character of the postero-internal cusp in the lower car-" 

 nassial, as well as in the entire absence of the anterior accessory 

 cusps in the upper and the first two lower premolars, the Sivalik 



