476 



NATURE 



{August 29, 1878 



of granite fragments, farther south a mixture of granite and 

 slate, and at the south-east almost exclusively of slate debris. 

 At all these places it is so intimately associated with the 

 porphyry that any demarcation between them is impossible, and 

 there can be no doubt that it is due to the broken and disinte- 

 grated crust, shattered by the force of the volcanic explosions. 

 That the erujition differed from volcanic explosions of the nor- 

 mal character is evident from the absence of fragments of lava 

 or scoriae. It was in fact entirely aeriform, the volcanic activity 

 taving evidently been subdued by the sudden dissipation of the 

 elastic gases in that part of the dyke which alone reached the 

 surface, aided by the immense weight of displaced materials 

 falling back into the gulf. 



The president remarked that the paper opened up several 

 points of interest, especially in illustrating the passage of granitic 

 into volcanic rocks ; and in bearing out the views of Prof. Judd 

 on these points, giving undoubted proof of the change from 

 granitoid rock into one by which its protrusion has produced 

 mechanical accompaniments. 



On Some Fossils from the Northamplon Sands, by John Evans, 

 D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S. — These fossils from the ironstone beds 

 of Durton, near Northampton, are casts of lithodomous borings 

 originally made in lumps of coral, impressions of which they 

 still bear on their outer surface. In the interior the presence of 

 the shells is still to be traced. Their history appears to be that 

 the cavities were first filled with limonite, subsequently con- 

 verted into carbonate of iron, and eventually hematite. Last 

 of all the inclosing coral has been entirely removed by the infil- 

 trations of water charged with carbonic acid. This last process 

 has probably taken place since the emergence of the beds from 

 below the sea-level. The Northampton Sands have been fully 

 described by Mr. Samuel Sharp, F.G.S., in the Quarterly 

 Journal of the Geological Society. 



A paper was read by Mr. H. W. Baily, F.G. S., <?« a New Star- 

 fish from Lower Silurian Caradoc Strata, Co. Wexford, and some 

 NrM Carboniferous Limestone Mollusca from the County of 

 Limerick. — The starfish, of which a number of very perfect 

 specimens had been collected through the exertions of Mr. H. 

 Kinahan, during the progress of the Geological Survey, was 

 named by Mr. Baily Palasterina kinahana. The carboniferous 

 limestone fossils \Aere all molluscan shells, principally cephalopods, 

 belonging to Nautilus goniatites and OrthoceratHes, with a few bi- 

 valves and univalves belonging to Cardiomorpha macrocheilus, &c. 

 On the Saurians of the Dakota Cretaceous Hocks of Colorado, 

 by Prof. E. D. Cope. — This paper was illustrated by crayon- 

 drawings of the bones, of the natural size, which well illusti-ated 

 the gigantic proportions of the several species. The first de- 

 scribed was the Camatasaui::uiju^remus, Cope, of one individual 

 of which a large number of bones have been found. The 

 vertebrae are opisthocoelous, and their centres are hollow, with 

 the internal cavity divided into two chambers by a septum. The 

 caudal vertebrae and limbs are solid, or nearly so, and the neck 

 is long. The scapula is enormous, measuring 5^ feet in eleva- 

 tion, so that the fore limb was probably as long as or longer 

 than the hind limb. There are four sacral vertebrae and the 

 femur is six feet in length. The elevation to the top of the head 

 was probably 26-28 feet. The description of three species of 

 Amphiccelias followed. The type A. alius, Cope, presents the 

 same kind of chambers of the vertebral cerebrum as Camara- 

 saurus, but the articular extremities are both concave. Both 

 genera possess a new articular element, called by Prof. Cope 

 a hyposphen. This is the reverse of the zygosphen, standing 

 below the postzygapophysis, and looking upwards and outwards. 

 The neural spine oi Amp hica: lias is antero posteriorly placed, that of 

 Camarasaui-us transversely, and in the latter, in the dorsal region, 

 it is divided to the base, and the halves separated. A. alius 

 was as large as C, supremus, the femur measuring six feet and 

 the dorsal vertebra 3*5 feet elevation. 



Prof. Cope then indulged in some reflections as to the habits 

 of the genera so remarkable for their thin-walled dorsal and 

 cervical vertebrae. He was of the opinion that the caverns 

 were not filled with cartilage but with diverticula from the 

 lungs or other air-cavities. Prof. Cope advanced the hypo- 

 thesis that the species of Camarasaurus and Amphico^lias were 

 dwellers in water of sometimes considerable depth, where they 

 walked on the bottom, and browsed on the algae and sometimes 

 aerial vegetation growing on the coast. The long fore-limbs 

 and long neck of Camarasaurus were further evidence that the 

 animal reached upwards for food, as the giraffe, or for air when 

 submerged. 



Prof. Cope concluded by remarking that the Dakota epoch 

 had been referred to the middle of the European cretaceous 

 series on the evidence of the mollusca and plants, but now the 

 vertebrata parallelise it with some portion of the Jurassic series 

 in the wide sense. 



Prof. Hull, F.R.S. , gave a sketch of the geology of the en- 

 virons of Dublin. 



On the Progress of the Geological Survey of Ireland, by Prof. 

 Hull, M.A., F.R.S., Director (communicated with the sanction 

 of the Director- General). — The author gave a short account of 

 the origin and progress of the Geological Survey from its com- 

 mencement in 1832, under the late Gen. Portlock, R.E., down 

 to the present day, stating that the whole country south of a line 

 drawn roughly from Larne on the coast of Antrim to Sligo had 

 been surveyed, while 160 sheets of the geological map, on a 

 scale of one inch to the statute mile, had been published. 



Along with the maps there had been issued seventy-eight 

 separate explanatory memoirs, describing the structure and 

 palaeontology of 126 sheets. It had also been found necessary 

 to revise the geology of the Leicester and Tipperary coal-fields, 

 the carboniferous trap-rocks of county Limerick, and the south- 

 east portion of the country, including parts of Wicklow and 

 Wexford. The coal-fields of the north of Ireland had also 

 been surveyed, and published in the maps both of the "6 -inch" 

 and " I inch " scales ; and it was also intended that the districts 

 of county Antrim containing the pisolitic iron ores should be 

 illustrated by maps on both these scales. The district still re- 

 maining to be examined includes the greater portion of Donegal, 

 Tyrone, Sligo, Fermanagh, and Antrim. 



On the conclusion of Prof. Hull's paper On the Progress of 

 the Geological Survey, the President said they must all congratu- 

 late the chief of the Geological Survey in Ireland on the progress 

 that had been made, but he hoped that however long he might 

 live in the occupation of that high post, the survey would never 

 be absolutely completed. It was quite right to re-examine sur- 

 veys that had been made ; for, from time to time discoveries 

 were made which threw a further^: light on the geological 

 views of the district, and which must be taken into account 

 before an absolutely complete survey could exist. Therefore, 

 though the survey had progressed so much, still he hoped it 

 would be long before it was completed. He wished to say one 

 word which appeared to him of importance, not only to the 

 Geological Survey of Ireland, but of England also. The object 

 of these surveys was to make the public at large thoroughly 

 acquainted with the geology of the country in which they re- 

 sided. Maps were carefully drawn and memoirs published from 

 time to time in illustration of the maps ; but, unfortunately, so 

 far as the diffusion of knowledge was concerned at the present 

 time, not owing to any prohibition of the Geological Survey, 

 but owing to some mistaken view on the part of the Treasury, 

 prohibitive prices were placed upon the geological memoirs. He 

 had seen small pamphlets priced at iSj. or 17J., though these 

 pamphlets were printed and published at the public expense for 

 the benefit of the public. He held in his hand a very small 

 pamphlet, which was published at gr. He did not think a false 

 economy of this kind ought to be suffered to go on without a 

 protest on behalf of those who were interested in geological 

 progress. He therefore felt it right to make these remarks, in 

 the hope that possibly this Association or some other learned 

 bodies might take steps to bring this matter under the^jconsidera- 

 tion of the Treasury, and point out how with the one hand they 

 were lavishly spending money for the advancement of geological 

 knowledge, and with the other withholding it from the public. 



Dr. Sterry Hunt said that in the State of Pennsylvania the 

 reports and memoirs were printed and stereotyped, and then 

 offered to the public for the mere cost of printing and paper. 

 The memoir on the table priced at 9J. would be sold there 

 for 2s. 



Mr. Tiddeman said, with respect to the prices of the geologi- 

 cal publications, he should be sorry any one should think that 

 the Survey was responsible. It could not be more disagreeable 

 to any than to the Survey themselves to find that their labour 

 was almost entirely thrown away by reason of the high prices or 

 the publications when they came out in the miserable nianner m 

 which they were produced, and which would almost disgrace a 

 fifth-rate publishing firm. , . 



On the Influence that Microscopic Vegetable Organisms had in 

 the Production of some Hydrated Iron Ores, by M. Alphonse Gages, 

 M.R.I.A.— In the tanks of the Royal College of Science, Dub- 

 lin, there are considerable deposits of hydrated peroxides ot 



