58S 



NATURE 



[October i i, 1900 



of the Ijotanical evidence bearing on the climatic and other 

 physical conditions under which coal was formed ; and Mr. J. E. 

 Marr continued with a general outline of the geological evidence, 

 laying stress on the peculiar coincidence during the Carbon- 

 iferous period of a dominant vegetation of giant cryptogams with 

 extensive plains of sedimentation and suitable climatic condi- 

 tions. The debate thus initiated was then thrown open to the 

 meeting and was carried on briskly by numerous speakers, among 

 whom were Dr. Horace Brown, who gave the result of his 

 experiments on the growth of plants in an atmosphere contain- 

 ing a slight excess of carbonic acid gas, and showed a series of 

 lantern slides illustrating these experiments ; Prof. P. F. 

 Kendall, who supported the growth-in-place theory for most 

 coals except cannel-coal ; Mr. R. D. Oldham, who referred to 

 the absence of seat-earths or under-clays to the seams in the 

 Indian coal-fields ; Dr. D. H. Scott, Dr. H. Woodward, Dr. 

 H. O. Forbes, Dr. Wheelton Hind, Dr. Le Neve Foster, Mr. 

 W. Cash, and others. In winding up this somewhat discursive 

 debate, which had occupied the whole of the morning, the 

 president leant strongly towards the growth-in-place theory, and 

 this view was evidently also in favour with the greater portion of 

 the audience. 



Dr. E. D. Wellburn next gave two papers on the fossil fish 

 of the Yorkshire Coal-field and of the Millstone Grits. Mr. 

 J. J. H. Teall, President of the Geological Society, then de- 

 scribed the plutonic complex of Cnoc-na-Sroine (Sutherland- 

 shire), and discussed the three possible ways in which it may 

 have originated, viz. by (i) successive intrusions ; (2) differentia- 

 tion in situ ; or (3) modification of the original magma by the 

 absorption of adjacent basic rocks, the conclusion being that the 

 first method has not in this case played an important part, and 

 that the second, coupled perhaps to some extent with the third, 

 has been the main agent in forming the complex. Prof. K. 

 Busz, of Miinster, followed with a paper on a granophyre dyke 

 intrusive in gabbro at Ardnamurchan (Scotland), in which it 

 was shown that the granophyre in question has absorbed a con- 

 siderable quantity of basic material from the previously consoli- 

 dated gabbro, and has thereby added hornblende and mica to 

 its proper constituents. Both papers provoked lively discussion. 

 Tuesday was essentially the glacialists' day and they made 

 vigorous use of it, occupying nearly the whole session. Time 

 was found, however, at the opening for a paper by Miss Igerna 

 B. J. Sollas, " On Naiadiies from the Upper Rhsetic of Red- 

 land, Bristol " ; and there was another break at the close, when 

 Prof. A. P. Coleman, of Toronto, gave an account of the recent 

 discovery of a ferriferous horizon in the Huronian north of Lake 

 Superior, where a band of iron-bearing sandstone and jasper has 

 already been traced for sixty miles in the Michipicoton district, 

 and promises to be of great value from both the economic and 

 the scientific standpoints, as it furnishes an easily-recognised 

 horizon, probably equivalent to that containing the most famous 

 iron mines of the United States, and afTords an excellent clue to 

 the stratigraphy. 



Of the glacial papers, the first, by Mr. F. W. Harmer, was a 

 theoretical discussion of the influence of winds upon climate 

 during past epochs, in which it was sought to restore hypotheti- 

 cally the distribution of cyclonic and anti-cyclonic areas during 

 the Pleistocene period, and to explain in this manner the phen- 

 omena of interglacial periods, which the author believes to 

 have occurred alternately in the eastern and western continents, 

 the conditions of comparative warmth and cold during 

 this period having been local and due directly to meteor- 

 ological causes. Then followed a series of excellent 

 papers on the glacial phenomena of the West Riding, by 

 Dr. Monckman, Mr. E. Wilson, and Messrs. A. Jowett and 

 II. B. Muff, in which particular attention was drawn to the 

 former existence of glacially-dammed lakes in the side valleys 

 draining to the Aire, and to the overflow channels cut by the 

 streams which had their source in these lakes. The glaciation 

 of the East Riding was afterwards dealt with in two papers by 

 Mr. J. W. Stather ; and Mr. R. H. Tiddeman brought forward 

 evidence proving that the raised beach of Gower in South 

 Wales, with the bone-beds which rest upon it in the caves, must 

 be either of pre- or inter-Glacial age, since they are overlain by 

 glacial drift ; this matter is of much consequence in the corre- 

 lation of Pleistocene deposits of the unglaciated parts of our 

 island with those of the glaciated tracts. 



At the final meeting on Wednesday morning, Mr. R. D. 

 • Oldham discussed the mode of formation of the Basal Carbon- 

 iferous Conglomerate of UUswater in the light of his Indian 



NO. 161 5, VOL. 62] 



experience, and suggested that it was a torrential deposit 

 formed on dry land near ihe foot of a range of hills, in a generally , 

 dry and hot climate varied by seasonal or periodical bursts of 

 rain. In a second paper Mr.' Oldham called attention to good 

 examples of new beach-formation on the shores of Thirlmere 

 Reservoir, and recommended that a photographic survey should 

 be made from time to time to record the progress and growth of 

 this beach. Mr. W. H. Crofts followed with a careful and well- 

 illustrated account of sections in Glacial and post-Glacial 

 deposits in a new dock at Hull ; and Mr. A. C. Seward gave a 

 summarised description of the Jurassic flora of the Yorkshire 

 coast, with many fine lantern illustrations. Mr. G. W. 

 Lamplugh afterwards reviewed the evidence as to the age of the 

 English Wealden series, and supported the long-accepted but 

 recently questioned view that the whole of the time-interval 

 between the closing stages of the Jurassic and the commence- 

 ment of the Aptian is represented. 



The reports of committees of research read during the meet- 

 ing included, among others, Prof. W. W. Watts', on the 

 collection and preservation of geological photographs ; Prof. 

 P. F. Kendall's, on erratic blocks of the British Isles ; Dr. 

 Wheelton Hind's, on life-zones in British Carboniferous rocks; 

 and Prof. A. P. Coleman's, on the Pleistocene beds of Canada. 



The .short afternoon excursions were under the leadership of 

 Mr, J. E. Wilson, Mr. H. B. Muff and Dr. Monckman, who 

 were thus able to show in the field some of the phenomena which 

 they had described in their papers. These excursions were well 

 attended and much appreciated by the visitors from a distance, 

 who in this way were enabled rapidly and pleasantly to gain a 

 grasp of the leading features of the local geology. 



A well-arranged temporary museum, under the supervision of 

 Mr. J. E. Wilson, for the exhibition of specimens illustrating 

 the papers and the coal-discussion, was located in a large 

 room adjoining the section room, and was especially serviceable 

 in enabling those interested in the particular subjects illustrated 

 to examine the material at their leisure and to compare notes 

 upon it with the exhibitors. The lantern, so often a source of 

 annoyance at the sectional meetings, was ably managed through- 

 out ; and indeed the whole of the local arrangements for the 

 accommodation of the section were admirably planned and 

 carried out, the only drawback being that the noise of heavy 

 traffic on the stone pavement outside was at times troublesome. 



To sum up the week's work, it may be remarked that there 

 was an unusual number of papers dealing with subjects of broad 

 general interest and therefore well suited for public discussion, 

 and a scarcity of those detailed studies in stratigraphy or classi- 

 fication which, though probably of more permanent scientific 

 value, are ill-adapted for presentation at these meetings ; the 

 local papers also were numerous and well above the average in 

 character ; petrology and palseontology were both adequately 

 represented ; but systematic geology received little attention. 



The morning meetings were well attended throughout, but, as 

 usual, in the afternoons only the devoted nucleus of the section 

 remained. 



ZOOLOGY (AND PHYSIOLOGY) AT THE 

 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



'T^HE opening day (Thursday) was devoted to the president's 

 -'- address in the morning and the reports of various com- 

 mittees in the afternoon. The reports were as follows : — 



(i) Bird migration in Great Britain and Ireland. — Mr. Eagle 

 Clarke has completed the extraction of the voluminous records 

 of occurrences of birds in Great Britain and Ireland from the 

 periodical literature of 1880-1887. The information thus pro- 

 vided supplements in a most useful manner the original Light- 

 house data, and renders it possible for the first time to write an 

 authoritative history of the migrations of each British bird. Mr. 

 Clarke begins the series with a summary of details of the various 

 migratory movements of (i) the Song-Thrush (Tttrdus musicus) 

 and (ii) the White Wagtail (Molacilla alba). 



(2) Investigations at the Naples Zoological Station. — The 

 utility of the British Association's table was again demonstrated 

 by the number of naturalists who had occupied it during the 

 year. Reports on work done there were submitted by Mr. H. M. 

 Kyle (anatomy of flat-fishes), Mr. E. S. Goodrich (structure 

 of certain polychaete worms), Prof. W. A. Herdman (Compound 

 Ascidians), Mr. R. T. Gunther (anatomy of Phyllirhoe and 

 certain Ccelenterates), Dr. A. H. R. Buller (fertilisation process 



