■BRITISH ISLES. 39 



out ; and tho author thinks that the course of the Avon through its 

 gorge is in intimate connexion with the systems of joints in the lime- 

 stone, and that many of its bends are primarily due thereto. H. B. W. 



Tawney, E. B. Notes on the Lias in the Neighbourhood of Radstock. 

 JV'oc. Bristol Nat. Soc. n. ser. vol. i. pt. 2, pp. 167-189. 



Describes sections in the neighbourhood of Kadstock, and gives the 

 organic contents of the various beds in detail. Palaeontological remarks 

 are made on some of the species, and references are given to the work 

 and opinions of other writers. A table showing the geographical dis- 

 tribution of the Ammonites and BracMopoda is appended. R. E., Jun. 



Teall, J. J. H. The Potton and "Wicken Phosphatic Deposits. 

 Pp. 44. 8vo. Camhridge. 



Gives an account of the literature of tho subject. Describes the 

 phosphatic beds as they are now to be seen. Notices the sections near 

 Potton, mentioning the occurrence of foreign boulders in the coprolite- 

 bed, and pointing out that the fossils occur in two conditions, as fer- 

 ruginous shells and as derived phosphatic casts. The latter have come 

 from various horizons (Portlandian to L. Neocomian inclusive), proving 

 extensive denudation. At Wicken the phosphatic deposits are banked 

 up against an old island of Coral Hag ; they likewise contain in- 

 digenous and derived fossils, the former abundant and preserved in cal- 

 cite, the latter chiefly derived from older Neocomian. Gives a sketch 

 of the Neocomian in Norfolk, Bedford, Cambridge, and Buckingham, 

 noting important sections, and concludes that the Potton and Wicken 

 beds belong to the latest Neocomian. There are remarks on the Neo- 

 comians of Lincolnshire and W. Europe, on the origin of the phosphatic 

 matter, and on the physical geography of the period. A. J. J-B. 



Tiddeman, R. H. Second Report of the Committee appointed for 

 the purpose of assisting in the Exploration of the Settle Caves 

 (Victoria Cave). Rep. Bnt. Assoc, for 1874, pp. 133-138. (Re- 

 printed, 8vo. Lancaster.) 

 Chiefly describes the work done with the view of establishing tho 

 age of tho ' laminatod clay,' which uniformly overlies the lower cave- 

 earth. The * talus' is wholly composed of angular fragments of white 

 limestone fallen from the cliff above. Beneath this is a mass of 

 glaciated boulders, chiefly of black limestone and Silurian rocks. A 

 hole dug through tho boulder-bod reached gravel and yellow clay, like 

 that at the base of the laminated clay. It is believed that the laminated 

 clay was formed from the muddy water of an ice-sheet or glacier, and 

 consequently that the cave-earth below it is older than the glaciation 

 of the N.W. of England. In 1872 a small bone of doubtful character 

 was found in the cave-earth lying alongside bones of Hycpna, Bliinoceros 

 ticJtorhinus, &c. ; and near it were two molars of ElepJias (believed to 

 be E. antiquits). Prof. Busk has shown that the small bone is a human 

 fibula of unusual form, but closely resembling that of the Montone 

 skeleton. The conclusion is that man inhabited tho N.W. of England 

 before tho icc-shect overspread tho country. W. T. 



