July 4. 1895] 



NA TURE 



239 



rocks ; microscopic examination of these proved that many of 

 them, at any rate, are radiolaria. The bodies occur in the nodules 

 of the lower bjcls of the ^^ell)ourn rock at Melbourn, Royston, 

 near Hitchin, Leagrave, near Luton, Pitstone and Tring, Wat- 

 lington, the Richmond boring, the lower part of the "Grit Bed " at 

 I )i)ver, Sutton Waldron and Burcombe (Dorset), and in a nodular 

 chalk which may be considered as the equivalent of the Melbourn 

 rock from Bindon Cliffs, near Axmouth, Devon. Similar organisms 

 liave recently been found in the chalk marl of Lincolnshire, Vork- 

 shirc, and Norfolk, but have not been noticed in any other parts 

 of the chalk. It was suggested that they occurred in many por- 

 tions of the chalk-ooze, but were usually rapidly and completely 

 dissolved, and contributed to that solution of silica which fur- 

 nished the substance of Hint-nodules ; and the authors concluded 

 that the preservation of traces of the radiolaria in the nodules of 

 the Melbourn rock was due to some specially favourable con- 

 ditions. A description of the changes undergone by Barbadian 

 radiolaria was given to illustrate the instability of radiolarian 

 tests. All stages were traceable, from the perfect siliceous test 

 to a structureless ball or disc filled with calcareous matter, or a 

 mere patch of clear crystalline material. A description of forms 

 lecognised in the nodules of the Melbourn rock was given. — 

 The crush-conglomerates of the Isle of Man, by G. W. 

 Lamplugh, with an appendix by W. W. Watts. The Skiddaw 

 elates of the Isle of Man have everywhere undergone intense 

 ^hearing, and on the north-ne.st side of the main stratigraphical 

 iixis actual <lisruption of the bedding with the resultant formation 

 • >f breccia or crush-conglomerate on a large scale has taken place. 

 This structure attains its widest development on the north side ot 

 I he central valley, though it is noted on a more limited scale in a 

 kw localities farther south. The sections described showed the 

 gradual smashing into fragments of highly contorted strata until 

 ever)' trace of the original bedding is lost, and a "crush-con- 

 glomerate" \Tith lenticular and partly rounded inclusions is 

 formed. The rocks described in Mr. Watts's appendix were 

 groujied in four classes. Firstly, the grits and slates which had 

 been crushed but had not been converted into crush-conglomer- 

 ates : secondly, the crush-conglomerates themselves, and the 

 fragments which they contain ; thirdly, the dykes of decomposed 

 dolerite (greenstone) and fresh later dolerite which penetrate the 

 conglomerate ; fourthly, a portion of the crush-conglomerate 

 metamorphosed by these intrusions. The chief point of interest 

 H.as brought out by the examination of the fragments in the con- 

 glomerate. All stages of crushing could be traced, until the 

 grit-fragments had a structure which was a mere miniature of the 

 crush-conglomerate itself : that is to say, if the crush-conglomerate 

 be regarded as made of " fragments" of hard rocks enclosed in 

 I rushed "matrix" of soft rocks, a host of intermediate varieties 

 with varying resistances will occur. — The chalky clay of the 

 I'enland and its borders ; its constitution, origin, distribution, 

 and age, by Sir Henry H. Howorth, .M.P., F.R.S. The dis- 

 tribvition of the clay (so often termed chalky hotilder clay) was 

 noticed. The paucity of foreign .stones was noted as compared 

 with natives, and the similarity of the matrix of the chalky clay 

 to the material of the older deposits of the neighbourhood. The 

 author maintained that the contents of the clay indicate move- 

 ment of material from west to cast in some places, as shown by 

 Jurassic fossils in the East .\nglian chalky clay, and from east to 

 west in others ; in fact, that movement took place in sporadic 

 lines diverging from the Wash and the Fens. He appealed to 

 the amount of disintegration that had taken place to furnish 

 the material for the clay, the shape of the stones in the clay, and 

 the distribvttion of the clay itself, as evidence against the action 

 of land-ice t>r icebergs, and maintained that there was no evi- 

 dence of submergence at the time the clay was formed ; and 

 criticised the attempts made to explain the formation of the clay 

 by water produced by the melting of ice. — On the occurrence of 

 5/m'rAn-.limestonc and thin coals in the so-called Permian 

 rocks of Wyre Forest ; with considerations as to the systematic 

 |M).sition of the " Permians" of Salopian type, by T. Croslwe 

 Omtrill. In South Staffordshire a thick series of red rocks — 

 the so-called Lower Permian — overlies the ordinary yellow and 

 grey coal measures, and underlies the Triassic rocks. They con- 

 sist of sandstones, marls, calcareous conglomerates, and breccias, 

 having a general red or purplish-red colour. Sinkings have 

 shown that these red rocks must be regarded as of Upper Coal 

 .Measure age, because their included fossils have an Upjier Coal 

 Measure /i!</Vx The rocks contain bands of limestone char.ac- 

 tcriseil by the presence of Spirothis pusillus : those parts of the 

 series which have not yielded Coal Measure fossils being ap- 



parently similar lithologically to those which have yielded them. 



The evidence furnished by the deposits of the Forest of Wyre 

 ( = Enville) district also led the author to regard the red rocks 

 associated with Spiroriis-hme'ilone and coals as Upper Coal 

 Measures, exhibiting a gradual passing away of Coal Measure 

 conditions and the incoming of those of new red sandstone 

 times. 



Linnean Society, June 20. — Mr. C. B. Clarke, President, 

 in the chair. — Mr. F. Enock exhibited and made some remarks 

 u])on a living specimen of an aquatic hymenopterous insect, 

 Polyiiema natans, Lubbock. — Messrs. E. Baker and C. Reid 

 exhibited some rare plants from the limestone hills, Co. Kerry, 

 including Pinguicula grandiflora^ Lam. contrasted with P. 

 vulgaris, and Saxifraga Getim contrasted with 5'. uiiihrosa, with 

 a view of determining their value as sub-species or geographical 

 races. — .Mr. Carruthers exhibited some feathers of a cuckoo 

 taken at Whitchurch, .Shropshire, on May 23 last, amongst 

 which were some moulted feathers which were held connected 

 with the new feathers which had replaced them by means of the 

 barbed seed capsules of a sub-tropical grass, Cenchriis echinatus. 

 — On behalf of Mr. S. Loat, there was exhibited a cuckoo's 

 egg, taken from the nest of a hedge-sparrow, together with five 

 white eggs of that species, an abnormality not often met with. 

 .•\n examination of these eggs under the microscope showed 

 that, in regard to the texture or grain of the shell, they agreed 

 with eggs of the hedge-sparrow, and not with those of the robin, 

 of which white varieties are not so rare. — Mr. George West then 

 gave the substance of a paper on some North Americai^ 

 Dcsmidieir, describing the characters of several new species with 

 the aid of specially prepared lantern slides. — Mr. A. Vaughan 

 Jennings gave a detailed account of the structure of the Isopod 

 genus Oitrozeiiktes, upon which a most instructive criticism wa.s 

 offered by the Rev. J. R. Stebbing, who was present as a visitor ; 

 some further remarks being offered by Mr. W. P. Sladen. — Mr. 

 F. N. Williams communicated the salient points in a critical paper 

 which he had prepared, entitled "A Revision of the Genus 

 Sileiie." — On behalf of .Mr. E. R. Waite, Prof Howes gave an 

 abstract of a well illustrated paper on " The Egg-cases of Port 

 Jackson Sharks," and exhibited several spirit specimens in 

 further elucidation of the subject. — This meeting terminated the 

 session. 



P.\RIS. 



Academy of Sciences, June 24. — M. Marey in the chair. — 

 (!)n the gradual extinction of an ocean-roller at great distances- 

 from its place of production : fonnation of equations of the 

 problem, by M. J. Boussinesq. — New studies on the fluorescence 

 of argon and on its combination with the elements of benzene, 

 by M. Berthelot. With the help of M. Deslandres, the 

 author has made a more complete spectroscopic examination 

 of the emerald-green light produced by the fluorescence of 

 argon under the influence of the silent electric discharge. The 

 significance of the various rays observed or photographed is dis- 

 cu.ssed. Finally, the conclusion is drawn that this fluorescence 

 is definitely due to a condensation compound of argon ; it 

 points to the probable existence of a complex state of equili- 

 brium in which argon, mercury, and the elements of benzene are 

 concerned. — On the campholenic lactones, by .MM. Berthelot 

 and Rivals. The lactones have heats of formation greater 

 than those of the isomeric acids. — On the heats of solution and 

 neutralisation of campholenic acids, by M. Berthelot. — Reduc- 

 tion of silica by carbon, by M. Henri Moissan. With a current 

 of 1000 amperes at 50 volts, the author has obtained character- 

 istic crystals of silicon, but always mixed with carbon silicide. 

 .\t the high temperature attained, carbon from the crucible 

 reduces the .silica of the charge. — Observations on a note, 

 by MM. Barbier and Bouveault, on the products of con- 

 densation of valeric aldehyde, by ^L C. Friedel.— On 

 the integration of linear equations by the aid of definite 

 integrals, by M. Ludwig Schlesinger. — On the determination of 

 the ratio of the two specific heats for .air, by M. G. Maneuvrier. 

 A new method and new apjiaratus are described. The experi- 

 mental determination of the ratio of the specific heats h;ts 

 yielded the follow ing numbers : — Air, y — I '3924 ; carbon 

 dioxide, 7= I 298 ; hydrogen, 7 = I "384 under the ordinary 

 conditions of temperature and pressure. — On the propagation of 

 sound in a cyhndrical tube, by MM. J. VioUe and Th. Vautier. 

 An account of the conduction of musical sounds over long dis- 

 tances by pipes of wide diameter. — On the refraction and. dis- 

 persion of ultra-violet radiations in some crystallised substances. 



NO. 1340, VOL. 52] 



