266 Geological Society. 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



November 3, 1880.— Robert Etheridge, Esq., F.R.S., 

 President, iu the Chair. 



The following communications were read : — 



1. "Note on the Occurrence of Remains of Recent Plants in 

 Brown Iron-ore." By J. Arthur Phillips, Esq., E.O.S. 



The fossilizing ironstone described by the author occurs at Rio 

 Tinto, in the province of Huelva, Spain, in close proximity to the 

 celebrated copper-mines of that name, where it forms a thick hori- 

 zontal capping of a hill known as the Mesa de los Pinos. In this 

 iron-ore Mr. Carruthers has identified the following vegetable 

 remains : — Leaves and acorns of Quercus ilex, Linn. ; leaves and 

 seed of a two-leaved species of Pinus, most probably Pinus pinea, 

 Linn. ; the cone of Equisetum arvense, Linn. ; and a small branch 

 of a species of Erica. There is also a well-marked leaf of a Dico- 

 tyledonous plant not yet identified. A great portion of many of 

 the specimens consists of a thick growth of moss ; but it is impos- 

 sible to say what the species are. The whole is permeated with 

 minute branching roots, showing that the vegetation was formed as 

 a great mass, the oak- and pine-leaves having been probably carried 

 or blown into it. The plants are evidently aU of the same species 

 as are still found growing in Spain. 



The author attributes this deposit of ironstone to the decomposi- 

 tion, partly by organic agency, of ferruginous salts, derived from the 

 oxidation of iron pyrites, which flowed into a marsh or shallow 

 lagoon. Subsequently to this the valleys of the Rio Agrio and 

 Rio Tinto were eroded, leaving the Mesa de los Pinos with its thick 

 capping of iron-ore. 



The very recent character of this deposit is evident from the 

 fossils it contains ; but the erosion of the valleys certainly took 

 place before the Roman occupation of the district. This is satis- 

 factorily shown not only by the position of various remains of that 

 date, but also by the fact that the Roman grave-stones, which are 

 still remaining in the locality, are made of this ironstone. 



2. " Notes on the Locality of some Fossils found in the Carboni- 

 ferous Rocks at T'ang Shan, situated, in a N.N.E. direction, about 

 120 miles from Tientsm, in the province of Chih Li, China." 

 By James W. Carrall, Esq., F.G.S. With a Note by Wm. Carruthers, 

 Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. 



The author described the locality from which he obtained some 

 plant-remains of apparently Carboniferous age, and stated that 

 mining-operations had been carried on by a Chinese company in the 

 district since the year 1878. Several seams of coal occur, varying 

 in thickness from 11 inches to 6 feet. Mr. Carruthers stated in a 

 note that the specimens submitted to him belong to a species of 



