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14 
places in the cave, and they can always be found attached 
to excrementitious matter dropped by the bats, rats, and 
other animals which extend their range to the outer air, 
Fungi also grow on the dead bodies of the animals which 
die in the caves, and are found abundantly on fragments 
of wood and boards brought in by human agency. The 
rats also have brought into fissures and cavities com- 
municating with the cave, seeds, nuts, and other vegetable 
matters, from time immemorial, which have furnished 
food for insects. Thus rats and bats have, no doubt, 
had much to do with the continuance of land life in the 
caye, and the mammals of the post-pliocene or earlier 
eriod, which first wandered and dwelt in its shades, were 
introducers of a permanent land life, 
As to the small crustaceans, little food is necessary to 
support their small economy, but even that little might be 
thought to be wanting, as we observe the clearness and 
limpidity of the water in which they dwell. Nevertheless 
the fact that some cave waters communicate with outside 
streams is a sufficient indication of the presence of vege- 
table life and vegetable dédris in variable quantities at 
different times. Minute fresh water algze no doubt occur 
there, the spores being brought in by external communi- 
cation, while remains of larger forms, as conferva, &c., 
would occur plentifully after floods, In the Wyandotte Cave 
no such connection is known to exist. Access by water is 
against the current of small streams which discharge 
from it, On this basis rests an animal life which is 
limited in extent, and must be subject to many vicissi- 
tudes. Yet a fuller examination will probably add to the 
number of species, and of these, no doubt, a greater or less 
number of parasites on those already known. The dis- 
covery of the little Lernzean shows that this strange form 
of life has resisted all the vicissitudes to which its host 
_has been subjected. That it has outlived all the physio- 
logical struggles which a change of light and temperature 
must have produced, and that it still preys on the food of 
its host, as its ancestors did, there is no doubt. The 
blindness of the fish has favoured it in the “ struggle for 
existence,” and enabled it to maintain a position nearer 
the commissariat, with less danger to itself than did its 
forefathers, E. D, Cope 
SCOTTISH COAL FIELDS 
7T°HE “Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute” for 
August contains Prof. Geikie’s paper read at the 
recent meeting in Glasgow “ On the Geological Position 
and Features of the Coal and Ironstone-bearing Strata of 
the West of Scotland.” The paper is meant chiefly for 
the benefit of those who are acquainted only with the 
British Carboniferous strata as seen in the English 
coal-fields, and to point out the geological position of the 
Scottish carboniferous deposits as contrasted with those 
of England. A geological map of Scotland shows 
that the Carboniferous formation is for the most part re- 
stricted to that broad belt of undulating low ground that 
extends from sea to sea, between the northern highlands 
on the one hand, and the southern uplands on the other, 
Throughout this area the strata are arranged in a series 
of great basins with intervening ridges. The chief 
basins, beginning in the east, the basins of Fifeshire, 
and Midlothian being first; second, the Lanarkshire 
and Stirlingshire basin; third, the broken and _ inter- 
rupted basins of Ayrshire and the south. This system 
is capable of being divided into four great series, which, 
beginning at the top, are as follows :—(1) the Coal 
Measures, (2) the Millstone Grit, (3) the Carboniferous 
Limestone (4) the Calciferous Sandstone series. 
From Prof, Geikie’s review of the more characteristic 
features assumed by the Scottish Carboniferous system, it 
is evident that the series which diverge most from those 
that are typical of the English area are the Calciferous 
Sandstones and the overlying Carboniferous Limestone 
“ 
NATURE 
«, Me 
? 
, 1872, 
hs 
series. In England, the strata that underlie the Coal 
Measures and Millstone Grit are composed almost ex- 
clusively of beds which have been amassed upon a sea 
bottom, In Scotland, on the other hand, we find the © 
strata upon which the true Coal Measures and Millstone 
Grit repose giving evidence of numerous interchanges of — 
land, fresh or brackish watery and marine conditions ; 
while at the same time we are assured that during the 
accumulation of these underlying strata the eruption 
of melted matter hardly ever ceased in central Scot- 
land. ; 
NOTES : 
THOSE interested in the early history of geology will be glad 
to learn that a work is announced as ready for publication, with — 
the title, ‘A Book about William Smith and the Somersetshire 
Coal Canal; being an Account of the Commencement of Strati- 
graphical Geology in England.” The book is illustrated by a 
series of consecutive photographs of the districts along the north 
side of the Canal valley, and each photograph is accompanied 
by a geologically coloured key, which shows at a glance the 
outcrop of the various strata. This method is, as far as we 
know, quite original, and serves to show clearly the data with 
which Smith dealt in arriving at his discoveries, 
THE Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, in re- 
signing his office, referred to the progress made by the University 
in encouraging new branches of study, He commented upon 
the extension of the influence of the University over the studies 
in the kingdom, and the increasing desire on the part of those — 
engaged in the work of education to be brought more closely in 
contact with the University. The yearly increase in the number 
of candidates for the Middle-class Examinations, and the insti-— 
tution of an examination for the higher grade schools, evidenced 
the fact of the extending influence of the University, The Vice- 
Chancellor referred to the munificence of the Chancellor, the 
Duke of Devonshire, in providing a school for Experimental 
Physics, and congratulated the University upon the approaching ~ 
completion of the building of the Fitzwilliam Museum. The 
acquisition of the Leckenby collection of fossils to the Wood 
wardian Museum was ‘a worthy proof of the liberality of the 
Colleges and members of the University, as well asa graceful 
acknowledgement of the services of Prof. Sedgwick. The do- 
nations of Lord Walsingham and Miss Walcott were like-— 
wise yaluable additions to the collections in the above-mentioned , 
museum. Among other bequests and donations, the Vice-Chancel- 
lor particularly alluded to the bequests of Sir John Herschel and 
the Rev. R. E, Kerrich, and especially to the generosity of the 
Earl of Portsmouth in presenting the MSS. of Sir Isaac Newton, — 
THERE has been a marked increase during the present term 
in the University of Cambridge in the number of students who 
take advantage of the privilege of being allowed to reside ont of — 
their college, Since the scheme was established in 1869, eighty 
students have been admitted, a considerable number of whom 
devote themselves to the study of natural science, The Uni- 
versity payments for nine terms’ residence, including the B.A. 
degree, do not greatly exceed 30/., and even with books and ad-— 
ditional instruction the amount need not be much over 507, Th: | 
number of freshmen entered at the University this year is 
622, as compared with 572 last year. , 
Dr. BRowNn-SEQquarp, the eminent physiologist, has resigned — 
the chair of Comparative and Experimental Pathology in the 
Faculty of Medicine in Paris, which he has occupied for several © 
years. It is understood that this is preliminary to establishing — 
his permanent residence in Boston, U.S.A, ee 
Ar a meeting of the Council of the Royal College of 
