___ and in the undulating ground at its base. 
3 uly 10, 1873] 
NATURE 
215 
eee 
A postscript is added, giving the mean diurnal variation of the 
wind at Sandwick Manse, Orkney, and pointing out its general 
conformity with the results deduced from the Bombay wind- 
observations. 
“On the Mathematical Expression of Observations of Com- 
plex Periodical Phenomena, and on Planetary Influence on the 
Earth’s Magnetism,” by Charles Chambers, F.R.S. and 
F, Chambers. 
“Observations of the Currents and Undercurrents of the 
Dardanelles and Bosphorus, made by Commander J. L. Wharton, 
of H.M. Surveying Ship Shearwater, between the months of 
June and October, 1872.” From a Report of that Officer to 
the Hydrographer of the Admiralty. Communicated by 
Admiral Richards, C.B., V.P.R.S. 
Geological Society, June 25.—Joseph Prestwich, F.R.S., 
vice-president, in the chair. The following communications 
were read :—‘‘ On six Lake-basins in Argyllshire,” by his Grace 
the Duke of Argyll, F.R.S., president. The author referred to 
the part ascribed to glacial action in the formation of lake-basins, 
and described the basins of six lakes in Argyllshire, the charac- 
ters presented by which seemed to him inconsistent with their 
having been excavated by ice. Among these lakes were Loch 
Fyne, Loch Awe, Loch Leckan, and the Dhu Loch.—‘‘ Descrip- 
tion of the Skull of a dentigerous Bird (Odontoperyx toliapicus, 
Owen), from the London clay of Sheppey,” by Prof. Richard 
Owen, F.R.S. The specimen described by the author consisted 
of the brain-case, with the basal portion of both jaws. The 
author described in detail the structure and relations of the 
various bones composing this skull, which is rendered especially 
remarkable by the denticulation of the alveolar margins of the 
jaws, to which its generic appellation refers. The denticula- 
tions, which are intrinsic parts of the bone bearing them, are of 
two sizes—the smaller ones about half a line in length, the 
larger ones from two to three lines. The latter are separated by 
several of the smaller denticles. All the denticles are of a 
triangular or compressed conical form, the larger ones resembling 
laniaries. Sections of the denticles show under the microscope 
the unmistakable characters of avian bone. The length of the 
skull behind the fronto-nasal suture is 2 inches 5 lines; and 
from the proportions of the fragment of the upper mandible pre- 
served, the author concluded that the total Jength of the per- 
fect skull could not be less than between 5 and 6 inches. 
The fossil seems to .approach most nearly to the Ana- 
tidaz, in the near allies of which, the Goosanders and Mer- 
gansers, the beak is furnished with strong pointed denticu- 
lations. In these, however, the tooth-like processes belong to 
the horny bill only, and the author stated that the production of 
_ the alveolar margin into bony teeth is peculiar, so far as he 
knows, to Odontopteryx. He concluded, from the consideration 
of all its characters, ‘‘that Od2ntopleryx was a warm-blooded, 
feathered biped, with wings ; and further, that it was web-footed 
and a fish-eater, and that in the catching of its slippery prey it 
was assisted by this pterosauroid armature of its jaws.” In con- 
‘clusion, the author indicated the characters separating Odontopte- 
ryx from the Cretaceous fossil skull lately described by Prof. O. 
C. Marsh, and which he affirms to have small, similar teeth im- 
planted in distinct sockets.—‘‘ Contribution to the Anatomy of 
LHypsilophodon Foxii, an Account of recently acquired Remains of 
this Dinosaur,” by J. W. Hulke, F.R.S. The author communi- 
cated details of its dentition, the form of its mandible, and that of 
the cones of the shoulder and fore limb, and of the haunch and hind 
limb, hitherto imperfectly or quite unknown, The resemblance 
to Zewanodon is greater than had been supposed, but the generic 
distinctness of Aypsilophodon holds good.—‘ On the Glacial 
Phenomena of the ‘Long Island,’ or Outer Hebrides,” I., by 
James Geikie, F.R.S.E., of H.M. Geological Survey of Scot- 
land. The author commenced by describing the physical features 
of Lewis, which he stated to be broken and mountainous in the 
south, whilst the north might be described as a great peat moss 
rising gradually to a height of about 400 ft., but with the rock 
breaking through here and there, and sometimes reaching a 
higher elevation, The north-east and north-west coasts are com- 
paratively unbroken, but south of Aird Laimisheader in the 
west and Stornoway in the east, many inlets run far into the 
country. The island contains a great number of lakes of various 
sizes, which are most abundant in the southern mountain tract 
The greater part of 
Lewis consists of gneiss, the only other rocks met with being 
granite and red sandstone, and conglomerate of Cambrian age. 
The stratification of the gneissic rocks is generally well marked ; 
the prevalent strike is N.E. and S.W. with S.E. dip, generally 
at a high angle. The author described in considerable detail the 
traces of glaciation observed in the lower northern part of Lewis, 
and inferred from his observations that the ice passed from sea 
to sea across the whole breadth of this district, and that it not 
only did not come from the mountainous tract to the south, but 
must have been of sufficient thickness to keep on its course 
towards the north-west undisturbed by the pressure of the glacier 
masses which must at the same time have filled the glens and 
valleys of that mountain region. After describing the charac- 
ters presented by the bottom-hill in the northern part of Lewis, 
the author proceeded to notice those of the lakes, some of which 
trend north-east and south-west, while those of the mountain 
district follow no particular direction, The lake-basins of the 
first series he regarded as formed at the same time and by the 
same agency as the roches moutonnées and other marks of glacial 
action; they are true rock-basins or hollows between parallel 
banks wholly of till, or of tilland rock. The N.E. and S.W. 
lakes coincide in direction precisely with the strike of the gneiss; 
and the author explained their origin by the deposition of till by 
the land-ice in passing over the escarpments of the gneiss facing 
the north-west. The lakes of the mountain district are regarded 
by the author as all produced by glacial erosion. The author 
considered that the ice which passed over the northern part of 
Lewis could only have come from the main land. Referring to 
the glaciation of Raasay, he showed that the ice-sheet which 
effected it must have had in the Inner Sound a depth of at least 
2,700 ft.,and taking this as approximately the thickness of the 
mer de glace, which flowed into the Minch, which is only be- 
tween 50 and 60 fathoms in depth, no part of this ice could 
have floated, and the mass must have passed on over the sea- 
bottom just as if it had been a land surface. Ice coming from 
Sutherland must have prevented the flow of the Ross-shire ice 
through the Minch into the North Atlantic, and forced it over 
the low northern part of Lewis ; and the height to which Lewis 
has been glaciated seems to show that the great ice-sheet con- 
tinued its progress until it reached the edge of the 100-fathom 
plateau, 40 or 52 miles beyond the Outer Hebrides, and then gave 
off its icebergs in the deep waters of the Atlantic.—‘‘ Notes on the 
Glacial Phenomena of the Hebrides,” by J. F. Campbell, F'.G.S. 
The authorstated that, on the whole, he was inclined to think that 
the last glacial period was marine, and that heavy ice 
came in from the ocean, the local conditions being like those 
of Labrador. The author regarded most ofthe lake-basins of 
the Hebrides as formed by ice-action, and considered that the 
ice by which those islands were glaciated came from Green- 
land.—‘*‘On Fossil Corals from the Eocene Formation! 
of the West Indies,” by Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S. 
The specimens were collected from limestone and coral 
conglomerates, which are covered by, and rest upon volcanic 
débris and ejectmenta in the island of St. Bartholomew. The 
determination of the forms of the associated Mollusca and Echi- 
nodermata permit the following deposits being placed on a gene- 
ral geological horizon—the limestone and conglomerate of St. 
Bartholomew, the dark shales beneath the Miocene of Jamaica, 
the beds of San Fernando, Trinidad. These were probably 
contemporaneous with the Java deposits, the Eocene of the Hala 
chain, the great reefs of the Castel Gomberto district, the reefs 
of Oberberg in Steiermark, and the Oligocene of Western 
Europe: The affinities and identities of the fossil forms with 
those of contemporaneous reefs in Asia and Europe, and the 
limitation of the species of the existing Caribbean coral fauna, 
point out the correctness of the views put forth by S. P. Wood- 
ward, Carrick Moore, and the author, concerning the upheaval 
of the isthmus of Panama after the termination of the Miocene 
period.—‘‘ Note on the Lignite-deposit of Lal-Lal, Victoria, 
Australia,” by R. Etheridge, jun., F.G.S. The lignite is almost 
entirely composed of remains of coniferous plants not now exist- 
ing in Victoria ; and the author considered that it is nearly of the 
same age as the lignite deposit of Morrison’s Diggings, which 
has been regarded as Miocene. 
Entomological Society, July 7.—Henry T. Stainton, vice- 
president, in the chair, Mr. Weir exhibited specimens of 
Agrotera nemoralis, taken near Lewes.—Mr. McLachlan 
exhibited a remarkable instance of hermaphroditism in a specie 
men of a fly (one of the Syrphide) taken at Black Park.— 
Mr. Trovey Blackmore exhibited specimens of a gall found on 
oaks near Tangier, which were taken possession of for a habita- 
tion by a species of ant (Crematogaster scutellaris, Oliv.)—Mr. 
William Pryer exhibited some fine species of Lepidoptera from 
