218 
NATURE 
[Fan. 12, 1871 

Wight. He concluded with some remarks on the superficial 
deposits consisting of gravel and old and 1ecent mud over- 
lying the Tertiary beds in the section described by him. 
Prof. Ramsay called attention to the value attaching to such 
observations as those of the author on the nature of the super- 
ficial deposits. —Mr. Etheridge observed that the presence of the 
Lingula determined the position of the Bognor beds in the series, 
though there appeared great difficulty in fixing it stratigra- 
phically. The commingling of species exhibited in this instance 
of shells hitherto supposed to be peculiar to certain horizons, he 
regarded as very remarkable.—Prof. Morris observed that the 
section seemed to show, not only the order of the beds, but their 
manner of deposition, the wholehaving formed part of a tranquil 
sea-bottom. He remarked on the difficulty of separating the 
more recent mud deposits from the beds of more ancient date. 
He pointed out the method of formation of septaria apparently 
by segregation, as they sometimes included undisturbed parts of 
the beds. The number of bivalyes bored by carnivorous mol- 
lusks-was remarkable, as was also the absence of Pectunculus. 
—Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys observed on the habits of Zinguda, which 
had been by some regarded as an annelid, and not as a mollusk. 
Tt afforded a curious instance of the persistence of species, as 
there was no distinction that could be established between those 
of the Crag and of Silurian times. It lived at the present time 
between high and low water mark, and the /anofaa at a 
slightly lower level, and probably had done so in Tertiary times. 
Mr. Evans inquired whether the upper gravel, like that on the 
shore of Southampton Water, contained any flint implements. 
Mr. Meyer replied that he had not examined the gravels with 
that view. —‘‘ Note on some new Crustaceans from the Lower 
Eocene of Portsmouth, collected by Mr, C. J. A. Meyer, F.G.S.” 
by Mr. H. Woodward, F.G.S. Mr. Woodward drew attention 
to the occurrence in the fossil state of pelagic forms of Crus- 
tacea armed with long spines on the latero-anterior angles of the 
carapace. Two Eocene forms had been described by Dr. Al- 
phonse Milne-Edwards, namely, Zyoflonotus armatus and 
Psammocarcinus Hericartii. Two new forms, differing generically 
from the above, but probably referable to the same family (the 
Portunide), were descibed, under the names of Rhachisoma (g. n.), 
R. echinata, and R. bispinosa. A third form, belonging to the 
Corystidz, was then noticed. This family, represented in the 
fossil state by the genus Pa/ece2rystes, is well known in the 
Gault and Upper Greensand of Folkestone and Cambridge, 
one species ranging up as high as the Maestricht beds. 
The occurrence of Pa/eocorystes in the Lower Eocene is of great 
interest. Mr. Woodward named this new /aleocorystes, LP. 
glabra. 3. ‘‘On the Chalk of the Cliffs from Seaford to East- 
bourne, Sussex,” by W. Whitaker, F.G.S. — The author com- 
pired the chalk of the Sussex coast with that of the Kentish 
coast, and stated that it consisted of the following divisions in 
descending order :— 
. Chalk with flints of great thickness. 
. Chalk with flints and nodular layers, weathering rough. 
. Chalk without flints, but with nodular layers, weathering 
rough. 
. Thick-bedded massive chalk without flints. 
. More thinly-bedded chalk without flints, but with marly 
beds. 
6. Chalk-marl, 50 or 60 feet. 
The highest of these divisions stretchesas far eastwards as Beachy 
Head, and forms the whole of the cliffs to within a short distance of 
thatpoint. 4. ‘On the Chalk of the southern part of Dorset and 
Devon,” by W. Whitaker, F.G.S. The divisions of the chalk were 
traced by the author westward from cliffs on the north side of 
Swanage Bay to beyond Beer Head in Devonshire. At first the 
succession of the beds was shown to be as in the Isle of Wight, 
namely :— z 
nL WNe 
. Chalk with flints, very thick. 
. Chalk with few flints. 
. Chalk-rock, very thinly developed. 
. Chalk without flints. 
. Chalk-marl. 
Tt was shown that the lower beds became thinner westward, 
until, at one part of the Beer Head section, the chalk with flints 
rested at once on the Upper Greensand; and the following 
general conclusions were drawn :—That the chalk-marl thins 
westward, and its bottom part becomes marked by the presence 
of quartz-grains, showing perhaps signs of a less deep-sea charac- 
ter than usual. That the chalk without flints thins westward 
(from about 200 feet in the Isle of Wight), until, in Devonshire, 
Wp Ne 


it is but 30 feet thick, or even less. The consequent nearness of 
the chalk with flints to the Greensand helps to explain the de- 
posits of flints on some of the Devonshire hills. Mr. Etheridge 
pointed out the resemblance between the series described 
by the author and that of the chalk of Antrim. He thought 
it probable that the cretaceous beds had originally extended 
over the whole of Western England. He called attention to the 
Blackdown-beds, which had been regardedas Upper Greensand, 
but certainly were not so, though probably Cretaceous, as well 
worthy of examination. Mr. Hull hoped that some Fellows of 
the Geological Society would extend their examination of the 
chalk into Ireland, and visit the Antrim district. It was the 
case there that the Chalk with flints rested immediately on the 
Upper Greensand, thongh there was an intermediate band known 
as the Mulatto-bed, which might possibly represent the Chalk- 
rock. Prof. Morris thought the paper afforded evidence in 
favour of the Chalk having been deposited in a sinking area, 
and during the process yarious alterations in the conditions took 
place. Mr. D. Forbes inquired as to the character of the 
nodules mentioned, and whether they were siliceous or not ? 
Mr. Meyer mentioned that near Branscombe there occurred a 
band within eight feet of the Red Marl, containing fossils 
apparently the same as those of Blackdown. Mr. Whitaker 
had purposely avoided characterising the greater part of the 
Greensand-beds as either Upper or Lower. He thought the 
Cherty-beds of the west were stratigraphically higher than those 
of the Isle of Wight. The nodules inquired about were not 
siliceous, though probably containing some silica, but were 
rather phosphatic. 
Anthropological Society, January 3. Dr. Charnock, V.P., 
in the chair.—Captain C. C. Poole, of Myansung, Pegu, was 
elected a Fellow. Professor Cay. Luigi Calvri, of Bologna, was 
elected a corresponding member.—Mr. Joseph Wilkinson ex- 
hibited and described a collection of human remains, weapons, 
and other works of art, found in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery near 
Barrington, Cambridgeshire. —Dr. Richard King read a paper on 
“The Manx of the Isle of Man.” The author treated of the 
physical and psychological characteristics of the people of the 
isle, who, he maintained, were a pure stock of the great ‘‘Keltic” 
division of mankind; of their history, superstitions, language, 
literature, and works of art, and the statistics of population. 
the latter, however, further information was required, which Dr. 
King hoped the census of 1871 might supply.—A paper by Dr. 
Beddoe, president, was read ‘*On the Anthropology of Lan- 
cashire.” The pre-historic antiquities of Lancashire are rather 
scanty, and the early and medieval history of the north-west of 
England is remarkably barren as compared with that of the north- 
eastern district. The inhabitants of Salford were of Teutonic 
character, having been colonised during the Roman period by a 
cohort of Frisians, a few Danish, and other Scandinavian 
elements being present. The latter appear to be the strongest. 
The Saxon, or Angle, is in some force, as is also the Keltic, 
which, however, seems to have been partly Gaelic, and not 
wholly Kymric, as might, perhaps, have been expected. The 
effect of the Norman Conquest on the race elements in Lan- 
cashire would probably be inconsiderable, though there, as else- 
where, the Anglo-Danish, or Anglo-Norse, aristocracy, may have 
been somewhat more diminished, by slaughter and emigration, 
than the commonalty, whose blood may have had a larger admix- 
ture of the Keltic element. 
Entomological Society.—Mr. Alfred R. Wallace, Presi- 
dent, in the chair. Dr. Ross, of Toronto, was elected a mem- 
ber. The fourth part of the Transactions for 1870, published in 
December, was on the table. Exhibitions of British Lepidoptera 
were made by Mr. W. C. Boyd and Mr. Verrall ; and of West 
Alrican Lef:doptera, by Mr. Butler. A paper by Mr. Hewitson 
was read, entitled, ‘‘ New Species of South American Diurnal 
Lepidoptera.” 
wos 
BRIsTou 
The Observing Astronomical Society.— Report of 
observations made by the members during the period from 
August 6 to October 7, 1870, inclusive. (Continued from page 
40.) 
Aurora Borealis. —Mx. John Birmingham, of Millbrook, Tuam, 
writes :—‘‘ Though the night of the 24th September, when there 
was no moon and a densely cloudy sky, ought to have been 
extremely dark, it was, on the contrary, about as bright as if 
the moon were full, and the sky was similarly overcast. This 
extraordinary brightness began to decrease at eleven o’elock, and 
On 
vee 

