TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. fa 



On the Occurrence of Poisonous Metals in Cheese. 

 By Professor Voelcker. 

 The author stated that he had detected hoth copper and zinc in cheese : in some 

 specimens copper, in others zinc, and in some hoth copper and zinc were found. The 

 description of cheese in which these poisonous metals were found was double-Glou- 

 cester cheese. Skimmed-milk cheese, which was likewise examined for copper and 

 zinc, did not contain any metallic impurity. Stilton, and other varieties of cheese, 

 have not as yet been examined ; it must not therefore be inferred that cheese made 

 in other districts than Gloucestershire contains poisonous metals. Inquiry in the 

 dairy districts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire has led to the discovery that in many 

 dairies in these counties sulphate of copper, and sometimes sulphate of zinc, are 

 employed in the making of cheese. The reasons for which these prejudicial salts are 

 added to the cheese are variously stated. Some persons added sulphate of zinc with a 

 view of giving new cheese the taste of old ; others employed sulphate of copper for 

 the purpose of preventing the heaving of cheese. Dr. Voelcker also stated that he 

 ltad found alum in Gloucester cheese, and mentioned that he had learnt that in some 

 dairies alum was employed to effect a more complete separation of the caseine from 

 the whey. 



On the Causes of Fire in Turkey-red Stoves. By Dr. W. Wallace. 



GEOLOGY. 



Notes on two newly discovered Ossifeious Caves in Sicily. 



By Baron F. Anca. 



Found in the Grotta de Olivella, near Palermo. Molar of Eleph. Africanus (the 



existing species), amidst bones and teeth of an extinct species of Hippopotamus, both 



in a well-marked fossil state, and infiltrated with hydrate of iron. 



Grotta de San Feodora. Molar of Eleph. Africanus, with abundant remains; upper 

 and lower jaws of Jlymna crocuta, determined by M. Lartet. 



Facts go to prove continuity of land between Sicily and the African continent, pro- 

 bably along the line of the Adventure Bank of Admiral Smyth, stretching between 

 Capo Bono, the promontory of Tunis and Marsala. The Admiral found only 75 

 fathoms sounding upon the bank ; but a deep sea to the north and to the south. 



Proofs of continuity with Sicily are found at Malta. 



Details respecting a Nail found in Kingoodie Quarry, 1 843. 

 By Sir David Brewster, K.H., D.C.L., F.B.S. 



On the Stratigraphical Position of certain Species of Corals in the Lias. 

 By the Rev. P. B. Brodie, M.A., F.G.S. 



The author first alluded to the exact position of a species of Coral found in the 

 Hippopodium bed near Cheltenham, and another locality near Evesham, where the 

 same form was equally abundant. Another and distinct genus, a Mcnllivaliia allied 

 to M. Stutchhuryi, was procured in the same bed in Warwickshire, associated with 

 numerous other fossils, and a section of the pit was given. Other and distinct species 

 of Corallines, one of which from Gloucestershire belongs to the genus Cladophyllia, 

 were known to occur lower down in the ' Lima beds,' the probable position of the fine 

 Isastrcea Murchisoni, found occasionally in Worcestershire and Warwickshire. One 

 or more additional species have been met with in the bottom beds of the Warwickshire 

 Lias, which had not been previously observed so low down. The divisions of the 

 Lias, which seem to be characterized by the presence of Corals, are — 1, the Hippo- 

 podium bed; 2, the Lima bed ; 3, the White Lias; and 4, the Guinea bed. So that 

 it would appear that Corals are more numerous in the Lias than has been usually 

 supposed, and that they occupy certain zones in it, which future investigations may 

 show to be as well marked and distinctive as that of any other particular organisms. 



