Notes and Comments. 3 



' GRANNY ' CRABS. 



An interesting item of information is given with regard to 

 ■certain worn and dilapidated crabs, known as 'grannies,' 

 which are caught in abundance during July and August. 

 These are not necessarily old nor female, but they are 

 promptly killed, and thrown into the sea again by the 

 fishermen. These crabs are unsaleable, and are said to have 

 a strong bitter taste. It is considered, however, that these 

 particular crabs are merely individuals which are approaching 

 the time when in every second year, a crab this size will 

 cast its skin. The probability is therefore that instead of 

 being harmful, and likely to ' infect ' their neighbours, they 

 would, if left alone, cast their shells, and, after passing 

 through a period as ' soft ' crabs, again be normal, clean-looking 

 healthy individuals, suitable for the market. Unless stopped, 

 it is probable that much harm will be done to the local crab 

 fisheries by the wholesale slaughter of the ' grannies.' 



CUMBERLAND INTRUSIVE ROCKS. 



At a recent meeting of the Geological Society of London, 

 Dr. A. R. Dwerryhouse read a paper ' On some Intrusive Rocks 

 in the Neighbourhood of Eskdale, Cumberland,' In this he 

 pointed out that there appear to be five well-marked groups of 

 intrusions in this district : — {a) The andesitic dykes in the 

 neighbourhood of Allen Crags and Angle Tarn ; ip) The dykes 

 of the spherulitic and felsitic group on Yewbarrow and High 

 Fell ; (c) The dioritic (' bastard granite ') bosses of Peers 

 Gill, Lingmell Crag, and Bursting Knotts, with their associated 

 dykes ; {d) The Eskdale Granite, with the granite-porphyry 

 dyke running from Great Bank to Wasdale Head, and thence 

 to Kirkfell Crags ; and [e) The dolerite dykes, having a general 

 north-west to south-east trend. 



The dykes of series {a) bear a very strong petrological 

 resemblance to the Borrowdale volcanic rocks, into which they 

 were intruded. Furthermore, they are weathered to much the 

 same extent and have developed the same secondary minerals, 

 among which epidote is conspicuous. They appear to be of 

 Borrowdale age, and roughly contemporaneous with the lavas 

 and ashes into which they are intruded. The spherulitic and 

 more acid series [h] are considered to be also of Borrowdale 

 age, though probably somewhat later than the andesitic series. 

 The rocks of the dioritic group (c) are considered to be the 



igoy January i. 



