TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 113 



A recently discovered and very perfect specimen of the so-called CtircttUoides 

 Prestvicii of Buckland (figured in his ' Bridpewater Treatise,' pi. 46", fig-. 2), from 

 Dudley, proves this insect to have been one of the " False Scorpions," neai-ly related 

 to the living genus Phn/nus, and not a Coleopterous insect as supposed by Samouelle. 



The specimen is so preserved as to expose its dorsal and ventral aspect each 

 distinctly preserved upon the two halves of the nodule ; the former richly orna- 

 mented with rows and rosettes of tubercles, and the latter showing the smooth 

 segmented under-surface of the body bearing the tracheal openings. The hinder 

 border bears four short and stout spines. Fom* pairs of legs are seen, whose wedge- 

 shaped basal joints meet beneath the cephalothorax, which is veiy tumid, and has a 

 rather prominent rostrum, probably giving rise to Mr. Samouelle's mistake of calling- 

 it a Curculio. Mr. Woodward proposed to name this new genus of "false scorpions " 

 12o2)hrynus, retaining the name Curcnlioides for C. Aiisticii, another example which 

 may truly belong to the Hhynchophora. There are now 44 insects known and de- 

 scribed from the Coal-measures, namely 8 Arachnida, 5 Myriapoda, 3 Coleoptera, 

 13 Orthoptera, 14 Neui'optera, and a doubtful Lepidopterous insect. 



Relics of ilie Carboniferous and other old Land-surfaces. 

 By Henry Woodwabd, F.Q.S., F.Z.S. 



Whilst admitting that during particular eras circumstances may have favoured 

 the development of special gi'oups of organisms, which in consequence flourished 

 in greater abundance than the rest, the author deprecated the idea of the preva- 

 lence of peculiar conditions at any time since the advent of organic life on the 

 globe. 



Although in the earlier Palaeozoic rocks we have little or no evidences of land, 

 yet the fact of stratified deposits being formed at the bottom of the sea is positive 

 evidence of the waste of neighbouring land-surfaces, which must have been always 

 in existence. And further, if conditions in the sea were favourable to the de- 

 velopment of abundance of animal life, those on the land were in all probability 

 equally so. 



Mr. Woodward referred to the abundance of evidence of land-surfaces every- 

 where, both in Quaternary and in Tertiary times, the former differing but little, 

 save in the geographical distribution of its fauna, from that of the present day, the 

 latter differing more and more from the existing fauna and flora, and also in its 

 relation to existing lands. When, however, the base of the Tertiaries is reached, 

 the land-surfaces are divided by greater marine accumulations ; nevertheless we 

 find, both in Europe and America, freshwater deposits with remains of land-plants 

 and animals often in rich abundance. Even the truly marine deposits (such as the 

 Challf) testify to the presence of land by the fossil remains of Pterodactyles, Che- 

 loniffi, and other shore-dwelling reptiles. 



Mr. Woodward instanced the Wealden beds, the Purbeck limestone, and Oolitic 

 plant-shales as affording abundant proofs of Mesozoic lands, whilst truly marine 

 accumulations (such as the Solenhofen limestone) contain swarms of insects, flying 

 lizards, and a true bird, with branches of Coniferse and other trees to tell of a land- 

 fauna adjacent to its waters. 



The author noticed the earliest mammals found in the Triassic bone-beds of 

 Stuttgart and Somerset, and the ripple-marked slabs covered with bird-like ti-acks 

 and Labyrinthodont foot-marks, telling of the denizens of the old Triassic sea- 

 shores and lakes. 



He next described the coal-period, with its stores of land-plants and Reptilia, 

 both aquatic and terrestrial, its insects and moUusca. He controverted the argu- 

 ments of Dr. T. Sterry Hunt as to the exceptional condition of the atmosphere of 

 the Coal-period, and showed that the presence of animal life disproved the existence 

 of an atmosphere charged with carbonic acid gas, and that plants would not be 

 benefitted thereby, as Dr. Hunt supposed. 



With respect to the wide distribution of coal, Mr. Woodward pointed out that 

 it was not necessary to assume that all coal was formed throughout the world during 

 one and the same epoch, but, on the contrary, he showed that coal might be alike as 

 regards its faima and flora, and yet of very widely difierent ages. 



1871. 8 



