38i 



YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS UNION: GEOLOGY. 



The Annual Meeting of the Geological Section of the Yorkshire Natura- 

 lists' Union was held at Huddersfield on Saturday, October 8th. In 

 the afternoon several members who are investigating the fauna of the 

 Millstone Grit Shales visited Slaithwaite under the guidance of Mr. 

 W. S. Bisat and Rev. H. Thomas. This excursion provided the leaders 

 an opportunity of demonstrating the method of zoning the beds by means 

 of the goniatites. In the shales exposed in a disused ganister quarry near 

 Kitchen Clough Glyphioceras reticulatum was found in plenty, while at 

 Holt Head, a mile further up the valley, G. bilingue was the dominant 

 species. 



The evening meeting was held in the Technical College, Dr. T. W. 

 Woodhead presiding. The Secretary reported that during the year 

 considerable progress had been made with the zoning of the Millstone 

 Grit Shales. Members of the Committee had attended two excursions 

 arranged by the Leeds Geological Association, with good results. Some 

 attention had been given to the investigation of the Peat, and it was 

 suggested that the beds on Grassington Moor would repay examination. 



Dr. Woodhead reported finding birch in the peat on Pule Hill at 

 1400 feet. Mr. W. R. Barker reported that he had a large collection of 

 Coal Measure Plants awaiting identification, and that Dr. Kidston had 

 promised to exam ne them at an early date. Mr. Barker appealed to 

 the Section not to neglect the lacustrine fauna of the Coal Measures. 

 Mr. W. S. Bisat read a paper on ' Recent Progress in the Investigation 

 of the Millstone Grit Shales,' and exhibited specimens of the Zone 

 Goniatites. He described in detail a large number of the goniatites 

 found in the shales, and pointed out several gaps in the succession which 

 require to be filled in before the- work is completed. The officers of the 

 Section and the various Committees were re-elected. Mr. H. C. Versey, 

 M.Sc, Leeds, was elected a member of the Carboniferous Rocks, Fossil 

 Flora and Fauna Committee. The next Annual Meeting of the Section 

 will be held at Halifax on Saturday, October 14th, 1922. — J. Holmes. 



MARINE BIOLOGY COMMITTEE AT ROBIN HOOD'S BAY 

 AND SCARBOROUGH. 



Three mornings, ist to 3rd September, spent at Robin Hood's Ba}', 

 confirmed a number of records previously noted as pertaining to this 

 Section of the Yorkshire Coast. Some organisms were found which 

 are mentioned in Scarborough and Filey lists, but not in that of Robin 

 Hood's Bay. In the laminarian zone, several fine specimens of the 

 comparatively rare crab, Pilumniis hirtellus, were taken, and also 

 Galathea strigosa, v\'hich appeared as a strange visitor among tribes of 

 G. squamifera. On the under surfaces of large stones compound ascidians 

 flourished magnificentl}'. Of these, Leptoclinum durum, L. punctaium 

 (new to list), Botrylloides rubrmii, Botryllus schlosseri and B. babius 

 were much in evidence. Search was made for an anemone, Sagartia 

 belHs, inscribed as a R.H.B. record, but it was not discovered. It does 

 not seem to be an inhabitant of the East Coast, at any rate Scarborough 

 and File}^ pools have not produced it, so it is to be presumed that this 

 record may be a mistake. In this search, two anemones in the ' button ' 

 state were detached from the under-side of a lias shell, which might 

 prove to be the coveted Sagartia bellis, as they emitted a few white threads 

 from their bases, just as sagartians do when irritated. Both anemones, 

 however, were pure white, softer than sagartians, possessed a multitude 

 of tentacles in several rows, and, except in size and development, con- 

 formed to the description of Actinoloba [Dianthus] plumosa. In the 

 young condition, before the characteristic tentacular ' lobes ' are formed, 

 it is possible to mistake a plumose anemone for a sagartian. Although 

 Actinoloba plumosa occurs at Scarborough, it has not hitherto been noted 



1921 Nov. 1 



