YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS AT SCARBOROUGH. 



The forty-eighth annual meeting of the Yorkshire Naturahsts' 

 Union was held at Scarborough, on Saturday, December nth. 

 There was a representative gathering of members from all 

 parts of the country, and the meeting was particularly successful 

 as a result of the untiring efforts of the secretary and members 

 of the Scarborough Field Naturalists' Society. Two excursions 

 were arranged in the morning, one for Carnelian Bay, and the 

 other for Peacock's Quarry, Palsgrave. 



Under the leadership of Mr. Hargreaves, between twenty 

 and thirty members of the Union walked along the shore 

 towards White Nab. 



Mr. Hargreaves writes : — ' Immediately after leaving the 

 Museum, attention was drawn to the shell-bearing sand on the 

 shore, and Mr. Woods and others remarked on its productiveness. 

 On passing Holbeck Gardens, a halt was made to ])oint out the 

 parts of the reef most productive in marine life, special mention 

 being made of the various sponges and anemones, the rave and 

 white anemones being found there. Immediately afterwards 

 a halt was made to look for the rare local mineral ' Scarbroite,' 

 which is found only on this coast. It was pointed out how it 

 occurred in veins, and several small pockets were seen, and 

 specimens obtained ; but as there had been rough seas, and the 

 mineral is soft, good specimens were not as common as is 

 frequently the case. 



' The geological features of the coast as far as visible from 

 this point were next indicated, attention being drawn to 

 changes by denudation, and to the large quantity of Estuarine 

 beds. The party next proceeded to the " plant bed " in the 

 South Bay, which is about two feet thick, and crowded with 

 plant remains, with occasional scales and teeth of fishes. 



' Specimens of Czckanowskia and Baiera were obtained in 

 numbers, notwithstanding the extremely wet state of the cliff, 

 and the unusual state of preservation of the plants, particularly 

 of Beania gracilis was commented on. It was possible for 

 small pieces to be lifted bodily from the shale and transferred 

 to paper, like a recent plant. They were also burnt experi- 

 mentally — a somewhat unusual experience with fossils.' 



The Scarborough museum was thrown open for the benefit 

 of the members, and in the evening there was an exhibition 

 of natural history specimens in the large room at the Grand 

 Hotel. This had been specially arranged in honour of the 



1910 Jan. 1. 



