o98 REPORT — 1902. 



2. Oil the Marine Fa-><na of fhc liouhlcr Clay, 

 lUj Joseph Wright, F.G.S. 



Tlie aiillidr has examined microscopically 112 samples of boulder clay from 

 various ])laces in the Iji'itish Isles and in Canada: forty-seven of these were from 

 Ireland, twenty-seven from England and Wales, twenty-two from Scotland, one 

 from the Isle of Man, and fourteen from (Janada. In seventy-one of the 

 British and in nine of tbe Canadian samples foraminifera were found ; the speci- 

 mens of the clays had been taken from vnrious altitudes, some few of them from 

 localities over 1 ,000 i'eet above the sea. Almost all the forms found are referable 

 to .species which at present live at moderate depths off our coast, and most of 

 them have the fresh appearance of these species. Noni'iniiia <lppi-essiih( is often 

 met with in {rreat profusion, full}' one half of the entire specimens found being 

 referable to this species. One hundred and thirteen species liave been found in 

 the clays of Ireland, seventy-two in those of tlie Isle of Man, sixty-Hve in Eng- 

 land and Wales, forty in Scotland, and hfteen in Canada. 



Ill thirty-one of the gatherings no foraminifera were met with, whilst in 

 some of the others they were very rare. The absence or the scarcity of specimens 

 in some of the samples may be due, in part at least, to the circumstances that it 

 was only the first Hoatings from the clays that were examined, and also that 

 these minute organisms are liable at times to be overlooked when the material is 

 being examined. To a.scertain how far Hoatings could be relied on for giving 

 (conclusive results, 1 oz. troy of the boulder clay from Woodburn, near Carrick- 

 fergiis, was examined with the utmost care. The first Moating was found to 

 contain 1,400 specimens, the floating process being repeated twenty-five times 

 before specimens ceased to come np ; upwards of 600 additional specimens were 

 tlius obtained. What remained of the clay was then examined in detail with 

 the microscope, and .*ixty-seven more specimens were got from it. 



In the bouldei- clay at Knock Glen, near Belfast, seventy-nine species were 

 obtained, many of them being vt;rv rare forms, six being only known as recent 

 British species from collections on the west coast of Ireland, two of these also 

 occurring off the west coast of Scotland. The presence of these microzoa would 

 lead us to infer that the clay at this place was probably deposited in deep water, 

 when the laud stood at a much lower level than at ]iresent, and when the marine 

 conditions must have been somewhat similar to those now prevailing ofi' the west 

 coast of Ireland. 



3. lieporl on Ihr, E.vploralion of Irish Caves.— Sec lleports, p. 217. 



-1. On the Middle Cavdirian Trilvbiles, dc, of Mount Stephen, 

 British Columbia. Jly Dr. Hknhy Woodward, F.R.S. 



5. I'reliininary List of the Minerals occurriny in Ireland, 

 By Henry J. Seymour, B.A. 



The following list of minrrals, •which is only of apieliminary nature, comprises 

 nil the species which the writer has up to the present satisfied himself undoubt- 

 edly occur in Ireland. In compiling it several public and private collections of 

 minerals were examined, but a few more have still to be worked over before the 

 list can be regarded as including all the species which are to be found in this country. 

 It is intended to ultimately publisli in the ' Proceedings of the Eoyal Irish Academy ' 

 the completed list, together with full details regarding the locality, mode of 

 occurrence, and some other points of interest connected with each species. 



