i3« 



SHELLY CLAY FROM THE DOGGER BANK. 



J. W. STATHER, F.G.S. 



In the Essex Naturalist for Apl., 1909, Mr. Clement Reid, F.R.S., 

 had a paper on ' Moorlog,' a name given to a pecuhar tough, 

 peat-hke deposit, which is occasionally dredged up from the 

 Dogger Bank. Recently I arranged with the captain of a Hull 

 trawler to bring me da\y samples that came into his net. The 

 material occurs in huge cake-like masses, which are sometimes 

 as much as a foot in thickness, and these contain remains of 

 aquatic and marsh-loving plants, such as the Buckbean 

 {Menyanthes trifoliata), etc. One mass, however, was found to 

 contain a quantity of unquestionably marine shells. This 

 piece was a compact clay, and dark in colour, being almost 

 lead-black. In it were ci-ushed and partly decayed marine 

 shells, in large quantities. Apparently the darker clay occurs 

 beneath the peat. On sending some of it to Mr. Clement 

 Reid, he kindly pointed out that the shells are typical of very 

 shoal water, and must have flourished when the Dogger, at 

 that point, was practically at present land-level. This being 

 so, it is probable our ideas as to the former history of the 

 North Sea basin will have to be considerably modified. The 

 subject, however, is being followed up, and no doubt interest- 

 ing results will be obtained. 



From Belfast we have received two publications. One is Publication 

 No. 31 of the Belfast Municipal Museum, and the other is Publication No. 

 31 of the Belfast Public Museum. As a matter of fact, they are both from 

 the same institution, and, apparently, one should have been numbered 30. 

 One is the illustrated Quarterly Record, and the other is a paper by 

 Dr. Scharff, on ' The Aims and Scope of a Provincial Museum,' which is 

 well worth reading. 



From the Norwich inuseum we have received the Report of the Castle 

 Museum Committee for 1911, which contains a large list of acquisitions. 

 \'isits of scholars and societies have been frequent. The museum has 

 also published a Catalogue of the Loan Collection of Norwich Silver Plate, 

 etc., which includes details of many objects of altogether exceptional 

 interest ; and the Fourth Annual Report of Proceedings of the Norwich 

 Museum Association. This association works with the museum, popu- 

 larises the collections, and arranges lectures dealing with the economic 

 aspect of various branches of natural history ; in this way considerably 

 extending the museuin's sphei"e of usefulness. 



From the Kclvingrove JMuseum. Glasgow, we ha\e received an Intro- 

 duction to the Study of Fossils and Guide to the Palseontological Collections, 

 by Peter MacNair (89 pp., 3d.). As the guide naturally refers to the 

 Glasgow collections, which are largely of local interest, the handbook 

 may be said to form a good summary of the palaeontological remains 

 of the Glasgow area. It is divided into sections, according to the geological 

 systems, and is well illustrated from drawings and photographs, though 

 some of the former, such as the Nautilus, page 38, and the phyllopod on 

 page 53, are not quite satisfactory. 



Naturalist, 



