308 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. * 



Zaphreutis to the Upper Dibuiiopliylluin zone {Cyathaxonia sub-zone). It 

 is interesting to note that he in Ireland and we in North Wales have 

 demonstrated a sub-zone at the top of D2. 



It is important to note that he recognises a true Zaphrentis, Z. aff. 

 enniskiUeni, as present in the Upper Dibunophyllum zone. We have 

 obtained this coral in the black limestone west of Prestatyn at this 

 horizon, and Dr. Vaughan has obtained it at Oystermouth, Glamor- 

 ganshire. It also occurs in the Black Limestone of Ashford, Derbyshire. 



Passing to Yorkshire, Mr. Cosmo Johns, at my suggestion, kindly 

 examined the coral fauna of the Basement conglomerate in the neighbour- 

 hood of Ingleboro'. The beds contain several corals and more rarely 

 brachiojjods. The fossils have been submitted to Dr. Vaughan, who' 

 suggests the horizon to be the base of the Seminula zone and upper part 

 of the tSyringothyris zone tliat is somewhere about the horizon of the 

 Michilinia megastonia beds of Rush. This correlation is of great interest,, 

 because it is estimated that the whole of the Limestone Series in the 

 neighbourhood of Ingleboro', including the Yoredales, is oidy 1,500 feet, 

 and the Dibunophyllum fauna as found in rocks is probably here con- 

 siderably more than 1,200 feet thick. An interesting problem presents 

 itself as to what happened in this area between Lower Seminula and 

 Lower Dibunophyllum times. I hope that some work on which I am 

 engaged on the Carboniferous succession of the Isle of Man may throw 

 some light on this question. In Derby Haven Michilinia megastoma 

 occurs in abundance in limestones whicii succeed the Basement con- 

 glomerate, and this may give a clue. I should not be surprised if these 

 beds eventually turn out to be in the Dibunophyllum zone. 



Important work has to be done in the north to work out tlie exact 

 zone of each Basement bed. For example, in the neighbourhood of Sliap 

 and Askham, bordering the Lake District, the lowest limestones contain 

 a well marked Dibunophyllum fauna, pointing to the existence of land in 

 the Lake District in Upper Carboniferous Limestone times. NowJiere 

 that I know at present has a fauna below D, been obtained in tlie 

 Pennine ai'ea south of Northumberland. The corals of the Lower Lime- 

 stone Series of the West of Scotland are undoubtedly of Upper Dibuno- 

 phyllum age, and the exact results of this fact have to be worked out. 



The result of Mr. Tait's collecting last year in Northumberland is 

 expressed in the following table. 



The object of his research was to endeavour to ascertain the fauna 

 which characterises the horizon of the Fell Top Limestone, what may be 

 regarded as the top of the Carboniferous Limestone Series in that area. 

 The thin limestone is succeeded by the Millstone grits of that district. 



The general results show that the fauna has a Dibunophyllum facies, but 

 that he did not get any of the corals which in the Midlands we now recognise 

 as zone indices of the top beds — Cyathaxonia and Amplexi-zaphrentis. 



I append notes by Dr. Vaughan on the corals, which were exceedingly 

 conmion where they were found. 



The list of localities is as follows : — 



1. Sheet lOG. S.E. Lat. .fiJ:" 59' 30" ] a. 1 -i o Ti< * a u 



I.oii"- "° tV I ^^'''5^™ i ™i^^ S-^- ^^ Acotnb. 



l^arden Burn >- m. S.S.W. of Coastloy 



r Shale with limestone .nodules above a 



„ „ Lat. 54° 58' 4.5" J 2-foot limestone, which is dark, witli 



Long. 2° 0' 50" I small crinoid ossicles and a 4-in. coal 



y below it. 



