TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 115 



A few Memavl-s on Submarine Explorations, with reference to M. Delesse^sworh 

 'entitled " LitJiologle dufond des Mers." By J. "Gwtn Jeffreys, F.B.S. 

 The Utlioloo-y of the sea-bottom is not only a vast subject in its various rehations to 



natural history and physical science, but i's especially interesting in a geological 



Eoint of view.'because every part of our globe has been at one time or another covered 

 y the sea. Mr. Jeftreys contended that it is almost impossible to ascertain, with any 

 degree of certainty, what stratified formations are marine unless we find in them 

 such remains of marine animals as were capable of being preserved. Exceptions 

 doubtless occur, r. f/. where the stratum had been subject to the action of carbonic 

 acid, produced by the subsequent passage of rain or fresh water; in which case all 

 calcareous organisms might have been dissolved before they became silieitied or 

 petrified. He then gave a short account of submarine explorations from the time 

 when 0. F. MiLller first used a dredge for scientific purposes (about 1772) to the 

 present day ; and he summarized tlie results of the expeditious conducted by his 

 colleagues and himself on board II.M.S. ' Porcupine,' under the auspices of tho 

 Royal Society in 18(39 and 1870. But next to nothing is knovm of the enormous 

 tracts of sea-bed which underlie the depths of the ocean in both hemispheres. He 

 attributed the diflusion and geographical distribution of the marine Invertebrate 

 fauna to the action of currents, and not to voluntary migration. 



M. Delesse's work was recently published at Paris, and consists of two octavo 

 volumes, besides an atlas of charts and maps. The precise date of publication does 

 not appear ; the dedication is dated 1st December, 1871. It forms part of a series 

 called ' Publications scientifiques industrielles,' and purports to have been edited 

 with the sanction of the Minister of Marine and Minister of Public Works. _ ^ 



While giving M. Delesse full credit for the laborious and conscientious manner in 

 which he has e^■idently performed his great task, Mr. Jefireys regretted that he had 

 omitted to notice the reports on deep-sea explorations published by the Iloyal 

 Society in 18G9 and 1870, or the address of Mr. Prestwich (the late President of 

 the Geological Society), which was published in May 1871, and particularly treated 

 of those Ileports. M. Delesse is a foreign member of the Geological Society. By 

 consulting what had been published on the subject, M. Delesse would have been able 

 not only to give fuller information, but to correct errors which unavoidably occur in 

 an extensive compilation. For instance, his map of France during the Tertiary 

 epoch does not show the communication which has been proved by naturalists 

 and geologists to have then existed between the Bay of Biscay and the Gulf of 

 Lyons. According to M. Delesse, there has been no communication since the 

 L:assic period betv.'een the Atlantic and the Mediterranean north ofthe Pyrenees. 

 His division of the French marine fauna into three provinces (Celtic, Lusitauian, 

 and Mediterranean) does not agree with modern observations. Zoophagous mol- 

 lusca do not, as stated by him, live on those which are phytophagous ; pebbles 

 (" galets ") are not everywhere unfavourable to mollusca, even on coasts exposed 

 to a stormy sea; find Foraminifera never crawl at the bottom of the sea. But it is 

 to be hoped that these omissions and errors will be rectified in another edition of a 

 work so desirable and important to scientific inquirers. 



Note on the Discovery of Cretaceous lloclcs in the Islands of Midi and Inch 

 Kenneth. By J. W. Judd, F.G.S. 



(Communicated by T. M'K. Hughes, F.G.S.) 



Mr. Judd, after pointing out that the probable further extension of the chalkover 

 alargepartof Scotland had been inferred by the Duke of Argyll and Mr. Jamieson 

 froni'the occurrence of chalk fiints associated witli Tertiary volcanic deposits, 

 announced that he had now discovered, in the Western Islands of Mull and Inch 

 Kenneth, fossiliferous beds of Cretaceous age. 



On the Geological Distribution of Goitre in England. By G. A. Leboce, F.G.S. 



