Obituary— Hon. Walter Baldock D. Mantel! , F.G.S. 239 



In this paper the author discusses the new evidence respecting the 

 pala?ontology of the Lower Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic deposits 

 of Russia which has come to light since the publication by himself 

 and Mr. Lamplugh of " Les Argiles de Speeton etleurs Equivalents " 

 (Moscow, 1892). He is now enabled to fix with certainty the 

 zones of Hoplites Riasensis and Olcostephanus hoplitoides of the 

 provinces of Riasan and Simbirsk, and is thus in a position to correct 

 and complete his former classification of the Upper Jurassic and 

 Lower Cretaceous rocks of Russia, and to define more strictly their 

 relationship to the equivalent strata of other countries. 



The whole of the Petchorian Series — that is, the zones of 

 Ammonites stenomphalus and Amm. Keyserlingi — is now regarded 

 as Lower Neocomian of a hitherto unknown boreal type, notwith- 

 standing the affinity of its fauna with that of the underlying Jurassic 

 (Aquilonian) strata. The author is thus led to carry up into the 

 Cretaceous the corresponding stages in Western Europe, including 

 the upper part of the zone of Belemnites lateralis of Speeton and 

 Lincolnshire, the Upper Berriasian of South-eastern France, and 

 probably the Hils Beds of Germany, instead of classing these with 

 the Jurassic as he had previously done. 



A table is given in which the detailed correlation of the rocks 

 between the Kimeridgian and the Aptian of the various regions is 

 attempted. 



The comparison of the beds of England and Germany with those 

 of Russia is supported by some new evidence based on the Ancellm, 

 four species of which are described as occurring in the Claxby 

 Ironstone and Spilsby Sandstone of Lincolnshire. 



In conclusion, the author shows that in the period under con- 

 sideration the shore-lines of Europe have been shifted by slow 

 progressive movements passing latitudinally through the region, and 

 that these movements did not affect the whole area simultaneously. 

 Hence many complicated interchanges of fauna were brought about, 

 which can only be unravelled by studying the whole coui'se of 

 events over wide areas. 



OBITUABY. 



HON. WALTER BALDOCK D. MANTELL, F.G.S. 



Born in 1820. Died Sept. 7th, 1895. 



The Hon. Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell, F.G.S., was the 

 eldest son of Dr. Gideon Mantell, F.R.S., F.G.S., the well-known 

 Sussex geologist and discoverer of the Iguanodon. He was born in 

 1820, and left England for New Zealand about 1840, where he 

 became a man of great public importance, holding the posts of 

 Minister for Native Affairs, Postmaster-General, and Secretary for 

 Crown Lands. He was ever mindful of the interests of the Maoris, 

 and sought to serve them to the utmost of his power. 



In 1847 Mr. Mantell sent home the first remains of Notornis. 

 These were described by Owen as belonging to an extinct form ; but 

 two years later, in 1849, Mantell obtained from some sealers on the 



