42 Reports and Proceedinys — Geological Society of London. 



Cephalopoda alone as las guides, and in creating eiglit Ammonite 

 zones in place of those usually adopted. Where species of Ammonites- 

 occur with sufficient frequency, these zones are no doubt more 

 satisfactory than those based on Echinoderms, but it will be some 

 time before they can be made practically applicable to the Upper 

 Chalk of England, in which Ammonites are rare fossils. If they 

 are ever adopted in this country it will only be after they are- 

 firmly established in the north of France, and after a more careful 

 comparison of our Chalk with that of the Paris Basin. 



M. de Grossouvre's final chapter on the History of the Cretaceous 

 Period deals with nearly the whole of the Northern Hemisphere, 

 and discusses the general distribution of land and water which 

 existed in late Paleeozoic and in Mesozoic times. It should be read 

 by all who are interested in this subject, but the author's views and 

 conclusions can hardly be summarized in a few lines. 



A. J. Jukes-Browne. 



ls,:Kl:poI^TS j^isrjD i=i2,oc:H]E;3Din:>rc3-s. 



Geological Society of London. 



I.~November 5th, 1902.— Prof. Charles Lapworth, LL.D., F.R.S., 

 President, in the Chair. The following communications were 

 read :— 



1. From the Eight Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colonies : — 



" Curator, Botanic Station, St. Vincent, to Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies. 



" Botanic Station, St. Vincent. 



September 5th, 1902. 



" Sir, — Cable communications of the eruption of the Soufriere on the 3rd and 

 4th inst. have doubtless reached you ; nevertheless, I deem it my duty to forward you 

 by this the earliest opportunity an oificial report on same : — 



' ' Early on the afternoon of the 3rd inst. telephonic communications reached me 

 that the Soufriere was agitated, and from the Botanic Station at about 2 p.m. on 

 that day I observed certain -white and dark clouds in the direction of the Soufriere, 

 which from their upward movements convinced me that an eruption of the Soufriere 

 was near at hand. At 3 p.m., the hour of taking observations at the Botanic 

 Station in the afternoon, tlie corrected barometrical reading was 29 "947 and the 

 attached thermometer 85° F. The wiad was blowing lightly from the north-east 

 and the weather was bright. The only clouds were to the north, and the most 

 conspicuous was a dark brown column, apparently over the Soufriere. At 5.30 p.m. 

 I had a conversation with Mr. jSTairn and Mr. Frederick at Montrose, and ' from the 

 then appearances and sounds we were convinced that an eruption was pending. At 

 about 8 p.m. I met in Kingsto-wii Mr. H. AUen, Revenue Officer at Chateaubelair, 

 who informed me that during the day he saw a lot of matter ejected over the.; western 

 lip of the old crater down the Laricor or Eoseau Valley to the sea. Mr. Allen and 

 most of the residents of Chateaubelair left that place late in the afternoon for places 

 of safety, and in the Georgetown District (Windward) the residents moved southward. 

 At 9.55 p.m., as seen at the Botanic Station, the eruption commenced in earnest; 

 flashes of flame and Hghtning were visible over the Soufriere at intervals of 20 to 30 

 seconds, with fi-equent longer intervals. At 10.30 p.m. the corrected reading of the 

 mercurial barometer was 30-105 and the attached thermometer 81°"5 F. From about 

 this hoitt the discharges and accompanying noises inci'eased in frequency and severity, 

 and at 1.30 a.m. (4th) the Soufriere was in full eruption. From this hour to 2 a.m. 

 the eruption was, in the writer's opinion, more severe than on May 7th ; the 



