278 Brief Notices. 



and warrenite may be mentioned, and a few pages are devoted to the 

 composition of raolybdic ochre. Some new forms of calcite crystals are 

 also described. 



2. PossiL Beaver from: California. — Publication 1 7 of the University 

 of California (Bulletin of the Department of Geology) contains the 

 description and figures of a tooth m. 2 of Castor californicus, n.sp., by 

 Dr. Louise Kellogg. The specimen was found at the northern end of 

 the Kettleman Hills, Fresco County, and is of Middle Etchegoin (late 

 Miocene or early Pliocene) age, being therefore the earliest known 

 true beaver from America. It is very similar in pattern to the teeth 

 of various recent species of Castor found on the Pacific Coast, and is 

 compared with C. neglectus, Schlosser. 



3. Geology and Folk-lore. — An interesting essay entitled 

 " ' Snakestones ' and Stone Thunderbolts as subjects for systematic 

 investigation" has been communicated by Mr. Walter W. Skeat 

 {Folh-lore, xxiii, p. 45, March, 1912). He has given many records 

 of fossils used as charms or as medicinal cures, or connected with 

 forms of worship. Thus, in India both celts and ammonites are 

 connected with the worship of Vishnu.^ 



4. British Late-Glacial and Post-Glacial Deposits. — An essay 

 by Mr. G. W. Laraplugh on this subject was brought before the 

 International Geological Congress at Stockholm in 1910 (reprinted 

 from the Postglaziale Klimaveranderungeti). After expressing his 

 conclusions "that there is no clear evidence for the supposed separate 

 glaciations and warm inter-Glacial epochs, but on the other hand 

 there is strong evidence that the main ice-sheets persisted throughout 

 the Glacial period, and only their margins oscillated widely", he 

 proceeds to discuss the field-evidence, which leads him to believe 

 that the post-Glacial deposits were accumulated during progressive 

 amelioration of climate. 



K-EIPOIiTS ^^ISriD :FDaOOE]E]IDIITC3-S. 



Gkological Society of LoNDOjf. 



MarcTi 27, 1912. — Dr. Aubrey Strahan, F.E.S., President, in 

 the Chair. 



The following communications were read : — 



1. "The Glaciation of the Black Combe District (Cumberland)." 

 By Bernard Smith, M.A., F.G.S. 



After a brief discussion of previous work and literature, a short 

 sketch is given of the geological structure of the district. 



"With the exception of the western coastal plain the main 

 topographical features are pre-Glacial, but they have been either 

 subdued or accentuated by glaciation. The chief pre-Glacial drainage- 

 lines determined those of the present day. 



Evidence is given to show that, during the flood-tide of glaciation, 

 the whole district was swamped beneath an ice-sheet formed by the 



^ See also Dr. H. Woodward, " On Fossils applied as Charms or Ornaments": 

 Geol. Mag., 1893, p. 246. 



