Notices of Memoira — E. A. N. Arber — Coal Flora. 519 



altitudes, some few of them from localities over 1,000 feet above the 

 Sea. Almost all the forms fouad are referable to species which at 

 present live at moderate depths oif our coast, and most of them have 

 the fresh appearance of these species. Nonionina depressida is often 

 met with in great profusion, fully one half of the entire specimens 

 found being referable to this species. One hundred and thirteen 

 species have been found in the clays of Ireland, 72 in those of the 

 Isle of Man, 65 in England and Wales, 40 in Scotland, and 15 in 

 Canada. 



In 31 of the gatherings no foraminifera were met with, whilst in 

 some of the others they were very rare. The absence or the scarcity 

 of specimens in some of the samples may be due, in part at least, to 

 the circumstances that it was only the first floatings from the clays 

 that were examined, and also that these minuto organisms are liable 

 at times to be overlooked when the material is being examined. To 

 ascertain how far floatings could be relied on for giving conclusive 

 results, 1 oz. troy of the boulder-clay from Woodburn, near Carrick- 

 fergus, was examined with the utmost care. The first floating was 

 found to contain 1,400 specimens, the floating process being repeated 

 25 times before specimens ceased to come up ; upwards of 600 

 additional specimens were thus obtained. What remained of the 

 clay was then examined in detail with the microscope, and 67 more 

 specimens were got from it. 



In the boulder-clay at Knock Glen, near Belfast, 79 species were 

 obtained, many of them being very rare forms, 6 being only known 

 as recent British species from collections on the west coast of 

 Ireland, 2 of these also occurring off the west coast of Scotland. 

 The presence of these microzoa would lead us to infer that the clay 

 at this place was probably deposited in deep water, when the land 

 stood at a much lower level than at present, and when the marine 

 ccmditions must have been somewhat similar to what now prevails 

 ofi" the west coast of Ireland. 



VI. — The Fossil Floka of the Cumberland Coalfield.^ By 

 E. A. Newell Arbek, M.A., F.G.S. 



THE Cumberland Coalfield lies along the coastline to the west of 

 the mountains of the Lake District. The towns of Whitehaven, 

 Workington, and Maryport are three of the most important centres 

 of the coal industry in Cumberland. In this district the Upper 

 Carboniferous rocks consist of two series, of which the upper is the 

 well-known ' Whitehaven Sandstone.' This is essentially an 

 arenaceous deposit, and is often red or purple in colour. It is 

 generally believed to lie unconformably on the ' Coal-measures ' 

 below, the latter consisting of argillaceous and carbonaceous material, 

 and containing almost all the workable coals. 



The horizons of both, the ' Whitehaven Sandstone ' and the 

 ' Coal-measures ' in the Carboniferous are disputed questions. 



1 Abstract of a paper read at the British Association, Belfast, September, 1902, 

 in Section C (Geology). 



