528 Mkcellaneous. 



Geology, but an exchange was ultimately arranged by means of 

 Geological Survey publications and some recent specimens of 

 Trigonia, which latter especially gave great jo}' to Mr. "Windoes. 

 He was a true lover of Nature, worthy to rank with Eobert Dick, 

 of Thurso, and others, who, by patient industry and with little or 

 no local encouragement, have rendered good service to geological 

 science. H. B. W. 



nvnisoEXjijj^n^rEOTJS. 



Geological Survey. — We regret to learn that Mr. W. W. Watts, 

 M.A., F.G.S., who joined the staff of the Geological Survej' in 1891, 

 has just resigned his position of " Temporary Assistant Geologist." 

 The experience which he brought to the Survey from his intimate 

 acquaintance with the Lower Palaeozoic and Igneous rocks of 

 Shropshire and the Welsh borders, the subsequent large acquaint- 

 ance which he made with the Igneous and Sedimentary rocks of 

 Ireland, and with the fine Eock-collection in the Museum at Jermyn 

 Street ; his detailed examination of rocks from many areas in England 

 and Wales, and his special study of the older rocks of Charnwood 

 Forest, combined to give him a knowledge that must have been 

 invaluable to the Survey. His loss to the Service is deplorable on 

 this account alone, to say nothing of his readiness at all times to 

 give advice and assistance to others. Mr. Watts has now become 

 Assistant Professor of Geologj' at the Mason College, Birmingham, 

 where he will have a fine field for work in co-operation with 

 Professor Lapworth. 



On the Possible Identity of Bennettites, Williamsonia, and 

 Zamites gigas. — Mr. A. C. Seward, M.A., F.G.S., brings forward 

 evidence^ in support of the organic connection between Williamsonia 

 and the Cycadean fronds known as Zamites gigas, L. and H., and in 

 favour of the close relationship, if not identity, of Carruthers' genera 

 Bennettites and Williamsonia. In the earliest descriptions of the 

 Jurassic inflorescence known as Williamsonia, Williamson and other 

 authors regarded the genus as the fructification of the plant which 

 bore the leaves known as Zamites gigas. In 1875 Saporta expressed 

 himself strongly against the generally accepted view as to the union 

 of Williamsonia and Zamites. A recent examination of a series of 

 specimens in the Paris Natural History Museum and elsewhere has 

 convinced the author that Williamsonia and Zamites gigas are parts 

 of the same plant. Evidence had been previously brought forward 

 of the practical identity of Williamsonia and Bennettites. More 

 recently acquired information leads to the conclusion that we are 

 now familiar, not only with the nature of the Bennettitian type of 

 inflorescence, but also with the character of the fronds which were, in 

 some instances, associated with this Jurassic fructification. In view of 

 the facts before us, it is advisable that the generic name Williamsonia 

 should be substituted for the provisional and comprehensive term 

 Zamites as the more suitable generic name of Lindley and Hutton's 

 species Zamites gigas. 



' Erit. Assoc. Meeting, Toronto, 1897: Sect. C (Geology). 



