80 Reviews — Newton^s British Pliocene Vertehrata. 



been issued in 1890, but of which we have not yet been privileged 

 to receive a copy for review. 



The Forest Bed Series of Norfolk and Suffolk being included })y 

 the Geological Survey among Pliocene Deposits, the new volume 

 contains many observations supplementary to Mr. Newton's former 

 work on the Forest Bed Vertebrata ; and one double plate is devoted 

 to the antlers of Cervidos, of which no illustrations were previously 

 given. The principal interest of the Memoir, however, centres upon 

 the vertebrate fossils of the English Crags, which are carefully 

 subdivided into horizons in accordance with Mr. Reid's classification. 

 " By far the larger part of the Vertebrate remains which are said to 

 be from the Bed Crag really come from the Nodule-bed (Bone-bed 

 of some authors) which occurs at its base ; and, further, a Nodule- 

 bed with similar fossils is known to occur also under the Coralline 

 Crag. Many of the fossils from the Nodule-bed have been un- 

 doubtedly derived from the denudation of Eocene strata, while others 

 seem to be the remanic of Pliocene beds older than the Coralline 

 Crag, but of which no traces are known to occur in Britain. It has 

 been suggested that most of the Nodule-bed Vertebrates have been 

 derived from Miocene strata, but there seems little evidence to 

 support such an idea. Many Vertebrate remains have been found 

 actually in the Coralline Crag and Red Crag above the Nodule-bed. 

 The same is the case with the Norwich Crag, many specimens being 

 obtained above the Basement Bed, or Mammaliferous Stone-bed." 



Many new specimens are noticed and well illustrated in the 

 course of the work, but the majority of Mr. Newton's observations 

 have already appeared elsewhere, and they are now presented 

 merely in a collected form, with references to the original places 

 of publication. These references, indeed, with those also to other 

 authors, form the only blemish in the M-ork demanding serious 

 adverse criticism. They are all placed within round brackets in 

 the text itself, and render many pages quite unreadable, except by 

 the closest study. The nominative is frequently separated from the 

 rest of a phrase by one and a half or two lines. Perhaps, however, 

 the saving of the extra cost of printing footnotes results in some 

 advantage, for the Memoir is issued to the public at the unusually 

 reasonable price of four shillings. 



It would be impossible in the course of a brief review to do justice 

 to the most interesting and valuable mass of information concerning 

 the Pliocene Vertebrata now brought together. It must thus suffice 

 to remark upon a few striking points. Mr. Newton considers that 

 Mr. Lydekker is most probably correct in referring the teeth of 

 Bijcfna from the Red Crag Nodule-bed to the existing H. striata ; 

 and a right lower canine from Felixstow is now provisionally added 

 to the evidence of the species. Owen's determination of the common 

 Wolf from the Red Crag Nodule-bed is also confirmed, while an 

 upper premolar and two canines are additional specimens recorded. 

 Cnnis primigenius, Mr. Newton thinks, may be founded on a Cetacean 

 tooth. The occurrence of Cerviihis dicranoceros, first determined 

 by Sir Richard Owen and since questioned by Dawkins and Lydekker, 



