792 
the recent marine sands and calcareous strata, occupying the position 
of the great harbour. Foah, which at the commencement of the 
fifteenth century was situated at the Canobic mouth of the Nile, 
though now amile from it, and the present inland position of Rosetta, 
Micopolis and Taposiris, Mr. Newbold says, must likewise be ascribed, 
in great measure, to the intervention of marine sand-banks, 
The increase of soil from the waters of the Nile is much slower in 
the Delta than in the valley of the river, being spread over a much 
greater extent ; and though a considerable quantity of the suspended 
matter is carried into the Mediterranean, yet the author does not 
think that the submarine accumulation of the Delta can be very rapid. 
10. Sand-drifts.—At a short distance from both the Red Sea and 
the Mediterranean, the shores are occasionally studded with dunes or 
hills derived chiefly from the drifting of sand-banks thrown up by the 
waves. In considering the nature of the sands of the deserts, and 
their encroachments, the author dwells upon the effects of the strong 
north-westerly and westerly winds, which blow during nine months of 
the year; and on the agency of the little whirlwinds which prevail 
chiefly in the hot season, and transport not merely the finer particles 
of sand, but seeds of plants, and marine, fluviatile and land shells. 
With respect to the effects of the sand-flood, the author alludes to the 
more considerable encroachments and to their increasing influence, 
likewise to the natural impediments to their progress presented by the 
rugged ravines and clifis of the western desert, and by the Nile: 
and lastly, he states that the accounts of whole caravans having been 
overwhelmed by clouds of drifting desert-sands are greatly exagge- 
rated; the effects having been confined to infirm or over-fatigued tra- 
vellers and animals who were unable to keep pace with the caravan. 
5. A letter, addressed to the Secretaries by C. Kaye, Esq., “ On 
a Collection of Fossils discovered by the writer in Rocks in Southern 
India.” 
The localities from which Mr. Kaye procured his suites of speci- 
mens are Pondicherry, Trichinopoly, and-Verdachellum. 
Pondicherry.—From a limestone in the neighbourhood of this city, 
Mr. Kaye obtained Nautili in great abundance, belonging to at least - 
three species; Ammonites in even greater numbers and well-pre- 
served, and although assignable to thirteen distinct species, the au 
thor has not been able to identify a single specimen with any Euro- 
pean Ammonites of which he has seen a description. Baculites like- 
wise occur in such quantities as often to constitute the entire mass 
of large blocks ; and Hamites in a great variety of forms, besides 
numerous genera of conchifera and mollusca; likewise Echinide, 
Polyparia, fishes’ teeth, and considerable masses of caleareous wood 
bored by Teredines. 
All these fossils were discovered by Mr. Kaye and a friend within 
the last two years, and are entirely new to European paleontologists. 
In the neighbourhood of Pondicherry and bordering on the lime- 
stone is a bed of red sand containing an immense quantity of the sili« 
cified wood long known to collectors. 
