142 



SCIENTIFIC NE\VS. 



[Aug. 1st, 1887. 



THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



A MEETING was held on June 8, Prof. J. W. Judd, F.R.S., 

 President, in the chair, when the following communica- 

 tions were read : — 



1. "A Revision of the Echinoidea from the Australian Ter- 

 tiaries." By Prof P. Martin Duncan, M.B., F.R.S., F.G.S. 



After calling attention to a previous paper by himself pub- 

 lished in the Society's Journal for 1877, and to additions to the 

 fauna made by Prof. R. Tate and Prof. M'Coy, the author pro- 

 ceeded to give notes on the characters, relations, and nomencla- 

 ture of 29 species of Echinoidea. A few notes were added on 

 the relations between this fauna and that now inhabiting the 

 Australian seas, also on the connections with the Tertiary Echi- 

 noidea of New Zealand, Sind, etc. 



2. " On the Lower Part of the Upper Cretaceous Series in 

 West Suffolk and Norfolk." By A. J. Jukes-Brown, Esq., B.A., 

 F.G.S., and W. Hill, Esq., F.G.S, 



The district described in this paper is that of West Suffolk and 

 Norfolk, and is one which has never been thoroughly examined ; 

 for no one has yet attempted to trace the beds and zonal divisions 

 which are found at Cambridge through the tract of country which 

 lies between Newmarket and Hunstanton. Until this was done 

 the Hunstanton section could not be correlated definitely with 

 that of the neighbourhood of Cambridge. It was the authors' 

 endeavour to accomplish this, and the following is an outline of 

 the results obtained by them. 



The chief interest of the paper probably centres in the Gault, 

 and its relations to the Chalk Marl and the Red Chalk. Quite 

 recently the very existence of Gault in Norfolk has been dis- 

 puted, but the authors think the facts they adduce and the fossils 

 they have found will decide that point. The Gault at Stoke 

 Ferry is about 60 feet thick, and in the outlier at Muzzle Farm 

 Ammonites interrifptus occurs plentifully in the form of clay- 

 casts with the inner whorls phosphatized. At Roydon a boring 

 was made, which showed the Gault to be about 20 feet thick, the 

 lower part being a dark blue clay, above which were two bands 

 of limestone enclosing a layer of red marl, and the upper 10 feet 

 were soft grey marl ; the limestones contained Amm. rostratus, 

 Amm. laiitiis, Inoccramus sulcatus, and Inoc. concentricus (?), 

 while the marls above contained Belem?iites minimus in abund- 

 ance. At Dersingham another boring was made, which proved 

 the grey marl (2 feet) to overlie hard yellow marl, passing down 

 into red marl which rests on Carstone. The grey marl thins out 

 northward, and as the red marl occupies the position of the 

 Red Chalk, the authors believe them to be on the same horizon, 

 an inference confirmed by the presence of Gault Ammotiites in 

 the Red Chalk. 



Another point of importance is the increasingly calcareous 

 nature of the Gault as it is followed northward through Norfolk. 

 This was regarded as evidence of passing away from the land 

 supplying inorganic matter, and approaching what was then a 

 deeper part of the sea ; this inference is borne out by the micro- 

 scopical evidence. 



As regards the Chalk Marl, it also becomes more calcareous ; 

 at Stoke it is still over 70 feet thick, and its base is a glauconitic 

 marl which can be traced to Shouldham and Marham, but 

 beyond this the base is a hard chalk or limestone, which is 

 conspicuous near Grimston and Roydon, and passes, as the 

 authors believe, into the so-called " sponge-bed " at Hun- 

 stanton. 



SCOTTISH METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



THE report by the Council of this Society states that the 

 secretary's time which is available for investigation has 

 been devoted partially to the preparation of the statistics of the 

 monthly rainfall of the British Islands, but more particularly to 

 an exact comparison of all the observations of storms made at the 

 lighthouses round the Scottish coasts since December, 1883, with 

 the storm warnings issued by the office in London, and the im- 

 portant bearing ot the observations made at the Ben Nevis 

 Observatory on the results thus obtained. This is one of the 

 largest and most important inquiries which the Society has yet 

 engaged with, but from the enormous amount of merely 

 mechanical labour which must be gone through in carrying it 

 out, the Council desire to stale that some time must yet elapse 

 before the investigation can be completed, unless means be taken 

 to give the secretary assistance in the office during the coming 

 year. 



ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 '"T'HE concluding meeting of this Society for the present session 

 J- was held on June 15th, atiithe Institution of Civil Engi- 

 neers, Mr. W. Ellis, F.R.A.S., President, in the chair. 

 The following papers were read : — 



1. "Amount and Distribution of Monsoon Rainfall in Ceylon 

 generally, with remarks upon the rainfall in Dimbula." By Mr. 

 F. J. Waring, M.Inst.C.E. The principal feature in Ceylon, as 

 determining both the amount and distribution of rainfall, is a 

 group of mountains situate in the south-central portion of the 

 island, equidistant from its east, west, and southern shores. 

 The south-west and north-east monsoons in Ceylon may be said 

 respectively to blow steadily from May to August inclusive, and 

 from November to February inclusive. In March and April, and 

 in September and October, the weather is more or less unsettled, 

 and no regular monsoon or direction of the air current is usually 

 experienced. After giving details of the rainfall at twenty-five 

 stations, the author concludes by remarking upon: — i. The 

 effect of the mountain zone in determining the amount and dis- 

 tribution of the rainfall ; 3, the apparent gradual veering of the 

 rain-bearing currents of air as each monsoon progresses ; 3, 

 the relative insignificance of the south-west monsoon as com- 

 pared with the north-east monsoon in inducing rainfall ; 4, the 

 cause of the large general rainfall of the north-east monsoon 

 throughout the island generally as compared with that of the 

 south-west monsoon ; and 5, The influence of the gaps in the 

 external ring of the mountain zone, and of the central as well as 

 the other ridges in it, in determining the amount of rainfall 

 within the zone and in the neighbouring districts outside it. 



2. " Note on a Display of Globular Lightningat Ringstead Bay, 

 Dorset, on August 17th, 1876." By Mr. H. S. Eaton, M.A., 

 F.R.Met.Soc. Between 4 and 5 p.m. two ladies, who were out on 

 the cliff, saw, surrounding them on all sides and extending from 

 a few inches above the surface to two or three feet overhead, 

 numerous globes of light, the size of billiard balls, which were 

 moving independently and vertically up and down, sometimes 

 within a few inches of the observers, but always eluding the 

 grasp. Now gliding slowly upwards two or three feet, and as 

 slowly falling again, resembling in their movements soap bubbles 

 floating in the air. The balls were all aglow, but not dazzling, 

 with a soft, superb iridescence, rich and warm of hue, and each 

 of variable tints, their charming colours heightening the extreme 

 beauty of the scene. The subdued magnificence of this fasci- 

 nating spectacle is described as baffling description. Their 

 numbers were continually fluctuating ; at one time thousands of 

 them enveloped the observers, and a few minutes afterwards 

 the numbers would dwindle to perhaps as few as twenty, but 

 soon they would be swarming again as numerous as ever. Not 

 the slightest noise accompanied this display. 



3. "Ball-lightning seen during a Thunderstorm on July I Ith, 

 1874." By Dr. J. W. Tripe, F.R.Met.Soc. During this thunder- 

 storm the author saw a ball of fire of a pale yellow colour rise 

 from behind some houses, at first slowly, apparently about as 

 fast as a cricket ball thrown into the air, then rapidly increasing 

 its rate of motion until it reached an elevation of about thirty 

 degrees, when it started off so rapidly as to form a continuous 

 line of light, proceeding first east then west, rising all the time. 

 After describing several zigzags it disappeared in a large black 

 cloud to the west, from which flashes of lightning had come. In 

 about three minutes another ball ascended, and in about five 

 minutes afterwards a third, both behaving as the first and dis- 

 appearing in the same cloud. 



4. " Appearance of Air-bubbles at Remenham, Berkshire, 

 January, 1 871." By Rev. A. Bonney. Between 11 and 12 a.m. 

 a group of air-bubbles of the shape and apparent size of the 

 coloured indiarubber balls that are carried about the streets, 

 were seen to rise from the centre of a level space of snow within 

 view of the house. The bubbles rose to a considerable height 

 and then began to move up and down within a limited area, and 

 at equal distances from each other, some ascending, others 

 descending. These lasted about two minutes, at the end of 

 which they were borne away by a current of air towards the east 

 and disappeared. Another group rose from the same spot, to 

 the same height, with precisely the same movements, and dis- 

 appeared in the same direction, after the same manner. 



Mr. H. C. Russell, F.R.S., of Sydney, described a fafl of red 

 rain which occurred in New South Wales, and exhibited under 

 the microscope specimens of the deposit collected in the rain 

 gauges. 



