176 Notices of Memoirs — Dr. A. Nehring — Origin of Loess. 



Thome, and Anobon ; and a prolongation of the line connecting 

 these islands reaches St. Helena. 



The Clarence Peak on Fernando Po has a height of above 10,000 

 feet ; smoke and fire are said to have been occasionally observed on 

 it. The small island of Anobon seems to have been a single volcano, 

 whose crater has become a lake. Dr. Pechsel-Losche found on the 

 coast of Loando (3° to 5° S. Latitude) a dark-brown very argilla- 

 ceous rock of loose oolitic texture, containing Corals and many 

 specimens of Leda, Mactra, Tellina, and Cardium. Near Landana, 

 well-preserved remains of Fishes (among them the vertebral column 

 and head of a large individual), teeth of Kaias, palatal teeth, fin- 

 spines, the tooth of a Crocodile, and a coprolite, were found, together 

 with a large Nautilus, some small Gasteropods, and Bivalves. A 

 light-coloured limestone along the coast south of Congo has abundant 

 shells of Ostrea. 



Very little is known of the Geology of Angola and Benguela. 

 Granites, schists with abundant copper-ores, volcanic rocks, rock- 

 salt, and asphalt are said to occur there. Limestones, in horizontal 

 beds, possibly connected with those along the south coast, and 

 prismatic basalt near Old Calabar, have been observed. The natives 

 oppose any approach of foreigners to the rock-salt deposits. 



II. — On the Quaternary Deposits at Westeregeln and Thiede, 

 near Brunswick ; in illustration of the Subaerial Origin 

 of Loess. By Dr. A. Nehring. 1 



[Communicated by Count Marschall, F.C.G.S.] 

 I. Westeregeln. — The Quaternary Fauna of this locality is cha- 

 racterized as a " Steppe " fauna by the presence of remains of 

 Alalrtaga Jaculus, Spermophilus Altaicus, Sp. guttatus ; Arctomys 

 Bobah, Lagomys pusillus, several Eastern-European burrowing 

 Murid(B, and Wild Horses, all of them having, apparently, lived in 

 the locality where their remains are now met with. This is shown 

 by the number of both young and adult individuals, and by their 

 good state of preservation. Other species associated with the fore- 

 going offer no objection to the " Steppe " character. Cheiroptera, 

 Wolves, Badgers, Hares, Bustards, Ducks, Larks, Finches, Swallows, 

 Frogs, and Toads are not of rare occurrence in the Steppes of East 

 Europe and Asia. Pelobates fuscus is said to be frequent around 

 Sarepta and other parts of the Steppes along the lower course of the 

 Volga ; and the Pike abounds in the waters of the Steppes. Similar 

 animals have left their remains in the Quaternary deposits under 

 notice. The local Fauna, like that now existing in the South 

 Siberian Steppes, has mixed with it occasional visitors, such as came 

 in summer from Central and South Germany, as Hyaenas and Lions, 

 or in winter from northern regions, as Eeindeer, Arctic Foxes, and 

 Lemmings. The presence of these last three indicates that the 

 vicinity of what is now Westeregeln was not covered with forests. 

 As to the extinct forms, such as EJephas primigenius, Bhinoceros 

 1 Imper. Geolog. Institute of Vienna, Report of Meeting, July 31, 1878. 



