366 -Notices of Memoirs — Brief Abstracts. 



The strata just described are found in their fullest development 

 on the ridge of the Taunus mountains, and its northward slope to 

 the valley of the Lahn. On the southern slope of the range, towards 

 the Main, and its junction with the Ehine, the Tertiary formations' 

 and alluvial deposits are considered to exhibit traces of the former 

 existence here of a large inland sea, the Mayence Basin, which 

 extended from Eudesheim to Basle. A sand-pit on the Biberich 

 road, S.W. of Wiesbaden, affords a good opportunity for studying 

 the beds of this group. The strata here lie in a nearly horizontal 

 position, and show, after a layer of sea-sand and various chalky beds, 

 regular alternations of fresh water and marine deposits, according to 

 their mollusca, and lastly, a layer of coarse alluvial sand and gravel, 

 rich in fossil remains. Besides a great quantity of mollusca [Planorhis, 

 Lymncea, Cyclas, Helix, and Valvata), all agreeing very nearly with 

 existing species, the remains of mammalia occur here — Elephas primi- 

 genius, Bhinoceros leptorMmhs, Hippopotamus major, TJrsus speloeus, 

 Cervus euryceros, etc. Fragments of tusks, and the fore-leg (tibia) 

 of the first-named animal, have been brought to light this winter in 

 the sand-pit just mentioned, where only a slight upper stratum of 

 yellow sand has been deposited above the coarse gravel, which is here 

 20 feet deep. The remains all show traces of having been long exposed 

 to the water, and are encrusted with yellow sand and calcareous 

 matter, seemingly the remains of the shells of marine mollusca. 

 The whole series of these Tertiary beds appears to be referable to 

 the Miocene epoch, being more recent than the deposits of the Paris 

 and London basins, but older than those of the Apennine range. 



B. E. W. 



II. — Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow. 

 Vol. iv. part 2, 1873. 



THE contents of this part contain papers of much interest, and 

 chiefly devoted to Scottish geology. Besides an abstract of the 

 Proceedings of the Society for the year 1871-2, some of the papers 

 read at these meetings are published in full, which, together with 

 a biographical notice of the late Dr. Scouler, and the closing address 

 of the President, Dr. John Young, " On Geological Terminology," 

 form the bulk of this part. Glacial and Post-Tertiary geology, as 

 in the preceding part, are prominent subjects, and a paper " On the 

 Valley of Loch Lomond," in which the author, Mr. G. H. Kinahan, 

 advocates similar views as to the origin of its form and the deeps 

 and shallows of the lake, to those respecting the form of Loch Derg, 

 given in this Magazine (Vol. X. p. 486), and which he considers to 

 be primarily due to breaks in the rocks. J. M. 



III. — Brief Abstracts. 



1, — Ltjdwigite ; a new Mineral Species. Ludwigit, ein neues 



Mineral aus dem Banate. Von G. Tsohermak. Mineralogische 



Mittheilungen, 1874, Heft i. pp. 59-66. 



This mineral occurs in limestone at Morawitza, in the Banat. It 



presents a finely-fibrous structure, the fibres being separated with 



