188 RejioHs and Proceediugs — 



J. Prestwich, M.A., F.R.S. ; Warrington W. Smytli, Esq., M.A., F.R.S. ; J. J. 

 H. Teall, Esq., M.A.; W. Topley, Esq.; Prof. T. Wiltshire, M.A., F.L.S. ; Rev. 

 H. H. Winwood, M.A.; Henry Woodward, LL.D., F.R.S. 



IV.— February 25, 1885.— Prof. T. G. Bonney, D.Sc, LL.D., 

 F.E.S., President, in the Chair. The following communications 

 were read : — 



1. " On the Dredged Skull of Ooihos moschatus." By Prof. W. 

 Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S. 



As some doubts have been expressed as to whether a skull of 

 Ovibos moschatus, described by the author in a previous communica- 

 tion to the Society had been derived from the Forest bed, he first 

 quoted the opinion of Mr. Clement Eeid, that that specimen really 

 came from the bed in question, and then pi-oceeded to describe a 

 second imperfect skull of the same animal in the University Museum 

 of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge. The trace of 

 red sandy matrix still remaining and the impregnation with iron 

 peroxide showed that this also had been derived from the Forest 

 bed, whilst the presence of marine Polyzoa on the surface and in 

 cracks was considered to prove that the fragments in question had 

 lain at the bottom of the sea, and the sharpness of the angles 

 forbade the supposition that it had been rolled on a beach. The 

 writer inferred that the skull had been dredged, and that it had been 

 originally derived from cliffs near the Dogger Bank before the coast- 

 line had been cut back to its present position. The fragments 

 consisted of the coronal and frontal portions of the skull with the 

 horncores and right orbit. It seems of unusual thickness, and the 

 author briefly describes its leading peculiarities and measurements. 



2. " On Fulgurite from Mont Blanc." By Frank Eutley, Esq., 

 F.G.S. 



The specimens described in this paper were collected by Mr. J. 

 Eccles on the Dom du Goute, about 14,000 feet above the sea-level. 

 The rock, which has been fused by lightning, is a hornblendic 

 gneiss. The fusion in the specimens examined is quite superficial. 

 The hornblende has been converted into a dark, and the felspar into 

 a white, glass, which, as a rule, remain distinct. The fulgurite in 

 some cases consists of small spheres of glass, mostly of dark colour, 

 which, in one instance, appear to have been spurted over the surface 

 of the rock while in a state of fusion. The fulgurite glass is quite 

 free from microliths, and shows only gas-bubbles and inclosures of 

 glass, the latter usually containing nests of such bubbles. In con- 

 clusion, a comparison was made between this fulgurite and the 

 Bouteillenstein or puseudo-chrysolite of Bohemia, which is now 

 regarded by Makowsky and others as an artificially formed glass. 



3. "On Brecciated Porfido-rosso-antico." By Frank Rutley, 

 Esq., F.G.S. 



The variety of this well-known hornblende-porphyrite here de- 

 scribed shows a distinctly brecciated structure when examined in 

 thin section under the microscope. The fragments sometimes appear 

 to fit together, at others they are more or less widely seperated, so 

 that the section at first sight presents almost the aspect of a tuff. 



