W. S. M. D' Urban — 8tone Implements in 8. Devon. 37 



Beyond this, at the hills of Senji, micaceous, argillaceous, and 

 talcose schists, traversed with dykes of greenstone, were seen. Beyond 

 these hills, after eleven days' journey since leaving Kalgan, basalt 

 was met with, which rose in cones from 100 to 150 feet in height. 

 After this, calcareous sandstone, conglomerate and limestone were 

 met with, which were followed by more granite, mica-schist, and 

 dolomite. 



On the 15th day of travel, trachytic porphyry was met with. On 

 the 16th day, granitic and syenitic rocks. On the 21st day, just 

 before reaching Urga, hills of a black metamorphosed slate were seen. 

 These, together with the Steppe deposits of alluvial material, appear 

 to have been the chief geological points which were observed. 



Placing my fragmentary gleanings along with the notes collected 

 by Mr. Pumpelly, it would appear that there is considerable geolo- 

 gical variety to be found upon the Mongolian plateau, which is 

 usually pictured as a sandy waste, known under the name of the 

 Desert of Gobi or Shamo. 



The younger formations of this area apparently give evidence of 

 a large sheet of water having at one time covered this portion of the 

 globe, which in itself probably implies enormous subsidence. Such 

 vast changes in the relation of land and water in this portion of the 

 globe, if they can be really shown to have occurred, would at once 

 give some clue to the climate of past time, the distribution of faunas, 

 and other like phenomena, which are not only interesting as facts in 

 the history of our globe, but which also have a practical bearing 

 upon our present welfare. 



Then there are the volcanos. These, I believe, from what I 

 learnt from M. Paderin, Acting Eussian Consul at Urga, who had 

 recently made a visit to Ulisaitai, and from what I learnt from other 

 sources, must have covered an area as large and perhaps larger than 

 any other volcanic district with which we are acquainted. In the 

 mountains of Manchuria the flickering embers of these. fiery out- 

 bursts appear to have continued down to historic times, and no 

 doubt, as Mr. Pumpelly remarks, the violent earthquakes which 

 shake the districts of North Chihli, and which I have described as of 

 continual occurrence round Lake Baikal, are remnants of this action. 



Altogether Mongolia is an interesting region, and one which 

 would repay the geologist who could visit it at a favourable season. 



Note. — See Geological Researches in China, Mongolia, and Japan, by Eaphael 

 Pumpelly. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. No. 202. 



( To be continued in our next Number.) 



IV. — Paleolithic Implements from the Valley of the Axe. 



By W. S. M. D'Urban, F.L.S., 



Curator of the Devon and Exeter Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. 



AT Broom, in the parish of Hawkchurch, near Axminster, close to 

 the River Axe, in the angle formed by the junction of a tribu- 

 tary brook with it, is a low hill, the summit of which is about 50 

 feet above the level of the rails of the London and South- Western 

 Eailway, which runs at its base. This hill consists of a mass of 



