q6 



SCIEXCE-GOSSIP. 



The Bembridge Limestone, although only some 

 ten feet thick, is an interesting freshwater deposit, 

 containing numerous land shells (such as Helix, 

 Bulimus, etc.), besides several freshwater species. 

 Both may readily be obtained at all the exposures, the 

 more important of which are on Headon Hill, at Cliff 

 End and Sconce, and at Bembridge Point. The 

 Bembridge Limestone is remarkable for the persist- 

 ence of its lithological characters throughout the 

 island, an unusual thing in beds of the kind. 



The Bembridge Marls are chiefly of freshwater 

 origin, but a thin marine band occurs near the 

 base. They are some ioo feet thick and may be 

 seen east of Yarmouth at low tide on the foreshore, 

 at Bembridge Point, at St. Helen's, and in Gurnard 

 Bay. At the last place a thin limestone, with many 

 insect remains, occurs just above the marine bed. 

 The freshwater and marine fossils can be collected 

 at all the places named when the beds respectively 

 are exposed. 



The Hampstead Beds cover a great part of the 

 tertian- outcrop of the island but the}- can only be 

 conveniently studied at Hamstead Hill, east of 

 Yarmouth. They are about 260 feet thick, of 

 freshwater origin below, passing up gradually into 



marine beds. They contain many fossils, which 

 may readily be collected. Besides many species of 

 mollusca. vertebrate remains — such as teeth, scales, 

 or bone fragments of Hyopotamus, crocodile, turtle 

 or fish are common. 



The chief interest of the Quarternary Deposits of 

 the island is in the Plateau Gravels which cap 

 many of the hills, and show, accordingly, the great 

 amount of denudation which has taken place since 

 their deposition. No organic remains have been 

 found in these old gravels, but in the Valley 

 Deposits the mammoth and rhinoceros have been 

 found. 



In conclusion it only remains for the writer to 

 express his indebtedness to the authors of the 

 works he has consulted in the preparation of this 

 paper, since detailed references have necessarily 

 been omitted. " The Isle of Wight Memoir of the 

 Geological Survey" |i;So 'zy Clement Rcii and 

 Aubrey Strahan has been freely consulted, also 

 papers in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, by Keeping 

 and Tawney (1881), and by Gardner, Keeping and 

 Monckton (1888). 



Lindisfarne, St. Julian's Farm Road, 



West Norwood, S£. ; April, 1895. 



WINTER IX THE HEBRIDES. 



By W. 



T T was, I suppose, to be expected that so unusual 

 a winter as the one now happily departed 

 should be attended by unusual phenomena in the 

 organic world. Probably a fitter opportunity for 

 observation of its effects could scarcely be looked 

 for than here in Islay, where no such winter has 

 been seen within the memory of the oldest inhabi- 

 tant. This island, with the rest of the Hebrides, 

 has, compared with the mainland of Scotland, or 

 even of England, a very exceptional climate. 

 Although we have not the same heat in summer, 

 it is questionable whether our average winter is not 

 as mild as that of the Channel Islands, or even of 

 the south of France. Snow, worthy of the name, 

 is very rare, and frosts, when we get them, are 

 usually confined to the night. Sometimes a shift 

 of wind to the north will bring a light sprinkling 

 of hail or sleet, but it either melts as it falls or 

 disappears soon after, giving place to a diluted 

 sunshine or mist and drizzle. Then, perhaps, at 

 night the wind will veer round to the west or south, 

 and it will blow for a week, with heavy rain at 

 intervals ; but the temperature rarely falls below 

 40 F. Last winter, however, all this was changed, 

 and we received our full share of the roughest 

 weather that was going. We had two heavy falls of 

 snow — the last of which completely blocked the 

 roads for a week, and did not disappear for a month, 

 followed by a succession of hard frosts and a mean 



B. Jones. 



day temperature ly below that of ordinary winters. 

 This unwonted severity found the inhabitants of 

 the island, both human and animal, as might be 

 expected, entirely unprepared, and the result was 

 sufficiently deplorable. Many old people, who, 

 under ordinary circumstances, might have con- 

 tinued to live for some years, went to their final 

 rest prematurely. The death-rate amongst the 

 children was excessively high, and scarcely any 

 household was exempt from some severe and 

 unusual form of sickness. 



The effect upon the bird life of the island was 

 disastrous beyond all precedent. My own observa- 

 tions were limited to the very narrow area wdthin 

 which my business confines me, but I could not 

 avoid seeing phenomena of a very unusual 

 character. The exceeding tameness of the birds 

 was what struck me most. All day long, while the 

 severe weather lasted, the main street of the village 

 of Port Ellen was alive with gulls of various 

 species, and the air resonant with their cries and 

 the continual rustle of their wings. Viewed from 

 one end, indeed, this thoroughfare looked like a 

 perfect wilderness of birds, which at one moment 

 would be a surging white sheet on the ground- 

 level, and the next would rise up a fluttering and 

 gleaming column that reached above the house- 

 tops. Scourged by famine, the courage and perti- 

 nacity of these poor creatures was extraordinary. 



