15° 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 





Chalk — Croydon to Oxted. — In Mr. Caleb 

 Evans' article on the Croydon and Oxted Chalk, 

 published in the proceedings of the Geologists' 

 Association, January, 1S70, he divided the chalk 

 into seven beds, as: Purley Beds, containing 

 Inoceramus cuvieri and Micraster cor-testudinarium ; 

 Upper Kenley Beds, containing M. cor-testudinarium 

 in the upper part, and Ananchytes ovatiis and Spondylus 

 spiuosus in the lower ; Lower Kenley Beds, with 

 Holaster planus and M. cor-bovis ; Whiteleaf Beds, 

 with I. brongniarti and Galerites sub-rotundus ; Upper 

 Marden Beds, with Ammonites peramplus and /. 

 mytiloides ; Lower Marden Beds, with A . varians 

 and Belemnitella plena. Having worked these beds 

 the last four years, I think a few notes on them 

 might be- useful. At Purley, as Mr. Caleb Evans 

 says, M. cor-anguinum is rare, and M. cor- 

 testudinarium is most abundant ; at the bottom of 

 the quarry A . ovatus is very plentiful. The Kenley 

 chalk is very plentiful in fossils, especially Micraster, 

 Ananchyte, Inoceramus, and Terebratula. At the 

 Rose and Crown Pit, in that valley, there is 

 a bed of marl which divides the Upper Chalk 

 from the Lower, and it runs down the valley for 

 over a mile and re-appears at Whiteleaf. The 

 bed is full of phosphatic nodules and Terebratula 

 gracialis. At Marden Park there are no quarries ; 

 but at Caterham, which is on the same zone, are 

 I. mytiloides, G. sub-rotundus and Rhynconella plicatilis. 

 In comparison with Mr. Caleb Evans' list, the 

 following are additional. At Purley, Doryderma 

 ramosum, Ciiona, Pecten cretosus, Ptychodus altior. At 

 Kenley, Ventriculites impressus, I. involutus, Pecten 

 fissicosta, Lima granosa, L. semisulcata, Ostrea semi- 

 plana, Modiola quadrata, Corax falcatus. At White- 

 leaf, Ptychodus latissimus, P. mammillaris, Terebella 

 lewesiensis. — G. Fletcher Brown, 252, Whitehorse 

 Lane, S.E. 



Greenland Cretaceous Flora. — In northern 

 Greenland some beds of clay of Cretaceous age 

 have been found which contain plants, showing 

 that at one time there was a warm, almost a sub- 

 tropical climate within twenty degrees of the Pole. 

 This is where there is now eternal ice almost in 

 sight, and where any plant more than a few inches 

 in height is a somewhat remarkable feature in the 

 landscape. From these beds, 335 different kinds 

 of plants have been disinterred, amongst them 

 being the cinnamon and fig, the magnolia and the 

 oak, together with such familiar ones as beeches, 

 guelder-roses and maples. The extraordinary 

 thing in connection with these, at one time Arctic 

 plants, is that if the earth has always turned round 

 the sun, and round itself, with an inclined axis, as 

 now, these trees and plants must have been 

 completely in darkness for a third of the year. 

 Astronomers will not have it that the earth has in 

 any way changed its axis. Yet is does not seem 

 possible that the plants mentioned all lived in 

 darkness throughout so long a time. This is a 

 case in which astronomical and botanical doctors 

 differ. Who shall decide? — Edward A. Martin, 

 F.G.S., 69, Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath. 



Original Research. — Can any one propose any 

 subject for original research, especially in breeding 

 or keeping any mollusca, mammals, or lower forms 

 of life ? Or is any one working at any zoological 

 subject who would be glad of a fellow worker? — 

 (Rev.) H. A. Soames, F.L.S., The Hawthorns, Ot/ord. 

 Sevenoaks. [If no one has a better suggestion, the 

 investigation of the causes of band-variation in 

 Helix nemoralis and H. hortensis offers a good 

 subject. — Ed. S.-G.] 



Spircla peronii in Devonshire. — In addition 

 to Mr. J. E. Cooper's note on " The Marine 

 Mollusca of North Devon " (ante p. 85), I may 

 say that Mrs. Willsher, Netly, Ilfracombe, an 

 ardent collector, found two perfect Spirilla peronii 

 (Lam.) on Barricane beach. The nearest possible 

 point for these shells that I know is Jamaica. The 

 interesting point is that so frail a shell should have 

 travelled so far uninjured. According to the chart 

 of ocean currents (Geikie, Phys. Geo., plate viii), 

 Jamaica lies in the track of the Gulf Stream. — R. 

 Ashinglon Bullen, F.G.S., Loughrigg, Reigate ; 

 September, 1S97. 



Helix arbustorum, Sub-fossil. — At Harlton, 

 Cambs., the Rev. Osmond Fisher, M.A., F.G.S., 

 pointed out to me the occurrence in abundance of 

 H. arbustorum in a sub-fossil condition, Some 

 examples are almost as fresh as recent specimens. 

 Mr. Fisher has only found, in the same district, one 

 living specimen in thirty years. I looked for them 

 carefully in damp spots, but only secured two 

 immature specimens which were making shell in 

 May last. They were on an ait on the Cam, near 

 Sheep's Green. — R. Ashington Bullen, F.G.S. 



Tellina radiata in Ireland. — I have to report 

 a West Indian shell, Tellina radiata (Linn.), from 

 Courtmacsherry beach, south-west coast of 

 Ireland. The clergyman's niece, who found the 

 specimen in my possession quite recently, found a 

 larger one at Youghal previously, and was un- 

 acquainted with its sub-tropical character. — 

 R. Ashington Bullen, F.G.S. 



Paludestrina ulvae, Varieties. — Recently at 

 Lowestoft, on the shores of Lake Lothing, I found 

 an abundance of Paludestrina ulvae (Pennant), of a 

 rich brown colour. The grey-green variety which 

 Col. Fielden presented to the British Musuem. 

 from Norfolk, occurs sparingly. Littorina rudis and 

 vars. tenebrosa and saxatilis also occur abundantly 

 near the same spot. — R. Ashington Bullen, F.G.S. 



Rabbit Hunted by a Cat. — While walking 

 through a wood near Ulverston, in June last, I 

 noticed a rabbit running along the road towards 

 me, looking frightened and evidently pursued by 

 an animal which I saw at some distance behind. 

 The rabbit did not appear to see me until I was 

 within a few yards of it, when it suddenly stopped 

 and bolted into the wood. The pursuer continued 

 to follow, also without noticing my presence until 

 it was within twenty yards of the place where I 

 stood, when it also stopped suddenly and ran away. 



