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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



CONDUCTED BY EDWARD A. MARTIN, F.G.S. 



To whom all Notes, Articles and material relating to Geology, 

 and intended for Science-Gossip, are, in the first instance, 

 to be addressed, at 6g, Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath. 



Flames in Volcanic Vents. — Some of the 

 larger flames which were seen to be emitted from 

 Vesuvius in April this year, lasted as long as 

 fifteen days. The phenomenon of volcanic flames 

 had not been noticed in connection w'ith this 

 volcano for eighty-four years. "Nature" has 

 recorded the results of the investigations into their 

 origin, which have been conducted by Professor 

 V. Matteucci and Professor E. Semmola. The 

 orifice probably became blocked by the various 

 ejecta falling back into it, with the result that the 

 pent-up mass became heated to such an extent 

 that the volatilised rock escaped in flames. 



Geology at the Crystal Palace. — The 

 rising generation of young geologists would do well 

 to note, when next they visit the Crystal Palace, 

 the restorations of extinct animals that are placed 

 at various spots around the boating lake, which 

 were made by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, with the 

 assistance of the late Professor Owen. Standing 

 on the rustic bridge we face a cliff of Carboniferous 

 strata, containing two seams of coal, in which some 

 twenty-five tons of coal were used up, and strata 

 of ironstone and sandstone. These dip to the 

 right, giving place to newer strata, whilst in the 

 south, by means of an imitation fault, appear the 

 Millstone Grit and the Carboniferous Limestone, 

 with the Old Red Sandstone cropping out from 

 beneath it. Overlying these palaeozoic rocks is 

 an unconformable capping of the New Red Sand- 

 stone. This formation is also seen in what has 

 been called Secondary Island, where the earliest of 

 the restorations are met with — Labyrinthodon and 

 Dicynodon. Next is seen the Lias, with Ichthyosaurus, 

 Teleosaurus and Plesiosaicrus, in various striking 

 attitudes, the last-mentioned having " the head of 

 a lizard, the teeth of a crocodile, a neck like the 

 body of a serpent, the trunk and tail of an ordinary 

 quadruped, the ribs of a chameleon, and the 

 paddles of a whale." Reposing on Oolitic strata is 

 a representation of the Megalosanrus, whilst farther 

 to the left is the Wealden formation containing the 

 gigantic Iguanodon and the spiny-backed Hylaco- 

 saurus, monuments of the labours of Dr. Mantell. 

 At the far end of the island are Mosasaurus and, 

 perched above, some giant Pterodactyli. On the 

 island beyond are seen representatives of the 

 mammals whose remains were exhumed from the 

 gypsum quarries of Montmartre, such as Palaeo- 

 therium and Anoplotherium ; whilst in the act of 

 pulling down a tree to feed on the leaves is the 

 gigantic sloth, the Megatherium. There is also a 

 restoration of the Irish elk. These groups may be 

 made of great service to students of geology. At 

 the back of the liff of Carboniferous limestone is a 

 cave, in which can be seen the result of nature's 

 working during the last forty-five years, in the 

 form of numerous stalactites. This cave is well 

 worth a visit. 



Geology of Franz-Josef Land. — A paper by 

 Dr. Reginald Koettlitz on the " Geology of Franz- 

 Josef Land " was read at the concluding meeting 

 of the Geological Society of London on June 22nd. 

 The opinion expressed last year by Messrs. Newton 

 and Teall as to the Tertiary age of the rocks of the 

 archipelago is not agreed in by the author of the 

 paper, who believes their age to be Jurassic, as 

 identified by means of the fossil plants, belemnites, 

 and ammonites. He considered some of the lavas 

 to be intrusive, also dating back to Jurassic times. 

 The basaltic rocks occur in tiers from ten to seventy 

 feet high, and range to a height of 1,300 feet above 

 sea-level. The associated and interbedded rocks 

 consist of shale, sandstone, and basaltic tuff. The 

 stratified rocks are not appreciably altered by the 

 heat of the basalt. Ammonites lamberti was found 

 imbedded in "basaltic tuff," but this, as pointed 

 out by Prof. E. T. Newton, may have been picked 

 up by flowing lava of any subsequent age, or may 

 even have been ejected from a volcano by the ejecta 

 having passed through Jurassic rocks in its upward 

 passage. The raised beaches are very numerous, 

 and occur at various heights, from just above sea- 

 level to 287 feet, 310 feet, 340 feet, and even 41a 

 feet, drift-wood and bones of seals, walrus, and 

 whales having been found on them. On Cape 

 Mary Harmsworth twelve beaches are seen in a 

 series one above another. The entire skeleton of a 

 seal was found on the summit-plateau of Cape 

 Neale, together with waterworn stones, at a height 

 of 700 feet above sea-level. The highest waterworn 

 pebbles noted were found at 1,1 11 feet on Cape Flora 

 Fossil Ice and Contorted Drift. — An import- 

 ant observation was made by Dr. Koettlitz on the 

 fossil-ice which he found at Cape Flora and else- 

 where in Franz-Josef Land. " In some cases 

 floe-ice at sea-level becomes covered over and 

 preserved by gravel heaped upon it by the sea ; 

 and some of the raised beaches seemed to have 

 consisted of a similar mixture of ice and gravel, as' 

 is proved by the formation of pitfalls in them where 

 the ice melts. Ice-masses are also sometimes pre- 

 served under taluses, avalanches and slips." It 

 seems to me that the discovery of these pitfalls, 

 resulting from the burial of masses of ice beneath 

 sand and gravel, will go a long way to explain 

 those puzzling deposits of contorted drift which 

 are found on the Norfolk coast and at other places. 

 Supposing the covering of such a mass of ice to be 

 boulder-clay, as well as gravel and sand, on the 

 periodical melting of the ice the covering would 

 gradually fall and assume the contorted appear- 

 ance so well known where seen in section. The 

 succeeding deposit would conform less and less to 

 the pitfall, until the layers on the surface again 

 became horizontal. 



Lost Opportunities for Geological Work. — 

 Prof. Hudlestone expressed the opinions of a good 

 many geologists when he remarked upon the 

 scantiness of geological work which characterised 

 the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition to Franz- 

 Josef Land, although in the neighbourhood for 

 nearly three years, 1S94-97. Subsequently, Prof. 

 E. T. Newton pointed out that Dr. Koettlitz, to 

 whose efforts they were indebted for such geological 

 data as had been obtained, was not a geologist at 

 all until a short time before his departure, being in 

 fact the medical officer of the expedition : hence 

 any geological work done was accomplished in 

 such leisure as his own duties afforded him, and 

 really great credit was due to him for those observa- 

 tions which he had been able to make, and for the 

 quantity of specimens which he had sent home. 



