3 i8 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



GEOLOGY 



&JB 



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



Geological Literature. — Messrs. Dulau, of 

 Soho Square, send their catalogue of books and 

 papers on Geology, a compilation extending to 

 130 pages. 



Drift of the Eastern Counties. — By a dona- 

 tion from Mr. F. W. Harmer, F.G:S,, : the Geological 

 Society has come into the possession of the manu- 

 script maps of the Drift of the Eastern Counties, 

 made by the late Mr. Searles Wood, Jun., and 

 himself. 



British Oak. — In sinking the cylinders of Chep- 

 stow Bridge of the Great Western Railway over 

 the River Wye, some sound oak was found beneath 

 a thickness of no less than forty feet of the clay, 

 sand, etc., and fifteen feet below low-water mark. 

 A specimen of this has been presented to the 

 Geological Society by Mr. J. S. Wood. 



Cleopatra's Needle. — The Cleopatra's Needle 

 originally came from Syene, in Upper Egypt. 

 There it was hewn out of the native rock, a kind 

 of granite, which mineralogists nowadays know as 

 syenite. Syenite is a mineral composed of felspar, 

 quartz, and hornblende. It is, of course, one of 

 the igneous or fire-formed rocks. In an interesting 

 article in the February " Strand Magazine," the 

 place of the quarries whence come the " Needles " 

 which are found in various parts of Lower Egypt 

 is unfortunately spelt " Syrene," and this is 

 repeated three times. Evidently the author is 

 confusing Cyrene, a place of Biblical fame, with 

 what is correctly " Syene." 



Conglomerate in Cumberland. — A discussion 

 of an interesting nature took place at the meeting 

 of the Geological Society, on November 23rd, 1898, 

 in regard to a communication on the Conglomerates 

 near Melmerby, in Cumberland, which was made 

 by Mr. J. E. Marr, M.A„ F.R.S., F.G.S. He 

 found the Skiddaw slates to be covered by about 

 thirty feet of roughly stratified Conglomerate, 

 followed by twenty to thirty feet of rock with 

 small pebbles, and then by a second coarse Con- 

 glomerate. The point noticed was that the 

 pebbles possessed the outward form of glacial 

 boulders, and possessed both curved and parallel 

 striae, but the author considered the markings to 

 be wholly due to earth movements. Sir A. Geikie 

 frankly admitted the truth of this explanation, but 

 at the same time held that conclusive evidence had 

 been obtained on other occasions of glacially- 

 striated boulders in old geological deposits. Dr. 

 W. T. Blanford thought that more reliable 

 evidence of glacial action than scratched surfaces 

 is the occurrence of boulders and pebbles im- 

 bedded in a fine silt. It was upon such evidence 

 that his belief in a Carboniferous glacial period in 

 India was originally founded. In future it would 

 seem, therefore, that geologists will have to be 

 very careful not too hastily to invite the occur- 

 rence of a glacial period to explain what may after 

 aU be merely slicken-sides due to earth movements. 



Lantern and Microscopical Slides. — We 

 have received an interesting catalogue of lantern 

 and microscopical slides from Mr. Abraham 

 Flatters, Longsight, Manchester, together with 

 specimens of geological lantern slides. These are 

 very clear and accurate. Mr. Flatters prepares 

 slides from his clients' own drawings or prints at 

 a very reasonable rate, returning the negatives 

 with the slides. 



Pitchstone in Ireland. — In reading the issue 

 of Science-Gossip for the present month, I was 

 interested in Dr. Keegan's notes (ante p. 281) on 

 "Pitchstone." I take thelibertyof sendingyoua 

 specimen from this district. The pitchstone is 

 found in the Sandy Braes, a townland of Barnish, 

 co. Antrim, where there are several sections to be 

 seen. Prof. Cole, F.G.S., in his paper on "The 

 Rhyolites of co. Antrim," printed in the scientific 

 "Transactions" of the Royal Dublin Society, 

 May, 1896, describes this place as one of the 

 most interesting spots for the geologist in the 

 whole of Ireland. — R. Bell, 16, Charleville Street, 

 Belfast; February 8th, 1899. 



Drift Nomenclature. — Unless writers, in deal- 

 ing with the drifts and gravels, are careful to adhere 

 to one nomenclature, there is great risk of con- 

 fusion. Mr. A. S. Kennard, in setting a previous 

 writer right, has, Mr. A. E. Salter informs me, 

 fallen into error in regard to the statements 

 attributed to the latter. Mr. Kennard's term 

 " high-level drift," is not exactly the best term he 

 might have used, as there are two sets of drift 

 deposits at still higher levels, whilst those to 

 which he refers are part only of Mr. Salter's 

 Series 3. It is from Series 1 and 2 that Mr. Salter 

 says " no contemporaneous fossils," such as large 

 mammalia, have been recorded" ("pebbly and other 

 gravels," p. 274). He refers to the Galley Hill 

 bones on p. 176, and divides these deposits as 

 follows : (1) High level, or early drifts (? Pliocene); 

 (2) lower plateau and glacial drifts ; (3) river 

 drifts, these occurring in three terraces. The 

 statement referred to by Mr. Kennard does not 

 refer to the high-level gravels, which are one of 

 the three terraces of No. 3 ; but to the true high- 

 level drifts, which Mr. Salter thinks may have 

 been of Pliocene age. 



Exhibits at the Geological Society. — At 

 the Geological Society's "At Home," on December 

 16th, the exhibits were'of an interesting and varied 

 character. A series of mammoth remains, dredged 

 by Lowestoft smacks from the Dogger Bank, to- 

 gether with part of the skull and antlers of a 

 reindeer, were shown by Mr. W. F. Gwinnell, who 

 also exhibited almost a complete skeleton of the 

 dodo (Didus ineptus). Mr. Etheridge showed an 

 illustration of the boring at Brabourne, with 

 numerous rock sections, full particulars of which 

 will, it is hoped, shortly be made public. I may 

 here perhaps be allowed to refer to the interest- 

 ing fact that in a red conglomerate, at 1,905 feet 

 6 inches, Dr. Hinde has discovered an included 

 pebble which contains a carboniferous foraminifer 

 (Endothyra). Mr. A. E. Salter exhibited a series of 

 erratic boulders from gravels in the Home Counties, 

 and some important results may, I think, be 

 anticipated from his studies on the subject. 

 Lantern exhibitions were given by Mr. H. S. 

 Monckton and Dr. Gregory on Norwegian glacier 

 action and the Geology of Christmas Island, in 

 each case illustrated by original lantern slides. 



