136 Reviews — Meyer^s Catalogue of Tertiary Fossils. 



before the close of the Liassic period in this country, and thus have 

 been enabled to live on during the deposition of the long series of 

 sedimentary deposits which occur between our Lias and the Upper 

 Oolite in Bavaria. 



2. — In the second paper, Mr. Moore shows that south of Bath 

 there is a very remarkable thinning- out of the Secondary beds 

 as compared with their equivalents beyond the Mendips, and that 

 whilst in the latter case they attain an aggregate thickness of 3320 

 feet, in the neighbourhood of Eadstock, Paulton, and Camerton 

 they are reduced to 169 feet, which he considers to arise from the 

 Mendip Hills having been a land-area during a great part of this 

 lengthened period, and so serving to prevent the incursion of the 

 Secondary seas within its borders. 



The mineral veins of the district show most conclusively that the 

 Carboniferous Limestone must for a very long-extended period have 

 been within the influence of the Liassic seas, and that from the 

 latter have been derived most, if not all, of their mineral treasures, 

 whether iron, lead, or calamine. 



Mr. Moore's observations lead him to the conclusion that the eleva- 

 tion of the Mendips and their South Wales continuation may be 

 assigned to a time not far removed from the deposition of the Upper 

 Beds of the Trias or New Eed Sandstone. His discovery of a 

 basaltic dyke in the Mendips clearly explains to him the origin of 

 the up-heaval and disturbance of the beds forming this range of hills. 

 A section across the Nettlebridge valley shows that by the protru- 

 sion of the dyke rocks of enormous thickness have been carried 

 bodily forward in a northerly direction for a great distance, and are 

 not only left standing vertically, but are in some instances folded 

 over upon themselves. In consequence of this, Coal has been able 

 to be worked beneath a reversed band of Carboniferous Limestone. 



In regard to the Sutton Stone, Mr. Moore is of opinion that its 

 peculiar lithology is only local, and he shows that these beds are truly 

 Liassic — a view corroborated by Mr. Bristow's detailed observations 

 in the field. Mr. Moore notices many points of palgeontological 

 interest, especially the wonderfully rich fauna of Brocastle, from 

 which he has obtained nearly 200 species, including many Corals 

 which have been examined and described by Dr. Duncan. — H.B.W. 



I^EVI:B"ws. 



Catalogue Systematique et Descriptif des Fossiles des Ter- 

 rains Tertiares, au Musee Federal de Zurich. Cahiers 

 1 AND 2. Par Charles Meyer. 



THIS work appears in the Quarterly Journal of the Nat. Hist. 

 Society of Zurich, but its value as a contribution to Palaeonto- 

 logy is far greater than its unpretending and somewhat fragmentary 

 mode of publication would imply. It is the result of critical study 

 of species by an experienced and accomplished conchologist, and 



