118 PKor. p. M. DUJSfCAisr on the stkuctuee and 



reason, and states that '"it is difficult to determine with certainty 

 to what species it should be referred." Under such circum- 

 stances it would have been as well if he had proved by facts 

 capable of verification that the form belonged to De Ferry's species. 

 Montlivaltia polymorpJia therefore remains a member of the Infra- 

 Lias fauna of England, and Thecosmilia major is still a stranger. 

 Mr. Tomes refers M. polymorpTia to me ; it is a species of Terquem 

 and Piette. 



Montlivaltia pedtjnculata, nobis, op. cit. p. 10, pi. ii. figs. 12, 13. 



This is a well-defined species of pedunculate Montlivaltia, and is 

 characterized by its high septal number. It is of course a simple coral, 

 and the calice is worn down in the type. A second form of the same 

 species is given in the Monograph, pi. viii. fig. 16, allowing for the 

 variation which was as common in Montlivaltice as it is in recent simple 

 corals. This species has been misplaced in the genus CladophyUia 

 (Tomes, o^;. cit. p. 367), which does not include simple corals, and 

 it is associated with G. suhdichotoma, Laube ; this is also an error 

 which has arisen from confounding two distinct forms. 



Montlivaltia peduncidata remains, then, as a member of the Sutton- 

 Stone and Brocastle fauna. 



In the amended list of the corals from the White Lias, Sutton 

 Stone, Brocastle, and other beds Mr. Tomes omits Montlivaltia 

 MurcJiisonce, nobis, a very well-marked species, the curious little 

 Montlivaltia parasitica, nobis, and M. brevis, nobis. These species are 

 figured and described, and have the true Infra-Lias facies. They 

 remain members of the fauna. 



The position of the Sutton-Stone and Brocastle deposits is, in my 

 opinion, not amongst the deposits below the zone of Avicida contorta ; 

 they are neither St. Cassian nor Ehsetic. The proof is that the 

 Mollusca and many of the corals of the strata on the continent above 

 the Avictda-zone and in the Infra-Lias are identical with those of 

 the Sutton-Stone, Brocastle, and other deposits on the same horizon. 

 Those Mollusca which were determined byme (Duncan, " Infra-Lias, 

 South "Wales," Quart. lourn. Geol. Soc. vol. xxiii. p. 12) were not 

 separate from the corals, as is supposed, but most may be seen on the 

 same blocks in the Museum at Bath. 



The second communication to which attention is requested, was 

 read by Mr. Tomes on May 9, 1877, and relates to " The Stratigra- 

 phical Position of the Corals of the Lias of the Midland and Western 

 Counties of England and of South Wales" (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 

 xxxiv. 1878, p. 179). The figures given in the plate which accom- 

 panies the paper show that the specimens, with one or two excep- 

 tions, were in a very poor condition. 



One of the most interesting of the corals is a Mo7itlivaltia, which 

 was found perfect, from the White Lias (M. rhwtica, Tomes). The 

 description shows that it is a well- characterized form, but it was 

 not figured. Had the species been drawn, it would have been 

 seen to have decided differences from the cast of a Montlivaltia 



