6o8 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Dec. 14, 1888. 



of papers, flectttres?, etc* 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 At the meeting on November 21st, Mr. W. T. Blanford, 

 LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the chair, W. Whitaker, Esq , 

 B.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., who exhibited a series of specimens 

 from the deep boring at Streatham, made some remarks 

 upon the results obtained, of which the following is an 

 abstract : — 



After passing through 10 feet of gravel, etc., 153 of 

 London clay, 88i of Lower London Tertiaries, 623 of 

 chalk (the least thickness in any of the deep borings in 

 and near London), 28^ of upper greensand, and i88£ of 

 gault, at the depth of 1081^ feet, hard limestone, mostly 

 with rather large oolitic grains, was met with. This, 

 with alternations of a finer character, sandy and clayey, 

 lasted for only 38^ feet, being much less than the thick- 

 ness of the Jurassic beds, either at Richmond or at 

 Meux's boring. The general character of the cores 

 showed a likeness to the forest marble, and the occurrence 

 of Ostrea acuminata agreed therewith. 



At the depth of 1,120 feet the tools entered a set ot 

 beds of much the same character as those that had been 

 found beneath Jurassic beds at Richmond, and beneath 

 gault at Kentish Town and at Crossness. The softer 

 and more clayey components were not brought up ; the 

 harder consist of fine-grained compact sandstones, 

 greenish-grey, sometimes with purplish mottlings or 

 bandings, and here and there wholly ot a dull reddish 

 tint. With these there occur hard, clayey, and some- 

 what sandy beds, which are not calcareous, whilst most 

 of the sandstones are. Thin veins of calcite are some- 

 times to be seen, and at others small concretionary cal- 

 careous nodules ; but no trace of a fossil has been 

 found. 



The bedding is shown, both by the bands ol colour, 

 and by the tendency of the stone to fracture, to vary 

 generally from about 20 to 30 . 



In the absence of evidence it is hard to say what these 

 beds are, and the possibilities of their age seem to range 

 from Trias to Devonian. It is to be hoped that this 

 question may be solved, as on it depends that of the 

 possibility of the presence of coal-measures in the district ; 

 and Messrs. Docwra, the contractors of the works, have 

 with great liberality undertaken to continue the boring- 

 operations at their own expense for at least another 

 week. 



Details of the section will be given in a forthcoming 

 Geological Survey Memoir, in which, moreover, the 

 subject of the old rocks under London will be treated 

 somewhat fully. 



The President inquired how much had been accom- 

 plished during the last week. 



Professor Judd had not much to add to Mr. Whitaker's 

 statement. He noticed a great similarity in character to 

 the rocks of the Richmond boring ; but at Streatham 

 the mesozoic beds were thinner. If an appeal was made 

 to the scientific world, it should be done at once ; it 

 would be difficult to ask for assistance if the present 

 character of the work was maintained. 



Mr. Whitaker said that, under favourable circum- 

 stances, 30 feet a week could be accomplished. He had 

 not much hope of a change in the character of the rocks. 



The following communications were read : — 



" Notes on the Remains and Affinities of five Genera 

 of Mesozoic Reptiles." By R. Lydekker, Esq., B.A., 

 F.G.S. This paper was divided into five sections. In 

 the first the author described the dorsal vertebra of a 

 small Dinosaur from the Cambridge greensand, which 

 he regarded as probably identical with the genus 

 Syngonosaurus, Seeley. Reasons were then given for 

 regarding this form as being a member of the 

 Scelidosauridae, stress being laid on the absence of a 

 costal facet on the centrum. 



The second section described on axis vertebra from 

 the Wealden of the Isle of Wi!»ht, which is evidently 

 Dinosaurian, and may possibly belong to Megalosaurus. 



In the third section the femur of a small Iguanodont 

 from the Oxford clay, in the possession of A. R. 

 Leeds, Esq., was described. 



The imperfect skeleton ot a Sauropterygian from 

 the Oxford Clay near Bedford, which formed the 

 subject of a previous communication, was redescribed. 

 Thisspecimen was identified with Plesiosaurus philarckus, 

 Seeley, which it was proposed to refer to a new genus 

 under the name of Peloneustus. 



The paper concluded with a notice of the affinities of 

 the Crocodilian genus Geosaurus. This form was shown 

 to be closely allied to Metriorhynchus, both being charac- 

 terised by the absence of dermal scutes and the presence 

 of bony plates in the sclerotic. It was also shown that 

 some of the species of Cricosaurus belong to the former 

 genus ; while there appear to be no grounds by which 

 Dacosaurus (Plesiosuchus) can be separated from the 

 same level. 



"Notes on the Radiolaria of the London Clay." By 

 W..H. Shrubsole, Esq., F.G.S. 



Microscopical examination of the London Clay of 

 Sheppey and elsewhere has afforded proof of the exist- 

 ence of a Diatomaceous zone near the base of the forma- 

 tion. The formation of a well for the Queenborough 

 Cement Company in 1885 was the means of furnishing a 

 laminated clay with glittering patches of Diatoms from 

 a depth of 225 feet. In this were also found fairly good 

 pyritized specimens of Radiolaria, some of which were 

 submitted to Prof. Ernst Hackel, who found a large 

 number of fragments of Tertiary Radiolaria, but few well- 

 preserved specimens appertaining to the families Sphae- 

 roidea, Discoidea, and Cyrtoidea, and apparently identical 

 with those described from the Tertiary Tripoli beds of 

 Grotte. No new species occurred among the recognised 

 forms. 



Sketches made by Mr. A. L. Hammond were also 

 submitted to Prof. Hackel, who stated that these forms 

 were not identical with any known species, recent or 

 fossil. 



The Author described the following new species : — 

 Cornutella Hammondi, Spongodiscus asper, and Mono- 

 sphoera toliapica. 



The specimens were preserved in iron-pyrites. 



Some tetractinellid sponge-spicules from the washings 

 were recognised by Professor Sollas. 



The President observed that the particular advantage 

 of a paper like the present is that it shows the value of 

 searching. He doubted the advisability of coining new 

 names. 



Dr. Hinde asked whether the Radiolaria were uni- 

 formly pyritised ; also whether the sponge-spicules had 

 undergone a similar change. 



Prof. T. Rupert Jones commented on the rarity of 



