Geological  Society.  543 
GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY. 
[Continued  from  p.  316.] 
January  24,  1872. — Joseph  Prestwich,  Esq.,  F.R.S.,  President, 
in  the  Chair. 
The  following  communications  were  read : — 
1.  "On  the  Foraminifera  of  the  Family  Rotalinse  (Carpenter) 
found  in  the  Cretaceous  Formations,  with  Notes  on  their  Tertiary 
and  Eecent  Representatives."  By  Prof.  T.  Rupert  Jones,  F.G.S., 
and  W.  K.  Parker,  Esq.,  F.R.S. 
The  authors  enumerated  the  RotalinaB  which  have  been  found  in 
the  Cretaceous  rocks  of  Europe,  and  showed  by  tabular  synopses  the 
range  of  the  species  and  notable  varieties  in  the  different  formations 
of  the  Cretaceous  system.  For  the  comparison  of  the  Tertiary  Ro- 
talinaB with  those  of  the  Cretaceous  period  the  following  Tertiary 
formations  were  selected : — The  Kessenberg  beds  in  the  Northern 
Alps,  the  Paris  Tertiaries,  the  London  Clay,  the  Tertiary  beds  of 
the  Yienna  Basin,  and  the  English  and  Antwerp  Crags.  The  authors 
also  enumerated  the  recent  Foraminifera  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
The  authors  stated  that  of  Planorbulina  several  species  and  im- 
portant varieties  of  the  compact  conical  form  occur  throughout  the 
Cretaceous  series,  and  that  those  of  the  Nautiloid  group  are  still  more 
abundant.  The  plano-convex  forms  are  represented  throughout  the 
series  by  P.  (Truncatulhici)  lobatula ;  but  the  flat  concentric  growths 
had  not  yet  come  in.  Planorbulina  extends  down  to  the  Lias  and 
Trias.  Ptdvinidina  repanda  is  feebly  represented  in  the  uppermost 
Chalk  ;  but  forms  of  the  "  Menardii  "  group  abound  throughout  the 
series.  Species  of  the  "  elegans  "  group  are  peculiarly  characteristic 
of  the  Gault;  and  some  of  the  "  Schreibersii"  group  are  scattered 
throughout.  These  two  groups  extend  far  back  in  the  Secondary 
period.  The  typical  Rotalia  Beccarii  is  not  a  Cretaceous  form ;  but 
the  nearly  alhed  B.  umbilicata  is  common.  Tinoporus  and  Patellina 
occur  at  several  stages ;    Calcarina  only  in  the  Upper  Chalk. 
The  above-mentioned  types  are  for  the  most  part  still  living ;  but 
the  "  auricula  "  group  of  Pulvinulina  is  wanting  in  the  Cretaceous 
series,  as  also  are  SpiriUina  and  Cymbalopora,  except  that  the  latter 
occurs  in  the  Maestricht  Chalk.  JDiscorbina  and  Calcarina  make 
their  first  appearance  in  the  uppermost  Chalk.  The  chief  distinction 
between  the  Cretaceous  and  the  existing  Rotalinse  was  said  to  con- 
sist in  the  progressively  increasing  number  of  modifications.  The 
authors  concluded  by  disputing  the  propriety  of  regarding  the 
Atlantic  ooze  as  homologous  with  the  Chalk. 
2.  "  On  the  Infra-lias  in  Yorkshire."  By  the  Rev.  J.  F.  Blake, 
M.A.,  F.G.S. 
The  Infra-lias,  i.  e.  the  zones  of  Ammonites  planorbis  and.  Am.  an- 
gxdatv.s,  have  been  recorded  hitherto  only  from  Redcar,  to  the  beds 
at  which  place  the  author  referred;  but  the  chief  object  of  the 
paper  was  to  describe  some  sections  at  Cliff,  near  Market  Weighton, 
where  these  and  lower  beds  are  well  exposed,  and  have  yielded  a 
