﻿Staff Commander J. H. Kerr on Icemarksin Newfoundland. 77 



rypterus Hofmanni, which have been discovered by Joseph Duff, 

 Esq., in the marl-slate of Midderidge, and are believed to be the 

 first examples of this Fish which have been obtained in this country. 

 The stratum from which they were procured is the same as that 

 described by Prof. Sedgwick in his paper published in the Trans- 

 actions of this Society (2nd series, vol. iii. pp. 76-77). The spe- 

 cimens show that the " ribbon-shaped " process mentioned by 

 Germar is part of a peculiar exoskeleton, and that Dorypterus pos- 

 sessed ventral fins, which were situated in front of the pectorals, 

 or "jugular." Hitherto no fishes with ventral fins other than 

 " abdominal " in position have been known to occur earlier than the 

 Cretaceous epoch. The tail is heterocercal, not homocercal as 

 Germar supposed. The dentition is not displayed in any of the 

 specimens, and the teeth were probably small and inconspicuous ; 

 but the general structure of the fish shows it to be most nearly 

 allied to the Pycnodonts. 



6. " Observations on Ice-marks in Newfoundland." By Staff 

 Commander J. H. Kerr, K.N., E.KG.S. 



The author describes and tabulates the grooves and scratches 

 observed by him on rock-surfaces in various parts of Newfoundland, 

 especially Conception Bay, the neighbourhood of St. John's, and the 

 north of Bonavista Bay. From the diversity of the direction of the 

 markings and other considerations, he considers that they must have 

 been produced by glaciers, and he believes that the main features of 

 the country were much the same as at present before the glaciation 

 took place. The author thinks that the land has not been sub- 

 merged since it was freed from its coating of ice. 



7. " On the Glacial Phenomena of "Western Lancashire and 

 Cheshire." By C. E. De Ranee, Esq., E.G.S. 



The author described the general form of the ground and the pre- 

 glacial condition and glacial deposits of the districts of Wirral and 

 Western Lancashire, and draws from his observations the following 

 general cor elusions. That before and at the commencement of the 

 glacial epoch the north-west of England was more elevated above 

 the sea-level than at present, but afterwards gradually subsided, 

 during which process marine denudation produced the plains of 

 Wirral and Western Lancashire. Part of the latter has since been 

 covered with glacial deposits 200 feet thick. The valleys running 

 in the strike of the Triassic strata appear to have been formed by 

 subaerial agencies. It is probable that when the glacial epoch com- 

 menced the hilly country was covered with immense glaciers, or 

 with an ice-sheet, which, as the land sunk, reached the sea. The 

 High-level Lower Boulder-clay was probably produced by this land- 

 ice. The land continued subsiding until it stood 100 feet lower 

 than at present, submerging the lowlands of Lancashire and Che- 

 shire to a depth of rather less than 2d fathoms, the coast-line being 

 surrounded by an ice-foot, which received on its surface quantities 

 of pebbles and boulders from the lake-district. These, on the 



