298 Chronicles of Science. [April, 



rocks is the formation known as the St. Cassian Beds. According to 

 all geologists who have studied their position and stratigraphical re- 

 lations, they lie above the Muschelkalk ; but their fossils partly belong 

 to genera otherwise Palaeozoic, and for the most part have a much older 

 facies than those of the underlying deposit, which are, to all intents 

 and purposes, of a Mesozoic type. It appears, however, that this cha- 

 racter of the St. Cassian fauna has been too much taken for granted, 

 and that the assertion of the fact by the older geologists meeting with 

 no contradiction (perhaps because it was well founded), the anomaly has 

 been much over-rated in value. Dr. C. Gustav Laube has recently 

 undertaken the examination of the whole St. Cassian fauna, so that we 

 may shortly expect to have the matter placed in a rather different light 

 than hitherto. The first part of his work, which is entitled ' Fauna 

 der Schichten von St. Cassian,' has just been published, and appears 

 of great promise, for his investigations have yielded, so far, some 

 curious results. This first instalment includes the description of the 

 Sponges, Corals, Crinoids, and Echinoderms, comprising 115 species, 

 of which 33, or nearly 30 per cent, (quite sufficient to change the 

 facies of a fauna), are new. Many of the species belong to genera 

 which have not hitherto been known in rocks older than the Jurassic, 

 so that if the evidence of the Mollusca turns out to be on the same side 

 there will be comparatively few anomalies to explain. One very 

 important determination is, that the Encrinite hitherto supposed to be 

 identical with Encrinus liliiformis, Schl., a Muschelkalk species, differs 

 considerably from it, and is a new and very distinct species. 



Amongst the many proofs that Geology is becoming day by day 

 more popular as a recreative study, we may point to the large and in- 

 creasing number of local Geological Societies. Very many of the larger 

 towns can now boast of a Geological Society, and several other towns 

 and districts have a Field Club, or Natural History Society, in which 

 Geology either forms a separate section (as at Bristol) or else monopo- 

 lizes a large share of the general attention. Some of the Societies 

 and Field Clubs were started many years ago, and have led a very 

 languishing life until recently, when they seemed to take "a fresh 

 lease," as it were. We have no space to enter into a discussion of the 

 causes of this revival of scientific energy ; but shall content ourselves 

 with briefly noticing some two or three of the best provincial Geolo- 

 gical Societies, just mentioning by way of contrast, and on the grounds 

 of impartiality, that we were lately assured that in a certain provin- 

 cial town, of forty thousand inhabitants, there were only two people 

 at all likely to take in the " Geological Magazine," or to read it for 

 any consideration short of actual payment ! 



The Geological Societies of Liverpool, Glasgow, and Manchester, 

 and the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, are amongst the most 

 flourishing. Perhaps that of Manchester has been the most success- 

 ful, though the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall has been the 

 longest established, and has published the most important works. 

 The Liverpool Geological Society is comparatively of recent origin ; 

 we have just received the Abstract of the Proceedings of its Fifth 

 Session (1863-64) : it appears very creditable to the Society and the 



