ANNIVERSAEY  ADDBESS  OE  THE  PRESIDENT. 
Uol.  49.] 
IO9 
by  Coral-rock,  as  is  the  case  with  the  Microzoan  formations  of 
Barbados.  The  Fiji  deposit  is  described  as  a  post-Tertiary  volcanic 
mud,  formed  at  a  moderate  depth,  judging  from  the  character  of  the 
Foraminifera,  and  such  as  might  be  expected  to  occur  in  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood  of  any  of  the  volcanic  islands  of  the  Pacific.  This,  then, 
would  seem  to  be  a  more  recent  formation  than  any  of  the  Barbadian 
Earths,  and  a  similar  remark  may  possibly  apply  to  a  large  propor¬ 
tion  of  the  soft  deposits  in  the  Pacific  spoken  of  by  Dr.  H.  B.  Guppy. 
Deferring  once  more  to  the  Oceanic  Deposits  of  Barbados,  the 
Authors,  after  balancing  the  evidence,  are  led  to  conclude  that  they 
were  most  probably  formed  during  the  period  we  call  Pliocene  ; 
and  it  is  possible  that,  together  with  the  still  later  Deep-water 
Deposits,  they  cover  not  only  the  whole  of  Pliocene  time,  but  so 
much  of  the  post- Pliocene  as  elapsed  before  the  rising  island  reached 
the  level  at  which  reef-corals  could  build. 
Cketaceotjs  Geology. 
The  communications  on  the  subject  of  Cretaceous  Geology  are 
most  conveniently  arranged  under  the  headings  Upper  Cretaceous 
and  Lower  Cretaceous. 
Upper  Cretaceous. — -The  bulk  of  the  papers  relate  to  this  division, 
and  if  we  are  to  proceed  from  above  downwards,  the  first  which 
demands  notice  is  that  by  Monsieur  Cornet,  dealing  with  the 
Brown  Phosphatic  Chalk  of  Ciply  in  the  zone  of  Belemnitella 
mucronata.  Although  this  relates  to  Belgian  geology,  the 
comparison  is  of  interest,  in  consequence  of  a  recent  discovery  at 
Taplow  by  Mr.  Strahan  of  a  Phosphatic  Chalk  on  a  somewhat 
lower  horizon,  viz.  the  zone  of  Belemnitella  quaclrata,  which  is 
stated  to  be  somewhere  about  the  level  of  the  Margate  Chalk. 
The  bed  at  Ciply  which  contains  the  phosphatic  matter  is 
about  70  feet  thick,  but  it  is  only  in  the  central  portion  that  the 
main  phosphatic  mass  appears,  along  with  many  fossils,  in  the 
form  of  brown  granules.  In  these  beds,  as  a  rule,  the  amount  of 
dry  phosphoric  acid  is  about  12  per  cent.,  and  where  no  further 
concentration  from  natural  causes  has  taken  place  it  is  possible 
to  separate  the  chalk  from  the  phosphate  by  mechanical  processes. 
Chemical  analysis  revealed  some  interesting  facts,  amongst  others 
the  existence  of  a  considerable  quantity  of  nitrogenized  organic 
matter,  causing  the  emission  of  a  peculiar  odour  on  treatment 
with  acid.  The  Author  speculates  on  the  origin  of  the  phosphate 
in  this  formation,  which  he  believes  was  deposited  in  a  sea 
