238 



THE NATURALIST. 



A very animated discussion then ensued I 

 concerning glacial action, the probability 

 or otherwise of glaciers and icebergs being 

 concerned in the deposition of these foreign 

 rocks upon chalk, and tlie present work of 

 these agents was brought forward as an in- 

 stance of the transportation of boulders 

 now actually going on. The former con- 

 dition of the globe, its alterations of 

 climate, and the causes which led thereto, 

 the ancient Mammalia of Britain, species 

 of which have been found in abundance 

 within a few miles of "Wycombe, passed 

 under consideration and afforded fruitful 

 themes for discussion. The conversation 

 afterwards turned upon astronomy, parti- 

 cularly meteoric stones and so-called thun- 

 derbolts ; and the evening's amusement 

 concluded with the exhibition of foramini- 

 fersG and fossil spicules or sponge flints 

 from the chalk, mounted and lent by the 

 President. The meeting then, having re- 

 turned a vote of thanks to the President 

 for his paper, and to J. Parker, Esq., for 

 the use of his rooms, broke up, exceedingly 

 gratified with the evening's work and 

 hoping for another very shortly. — Hy. 

 Ullyett, Hon. Sec. 



Geological Society of Glasgow. 



The first monthly meeting of this society, 

 session 1865-66, was held in their hall, 

 Andersonian University, on Thursday even- 

 ing last, Edward A. Wiinsch, Esq., one of the 

 vice-presidents, in the chair. 



The secretary exhibited and described a 

 new chart of Fossil Crustacea, arranged 

 and drawn by Messrs. J. W. Salter, F.G.S. 

 and Henry Woodward, F.G.S., &c. This 

 chart is a most interesting and valuable 

 one. It contains upwards of four hundred 

 and ninety figures beautifully engraved by 

 Lowry, and not only shows at a glance, 

 between transverse lines, the various 

 genera of crustaceans belonging to each of 

 the geological formations, but also, between 

 curved vertical lines, the first appearance, 

 gradual development and range in time, of 

 each of the several orders, from the Cam- 



brian period to the present, the top trans- 

 verse section containing recent typical 

 forms illustrative of the fossil groups 

 figured below. He also exhibited and 

 briefly described several fossils new to the 

 Scottish carboniferous fauna, including one 

 new to science. These fossils, from the 

 upper coal measures, Kilmaurs, Ayrshire, 

 he had selected from a large number col- 

 lected during many years quiet unobtrusive 

 researches in the field by one of nature's 

 true sons, the late Thomas Brown, Stewar- 

 ton. The fossils from Kilmaurs are chiefly 

 found, finely preserved, in clay ironstone 

 nodules, and are identical with those found 

 in similar nodules about Coalbrokdale, in 

 the Shropshire coal field. They consist of 

 ferns and other plant remains, one of which 

 of a graceful form, beautifully marked, is 

 probably a fruit or cone, and though not 

 new, is as yet undescribed. Another re- 

 sembles an lulus — a many-footed worm of 

 the order Myriapoda ; it is new to science, 

 and has puzzled many eminent palaeontolo- 

 gists to whom it has been shown, and who 

 appear to be at a loss as to its true rela- 

 tionship. There were also several specimens 

 of the Limulus rotundatus, one of which 

 showed a peculiar prolongation of the 

 termination of the carapace, which Mr, 

 Henry Woodward said he had never 

 seen in the numerous specimens from the 

 coal measures which had passed through 

 his hands. The secretary referred to it as 

 a link in a ciirious series of the modifica- 

 tions of an organ, as shown in some of the 

 .Eurypferidce and LimuUdos in the chart. 

 He then drew attention to a perfect and 

 beautiful specimen of a Bellinurus helluU 

 of the family Limulidm, also from Kil- 

 maurs, which he described and contrasted 

 with a specimen of the recent Limulus 

 Moluccanus from the Indian Ocean, the 

 chief difference in their form being, that 

 the series of thin abdominal overlapping 

 plates of the former, are converted, in the 

 latter, into a single triangular-shaped ab- 

 dominal shield, with five pairs of swimming 

 feet attached to it, and terminating, like 



