NOTES AND QUERIES. 



271 



" On tlie Geology of Wliitecliff Bay, in tlie Isle of Wight." By Mr. Mark 

 Norman. 



" On a Stalactite found in Elagstone-rock at Haslingden, near Manchester." 

 By the Rev. L. H. Mordacqne. 



On the Crag/' By E. Charlesworth, Esq., E.G.S. 



" On the Action of Heat on certain Sandstones of Yorkshire." By C. 

 Tomlinson, Esq. 



" On Elint Implements from the Drift." By S. J. Mackie, E.G.S., E.S.A. 



The Committee of the Association having come to the very desirable reso- 

 lution of having occasional excursions to places of geological interest, the first 

 excursion was made on Monday the 9th of April, when a number of members, 

 under the guidance of the Bev. Thos. Wiltshire (the President) and Prof. 

 Tennant, visited Eolkestone, and spent several hours in the Warren, in East 

 Wear Bay, and at Copt Point, examining the formations and procuring the 

 characteristic fossils of the Gault. Another excursion to Maidstone took place 

 on the 19th ult., when a large party visited the "I^uanodon" quarries worked 

 by Mr. Bensted; the "Charles" Museum, in which is placed Mr. Bensted's 

 unique collection of Siphonise (?) from the Kentish rag-beds of his quarry; 

 and the river-drift beds at Aylesford. 



As the Association have, with most praiseworthy liberality, thrown these 

 excursions open to any friends of the members, we recommend them to the 

 notice of of those our readers who desire field-instruction in geolosry, in the 

 assurance that they wiU not fail to find them useful and agreeable holidays. 



We are gratified to find that tlie suggestions made in this journal have been 

 so energetically taken up by this Society, and in that liberal and non-exclusive 

 manner which is so fully in accordance with oui' own views and wishes. We 

 regret that an accident at press with our last number compelled us to substi- 

 tute other matter for the notice we intended giving of the then proposed 

 excursion to Maidstone. We hear that a third excnj:sion to Dulwich will be 

 proposed for July. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Chemical Evidence oe the Spongeous Nature oe Elint Eossils. — If 

 a flint coated with chalk be immersed in hydrochloric acid, the chalk wiU be 

 dissolved and the flint will remain unaffected. In many instances, however, 

 there is a point beyond which the acid, even if renewed, will not act, and a 

 white coating is left which neither nitric, sulphuric, nor hydrochloric acid will 

 touch. This incrustation I have found to consist of sulphate of lime. It is 

 met with on those flints which contain fossils, such as sponges, &c. I have 

 several specimens of laminated flint presenting this peculiarity. I have also a 

 fossil echinus from which the chalk has been entirely removed by acid, and on 

 which the sulphate remains beautifully arranged only around the lines of ori- 

 fices between the plates. 



May I presume to draw the inference that the above facts lend confirmation 

 to Dr. Bower bank's views on the spongeous basis of many flints ? May they 

 not also be adduced in support of the opinion that holds the animal nature of 

 sponges ? We know that animal substances are partly albuminous, and that 

 sulphur is one of the elements of albumen. The animal substance, in under- 

 going decomposition, during or previous to fossilization, would part with its 

 sulphur, which would be seized by the lime of the chalk in immediate contact 



