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THE GEOLOGIST. 



PKOCEEDINGS OF GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 



Geological Society. — June 17th. — 1. " On the Relations of the Cro- 

 marty Sandstones containing Reptilian Footprints." By the Rev. George 

 Gordon, LL.D., and the Rev. J. M. Joass. With an Introduction by Sir 

 R. I. Murchison. 



In the introduction Sir R. I. Murchison gave a sketch of the geology of 

 the Tarbatness promontory, which is composed of variously coloured sand- 

 stones, having a conformable dip to the N.W. In these strata the authors 

 had found footprints (of animals believed to be Reptiles) similar to those 

 found in the sandstones on the coast of Elgin ; and it was therefore desi- 

 rable to prove whether these rocks really belonged to the Palaeozoic series, 

 or, as some geologists suppose with regard to the Elgin sandstones, to the 

 Trias. In order to solve this problem, if possible, the Rev. Mr. Joass 

 made a careful survey of the coast from Geanies to Tarbatness Lighthouse, 

 and round along the north shore of the promontory to the inlet at Inver, 

 and found a conformable succession between the undoubted Old Red Sand- 

 stone of Geanies and the track-bearing sandstone of Tarbatness. 



The Rev. Dr. Gordon gave a description of the various tracks ; the 

 smaller kind are referred by him to an unknown Crustacean ; the larger 

 and more definite impressions, however, he considered to be the footsteps 

 of some kind of reptile. He also stated, as confirmatory of the " Old Red" 

 age of the beds, that the Oolitic beds of Shandwick are unconformable to 

 the Old Red Sandstone. 



2. "On some Tertiary Shells from Jamaica."" By J. Carrick Moore, 

 Esq. With a Note on the Corals, by P. Martin Duncan, M.B. London ; 

 and a Notice of some Foraminifera, by Professor T. Rupert Jones. 



An examination of seventy-one species of Tertiary Mollusca from Ja- 

 maica, mostly collected by the late Mr. Barrett, showed that twelve are 

 still living, and that twenty-eight are common to the Tertiary beds of Ja- 

 maica and St. Domingo. The same relation between those deposits had 

 been found to exist by Dr. Duncan through a comparison of the corals. 

 The " Pacific " affinity of many of these shells and corals was noticed as 

 confirmatory of a conclusion arrived at by the author in a former paper ; 

 and it was shown, from the occurrence of Tertiary beds on the Panama 

 Isthmus at a height of 250 feet above the sea, that the complete separation 

 of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans did not take place until after the com- 

 mencement of the Tertiary period. The distribution and affinities of the 

 Nnmmulina and Orbitoides were described by Professor Jones, and those 

 of the Corals by Dr. Duncan. 



3. " On the Geology and Mineralogy of a part of Borneo." By M. Cor- 

 nelius de Groot. 



A collection of specimens from Borneo and Java, presented by the 

 author to the Museum of Practical Geology, was accompanied by some 

 explanatory notes, in which it was stated that the steam-coal of Borneo 

 underlies the Nummulitic formation, and probably belongs to the " Etage 

 Suessonien " of D'Orbigny. The occurrence of tin in steam-works, and 

 as veins in grauite, at several places in the western portion of Borneo and 

 the islands of Blitong and Banka, was particularly described, as well as 

 the presence of ores of copper and manganese. Some Tertiary fossils from 

 Borneo and Java were also npticed. 



4. " Description of a new Fossil Thecidium from the Miocene Beds of 

 Malta." By J. Denis Macdonald, Esq. 



Amongst the many fossils occurring in the lower part of the Calcareous 



