72 



THE GEOLOaiST. 



3. " Supplemental Notes on the Plant-beds of Central Asia." By the 

 Hev. S. Hislop. In a Letter to the Assistant- Secretary. Mr. Hislop, in 

 noticing the discovery of more remains of plants, insects, and fishes at 

 Eota on the Pranhita, stated that he certainly now thought that the ich- 

 thyolitic beds of Kota (probably Lower Jurassic in age) are higher in rela- 

 tive position than the plant-sandstone of Nagpur, which, with the Sironcha 

 sandstone underlying the Kota limestone, belong to the Damuda group. 

 He remarked also that, in his opinion, the Tcenmpteris of Kampti would 

 prove that the Damuda and Eajmahal groups cannot be widely separated. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Mammalian Remains. — Fractured bones of Bos primigenius have been 

 found on the road between Kelvedon and Coggesham, Essex, by W. H. 

 Thelwall, Esq., who has submitted them to me for identification. — Yours 

 faithfully, Charles Caeter Blake. 



Fossil Cocoons of Leeches. — Dr. Gergens, of Mayence, has lately 

 suggested that the so-called fossil eggs of snakes, found in some of the 

 freshwater deposits of Germany, may be fossil cocoons of leeches (N. Jahrb. 

 1861, p. 670). Under these circumstances it maybe worth while for those 

 who possess specimens of the egg-like bodies found in the freshwater strata 

 of the Isle of Wight (and which have beeu thought to be either coprolitic 

 or the eggs of Bulimus, or of freshwater tortoises), to re-examine them, 

 and compare them with the sponge-like oval cocoon of the common leech. 

 Mr. F. E. Edwards figures several of these oviform bodies in his Mono- 

 graph on the Eocene Gasteropods, published by the PalEEontographic-al 

 Society. — Hieudo. 



Hampshire Basin. — Sir, — Would you kindly solve the following ques- 

 tions for me, to which I have not been able to find any satisfactory answers 

 in the text-books which are commonly available ? 



1. What was the extent of the Hampshire Basin ; and when did the up- 

 heaval of the present range of chalk hills to the north and west take 

 place ; and did the sea, which covered the present New Forest district, 

 ever wash against these latter ? 



2. When did the severance of the line of chalk between Ballard Head, 

 in Dorsetshire, and St. Christopher's Clift', in the Isle of Wight, take 

 place ? 



3. Could the following animals be said to be coexistent at any period of 

 the Middle Eocene formation (and what?),, — Dichodon cuspidatiis, Syccno- 

 don, Paloplotherinm aiDieetciis, and Spa1acodo)i / 



4. What was the climate of the country when the freshwater deposits 

 took place at HordellP — Your constant reader, B. H., Ljnnington. 



1. The Hampshire basin was not an isolated area, but continuous with 

 the London basin ; the deposits in the two areas ditfering according to 

 depth of sea, presence of rivers, etc. The uprise of the chalk hills took 

 place probably during some portion of the Pliocene period. The New 

 Forest district, as now existing, has been covered either by the sea or by 

 a lake in the Pleistocene period. 2. In the Pleistocene period. 



3. Yes ; during the Middle Eocene period 'FapJothcrium, PalccotJierium, 

 and others, existed with Hi/crnodon, in the western European area. 



4. Probably much warmer than at present — subtropical. 



