108 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



nary strata, and kno^n under the name of molasse. This molasse cor- 

 responds, without doubt, chronologically with the Crag. . . 



'* We will say in conclusion, that the Pompeii for us Belgian paleontolo- 

 gists is the geological basin of Antwerp. There a new world reveals itself to 

 the attention of naturalists. Marine forms there alternate with terrestrial, 

 and the species of the Brussels basin, of which the remains have been so 

 carefully collected by the intelligent perseverance of M. le Captaine Le 

 Hon, had long disappeared, when the Crag Sea was peopled with its new 

 and curious inhabitants. 



" To the fauna which has been buried in the clay of Boom and of Eu- 

 pelmonde, and which is distinguished by its superb remains of marine 

 turtles, succeeded a fauna of elegant cetaceans ; after the appearance 

 of these giants of the sea, the soil was prepared to receive the mammoth 

 and tichorine rhinoceros, — to finish in that which alone could complete the 

 grand, work. Millions have been spent in clearing out ruins and passages; 

 let us profit by the millions spent in the national defences and set our- 

 selves to the study, not of temples and forums, but of sandy shores fre- 

 quented of old by that old-world creation, so rich in variety of forms, 

 so full of the power of primitive nature. 



" Let us found in the capital a Belgian museum, and unite our elForts to 

 those of the Government to preserve in the same locality all the treasures 

 of our soil. The galleries of the Belgian Museum should be spread beside 

 the strata — those leaves of the grand book of our country, and the 

 mineralogical and paleontoJo^ical collections located with the actual 

 fauna and flora ; and by the side of these products of the soil should be 

 shown the cliefs-d' (Buvre of art and the marvels of industry."* 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



Tr avelled Boulders. — In the January number of the ' G-eologist,' the 

 editor states in his interesting article on Some Fossil Fruits from the 

 Chalk," that it is one of the features of the Magazine, *' that matters not 

 understood should be brought before the world in its pages." The follow- 

 in remarks, if they do not give information, may, at least, cause some in- 

 telligent reader to answer certain questions regarding what have been 

 termed travelled or scratched boulders. 



Sir C. Lyell, in his ' Principles of Geology,' has given a map, showing 

 the extent of surface in Europe which has at one period or another been 

 covered by the sea since the commencement of the deposition of the older 

 or Eocene Tertiar}" strata. In his interesting and valuable description of 

 this ma]), he remarks that the researches of Mr. James Smith, of Jordan- 

 hill, and others, among the northern deposits, enable us to discover the 

 signs of a climate colder than that now prevailing. The Jordanhill here 

 mentioned is a small estate in the neighbourhood of the city of Glasgow, 

 not far from the river Clyde, and occupies a very small part of the area 

 which can be proved by geological evidence to have been covered by the 

 sea. The talented and highly "respected proprietor above mentioned has 

 published, in the Proceedings of the Geological Society, etc., descriptions 

 of the arctic shells discovered by him when examining the till, or boulder- 

 clay, on liis estate and in the neighbourhood. 



The scratched or rounded travelled boulders found in the till at Jordan^ 



• Bull, dc TAcad. dcs Sc. de Bnixelles. 



