NOTES AND QUERIES. 



447 



have personal knowledge of the candidate. Resident Fellows (living within twenty 

 miles of London) pay £6 6s. entrance-fee, and £3 3s. annually. Non-residents 

 pay £10 lOs. on entrance, and no annual subscription. 



CONTEMPOEANEITT OF DENUDATION AND SEDIMENTATION. — SaLTNESS OF THE 



Sea.— "SrR, — 1st, I should be much obliged if you would inform me whether 

 denudation and sedimentation can go on in the same sea or river at the same time, 

 and what are the respective conditions necessary to each? 2nd. How do 

 geologists account for the salt in the sea? — M. G." — The deposit of sedimentary 

 matter takes place in comparatively tranquil water, while denudation is the effect 

 of rough waves and strong cm^rents. These two opposite actions are so far 

 synchronous that they are usually going on in different and distinct parts 

 of the same sea or river. By the natural action of a stream the detritus 

 worn away from the higher regions is deposited at the more tranquil parts of its 

 course, or at its mouth or estuary, or carried out to sea and deposited at various 

 depths, according to the fineness and specific gravity of the particles. Littoral 

 deposits of a coarser character, such as sand-banks, are frequently denuded of their 

 upper portions during storms or by changes of currents, but in such cases, where 

 the denudation takes place on the site of deposit, the two actions must be 

 intermediate or intermittent and cannot be synchronous. We are not aware that 

 any good reason has yet been assigned for the saltness of the sea. This question 

 involves another, "VMiether the sea has always been salt ? and in the present state 

 of Icnowledge we cannot say much on the point. 



Inquiey respecting Fossils. — " Dear fcjm, — Could you inform me in your next 

 number of the Geologist what is the nature of the delicate markings on the 

 enclosed specimens ? They appear to be the impressions of shells. M. A. M." — 

 One of the specimens bears an impression of a Leptccna (a Brachiopodous mollusc) 

 and another of a joint of Encrinite. The other specimen bears the two excessively 

 thin valves of a Fosidonoviya apparently ; one valve half overlapping the other, and 

 both much crumpled. These fossils appear to be derived from some of the rockf, 

 of Devonshire. One is of Devonian age, the other of Carboniferous. 



Mammalian Remains. — "Sir, — I was at Stanhope last week, and saw a rather 

 interesting specimen which had been found in a bog to the south-west of that 

 town. It is a horn of a cow or bull, and it appears to have lain for a very long 

 period in the bog-earth, as it was deep down and so much decayed as to fall to 

 pieces at what farmers call its ' year's growth.' When found it had its point 

 upwards, but the man who discovered it had not the presence of mind to look 

 further at the time, and, on returning since to search for further remains, has 

 not been able to make out the exact site. The horn looks like that of a half-bred 

 bull, but is thicker in proportion to its length than the horns of our domestic 

 cattle. Is it anything like that of the wild bull ? Yours, &c., S. Hutchinson, 

 Waskerly Park, 13th Sept." — There are three or more kinds of fossil ox indicated 

 by remains found in our bogs. If S. H. will send the exact measurements and an 

 outline of the specimen, we shall be better able to reply to his inquiry. 



Inquiry respecting some Fossils, &c. — E. E. Byng, Leamington. — The 

 Ammonite, a fragment of a cast of which accompanies Miss E. E. Byng's letter 

 (Leamington), belongs to the species known as Ammonites Oonyheari, common in 

 some parts of the Lias. Belemnites are often termed " Thunderbolts " by the 

 peasantry in Somerset and elsewhere ; but are easily recognized as fossilized 

 creatures by their peculiar structure, and by their consisting of carbonate of 

 lime ; whereas meteoric stones consist of iron and other hard matters. Besides the 

 ' Great Northern Drift," there have been several local drifts, chiefly due to river- 

 action, in VvVrwickshire and the adjacent counties ; and the pebbles to which 

 E. E. B. alludes may be derived from one or the other — probably from the river- 

 gravel of the Severn. The fragment of rock sent in the letter is quartzite, that 

 is, altered and hardened sandstone ; probably it is from the Lickey Hills. 

 E. E. B. will see that it is not limestone or cornstone, because it is too hard to 

 be scratched with a knife, and Avill not effervesce v^rith acids. We are obliged by 

 the writer's kind acknowledgements of the usefulness of this Magazine, and for the 

 suggestions kindly offered. 



