116 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
bia and tlic Provinces by a barrier at the Isaktfba hills which the J)auubc has 
since cut througli. Capt. Spratt remarivcd that tiie laciistriiic conditions of the 
great area in Eastern Europe and Asia Minor wlierc he lias iiulicatcd fresh- 
water deposits were probal)ly interfered witli by volcanic outbursts, which 
opened a conmuinication between tlie Euxine and Mediterranean, altering the 
levels of the region, causing the formation of the great gravel-beds at the foot 
of tlie Carpathians, and an outspreading of the brown marly superlicial deposits 
of the Step))e, which are locally impregnated with mineral or marine salts, i«- 
dicative either of the iuilux of the sea, or of mineral solutions set free by vol- 
canic agencies. 
Capt. S[)ratt also described the older rocks, some pi-obably of Triassic age, 
and others Cretaceous, which are here conformably overlaid oy the laeusti'iue 
deposits. These he saw in the hiUs, south of the Danube, near Tultelia and 
Eeshtepeh ; also at the llaselm Lagoon, where both Cretaceous shales and 
marble containing Ccrafife.i, &c., occiu' ; the latter at Popin Island. At Dola- 
shina, a cape south of the llasebn Lagoon, tiie soft Cretaceous limestone is full 
of small IiHH'crami. 
These indications of Secondary rocks are intimately connected with those 
further south, at Cape Media and Kanara, formerly described by the author. 
LivERrooL Geological Society. — January 10, 18G0. 
" On the Basement-bed of the Kcuper Eormation in Wirral, and the South- 
west of Lancashire." 
After referring to the subdivisions of the Trias, he described the cha- 
racter of the upper red and variegated sandstone of the Eunter forma- 
tion, showing that it had suffered a considerable amount of denudation previous 
to the de])osition of the Kcuper. A bed of upper Punter sandstone in Wirral 
is found to be almost entirely denuded on the northern side of the Mersey, 
only the faintest traces of it being visible, k. slight unconformity seems very 
probable, but the surface of the Punter is so eroded and uneven, that it is very 
difficult to arrive at an exact and satisfactory conclusion upon that important 
point. 
The base of the Keuper is very uniform in its lithological aspect throughout 
the district, bemg a conglomerate or coarse sandstone containing quartz-pebbles 
and nodules of clay. In colour the bed varies, but it can always be distin- 
guished by its hardness from the Punter sandstone beneath. Tor these and 
other minor reasons, the author of the paper stated that the Punter had been 
exposed to denudation for a long period prior to the deposition of the Keuper, 
and that most probalily the surface of the former was dry land durmg the 
time that the Muschelkalk was being formed in more southern and easterly 
regions. With the exception of the well known footprints of Emydiaus and 
Patrachians, not a trace of any animal or i)lant had been found in either the 
Punter or Keujjer formations of the neighbourhood. 
The examination of the three railway-tunnels under the town of Liverpool, 
and of other artificial openmgs, satisfactorily proves that the bascment-bcd of 
the Keuper on the map of the Geological Survey is altogetiier misplaced, and 
that that map requires correction, in order to render it an accurate guide to the 
local geology. 
