NOTES AND QUICKIKS, 
271 
" On the Geology of WLitccliff Bay, in the Islo of Wight." By Mr. Mark 
Noriium. 
" On. a Stahictitc found in Flagstoue-rock at Hasliugden, near Manchester." 
Bv tlic Rev. L. II. Monhicqiic. 
■ " On tlie Crag." B.y E. Charlcsworth, Esq., P.G.S. 
" Ou tlie Aetion of Heat on certain Sandstones of Yorkshire." By C. 
Toinliusou, Esq. 
" Ou Flint Iniiiloments from the Drift." By S. J. Mackie, F.G.S., P.S.A. 
The Committoo of the Association having come to the very desirable reso- 
lution of having occasional excursions to j)laces of geological interest, the first 
excursion was nuulc ou Monday the 9th ol A])ril, when a number of members, 
under the guidance of the llcv. Thos. Wiltshire (the President) and Prof. 
Tenuant, visited Folkestone, and spent several iiours in the Warren, in East 
Wear Bay, and at Copt Point, examining the formations and procuring the 
characteristic fossils of the Gault. Another excursion lo Maidstone took place 
on the 19th ult., wlicn a large party visited the " Tguanodon" quarries worked 
by Mr. Bensted ; the " Charles" Museum, in wliich is placed Mr. Bensted's 
unique collection of Siphoniae (?) from the Kentish rag-beds of his quarry ; 
and the river-drift beds at Aylesford. 
As the Association liave, with most praiseworthy liberality, thrown these 
excursions open to any friends of the members, we recommend them to the 
notice of of those our readers who desire field-instruction in geolosy, in the 
assurance that tiiey will not fail to find them useful and agreeable holidays. 
We are gratified to find that the su^-gestions made in this journal have been 
60 energetically taken up by this Society, and in that liberal and non-exclusive 
manner which is so fully in accordance with our own views and wishes. We 
regret that an accident at press with our last number compelled us to substi- 
tute other matter for the notice we intended giving of the then proposed 
excursion to Maidstone. We hear that a third excui-siou to Dalwich will be 
proposed for July. 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
CntMicAL Evidence of the Spongeous Nature of Flint Fossils. — If 
a flint coated with chalk be immersed in hydrochloric acid, the chalk will be 
dissolved and the flint will remain unaffected. In many instances, however-, 
there is a point beyond which the acid, even if renewed, will not act, and a 
white coating is left which neither nitric, sulphuric, nor hydrochloric acid will 
touch. This incrustation I have found to consist of sulphate of lime. It is 
met with on those flints which contain fossils, such as sponges, &c. I have 
several specimens of laminated flint presenting this peculiarity. I have also a 
fossil echinus from which the chalk has been entirely removed by acid, and on 
which the sulphate remains beautifully arranged only around the lines of ori- 
fices bet ween the plates. 
May I presu^me to draw the inference that the above facts lend confirmation 
to Dr. Bowerbank's views on the spongeous basis of many flints ? May tliey 
not also be adduced in support of the opinion that holds the animal nature of 
sponges ? We know that animal substances are partly albuminous, and that 
sulphur is one of the elements of albumen. The animal substance, in under- 
going decomposition, during or previous to fossOization, would part with its 
sulphur, which would be seized by the lime of the chalk in immediate contact 
