402 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
Mr. W. II. Baily, F.G.S., Palseontologist to the Irish Geological Siu-vey, 
" On Sphcuopteris Hookerii and Ichthyolif es, from Kiltorkan Hill, Kilkenny." 
Dr. Bricc, " Notice of the discovery of Upper Silurian Possils m 'the 
Df-vonian Slates." 
Dr. Anderson, of Newbnrgh, " On the Remains of Man in the Superficial 
Drifts." His main object in bringing the subject before the meeting was to 
give a condensed view of the discovery of human remains in the superficial 
accumulations of prc-historic origin. Undoubted cases existed of human 
remains enclosed in hard compact concretionary rocks, buried deep in the silts 
of rivers, and liigli up in caverns, associated with the bones of elephants, Hons, 
tigers, hyenas, and other extinct caruivora. As to the instances occurring in 
the beds of lakes, rivers, and seas, he contended that a few years, or even 
months, often sufficed for the formation of a compact durable mass of calca- 
reous and siliceous rock, in which human bones, skeletons, potteiy, coins, and 
implements were embedded. He referred to a case betwixt Aberdour and 
Bm-nt-islaud, in Fife, which he examined a few weeks ago, where an incrusta- 
tion was now forming of great depth, in which are embedded land-shells, 
branches of trees, and where on the face of the encrusted cliff, twigs of 
living trees are becoming entangled in the calcareous breccia. The Rev. Doc- 
tor quoted the ease of a cannon-ball — a 32-pounder — lately presented to him 
by a feUow-towusman, deeply encrusted with ferruginous nuul, and completely 
indurated, which was raised by an anchor in the harbour of Copenhagen. The 
skulls at Amiens and AbbevUle, the remains in the caverns of Torquay, and 
those in Scilly, the tlint-wcapons in veined-limestone m Cantyre, and the arrow- 
heads with elephant-remains in Suffolk, wei'e then sueccssivelv brought under 
review. He saw no evidence deducible from the superlicial drifts to warrant a 
departure from the usually accejited data of man's very recent introduction 
upon the earth. 
Mr. Henry C. Hodge, " On the Origin of the Fossiliferous Caves of the 
Plymouth Limestone." The author traced the origin of the caves to tiie de- 
composition of a variety of irregularly-distributed dolomite containuig the 
carbonates of iron and manganese; and expressed an opinion, from an ex- 
amination of the geological jiosition of the Hmestone and its relations to sur- 
rounding rocks, that at the time the bone-caves were formed they must have 
been situated at a much higher level than at present, and contained no stalag- 
mite during their habitation by earnivora. He attributed the mtroduction of the 
remains in the caves to the agency of carnivorous cave-inhabiting animals ; 
but admitted that in some previous instances the evidence aj^peared to show 
that t he animals had fallen into fissures. He adduced facts which, he thought, 
showed that the bone-caves had been re-opened for the admission of stalactite 
after the enclosure of their ossiferous contents, and he argued that the facts, 
if properly considered, would help to demonstrate that not merely was there 
no geological evidence whatever to prove the co-existence of the extinct animals 
with man, but that all the apparently powerful arguments based upon the 
occurrence of his remains in ossiferous caverns might be merely deceptive, and 
of no real significance or certainty wliatever, as their presence in them might 
be easUy accounted for tiirough the operation of still existing causes. 
Mr. D. Page, P.G.S., gave in a report on the exploration of the Upper 
Silurians of Lesmahagoe, in terms of the Association's grant to Mr. Slimon. 
During the last summer Mr. Slimon and his son had diligently ex))lorcd the 
fossiliferous tract of Upper Silurian strata in the parish of Lesmahagoe, and 
the result of their operations had been to exhibit still further the highly fos- 
siHfcrous character of the Nilbcrry SQiirians, and to give ample indication of a 
very varied and curious crustacean fauna, altogether new to pala;onto]ogy. 
The Rev. Dr. Longmuir, " On the Restoration of the Pteriehthys." 
