SCTENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
431 
larian Graptolites of the Silurian formation^ and with the rare medusoids of 
the Solenhofen stones. 
Geological Map of Central Europe. — It is asserted by Cosmos that a very 
greatly improved and enlarged geological map of Central Europe has been 
prepared and edited by the well-known geologist^ emeritus Director-General 
of Mines for Prussia, Herr von Dechen. This new map is on a scale of 
2,500,000ths, and embraces the whole of Germany, France, England, and 
adjacent countries. The same author has recently finished a large geological 
map, in 32 sheets, of Rhenish Prussia and Westphalia, which may be con- 
sidered as one of the best ever executed of the kind, and one of the finest 
specimens of chromo-lithography ever published. The price of these works 
being very moderate will insure them a largely-extended sale, 
Flint Implements in the Valley of the Thames. — At the Exeter meeting of 
the British Association, Colonel Lane Fox gave an account of some investi- 
gations lately carried out at Acton and at various places along the Thames 
valley. He had found a large number of flint implements in such a position 
as to leave no doubt that the river Thames had once occupied banks 100 ft. 
higher than the present, and for many miles in width. 
British Fossil Corals. — The report on these was presented to the British 
Association by Dr. P. M. Duncan. After describing many new species, and 
noticing the 140 kinds already described, the author stated that 251 species 
of corals had been found in British Secondary and Tertiary strata. The 
presence of certain kinds of corals in strata was shown to indicate peculiar 
conditions of sea-water. The report concluded with a statement concerning 
the periods when the area of England was occupied by an ocean with coral 
reefs, or by moderately deep seas and shallows. The condition of this area 
was then compared with that of the continent during the Secondary and 
Tertiary periods, and it was shown that coral reefs fringed the old coast- 
line. Report of Committee on Photographs of Corals.” — Mr. J. Thom- 
son, the author of the above paper, has devoted considerable time to cutting 
very thin sections of fossil corals, and afterwards photographing them. This 
method has afforded palceontologists a natural means of studying the struc- 
ture of these interesting fossils. When mounted on glass these sections can 
be magnified to any extent by the oxy-hydrogen lantern, and thus these 
old-world forms, which are of great beauty, can be made to illustrate their 
own history. 
Tertiary Fossils in the Neighbourhood of Brussels. — M. P. de Borre has 
described to the Belgian Academy the results of an examination of a collec- 
tion recently presented to the National Museum. In this collection the 
author found the remains of two Chelonians. In his paper he described : 
1. A fragment of a sternum, which he thinks belongs to a species of Emys. 
2. Two incomplete vertebrae, an atlas and an axis, which he believes to 
have belonged to an Emys, and possibly Emys Camperi. 3. A bone which 
seems to be the metatarsal of the median digit of a marine tortoise. 4. An- 
other bone, also a metatarsal, belonging to the second or fourth digit. 5. A 
bit of the carapace of an Emys or a Chelonia. 6 . A fragment of a dorsal- 
plate of a tortoise of the family of Potamites. 
A neio Devonian fish has been discovered and described by 31. A’an Bene- 
den. He has given it the name of Palccdnphus Devoniensis, because it is 
VOL. YHI, — NO. XXXIII. F F 
