SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
85 
Permian, and was referred by Mr. Etheridge to the Dolomitic Conglomerate 
at the base of the Keuper. The author stated that he had found remains of 
the same genera in Rhaetic deposits at Holwell and Clifton Down, and had 
hence been led to refer the two genera to that age. He stated, however, 
that he had since discovered teeth of Thecodontosaurus identical with those 
of the Bristol area in a deposit belonging to the middle of the Upper Keuper 
at Ruishton near Taunton, and recognized certain differences between these 
teeth and those of the same genus from the Rhaetic beds of Holwell ; hence 
he was led to give up the notion that the former were of Rhaetic age, and 
to refer them to the Upper Keuper ; but he remarked upon the interesting 
fact that, while most of the generic forms of the Keuper are represented in 
the Rhaetic, the species differ. 
A Cretaceous Snake . — Hitherto the first indications of the existence of 
Ophidian reptiles have been obtained from the earlier Tertiary deposits, 
especially the London Clay of Sheppey, from which Prof. Owen described 
two genera of these animals under the names of Pcdceophis and Paleryx. 
M. H. E. Sauvage has communicated to the French Academy ( Comptes 
Rendus, 18th October, 1880) the discovery in the Charente of vertebrae of a 
snake in sandy deposits of the Cenomanian epoch ; that is to say, of the age 
of our Upper Greensand. The vertebrae are about 14 millim. in length and 
are considered to indicate a serpent about 3 metres (10 feet) long. M. 
Sauvage briefly describes the characters of these vertebrae, in which he finds 
resemblances to Boas, Rattlesnakes, and Typhlopidae, and especially to the 
the latter, which may be regarded as indicating the passage from the Serpents 
to the Lizards. He gives the new Cretaceous Ophidian the name of 
Simoliophis Rochebruni, in honour of its discoverer, M. Tremaux de 
Rochebrune. 
MINERALOGY. 
Spodumene and the Results of its Alteration . — This is the title of a fourth 
paper by G. J. Brush and E. S. Dana ( Amer . Journ. Sci., 1880, October , xx. 
257), on the mineral locality at Branchville, Connecticut. Spodumene of this 
locality occurs in large masses, showing distinct cleavage, but seldom any ap- 
proach to crystalline form. The blocks often weigh several hundred pounds. 
It is also found in an altered condition as nuclei of distinct pseudomorphous 
crystals, and one mass measured three feet in length, with a width of eight 
inches and a thickness of two inches. An analysis of a specimen gave the 
numbers : — 
Silicic acid . 
. 64-25 
Alumina 
. 27-20 
Iron peroxide 
0-20 
Lithia . 
7-62 
Soda 
0-39 
Potash . 
. Trace. 
Ignition 
* 
0-24 
99-90 
