In the beginning of the year 1865, I received from the Rev. Alexander Robb, one of the missionaries of the United Presbyterian Church, residing at Creek Town, Old Calabar, Western Africa, a package containing some zoological specimens, preserved in spirits; and in a letter dated 28th October 1864, referring to its contents, he states, there “are also two or three small eel-like fishes.” Some time passed before I was able carefully to examine the package, and I was then at once attracted by these small fish, which I saw belonged to the very distinct and interesting Order of the Ganoid fishes, so abundant in a fossil state in the rocks of our earlier geological epochs, but of which so few representatives are now to be found as living inhabitants of the present waters of our globe.

Sub-silicic to silicic pitchstones are widespread throughout the British Tertiary Igneous Province (BTIP), with examples being found at all the major igneous centres. Both highly porphyritic and almost completely aphyric varieties occur, and take the form of sills, dykes and lava flows. Here we present previously unreported mineral chemistry data on phenocryst and microcrystallite populations from a number of pitchstones from throughout the BTIP. Phenocryst assemblages are completely anhydrous, comprising mixtures of plagioclase, sanidine, fayalite, orthopyroxene, pigeonite, ferroaugite, ferrohedenbergite and quartz. Microcrystallite assemblages are also diverse, consisting of sanidine, ferrohedenbergite, fayalite and, occasionally, almost pure end-member ferrosilite, as well as hydrous phases such as ferrohornblende and biotite. Textural and mineral chemistry observations support interpretations derived from whole-rock and residual glass major element analyses, together with whole-rock trace element and the available Sr-Nd-Pb isotope data, that the Tertiary pitchstones of Scotland are either the products of intimate mixing between a range of basaltic magmas with hydrous crustal melts, or were formed by the crustal contamination of basaltic magmas.

During the Scottish Antarctic Expedition of 1892–93 Dr W. S. Bruce secured fœtuses of Stenorhynchus leptonyx and Lobodon Carcinophaga, and on his return passed them over, with other material, to Professor D'Arcy W. Thompson for the Zoological Museum of University College, Dundee. While some of the material has unfortunately been lost sight of during these twenty-one years, one specimen, viz. that of a fœtus of Stenorhynchus leptonyx, was still in existence, and was returned by Professor D'Arcy Thompson to Dr Bruce, who in turn asked me to examine and report upon it. Furthermore, during the voyage of the Scotia embryos of Leptonychotes weddelli were obtained by the Scotia naturalists, and these were passed on for description to Professor Waterston, at that time in the University of Edinburgh. It is on this material that the present monograph is based.

The first half of the Mississippian or Early Carboniferous (Tournaisian to mid- Viséan), an interval of about 20 million years, has become known as “Romer's Gap” because of its poor tetrapod record. Recent discoveries emphasise the differences between pre-“Gap” Devonian tetrapods, unambiguous stem-group members retaining numerous “fish” characters indicative of an at least partially aquatic lifestyle, and post-“Gap” Carboniferous tetrapods, which are far more diverse and include fully terrestrial representatives of the main crown-group lineages. It seems that “Romer's Gap” coincided with the cladogenetic events leading to the origin of the tetrapod crown group. Here, we describe a partial right lower jaw ramus of a tetrapod from the late Tournaisian or early Viséan of Scotland. The large and robust jaw displays a distinctive character combination, including a significant mesial lamina of the strongly sculptured angular, an open sulcus for the mandibular lateral line, a non-ossified narrow Meckelian exposure, a well-defined dorsal longitudinal denticle ridge on the prearticular, and a mesially open adductor fossa. A phylogenetic analysis places this specimen in a trichotomy with Crassigyrinus and baphetids + higher tetrapods in the upper part of the tetrapod stem group, above Whatcheeria, Pederpes, Ossinodus, Sigournea and Greererpeton. It represents a small but significant step in the gradual closure of “Romer's Gap”.

1. To find the numerical law according to which the temperature of a place varies with its latitude, is an empirical problem which has, since the middle of the last century, from time to time engaged attention.

2. Lambert, Mayer, and Kirwan in the last century, De Humboldt, Brewster, Kämtz, and Dove in the present, may be cited amongst those who have investigated formulæ which express, with more or less accuracy, the mean temperature of a place in terms of its latitude.

3. The formulæ proposed are mostly reducible to two types—a variation depending upon the cosine of the latitude simply (that of Sir D. Brewster), and one depending on the square of the same quantity (that of Mayer).

§ 1. Object of this Paper.—In a paper on the Mechanical Action of Heat, which I sent to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in December 1849, and which was read in February 1850, it was shown, that if sensible or thermometric heat consists in the motion of molecular vortices supposed to be arranged in a particular way, and combined in a particular way with oscillatory movements, the principles of thermodynamics, and various relations between heat and elasticity, are arrived at by applying the laws of dynamics to that hypothesis. The object of the present paper is to show how the general equation of thermodynamics, and other propositions, are deduced from the hypothesis of molecular vortices, when freed from all special suppositions as to the figure and arrangement of the vortices, and the properties of the matter that moves in them, and reduced to the following form:—That thermometric heat consists in a motion of the particles of bodies in circulating streams, with a velocity either constant or fluctuating periodically. This, of course, implies that the forces acting amongst those particles are capable of transmitting that motion.

The purpose of this memoir is (1) to make known a number of drawings and descriptions of the eggs, embryos, and larvæ of the species of Teleosteans which I have been able to study at the Scottish Marine Station; (2) to review as comprehensively as possible what is known at the present time concerning the structure of the embryos and larvæ of the species of Teleosteans, and to discover what features are common to each family or each order; (3) to discuss the changes which take place in the protoplasm and nucleus of the mature ovum immediately after it is shed, both when fertilised and when unfertilised. The ova of the following species were taken directly from the parent fish, and artificially fertilised. The necessary operations were carried out, in some cases by myself, on board fishing boats—usually steam trawlers from Granton. In many instances I did not myself go out in the boats, but the ova were obtained and brought to me at the laboratory by Alexander Turbyne, keeper of the station. But in every case there is no uncertainty as to the species of the fish from which the ova were taken; if there was any doubt, specimens of the parent fish were brought with the ova.

This paper reports on the progress to date of a long-term investigation of the effects of drainage and afforestation on the hydrology of a peat bog near Edinburgh based on the use of runoff plots and other related equipment. The hydrology of the area immediately after ploughing is described and recently collected data are presented to show how this has changed over a six-year period. The main changes appear to be a substantial reduction in water yield and a move towards a less flashy runoff regime. Data are presented to show that these are most probably due to an increase in the amount of rainfall intercepted by the vegetation now covering the area and to a deterioration in the hydraulic efficiency of the drainage network.

The Patagonian Batholith was formed by numerous plutonic events that took place between the Jurassic and the Miocene. North of 47° S, the youngest plutons occupy the axial zone adjacent to the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault Zone, which is a major intra-arc strike-slip fault system active since the Miocene. The Queulat Complex, located at 44° 30′ S, includes two Miocene plutonic units: the Early Miocene Queulat diorite (QD) and the Late Miocene Puerto Cisnes granite (PCG). The QD includes hornblende + clinopyroxene diorites and tonalites, whereas the PCG includes slightly peraluminous garnet ± sillimanite granites and granodiorites.

Eleven mineral Ar–Ar ages and three apatite fission track ages were obtained from the Queulat Complex and surrounding host rocks. Hornblende and biotite Ar–Ar ages of c. 16-18 Ma and 9-10 Ma, respectively, were obtained for the QD. The youngest ages of the QD are similar to the age of emplacement of the PCG as previously determined. Ar–Ar ages for muscovites and biotites of 6·6 ± 0·3 Ma and 5·6 ± 0·1 Ma, respectively, were obtained for the PCG. Biotites and muscovites from mylonites and pelitic hornfelses adjacent to the PCG yielded Ar—Ar ages between 5·1 Ma and 5·5 Ma. The apatite fission track ages of the QD and PCG overlap within the error margin (2•2 ± 1·1-3·3 ± 1·4 Ma).

The Al-in-hornblende geobarometer yielded pressures for the QD emplacement equivalent to depths in the 19-24 km range, which is substantially higher than the 10 km depth estimated previously for the PCG emplacement. Exhumation rates (v) up to 2·0mm/yr were calculated for the time elapsed between the QD and PCG emplacements. A v value of 1·0mm/yr was calculated for the PCG subsequent to its emplacement. Using the silica—Ca-tschermak-anorthite geobarometer, we estimate the QD magma generation to be at c. 33 km, which is similar to the current crustal thickness. Melting of mafic and metapelitic lower crust was possible at > 30km depth during a period when v was between 1·0mm/yr and 2·0mm/yr.

The present paper is the second of a series of investigations into the anatomy of the lower Dicotyledons (1), aiming at the accumulation of anatomical data which, it is hoped, may prove of service in elucidating the phylogeny of the complex of orders usually regarded as situated somewhere near the base of the Angiosperm phylum. The continuance of the War has again materially retarded these investigations, and has also rendered it almost impossible to obtain material from abroad that would, doubtless, have been available in peace time. We are greatly indebted for substantial assistance in this relation more especially to Sir David Prain, F.R.S., Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and to Sir Frederick Moore, F.R.S., Director of the Glasnevin Gardens, Dublin, and to them we tender our grateful thanks.

In a paper on “The Pharmacological Action of Protocatechyl-tropeine,” communicated to the Society in 1909, I drew attention to the fact that this substance, when injected intravenously in certain doses produces transient paralysis of the respiration; and I mentioned further that Tappeiner had described a similar temporary cessation of the respiration after the intravenous injection of certain quaternary isoxazol and pyrazol compounds, and of tetra-methyl-ammonium chloride, and Pohl, after the intravenous injection of some quaternary papaverine derivatives. Tappeiner came to the conclusion that the effect was due to stimulation of the terminations of the fifth cranial nerve in the nose; that it was, in fact, of the nature of a Kratschmer-Hering reflex, since he was unable, in the case of methyl-phenylisoxazol-methochloride, to produce cessation of the respiration after anæsthetising the nasal mucous membrane with cocaine; and Iodlbauer, working in Tappeiner's laboratory, also found that anæsthetisation of the nasal mucous membrane prevented the cessation of the respiration produced by tetra-methyl-ammonium chloride. Pohl, on the other hand, was able to produce this temporary paralysis of the respiration after section of the ophthalmic branches of both fifth nerves, and consequently he concluded that the effect was due to an action on the respiratory centre. I came to the same conclusion, since the effect was still obtained with protocatechyl-tropeine after section of both fifth nerves in the base of the skull and after section of both phrenic nerves, and was not synchronous with the effect on the circulation or with the paresis of the nerve-endings in the muscles of the hind limbs. Further work with tetra-methyl-ammonium chloride, however—my stock of protocatechyl-tropeiue being exhausted,—showed that the effect was in large measure peripheral and due to a transient paresis of the nerve-endings in the respiratory muscles.

Abundant insect fossils have been recorded from the Lower Cretaceous of the Jiuquan Basin, but very few odonatans have been recorded. In this paper, a new damsel-dragonfly, Cretastenophlebia jiuquanensis sp. nov., is described from the Lower Cretaceous Zhonggou Formation in the Hanxiagou outcrop, Jiuquan Basin, northwestern China. This is the second species of the genus Cretastenophlebia Fleck et al., 2003. Cretastenophlebia jiuquanensis sp. nov. differs from Cretastenophlebia mongolica Fleck et al., 2003 in the presence of a broad discoidal triangle, a basally straight IR1 and less cells along the posterior wing margin between IR2 and RP2. Cretastenophlebia has been previously reported from the Lower Cretaceous of Bon-Tsagaan, central Mongolia. The new discovery expands the record of Cretastenophlebia to the Jiuquan Basin in Albian.

The Paleogene lava flows of the Faroe Islands Basalt Group are divided into three relatively thick formations. The oldest, the Beinisvørð Formation is separated from the second lava flow succession, the Malinstindur Formation, by two formations composed primarily of volcaniclastic rocks. The oldest of these, the Prestfjall Formation has been interpreted as a period of eruptive quiescence and linked to changes in mantle melting. It is characterised in the south by the occurrence of coals, while the overlying Hvannhagi Formation is a sequence of primary and remobilised volcaniclastic strata. Field, laboratory, palynology, and photogrammetry studies have been used to investigate variations in facies and architecture within these volcaniclastic formations. The data reveal significantly different depositional systems in the Prestfjall and Hvannhagi formations over the ~40 km from the island of Vágar in the north to the island of Suðuroy in the south. Facies distribution in both the Prestfjall and Hvannhagi formations was found to have been controlled by a complex interaction of regional paleoslope, pre-existing topography, the eruption and local collapse of low-angle shield volcanoes, and minor brittle deformation. Lithological data and photogrammetry have enabled the identification of a > 180 m thick succession of volcaniclastic conglomerates deposited by lahars reworking a low-angle shield sector collapse. Co-occurrence of facies characteristic of the Prestfjall, Hvannhagi and Malinstindur formations indicate that volcanic eruption continued at a lower tempo throughout the Prestfjall Formation interval. Identification of a Beinisvørð Formation low-angle volcano shield northwest of the Faroe Islands alters the previous eruption model for this extensive lava field.

The Lower Pleistocene Karnezeika locality, lies in the Peloponnese, southern Greece, and its fauna corresponds to the Middle Villafranchian biochronological unit (MN17). The recovered mammal assemblage includes, among others, a few remains of a large Cercopithecid. Herein, we describe this material, including an upper second molar, a partially preserved proximal radius and, possibly, an upper first incisor. The teeth show advanced stages of wear but retain their typical papionin characters, such as a strong lingual cleft and four bilophodont cusps in the molar. The general morphology and wear pattern of the teeth rules out the possibility that the remains belong to the genus Theropithecus, while the general size of the corresponding material excludes the possibility of a Macaca representative as well. On the contrary, the studied material better fits the size range of Paradolichopithecus. Even though this genus is likely represented in the Villafranchian of Europe by a single species, Par. arvernensis, the scarcity of the studied material imposes reservations and thus the Karnezeika papionin is referred at the moment to cf. Paradolichopithecus sp. As in the rest of Europe, the Paradolichopithecus record is rare in Greece, having been found in only two localities, Vatera and Dafnero. Despite its scarcity, the new material from Karnezeika indicates a wide distribution of this important taxon in the Greek peninsula.

According to the theory devised by Huygens, to explain the phenomenon of double refraction in Iceland spar, a pencil of light transmitted through that substance is divided into two pencils; the index of refraction for the one being constant, while for the other it varies with the inclination of the transmitted light to the optical axis of the crystal.

Dr Wollaston, in 1802, verified the spheroidal form of the wave of light, which Huygens had assumed to account for the refraction of the extraordinary pencil, by a careful experimental investigation, conducted by means of his elegant instrument for “examining refractive and dispersive powers by prismatic reflection.” In 1810, Malus, in his Théorie de la Double Réfraction, also demonstrated experimentally the accuracy of the Huygenian law for the extraordinary pencil. I have not had an opportunity of consulting the memoir of Malus, so as to know the precise nature of his experiments, with reference to the refraction of the ordinary ray; but the object of Dr Wollaston's researches was simply to prove the law of extraordinary refraction, and the constancy of the index of refraction for the ordinary ray, is therefore tacitly assumed by him.

The investigations which I have at present the honour of submitting to the Royal Society, were suggested by the experiments which have been made of late years concerning the gravitation of terrestrial bodies, first, by Dr Maskelyne, on the Attraction of Mountains, and afterwards by Mr Cavendish, on the Attraction of Leaden Balls.

Although Scottish and UK governments have ambitious targets for climate change mitigation, and there is increased understanding of the risks to future prosperity of fossil fuel energy dependence, limited practical progress has been made by the advanced economies in reducing carbon emissions, especially when embedded emissions in imported consumer goods are taken into account. Significant contributory factors are the social and cultural values, beliefs and practices, which result in risks of climate change being regarded as secondary to short-term pressures for economic growth and increased consumer spending. The result is that climate change and transition to a low-carbon society become ‘back of the mind’ issues. Current policy designed to lower carbon emissions from household consumption treats society as a series of individuals, each responding rationally to market incentives to maximise short-term personal gain. ‘Greener choices’ are incentivised and encouraged by social marketing, but, at best, this approach will achieve only very gradual change. An alternative model treats society as comprising historically evolving, dynamic social systems and cultures that are capable of dealing with transformational change, when there is a shared understanding of the reasons for acting. From this perspective, society can implement step changes in behaviour through collaborative action in the interests of the longer-term common good. Political momentum can be gathered for new legislative and/or taxation measures, as for example in the case of the strong programme for tobacco control legislation in Scotland and the UK. By focusing on social and technical infrastructures, the built environment, and the regeneration of local economies, rather than on individual behaviours, government investment can have far greater impact. A distinctively Scottish narrative for a low-carbon society can create momentum for transition through shared understanding of the risks of climate change, and its meanings for social life, cultures, economic relationships and values.

Molluscs from the Middle and Upper Ordovician succession of Girvan, SW Scotland are common and diverse in some localities. The mollusc fauna consists mainly of gastropods, bivalves and various univalved molluscs (mimospirids and tergomyans), along with scarcer polyplacophorans, rostroconchs and cephalopods. The present study gives an overview of the distribution and palaeoecology of bivalves, gastropods and univalved molluscs and compares them with mollusc faunas worldwide. Gastropods, mimospirids and tergomyans are present from the Darriwilian (mid Llanvirn) onwards in both siliciclastic and carbonate facies, and increase in diversity through the Sandbian (Caradoc) and into the Katian (Ashgill). Bivalves first appeared in Girvan in the late Darriwilian (early Caradoc) in deep water siliciclastic facies; where they continued to be more abundant and diverse than in equivalent carbonate facies. Molluscs are initially Laurentian in aspect, though peri-Gondwanan faunal elements occur, particularly during the Sandbian. The pattern of bivalve and gastropod diversity found in the Ordovician of Girvan generally follows that of the known global diversity for these groups.

This study presents sedimentological, palaeoecological and geochemical data from a shallow Mediterranean coastal lagoon which has been severely influenced by human intervention over the last 70 years. The Gialova Lagoon is protected by international conventions and is listed in the Natura 2000 European Community Network as Special Protection Area (SPA) and Site of Community Importance (SCI). The spatial variability of sediment characteristics such as grain size, total organic carbon (TOC) and moment measures, mean, sorting, kurtosis and skewness were calculated. Moreover, micro- and macrofossil and sediment geochemical analyses were carried out on six gravity core samples. Study of the above parameters indicates that the anthropogenic impact and intervention are reflected in the micro- (ostracods, foraminifera, charophytes) and macrofossil (molluscs) taxa corresponding to different depositional environmental facies, representing a brackish lagoon with the influence of (a) fresh water inflow, (b) shallow marine environment and (c) hypoxic and dystrophic conditions. The geochemical characteristics and the calculation of the degree of sediment contamination using enrichment factors (EF), contamination factors (Cif) and the index of geo-accumulation (Igeo) indicate a recent relative improvement of the lagoon towards the upper layers of the gravity cores, rendering the lagoon as unpolluted to moderately polluted. This combinatorial study of sediment geochemical characteristics, as well as the downcore micro- and macrofossil assemblages, can be considered as a baseline for future monitoring in accordance with European Union directives, and for any future engineering interventions for the lagoon environmental maintenance and conservation; as this is the first time that geochemical and downcore palaeoecological data have been presented from this lagoon.

The following remarks on the dragon's blood tree of Socotra are intended to serve as introduction to Dr Dobbie's and Mr Henderson's paper on the red resin obtained from the tree, and to furnish a technical description of the plant which has not hitherto appeared. In my account of the Botany of Socotra, which will shortly be published by the Society, further remarks upon this interesting tree will be found, along with a figure.