Equations are derived which link the content of relatively insoluble components Si, Al, Fe and K in source rock and derived alluvial sediment. The equations also involve the ratio of specific suspended load to dissolved load and specific bed load to suspended load (Tb/Ts) for the rivers which deposited the sediments. These ratios are generally unknown, but by analogy with modern rivers are taken to occupy the ranges and 0 ≦ Tb/Ts≦1. This is sufficient to put close limits on the possible composition of the source rock. The equations suggest that clastic sediment forming the Late Proterozoic Torridon Group of Scotland was derived from sediments or metasediments, rather than from average upper continental crust, granitoids or gneisses like those presently exposed nearby.

The analysis of Mineral Waters has always been considered as a difficult operation. Numerous methods are employed to discover their ingredients, and estimate their quantities, many of which are liable to errors. This diversity of method itself is a source of discordant results. And to those not familiar with such researches, it presents the difficulty often of determining what process is best adapted to discover a particular composition. Hence the advantage of a general formula, if this could be given, applicable to the analysis of all waters. The views which have been stated in the papers, connected with this subject, which I have had the honour of submitting to the Society, have suggested a method which appears to me to admit of very general application, and to be simple, not difficult of execution, nor liable to any sources of error but what may be easily obviated. The principles on which this method is founded, and the details of the process itself, form the subject of the following observations.

This section under the above designation was first established by Pax in Engler's Bot. Jahrb., x, 205 (1889). The species chosen as representative of the section was P. nivalis Pall. This species with its numerous and widespread immediate allies affords an admirable centre for an exposition of the members of the section. The original definition of the section is still reasonably adequate, but its clarity was somewhat obscured by the admission of several species which indubitably belong elsewhere. Of the nine components quoted by Pax, five must be removed—P. sikkimensis and P. secundiflora, as well as the American P. Rusbyi and its two associates. In his Monograph (1) published in 1905 Pax made certain additions and corrections. The number of species indicated as within the section was increased to 15 He removed P. Rusbyi to what is now Candelabra, but P. Cusickiana and P. angustifolia were retained; so also were P. sikkimensis and P. secundiflora. On good grounds were included P. pumila, P. Aitchisonii, and P. eximia, but dubiously P. pulchella and P. Prattii. Correctly in our opinion came in P. Maximowiczii and its two allies P. szechuanica and P. tangutica.

Volcanogenic sediments form a significant part of the East Kirkton Limestone, with thin tuff units occurring at several levels and pyroclastic fragments being an important constituent of the coarser clastic limestone units.

The tuffs have been extensively altered during diagenesis but recognisable pseudomorphs after olivine and plagioclase phenocrysts confirm the basaltic nature of the volcanism. The considerable lateral variations in thickness of the tuff horizons in conjunction with the poorly sorted and lithologically heterogeneous nature of the tuffs indicate an epiclastic origin for the volcanogenic sediments. Well-rounded volcanic rock fragments—products of erosion—occur with angular fragments within the tuffs. Blocky tuffs in the lower part of the formation contain charred wood fragments, rip-up clasts of limestone and disarticulated amphibian bones. Graded bedding at several horizons and the presence of ostracods within some tuffs confirms subaqueous deposition.

The findings are consistent with the usual, dominantly epiclastic products of basaltic volcanism, in an equatorial, continental, humid environment, with assorted debris being washed from the flanks of a volcano into a shallow lake.

The material placed at my disposal for the purposes of this paper comprised the brains of four adult specimens of the Weddell seal, in addition to the brain of the young animal which has formed the subject of my former contributions. The four adult brains having been removed at the time the animals were killed, and preserved in a solution composed of spirit (90 per cent.) 6 pints and formal (2 per cent.) 4 pints, were, with one exception, in a firm and satisfactory condition for detailed anatomical examination. The body of the young seal had been preserved with a view to ordinary dissection, and therefore its brain was not in the firm state of the adult specimens; but as I had the opportunity of removing this brain from the skull, I was able to observe the disposition of the dura mater to the hemispheres of the cerebrum and cerebellum. While the dura mater presented, as a whole, its usual arrangements, it was noteworthy that the falx cerebri did not act as a septum between the two hemispheres of the cerebrum except to a very slight extent, and certainly for not more than one-third of the distance between the vertex of the cerebrum and the dorsal surface of the corpus callosum. As a result, in the region referred to the opposing mesial surfaces of the two hemispheres lay not only in close apposition with each other, but their convolutions were intimately adapted to each other. Similarly, the tentorium cerebelli only extended a short distance between the cerebrum and the cerebellum, and, as the occipital ends of the cerebral hemispheres fell considerably apart from each other, there was space for the accommodation of the well-developed vermis of the cerebellum as well as for the bulbous pineal body, which occupied a position upon its dorsal aspect. As I removed the brain from the skull the stalk of the pineal body gave way, and probably the same thing had occurred during the removal of the adult brains, for, while different lengths of the stalks had been preserved, there was only one complete specimen of its bulbous extremity. Looked at from the vertex, the general outline of the whole brain was that of a four-sided figure with rounded angles, and the cerebral hemispheres concealed the cerebellum except where the vermis was exposed between them at their occipital ends. The frontal ends of the hemispheres were not rounded into frontal poles; but, on the contrary, they almost formed flat frontal surfaces. Similarly, the occipital ends were rounded and not pointed to form occipital poles. There was a small amount of difference in the absolute size of the adult brains, and the largest specimen measured 120 mm. in its fronto-occipital diameter ; 115 mm. in its greatest transverse diameter at a point well forward on the temporo-sphenoidal lobes; and 71 mm. in vertical height, measured from the pons varolii to the vertex of the cerebrum. Thus, apart from the peculiarity of its general outline in total size, it was only slightly less than an average human brain. Throughout the anterior two-thirds of their extent the cerebral hemispheres were, as already indicated, in very close apposition, and the falx cerebri only dipped into the pallial or superior longitudinal fissure to a slight extent; but in its posterior third this cleft opened to form a wide interval, measuring 65 mm. in the transverse direction at its hinder end and narrowing as it ran forwards towards the posterior end of the corpus callosum. In the deep level of this interval the pineal body and the upper surface of the vermis were visible, as well as part of the upper surface of the cerebellar hemispheres. It should be stated that the backward extension of the occipital lobes of the cerebrum carried them 2 mm. beyond the cerebellar hemispheres.

In its essential features the basal aspect of the brain conformed to current descriptions of the mammalian brain ; but it presented many special points of interest, to which reference will be made in the course of my survey.

James Croll left school at the age of 13 years, yet while a janitor in Glasgow he published a landmark paper on astronomically-related climate change, claimed as ‘the most important discovery in paleoclimatology’, and which brought him to the attention of Charles Darwin, William Thomson and John Tyndall, amongst others. By 1867 he was persuaded to become Secretary and Accountant of the newly established Geological Survey of Scotland in Edinburgh, and a year after the appearance of his keynote volume Climate and time in 1875, he was lauded with an honorary doctorate from Scotland's oldest university, Fellowship of the Royal Society of London and Honorary Membership of the New York Academy of Sciences. Using a range of archival and published sources, this paper explores aspects of his ‘journey’ and the background to the award of these major accolades. It also discusses why he never became a Fellow of his national academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In the world of 19th-Century science, Croll was not unusual in being both an autodidact and of humble origins, nor was he lacking in support for his endeavours. It is possible that a combination of Croll's modesty and innovative genius fostered advancement, though this did not hinder a willingness to engage in vigorous argument.

The processes involved in vital effects, defined as biological processes overriding environmental signals, are not well understood and this hampers the interpretation of environmental parameters such as seawater temperature. Insufficient knowledge is available about changes in physico-chemical parameters, in particular those related to crystallography, associated with biomineral formation and emplacement. This paper assesses the influence of crystallography on Mg2+ concentration and distribution in calcite biominerals of bivalved marine organisms, mussels and rhynchonelliform brachiopods, and considers the implications for Mg/Ca thermometry. In the mussel Mytilus edulis, changes in Mg2+ are not associated with crystallography; but in the brachiopod Terebratulina retusa, increases in Mg2+ concentrations (∼0·5–0·6 wt. ) are associated with the {0001 planes of calcite biominerals. A comparison between mussels and brachiopods with avian eggshells, which form at constant ambient temperature, also reveals that there is at least a common 0·1 wt. variation in magnesium concentration in these calcite biomineral systems unrelated to temperature or crystallography. Results demonstrate that the integration of contextual crystallographic, biological and chemical information may be important to extract accurate environmental information from biominerals.

Heavy metal contamination in the paddy soils of China is a serious concern because of its health risk through transfer in food chains. A field experiment was conducted in 2014–2015 to investigate the long-term effects of different biochar amendments on cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) immobilisation in a contaminated paddy field in southern China. Two types of biochar, a rice-straw-derived biochar (RB) and a coconut-by-product-derived biochar (CB), were amended separately to determine their impacts on rice yield and their efficacy in reducing Cd and As in rice. The two-year field experiment showed that biochar amendments significantly improved the rice yields and that CB is superior to RB, especially in the first growth season. Using a large amount of biochar amendment (22.5tha–1) significantly increased soil pH and total organic carbon, and concomitantly decreased the Cd content in rice grains over the four growth seasons, regardless of biochar type and application rate. Arsenic levels in rice were similar to the control, and results from this study suggest that there was a sustainable effect of biochar on Cd sequestration in soil and reduction of Cd accumulation in rice for at least two years. Biochar amendment in soil could be considered as a sustainable, reliable and cost-effective option to remediate heavy metal contamination in paddy fields for long periods.

This paper presents a review of recent developments in the study of vision in fossil arthropods, beginning with a discussion of the origin of visual systems. A report of the eyes of Cambrian arthropods from different Lagerstätten, especially the compound and median arthropod eyes from the Chengjiang fauna of China, is given. Reference is made also to compound eyes from the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale fauna of Australia and the Sirius Passet fauna of Greenland; also to the three-dimensionally preserved ‘Orsten’ fauna of Sweden. An understanding of how these eyes functioned is possible by reference to living arthropods and by using physical tools developed by physiologists. The eyes of trilobites (lower Cambrian to Upper Permian) are often very well preserved, and the structure and physiology of their calcite lenses, and the eye as a whole, are summarised here, based upon recent literature. Two main kinds of trilobite eyes have been long known. Firstly, there is the holochroal type, in which the lenses are usually numerous, small and closely packed together; this represents the ancestral kind, first found in lowermost Cambrian trilobites. The second type is the schizochroal eye, in which the lenses are relatively much larger and each is separated from its neighbours. Such eyes are confined to the single suborder Phacopina (Lower Ordovician to Upper Devonian). This visual system has no real equivalents in the animal kingdom. In this present paper, the origin of schizochroal eyes, by paedomorphosis from holochroal precursors, is reviewed, together with subsequent evolutionary transitions in the Early Ordovician. A summary of new work on the structure and mineralogy of phacopid lenses is presented, as is a discussion of the recent discovery of sublensar sensory structures in Devonian phacopids, which has opened up new dimensions in the study of trilobite vision.

Few cabinets of minerals contain so many of the rare substances, which were discovered in Greenland, by Sir Charles Giesècke', and perhaps none in equally interesting varieties, as that of Mr Allan. The most prominent of them hare been examined both in a mineralogical and chemical point of view, and some described as particular species. Mineralogy is already indebted for Allanite, Sodalite, Eudialyte, and Gieseckite, to the zeal of die indefatigable explorer of Greenland, and the subsequent labours of Dr Thomson and Professor Stromeyer; and it is probable that the number of new species from this source will yet be increased upon farther examination.

We present the first specific record of a chironomid of the tribe Tanytarsini from early Eocene Cambay amber, India (52–53 Ma). The oldest known extinct tanytarsine genus, Gujaratomyia Giłka & Zakrzewska, gen. nov., is described on the basis of adult males of G. miripes Giłka & Zakrzewska, sp. nov. The species displays an unusual leg structure with unique leg ratios and tibial armature. The combination of the head and genital apparatus characters supports the hypothesis that Gujaratomyia and Cladotanytarsus are members of a common group within the subtribe Tanytarsina.

The special features of interest attaching to the Tertiary igneous rocks of Mull have been made known to geologists mainly through the classic descriptions of Professor J. W. Judd and Sir Archibald Geikie. The point of view of these two investigators is, however, essentially geological, and they refer but little to the occurrence of minerals and rarely give precise localities. It is clear, too, that the late Professor M. F. Heddle did not make an exhaustive examination of many localities in Mull, for his collection in the Royal Scottish Museum contains very few specimens from that island. With a view to filling up this gap I have paid several visits to Mull, and this paper deals with some of the material which I collected. The officers of the Geological Survey who are at present mapping the island have helped me considerably with information and material; and to Mr J. B. Richey, B.A., who has surveyed the area from which a large part of the material was obtained, I am particularly indebted for assistance in collecting specimens from somewhat inaccessible localities.

In this paper I propose submitting to the Society some observations on the nature and history of the Marsh Poison, which, under the title of Marsh Miasmata, or Malaria, has ever been acknowledged as the undisputed source of Intermittent Fevers, and is believed, with good reason, to be the exciting cause of the whole tribe of Remittent Fevers;—of Endemic Fever, in fact, in every form, and in every part of the world.

The large magnetic anomaly which runs along the Highland Boundary Fault of Scotland immediately to the NW of Blairgowrie has been studied by both a ground-based magnetic survey and a palaeomagnetic investigation. A newly developed optimisation program, making use of a simplex algorithm, was used to model the long wavelength component of this effectively two-dimensional anomaly. The consequent model consists of a vertical, rectangular body, 3 km wide and 13 km deep, whose top surface is 2 km below ground level, with a magnetisation directed vertically downwards. The composition of this body is most likely to be that of an ultra-basic, metamorphic complex which has been brought up to its present position between two of the many near-vertical faults in the area. The medium wavelength structure of the anomaly was modelled using the common technique of trial and error, and can be interpreted in terms of a pair of Devonian andesitic lavas and a small extension of the main ultrabasic block. Subsequent palaeomagnetic remanence measurements confirmed that the magnetisation of the two lavas recorded a Devonian polarity reversal. The magnetisation of the ultrabasics is directed vertically downwards, exactly as deduced from the earlier modelling work.

The interest awakened by Gay-Lussac's great discovery of the simplicity in the relation of the volumes of gases has greatly increased in recent times, when chemists have discovered that, in a large number of instances at least, the formula of a body, as deduced physically from its vapour density, exactly coincides with that deducible from chemical considerations of its reactions, and from the nature of the products arising in consequence of them.

The processes at present used for determining the vapour densities of bodies, are those of Gay-Lussac and Dumas.

The illustrious Cuvier, in his treatise “ Sur les Ossemens fossiles,” described and figured an imperfect skull which had been obtained, in 1804, by M. Raymond Gorsse in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, near Fos, on the southern coast of France. It had been found on the sea-shore in the preceding year by a peasant. Cuvier recognised it to belong to an undescribed genus of cetaceans, to which he gave the name of Ziphius; and from the deep hollow which it possessed at the base of the rostrum, he named it Ziphius cavirostris. From the condition of the bones, and the general characters of the specimen, he judged it to be a fossil. Cuvier's description, though brief, and from a mutilated specimen, yet clearly states the most salient features of the skull.

The study of differential fertility in Great Britain in relation to the continued decline in fertility has been hampered by lack of adequate birth registration. Though the defect has now been partially remedied by The Population (Statistics) Bill, the study of past changes is still difficult. In a previous memoir (Charles and Moshinsky, 1938) the writer gave an analysis of regional fertility differences in England and Wales from 1911 to 1931. Gross reproduction rates were used as measures of fertility. In the present communication the same method is applied to changes in fertility in Scotland.

Observations on the form of the Placenta and on the arrangement of the Fœtal membranes in the Seals have been recorded by more than one anatomist. Alessandrini of Bologna obtained a specimen of the Monk Seal (Phoca bicolor) Monachus albiventer, in the gravid condition, in which the uterus contained a single fœtus.

Our knowledge of the nature and mode of action of the nervous mechanism of the uterus is far from complete. The following paper is a continuation of that published by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1927 (38).

In that paper a short historical summary of the previous work was given. To expand this summary and fully analyse the further papers I have studied on the special points of my present communication would unduly lengthen this memoir. I will therefore confine myself to a brief abstract of my former results, and a short statement as to the present state of our knowledge. A full bibliography will be found at the close of this communication.

Volker and Upton (VU) have provided an excellent contribution to the study of the Rhum complex, providing substantial amounts of descriptive material and new observationsto allow the discussion to rise above mere opinion. VU disagree with two of our (Bédard et al. 1988) principal conclusions about the genesis of the Eastern Layered Series. We argue in the following comment that, on the contrary, their data support and complement our conclusions.