Before the Austins published their Monograph on Recent and Fossil Crinoidea, they issued to prospective subscribers an illustrated circular intimating the forthcoming publication of the work. Through the kindness of Professor W. T. Gordon, of King's College, London, I have a copy of this circular. It is in one sheet, printed on one side only and measures 7¼ in. by 9½ in. Over one-third of the upper part of the printed page is occupied by two specimen illustrations, “Platycrinites laevis (Miller)” on the left, and “Actinocrinites elephantinus (Austin)” on the right hand side. The genus Platycrinites was later fully described in parts 1, 2, and 3 of the Monograph, and a facsimile of the drawing of P. laevis of the circular is given on pl. i, fig. 1e of the Monograph. The illustration of Actinocrinites elephantinus Austin, however, does not seem to have been published in any work by the Austins prior or subsequent to part 8 of the Monograph, which was the last number to appear.

Much attention has been paid to composite dykes and sills during the present century, and accepted definitions of the term “composite” centre about that of Daly (1933), who has stated that composite dykes are formed by successive injection of chemically differing melts into the same fissure which widens to receive them.

In a previous paper the writer briefly alluded to the evidence, as known from the deep borings in East Kent, afforded by the Palæozoic and Mesozoic rocks, of the operation of a posthumous axis of unrest, probably of Charnian affinity. This conception receives further support from a study of the special characters exhibited by the Wealden of East Kent and the nature of the unconformity between these strata and the Mesozoic and Palæozoic rocks underlying them.

The tectonized and metamorphosed mudrocks within the Variscan accretionary prism of the Kaczawa Mountains in SW Poland comprise sedimentary mélanges together with more coherent stratigraphic units; some represent large olistoliths deposited in a submarine trench. We infer a trend of progressive near-surface stratal disruption in mud-dominated deposits due to dewatering that forms a continuum with subduction-related tectonic structures imposed on unconsolidated sediment during deeper burial. The assemblage of characters suggests that an accretionary prism environment can influence, and leave characteristic traces of, the total burial history of a trench succession.

Widely distributed Mid-Neoproterozoic mafic rocks of the Qilian – Qaidam – East Kunlun region record the tectonic evolution of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. This study presents whole-rock geochemistry, zircon U–Pb geochronology and Hf isotopes for the Xialanuoer gabbros of the central South Qilian Belt (SQB). Zircon laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U–Pb dating indicates that the gabbros were emplaced at ca. 738 Ma, indicating they are contemporaneous with mafic magmatism elsewhere in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. The gabbros have low SiO2, Cr and Ni contents and Mg# values, are relatively enriched in light rare-earth elements (LREEs) and depleted in high-field-strength elements (HFSEs; e.g. Nb and Ta), have no positive Zr or Hf anomalies and have relatively high Nb/Ta but low Nb/La ratios. These data indicate that the Xialanuoer gabbros formed from calc-alkaline basaltic magmas that were originally generated by the partial melting of an enriched mantle of type-I (EMI-type) enriched region of the lithospheric mantle, underwent little to no crustal contamination prior to their emplacement, and have within-plate basalt geochemical affinities. Combining these data with the presence of widespread contemporaneous continental rift-related magmatism and sedimentation in the North Qilian, Central Qilian, South Qilian, Quanji, North Qaidam and East Kunlun regions suggests that the northeastern Tibetan Plateau underwent Mid-Neoproterozoic continental rifting, which also affected other Rodinian blocks (e.g. Tarim, South China, Australia, North America and Southern Africa).

THE country described in the following notes comprises the area lying between latitudes 10° N. and 11° 30′ N. and longitudes 8° 45′ E. and 10° E., and is situated in the northern portion of Bauchi province and the south-eastern portion of Kano province, Northern Nigeria.

The general object of this paper is to draw attention to the apparently close connexion between the configuration of the surface in a glaciated country like Norway, and the disposition of the principal planes of division of the rocks, whether these planes be caused by stratification, cleavage or joints.

The Amphibole-Schist Series appears to be confined to Malaya east of the Main Range, and it is most abundantly developed in north-west Pahang. It occurs partly in the Main Range Foothills, partly between them and the Main Range granite in the Sua-Kerla-Kelubi-Tempoi river system of the Telom Valley, in the Jelai Kechil valley, in the Sungei Lipis and in the Chembatu-Batu-Cheroh system between Batu Malim and Cheroh, Raub District. So far as is known these crystalline schists do not extend far northwards into Kelantan, and they are likewise but poorly developed south of Pahang in Negri Sembilan. They are everywhere associated with the Arenaceous Formation of the Main Range Foothills, quartzites, quartzite-conglomerates, shales, cherts, phyllites, quartz- and mica-schists, which may be either Triassic according to Scrivenor (1911, 1931) or perhaps older than the adjacent Permocarboniferous shales and limestones according to Service, Alexander, and the writer (Ann. Rep., 1940, para. 39; 1939, 1946). In some areas they lie partly on the Main Range granite (Text-fig. 1).

This portion of the new trunk line to London covers a distance of about fifty miles, and runs nearly due south, crossing the towns of Nottingham, Loughborough, Leicester, Lutterworth, and Rugby. Throughout the greater part of this distance the railwayis on the Trias, except the northern portion, which is On thePermian, and the southern, which is on the Lias. There are also great thicknesses of Drift met with near Leicester and between that town and Rugby, but very little in the northern part on either side of Nottingham.

In a recent visit to Porlock Weir, to see the submerged forest so ably described by Mr. Godwin-Austen in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society for February, 1866, I availed myself of the opportunity, afforded by the limited time at my disposal, to examine the general contour of the country, and more particularly that part of it relating to the superficial deposits.

The importance of the question of conformity in the classification of the earliest stratified rocks induces me to give a short description of a new section of a part of the Cambrian rocks of Llanberis, exhibiting an apparent case of unconformity towards their base.

In no part of Europe, probably, can we find such striking examples of the effects which may be produced by single paroxysmal outbursts of volcanic force, as in the band of igneous rocks which stretches through nearly the whole length of the Italian peninsula, on the western side of, and parallel to the chain of the Apennines. Etna and many of the extinct volcanos of this continent constitute, it is true, mountains of vaster bulk than any in the district to which we have referred; but while the former were evidently built up by the accumulation of the products of igneous forces operating during long periods from the same centres, and with comparatively moderate violence, the enormous craters of the latter bear witness to the occurrence of single outbursts of these forces of far greater intensity.

In the Geological Magazine, Vol. VIII. 1871, p. 247, I gave a short account of the composition and structure of a Phonolite which forms the mass of the Wolf Rock lying between the Land's End and the Scilly Islands. The account there given has been noticed by Prof. Zirkel in a work recently published, in which he refers to my description of some of the crystals stated to be nepheline, and suggests that they may be nosean. The passage to which, he refers is as follows:—“The grey dust filling some of the crystals is frequently collected together so as to form a dark or even black mass in the centre, the edges of which are sharply defined, and correspond exactly with those of the crystal. Hexagonal crystals, for example, exhibit a border filled with a fine grey dust, and a central portion occupied by a well-defined black hexagon, or there is sometimes a black band running parallel with, and at some distance from the sides.” To this I may now add, that some of the crystals and irregular grains are traversed by a number of very fine straight lines of a bluish-black colour, and that with a high magnifying power these lines are resolved into rows of extremely minute dark granules similar to those forming the dust. This remarkable structure, combined with that previously given, is so thoroughly characteristic of nosean that there can be no doubt of its presence in the rock; the mineralogical composition of which is thus found to be in complete accordance with that of the large series examined by Zirkel.

In Denbighshire the Marl follows the productive Middle Coal Measures and consists of from 400–1,100 feet of red, green, and variegated marls with occasional sandstones and towards the top thin Spirorbis limestone and other limestones, with here and there films of coal. It corresponds with the Etruria Marl of the North Staffordshire Coalfield.

A Few years ago, in one of three or four papers treating of the “high-level shelly clays” of Scotland, I referred at some length to the interesting section at Clava, near Inverness, first described by Mr. Jas. Fraser, C.E., and inquired—Is it part of an old sea-shore or bottom, laid down by the sea where we now find it, and therefore proving a submergence of at least 500 feet ?

I submitted a number of facts and considerations which, I thought, tended to show that this instance at Clava cannot be received as a satisfactory proof of submergence.

On several previous occasions the author has described in the pages of the Geological Magazine certain fossils from so-called “Slade Beds” from the roadside near St. Martin's Cemetery, Haverfordwest. A large collection of fossils has been made by Mr. V. M. Turnbull from this particular locality during the last few years and presented to the Sedgwick Museum. From a prolonged study of this material and comparison with the typical fauna of the Slade Beds as described by Messrs. Marr & Roberts, the conclusion has been forced upon me that we have here to deal with a higher palæontological horizon than the true Upper Bala of this district, and that there is much more reason for putting it in the Silurian than for keeping it in the Ordovician. The stratigraphical evidence which has subsequently become available is in support of this view. A list of the fossils from this bed may be useful at the present moment, particularly as the Sedgwick Museum possesses by far the most extensive series which has been collected from it (see opposite page, 537).

The rock in which they occur is a greenish-grey, fine-grained, argillaceous mudstone with occasionally minute specks of mica and a little arenaceous material, but usually of a very uniform smooth texture. It breaks in an irregular, often subconchoidal manner, and is devoid of any regular or weil-marked planes of division. Exposed surfaces and the fossils themselves are generally more or less iron-stained. In appearance and general characters it is difficult or impossible to distinguish the rock from the higher beds of the Slade Series, but the fauna is completely different.

The following description of Egyptian foraminiferal limestones is based on a series of specimens transmitted to me by Dr. H. Woodward, F.R.S., on behalf of Captain H. G. Lyons, F.G.S.The series comprises specimens from the Eocene and Mioceneof the eastern side of the Eed Sea Hills, collected by Mr. ThomasBarron, F.G.S.; and specimens from the Eocene of the east sideof the Nile, between Assiut and Qena, and from the Baharia andFarafra Oases, collected by Mr. H. J. L. Beadnell, F.G.S. A greatamount of interest attaches to these rocks, both as regards theirgeneral character and preservation, and also with respect to theirmicrozoic contents.