During a preliminary traverse of the Lower Cretaceous outcrop in the Midlands last June, I visited Faringdon for the first time, and examined the famous sections in the ‘Sponge-gravels.’ My chief aim was to obtain some evidence by which the relative position of these beds in the Lower Cretaceous series might be determined. The greater part of the fauna was so anomalous and peculiar that it afforded little or no assistance towards this purpose, and the only common fossil which gave definite promise of service was the fragmentary Belemnites, which I found in unexpected abundance. It is true that I had previously noticed a few specimens among the Faringdon fossils in the Natural History Museum (from the Caleb Evans’ Collection) and in other public collections, and had seen references to Belemnites in descriptions of the ‘Spongegravels’; but I went with the impression that its occurrence was rare and exceptional, whereas I found that it could be collected plentifully from every pit, though always in a more or less worn and fragmentary condition, and generally encrusted with small oysters, serpulæ and polyzoa, and perforated by marine borers. The scant attention which the fossil has hitherto received is probably due to the prevalent opinion that it is derivative from the Jurassics, but this opinion is almost certainly erroneous, as I shall now try to show.

In the large number of specimens which I obtained only one species appears to be represented, and this species cannot, I think, be matched among Jurassic Belemnites.

A Description of two Rhætic sections forms the subject of this communication. In a county where but one section has been described this is a considerable addition to our knowledge of the series. It is remarkable that the section at Crowle has not been previously noticed; it may be easily examined, and not like the only recorded section in the railway-cutting at Dunhampstead, which is necessarily difficult to obtain access to. The Crowle section is situated at the junction of the road from Oddingley with that from the house marked as “Frisland” on the Geological Survey map. The beds are affected by a fault having a downthrow of about 14 feet.

There is an exceedingly simple method of distinguishing biotite from brown hornblende in thin sections under the microscope, which, so far as I am aware, has not yet been described. As it may possibly be of assistance to beginners, I submit a brief account thereof.

In the neighbourhood of Foxdale, Isle of Man, and especially on Granite Mountain, the ground is strewn with numerous blocks of quartz. Many of them are of large size, 10 feet or more in diameter.

On the slopes of South Barrule similar blocks are found in great profusion, and they can be traced across the hills to the west coast. North of Foxdale other bands are found, some of which are inserted in the geological map. They lie principally in the altered slates of the Barrule Series, and have a general trend corresponding with the main axis of the island, from north-east to south-west. In places they are seen to be in sitû, and where the granite mass of Foxdale intervenes the general direction changes, and is principally tangential to the intrusion.

Numerous micro-granite dykes extend along the axis of the island in the same direction.

In an old quarry at Renshent on the north margin of the granite several quartz veins are seen to traverse the granite itself. They can be traced along the floor of the quarry and up the vertical face about 30 feet high.

One of these, about 3 feet in width, shows perfectly sharp margins when cutting through the granite, dips at 65° W., and strikes 10° E. of S. It consists mainly of quartz, some clear and some white and opaque, but on entering the granite it changes locally to a pegmatite. The pegmatite contains, in addition to the quartz, large felspars, some over 3 inches long, perfectly formed, and showing crystal faces, and mica in crystals over an inch in diameter.

In February of last year Professor Bonney read an instructive paper before the Geological Society, in which he enumerated and briefly described a number of the principal breccias found in the geological series. He also gave a short description of some of the best known recent breccias—the stone rivers of the Falkland Islands and the angular detritus that fringes the foot of the hillsides in Persia, Central Asia, and Northern Hindustan. In conclusion, he expressed his opinion that most of the ancient breccias referred to in his paper indicated “a climate, arid, liable to extremes of temperature, with cold winters. The precipitation probably was connected with this season, and took the form of snow.” He thought, however, that in some cases “hot summers and occasional torrential rainfalls” might produce the same effects.

I have recently had an opportunity of examining an extensive breccia at the foot of the Andes and margin of the Amazonian plain, which is still in process of formation under somewhat different conditions.

In north-eastern Bolivia the Andes consist of numerous parallel ranges trending north-west and south-east. At the point where the river Beni enters the great forest plain the outer or north-eastern chain is that to which I have referred as the Bala-Susi mountains. The highest summits rise to about 5,000 feet above the sea, but some of the saddles do not exceed 2,000 or 2,500 feet in altitude.

The lower slopes are clothed with trees, and from their foot, at an altitude of 650 to 1,500 feet, commences a gentle incline.

The species Vestinautilus crassimarginatus was founded in 1900 by Dr. A. H. Foord upon some (apparently three) spec mens from the Carboniferous Limestone of Little Island, near Cork. It was described as follows:—