Until Mr. R. B. Newton described certain fossils from Singapore found by the writer and Dr. Hanitsch of the Raffles Library and Museum, very little was known of the geology of this island, which is the nearest of the British Malayan possessions to those parts of the Netherlands Indies that have been so ably described by Verbeek, Fennema, Molengraaf, Wing Easton, Martin, and others. This proximity to the islands of the archipelago renders the study of the geology of Singapore doubly interesting, since here may be expected data that will eventually assist materially in connecting the geology of the Malay Peninsula with that of the Malay Archipelago, and more particularly with that of Borneo. The object of the present paper is to show that the sedimentary beds of Singapore may be referred to one of the series of rocks which enter into the structure of the Federated Malay States.

This vomerine tooth was found by Dr. D. R. Kannemeyer when resident at Burghersdorp. It is the only evidence of the dentition of the animal known, and is interesting as being of much larger size than any Labyrinthodont teeth hitherto found in South Africa, though smaller than the large teeth of Mastodonsaurus giganteus from the Keuper of Würtemburg. Its presumed position on the palate is based upon the anchylosis of the tooth with a bone which shows a flat oblique suture at the base of the crown. This sutural surface is usual on vomerine teeth, and indicates that the tooth was directed downward, outward, and a little backward.

Just half a century ago, the Geological Society was engaged in passing through the press a very remarkable memoir—a memoir that was destined to revolutionize one of the branches of the science which the Society had been founded to promote. Yet on its appearance this memoir, “On the Microscopical Structure of Crystals,” was met with ridicule on the part of some, with scepticism by others, and by a neglect that was almost universal. Nevertheless, its author, Mr. Sorby, lived to find Microscopical Petrography recognised all the world over as one of the most important branches of geological science, to see appearing year by year an enormous mass of literature devoted to this branch of science, and to be himself hailed by the geologists of all lands as the pioneer in this new and fruitful field of scientific research.

It has recently been suggested that many of the dry valleys which are found in limestone districts owe their formation to subterranean solution, and not to surface-erosion; in other words, that they are the work of subterranean watercourses which, by dissolving the rock substance, have caused subsidence of the surfaces overlying the lines of such watercourses.

The New Zealand graptolites which are dealt with in this paper were collected by Mr. E. Douglas Isaacson, mining engineer, New Zealand, for the British Museum (Natural History), South Kensington. Dr. A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S., very kindly gave me the opportunity of examining this interesting collection, which was sent to me in the Autumn of 1907. Shortly after its receipt Dr. Woodward forwarded me a copy of the New Zealand Geological Survey publication entitled “The Geology of the Parapara Subdivision, Karamea, Nelson,” by James Mackintosh Bell, Director, 1907, which contains brief descriptions and figures of graptolites collected from the same locality as that from which Mr. Isaacson collected his specimens. Since, however, the records of graptolites from New Zealand are very limited in number, and since Mr. Isaacson's collection contains a greater variety of forms than that of any previous observer, it seems advisable to publish the identifications that I have found it possible to make from an examination of his collection.

Among the numerous fossils obtained by Dr. L. Moysey from the clay-ironstone nodules of the Coal-measures near Ilkesťon, Derbyshire, is one referred to by its discoverer as “a shrimp-like animal,” in a recent note published by him in the Geological Magazine for May last. Dr. Moysey was so fortunate as to secure several well-preserved examples of this very interesting Schizopod Crustacean from a disused brickfield on the Shipley Hall Estate, owned by E. M. Mundy, Esq. These he most liberally placed in my hands to examine and describe. Dr. Moysey also commended me to the Rev. C. Hinscliff, M.A., of Craig Royston, Bickley, Kent, who had in his possession another specimen of this crustacean obtained from the same locality. Mr. Hinscliff not only sent me his fossil to study, but generously presented it to the Geological Department of the British Museum (Natural History Branch), Cromwell Road, where it will be preserved and exhibited

Amongst the vertebrate remains which I found in the marshes of Sirabé (Central Madagascar), a large Rodent is represented by two right ossa innominata, one of which (B.M. M 7085) is fairly complete, only the free portion of the pars dorsalis of the ischium being broken off.

Head-shield broadly semicircular, gently convex; posterior margin nearly straight; middle shield projecting slightly in front of cheeks, and rather bent down. Glabella subquadrate, length slightly greater than width, front truncate, nearly parallel-sided, widening a little anteriorly to maximum across first lateral lobes, moderately convex from side to side, rising gradually in height from back to front, where it is somewhat swollen and slightly overhangs anterior margin of headshield; sides marked with three pairs of regular, subparallel, subequal, and nearly equidistant, strong lateral furrows; anterior pair nearly straight, directed a little obliquely backwards, and extending inwards for about one-third the width of the glabella, situated far forward at about one-fourth the length of the glabella, and a little in front of the point of junction of the axial and marginal furrows; frontal lobe short, broad; second pair of lateral furrows nearly straight, arising a little in front of middle of glabella, running in wards parallel to first pair, but a little longer; first lateral lobes with parallel sides; third or basal pair of furrows with inner portion curved back, but not reaching occipital furrow; second lateral lobes of same length along axial furrow as first pair; basal lobes subrhomboidal, rather less than one-third the width of the glabella. Occipital furrow strong, arched forward slightly in middle and at sides. Occipital ring rounded, rather narrow, a little wider in middle. Surface of glabella and occipital ring ornamented with rather coarse tubercles, with smaller ones interspersed. Axial furrows strong, straight, meeting marginal furrows at right angles a little behind first lateral furrows of glabella.

Few men who have engaged successfully in commerce for nearly half a century have achieved so distinguished a position in the world of science as Sir John Evans. Indeed, it may be said that his keen intellect, which enabled him to excel in business affairs, also gave him enormous advantages in pursuing those branches of natural knowledge to the investigation of which he has devoted his long life and his remarkable abilities, ever combining “science with practice”. His powers of observation have always been singularly acute, and the writer recalls vividly a walk across the open country in Hertfordshire years ago, in his company, with Professor Boyd Dawkins and the late W. Ayshford Sanford and being struck with the rapidity with which John Evans's well-trained eye detected a flint implement on the stony surface of a stubble-field, overlooked by the rest of the party.

When President Van Hise finished his address before the Geological Society of America last winter, which the Society has just issued, he leaned over benignly and glanced at Dr. Coleman, Professor Lawson, and myself, and said that while it was not customary to discuss the President's address he hoped in this case the custom would be waived, as he knew a number of members disagreed with him, and he felt they would have criticism of value to contribute. Whereupon ensued a most friendly but lively discussion, in which many took part. It has not been the custom of the Society to report such discussions, but I am sure that Van Hise will not object to see some of the points raised by the writer in print, as well as his Address.

A paper by Mr. J. Lomas on “Desert Conditions and the Origin of the British Trias” appeared last year in the Proceedings of the Livepool Geological Society, and was reprinted, with some slight abridgement, in the November and December numbers of this Magazine. Valuable and suggestive as it is, I venture to think that its author, as is not unfrequent with enthusiastic advocates, is attempting to prove too much. I have more than once expressed my belief that the pebble beds of the Bunter, perhaps also its Upper and Lower Sandstones, were deposited on a lowland by mountain-fed rivers, and think it very probable that this lowland, in consequence of its temperature rather extreme, as is the case in Turkestan and parts of Persia; the occasional wind-worn sands being due to the one cause and the angular breccias to the other. But I think the Keuper Marls, on the whole, aqueous rather than æolian in origin, and the Lower Keuper Sandstones, with the Waterstones, indicative of the gradual setting in of inland sea conditions. From time to time, before the salt lake attained its greatest dimensions, the wind might blow the lowland dust into dunes or carry it away from the shore till much of it settled down beneath the water, but I still think that a large part of the material, which now forms the red marl, was brought down as river mud to this magnified Dead Sea, by the streams which had formerly transported sand and pebbles. In regard to this, however, we cannot at present speak dogmatically. More study is needed of the constituents of the Keuper Marl, of fluviatile, lacustrine, and even marine muds, as well as of the lighter æolian deposits, before we can determine what parts wind and water have respectively taken in making this member of the Trias. Here, however, I may remark that neither Professor Watts nor Mr. Walcot Gibson was the first to observe that in the Charnwood Forest region the Keuper fills up hollows in the older rocks.

With the exception of an article written by me for Sir William Willcocks and published in his “Nile in 1904,” and a reference to the relations of the Eocene and Cretaceous in the oasis of Kharga in a paper read before the Geological Society in 1905, nothing has, I believe, been published on the water-supply and geology of this district since Dr. Ball's report in 1900.

For some years past the troops encamped at Bovington had to be content with such water as was supplied by a well a few hundred yards to the S.S.E. of the recently excavated borehole. The following particulars have been gathered respecting this well, but I cannot guarantee that in all respects they are strictly accurate. It was sunk in the Bagshot Beds about 1899, and is said to be 87 feet deep; the water-level stands at 82 feet from the surface, and the yield is 360 gallons per hour. The same Bagshot water-level was struck in the borehole. On comparing these two water-levels it is found that the one in the borehole stands at 85 feet above Ordnance Datum, whilst that in the well stands at 73 feet above O.D. This difference of 12 feet in a horizontal distance of 450 feet amounts to 1 in 37·5, showing a dip in the Bagshot Beds of 1½° to the S.S.E. This may not exactly represent the direction of maximum dip, but there are good reasons for believing that the line of maximum dip of the Bagshots hereabouts is not far from S.S.E.

According to Etheridge (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxvi, 1870, pp. 174–192) the Magnesian Conglomerate at Bristol is of the same age as the German Muschelkalk, but Moore (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxxvii, 1881, pp. 67–82) was of opinion that it was Rhætic. Since that time no special paper on the subject has been published, but now the present writer has been able to find some new evidence.

A recent visit to Central Germany afforded the writer an opportunity of studying the conditions under which the Vogelsberg iron-ore and bauxite have been formed, and a brief account of what was observed may assist in broadening the basis upon which a sufficiently comprehensive view of the origin of those substances may ultimately stand. On this account my visit to the region was approved by the Department of Agriculture in Ireland, in connection with the work now in progress on the iron-ore and bauxites of co. Antrim. In my traverses I enjoyed the very agreeable companionship of Dr. Schottler, of the Grossherzoglich Hessischen Geologischen Landestaldt, and the advantage of his guidance. His elaborate description of the basalts in the vicinity of Giessen has since been issued, and is referred to in this paper. The admirable and exhaustive accounts of the bauxite by Professor Adolf Liebrich, and of the iron-ore by H. Münster, are also appealed to frequently. Among other important papers consulted regarding the chemical processes involved may be mentioned those of M. H. Coquand, Professor G. A. Cole, F.G.S., M.E.I.A., Max Bauer, Sir T. H. Holland, A.R.C.S., F.E.S., H. Warth, D.Sc., & F.J. Warth, B.Sc., Malcolm Maclaren, B.Sc, F.G.S., H. Brantwood Muff, B.A., and the summaries by F. Wigglesworth Clarke and Dr. C. Doelter.

The Cynodont reptilia from the Lower Karroo rocks of South Africa, characterized by relatively large incisors and relatively small, sharp-pointed, molar teeth, were grouped under the type genus Lycosaurus as Lycosauria. The removal of matrix from the palate of Ælurosaurus showed that in one member of the group at least the palate carries patches of teeth, each of which has the form of a small blunt flattened cone. From the fact that no Cynodont skull is available in which the mandible is free from the head, the nature of the palatal dentition is imperfectly known.

In Green's “Geology of the Yorkshire Coalfield” (Mem. Geol Surv., 1878, p. 471) reference was made to the occurrence below the Ackworth rock of a band of black shale, which it was said “contains Aviculopecten in plenty, and shows that incursions of the sea continued to occur even up to these comparatively late portions of the Coal Measure period.”

Some years ago Dr. H. P. Blackmore called my attention to some fragmentary remains of shell on Echinoids which he had found in the Salisbury district. These he regarded as belonging to Hipponyx. The true relationship of these fragments could not, however, be considered certain until Mr. Dibley found the almost perfect example seen in Fig. 1. Dr. Blackmore's finds are recorded in the list of fossils in the “Cretaceous Rocks of England” (Mem. Geol. Survey), iii, p. 473, as “Salisbury,” but I have not discovered what form is there referred to under the localities of “East Kent” and “Margate.”

In 1840 Mr. H. B. Mackeson discovered a group of bones of a large reptile in the Lower Greensand near Hythe, Kent; and in the following year the specimen was briefly noticed by Professor (Sir Richard) Owen, who provisionally referred it to the genus Polyptychodon. The fossil was presented by Mr. Mackeson to the British Museum, and ten years later the bones were described in detail by Owen, who recognised that they agreed most closely with those of the Jurassic Cetiosaurus, but still thought they might belong to the ‘crocodile’ whose teeth were known as Polyptychodon. Subsequent discoveries proved that Polyptychodon was a Pliosaurian, with limb-bones quite different from those of the Hythe fossil reptile, and Owen eventually realised that the specimen represented a species of Dinosaur, to which he gave the undefined name Dinodocus Mackesoni. Without adding to our knowledge of Dinodocus Lydekker placed it in the family Cetiosauridæ, while Marsh agreed that it was truly a Sauropodous Dinosaur, though of uncertain affinity.

In the list of fossils from the Silurian rocks of the South of Scotland in the collections of the Geological Survey the two species of Ischadites, I. antiquus, Salter, and I. Königi, Murchison, are entered as occurring in the Llandovery rocks, while a third unnamed species is recorded from the Caradoc. In the list of fossils prepared by Mrs. Gray from the collection made by her from the Silurian rocks of the Girvan district, I. Königi is recorded from the Llandeilo beds of Balclatchie, I. antiquus from the Upper Llandovery of Penkill and the Middle Llandovery of Woodland Point, and I. sp. from the Middle Llandovery of Newlands. Nicholson & Etheridge mentioned only two specimens of Ischadites, one from Balclatchie and the other from Penkill; both were referred to under the name I. Königi, but it was remarked that one of them appeared to possess more the characters of I. antiquus. The first discovery of I. Königi in the Girvan area was made by Mr. Robert Gray and was noticed by Professor J. Young in 1868, and in 1876 the same author recorded it from Penkill in his “Catalogue of Western Scottish Fossils,” p. 13. Dr. Hinde gives both the localities, Balclatchie and Penkill, for the occurrence of I. Königi, but he regards the species I. antiquus as indistinguishable from it. The only other British species mentioned by this author (loc. cit.) is I. Lindströmi, Hinde.