A survey is given of the functional morphology of extant Chelicerata with special reference to segmentation of the body, segmentation and articulation of the legs, coxal glands, mouthparts and ingestion, respiratory organs, sperm transfer, and development. This is followed by a discussion of primitive types, evolution and diversity, the transition from aquatic to terrestrial life, and the affinities of extant chelicerate groups.

In the recently completed and formally ratified new series and stage classification of the Ordovician System, the base of the Middle Ordovician Series coincides with the base of the global Dapingian Stage. In the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of this stage, which is located at Huanghuachang in southern China, the base of the Dapingian Stage is defined as the level of first appearance of the conodont Baltoniodus triangularis. The fact that this species, along with some other taxa present at the Dapingian GSSP, occurs in many sections in Baltoscandia makes it possible to recognise with considerable precision the level of this global stage boundary in Sweden, Estonia, northwestern Russia, and Denmark. In several, but not all, regions, especially in the East Baltic, the global stage boundary coincides with the base of the regional Volkhov Stage and can be tied to the base of the Megistaspis polyphemus Trilobite Zone. The regionally somewhat different relationships between the position of the global stage boundary and a very widespread hardground complex are probably due to the occurrence of local and/or regional unconformities in the upper Floian–lower Dapingian interval. Although biostratigraphically important graptolites are present in the study interval in some Baltoscandic sections, the precise graptolite correlation of the base of the Dapingian Stage remains somewhat unclear, although it appears to be near, or at, the base of the Isograptus victoriae victoriae Zone (Ca 2).

The author recalls the various opinions which have been expressed as to the relationships of Blanckenhorn's genus Dictyoconus to other foraminiferal types. He shows how Dictyoconus has been affiliated to the genera Lituola, Lituonella, and Coskinolina by such authorities as Messrs Schlumberger, Douvillé, and Schubert in the past; but has since been dissociated from them by Professor Cushman in his recent monograph on the Foraminifera. The author then discusses the grounds for this dissociation, which seem to him to be inadequate; and he describes his discovery, in certain Lower Eocene beds of Northern Baluchistan, India, of numerous specimens of Didyoconus, Coskinolina, and Lituonella, mixed indiscriminately together within the same narrow limestone bands, and deceptively similar in external appearance. He describes the differences between these genera—differences which are confined to the peripheral portion of the test—and shows how sections of the three Indian forms reveal the closest agreement in their internal characters as a whole; their generic characters alone affording the means of distinguishing between them. He therefore regards these Indian forms as affording clear evidence of the close affiliation of these three genera. These Indian forms, which are the first representatives of their respective genera to be found so far east, are very similar to such western forms as Dictyoconus egyptiensis (Chapman), Coskinolina liburnica Stache, and Lituonella roberti Schlumberger and Douvillé; but they have individual peculiarities of their own, and so are described by the author as three new species.

Critical collecting, measurement of sections and taxonomic reassessment through the Climacograptus wilsoni Zone (basal Lower Hartfell Formation) of the southern Scottish graptolite zonal sequence suggests that, although only locally developed, it is an easily recognisable and useful biostratigraphic interval. The North Cliff of Hartfell Spa is defined as type section for both the base of the Lower Hartfell Formation and that of the C. wilsoni Zone. The zonal assemblage is figured and described, with particular emphasis being placed on the distinctive species C. wilsoni which has not been redescribed since the beginning of this century.

The zoning found in ore deposits is dominantly of two distinctive types: that in syngenetic sedimentary deposits, like the Kupferschiefer, and that in common hydrothermal deposits of either epigenetic or syngenetic characteristics. Here, epigenetic hydrothermal deposits include those commonly classified as vein, porphyry copper, contact metasomatic, and Mississippi Valley deposits; the syngenetic hydrothermal deposits are conformable, massive ores such as at Rammelsberg. The two zoning sequences, beginning nearest the source of the metals, are: in hydrothermal deposits, Fe—Ni—Sn—Cu—Zn—Pb—Ag—Au—Sb—Hg, and in sedimentary deposits, Cu—Ag—Pb—Zn.

A zoning sequence represents the natural order of increasing solubilities of the metallic sulphides and other minerals in ore-forming solutions. Comparison of zoning sequences with relative solubilities in proposed ore solutions provides a rigorous test of the efficacy of such solutions. When corrected for relative metal concentrations (mass-action effect), then both theoretically predicted, and experimental relative solubilities of sulphide complexes match precisely the order of hydrothermal zoning. The order in sedimentary zoning is identical to the mass-action-corrected calculation of the sequence in which sulphides must precipitate from solutions containing metallic ions or weak chloride or hydroxyl complexes. The consanguinity of these correlations imply (1) that hydrothermal zoning is the product of deposition from sulphide complexes, and (2) that chloride complexes may be the metal-transporting agent in sedimentary deposits.

As an isolated island group lying off the NW European mainland which was uninhabited until the mid-first millennium AD, the Faroes offer a unique opportunity to study natural processes of Holocene ecosystem development in a region where anthropogenic activity is usually a complicating factor. In this paper new radiocarbon dates and pollen-analytical data from the island of Sandoy, in the centre of the Faroes archipelago, are presented. Together with existing pollen and plant macrofossil records, these data allow a reconstruction of patterns of Holocene vegetational and edaphic change. Basal peat dates indicate that large areas of blanket mire were established long before the first human settlement, demonstrating conclusively that human impact is not necessary for the development of such ecosystems. The timing of the initiation of the blanket peats varies markedly, both across the Faroes as a whole and at a landscape scale, with dates distributed evenly over 9000 years. This suggests that, in the Faroes at least, pedogenesis was more important than climatic change in determining the timing of the spread of blanket peat systems.

Garnet-bearing xenoliths from Letseng-la-Terae display a range of textures from coarse to granuloblastic. Equilibration temperatures and pressures of primary phases are in the ranges 950-1400°C and 27-50 kb, respectively. Deformed lherzolites equilibrated throughout this temperature range but coarse xenoliths are restricted to low temperature equilibration.

All garnets display coronas developed during the reaction:

In some rocks, reaction has completely eliminated garnet.

In rocks where garnet is disrupted, the corona minerals are strung out in the fluidal texture indicating that reaction occurred before deformation. Rocks transitional to, and of granuloblastic texture, contain garnet and aluminous spinel; in addition ‘pools’ of minerals originating by dynamic separation of corona fragments are observed.

Chemical comparison between the corona minerals and minerals in a garnet-spinel rock and two spinel granuloblastites, suggests that these spinel-bearing rocks may be derived from normal garnet peridotite by a complex sequence of reaction, followed by deformation, annealing and chemical homogenisation. The conclusion that reaction and deformation took place at high levels in the upper mantle is contrary to some earlier hypotheses of shearing within the low velocity zone in response to continental plate movement, but is consistent with mantle diapir models.

A 49 m complete section through the 288 Ma Lugar Sill obtained from drill cores can be subdivided into nine units. The uppermost four units are teschenitic and are mirror images of the bottom four. A 35 m thick central unit consists of theralite passing down into kaersutite theralite and then picrite. Marginal chilling 'of the units indicates multiple intrusion from the outside inwards. Olivine in the central unit (Fo88–90) encloses Cr-rich spinels and increases in amount inwards to over 50%. Clinopyroxene, kaersutite and biotite show symmetrically increasing Fe/Mg from the centre of the sill outwards. Most major and trace elements vary symmetrically throughout the sill with those in the central unit reflecting mainly olivine distribution but incompatible elements exhibit upward enrichment. Remarkably, the most-evolved rocks in the sill are at its margins. The sill was formed by multiple injections of successively less-evolved teschenitic magmas followed by a larger pulse of theralitic liquid carrying abundant olivine phenocrysts. The amount of olivine in this final pulse increased during emplacement. Subsequent in-situ differentiation in the central unit, with upward enrichment in residual liquid and volatiles, gave rise to lugarites. The various magmas were produced in a lower-level magma chamber by differentiation of a mantle-derived, alkali-rich picritic magma.

On the 3d November 1869, a huge Finner whale was stranded on the beach at Gosford Bay, Longniddry, Firth of Forth.

Most of the large Fin whales which have been examined by British and Continental anatomists have been found floating dead on the surface of the sea, and have then been towed ashore by their captors. But, from the account which was given in the Edinburgh daily newspapers, it would appear that, for some days previously, this animal had been recognised by the fishermen, swimming to and fro in the Firth. On the morning of the 3d it was seen from the shore, blowing with great violence from its nostrils, flapping its huge tail, and obviously struggling to disengage itself from the rocks and shoals, amidst which an unusually high tide had permitted it to wander. Shots were fired at it, and, from the wounds produced, blood poured forth which tinged the surrounding waves. As the tide receded, the animal was fairly stranded; and, after some vigorous but ineffectual attempts to disengage itself from its position, it slowly died. The animal lay some yards above low-water mark, so that for several hours each day it could be examined, and photographs taken from various points of view.

In an account of the Jurassic flora of Sutherland, published in 1911, it was stated that a few petrified specimens from Eathie Bay, Cromarty, and from Helmsdale on the coast of Sutherland, would be dealt with in a subsequent paper. One of the best preserved of them forms the subject of a recent communication to the Royal Society of London. The majority of the specimens described in the following pages are from the Hugh Miller collection in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh. We take this opportunity of expressing our thanks to the Director of the Museum for the loan of the fossils, and for permission to have sections prepared for microscopical examination. For the loan of the section reproduced in Plate II. fig. 19 we are indebted to the generosity of Dr Kidston.

The disintegration of solid bodies by means of active or feeble solvents, or by those invisible processes which go on during long periods of time, has, so far as I know, been studied neither by the chemist nor the natural philosopher. In 1837 I submitted to this Society a paper “On the Optical Figures produced by the Disintegrated Surfaces of Crystals,” containing experiments which I believe have not been repeated, and results which no person has attempted to explain. Since that paper was published, my attention was called to the structure and properties of decomposed glass, in consequence of having had occasion to study the action of its coloured films, in absorbing definite parts of the spectrum.

The origin of a suite of ultrabasic and basic rocks from the Letovice crystalline complex in the eastern part of the Bohemian massif, Czechoslovakia, is discussed on the basis of new geological and geochemical data. Strongly serpentinised spinel peridotites, plagioclase peridotites and pyroxenites, together with metagabbros, amphibolites and minor dykes of metadolerite, make up about 70% of the complex; metasediments, mainly mica schists, make up the remaining 30%. The ultramafic and mafic rocks constitute parts of a dismembered ophiolite considered to have been formed in the Cadomian episode. They show effects of polyphase deformation and were variously metamorphosed under conditions of greenschist to garnet amphibolite fades at 400–600°C and 2–5 kb. Geochemical features of the ultrabasic suite are similar to those of other ophiolite complexes, such as those of Bay of Islands, Oman, Papua, Pindos, Sarmiento and Troodos and are likely to be products of a marginal sea environment.

Among the problems for the study of which the remarkably varied geology of the British Isles offers peculiar facilities, perhaps none ranks higher in importance or in general interest than the history of volcanic action. Placed on the oceanic border of an ancient continental area, the region of Britain has lain within the limits where hypogene activity is specially prone to manifest itself. From early geological times this activity has been displayed in various characteristic forms. Hence, within the geological records of Britain there has been preserved a more continuous and complete chronicle of volcanic phenomena than, so far as I am aware, has yet been discovered in any tract of similar size on the face of the globe. The rocks of the country have been investigated so long and so minutely that their general chronological succession has been accurately ascertained, and hence the precise horizon of each volcanic episode can be definitely fixed. The varying phases of eruptivity in different geological periods can be made out, and a large body of evidence can thus be amassed bearing on the general question of the past history of volcanism.

Most zoned plutons described in the geological literature have mafic rims and felsic cores and are referred to as “normally zoned”, whereas relatively few “reversely zoned” intrusions (felsic rims and mafic cores) have been described. That unusual zonation pattern has been variously attributed to in situ processes or to the reordering of an underlying, vertically stratified, magma chamber either by intrusion through an orifice or by emplacement of composite diapirs. The Turtle Pluton is an early Cretaceous, reversely zoned, intrusion that is divided into four facies: a Rim Sequence that is graditionally zoned from bt + ilm + muse monzogranite to hb + bt + mt + sph granodiorite; a Core Facies of more homogeneous hb + bt + mt + sph granodiorite to quartz monzodiorite; between these two facies, a structural discontinuity termed the Schlieren Zone; and an Eastern Facies of monzogranite to granodiorite. Field relationships, distribution of strain, and geochemical and isotopic studies (including a range of initial87Sr/86Sr from 0·7085–0·7065) suggest that the reverse zonation of the Turtle Pluton is the result of sequential emplacement of two diapirs each derived from the same underlying, vertically stratified, magma chamber, and that the Rim Sequence zonation is chiefly the result of mixing of intermediate and felsic magmas from distinct sources accompanied by minor fractional crystallisation.

Six new specimens of petrified cupules of Hydrasperma cf. tenuis from Oxroad Bay, East Lothian (Cementstone Group) have been examined. Sections of one show a close similarity in size and shape to compressed cupules of Sphenopteris bifida L. and H. from the Lewis Burn (Scremerston Coal Group or lower Viséan) of Northumberland. The conclusion reached is that cupules of Hydrasperma cf. tenuis Long are petrified equivalents of the compressed cupules of Sphenopteris bifida L. and H. The morphological significance of this identification is discussed.

A summary of previous gravity and magnetic field interpretations is presented along with a review of the LOWNET and LISPB models. Recently acquired seismological data are compared with the LISPB upper crustal model. The LISPB Layer 1 is found to represent an average of lower velocity (VP = 3·0–3·7 km s−1) Carboniferous and Upper Old Red Sandstone sediments, and higher velocity (VP = 4·0–5·5 km s−1) Lower Old Red Sandstone and Lower Palaeozoic sediments.

On the basis of high P-wave velocities along strike (VP = 60·6–1 km s−1), the LISPB Layer 2 S of Glasgow and Edinburgh is re-interpreted as a quartzofeldspathic crystalline layer of igneous or metamorphic origin, which is also seen to cross the surface of the Southern Uplands fault at around 2·5 km depth.

This interpretation implies that within the southern part of the Midland Valley, the Lower Palaeozoic sediments are nowhere thicker than about 3 km, as postulated under the Silurian inliers, and generally much less.

The paraphyletic genus ‘Paleorhinus’ is understood currently as a cosmopolitan phytosaur taxon from the Late Triassic. There is no consensus regarding the number of species of ‘Paleorhinus,’ with multiple species and genera synonymised into a single genus or even a single species at various points in its published history. The taxonomy is confounded by historical descriptions without the benefit of comparisons to more recently collected specimens, emphasis on plesiomorphic cranial morphology as diagnostic features of the genus, and lack of cladistic analyses. When included in a recent explicitly cladistic phylogenetic analysis, the holotype of ‘Paleorhinus’ scurriensis (TTU P-00539) was found to be the earliest-branching phytosaur with respect to other North American specimens previously referred to ‘Paleorhinus,’ and is generically distinct from Paleorhinus. ‘Paleorhinus’ scurriensis differs from all known phytosaurs in five unambiguous characters: basitubera widely separated mediolaterally; ridge present on lateral surface of jugal; thickened shelf present along posteroventral edge of expanded pterygoid-quadrate wing; ‘septomaxillae’ separated and excluded from internarial septum; and nasal swelling present posterior to posterior borders of nares. This detailed morphological description of an early-branching phytosaur taxon is a first step towards resolving long-standing issues surrounding specific anatomical features and relationships among early members of the clade.

A section of the Vitabäck Clays at Eriksdal in southern Sweden was sampled for vertebrate fossils. Large bulk samples were collected from three horizons, including two coquina beds, VC3 and VC11, and a silty clay bed, VC7. Shark teeth are very common and constitute the main portion of the vertebrate material discussed herein. The selachian tooth faunas are almost exclusively represented by hybodonts, although a single tooth from a neoselachian shark, Squatinidae indet., was recorded from one horizon (VC3). Hybodont species identified from the Vitabäck Clay samples include Egertonodus basanus, Hybodus parvidens and Parvodus rugianus. Hybodont remains, other than teeth, include five morphotypes of placoid scales, incomplete cephalic spines and fragmentary fin spines.

Other fossil groups represented in the sieved residues from the bulk samples include bivalves, gastropods and bony fish. Together with the selachians, they indicate fluctuating palaeosalinities in the area. The lower coquina bed, VC3, includes taxa indicating mesohaline conditions while the composition of the fauna in the other coquina bed, VC11, suggests oligohaline settings. In bed VC7, the presence of amphibian remains and the rarity of selachian fossils indicate an even lower salinity. Palynomorphs from the basal part of the section, immediately below bed VC3, indicate an earliest Cretaceous (Berriasian) age.

Since the publication of my “Report” in December 1899, Mr Tait, fossil collector to the Geological Survey of Scotland, has been successful in adding a number of specimens of great interest to the valuable series of Scottish Silurian Fishes which supplied the material for that memoir, and with the permission of the Director of the Survey, to whom my best thanks are due, I propose to give descriptions of them in the following Supplement. The search for these remarkable fishes has likewise been taken up by private collectors, and I have therefore pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness to Messrs J. Young, of Lesmahagow, P. Macnair, of Glasgow, A. Whyte and F. White, of Muirkirk, and D. Nimmo, of Hamilton, for kindly submitting to me the material resulting from their own work in this field.

1. Every purely periodical function is, as is well known, expressible by means of a series of constant coefficients multiplying sines and cosines of the independent variable with a constant factor and its multiples. This important truth was arrived at by an admirable piece of mathematical analysis, called for by Daniel Bernouilli, partially given by La Grange, and perfected by Fourier.