Late Devensian ice-sheet movement in the western Southern Uplands of Scotland is demonstrated by the distribution of erratics from four different bedrock sources and by glacial striae and ice-moulded landforms. This evidence shows an almost radial movement of ice from an ice-divide zone. The control of relief over ice flow and the distribution of erratics is emphasised. The distribution of erratics from two of the sources, however, shows that debris in the ice was transported only a very short distance in certain places. Abundant deposits of lodgement till occur in the vicinity of the former ice-divide. Although it is generally considered that glacial erosion, and therefore deposition, are insignificant at the centre of ice-sheets, this study suggests otherwise. It is inferred that till and erratics may be emplaced during ice-sheet build-up when conditions for erosion obtained, these deposits being protected from subsequent removal by the establishment of an ice-divide across the area. The implications for high rates of erosion in ice-sheet source areas are examined.

There is an atmospherical appearance which is not explained by the known laws of heat and cold. It is the breath of animals becoming visible, in being expired into an atmosphere which is cold or moist; and the transformation of transparent steam into the state of mist, when mixed with air which is of a colder temperature. Natural philosophers have certainly considered these appearances as being explained in the general law by which heat and cold are communicated among contiguous bodies, otherwise they would have endeavoured to point out this particular law, which seems to depart from a more general rule, or does not follow the natural course of things observed on other occasions. The subject of this paper is to investigate a certain rule which, in the case now mentioned, may be discovered as directing the action and effects of heat and cold; and to form a theory of rain upon that investigated rule, concerning the evaporation and condensation of water.

Since Graf V. Spee's admirable work Die Implantation des Meerschweincheneies in die Uteruswand, published in 1901, little has been done to add to our knowledge of the implantation of the embryo of Cavia. His deductions seemed conclusive and passed almost unchallenged into the general literature as an essential part of our knowledge of mammalian embryology.

Forty-one specimens of acanthodians and actinopterygians were examined from Units 26 to 38 of the Geikie Tuff, Little Cliff Shale and East Kirkton Limestone of the Viséan East Kirkton Limestone sequence. The results yielded six actinopterygian species including a platysomid and two probable juveniles of uncertain affinities, and three acanthodians including two acanthodidids and a climatiid-like denticle. Most specimens consist of isolated bones and scales, but articulated remains of an acanthodian and actinopterygians were found in Units 37 and 38 of the East Kirkton Limestone. The faunal composition is characteristically Oil-Shale in aspect and resembles that of Broxburn (Pumpherston). The presence of deep-bodied and juvenile fishes in the same strata combined with the mode of preservation indicate a palaeohabitat with limited current action and a soft substrate.

The East Kirkton Limestone is typically a carbonate/organic laminite characterised at many levels by abundant radial-fibrous calcite (RFC) spherules and by less common larger stromatolite-like accretions of laminated botryoidal RFC. The spherules are mostly c. 1 mm in diameter and have cyanophyte and chlorophyte inclusions. Some spherules enclose parallel bundles of complete cyanophyte fibres and probably grew within a living cyanophyte mat. The botryoidal accretions were commonly seeded upon wood and other exposed organic remains such as bone, and they completely enclose twigs and branches where these were held above the sediment surface. Botryoidal accretions commonly contain the remains of a benthos of cyanophytes, chlorophytes and ostracods.

Both types of calcite have carbon and oxygen stable isotope values similar to those of known fresh-water precipitates. Their stable isotope and trace element geochemistries are consistent with precipitation on the floor of a tropical fresh-water lake within a volcanic setting, but removed from the influence of any hot-spring activity. Spherules and botroids are mineralogically closely similar and, whilst precipitation may have been biogenically mediated, they are regarded as passive lake floor cements.

The carbonate laminae are dominated by rhombohedral calcite. Many of these laminae may have originated as calcite suspensoids which settled to the lake floor during relatively brief precipitation events, blanketing the normally richly organic substrate, smothering the cyanophyte mats, and leading to the preservation of individual organic laminae. Crystals later became enlarged and intergrown within the sediment, but this occurred early and prior to significant compaction, because detail of fragile and degradable organic constituents is commonly preserved. The likely source of the carbonate is through leaching of the local basic volcanic terrain. The precipitation of two types of calcite implies regular fluctuations in the chemistry of the lake waters, or in the factors controlling precipitation, which may have been a biogenic and/or seasonal effect.

In 1790 Goethe (Eng. Trans., 1863) published his doctrine of metamorphosis. Before that only two authors had expressed any fundamental ideas with regard to the flower. Wolff in his Theoria Generationis (1759) said that the plant consisted of nothing but stem and leaf, the root being a modification of the former; parts of the flower were appendages, and the production of floral leaves was due to degeneration of the sap, the richest portion being used up at a lower level by the vigorous first-formed foliage leaves.

Linné (1760) expressed the same idea as Wolff, partly basing his evidence on teratological specimens, in which the various floral organs were sometimes found to be replaced by leaves. He further considered the flower to be a modified shoot, five years' growth being compressed into a single year. Believing that the different floral whorls were developed the one from the other, and observing that they encircled each other, he attributed the various floral envelopes to different tissues of the stem—e.g. the bark gave rise to the calyx, and the carpels arose from the pith.

Low altitude sandy plains (machair) are a common feature of the Atlantic coasts of the Outer Hebrides. They formed as a result of shoreward movement of material consequent upon a rise in Holocene sea levels. A number of earlier, partially inconclusive, investigations into machair evolution proposed that fuller understanding could arise from an examination of inter-tidal organic deposits, in so far as these could provide a fossil proxy record of the processes involved in machair formation. Study of a series of inter-tidal peats sites located on a beach platform at Borve, island of Benbecula, provided both spatial and chronological evidence for sand movement as well as furnishing new data on vegetational and environmental history. The pollen diagrams show a flora in which Calluna vulgaris (heather) and Poaceae (grass) are frequent dominants, while such arbroeal taxa as Betula (birch) and Corylus avellana-type (cf. hazel) are notable. The existence of birch–hazel woodland for the period c. 8855–6190 BP might conceivably have had a retarding effect on sand movement. Later cycles of sand movement would not have met such obstruction with the consequence that sand mobility and machair plain evolution could have been faster. Sand arrival at the seaward site (Borve 3), is dated to c. 6735 BP and it continued until c. 6045 BP, after which it slowed before increasing again from around 5990 BP. This sand incursion produced a machair plain over the Borve sites as part of a continuous, but variously paced, marine and aeolian process. The presence of charcoal from c. 6860 BP, with a major increase in charcoal to pollen ratios by 6190 BP, may suggest that natural or intentional burning of the vegetation cover of the machair occurred in Mesolithic times; if the burning was anthropogenic in origin, then it pushes the possible involvement of humans in machair destabilisation to a time long before the previously proposed Neolithic period. A wet slack deposit, dated to 3400 ± 70 BP, indicates a time when sand movement overwhelmed the area around the landward site (Borve 1) and when the rate of sand movement was likely to have been impeded. The data from Borve suggest that evolution of machair landforms occurs at a slow, variable rate and that there is considerable long-term stability.

It is now generally accepted that British Tertiary granites contain crustal and mantle components. Genesis principally by differentiation of crustally contaminated basaltic magmas is widely held and silicic melts with some remarkable trace element similarities were generated within different upper crust along the St Kilda/Skye - Carlingford zone.

New whole-rock (and mineral) O isotope data for the southern sector of the province (N Arran, Ailsa Craig, Mourne Mountains, Slieve Gullion, etc) reveal that δ18O lies in the range +5·1 to +9·7‰ for most of the analysed granites, meteoric water-rock interaction having been in general less intensive than at Skye and Mull. Nevertheless, highly 18O-depleted country rocks (with δ18O<0) exist adjacent to the N Arran and Mourne Mountains granite plutons. There is as yet no evidence for the existence of low -18O granitic melts in this southern sector where magmatic δ18O compositions (up to c. + 9·5‰) can be inferred for some of the intrusions.

New Nd (and Sr) isotope data indicate that although there is some similarity in initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios between the northern and southern sector granites, in northeastern Ireland initial εNd values for the analysed Tertiary acid major intrusions range from −3·9 to −4·5. This is in marked contrast to the Skye granites, some of which have values below −20, reflecting the involvement of different lithosphere.

The Diptera fauna from the late Eocene of the Isle of Wight (Bembridge Marls) is studied including redescriptions of formerly described material. The fauna includes the following taxa: Anisopodidae – one species; Bibionidae – 11 species; Ceratopogonidae – one described and two unidentified species; Chironomidae – undetermined species of three subfamilies; Culicidae – four species; Cylindrotomidae – one species; Dixidae – one species; Keroplatidae – one described and four unidentified species; Limoniidae – 31 species; Mycetophilidae – 14 species; Psychodidae – two species; Scatopsidae – two species; Sciaridae – three species; Simuliidae – an unnamed species; Tipulidae – nine species. Diptera Brachycera: Agromyzidae – unidentified species; Anthomyzidae – two species; Asilidae – two species; Bombyliidae – one species; Chloropidae – one species; Dolichopodidae – unidentified species; Empididae – unidentified species; Ephydridae – two species; Heleomyzidae – unidentified species; Lauxaniidae – unidentified species; Otitidae – one species; Phoridae – unidentified species; Rhagionidae – two species; Stratiomyidae – two species; Syrphidae – unidentified species; Tabanidae – one species. Following new taxa are described: Leptotarsus (Longurio) fragmentatus Krzemiński, n. sp., Leptotarsus (Longurio) wegiereki Krzemiński, n. sp., Tipula (s. lato) anglicana Krzemiński, n. sp. (Tipulidae); Cyttaromyiarossi Krzemiński, n. sp. (Cylindrotomidae); Gurnardia corami Krzemiński, n. gen, n. sp., Pilaria hooleyi Krzemiński, n. sp., Pilaria volodii Krzemiński, n. sp., Cheilotrichia (Cheilotrichia) duplicata Krzemiński, n. sp., Cheilotrichia (Empeda) szwedoi Krzemiński, n. sp., Symplecta (Psiloconopa) gurnetensis Krzemiński, n. sp., Orimarga (Orimarga) lenae Krzemiński, n. sp., Dicranomyia (Dicranomyia) azari Krzemiński, n. sp., Dicranomyia (Dicranomyia) fasciata Krzemiński, n. sp., Helius (Helius) edmundi Krzemiński, n. sp., Helius (Helius) popovi Krzemiński, n. sp., Dicranoptycha staryi Krzemiński, n. sp. (Limoniidae); Wightipsychoda Azar, n. gen. (Psychodidae); Dilophus andrewrossi Nel, Colomb & Waller, n. sp., Bibiodes massiliensis Nel, Colomb & Waller, n. sp. (Bibionidae); Azana cockerelli Blagoderov, n. sp., Aglaomyia vectis Blagoderov, n. sp., Dziedzickia oligocenica Blagoderov, n. sp., Palaeoempalia saxea Blagoderov, n. sp., Mycomyahoolei Blagoderov, n. sp., Leia gurnardensis Blagoderov, n. sp. (Mycetophilidae); Regmocleminahaennii Krzemiński, n. sp. (Scatopsidae); Sylvicola problematica Krzemiński, n. sp. (Anisopodidae); Palaeoberidops barkeri Nicholson, n. gen., n. sp. (Stratiomyidae). The Diptera fauna and palaeohabitat of the Insect Bed is discussed.

As part of the joint British-Scandinavian Surface Waters Acidification Programme, the Institute of Hydrology is establishing catchment studies in Scotland. Data from these catchment studies are being used to develop a range of models for investigating short-term and long-term changes in catchment acidity. Information on the modelling techniques available at the Institute of Hydrology is presented together with applications of the models to catchments in Scotland.

These openings, which are also present in numbers on the region of the cheek, indicate the ducts of numerous mucous glands which lie immediately underneath the mucous membrane. The tongue of Beluga does not appear to differ much from that of other toothed whales. In Globiocephalus intermedius, according to Macalister, not only the tip, but also the margins of the organ are free, whereas in Beluga the latter are attached along nearly their whole length. Dr Murie refers to the presence of a distinct froenum in Globiocephalus melas, but this structure is not recognisable in Beluga.

Land use and the management of our natural resources such as soils and water offer great opportunities to sequester carbon and mitigate the effects of climate change. Actions on forestry, soil carbon and damaged peatlands each have the potential to reduce Scottish emissions in 2020 by hundreds of thousands of tonnes. Most actions to reduce emissions from land use have beneficial effects on other ecosystem services, so if we can cut emissions we can in many circumstances improve the environment. The cost of reducing emissions through land use change can be low in relation to other means of cutting emissions. The Scottish Land Use Strategy and the Ecosystem Approach it calls for, employing the concept of ecosystem services, offers a way of balancing environmental, social and economic demands on the land. Scotland's land, soils, forests and waters are all likely to be significantly altered by future climate change. Each of these components of the land-based environment offers opportunities for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. The emerging new imperatives for securing food, water and energy at a global level are equally important for Scotland, and interact with the need for environmental security and for dealing with climate change.

The following communication is an attempt to eliminate the geological history of our Scottish Peat Mosses. So much, however, has already been done in this matter, that the reconsideration of phenomena, for the most part well known, may appear almost a superfluous task. But, notwithstanding the essays of Walker, Rennie, Anderson, and others, in this department of geological inquiry, there is still probably much to be gathered from the same source, which shall greatly increase our knowledge of the condition of these latitudes in the ages that followed upon the close of the glacial epoch. At present, I mean to give only an outline of the subject, reserving for some future occasion a fuller statement of the facts on which the conclusions arrived at are based.

Many Ordovician trilobites possess morphological structures on the cephalon, the pygidium and sometimes also on the thoracic segments, which interlock during enrolment. These coaptative devices, also known in living arthropods, are functional, inherited, and seem to remain stable at the species level. Significant evolutionary changes in coaptative devices occur throughout time within the genera Placoparia (Pliomeridae) and Crozonaspis (Dalmanitidae). New data are presented which have relevance for the details of the coaptative structures in Placoparia (Coplacoparia), and for the classification of the dalmanitid species morenensis and dujardini. In some species of Crozonaspis and in Placoparia (Coplacoparia), interlocking structures prevent the possibility of shearing between cephalon and post-cephalic exoskeleton.

The basic properties of living systems are remarkably consistent and involve energy interactions between intracellular and extracellular environments. These interactions predispose living systems to deposit minerals from many solutions. The evolution of biomineralisation was not a single cellular invention but rather the association and perfection of a few of these fundamental properties of cell biology. The components of biomineralisation systems involve some mechanism for modifying the activity of at least one ion, an interface for initiating and possibly controlling crystal growth, a diffusion limited size and a mechanism for manipulating the growth of the crystal lattice. The evolution of these components of biomineralisation in the context of geological time inevitably concentrates on the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary. Over a time scale of less than 50 × 106 years there was a proliferation of metazoan phyla, the mineralisation in a large number of taxa and the exploitation of a diverse set of processes involving agglutinated sediments, silica, phosphates and carbonates. A large number of theories have been proposed to explain why biomineralisation occurred at this particular time. Such theories should recognise the importance of the incorporation of the citric acid cycle into the cellular metabolism of many organisms and its exploitation in an aerobic environment, the development of multicellularity which enormously increased the opportunities for modifying ion activities in diffusion-limited sites, and the exploitation of browsing and carnivorous feeding habits. These influences had major effects on ecosystems and population structures and put considerable selective pressure on the advantages that could be gained from a skeleton.

Trace element inversion modelling of Grenvillean anorthosite massifs and associated rocks yield NMORB-normalised trace element profiles enriched in highly incompatible elements; commonly with negative Nb and Th anomalies. Model melts can be divided into subtypes that cannot be linked through fractional crystallisation processes. Most model melts are depleted in the heavy rare-earth elements and can be explained by partial melting of arc basaltic sources (5–60 melting ) with garnet-bearing residues. Some of the model melts have flat NMORB-normalised profiles (for rare-earth elements), have high compatible element contents, and might have been derived from mantle fertilised by arc magmatism, followed by low-pressure fractional crystallisation. Intermediate Ce/Yb types may represent mixtures of these end-members, or less probably, variations in the crustal source composition and residual assemblage. The active tectonic context now favoured for the Grenville Province appears to be inconsistent with plume or thermal insulation models. The heat source for crustal and mantle melting could record either post-orogenic thermal relaxation of a tectonically-thickened arc crust, or basaltic underplating caused by delamination of a mantle root or subduction slab beneath this arc crust. In this context, pre-Proterozoic anorthosites may be lacking, because prior to ca. 2·5 Ga, the crust may have been too weak to be thickened tectonically. The absence of post-Proterozoic anorthosites may be due to the secular decrease in radiogenic heating and cooling of the mantle and crust.

The Cestode material obtained by the Scotia Expedition consisted of eight adult and three larvæ or immature forms. Of these, one (Anchistrocephalus microcephalus, Rud.) is not Antarctic, having been obtained from the Sunfish (Orthagoriscus mola), at Station 107, in 39° 12′ S., 53° 44′ W., on January 1, 1903.

At the commencement of the 1924 geological expedition to Iceland, which was conducted by Dr G. W. Tyrrell and the present writer, aided by a grant from the Carnegie Trust, the author took advantage of his earlier arrival in Iceland by devoting his time to a detailed survey of Viðey, a small island which lies 3 miles E.N.E. of Reykjavík. His interest having been aroused by a study of the curious rock specimens which Mackenzie collected from that locality in 1810 (author, 1925), the writer intended at first to make only a rapid examination of the island in order to ascertain their field relations, and, if possible, to determine their mode of formation. A day's field work, however, convinced him that a more protracted survey would be amply repaid, and this was accordingly undertaken; during two days, out of the total of ten which were devoted to this work, the writer enjoyed the invaluable assistance of Dr Tyrrell.

Previous studies on the cytology of the wild and less highly developed “diploid” forms of potatoes have been mainly concerned with the number of chromosomes. Rybin (1933) in his cytological investigation on the South American cultivated and wild potatoes has recorded 12 as the haploid number of chromosomes in seven species including S. Rybinii. Ratera (1938) reported the same number of haploid chromosomes in S. Parodii and six other species indigenous to Argentine.

The present study is concerned primarily with the secondary pairing of chromosomes at meiosis in six “diploid” species with a view to determining the basic number in potatoes and to ascertaining the exact “status” of these species.

A revision of the Carboniferous lungfish genus Ctenodus is undertaken. Ctenodus is the longest-surviving genus of lungfish from the Carboniferous, and is the only one to cross the Lower–Upper Carboniferous boundary. Five species span the period, with species correlated to stage. Species are distinguished by differences in tooth plate morphology. Ridge number increases from the Tournaisian to the Moscovian, and the length to width ratio decreases. A new, almost complete articulated individual of C. interruptus allows identification of this species from pterygoid tooth plates and other characteristics. These, and new features of the postcranial skeleton, are described for the first time. Ctenodus retains primitive features of the skull roof, such as a pair of C-bones and retention of a D-bone; its contemporaries Conchopoma, Sagenodus and Straitonia show the derived condition of these features. Ctenodus retains primitive features of the lepidotrichia, which are distally segmented and bifurcated. However, it also shows the derived condition of the tail region in having a combined first and second dorsal fin: whether there was a separate caudal fin remains unknown.