During the course of a systematic investigation of the drifts of Flamborough Head, I have somewhat unexpectedly come across a fragment of marine Arctic beds enclosed in Boulder-clay, similar to those which form the well-known fossiliferous deposits of Bridlington and Dimlington; and as this occurs under very different conditions from those already described, it adds materially to our knowledge of the beds, and illustrates more clearly their origin.

In England the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton contains the greater number of species belonging to this peculiar group of Haliotidœ. Morris and Lycett (Great Oolite Mollusca, p. 80) give a full and interesting diagnosis of the genus, which has oniy one representative in the Corallian beds of Yorkshire. D'Orbigny figures half a dozen species of Troehotoma from the Corallian of France, and Buvignier gives three from the Coral Rag of the Meuse. None are quoted by Be Loriol from the Séquanien of Boulogne.

In the February Number of the Geological Magazine, there is an article by Messrs. B. N. Peach and J. Home, answering the doubts expressed by me regarding the soundness of their views on this subject.

The Pioneer Formation of southwestern British Columbia (Canada) is composed predominantly of middle to late Triassic pillow basalts. These rocks are an integral part of the Cadwallader and the Bridge River terranes that were delaminated from the oceanic lithosphere and stacked against the continental margin of the North American craton by middle Jurassic time. The basalts are underlain and locally intercalated with ribbon cherts and argillites that range in age from Mississippian to Triassic. The Triassic basalts are conformably overlain by clastic sediments containing late Carnian–Norian conodont fauna. The tholeiitic basalts have enriched and depleted REE patterns, and have been emplaced in an oceanic environment. The compositional variations of the basalts are attributed to dynamic partial melting of source rocks that are believed to have been part of the rising mantle diapir. According to our model, after initial melting in the garnet stability field, the mantle diapir rose up to the spinel stability field where it underwent subsequent melting. The reconstructed stratigraphy of the Bridge River area may be interpreted in terms of an oceanic plate moving over a mantle plume and into a trench where offscraping preserved tectonic lenses of the subducting plate in an accretionary prism.

Mr. Marr's valuable communication on the Coniston Limestone Series, which appeared in the March Number of this Magazine, is sure to be welcomed as an excellent summary of the geology of this interesting group of rocks. It contains a digest of most of the published work relating to the Coniston Limestone Series, and also many new facts and arguments drawn from Mr. Marr's own observations in the field.

The rocks of the New Hebrides belong to at least four groups—two series of limestones and two series of volcanic rocks. The islands are sometimes referred to as if composed only of recent volcanic and coral formations. The existence of a series of old rocks has been believed from the records of gneiss on Espiritu Santo by Levat, and of ores of iron, copper, and nickel. The asserted presence of these materials suggested that the older rocks of New Caledonia form the foundation of the New Hebrides. The existence of the ores and gneiss is, however, discredited by Sir Douglas Mawson (1905, pp. 422, 434–5); he remarked that he had examined “small samples of copper, manganese, and other ores supposed to have been collected in the group” (Mawson, 1905, p. 435). He did not confirm this supposition, though admitting that traces of these metals might occur.

In June, 1895, Mr. G. H. Morton, F.G.S., of Liverpool, submitted to me three specimens of Crinoidea, registered No. 681 in his collection. One of these specimens was a stem-fragment, impossible to determine; but the other two appeared of such interest that Mr. Morton very kindly allowed me to make a detailed study of them. The results, though not so complete as might be wished, are now submitted to geologists and zoologists, in order that the former may look out for further specimens, and the latter give us the benefit of their opinion.

An attempt is made to correlate the concept of the fossil lineage with our knowledge of polytypic species. The influence of changing environmental conditions in the geological succession and the relationship between geographical and chronological sub-species is analysed on a theoretical basis. The fossil lineage is considered to be the resultant of combined evolutionary and environmental change. Phenotypic modifications in response to environmental conditions are discussed in relation to the study of variation in fossil communities.

The genera Endophyllum and Spongophyllum were founded by H. M. Edwards and J. Haime (1851 p. 393 and p. 425),2 upon Devonian Corals from South Devonshire. Their descriptions of these (1851, pp. 394 and 425; 1853, pp. 233 and 242), though clear as far as they go, nevertheless leave room for further details, and their figures (1853, p1. lii, fig. 6; pl. liii, fig. 1; and p1. lvi, figs. 2, 2a–e) unfortunately do not include longitudinal sections of either of their two species of Endophyllum. Later workers on Devonian corals—C. Schlüter (1889, p. 50) and F. Frech (1885, p. 74; 1886, p. 87) have differed widely from the authors in their interpretation of the genera, and therefore a revision of the type-species is desirable.

The sedimentary characteristics and preservation potential of lacustrine carbonates provide fundamental information on climate change. The lacustrine carbonate deposition in the Eocene Dongying Depression was investigated using a combination of mineralogical, petrological and geochemical analyses. Micritic calcite/dolomite, granular calcite, columnar calcite, calcareous shell fragments and reworked detrital calcite were identified. Varying patterns of carbonates (VPC) including lithofacies, geochemical indicators and carbonate distribution were revealed in the Dongying Depression: (i) carbonates hardly precipitate in the nearshore area (average 12 wt %); (ii) carbonate content is high (average 53 wt %) in the shallow lake and (iii) gradually decreases to reach a minimum (average 24 wt %) in the deeper part of the lake. Comparison of VPC in four Holocene lakes (the Qinghai Lake and Barkol Lake in China, Oro Lake in Canada and Montcortès Lake in Spain) with the Dongying Depression suggests that four distinct lake stages were developed, namely the terrigenous clastic/gypsum-rich, carbonate-rich, carbonate-decreasing and carbonate-poor stages. A depositional model of lacustrine carbonates influenced by detrital influx, climate, palaeoproductivity and salinity is developed. This study contributes to the understanding of the genetic mechanisms of lacustrine carbonate deposition to reconstruct environmental changes.

The area described in this paper is about 5 miles east of Rhayader and 4 miles north of Llandrindod Wells. The igneous rocks come to the surface in two localities, namely Baxter's Bank and Caerfagu Mill. The former is approximately half a mile north of the main road from Rhayader to Pen-y-Bont, whilst the latter is situated immediately to the south of the main road and about three-quarters of a mile south-east of the village of Nantmel.

AMONG the Echinoids from the Limestone Lenticles of Shenley Hill (Leighton Buzzard), sent to me from the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge (see Geol. Mag., Vol. LVIII, 1921, p. 57), one specimen of the many Pyriniform examples at once attracted attention by its preservation, relatively large size, and superficial resemblance to Holectypus. A brief comment on the specimen (No. 3 of the series) was made in the note already cited; further and more detailed examination, preceded by removal of matrix, has revealed additional features of much interest. Though averse to diagnosis of new genera or species based on single specimens, I have felt compelled to adopt that course in this case, in default of acquaintance with any described types to which the Shenley Echinoid could be assimilated. It is quite likely that other specimens, congeneric if not conspecific, may exist in collections; according to their preservation or the idiosyncrasy of individuals they may be labelled Holectypus, Conulus, or Pyrina with equal probability. It is even possible that some of the numerous species of Pyrina (including Pseudopyrina and Globator), already described, may be referable to the genus here introduced; but more details of morphology than are often supplied in systematic diagnoses and figures are needed before order can come out of the chaotic series of Cretaceous Echinonëidæ.

It is well known to all students of the history of geology that, although the date of publication of William Smith's “Map of the Strata of England and Wales” was the year 1815, yet even before the commencement of the present century the “Father of English Geology” had not only established the principle that strata can be identified by their organic remains, but had actually applied that important principle in the construction of a number of geological sections and maps. Conclusive documentary evidence of the truth of this statement is fortunately in the possession of the Geological Society.

The Hirnantian stratigraphy of Wales is critically assessed against the global evidence for two major Hirnantian synglacial eustatic lowstands. The evidence for two separate lowstands of relative sea level is locally suggestive in shelf sequences but generally only permissive in the basin. Nowhere can the possible candidate lowstands be separated biostratigraphically and thus basinwide correlation that might rule out local tectonic control is impossible to prove. Consistent with palaeolatitude evidence and a situation far removed from the Gondwana margin, there is no facies evidence (e.g. dropstones) for local glacial conditions and the diamictites are of mass-flow origin. Sequence stratigraphic reasoning proves helpful in the correlation of the basinal succession in Central Wales with the shelf sequences along the Tywi Lineament and the Variscan Front, and suggests that the first appearance of Normalograptus persculptus in Wales does not correspond with the base of the persculptus Biozone. Extensive new palaeocurrent data and sedimentological restudy is combined with review of earlier knowledge to argue for significant revisions to previous palaeogeographic maps for ‘generalized lowstand conditions’, notably along the Bala Lineament, the Variscan Front and the Central Wales Inliers.

Through the intervention of my friend Mr. William Whitaker, F.R.S., I, some time ago, received from Mr. G. W. Colenutt, F.G.S., of Hanway Lodge, Ryde, Isle of Wight, 26 small slabs of Osborne clay, on which are preserved, in a more or less good state (generally less), a series of prawns and small shrimp-like Crustaceans, collected by him from the Oligocene strata, Chapelcorner Copse, between King's Quay and Wootton Creek, just to the west of the Boat-house, on the shore below Binstead House; also on the shore below Ryde House, and immediately to the south-east of Sea View Pier; where (especially at Chapelcorner Copse) extremely interesting exposures of the Osborne Beds may be seen and studied, between the base of the cliff and low-water mark (see p. 99).

It is suggested that the name beerbachite be reserved for fine- to medium-grained granular dyke rocks of gabbroic composition occurring in coarser-grained gabbro. It should not be used for basic granular hornfelses or xenoliths.

In a previous article, a sketch has been given of what is known concerning the origin and history of the early manuscript maps of William Smith. I have shown that concerning these maps, though they were not published, in the technical sense of that term, there exists a satisfactory body of external evidence with regard to the period of their preparation, while they furnish in themselves abundant proofs that they must have been constructed at the dates inscribed upon them. These facts have been so generally recognized that—since the clear statements on the question which have been made by Fitton, Parey, Sedgwick, and Phillips—no one has ever thought of either questioning the antiquity of the maps or denying to William Smith the honour of being the first to construct a true geological map of England and Wales.

At Broom, in the parish of Hawkchurch, near Axminster, close to the River Axe, in the angle formed by the junction of a tributary brook with it, is a low hill, the summit of which is about 50 feet above the level of the rails of the London and South-Western Railway, which runs at its base. This hill consists of a mass of chert gravel intermingled with ferruginous clay of a yellow colour, and interstratified with seams of sandy clay, without shells or other animal-remains, as far as is at present known. There are a few much-rolled pebbles of quartz; of a hard dark-grey siliceous rock; and of chalk flints, mingled with the chert fragments, many of which are angular or subangular. It has been cut into for ballast for the railway, and about half has been removed in the last fifteen years, exposing a section of from 40 to 50 feet in depth. The bottom of the pit is on a level with the rails, which are a few feet above the river, and about 150 feet above the level of the sea, about six miles distant. The chert gravel was probably derived from the Greensand which caps the hills inclosing the valley.