The Order Adelospondyli, an isolated group of amphibians from the Carboniferous of the Edinburgh area, is redescribed and distinguished from other early tetrapods. Although systematics of genera and species is unsatisfactory, the group seems monophyletic, since as far as they are known, all conform to a single overall structural plan. There is an entire skull roof with a reduced complement of bones in an unique pattern, a highly characteristic marginal dentition, a massive hyoid apparatus, at least 70 holospondylous trunk vertebrae, and (like some other Lower Carboniferous tetrapods) a shoulder region with a heavy dermal girdle but no trace of ossified limbs or endochondral girdle. Adelogyrinids show no special affinity with other Palaeozoic amphibians: the vertebral characters in which they resemble microsaurs, lysorophids, aïstopods, and nectrideans may have evolved more than once among early tetrapods, and the shoulder girdle and neural arch characters shared with labyrinthodonts are probably primitive. The adelogyrinids thus illustrate the more general problems of establishing interrelationships among early tetrapods. Their way of life is discussed.

Detailed mapping, stratigraphic logging and structural analysis of the Hawasina Window culmination in the central Oman Mountains of Arabia reveals an extremely complex thrust geometry and structural history. The initial thrust sequence involved a southwestward propagating stacking during telescoping of the Arabian continental margin slope (Sumeini complex), and time-equivalent, more distal Tethyan basin (Hawasina and Haybi complexes) facies rocks. The Semail thrust, carrying the 12 km-thick ophiolite sequence, progressively overlaps Haybi and Hawasina duplexes towards the SW. Late stage “leap-frog” thrusts have punched Sumeini duplexes higher up into the earlier thrust stack locally reversing the normal stacking order. SW-directed thrusts and SW-facing folds in the SW and NE-directed backthrusts and NE-facing backfolds in the NE have created a fan structure cored by the Jebel Rais “pop-up” composed of Sumeini slope facies rocks.

The palaeogeographic presence of a large NE-facing promontory in the Cretaceous shelf edge is inferred beneath the Window. The frontal ramp of this promontory was sufficiently large to inhibit the overthrusting of large volumes of Hawasina and Haybi complex rocks. The whole central part of the Window shows NE-facing and verging backfolds and backthrusts affecting all duplexes from the lowest Sumeini up to the Semail ophiolite. The promontory is bounded by major lateral ramps to the NW (Wadi Shafan area) and SE (Jebel Milh area). A map and four balanced cross-sections are presented here to promote a complex model for the structural evolution of the Hawasina Window.

In analysing Mr Wheatstone's beautiful discovery, that in binocular vision we see all objects of three dimensions by means of two dissimilar pictures on the retina, I trust I have satisfied the Society that the dissimilarity of these two pictures is in no respect the cause of our vivid perception of such objects, but, on the contrary, an unavoidable accompaniment of binocular vision, which renders it less perfect than vision with one eye. On the other hand, it is quite true that, in Mr Wheatstone's experiment of producing the perception of objects of three dimensions by the apparent coalescence of two dissimilar representations of such objects in plano, the dissimilarity of the pictures is necessary in the exhibition of that beautiful phenomenon.

A zircon age of 429 + 6, −5 Ma on felsic volcanic rocks of the Springdale Group, a sequence of bimodal volcanic rocks and redbeds, establishes a Llandovery age for this group. Similar sequences from other parts of the Dunnage and Humber zones of Newfoundland also give Llandovery fossil or radiometric ages, demonstrating temporal correlation among lithologically similar sequences in these zones.

Distinctive sequences of bimodal, subaerial rhyolite and basalt with associated subaerial to shallow marine sedimentary rocks within the Avalon and Meguma zones of Nova Scotia give fossil or radiometric ages demonstrably or arguably very close to the age of the Springdale Group. These sequences suggest an overlap assemblage fixing the minimum age of accretion of the Avalon and Meguma zones to North America. The age and the magmatic and sedimentary character of the assemblage are compatible with origin on or from continental crust, implying that the Iapetus ocean was closed prior to Early Silurian time. If these considerations are correct, the Devonian Acadian orogeny must involve either thermal and mechanical readjustments subsequent to the closing of the Iapetus ocean, or a completely separate episode of plate motion.

Since 1860, in which year De Bary published his great work Die Mycetozoen, the investigation of the life-history of members of the Mycetozoa has aroused a considerable amount of interest, and a great deal of important research has been carried out in this connection. The group of organisms is particularly interesting, because it lies on the borderline between plant and animal kingdoms, and it is very possible that a detailed investigation of several species of the Mycetozoa might be of considerable assistance in elucidating certain obscure points in the life-histories of higher members of both the great natural groups. The term “Mycetozoa,” which we owe to De Bary, will be used throughout in preference to the older term “Myxogastres” invented by Fries (32, p. 2), and that of “Myxomycetes” first employed by Link (32, p. 2). “Mycetozoon,” or “fungus-like animal,” is a very appropriate description of a member of the group, since during part of its life-history it exhibits distinctly animal-like characters, and the individuals move rapidly by means of flagella, whilst later, during the development of the sporangium, a plant-like form is assumed. The combination of plant and animal characters has given rise to much discussion as to the position of the Mycetozoa in plant or animal kingdom, and the group has been claimed by both zoologists and botanists.

Few plants of Carboniferous age have appealed so strongly to the scientific observer as the huge woody trunks of a coniferous type that have been discovered from time to time in beds of that system. The appeal has come from different points of view at different times; thus these trees were hailed by Witham (1831, pp. 1–2), Lindley and Hutton (1831, p. xiii), and Hugh Miller (1849, p. 186) as evidence of the existence of higher coniferous plants in abundance during a period to which the current consensus of scientific opinion had assigned only members of the lower plant families, or would admit only an infrequent occurrence of higher forms. These remains were therefore important in discussions concerning the development of plant life, and were cited by Hugh Miller (1849, p. 185) in his attempt to combat the then embryonic ideas of evolution—the recrudescence of Lamarckian ideas—current under the name of “the development hypothesis.” Miller, however, recognised one significant point, namely, that they represented a land flora as distinct from one occupying a water habitat (1849, p. 202).

A sequence of upward fining cycles contain braid bar structures in the coarse member. Bars, medially placed in the stream are recognised either by radiating large foresets or by identifying bar tail sediments with converging dips to their foresets. Lateral bars are recognised by the growth of major sandstone sheets oblique to the direction of channel trend and over slough mudstone. The fine member contains structures which indicate a direction of flow in the same direction as the channel, suggesting that only the unlevéed part of the floodplain is preserved.

The direction of transport for the Old Red Sandstone sediments is perpendicular to the direction of bar accretion. This is accounted for by assuming the section dealt with to be on the NNW margin of a cone which builds outward to the NE, and where the river building the cone swings from one side to the other. An upward increase in cycle thickness within the section is possibly the result of an increase in the size of the cone and the consequent amalgamation of the coarse members.

This paper describes three mid-Tertiary intrusions from the Henry Mountains (Utah, USA) that were assembled from amalgamation of multiple horizontal sheet-like magma pulses in the absence of regional deformation. The three-dimensional intrusion geometries are exceptionally well preserved and include: (1) a highly lobate sill; (2) a laccolith; and (3) a bysmalith (a cylindrical, fault-bounded, piston-like laccolith). Individual intrusive sheets are recognised on the margins of the bodies by stacked lobate contacts, and within the intrusions by both intercalated sedimentary wallrock and formation of solid-state fabrics. Finally, conduits feeding these intrusions were mostly sub-horizontal and pipe-like, as determined by both direct observation and modelling of geophysical data.

%The intrusion geometries, in aggregate, are interpreted to reflect the time evolution of an idealised upper crustal pluton. These intrusions initiate as sills, evolve into laccoliths, and eventually become piston-like bysmaliths. The emplacement of multiple magma sheets was rapid and pulsed; the largest intrusion was assembled in less than 100 years. The magmatic fabrics are interpreted as recording the internal flow of the sheets preserved by fast cooling rates in the upper crust. Because there are multiple magma sheets, fabrics may vary vertically as different sheets are traversed. These bodies provide unambiguous evidence that some intrusions are emplaced in multiple pulses, and that igneous assembly can be highly heterogeneous in both space and time. The features diagnostic of pulsed assembly observed in these small intrusions can be easily destroyed in larger plutons, particularly in tectonically active regions.

Although it is unlikely that the east of Sutherland will ever rival the west in geological renown, its varied interests have already furnished material for a considerable literature. Attention has been specially focussed upon a down-faulted coastal strip of Mesozoic rocks, which, starting at Golspie, extends north-eastwards for twenty miles through Brora and Helmsdale to the county boundary at the Ord (fig. 1). Golspie itself stands on a narrow outcrop of Trias. Jurassic follows, with a generally ascending sequence that leads up to Kimmeridgian at Kintradwell, a couple of miles north of Brora (fig. 2). Beyond this Corallian reappears, but only for a short distance. Then Kimmeridgian returns and holds the coast-line continuously for nearly nine miles, until, at the Ord, it disappears beneath the sea. The width of the Kimmeridgian exposures is occasionally three-quarters of a mile, but generally much less.

Among the commonest and most abundant plant-remains in the Carmyllie and Cairnconon Beds of the Caledonian Lower Old Red Sandstone are branched linear axes about 2 mm. in width. These often occur in a fragmentary condition, but more connected portions demonstrating the morphology of the plant are also found. Though often associated with Parka and Nematophyton, the plant known as Zosterophyllum myretonianum is usually readily recognisable by its definite outline and uniform diameter, by its modes of branching, and by the remains of structure which it sometimes retains. As will be seen below, the axis of this plant was traversed by a single median strand that was composed of tracheides. Zosterophyllum is thus of special interest as the most ancient vascular plant known from British rocks. Some other plant-remains that may be confused with it have also been met with, though less commonly. These will be briefly considered, not merely for this reason, but on account of the very different and peculiar type of structure they exhibit.

§ 1. The variations of the surface-level of lakes due to the direct action of wind and rain, and the smaller disturbances caused by surface waves, of small or moderate length, due to the action of the wind and the movement of boats and animals, must have been familiar phenomena at all times. The first accurately recorded observation, that lake-levels are subject to a rhythmic variation, similar in some respects to the ocean tides, seems to have been made at Geneva in 1730 by Fatio de Duillier, a well-known Swiss engineer. Owing to the peculiar configuration of the Geneva end of Lake Léman, these variations occasionally reach a magnitude of 5 or even 6 feet; and Duillier mentions that they were known in his time by the local name of “Seiches,” which has now been applied to rhythmic alterations of the level of lakes in general.

A strong correlation exists between the Li isotopic compositions of CarboniferousTriassic granites from the New England Batholith, and the previously inferred involvement of sedimentary and mantle/infracrustal source components. Isotopically (Nd and Sr) juvenile, low-K, Cordilleran I-type granites of the Clarence River supersuite have δ7 Li= +2·2 to +8‰ similar to those of arc magmas, the inferred source of these granites (Bryant et al. 1997). Isotopic variability within this supersuite probably arises from heterogeneity within primary mantle-derived magmas, combined with subsequent modifications through interactions with crustal materials. Oxidised, high-K granites of the Moonbi Supersuite have more homogenous and slightly lighter Li isotopic compositions (δ7 Li= +1·9 to +4·2‰). The observed range of values lies within the range of arc magmas, and is consistent with partial melting of arc shoshonites within the crust (cf. Chappell 1978) or the involvement of high-K mantle-derived magmas (cf. Shaw & Flood 1981; Landenberger & Collins 1998). S-type granites of the Bundarra (δ7 Li= −0·1 to +2·1‰; average= +1˙3‰; n=6) and Hillgrove supersuites (δ7 Li= +0·4 to +1·7‰; average= +0·8‰) define a narrow range of isotopic compositions which are, overall, lower than those observed in NEB I-type granites or generally observed in primary arc magmas. Their isotopic compositions are equivalent to those typically observed in shales (primarily δ7 Li= −3·2 to +2·0‰; Moriguti & Nakamura 1998; Teng et al. 2004). No difference is evident in the isotopic compositions of the two S-type supersuites despite inferred differences in the degree of weathering experienced by the sedimentary protolith, or differences in mineralogy of the granites. Granites of the Uralla Supersuite, which have been have formed from mixtures of local meta-igneous and meta-sedimentary components, span a broad range of values (δ7 Li= −1·3 to +3·9‰) which overlap with both the sediment-poor New England Batholith I-type intrusions of the Clarence River and Moonbi supersuites, and the S-type granites of the Bundarra and Hillgrove supersuites. Lower δ7 Li values primarily occur in lower-K plutons from the northern portion of the Uralla Supersuite.

Overall, anatexis and magma differentiation do not appear to contribute to significant fractionation of Li isotopes relative to the inferred source components. However, subtly lower δ7 Li values, evident in the three leucogranites analysed herein, imply that subtle Li isotopic fractionation may occur in association with the exsolution of an aqueous fluid. Like most isotopic systems, the Li isotopic composition of rocks is not a definitive guide to source rock compositions, but given the results herein, the present authors suggest that it may play a very useful role in understanding crustal processes.

In 1892 I communicated to this Society an account of a collection of Eurypterids from the Upper Silurian rocks of the Pentland Hills, in which I described new species and a new genus. Since that time I have had the opportunity of examining two other collections from the same locality. One of these was formed with the aid of a grant from the British Association. The fossiliferous bed—for these remains occur in a single thin bed of rock—was laid bare, and a considerable amount of it removed and split up. In this latter work I was fortunate to get the assistance of Mr John Henderson, the original discoverer of the locality, and I am glad to have this opportunity of recording my indebtedness to him. A fair number of specimens was thus procured, which not only threw considerable light on the structure of some of the already described forms, but gave evidence of some species as yet undescribed. More important than this collection, however, was the one formed by the late Mr Hardie of Bavelaw Castle, who had for many years collected among the Pentland Silurians. His collection was, on his death, acquired by the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, and Dr Traquair kindly put the collection in my hands for examination. From the size of the collection I expected some new and interesting results, and have been far from being disappointed. Seven new species of Eurypterids have come to light and one Scorpion.

Late Palaeozoic alkalic basalts in and around the Midland Valley of Scotland contain a wide variety of ‘plutonic’ xenoliths. Pyroxene-rich ultramark xenoliths (wehrlites, clinopyroxenites and garnet pyroxenites) may be representative of younger components within a dominantly peridotitic upper mantle represented by ubiquitous magnesian peridotite xenoliths. Glimmerites and other biotite-rich ultramafic xenoliths are probable samples of metasomatised upper mantle facies.

Xenoliths composed mainly of plagioclase, clinopyroxene ± orthopyroxene ± magnetite are widespread. These pyroxene granulites may typify the lower crustal layers. Garnet granulites are rare; such rocks may formerly have been important with loss of garnet occurring through retrograde metamorphism. Anorthositic xenoliths are relatively common. The lower crust may consist largely of anhydrous rocks, of gabbroic to anorthositic composition, ccurring as stratiform bodies of metacumulates.

Other xenoliths of igneous origin include tonalitic and trondhjemitic gneisses. Although these may play some role in the lower crust, they may be more abundant in the mid-crustal domains underlying the deformed upper Precambrian and lower Palaeozoic supracrustal strata. Xenoliths of quartzofeldspathic, granulitic gneisses containing garnet ± sillimanite ± rutile are also of widespread occurrence; many of these are of metasedimentary provenance and are regarded as being derived from the mid-crustal layers beneath the Southern Highlands, Midland Valley and Southern Uplands and their Irish counterparts.

Atropia is a nitrile base, obtained from Atropa Belladonna. All we know of its constitution is, that by the action of strong acids and bases it is decomposed, in accordance with the equation—

So that atropia may be considered as tropia, in which one atom of hydrogen has been replaced by tropyl, the radical of tropic acid.

Atropia has a somewhat complicated physiological action, for it directly influences the functions of the cerebro-spinal and sympathetic nervous systems. The principal effects produced by it on the former system are paralysis of the sensory and motor nerves, and excitation of the spinal cord. By its action on the sympathetic nerves, it influences the contraction of the unstriped muscles; but as the mechanism of this action is by no means exactly defined, we shall merely allude to it in our comparison of the actions of the methyl and ethyl derivatives, with those of the alkaloid itself. In addition to these general actions, atropia influences, in a special manner, the functions of the vagi nerves and of the iris, suspending the cardiac inhibitory power of the former, and producing contraction of the latter.

The Tombstone, Mayo and Tungsten plutonic suites of granitic intrusions, collectively termed the Tombstone-Tungsten Belt, form three geographically, mineralogically, geochemically and metallogenically distinct plutonic suites. The granites (sensu lato) intruded the ancient North American continental margin of the northern Canadian Cordillera as part of a single magmatic episode in the mid-Cretaceous (96–90 Ma). The Tombstone Suite is alkalic, variably fractionated, slightly oxidised, contains magnetite and titanite, and has primary, but no xenocrystic, zircon. The Mayo Suite is sub-alkalic, metaluminous to weakly peraluminous, fractionated, but with early felsic and late mafic phases, moderately reduced with titanite dominant, and has xenocrystic zircon. The Tungsten Suite is peraluminous, entirely felsic, more highly fractionated, reduced with ilmenite dominant, and has abundant xenocrystic zircon. Each suite has a distinctive petrogenesis. The Tombstone Suite was derived from an enriched, previously depleted lithospheric mantle, the Tungsten Suite is from the continental crust including, but not dominated by, carbonaceous pelitic rocks, and the Mayo Suite is from a similar sedimentary crustal source, but is mixed with a distinct mafic component from an enriched mantle source.

Each suite has a distinctive metallogeny that is related to the source and redox characteristics of the magma. The Tombstone Suite has a Au-Cu-Bi association that is characteristic of most oxidised and alkalic magmas, but also has associated, and enigmatic, U-Th-F mineralisation. The reduced Tungsten Suite intrusions are characterised by world-class tungsten skarn deposits with less significant Cu, Zn, Sn and Mo anomalies. The Mayo Suite intrusions are characteristically gold-enriched, with associated As, Bi, Te and W associations. All suites also have associated, but distal and lower temperature Ag-Pb- and Sb-rich mineral occurrences. Although processes such as fractionation, volatile enrichment and phase separation are ultimately required to produce economic concentrations of ore elements from crystallising magmas, the nature of the source materials and their redox state play an important role in determining which elements are effectively concentrated by magmatic processes

In southwestern North America, late Palaeozoic through Cenozoic granitoids and their related mineral deposits show consistent patterns that can be interpreted in terms of combined provincial, exposure and process controls. Voluminous Cordilleran magmatism began in the Permian and continued with few major interruptions through the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, reaching maximum fluxes in the mid-Jurassic, Late Cretaceous and Oligocene. Two distinctive types of broad-scale igneous suites formed. The first type consists of calc-alkaline to alkaline suites that vary regularly with time from early intermediate-mafic centres to late felsic centres over intervals lasting 20–50 Ma. These suites formed during periods of stable convergence and compressional tectonics, most notably in the late Mesozoic and early–mid-Cenozoic. The second type is compositionally varied, but shows no obvious secular variation in composition. This type formed during neutral to extensional tectonics in the mid-Mesozoic and the mid- to late Cenozoic. Regional (west to east) and secular (old to young) changes from calcic to alkalic compositions do not correspond to basement types; they point to tectonic rather than crustal controls on magmatic evolution, although basement signatures are clearly transmitted in isotopic systematics. Contrasting types of intrusive centres formed in the same lithospheric columns, suggesting that variability reflects thermal and stress regimes, subcrustal magma flux and crustal thickness. Simple thermal and mechanical models of limits on assimilation and magma uprise are broadly consistent with these patterns.

Igneous-related mineralisation is ubiquitous where epizonal environments are preserved, thus preservation (and exposure) form the first-order filter on metallogeny. Mineralisation includes porphyry, skarn, epithermal, replacement and syngenetic deposits of widely varying styles, metal contents and links to magmatic heat and materials. Metal contents and alteration styles correlate closely with igneous compositions and are broadly independent of setting, although systematic regional variations in metal ratios are documented. Ore element suites vary from Cu–Au–Fe associated with (quartz) dioritic to monzonitic intrusive centres through Cu–Zn–Mo–Pb–Ag–W–Au associated with broadly granodioritic centres, and finally to F–Mo–Zn–W–Ag–Be associated with metaluminous to strongly peraluminous granitic centres. A model that includes both composition and process controls rationalises this igneous correlation and the lack of strong regional control. Key features are (1) mineralogical controls on fluid compositions and (2) the efficacy of magmatic processes in producing voluminous ore-forming aqueous fluids. This interpretation is supported by field relationships, igneous petrographic and isotopic data, and theoretical considerations.

The following account of the anatomy of the head of a fœtal African Elephant was made possible by the acquisition of a single specimen, preserved immediately after extraction from the mother, who was shot in the Belgian Congo. As far as is known, this fœtus is the only well-preserved specimen in existence, the total number of fœtuses recorded since 1734 being twelve.

Apart from the skeleton, our knowledge of the anatomy of present-day Proboscideans is very meagre. The dissection hitherto carried out has been either a hasty study of the complete adult carcase, or a more lengthy observation of preserved portions of the animals. Both methods lead to inaccuracy, and provide an explanation of the numerous discrepancies in the accounts. When, therefore, the present Congo foetus was acquired by purchase from the Belgians who preserved it, and Professor D. M. S. WATSON kindly allowed me to have it for dissection, I determined to make the fullest possible use of this unique specimen. The dissection of the head was carried out under the Zeiss Binocular Dissecting Microscope, and sketches and photographs were prepared at intervals, so that every record should be kept.

The studies of which the results are here set forth were carried on at the Granton Marine Laboratory of the Scottish Meteorological Society, in the years 1886 and 1887. Our memoir is by no means a monograph, although our original aim was to investigate every species taxonomically, anatomically, and embryologically. Much further study would have been necessary to carry out this aim at all completely, but in August 1887, both of us, for different reasons, had to abandon our work at Granton and leave Scotland. We have thought it better to publish the notes and drawings we had made, because they will probably be of service to British naturalists interested in the Polychæta, no extensive work on these forms having appeared in English since Johnston's Catalogue of Non-Parasitical Worms in the British Museum, which was published 1865, and which is now a very inadequate guide to the study of the subject. The greater part of the work of collecting, and much the larger part of the drawings, were done by Mr Ramage. A discussion of some anatomical points has been published separately by Mr Cunningham (“Some Points in the Anatomy of Polychæta,” Quart. Jour. Micr. Sci., 1887).