Owing to the great length of time over which the investigation of the products of the destructive distillation of animal substances has stretched, and various circumstances which it is unnecessary to detail, the inquiry has been pursued in a somewhat fragmentary manner, and with less continuity than might have been desired. The difficulties attending many of the experiments, and the occasional exhaustion of materials prepared by laborious processes, extending in many instances over considerable periods, have occasioned long intervals in the regular course of the inquiry which it became necessary to occupy with the examination of such matters as could be taken up at the moment. In this way a number of facts required to complete the history of the bases already described have gradually been accumulated, some of the products of their decomposition examined, and the pyrrol so frequently adverted to in the previous parts of this paper has been subjected to a full investigation. The details of these experiments form the subject of the present communication.

The nature of soil-water interactions is discussed in the context of both soil formation and drainage water chemistry. The interacting factors regulating drainage water chemistry are then briefly considered, including soil type and parent material, soil atmosphere CO2 concentration, hydrological pathways, soluble salts, topography, climate and biotic effects. Based upon these factors, some sites in NE Scotland thought to be highly susceptible to water acidification are examined, and the low pH of their waters is confirmed. The acidity trends of two superficially similar streams apparently less at risk are compared, and the differences explained in terms of sub-surface soil characteristics. The possible impacts of both afforestation and of acidifying pollutants on water pH are considered briefly where appropriate.

The family Achilidae (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, commonly called planthoppers) is one of the least known and least understood groups, due to their cryptic lifestyle. They appear in the fossil record in the Lower Cretaceous, with a single genus and two species from the Crato Formation of Brazil. The oldest amber inclusion is reported from the earliest Late Cretaceous amber of Burma. Surprisingly, Achilidae are relatively common among the larger inclusions that can be found in Eocene Baltic amber. The first description of a fossil species was in the mid-19th Century. Currently, there are 13 genera and 16 species known from fossils, of which nine genera and 11 species are from Baltic amber. However, many of them need reconsideration, revisionary studies and placement in the phylogenetic context of the family. Former studies on inclusions in this amber revealed several unique forms (extinct tribes Ptychoptilini and Waghildini), or taxa ascribable to the sparse Recent tribe Achilini. This paper provides an overview of the knowledge of fossil Achilidae, particularly those from Baltic amber. The Eocene appears to be the heyday of the family; however, this hypothesis should be tested with further detailed studies.

The large Middle Devonian osteostracan Cephalaspis magnifica Traquair, 1893a, from the Late Eifelian Upper Caithness Flagstone Group of Caithness, Scotland, is redescribed on the basis of the holotype and a second, hitherto undescribed specimen. This species is assigned to a new genus, Trewinia gen. nov. and, on account of its probable lack of lateral cephalic fields, is regarded as a possible member of the Escuminaspididae, which are hitherto only known from the Late Devonian of Quebec, Canada. Other characters of the head shield of T. magnifica also accord with the structure of the largest known escuminaspidid Escuminaspis. The morphology, relationships and biogeography of the few other Middle and Late Devonian osteostracans are discussed. North American osteostracans are generally quite distinctive from European ones throughout the Devonian, and only few taxa seem common to the two areas. The Escuminaspididae could be one of these, and this would agree with similar distributions met with in other Middle and Late Devonian vertebrates from similar environments. The question of the possible causes of the decline and extinction of the various ‘ostracoderm’ groups after the end of the Early Devonian is briefly discussed, and environmental factors are favoured to account for their decline in abundance and diversity.

Popular and scholarly information concerning the life of James Croll has been accumulating slowly since the death in 1890 of the self-taught climate change pioneer. The papers in the current volume offer thorough assessments of topics associated with Croll's work, but this contribution seeks to provide a personal context for an understanding of James Croll the man, as well as James Croll the scholar of sciences and religion. Using archival as well as published sources, emphasis is placed upon selected components of his life and some of the less recognised features of his biography. These include his family history, his many homes, his health, participation in learned societies and attitudes to collegiality, financial problems including the failed efforts to secure a larger pension, and friendship. Life delivered a mixture of ‘trials and sorrows’, but it seems clear from the affection and respect accorded him that many looked upon James Croll as a ‘man greater far than his work’.

Mineralisation associated with Late Caledonian metaluminous granitoids in the Grampian Terrane has been investigated using stable isotope, fluid inclusion and mineralogical techniques.

A porphyry-stock-related style of mineralisation in the Grampian Terrane is characterised by a stockwork of veinlets and disseminations in dacite prophyries, consisting of quartz, dolomite, sulphides and late calcite, and well-developed wallrock alteration dominated by zones of phyllic, sericitic and propylitic alteration. On the basis of δ34S (+0·4±l·0‰), δ13C (−5·7‰ to + l·4‰) and δ18O (+10·8‰ to +19·9‰) it is likely that initial mineralising components were orthomagmatic with an input of external fluids during the later parageneses. Fluids were saline, boiling (up to 560°C), deficient in CO2, and ore deposition took place at depths of less than 3 km.

Plutonic-hosted mineralisation in appinites, diorites, tonalites and monzogranites is commonly represented by sporadic disseminations and occasional veins consisting of quartz, calcite and sulphides. Wallrock alteration is generally propylitic with phyllic vein selvages. Deposition from a cooling magma sourced fluid is indicated by δ34S (+2·6±l·5‰), δ13C (−7·2‰ to −4·5‰) and δ18O (+9·5‰ to + ll·8‰) data. Fluids were CO2-rich and of low salinity; inclusions were trapped below ≈460°C, and formed at estimated depths of 3–5 km.

Differences between these styles of mineralisation may due to multiple factors, the most important being the nature of the fluid: porphyry systems are dominated by greater volumes and much higher temperatures of hydrothermal fluids. Other controlling factors are likely to be the compositional characteristics of the melt source region, the mechanism of magma ascent, the level of emplacement, and the nature of the host metasediments. Variations in δ34S between the two groups are related, for the most part, to redox processes during magma and fluid genesis and not by crustal contamination.

Nolarge porphyry-related mineral deposits have been found in the Grampian Terrane, unlike those in Mesozoic and Tertiary continental margin environments. This is largely due to a combination of detrimental factors which massively reducesthe probability of economic mineralisation. These include the already metamorphosed nature of the host Dalradian, the absence of seawater (which entered many subduction-related magmatic systems), a poorly-developed system of deep faults (most deposits too deep to be influenced by surface-derived fluids), and the absence of supergene enrichment. The main processes which aid the concentration of mineralisation involve encroachment of external fluids (formation, meteoric and seawaters) into the magmatic system, but these fluids were largely absent from the Grampian host block at the time of granitoid intrusion.

The results of this study can be used in characterising the sources of fluids in sedimentary-hosted ore veins known (or considered) to be underlain by metaluminous granitoid batholiths, particularly in estimating the degree of magmatic fluid inputs into the vein systems: an example where this interaction has occurred (the Tyndrum Fault Zone) is discussed.

We describe a new specimen of the aïstopod Oestocephalus from Five Points, Ohio, which preserves much of the posterior braincase. The specimen, the largest aïstopod skull described, preserves the postorbital region to the occiput. The posterior braincase has coossified the basioccipital, exoccipitals, and opisthotic. The parasphenoid is rostrally restricted, toothless, and highly vaulted along the cultriform process. The lateral walls of the cultriform process are further reinforced by large longitudinally running, ventral flanges from the parietals. Two large endochondral ventral projections from the basioccipital, previously interpreted as basal tuberosities for hypaxial muscle insertion, are here instead interpreted as articulations for the branchial skeleton. This interpretation is further supported by traces of vasculature that is consistent with what is seen in gill-bearing species. A model for the reorganisation of the basicranial region on the transition from hyomandibula to stapes is proposed, which suggests that gills, or gill-support skeletal elements, might be further distributed along the tetrapod stem than previously thought. These data further support the placement of aïstopods in the tetrapod stem group and require a reconsideration of our understanding of early tetrapod evolution.

An alteration zone at the base of a Carboniferous lava flow on the island of Bute resembles modern and ancient weathering profiles, but it is ‘upside down’ in the sense that alteration is most intense at the base and decreases upwards. Values for a Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) increase from fresh lava and corestones downwards to fine-grained structureless material. The altered material is Mg- and Cu-rich, possibly as a result of migration of these elements from underlying sediments. Rare earth elements (REE) display considerable and systematic mobility and fractionation. In general heavy rare earth elements (HREE) are concentrated during alteration, whereas the light rare earth elements (LREE) are lost. Mobility of the REE appears to be related to atomic weight, with La (the lightest REE) being the most depleted through to Lu, which is the most concentrated REE in the highly altered material. Similar systematic fractionation is shown by some weathering profiles developed on mafic igneous rocks. Movement of water into the volcanic rocks was probably driven by a steep thermal gradient between the hot lava and its sedimentary substrate.

As the largest industrial and population centre in China, the Pearl River Delta is facing a growing threat of heavy metal pollution from local mining and power industries. This study investigates the distribution and potential health risks of copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in paddy soils and rice at four typical sites. The Nemerow synthetic pollution index (PN) of soils from Fogang, Dabao Mountain, Shaoguan and Lechang were 8.40, 9.10, 4.64 and 10.28, respectively, indicating serious pollution at all four sampling sites. The average concentrations of Cu, Cd, Pb and Zn in rice grains were 2.23, 10.98, 29.84 and 1.62 times their corresponding maximum allowable levels, indicating potential health risks to humans. Cd has greater bioavailability because of its high mobility from soil to roots, and its subsequent transfer to grains. Pb mainly accumulates in roots because of its lower translocation rate from roots to grains. The greatest health risk index for Cd and Pb for adults and children was at the Shaoguan site, probably due to pollution from atmospheric deposition. Cd and Pb had greater health risk indices than Cu and Zn at almost all sites, indicating a major health risk to local people.

The Brachiopoda of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of the S.Y. Scotia (1902–1904), though in some cases somewhat scanty in number of individuals, are of particular interest, mainly on account of increasing very materially our knowledge in regard to the geographical range of certain forms, as well as of adding other species to those already known from the Antarctic coast-line.

My attention was called to the subject of this paper in May 1862, during a short stay at Elie on the coast of Fife. Close to the friend's house with whom I lived a part of the sea-bank had been laid open by the waves, and among other deposits I found a bed of clay containing fossil shells, such as now live only in the Polar seas. An account of this I had the honour of laying before the Society on the 2d of March 1863. During the following autumn, while residing at Bridge of Earn, I found a similar deposit, with the same species of shells, at Errol on the Tay, and a notice of this I also laid before the Society on the 2d of May 1864, intimating that at some future period I should again ask their attention to the facts thus ascertained and the inferences to be drawn from them. The delay that has taken place has arisen from other occupations, which leave little time for such pursuits, but it has not been wholly without advantage. The cuttings of the East of Fife Railway were carried past the outskirts of Elie, and I had an opportunity of examining the series of beds, while laid open for the time, in a very remarkable way. This last autumn also, while residing on the spot for a few days, I examined with some care a transverse section, nearly at right angles to the two former; and now, in this paper, I shall endeavour first to state in detail the facts connected with these separate localities, and then to bring into one view the general results.

Twenty-one trilobite species belonging to 18 genera are described from the measured section of the Pagoda Formation (Caradoc) at Donggongsi, Zunyi, Guizhou Province, China. The fauna is numerically dominated by the hammatocnemid Ovalocephalus and remopleuridid Dislobosaspis (gen. nov.), and the Ovalocephalus–Dislobosaspis Biofacies is established to represent a shallow outer-shelf trilobite association. The lithofacies and trilobite taphonomy indicate a comparatively quiet and undisturbed depositional environment. Trilobites exhibit strong SE Asian affinities and formed part of the Peri-Gondwana fauna. They are closely related to those of South- Central Europe but show some Baltoscandian aspects.

The late Brigantian topmost parts of the Pathhead Formation (Aberlady Formation in East Lothian) and the succeeding Lower Limestone Formation crop out widely in Fife and East Lothian. The successions include nine deltaic, coastal floodplain and marine shelf cycles (cyclothems), of which the lowest examined terminates the Pathhead and Aberlady Formations and the remaining eight constitute the Lower Limestone Formation.

The cyclothems conform broadly to the ‘Yoredale” transgressive/regressive pattern in which a transgressive marine shelf phase is succeeded by delta progradation and terminates with a fluvial delta plain phase. Cycles may combine to form compound cyclothems up to more than 50 m thick, in which a basal, typically complete initial cycle of Yoredale pattern is succeeded by up to five base-absent minor cycles. These are thinner, more variable and less laterally persistent units in which the marine phase is weakly represented or absent.

Cyclothems reflect successive marine flooding events, possibly under eustatic control, succeeded by delta progradation and, ultimately, leading to extensive palaeosol formation, including coal seams. Sedimentation and palaeosol formation were partly controlled by fault-induced differential subsidence and are likely to have been related to autocyclic processes. Local uplift and subsidence associated with vulcanicity, as at Kinghorn and Elie, have led to thickening or thinning of sediments accumulated in a given time period.

Initial cycles initiate longer-period allocycles, corresponding broadly to third-order Exxon Production & Research (EPR) Type 1 sequences having a periodicity of around 1 Ma, within the Milankovitch orbital band. Two parasequences constitute each initial cycle: a lower, initiated on a marine flooding surface, and an upper, bounded by the base of the lowest thick sandstone in the cycle; cyclothem bases and sequence bases thus alternate. Parasequences and sequences are less well defined in minor cycles due to the problem of tracing the combined disconformity and soil profile of the underclay beyond the edge of channel sandstones. Minor cycles were controlled primarily by short-period autocyclic sedimentary and, or, tectonic processes, including delta-lobe switching and differential subsidence.

Although we have attempted to interpret the deposits of Fife and the Lothians in terms of sequence stratigraphy, we are not fully convinced that the patterns of associated changes widely recognised within the framework of sequence stratigraphy can be confidently applied in succesions in which autocyclic changes feature strongly in an area undergoing active basin subsidence associated with strike-slip faulting. There is no doubt that some of the cyclicity discerned in the late Brigantian successions of eastern Scotland was related to eustatic sea level changes, which gave rise to the widespread limestone platforms or marine bands. The formation of eight cyclothems within the 2·5–3·5 Ma of late Brigantian suggests a cyclicity of about 400 ka, which corresponds to the long period eccentricity cycles of Milankovitch rather than the 0·5–5·0 Ma of third-order EPR cycles.

New fossil vertebrate microremains from the Lower Silurian of NW Mongolia, Tuva and S Siberia have been discovered, and previous collections of thelodonts (Vertebrata: Thelodonti) from this region re-studied, figured and described, following recent advances in morphology and systematics of thelodont scales. As a result, six thelodont species are described here and attributed to two families and three genera. An emended diagnosis is given for each species. Morpohological scale varieties of each species are revised, and the squamation types are introduced to the species descriptions, resulting in newly grouped morphological sets of scales. The previously monotypic genus Talimaalepis Žigaitė, 2004, is proposed to contain two different species; therefore, two new combinations of morphological scale sets of two species are described for the first time. Both of them show transitional scale structure between the genera Loganellia (family Loganellidae) and Helenolepis (family Phlebolepididae). Two of the thelodont genera, Angaralepis and Talimaalepis, as well as all the six species, are endemic and not known anywhere else in the world. They are accompanied by a variety of other peculiar early vertebrates, such as mongolepids, two endemic genera of acanthodians, and putative galeaspids. This work enhances our knowledge of early Silurian vertebrate diversity, and provides evidence of regional palaeoenvironmental conditions and palaeogeographical relationships of the Siberia and Tuva terranes.

One new genus and four new species of Chrysopidae are described from the Lower Cretaceous of Khasurty, Transbailakia (Russia): Mesypochrysa cannabina sp. nov.; M. naranica sp. nov.; Aberrantochrysa buryatica gen. & sp. nov.; and A. pulchella gen. & sp. nov. The abundance of Chrysopidae in Mesozoic localities is discussed.

La Scotia a recueilli, dans les régions antarctiques, un petit nombre de Crïnoides; mais cette collection, quoique restreinte, est intéressante et je regrette vivement que diverses circonstances, indépendantes de ma bonne volonté, ne m'aient pas permis d'en faire une étude complète.

Parmi les formes libres se trouvent des exemplaires se rapportant à l'Isometra vivipara Mortensen, espèce incubatrice présentant, dans des pinnules élargies à leur base, des œufs en voie de développement et dont quelques cirres portent des larves au stade pentacrine. Ces exemplaires ont été recueillis au “Burdwood Bank,” comme ceux dont Anderson (1904) avait décrit le mode d'incubation sous l'appellation d'Antedon hirsuta Carpenter et qu'Austin Clark (1915, p. 146) présumait devoir être Isometra angustipinna (Carpenter) ou une forme voisine. Mais Mortensen (1918, p. 10) examinant les échantillons rapportés par l'Expédition antarctique suédoise de cette espèce incubatrice la considére comme nouvelle et la décrit sous le nom d'Isometra vivipara.

Short synopses of my earlier results were given in the Gardeners' Chronicle for April and July 1890. Until after the publication of these I was not aware that some advance had already been made in the direction indicated, and my best thanks are due to Dr Masters for calling my attention to one or two publication's on the subject.

In 1831 Professor J. S. Henslow compared a hybrid Digitalis with its parents in a wonderfully minute way, when we consider the degree to which histology had advanced in his time. He demonstrated that in the size and shape of the hairs and other structures, the hybrid was intermediate between its parents. Wichura and Kerner have proved that the same is true of Willows and Pulmonarias respectively.

Concentrations of total organic carbon (TOC), total petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were determined in 84 near-surface soils (5–20cm depth) taken from a 255km2 area of Glasgow in the Clyde Basin, UK, during July 2011. Total petroleum hydrocarbon range was 79–2,505mgkg–1 (mean 388mgkg–1; median 272mgkg–1) of which the aromatic fraction was 13–74 % (mean 44 %, median 43 %) and saturates were 28–87 % (mean 56 %, median 57 %). ∑16 PAH varied from 2–653mgkg–1 (mean 32.4mgkg–1; median 12.5mgkg–1) and ∑31 PAH range was 2.47–852mgkg–1 (mean 45.4mgkg–1; median 19.0mgkg–1). ∑PCBtri-hepta range was 2.2–1052μgkg–1 (mean 32.4μgkg–1; median 12.7μgkg–1) and the ∑PCB7 range was 0.3–344μgkg–1 (mean 9.8μgkg–1; median 2.7μgkg–1). The concentration, distribution and source of the persistent organic pollutants were compared with those found in urban soils from other cities and to human health assessment criteria for chronic exposure to chemicals in soil. Total concentrations encountered were generally similar to other urban areas that had a similar industrial history. Benzo[a]pyrene concentrations were assessed against four different land use scenarios (irrespective of current land use) using generic assessment criteria resulting in six of 84 samples exceeding the residential criteria. Isomeric PAH ratios and relative abundance of perylene suggest multiple and environmentally modified pyrogenic PAH sources, inferred to be representative of diffuse pollution. ∑PCB7 concentrations were exceeded in 10 % of sites using the Dutch target value of 20μgkg–1. PCB congener profiles were environmentally attenuated and generally dominated by penta-, hexa- and hepta-chlorinated congeners.

The Late Triassic fauna of the Lossiemouth Sandstone Formation (LSF) from the Elgin area, Scotland, has been pivotal in expanding our understanding of Triassic terrestrial tetrapods. Frustratingly, due to their odd preservation, interpretations of the Elgin Triassic specimens have relied on destructive moulding techniques, which only provide incomplete, and potentially distorted, information. Here, we show that micro-computed tomography (μCT) could revitalise the study of this important assemblage. We describe a long-neglected specimen that was originally identified as a pseudosuchian archosaur, Ornithosuchus woodwardi. μCT scans revealed dozens of bones belonging to at least two taxa: a small-bodied pseudosuchian and a specimen of the procolophonid Leptopleuron lacertinum. The pseudosuchian skeleton possesses a combination of characters that are unique to the clade Erpetosuchidae. As a basis for investigating the phylogenetic relationships of this new specimen, we reviewed the anatomy, taxonomy and systematics of other erpetosuchid specimens from the LSF (all previously referred to Erpetosuchus). Unfortunately, due to the differing representation of the skeleton in the available Erpetosuchus specimens, we cannot determine whether the erpetosuchid specimen we describe here belongs to Erpetosuchus granti (to which we show it is closely related) or if it represents a distinct new taxon. Nevertheless, our results shed light on rarely preserved details of erpetosuchid anatomy. Finally, the unanticipated new information extracted from both previously studied and neglected specimens suggests that fossil remains may be much more widely distributed in the Elgin quarries than previously recognised, and that the richness of the LSF might have been underestimated.