Pareiasaurs were globally distributed, abundant, herbivorous parareptiles with the basal-most members found only in the mid-Permian of South Africa. These basal forms form a monophyletic group and were locally abundant and became extinct at the top of the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone at the end of the Guadalupian. Four species of basal pareiasaurs are currently recognised: Bradysaurus baini, B. seeleyi, Embrithosaurus schwarzi and Nochelesaurus alexanderi, but they are all poorly understood and there remains historic uncertainty as to their validity. In this paper, our second contribution designed to improve understanding of the basal group, we present the first detailed cranial description and updated diagnosis for Nochelesaurus alexanderi and demonstrate that it is a distinct taxon based on one cranial autapomorphy, a large transversely wide postparietal, and a combination of cranial characters. Within the local group of mid-Permian pareiasaurs, we recognise new dental features of Nochelesaurus alexanderi: non-symmetrical marginal cusp arrangements on upper and lower teeth resulting from an extra basal mesial cusp; an incipient horizontal cingulum on lower jaw teeth, sometimes with one or two tiny medial cingular cusps; and up to ten marginal cusps. Our study demonstrates that tooth morphology and orientation, cranial ornamentation, morphology of the cheek bosses, shape of the postfrontal and postparietal, and morphology of the distal paroccipital process of the opisthotic are the most useful to identify South African mid-Permian pareiasaurs.

No subject of modern scientific inquiry is more important than the series of deposits in which geology comes in contact with the period of human history. This must be my apology for some of the seemingly trivial details contained in the following paper. When these observations were begun, nothing could be further from my thoughts than any reference to the antiquity of man. But I shall perhaps best introduce the subject by simply narrating the way in which I was led forward step by step, till the whole inquiry assumed the form in which it is here presented.

The Pentland Hills sponge fauna (Llandovery, Telychian) consists of an unusual, aberrant assemblage, but of low diversity. A new specimen of a unique sponge, Eoghanospongia carlinslowpensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the classic locality of R82. The mushroom-shaped, probably stalked body (peduncle attachment to body not exposed) resembles that of some living rossellids, especially Caulophacus. The sponge also shows prominent projecting pentactins and monaxon derivatives – a spicule type diagnostic of the Rossellidae among living taxa, albeit in a robust form not described from extant sponges, including Caulophacus or other pedunculate lyssacinosidans. Certain attribution to the Rossellidae is not possible from the single specimen, largely because of weak preservation of the primary spicule skeleton, but no other fossil or modern sponges show any significant similarity to it. Although similarly early relatives of the Rossellidae have recently been described from elsewhere, the new sponge is even more unexpected in being from a shallow-water environment, making the absence of rossellids through the rest of the Palaeozoic much more problematic.

The town of Ardrossan is built largely upon the 15-feet beach which to the north and south of the promontory is a well-marked terrace of sand and gravel, but on the promontory itself is represented by a rocky shelf rarely exceeding 12 feet in height. The promontory owes its origin to a great extent to the igneous rock of the Castlehill and the Inches, which has offered more resistance to marine denudation than the neighbouring sandstones. The railway to West Kilbride runs for some distance along the 50-feet beach, while the 100-feet beach is represented by an irregular accumulation of sand and gravel some distance inland.

The river Tilt is a principal branch of the Tay, which rises on the borders of Aberdeenshire, and runs towards the south-west, through the north-eastern part of the county of Perth. A portion of the valley along its course, for about ten miles above Blair of Atholl, is called Glen Tilt.

The adjacent country presents the common character of the Highlands. It is mountainous and rugged, and the surface, except in the lower parts of the valleys, is chiefly covered with heath. Peat-moss frequently occurs.

Five orthopteran specimens from the uppermost Middle–lowermost Upper Jurassic of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China are described and attributed to the genus Sigmaboilus Fang, Zhang & Wang, 2007 (Prophalangopsidae); and a new species, S. calophlebius sp. nov., is established herein. The diagnostic characters for Sigmaboilus are revised and a key to species of Sigmaboilus, based on male forewings, is provided. Intraspecific variation in forewings of this genus is also discussed.

Fluid inclusion studies of granite quartz provide an opportunity to study fluid flow associated with igneous activity and post-emplacement fluid processes. This study presents new fluid inclusion data from the late Caledonian Donegal granites and Newry granodiorite, and the Tertiary Mourne Mountains granite in Ireland, which identify three distinct fluids. Aqueous-carbonic fluids (Type 1) have been recorded in late Caledonian granites with a significant mantle component (Newry granodiorite and the Ardara and Thorr granites in Donegal). These fluids represent late-magmatic fluids trapped at high temperatures (up to 575°C), and the ultimate source of these carbonic fluids is linked to sub-lithospheric processes during the Caledonian orogeny. The dominant fluid type (Type 2) in late Caledonian granites is a H2O+NaCl±KCl fluid which may be related to thermal convection cells around granite bodies and/or to regional scale influx of surface derived fluids at the end of the Caledonian orogeny. High salinity NaCl–CaCl2 fluids (Type 3) overprint quartz in the Ardara granite in Donegal, and in the Newry granodiorite, and are interpreted to represent basinal brines, sourced in overlying sedimentary basins, which circulated through the crystalline basement during a period of crustal extension (possibly during the Carboniferous or the Triassic). Fluid inclusion studies of the Tertiary Mourne Mountains granites have identified only Type 2 fluids related to thermal convection cells, consistent with stable isotope evidence, which indicates that this younger granite is unaffected by regional-scale fluid influxes.

Disko Island, (see Plate XV ), is situated in front of a bay in the continent of Greenland, within Davis' Strait, known by the name of Disko Bay, which is sometimes called, particularly in the old Dutch charts, Sydost Bay. This name is derived from an immense curvature, screened by innumerable islands, made in the continent by the sea. Disko Island is situated in 69° 14ʹ of N. latitude. It is distant from the continent towards the south 12 German miles; on the west and north it is surrounded by the sea of Davis' Strait; and on the east, it is separated by a narrow sound, distinguished by the name of Waygat by the Dutch, and by the Greenlanders Ikareseksoak. It stretches northward from 69° 14ʹ to 70° 24ʹ; and its greatest breadth, which is from Fortune Bay on the west, to Flakkerhuk, so named by the Dutch, on the east, is 10 German miles.

To understand the physico-chemical processes associated with migmatisation is an interesting petrological problem. New developments in microfluidics and chaotic mixing experiments have helped us to better perceive these processes from the migmatic rocks of the Proterozoic Chotanagpur Granite Gneiss Complex (CGGC), eastern India. The migmatic rocks of CGGC have preserved folded leucocratic veins in amphibolites representing viscous folding. The viscous folding phenomenon occurred due to the interaction between leucosome and melanosome. Based on textural features and mineral chemical data interpretations, we infer that when granitic and pegmatitic magmas intruded the gneissic rocks and amphibolites of our study area, diffusion of heat and volatiles from the hotter felsic magmas to the colder country rocks initiated partial melting in the amphibolites, forming melanosomes. After their formation, the highly viscous felsic magmas veined into the melanosomes, by progressively melting them and then interacting, leading to chaotic mixing dynamics. The development of chaotic mixing allowed the leucosome to venture into the melanosome as veins by stretching and folding dynamics. As the leucocratic veins or leucosome traversed through the partially molten rock or melanosome due to advection, the veins underwent viscous folding owing to the exertion of compressional stress brought about by the viscosity difference between the two mediums. The occurrence of viscous folding exponentially increased the contact area between the leucosome and the melanosome, eventually leading to enhanced diffusion and augmented mixing between the two mediums. Evidence of mixing through elemental diffusion is well documented by the compositions of amphibole and biotite occurring in the leucosome and melanosome. These minerals show substitution of magnesium and ferrous ion that show linear variation between the endmember compositions.

Evidence of herbivory on Laurasian Nymphaeaceae leaves from Lower Cretaceous (Upper Albian) deposits is presented for the first time. The types of damage on leaves consist of both hole feeding and margin feeding, which were found on foliar remains of the taxa Ploufolia cerciforme and Aquatifolia cf. fluitans. Within the first category of damage, the Damage Type 78 (DT78) type on Ploufolia leaves and type DT02 on Aquatifolia foliar lamina were recorded. The second category of damage has only been identified in Ploufolia leaves, and it corresponds to type DT12. The subsequent palaeoichnologic interpretation made it possible to compare these records with damage caused by the extant water lily pest to make a possible palaeoecological interpretation.

The purpose of this paper was to study the interaction effects of rainfall regime and slope length on runoff and soil loss under different land uses. Event runoff and soil loss in forest, shrub and grass were measured in plots with lengths of 5, 9 and 13m in the Loess Plateau from 2008 to 2016. A total of 59 erosive rainfall events were recorded and classified into three rainfall regimes. Firstly, the results showed that the runoff coefficient was grass>shrub>forest, and soil loss was grass>forest>shrub, but the differences between forest and shrub in runoff and between grass and forest in soil loss did not reach significant levels. Secondly, rainfall regimes had an important effect on runoff and soil loss under different land uses. The lowest runoff coefficients and the highest soil loss in regime 2 were found in shrub and forest land, respectively, which differed from that of regime 1. In total, rainfall regime 1 had the highest runoff coefficient of 0.84–2.06%, followed by regime 3 with 0.33–0.88% and regime 2 with 0.04–0.06%. Soil loss in forest and grass land had a different order of regime 3>regime 1>regime 2. Thirdly, both the runoff coefficient and soil loss decreased with increasing plot length, while the effect of slope length on runoff/soil loss were influenced by land use type and rainfall regimes.

Elsewhere two of the present authors (Davies and Francis, 1941) have expressed the opinion that a specialised cardiac conducting system, consisting of nodal and Purkinje fibres, is a newly evolved one in birds and mammals. The general morphology and topography of this system in the heart of the bird (Davies, 1930 a, 1930 b) is similar to that in the heart of the eutherian mammal, and we have postulated (Davies and Francis, 1941) that the system has undergone parallel evolution in these two classes of homoiothermal vertebrates in response to functional requirements, and that in particular its presence can be correlated with the rapidity of the heart-rate in proportion to its size. On the other hand, Keith and Flack (1907), Keith and Mackenzie (1910), and Mackenzie (1913) maintain that the sinu-atrial node, atrio-ventricular node, and atrio-ventricular bundle of the mammalian heart are remnants of more extensive tissues of similar structure in the hearts of lower vertebrates. They trace the evolution of the conducting system of the mammalian heart from a simpler and more definite form which they described in the fish, and state that as one ascends the animal scale the concentration and reduction of nodal tissue becomes more marked. We ourselves (Davies and Francis, 1941) have failed to find any nodal or Purkinje fibres in any part of the hearts of the following cold-blooded vertebrates: fish (eel, gurnard), amphibia (salamander, frog), and reptiles (tortoise, Mississippi alligator, Sphenodon). We therefore believe that, whereas the ordinary cardiac muscle is able to conduct the impulse for cardiac contraction quickly enough in these slowly contracting cold-blooded vertebrate hearts, a specially developed system is evolved in the much more rapidly beating hearts of birds and mammals. Amongst mammals themselves, the nodal and Purkinje fibres of the monotreme heart (Davies, 1931) have the same general disposition as those in the eutherian mammal. The present work is concerned with the conducting system of the heart of the remaining sub-class of mammalia, namely the Didelphia. No previous detailed study of this system in the marsupial heart has been made.

The Memoir now submitted to the Society, while it details the chief events in the life of a man who occupied a distinguished place in the literature of Scotland, at a period when it had attained a high reputation, cannot claim to be so complete as might be desired. His life was prolonged for several years after nearly all of his early friends had passed away; and since his death many papers have been destroyed or have fallen aside, which would now be of the greatest interest.

Whilst in this way much has been lost that might have given greater completeness to these pages, still, the recent publication of the Diary of his friend Dr Carlyle of Inveresk, has furnished many additional details, and afforded further evidence of the estimation in which he was held by his literary associates.

Several letters selected from the lives of his distinguished friends, and from the Manuscript Collection of the University, in addition to information derived from the short notices of his life already printed, have afforded the materials for preparing this sketch of one, whose career was more varied, while his public labours and literary connections were not less important and extensive, than those of any of his contemporaries.

It seems extraordinary, that no one should have undertaken a geological survey of Roxburghshire, more especially as the counties to the east and west of it have been examined, and accounts of their formations were published some years ago. It cannot be from its uninteresting character, that the intervening district has been neglected; for it presents as great a variety of apparently distinct formations, as there are in the adjoining counties of Dumfries and Berwick; and some of these have long been the special subjects of speculation and controversy among geologists. The British Association, in the Report of its Meeting held at Cambridge in 1833, propounded the following questions for geological inquiry.

Ramsay Heatley Traquair, the eminent Victorian Scottish palaeoichthyologist and museum curator, procured an extensive collection of Palaeozoic fishes from across Scotland with the help of local miners and quarrymen. One very productive locality near Edinburgh was Loanhead. Traquair described numerous fossil fish from this Serpukhovian site, including four lungfish taxa: Ctenodus interruptus, Sagenodus quinquecostatus, Uronemus splendens and Ctenodus angustulus. The first three are now quite well known, but the fourth was only briefly described and never figured. It is based entirely on tooth plates, which are unusual both in their very small size and the arrangement of the tooth ridges. They lack the diagnostic characters of Ctenodus tooth plates and are here renamed Clackodus angustulus. A further taxon, Conchopoma sp., has recently been identified. Represented by a spade-shaped parasphenoid and denticulated jaw elements, it is the earliest known occurrence of the genus, extending its range into the Mississippian. A sixth taxon may be represented by an isolated parasphenoid bearing an anterior process, previously only seen in Devonian lungfish. The presence of up to six lungfish taxa at a single locality is unprecedented in the Carboniferous and indicates that the high level of lungfish diversity encountered in the Tournaisian of the Scottish Borders continued throughout the Mississippian, adding to the growing evidence that post-Devonian lungfish evolution was not as limited as previously proposed. This may have been due to changes in tooth plate growth, enabling greater variation in dentition and diet. In most Devonian taxa, tooth plate growth can be explained by comparison with that in extant forms, but analysis of Carboniferous tooth plates suggest growth was different in many taxa, possibly based on more than one pioneer tooth, allowing for novel patterns of tooth ridges and different types of teeth to develop on the same plate.

In the report on Oceanic Circulation, based on the observations made on board H.M.S. “Challenger,” and other observations, which was published in the beginning of 1895 as an Appendix in the Summary of Results, Second Part Challenger Reports, the specific gravities dealt with were all at the standard temperature of 60° Fahr., the standard density being that of distilled water at 39°·2 (4° C). By this method of treatment the question of the salinity or saltness of the water is approximately stated, unquestionably one of the most important questions affecting the physics of the ocean. But the movement of the water, or oceanic circulation, as resulting from different densities, can only be represented by stating, not the specific gravity reduced to the uniform temperature of 60°, but the specific gravity at the observed temperature at all points in the ocean at which observations are made. In this paper these specific gravities are viewed in their relations to the circulation of the waters of the ocean.

As it is my intention soon to publish, in various works on Natural History, the observations on the Botany of India which I made during my residence there, I wish to place on record an account of the opportunities which I enjoyed of making such observations, with the view of explaining to the Botanist where he may find the various collections which I made in different parts. I also wish to explain the geographical terms that I shall employ, in giving an account of the places where I found each species. For this purpose I prefer using the ancient Sanscrita names, both as being more scientific, and as being more likely to remain permanent; for, after a lapse of many ages, they continue to be known to all Hindus of learning, while each new invasion or revolution sinks into immediate oblivion the mushroom appellations imposed by modern rulers, whether Muhammedans or Christians.

On account of the treacherous character of the natives of the Solomon Group, no extensive geological observations have ever been made in these islands since the period of their discovery by the Spaniards three centuries ago. For this reason my excursions in these regions were not free from personal risks; in many places they were considerably curtailed, and in some places they had to be abandoned altogether. Fortunately, however, I was able to make a detailed examination of several of the smaller islands, the natives of which had been first conciliated by the kindly tact of Lieut.-Commander C. F. Oldham, to whom I am indebted for much assistance in my pursuits. But from the circumstances in which I was placed, both on board and on shore, it was necessary, in order to accomplish much, to dare a little.

The importance of teeth in the classification of animals, from the days of Aristotle, Ray, Linnæus, Erxleben, Hunter, and their numerous successors, caused the occurrence of abnormalities to be frequently noted. Such, indeed, are found in many groups, e.g. in the Primates, Lemurs, Carnivores, Rodents, Ungulates, Sirenians, Edentates, and Marsupials. Whilst the main subject of this investigation was abnormal teeth in the rabbit, it was thought right to glance at the other groups of mammals, including various rodents besides the rabbit, so as to give greater breadth to the observations. Less attention, perhaps, was paid to the diminution or increase in the number of the teeth in the general groups than to their abnormality in structure or position.

Phloeocharinae is a small and likely non-monophyletic subfamily of rove beetles. The enigmatic genus Charhyphus Sharp, 1887 has long been placed in Phloeocharinae, whereas recent studies have found it to be phylogenetically very distant from the core members of this subfamily, suggesting the possibility that it actually deserves its own separate subfamily status. So far, the sole definitive fossil record for Charhyphus is known based on a single male from Eocene Baltic amber as represented by †Charhyphus balticus Shavrin, 2020. Here, we describe and illustrate another new Charhyphus species, †Charhyphus serratus sp. nov. Yamamoto & Shavrin, from Baltic amber based on a well-preserved female fossil. Considering the general proportions of the body and the head, this new species is most similar to †C. balticus. The new species differs from all known species by the development of strong serration of the lateral edges of the pronotum and features of the shape of the apical margin of the mesoventrite. By using X-ray micro-computed tomography, we succeeded in visualising not only the general habitus but also each individual body part, recovering a previously undocumented sclerite on the female internal genital segments in the genus. Morphological features of extinct and extant species of Charhyphus are briefly discussed. Figures of all extant Charhyphus species and a key for the genus are also provided. Our study is important for considering possible higher palaeodiversity, more common occurrence, and palaeobiogeography of Charhyphus.