In the “Catalogue of Fossil Fishes in the British Museum“ (pt. i. 1889, p. 76, pl. iii. fig. 1), the imperfect rostrum of a Selachian fish from the Upper Cretaceous of Mount Lebanon was described under the new generic and specific name of Sclerorhynchm atavus. Presenting some resemblances to the rostrum both of the typical saw-fish (Prislis) and of PristiopJtorus, hesitation was expressed in determining the systematic position of the genus to which the fossil pertained; but from the apparently complex nature of the rostral cartilages and the absence of extended prepalatines, it was deemed advisable to place the fish provisionally in the family of Pristidæ.

The beds above the Borrowdale volcanic group, and below the Coniston Flags, have been treated, in detail in other communications, but, notwithstanding all that has been written of the higher Silurian rocks of the Lake District, something remains to be said about them.

The Government of Western Australia, through their Geologist, Harry Page Woodward, Esq., F.G.S., has recently presented to the British Museum an important series of Palæozoic invertebrate fossils which have been collected from various localities during the progress of the geological survey of that colony.

In the October Number of this Magazine, a paper by the Rev. A. Irving, D.Sc, calls for some comment. The subject, “The Malvern Crystallines,” is one which has engaged my close attention during the last seven years, and two expositions of my views have appeared in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. I am glad to find that Dr. Irving accepts my main conclusion —that the Malvern gneisses and schists are of igneous origin; but there are some important details in which he has formed a different opinion. It will not be necessary for me to discuss these differences with any fulness, since my third and final paper, which is nearly ready, treats of some of his more material objections to my views.

I Have obtained a considerable number of specimens of Thecidium ornatum, Moore, from the Coral Rag, in the bed containing Phasianella (Pseudomelania) striata; Pseudodiadema versipora, Hemicidaris intermedia, etc., from a quarry between Ayton and Scarborough. My friend, the late Mr. Charles Moore, F.G.S., gave me some specimens of this Brachiopod from the Coral Eag of Lyneham, Wiltshire, with which the Yorkshire Thecidium perfectly agrees in form. This shell, especially the dorsal valve, is plentiful at Ayton, but it is troublesome to find on account of its small size; it is best obtained by washing the marl; occasionally it is found attached to Ostrea.

A Mongst the Carboniferous Crinoidea in this Museum an abnormal form of Platycrinus pileatus, Goldf., from the Carboniferous Limestone of Bolland was recently discovered by me whilst cataloguing the collection. This specimen has only four arms and the calyx has suffered a corresponding diminution in the number of its plates. The cup is conical, and when viewed from the base roughly quadrangular: it expands somewhat rapidly so that its greatest diameter is only slightly less than its height.

Covering a vast extent of the southern portion of Russia in Europe, occurs the sandy clay which is commonly known as Loess, whose origin has given rise to the most varied and conflicting opinions. In the course of a visit to the above country, this deposit struck the writer as well worthy of further study, whilst its connection with the Black Earth invited closer inspection. Its distribution and general characters, as regards the greater part of Western and Central Europe, have been dealt with in a most masterly manner by Baron von Richthofen in his “China,” chap. v.; but at the Russian frontier his description ceases almost abruptly, and he merely mentions that the Dniester and its tributaries appear to have cut their channels through the Loess.

The commonly accepted theory of the origin of granite is that, in view of indications that it had been subjected to great pressure, it was formed deep in the earth's crust in a molten state, and, after consolidating, thrust up through it, or exposed at the surface by denudation. This theory is not altogether satisfactory, being equivalent to an assertion that a stately building was first constructed and its foundation laid afterwards. Like some other unsatisfactory theories, it has been so often reiterated that it is tacitly assented to as authoritative, on the principle, we suppose, that what everybody says must be true. There are existing conditions analogous to those under which the trappean rocks were formed, as illustrated by modern submarine and subaërial erupted rocks; but the conditions under which primitive granite originated are not now represented in any part of the world.