In 1877 and the following year Colonel H. W. Feilden published the results of his scientific investigations on the coasts of Smith Sound and the channel to the north. In 1896 he made contributions to the geology of Kolguev, Waigats, and Novaya Zemlya in two other papers. These are reprinted, together with one previously unpublished, in the appendix to Mr. H. J. Pearson's book, “Beyond Petsora Eastward” (1899). As the earlier work appears to have been forgotten by some writers upon glacial subjects, and the last-named might very easily escape their notice, I urged Colonel Feilden to give a summary of his chief results in some generally accessible periodical. Shortly afterwards, on being unexpectedly called away for service in South Africa, he requested me to undertake the task. For the sake of brevity, I restrict myself mainly to the investigations which throw light on the formation of Boulder-clay and its associated sands and gravels, because these establish two points: (1) that such deposits are sometimes formed beneath the sea; (2) that the land in these Arctic regions has been elevated, in places not less than a thousand feet, since either some time in or the close of the Glacial epoch.

The order in which the various mineral constituents of an igneous rock may crystallize out from an igneous magma offers to the petrologist a problem of great difficulty and complexity. It is generally admitted that the order of consolidation is not wholly determined by the order of the fusion-points of the constituents, and with this admission the fusion-points have come to be consistently disregarded, as though they might safely be left out of account. That this is not the case has of late become strongly impressed upon me, especially after a consideration of the important data obtained by Mr. Ralph Cusack, B.A., who, by means of Professor Joly's meldometer, has determined the precise temperature of fusion of most of the rock-forming minerals.

“Scientific men,” said Professor Thomas H. Huxley, “get an awkward habit—no, I won't call it that, for it is a valuable habit—of believing nothing unless there is evidence for it; and they have a way of looking upon belief which is not based upon evidence, not only as illogical, but as immoral.”

In the “Catalogue of the Cambrian and Silurian Fossils in the Woodwardian Museum,” compiled by J. W. Salter, F.G.S., and published in 1873, many new specific names occur, in some cases accompanied by a few words of description, but frequently by none at all. Although several of these species have been described by subsequent writers, there yet remains a large number which are only known by their names, some of which have found their way into geological literature. It therefore seemed desirable to rescue these forms from their present unstable position, and to issue a detailed account of their characters to avoid future confusion. The original specimens are in the Woodwardian Museum, and though in many instances they are in a poor state of preservation, rendering the precise and minute diagnosis of the species difficult, yet the subsequent acquisition of further specimens of the same forms has enabled me to make the descriptions more complete.

The following descriptions are based upon a collection of foraminiferal limestones, chiefly nummulitic, from Sinai, which were sent to the British Museum for description and determination by Captain H. G. Lyons, R.E., F.G.S., Director of the Geological Survey of Egypt.

The conversion of augite or hornblende into brown mica appears to take place from three causes:—

1. By crushing of pyroxenic minerals and felspar, as has been observed by Professor Bonney in sundry schists of the Alps.

2. By the intrusion of felspathic material into a rock containing augite or hornblende, as in the Harz, where granite invades diabase, converting the augite into biotite. A similar change has been observed in the gabbro of the Barnavave Mountain, in the Carlingford district, the diallage being wholly or in part replaced by biotite owing to the invasion of granophyric magma. In Sark the intrusion of an aplitic magma into almost pure hornblende has resulted in the formation of biotite.

The district in which these observations have been made is a very suitable one for such experiments, and is situated from 2 to 12 miles from Bacchus Marsh and from 32 to 54 miles west of Melbourne.

I have received a copy of the paper by Messrs. Harrison and Jukes-Browne on the Oceanic Deposits of Trinidad, and wish to place on record a few remarks on it.

The following descriptions of Ostracoda from the Tithonian of Austria relate to specimens kindly forwarded to me by Dr. M. Remeš. They were obtained, together with numerous other fossils, including Foraminifera, from the Red Limestone of Nesselsdorf.