systems generally, and especially to those divisions so largely developed in the South of France, and during my passage through Marseilles he kindly wrote out the following table, in which his views are correctly defined.

I. UPPER CHALK.

1. GARUMNIEN (Leymerie), named after the department of the Garonne

Sphærulites Leymerii (Bayle), Cyrena garumnica, Lychnus Matheroni. It is of fresh-water origin in Provence, and fluvio-marine in the Pyrenees. It comprises the Pisolitic stage of d'Orbigny. Mr. Leymerie places it on a parallel with the étage Danien, but I believe this to be a mistake. It does not exist in England. 2. DORDONIEN (Coquand), after the department of Dordogne

Sphærulites ingens, Hippurites radiosus, Radiolites Jouanneti, Ostrea Villei, etc. It includes the upper beds of Maestricht which contain the same Rudists as in the Dordogne. It also comprises the Sénonien of d'Orbigny (upper portion), and is wanting in England.

3. CAMPANIEN (Coquand), from the country of Champaign or Cognno

Ostrea vesicularis, Belemnitella mucronata, Terebratula carnea, Ananchytes ovatus, Hemipneustes radiatus, Baculites Faujasi, Radiolites Hæninghausi. It corresponds to the Sénonien of d'Orbigny: to the Danien of the same author, who, by mistake, identifies it with the Pisolitique: it is the White Chalk of the English, the Craie blanche de Meudon of the French; the Obere Kreide of the German Geologists. 4. SANTONIEN (Coquand), from Saintonge

Micraster cor-anguinum, Belemnitella quadrata, Spondylus truncatus, Rhynchonella vespertilio, Ostrea semi-plana, O. frons Radiolites fissicostatus. It corresponds to the Sénonien of d'Orbigny to the upper portion only of the Lower Chalk, to the Craie Marneuse, and Craie de Velledieu; to the Oberer Planer of the Germans.

5. CONIACIEN (Coquand), from Cognac

Rhynchonella Baugasi, Spherulites Coquandi. It corresponds to the base or lower portion of the Sénonien of d'Orbigny: to the Sables d'Aix-la-Chapelle (base), and is not found in England.

II. MIDDLE CHALK.

1. PROVENCIEN (Coquand) after the Provence

Hippurites cornu-vaccinum, H. organisans, Sphærulites Sauvagesi, S. angeiodes, Caprina Coquandi. It corresponds to the Turonien of d'Orbigny.

2. MORNASIEN (Coquand), after Mornas Vaucluse

Ammonites Requieni, Arca Matheroni. It comprises the celebrated Grès d'Uchaux (Turonien of d'Orbigny), and is wanting in England.

3. ANGOUMIEN (Coquand), after Angouleme

Radiolites cornu-pastoris, R. lumbricalis, Hippurites Requieni. Is wanting in England, but corresponds to the Turonien of d'Orbigny.

4. LIGERIEN (Coquand), after the Loire

Inoceramus problematicus, Ammonites Fleurianus, A. papalis, Terebratella Carentonensis. It corresponds to the lower portion of the Lower Chalk of England, to the base of the Craie Marneuse: to the Craie Tuffeau, to the Turonien of d'Orbigny: Mittler Quadermergel, Plänerkalk of the Germans.

5. CARENTONIEN (Coquand), after the department of the CharenteCaprina adversa, Sphærulites foliaceus, Ostrea biauriculata, O. columba, O. flabellata, Terabratula phascolina. It corresponds to the Cenomanien of d'Orbigny : to the Sables du Mans, Chalk Marl of English geologists, Unterer Pläner of the Germans.

6. GARDONIEN (Coquand), after the Gard

Vicarya Renauriana, Teredo Fleuriansi. This stage is of lacustrine origin, and will require hereafter to be united either to No. 5 or 7. 7. ROTHOMAGIEN (Coquand), after Rouen

Ammonites Rothomagensis, A. varians, A. faleatus, Scaphites æqualis, Turrilites costatus, Pecten asper, Terebratella pectita, T. lyra, Ostrea conica, Radiolites Mortoni. It corresponds to the Craie Chloritée or Glauconieuse, to the Upper Green Sand (Warminster Sand), the Cénomanien of d'Orbigny; Unterer Planer inferieur (Greensand of Essen).

8. VRACONIEN (Renevier), from Vraconne in Switzerland

Ammonites inflatus, Rhynchonella sulcata, Am. auritus, A. latidorsatus. It corresponds to the Gault Superieur of the Swiss, to the Cambridge Upper Gault or Green Sand, Flammenmergel of the Germans.

ALBIEN (d'Orbigny)—

Ammonites splendens, ▲. mamillaris, A. Raulini. It corresponds to the real Gault of Folkstone and Wissant, to the Oberer and Mittler Gault of the Germans. III. LOWER CHALK.

1. URGO-APTIEN—

1. Argiles à Plicatules-Ammonites nisus, A. Gargasensis; Plicatula placunea, Belemnites semicanaliculatus, Ostrea æquila, Terebratella Astieriana (Lower Green Sand of the English geologists), Aptien of d'Orbigny, Unterer Gault, Mergel, and U. G. Thon of the Germans.

2. Couches à Orbitolites-Ancyloceras Matheronianum, Plicatula placunea, Belemnites semicanaliculatus, Ammonites fissicostatus, Nautilus plicatus, Heteraster oblongus, Pseudodiadema Malbosi, Caprotina Lonsdalii, Ostrea aquila, O. macroptera, Orbitolites lenticularis. (Etage Rhodanien of Renevier). a. URGONIEN (d'Orbigny) Requienia Lonsdali, R. ammonia, Nerinea Coquandi, N. Archimedi, N. gigantea, Heteraster oblongus, Ostrea aquila. Nautilus plicatus, Orbitolites lenticulata, Scaphites Tranii.

3.

b. BARREMIEN (Coquand) Ancyloceras Duvalii, A. Emerici, A. Tabarelli, Terebratella Astieriana, Ostrea Leymerii.

a. and b. are parallel, a. represents the coral aspect, b. the littoral aspect, both correspond to the Argiles Ostréennes. As we find them in Provence so is it in the Pyrenees and Spain; there exist alternations between the Aptien beds and the Urgonien, and it became consequently necessary to form of the two a single division. The subdivisions denote a peculiar facies, a petrographical character, which nevertheless varies according to the country where observed. These three subdivisions correspond with the Upper and Middle Neocomien of Mr. Judd, to the Neocomien Superieur of M. Cornuel.

2. NEOCOMIEN—

Ammonites Astierianus, A. multiplicatus, Ostrea Couloni, O. rectangularis, Toxaster complanatus, Belemnites latus, and dilalatus. It corresponds to the Marnes d'Hauterive, Lower Neocomien of Judd; Hills, of the Germans. 3. VALENGIEN

Ammonites Gervilianus, Strombus Sautieri, Pygurus rostratus. The equivalent of the Wealden of England, and of the first stage of the Neocomien inferieur of Cornuel.

From the above it would appear that M. Coquand divides the Cretaceous system into seventeen étages or divisions, of which nine only would seem to occur in Great Britain.

To our White Chalk he applies the term Campanien, while to the upper portion only of our Lower Chalk the term Santonien is given, then according to the same geologist, four divisions would intervene,

in France, between the upper portion and the lower one of our Lower Chalk, to which last the term Ligérien is applied. This is followed (always in the descending order) by Coquand's étage Carentonien, which comprises our Chalk Marl. Here again another break would seemingly occur in the shape of his étage Gardonien, prior to reaching our Upper Green Sand, his Rothomagien. Under this last comes the étage Vraconien or Cambridge beds, which I found was well developed in the neighbourhood of Nice, and to which we will hereafter refer, while treating of the geology of the department of maritimes Alps. Immediately under the Vraconien we find the true Gault, (of Folkstone and Wissant) or étage Albien of French geologists. In the étage Urgo-Aptien, he places the Lower Green Sand, the Aptien and a portion of the Neocomien of Judd, while the true Neocomien would comprise the Lower Neocomien of the last named author. That gentleman informs me that the reference of the Speeton Clay to the Aptien, made by so many geologists on the Continent, is due to the fact that, with two or three exceptions, all the specimens figured by Phillips in the "Geology of Yorkshire," are from the cement beds, which he regards as certainly of Aptien age.

PROE

(To be continued).

VII. ON THE OLDEST BRITISH BELEMNITE.

By RAPLH TATE, Assoc. Lin. Soc., F.G.S., etc.

ROFESSOR PHILLIP'S remarks that "from the Inferior Oolite downwards through the Liassic series Belemnites are almost never absent from the section till we reach the zone of Ammonites Bucklandi; only in the upper part of this zone have they been found-at Salford and at Lyme Regis," But as the unique examplethe subject of the present communication-was collected from the zone of Ammonites angulatus, it is the oldest known British Belemnite, and as such claims some attention.

a

b

a. Outline of B. præmaturus, nat. size.

b. Enlarged.

The only notice that I am acquainted with of the occurrence of Liassic Belemnites in strata older than the Bucklandi beds is that by Jules Martin, who records Bel. acutus, Miller, in his zone of Ammonites Moreanus, which is the equivalent in the Cote d'Or of the zone, of Ammonites angulatus.

Description of the Species.-Belemnites præmaturus, mihi. Guard, slightly subhastate, (terminating in an acute central point,)? contracted in all the regions about the alveolar apex, and tapering very gradually to the point. On the lateral faces of the anterior part of the guard there are two distinct lateral furrows which extend to about the middle part. Axis apparently straight. Phragmocone in its transverse section sub-oblong, the dorso-ventral diameter being the longer. Extreme length 35 inch; length of axis, so far as traceable, 11 inch.

Locality and Formation.-In the zone of Ammonites angulatus, Lower Lias; Island Magee, Co. Antrim.

Remarks. The only Belemnites in the Lower Lias of Ireland are B. acutus, Miller, and B. pencillatus, Sow., which occur in strata newer than the zone of Ammonites Bucklandi, which intervenes between these Belemnite beds and the zone of Ammonites angulatus, whence B. præmaturus was obtained. Naturally the question arises, may not this form be the young state of one or other of these species, but the presence of lateral furrows in B. præmaturus precludes such a relation. The affinity to B. clavatus is more obvious, but it has not the elegant fusiform outline of the young of that species; however, the smallest specimen of B. clavatus, Bl., with which I have compared B. præmaturus, is not less than one inch in length; my species has more of the form of B. dorsalis, Phillips.

The uncertain value of specific determinations based on immature specimens must apply in great force to the species I have described; yet on the other hand insignificant characters observable in the young assume magnified importance in adult individuals, and from such considerations I regard B. præmaturus as distinct from, though closely allied to, B. clavatus.

VIIL-ON THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SKIDDAW SLATES AND THE GREEN SLATES AND PORPHYRIES OF THE LAKE-DISTRICT.1

IN

BY HENRY ALLEYNE NICHOLSON, D.Sc., M.B., F.G.S.

the former portion of this paper, the upper or south-eastern boundary of the Skiddaw Slates, in their main area, had been traced from Troutbeck, on the N.E., as far as the head of Buttermere, on the S.W. From this point (i.e. the north-western end of Honister Crag), the Skiddaw Slates can be traced for a very short distance across Warnscales Bottom. They are still overlaid by the felspathic trap and succeeding band of slates and breccias, which together compose Fleetwith Pike and the S.E. end of Honister Crag, and the relations between the two formations are the same as in the Gatescarth Valley. When however the pass of Scarf Gap on the south-west of Warnscales is reached, the Skiddaw Slates have disappeared and the base of the Green Slate Series now rests upon a great mass of intrusive felstone-porphyry (here almost a true syenite) which forms High Crag and High Stile. Though the Skiddaw Slates are absent here, it is interesting to observe that the stratification of the Green Slate Series can be particularly well made out in this region. The rugged hills to the S.E. of Scarf Gap are occupied by a prolongation of the great slaty band of Honister, but the beds have now to a great extent lost their former character, and have assumed very much the mineral aspect of trap, from which however they are easily distinguished by the fact that the bedding, in spite of a rough but well marked cleavage, is unusually distinct. The strata are excellently

1 Continued from the March Number, p. 108

displayed in a number of magnificently moutonne'd crags and bosses, in which they are seen to undulate repeatedly, forming a series of small but well-preserved anticlinals and synclinals, the dips of which are N.N.W. and S.S.E. at angles of from 25° to 35°. The inclination therefore of these beds is only about half as high as that of the Skiddaw Slates in the Gatescarth Valley.

From Scarf Gap to a point a little to the south of the foot of Ennerdale Lake-a distance of more than five miles-the Green Slates and Porphyries continue to repose upon the syenitic porphyry before-mentioned, this intrusive mass occupying the lower half of the valley of the Liza, and forming the range of hills which bound Ennerdale on the south. At this point, which is near the source of the river Calder, the Green Slates again come into relation with the Skiddaw Slates and continue to be underlaid by them for about four miles until we come to Stockbridge near Egremont. Along this line however the hills are low and rounded and the country is much obscured by drift so that little can be said as to the relations of the two formations. Wherever seen the inclination of the Skiddaw Slates is found to be at very high angles, varying from S.S.E. at 55°, as at Flat Fell and Dent Hill, to verticality as at Wilton. They are overlaid by traps and trappean breccias belonging to the Green Slate Series, but no dip could be made out in these beds and their junction with the Skiddaw Slates is nowhere observable.

The Skiddaw Slates in their main area in the north-western portion of the Lake district, as is well known, ultimately fold over towards the N.W., and are partially succeeded by a belt of country in which rocks belonging to the series of the Green Slates and Porphyries come to the surface. Between Egremont and Cockermouth, and again between Cockermouth and Sunderland, the Skiddaw Slates are overlapped by the Carboniferous Limestone, and their upward termination is, therefore, not exhibited. A little to the north of Sunderland, however, strata belonging to the Green Slates begin to make their appearance, and continue to be superimposed upon the Skiddaw Slates throughout the remainder of this area, till close upon Troutbeck Station, where the Skiddaw Slates are again concealed for a distance of about a mile, partly by Old Red and partly by the Carboniferous Limestone. Throughout the whole of the distance between Troutbeck and Sunderland-a distance of about fifteen miles-the Green Slates and Porphyries constitute a well-defined, somewhat semi-circular, range of hills, which commences near Sunderland in the Beacon Hill and Binsey Crag, is continued by the mountains round Overwater, runs nearly due E. and W. from this point to a little to the south of Hesket-newMarket, (as the Caldbeck Fells), and then suddenly turns to the S.E. by Bannest Hill and Murrah to Eycott Hill near Troutbeck. In examining this comparatively little known range, we shall find a clearer exposition of the true relations between the Skiddaw Slates and the Green Slates, than is obtainable in any other part of the Lake-district.

Commencing in the neighbourhood of Sunderland, the Skiddaw