THIS paper describes the occurrence in Queensland of a large mass of limestone of late Palaeozoic age made up almost entirely of the microscopic remains of calcareous algae.

THE present paper gives a general account of the larger foraminifera from the Santa Elena Peninsula in south-west Ecuador, with descriptions of three new species. All the material except that from the Guayaquil Limestone was obtained from the concessions of the Anglo-Ecuadorian Oilfields, Limited, to whom my thanks are due for permission to publish these results.

THE study of recent sediments has yielded important data bearing on the extent and conditions of deposition in ancient seas, but the collection of similar data relating to the ancient continents is more difficult. However, one may find in marine deposits some indirect evidence of the constitution of the neighbouring continents. The effect of the proximity of deserts on the composition of recent marine deposits does not appear to have been studied. With a view to collecting data bearing on this particular point, I have made an examination of the deposits of the Red Sea.

IN the course of a general survey of the Glacial deposits of East Anglia it has been found necessary to investigate the mineral content of a large number of samples of the well-known “Chalky Boulder-clay” over a considerable area of Norfolk and Suffolk.

EXCAVATIONS for a new road in Whiteacre Copse, north-west of Compton, Surrey, have afforded an exceptionally good opportunity for collecting fossils from the Lower Gault of this district. Unfortunately, though the cutting passes through the whole thickness of the formation, it is very shallow in the higher parts, and no specimens could be obtained from the Upper Gault. But three unrecognizable impressions of ammonites were seen at the base of this Upper Gault. The tilt of the strata here is 30° N.

IN the February number of the Geological Magazine, Mr. A. J. Bull illustrates an interesting experiment on a type of deformation in a sheet of elastic material subject to a contraction. The inferences he draws from it, however, need further discussion. An elastic solid, under sufficiently great stress, will develop a permanent deformation either by continuous yield or by fracture, according to the nature of the material. The stress needed to produce such deformation may conveniently be called the strength. But in certain circumstances it is possible for a stress to produce a considerable change of shape before the strength is reached, and such phenomena are common in engineering practice. A simple example is provided when a rod of india-rubber is compressed longitudinally. So long as the force applied is not too great the rod remains straight; but at a certain critical value of the compression it suddenly buckles sideways into an arc. The straight form is still a possible position of equilibrium, but it is no longer stable, and the slightest disturbance grows until the rod has become strongly bent, giving a new and stable position of equilibrium. It is easy to verify in this case that the strength has not been reached; we need only remove the thrust on the ends, when the rod returns to its original straight form. Another example is provided by a flywheel on a long shaft. Steady rotation is possible at all speeds; but there is a critical speed at which instability develops. Then it becomes possible for the rod to bend and to carry the centre of the flywheel around a circle of finite radius; the tendency of the rod to recover its form provides just enough force to keep the centre of the wheel moving in a circle. Any further increase of the speed of rotation will make the shaft bend through a considerable angle, with disastrous consequences. Other known cases arise in the collapse of tubes under external pressure or longitudinal thrust.1

DURING the past few years the Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Trichinopoly District, South India, have been receiving a lot of attention on account of the numerous reptilian remains found in some parts of the formation. Dr. C. A. Matley visited these areas about six years back and collected some specimens—a brief preliminary account of which he has recently published. Almost simultaneously with Dr. Matley, the staff and students of the Geology section, Central College, began to interest themselves in this area and have paid several visits to the very locality from which Dr. Matley has collected most of his specimens. As a result of these expeditions it is gratifying to note that we have been able to collect quite a large number of well-preserved fossil bones, and in the words of Dr. Matley this discovery of ours “ is of great importance as it is the first time that Southern India has yielded identifiable remains of dinosaurs ”.

DURING a residence of nine months on the Ufipa Plateau, the writer had opportunity for examining the gneissose rocks and associated schists near the village of Namwele, locally well known as the centre of coal-bearing beds, with results summarized in the following note. The position—about 7° 50′ S. lat. and 31° 30′ E. long.—is S.E. of the central part of Lake Tanganyika, and not far from the western edge of the Rukwa Trough.

SOME years ago I recorded in the columns of Nature the discovery, in the Miocene beds of Tasmania, of a fossil cetacean of the squalodont type. Apart from the value of this specimen in its bearing on the phylogeny of the Cetacea, it is of interest in correlating certain geological horizons of Australia with those of South America in which the same genus has been found.