In 1901 (Swansea Memoir, p. 5; West Gower Memoir, p. 4) the Officers of the Geological Survey (R. H. Tiddeman and B. S. N. Wilkinson) discovered olive-coloured shales and mudstones in outcrops on Cefn Bryn, Gower. They considered these strata to be “succeeded naturally by Old Bed Sandstone”, for the larger outcrop is bounded on the south by brown sandstones and quartz conglomerates dipping southwards at about 30 degrees. It was therefore natural that these beds, apparently obviously older than the contiguous Old Red Sandstone, should be referred to the Silurian. Tiddeman obtained fossils from the shales which were identified by E. T. Newton as “Rhynchonella (like R. nucula), Bellerophon (like B. murchisoni), Modiolopsis?, Chonetes sp., crinoid ossicles, and entomostraca”. The evidence of the fossils thus seemed to confirm the conclusions made on the field evidence, though (as shown by the private records of the Geological Survey) Newton was doubtful of the precise age of the fossils and questioned their reference to the Ludlow.

During last winter (1937) at Cottesloe, a seaside suburb of Perth, Western Australia, a large sand-dune was being levelled. This provided the writer with an excellent opportunity for observing the movement of sand grains by wind.

The Blattoids, or early cockroaches, are on account of their mode of life, far more numerous as fossils than any other Coal Measure insects.

It has been suggested that petrologists may be interested in a brief account of the Cambridge University collection of rock-slices, comprising at present some forty thousand slides. It had its small beginning sixty years ago, when microscopical petrography was still something of a novelty. Among the first in this country to use the new method of research was Dr. T. G. Bonney, then in residence at Cambridge; but the large collection which he gradually amassed came to us only at his death, and the earliest slides in our cabinets were made for E. B. Tawney, at that time Assistant to the Woodwardian Professor. The preparation of thin slices of rocks was not the comparatively easy and rapid process. that it is to-day (emery was the only abrasive used), and it was not unusual to give credit to the practitioner in published papers. The best known, if not the only one, in England was F. G. Cuttell; later it was customary to get the slicing done in Germany.

The Devil's Frying Pan is a well-known feature of the coast scenery of The Lizard. It is a deep cavity in the cliffs connected with the open sea by a very fine natural arch; and unlike the Lion's Den, near the Bumble Rock, it has not been spoiled by being used as a rubbish-bin. It is clearly marked on the 6-in. Ordnance Survey Sheet lxxxiv S.E., just south of Cadgwith. Shaped like a funnel, its dimensions are as follows. The beach at the bottom of the funnel is triangular with the apex of the triangle pointing through the natural arch towards the S.E. The sides of the triangle are: a cliff on the S.W. of the beach trending E.S.E. and W.N.W. and about 132 feet long; a cliff on the N.W. of the beach trending N.E. and S.W. and about 115 feet long; a cliff on the E. of the beach trending S.S.E. and N.N.W. and about 148 feet long. On the panorama-sketch shown in Text-fig. 1 these cliffs extend between the following bearings approximately: S.W. cliff, between 160° and 300°; N.W. cliff, between 300° and 10°; E. cliff, between 10° and 130°. The top of the funnel touches the 200-ft. contour-line near White Feather Bungalow and the maximum diameter of the top of the funnel is about 460 feet from E. to W.

There can be little doubt that most petrologists will welcome J- the classification of igneous rocks according to their grainsize as proposed by the British Association Committee on Rock Nomenclature and Classification (1). This classification has been incorporated in the new edition of the well-known textbook of Hatch and Wells (2) and has recently been very ably defended by Wells (3). To avoid misunderstanding it must be emphasized that grain-size is taken to be only one of the factors in the classification of igneous rocks and not the sole factor, and that the suggested limits between different grades of granularity must be taken at the present time to be only provisional.