Over most of North-Western Europe the occurrence of river-terrace deposits containing Palæolithic implements has been long known, and the establishment of a sequence of forms among these implements has resulted from the researches of Continental, and especially of French archæologists. With the pioneer work the name of M. Boucher de Perthes, of Amiens, will always be associated. His was the task of convincing unwilling minds of the human workmanship of the ancient flint-weapons found in the gravel-pits of the Somme Valley. For the next great advance we owe a debt of gratitude to another French savant, the late Professor Victor Commont, for his life-work was the taking up of the researches of his predecessor and establishing the sequence of cultural types and their relative chronology.

Sir Charles Lyell in his Principles of Geology, published in 1834, remarks upon the accumulating proofs that the climate of the earth had undergone great changes in the past, and he endeavoured to show that these changes might have been produced by the varying distribution of sea and land. He says, “But if, instead of vague conjectures as to what might have been the state of the planet at the era of its creation, we fix our thoughts steadily on the connexion at present between climate and the distribution of land and sea; and if we then consider what influence former fluctuations in the physical geography of the earth must have had on superficial temperature, we may perhaps approximate to a true theory.”

During a visit to the limestone quarries at Caldon Low last September we had the good fortune to discover an interesting exposure of a quartzose conglomerate containing numerous fossils. The bed was exposed in a strong joint-face running approximately N.N.W. to S.S.E., at the northern extension of the quarry on the north-west flank of the Low, just beyond the mineral line of the North Staffordshire Railway. The altitude is about 900 feet O.D. The conglomerate apparently extended some little distance to the south-west before the opening of the quarry, as we ascertained that some 20 or 30 yards had been removed in gaining access to the limestone behind. It appears to extend for some distance round the flank of the Low towards the north-east.

A character of the suture-line that has received considerable attention lately is the obliquity with regard to the radius. Of course, it had long been noticed that suture-lines may vary in the form and foliation of their elements (brachyphyllic, dolichophyllic, and leptophyllic suture-lines of Mojsisovics, and euryphyllian and stenophyllian suture-lines of Haug) as in their general course. There maybe (externally) a strong convexity forward (Cyclololus), a straight (Sphenodiscus) or wavy line (Pseudosageceras), or a convexity backward (Protengonoceras). Again, the suture-line may be inclined strongly forward towards the umbilicus (Cheltonia) or have a retracted or dependent inner portion (Psiloceras). It is this Litter obliquity that has been used as a generic and even family distinction, e.g. by Mr. Buckman, to determine the affinity of Bredya with Hammatoceratidse, and not Hildoceratidæ.

The Diploporita, to which Order Sinocystis clearly belongs, have J been divided into Families according to the greater or less extension of the subvective system over the theca and the modifications thus induced in the arrangement of the thecal plates. All those in which the epithecal food-grooves do not extend beyond the adoral circlet of plates are referred to the Sphæronidæ. The line between the Sphæronidæ and the more advanced Glyptosphæridæ cannot be drawn rigidly, and such a genus as Proteocystis constitutes a natural transition. Sinocystis, however, comes well within this boundary.

The Carboniferous Limestone cropping out near Wellington and near Newport in the Wrekin district has hitherto received little attention. One or two references to the Lower Carboniferous rocks of the area are made in Geology in the Field, in which the limestone is referred to the Dibunophyllum zone, and the intrusive material underlying the limestone is described as an olivine-dolerite, probably of Tertiary age. Apart from these references there does not appear to be any published description of the limestone of the district. Although the Lower Carboniferous outcrops in the area are small, the faunal contents, stratigraphical horizon, and petrology of these rocks are subjects of interest in connection with recent work on the Carboniferous Limestone of various Midland districts.