In the course of his excavations in the Upper Eocene beds of the Fayûm during the early part of 1902, Mr. H. J. L. Beadnell unearthed a remarkably fine shell of a very large species of Testudo. A brief description of this specimen was afterwards published in Cairo by the present writer, and it was made the type of a new species, Testudo Ammon. At the same time Mr. Beadnell gave a short account of the beds in which it was found, and of the methods employed by him for its preservation and transport to the Museum in Cairo.

In the Geological Magazine, August, 1904, pp. 392–403, Dr. Wheelton Hind describes the Lower Culm beds of North Devon and assigns them to the ‘Pendleside’ series.

From the original paper dealing with that series I gather that in the North of England the ‘Pendleside’ beds lie above the uppermost zone of the Carboniferous Limestone, and are the equivalents of the Millstone Grit of the South Wales and Mendip areas. Dr. Hind's contention is, then, that the Lower Culm of North Devon was laid down at a time subsequent to the deposition of the whole of the Carboniferous Limestone of the Mendips and South Wales.

The object of this communication is to record some recently-made notes on the Rhætic beds of the neighbourhood of Charfield.

In 1876 Mr. H. B. Woodward, F. R. S., wrote: “Turning to the esearpment of Penarth beds between Tites Point and Wickwar, we find them exposed in many places. Long ago Sir Roderick Murchison stated that ‘passages from the Lias into the underlying New Red Sandstone can be observed in the sides of Whitecliff Park Hills, south of Berkeley; but the clearest and best instances are to the east of Wickwar, near Sturt Bridge, on the sides of the new road ascending to Wotton.'” This is all that has been written on the area now under consideration. As is well known, the junction of the Rhætic and Keuper Series is usually marked by a low but distinct escarpment. Between Tites Point and Berkeley Road Station this physical feature is not pronounced, but becomes gradually more prominent to the south of the Junction.

The number of earthquakes originating within the area of the British Islands during the three years 1901–1903 is 37, of which 9 occurred in England, 20 in Scotland, and 8 in Wales. In the 15 years 1889–1903 the total number recorded is 152, 39 in England, 90 in Scotland, and 23 in Wales. So far as I know, not a single undoubted earthquake lias originated in Ireland during this period; but four earthquakes (the Pembroke earthquakes of 1892 and 1893, the Hereford earthquake of 1896, and the Carnarvon earthquake of 1903) were felt in many of the eastern counties.

During the past two years the Sedgwick Club has been at work on the glacial deposits in the neighbourhood of Cambridge, with special reference to the boulders contained therein. As usual, the great majority of the boulders are of local origin, but far-travelled rocks are fairly abundant, and several hundred specimens which appeared likely to be of interest have been collected. By the kindness of Professor T. McKenny Hughes, F.R.S., about fifty of the more promising types have been sliced.

The river Don has a remarkable semicircular course. Rising in the Middle Grits, west of Dunford Bridge, at 1,500 feet above O.D., it flows eastwards to Penistone (700′), where it makes a bend to the south-east, quickly deepens its valley to 500′, and at Wortley breaks through the great watershed (1000′) of the Grenoside and Wharncliffe grits. It then receives the Little Don, the Ewden, and the Loxley, on its right bank, and falls into the valley of the Sheaf at Sheffield (150'). The Don then makes a rectangular bend to the north-east, following the old valley of the Sheaf to Conisborough, receiving the Rother on its right bank at Rotherham (87′) and the Dearne on its left bank at Denaby (45′). It then traverses the Magnesian Limestone escarpment in a fine gorge, and continues past Donoaster in a north-easterly direction to Thorne, where it bends northward towards the Aire. It has, however, been artificially diverted by the Dutch River to the Ouse at Goole.

In studying the geological history of the rivers of the Don system, my attention was specially directed to the evidences of glacial action in the area, with the object of ascertaining whether glaciation had anything to do with the interesting diversions of the Don, Dearne, and Dove. Certain valleys in the area, also, attracted my attention as possessing abnormal features with respect to the present drainage of the district, and I began to inquire what their relations might be to an altered system of drainage during the Glacial Period. The present paper is an attempt to piece together the scattered glacial evidence, and to ascertain the effect that the advance of a glacier from the north and north-east would have on the drainage of this district, and how far the present valleys would help to explain the water-flow under such conditions.