Artificial interspecific hybrids in “diploid” species of potatoes have been recorded by Bukasov (1938), Emme (1936), Reddick (1939), and others. These authors paid little, if any, attention to the number and behaviour of the chromosomes in their plants, but rather concentrated on interspecific compatibilities, inheritance of flower colour, and resistance to disease or the genetical sequellæ to exposure to low temperature, all with regard to the possible utilisation of the plants in commerce.

The present cytological investigations are primarily concerned with the cytology of two interspecific “diploid” potato hybrids with a view to determining the homology of the chromosomes of the parents and its bearing on sterility.

In the following paper ninety-eight rocks collected by Mr F. W. Anderson from the Tertiary lavas and intrusions on the south-eastern margin of the Vatnajökull, and from the Pleistocene and Recent lavas, tuffs and sediments of Kverkfjöll Eystri on the northern margin of the ice-sheet, are described. Interest in the geology of the Vatnajökull region has been revived by several recent expeditions.

The existence of active volcanoes under the Vatnajökull, and the eruptions that occasionally break through the ice-sheet, offer unexampled opportunities for the investigation of the peculiar igneous and sedimentary products which are the results of the contest between ice and volcanism, and for the solution of the “Palagonite Problem”, with which several authors have recently dealt.

When Pax (1) in 1889 constituted his section Sinenses, he was well aware that it contained at least three distinct groups, each of which could with good reason be regarded as separate sections. Of these the one which he designated Poculiformia is the equivalent of Obconica. This group Poculiformia (while sharing in the general definition of Sinenses) he marked off by the beaker-shaped calyx which is generally accrescent after anthesis. In his view the group comes nearer to group Cortusina (i.e. section Cortusoides) than to the more isolated Auganthus (i.e. Sinenses sensu restricto), which may quite well be the case. In its turn the group Cortusina is to be distinguished from Poculiformia by the character of its calyx—a tubular or cylindrical structure. Of the species quoted by Pax as within Poculiformia, only four are now considered legitimate members of Obconica—P. obconica, P. filipes, P. Listen, and P. oreodoxa.

In the introduction to his previous paper on the Structure (Odell, 1939) the author included a short description of the stratigraphy of the region under review, and the briefest account only is therefore here deemed necessary.

A principal feature of north-east Greenland is the considerable number of representatives of the Geological Succession which lie exposed in the ice-free mountainous tract between the Inland Ice Cap and the Greenland Sea. These formations include Pre-Cambrian, Palæozoic, and Mesozoic sedimentaries with Kainozoic eruptives. They have a general trend north and south, and while the older rocks are situated mainly inland, the younger ones lie along the fringes of the coast-line. Consequently, as one sails westward up the immense fjords which cut transversely across the formations, one moves downwards in the succession towards the older rocks. The older rocks, however, underlie by far the greater part of the ice-free area, and of these, sandstones and coarse elastics of Old Red type, quartzites, slates, and limestones ranging from Ordovician to Pre-Cambrian, and metamorphic rocks with granites comprising a Metamorphic Complex, are found in three great belts in order from east to west, between latitudes 72° and 74°. Within these limiting latitudes, the numerous inlets and deeply entrenched fjords, whose great bare walls display in remarkable fashion the multi-coloured formations and their structures, have yielded a considerable amount of information in recent years to the British, Scandinavian, and other geologists who have studied them.

The literature of the Scottish Cephalopoda is, on the whole, rather scanty. Most of the references occur in more general faunistic lists, or are comparatively short notices in various periodicals. Except for Russell's work, which dealt almost exclusively with the collections of the former Fishery Board for Scotland and did not include references to the other Scottish species, there is no comprehensive paper devoted to the Scottish Cephalopoda. More attention has been paid to the subject in neighbouring countries. Massy (1928) has summarised previous work on the Irish species; Grimpe (1925) has dealt with the species of the North Sea, and Hertling (1929, 1936) has supplemented Grimpe's work with further notes on the Helgoland species; Grieg (1933) has described the Norwegian forms; Nielsen (1930) has listed the species occurring at the Faroes; Stevenson (1935) has described those found on the Yorkshire coast. Where references are made to the species occurring in the above-mentioned waters, these summaries only are quoted.

(a) Scope of Paper.—The distinction between Highlands and Lowlands is a most striking feature of the topography of Scotland and has for long played an important part in the political, economic and social life of the country. Although the dividing line between the two regions, in a purely geographical sense, is ill-defined in some districts, on the whole it coincides fairly closely with a powerful geological dislocation which can be traced across Scotland from Stonehaven to Arran (fig. 1), a distance of 160 miles. This dislocation has for long been termed the Highland Boundary Fault. On detailed study it is found to be only one of several faults making up a complex fracture-zone, one of the most important in the British Isles, within which movements on a considerable scale have taken place from Ordovician to Carboniferous times.

A disease of Chinese Rhododendrons associated with a Lophodermium sp. was found by one of us in April 1933 (Wilson, 1937). The fungus was first noticed as apparently causing the production of large irregular spots on the leaves of the hybrid Rhododendron Souliei × R. Thomsonii. Later, fructifications were observed on the stems of this hybrid and of many other species, and were found also on the fallen leaves. In 1934 the fungus was discovered on the stems of several species growing at the Forestry Commission Estate at Benmore, Argyllshire. Plants sent to the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, from Cumberland in February 1935 were also found to bear similar fructifications on the stems. As a number of species of Lophodermium have been described on the Ericaceae and one on Rhododendron, it was desirable to ascertain the systematic relationships of the fungus especially to L. Rhododendri Ces., which has been recorded from Britain (Smith and Ramsbottom, 1914; Wilson, 1924) and which is not uncommon on R. ponticum in the vicinity of Edinburgh. It was also desirable to study the effects of the fungus upon the host plant since it is difficult in some cases to decide the degree of its pathogenicity.

The Caledonian plutonic rocks of Western Scotland form a well-defined group, ranging from ultrabasic to acid types, which have been studied in detail by a number of petrologists. They form intrusions of varying size, usually composite and frequently, at least, having the habit of ring complexes. The rock types include peridotites and pyroxenites, gabbros, hornblendite and appinite, appinitic diorites, pyroxene-mica diorites, hornblende-biotite diorite, various hornblende-biotite grandiorites, biotite adamellite and muscovite-biotite adamellite, while the final stage is represented by numerous veins of aplite and rare pegmatites.

Since the early discoveries made by A. G. Bain a little over one hundred years ago, and which were described by Owen between 1844 and 1876, the South African Karroo beds have yielded a steady stream of new and interesting remains of Permian and Triassic amphibians and reptiles. Our fossil-bearing beds cover about 200,000 square miles. Some exposed areas are very rich, and others covered by soil and wind-blown dust are for all practical purposes quite barren. Still at any time there must be many hundreds of thousands of fossils lying exposed and waiting to be collected. Many do not last long, and weather to powder within a year if not collected; and new ones are always being exposed. In 1935, I sent Professor Camp of America to a farm where, in one day, he collected a hundred good skulls. I had been on this same farm only six months before and collected sixty skulls. One can go there every year and get a large collection. The large majority of skulls are duplicates—but new fossils may turn up at any time.