To write an adequate notice of Professor Eduard Suess' work would be to review the progress of Geology during nearly half a century, for in all that time he was actively engaged in helping to explain the great problems connected with the formation of the features of the Earth's surface, and to trace accurately the principles upon which these have been brought about.

Stems of Ecquisetites columnaris (Brong.) have long been known to occur in a vertical position in the sandstones of the Inferior Oolite on the Yorkshire coast. This mode of occurrence has commonly been held as proving that the stems are preserved in the position in which they once grew, having been buried in situ beneath the layers of sand that accumulated on the spot. On the other hand, it has been argued that the upright position need not be primary; it might be as readily explained if the stems are regarded as drifted and secondarily deposited on the spots where they are now found. It is well known and has been pointed out, particularly in the discussions of the upright stems in the Coal-measures, that a drifting tree often has a tendency to sink in a vertical position, the root-end being heavier because of adhering mineral matter or from some other reason. Phillips describes, in his Geology of the Yorkshire Coast, a locality at High Whitby where upright stems of Equisetites columnaris occur in the sandstone. He continues: “They … are broken off or imperfect above, and seldom reach to the upper surface of the bed; they are also broken off below, but commonly pass to the lower surface; and some of the lower joints nearest the roots are found in the subjacent bed of shale.”

Dr. Nathorst mentioned to me in 1910 the fact that the rhizomes of Equisetum columnaris had not been observed, and I offered to show him a place where I thought they would be found. He had not time to visit the section on that occasion, but in the following year Dr. T. G. Halle accompanied me to the exposure and agreeably to expectation the rhizomes were found within a few minutes of our arrival.

The Scandinavian Promontory. — This remarkable promontory, extending for over a thousand miles from the Naze to the North Cape, is formed mainly of Archæan rocks, consisting of gneiss, crystalline schists, and other metamorphic rocks, penetrated by granite and other igneous dykes of later date. These primeval rocks are overlain throughout a portion of their extent by Cambrian and Lower Palæozoic (or Lower Silurian) beds, between which and the Archaean masses there is entire discordancy, and, as regards their respective ages, a long period of unrepresented time. The Palæozoic beds are themselves highly altered when in contact with the intrusive igneous masses, so that it is difficult to distinguish them from the more ancient masses in some districts.

The classification of the drift deposits is one which has given rise to very divergent views. One school holds that the Glacial Period was marked by increasingly severe conditions of climate followed by a somewhat regular amelioration. Another school holds that it consisted of a series of cold periods separated by warm intervals. It is not contended that in Pleistocene times the ice disappeared completely; for it is pretty certain that on high mountain ranges, and in the Arctic and Antarctic areas, snow-fields and glaciers existed continuously. With cold conditions the ice-covered regions spread from the Polar areas and glaciers descended from the mountains, and with the return of warmer conditions the Polar glaciers and ice-fields decreased in area whilst the mountain glaciers again retreated up the valleys. The problem as to the extent to which such variations in glacial conditions occurred, and the number of times they recurred, can only be settled by a study of the Pleistocene deposits themselves. In this matter theory cannot at present help us.

The very interesting remarks made by Messrs. Dewey and Flett on “Some British Pillow-lavas and the Rocks associated with them” have further emphasized Dr. Teall's observation of the intimate association of Radiolarian rocks with lavas of this character, and which is particularly well developed in Europe in the later Devonian formations. It is further shown that such rocks are characteristic of areas of continuous off-shore subsidence, and are often intimately associated with intrusions of dolerite, quartz dolerite, gabbro, and serpentine.

The Upper Trias of Leicestershire as a whole occupies the western half of the county, being bounded on the east more or less by the Soar Valley, following the strike (as a subsequent in part of its course up to its junction with the Wreake). In fact, it is on the eastern boundary near the outcrop that the beds are mainly best exposed, the region to the west south of the coal-field around which it mantles being little developed and presenting fewer exposures.