NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 149
the time on the wing, and are rarely seen on land, so that, as a consequence
of the hind limbs not being used for swimming or walking, they have degene-
rated. Mr. Andrews has called this new bird-form Prophaeton shrubsolei ; the
generic name records the fact that it stands in the line of descent of the
modern Tropic-birds (the genus Phaeton), while the specific name is given in
honour of the discoverer. This find is of considerable interest, for it is
another proof of the change that has taken place in the climate of England
since the early Eocene times, as is also evidenced by the fossil palm fruits
from the same locality, and it adds one more steganopodous bird to our fossil
fauna, which now contains four, the others being the Pelican, from the fens of
East Anglia and the lake-dwellings at Glastonbury ; Odontopteryx, with
serrated jaws, like those of some tortoises ; and Argillornis, both from the
London Clay at Sheppy."
Fossils of the London Clay.—At a meeting of the Geologists'
Association at Sheppey, on July 16th, 1898, (Proc. Geol. Ass. vol. xv., Novem-
ber, 1898, Mr. W. H. Shrubsole, F.G.S., who has done so much to elucidate
the very obscure palaeontology of the London Clay, gave some information
concerning his own discoveries. The remarkable mineralised Diatoms1
occurred in a zone (having a considerable range) near the base of the London
Clay, and therefore only to be reached in Sheppey by deep excavation.
Radiolaria2 in a pyritised condition, had also been found in clay from a well
near Queenboro' Railway Station. The only freshwater shells, Camptoceras
priscum,3 known to occur in the London Clay, he found in a Septarian nodule.
The skull and other portions of the skeleton of the toothed bird, Argillornis
longipennis4 were found at different times among the shingle on the beach,
unobscured either by limestone or pyrites. The immense skull of Chelone
gigas5 (Eosphargis gigas) was enclosed in a Septarian nodule, the outline of
which furnished the only clue to something organic within. Interesting
reference was made to its skilful exhumation at the British Museum, and the
delights of Sir Richard Owen at finding such complete evidence of a gigantic
Chelonian, the existence of which was foreshadowed forty years before by a
small fragment of bone, on which the name has been bestowed.
The most recent discovery was the skull of another bird in 1897. Unlike
the Argillornis, it was enclosed in a limestone nodule of oval form, at one end
of which the base of the cranium was slightly exposed. The expert mason of
the British Museum soon revealed what appears to be a perfect avian skull6
GEOLOGY.
Sketch of the Geology of Ilford.—On May 13th last the Geologists'
Association paid a visit to Ilford, that classic land for Essex palaeontologists,
under the direction of Mr. T. V. Holmes, F.G.S., who favoured the company
with an interesting sketch of the geology of the district. This, by Mr. Holmes'
kind permission, we are now able to reproduce. A visit was made to the
1 See Journ. Royal Microscopical Soc., 1881.
2 See Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlv, 1889, p. 121.
3 Ibid., vol. xxxviii, 1882, p. 218.
4 Ibid., vols, xxxiv. and xxxvi.
5 Ibid., vol. xlv ; Cat. Fossil Reptilia, Brit. Museum, part 3 ; Owens Palaeontology, 2nd
edition, pp. 317, 318.
6 See note on this fossil bird above.