A study of the fossil vertebrate fauna of the Wady el-Mughara caves was published in 1937 (Bate, 1937), but at that time it had not been found possible to carry out an intensive examination of the antelope remains, except for the purpose of making the first record of a fossil hartebeest in Palestine. This omission was due partly to lack of sufficient time and partly to the fact that the specimens were generally in a very fragmentary state of preservation. Nevertheless, since remains of gazelles, together with those of Dama mesopotamica, occurred throughout the cave leveis and were more plentiful than those of other species it was found practical to make use of these two types as climatic indicators, while other species were used as a control (Bate, 1937, fig. 1).

It is now some thirty-two years since any observations on the Geology of Basutoland have been made. The Rev. S. S. Dornan of the French Protestant Mission may be considered to be the only serious contributor and he published three short articles on the geology during the period 1905–8. The writer was invited by the Colonial Office to carry out a reconnaissance geological survey of the territory, and the following notes may be considered a summary of his general observations.

Close to Waterfoot and about one and a quarter miles south of Cushendall, in Co. Antrim, a bifurcating dolerite dyke of Tertiary age outcrops on the shore approximately 750 feet south-west of Red Bay pier (see text-fig. 1). The dyke is intruded into practically horizontal beds of Triassic sandstone which contain abundant fragments and pebbles of schist and quartzite. As shown on the map, text-fig. 1, the dyke bifurcates and encloses a lenticular portion of these Triassic beds. Where unaltered by the dyke, that is in the low cliff adjoining the sea-wall to the south-west of the dyke and in that portion of the enclosed mass adjoining the south-western branch of the dyke, the Trias is a friable yellow sandstone, rich in fragments of schist and quartzite ranging in size from a few inches down to microscopic dimensions. On the south-western side of the north-eastern branch of the dyke, however, a marked change takes place. The Trias here changes in colour from yellow to grey and becomes hard and compact; and, as the dyke is approached, the fragments and pebbles become less distinct and eventually merge into the matrix of the rock. This change begins between eight and nine feet from the contact. Within a foot from the contact the alteration is so intense that the main part of the rock has a compact homogeneous appearance, so that at first glance it resembles an igneous rock with sparse xenoliths of white quartzite. The schist fragments are here represented by dafk patches which merge, often imperceptibly, into the matrix of the rock.

A recent examination of drift deposits south of Edinburgh has revealed the presence of boulder clay overlying fluvio-glacial sands and graveis. This does not appear to have been the subject of any previous publication. The relevant exposures are almost entirely in working sandpits, and are liable to be obscured soon after the latter are abandoned. Accordingly it is thought worth while to place on record a description of the sections at present available for examination.

At a locality about three miles south of Mawchi, in the Kantarawaddy State, a unique specimen of a large Spiriferoid was found a few years ago by Mr. Vernon Hobson, then working for the Mawchi Mines Co., in an area where previously no fossiliferous rocks were known to exist. This specimen was sent me by him in 1936 for determination; and in the hope that some other fossils would soon be obtained from this locality which would throw more light on the age of the rocks, the publication of any description of the fossil was post-poned. For unfortunately, the specimen was not found in situ, though Mr. Vernon Hobson, in a letter to me dated 19th June, 1936, stated that he was satisfied that it was not a residual fossil, and that the rock-matrix in which it is imbedded was thoroughly typical of the beds developed for miles round in this area. Moreover, he stated that there are no overlying formations within twelve miles, and that these lie at lower elevations, while pendants of younger rocks do not occur in the area, so that “there is no evidence that overlying rocks existed close above [the present surface rocks] prior to the present phase of erosion”.

The remarkable properties that synthetic resins possess make these substances of inestimable value in biological and geological laboratories and museums. Their applications in the biological sciences have been discussed by Hibbin (1937) and by Knight (1937). Bell (1939) and Shrock (1940) have indicated some of the geological methods employing polymerized methyl methacrylate; the material is remarkably transparent and this property tends to detract from the value of the plastic as a casting substance of fossils for, in such work, an opaque material is desirable.