8 NATURAL SCIENCE. 



Jan., 



which are supported by moraines attributed to small "nestling" 

 glaciers. There is no previous satisfactory evidence of glacial action 

 in this district, but these moraines certainly point to the former presence 

 of permanent snow on the Beacons. A second paper, written in con- 

 junction with Mr. T. D. Davies, describes some new sections on the 

 Wirral Railway, at Seacombe, near Birkenhead. The Boulder Clay 

 contains the usual assortment of the rocks of the north of England, 

 and in the sands are marine shells, mostly in fragments, and some 

 peculiar balls of clay. The authors contend that both of these are 

 indicative of marine origin, though they admit that this view, as well 

 as that which assigns the deposits to land ice, is full of difficulties. 

 Our hope of overcoming these difficulties is largely based on the 

 accumulation of carefully observed facts now being made by Mr. Kendal 

 and his colleagues. 



A Fresh-Water Station in Norfolk. 



Our readers may remember that in Natural Science some 

 time ago (vol. v., p. 370), we gave an account, with illustrations, of 

 the portable fresh-water biological station established by Dr. Fritsch 

 in Bohemia. We are glad to record that there is a probability of the 

 example to which we called attention being followed in England. 

 Mr. W. A. Nicholson, the honorary secretary of the Norfolk and 

 Norwich Naturalists' Society, writes to us to direct our attention to a 

 proposal brought forward in the recently issued Transactions of his 

 society (vol. vi., part i.). "The systematic study of fresh-water 

 biology," he says, " seems to be rather neglected in England. Many 

 of your readers will recollect the description in your review a few 

 months ago of the station in the lake district of Bohemia. Interesting 

 particulars are there given as to apparatus, etc., required. 



"Norfolk, with its Broads, hundreds of acres in extent, and its 

 slow-running rivers and streams, is, I should think, the most suitable 

 county in England for the study of the fauna and iiora of fresh waters. 

 The establishment of a biological station Avould, however, necessitate 

 much more than merely local support. 



" It is with a view to obtaining an expression of opinion on this 

 subject, that I venture to bring forward the matter before you." 



We have the fullest sympathy with Mr. Nicholson's object, and 

 we hope that his scheme will be carried out. In the note in the 

 society's Transactions, he points out that in the large and exposed 

 lakes of Bohemia a portable house was necessary, as microscopical 

 work could not be conducted on floating craft. He proceeds to 

 write : — 



" In the sheltered Broads and waterways of Norfolk, however, 

 such difficulties do not exist. A wherry, fitted up for the purpose of 

 investigation, would answer admirably. That there is important work 

 to be done, of great benefit to science, in the zoology and botany of 

 the Broad district, will be generally acknowledged. The discovery of 



