266 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



the bed of an ancient sea; were he not shewn that no inconsiderable portion of* 

 the surface of the earth was originally derived from the skeletons of its former 

 population, that extensive plains and lofty mountains are but the tombs of tens of 

 thousands of being* who spent their happy day upon its surface, and whose re- 

 mains are the only record of their existence extant, he would be lost in awe and 

 in wonder, seeing that the rocks which support his footsteps — that the mountain 

 chains, which rear in awful majesty their lofty summits to the sky, are but 

 stupendous monuments upheaved from the bosom of the deep, in which lie en- 

 tombed, as in a vast cemetery, the exuviae of myriads of animals that tenanted 

 our planet during immeasurable periods of past time, although these domiciles of 

 ancient life now lie piled together in one rude confused mass, yet by a Providence 

 that is .truely wonderful, have these relics of death slowly undergone those che- 

 mical changes by which they are converted into the limestone that forms the 

 humble cottage of the peasant, or the marble that adorns the gorgeous palace of 

 the prince." 



On Feb. 13, Mr. Wright delivered his second Leture on Fossil Organic Re- 

 mains before a numerous audience ; the Rev. G. Bonner, one of the Vice- 

 Presidents of the Institution, being in the chair. 



The lecturer commenced by making some general observations on the tertiary 

 strata of our island, showing, by well-executed diagrams, their relative position. 

 The basins of Hants and London were shown to have been once continuous, but 

 subsequently separated from each other by the rising of the chalk — the plastic 

 clay and London clay in both retaining the same relative position to the 

 cretaceous rocks on which they repose. From a beautiful section of the north- 

 west coast of the Isle of Wight, Mr. Wright demonstrated the disturbance which 

 took place during the deposition of the tertiary system. The singular manner in 

 which the plastic clay and London clay formations, with then- accompanying 

 sands, and the chalk and marl beds at Alum Bay, had been uplifted from the 

 horizontal position in which they were deposited to the vertical position which 

 they now occupy, was adduced as a striking illustration of the disturbance which 

 our own island had experienced during this period of the earth's history, and 

 anterior to the deposit of the marine and fresh- water formations first noticed by 

 Mr. Webster at Headon Hill; the similiarity between these deposits and those 

 of the Paris basin was pointed out, and the singular character first observed by 

 that geologist, Brongniart's section, namely, their formations being referable to 

 fresh and salt water, the marine deposits yielding the remains of Whales and 

 marine Mollusca ; and the fresh- water beds abounding with the bones of qua- 

 drupeds, land and fresh- water shells. The age of the crag of Norfolk and the 

 Faluns of Touraine were indicated, and the remains of the newest tertiary strata 

 were shown to belong to extinct species of living genera, — whereas the quadrupeds 



