2i6 Mr. William Thomson on 



On Leaves found in the cutting for the Manchester 

 Ship Canal, 21 feet under the surface, and on Green 

 Colouring Matter contained therein. By William 

 Thomson, F.R.S. Ed., etc. 



{Received May 15th, iSSg.) 



My attention was drawn by Mr. Alderman Bailey to 

 these leaves which had been found in the cutting for the 

 Ship Canal. On further enquiry I learned that they had 

 been brought to notice by Mr. Walter Taylor, one of the 

 Company's Engineers, to whom I am indebted for the 

 following notes respecting the position in which they 

 were found. I went to look at the deposit on the 19th of 

 March last, and by the kindness of Mr. W. O. E. Mead 

 King and Mr. Taylor, I was enabled to obtain a consider- 

 able supply of the leaves. They were embedded in the 

 sand in two or three different layers of one to two inches 

 in thickness, the one above the other ; at some places, with 

 a layer of sand of about an inch or two in thickness between 

 the layers of leaves. There was, however, chiefly one layer 

 of leaves, about two inches in thickness, which lay in a bed 

 curved in the direction of the width, which was about 

 40 feet by about 14 feet long. This bed of leaves was 

 found in the Partington Coal basin, near Irlam, 21 feet 

 under the surface : it was about 650 feet from the present 

 river, and 50 feet from the old Mersey river course, which 

 had been filled up near to the surface with mud and silt and 

 black mud. It occurred in the space between the two arms 

 in the bend of the old river known as Sandy Wharps, the 

 whole of the space between the two arms of this bend or 

 knuckle being filled up with loose sand, such as is found at 



