14 president's address. 



On the visit to Allenlieads, through the kindness of Mr. Sopwith, 

 the various processes of lead-mining, washing, and smelting, and 

 the extraction of silver from the lead, were witnessed in full 

 operation. 



The Club has also examined the rock which lies, in succession, 

 immediately over the Coal Measures ; namely, the Magnesian 

 Limestone, or Permian system, of Murchison. The peculiarities of 

 this system, near CuUercoats, where it is thrown down to the north 

 by the great ninety fathom Dyke, were remarked. The capping 

 of the Coal Sandstones, by this system, at Tynemouth-Castle cliff, 

 and the endless modifications of form, assumed by the Magnesian 

 Limestone, were examined and admired, in a delightful walk from 

 Marsden Eock to Roker, near Sunderland. 



Lastly, the course of the Great Whin Sill, the ancient grand 

 disturber of our strata, where it bassets out in the irregular range 

 of Crags, from Thirlwall to Gunnerton, has been travelled over 

 during different excursions, and the extreme north eastern end of 

 this singular basaltic stratum, which Mr. Button (Trans. Nat. 

 Hist. Soc. Durh. and Northd., vol. ii.) has traced and lucidly de- 

 scribed for 100 miles — from Westmoreland to Holy Island — has 

 also claimed our attention at " the castled crags " of Dunstan- 

 borough and Bamborough, and at the Fern and Holy Islands. 

 The metamorphic action of the basalt upon the Mountain Lime- 

 stone, which accompanies the basalt throughout its above men- 

 tioned course, has been both described in his geological paper, in 

 our volume, and demonstrated personally to the Club, by our 

 respected fellow member, Mr. George Tate, of Alnwick. The 

 Mountain Limestone has also been touched upon by Mr. Loftus, 

 now on the government surveying expedition in Persia, in his 

 paper on " Diluvial Action," as seen near Belsay. 



And here, I believe, I shall be acting in accordance with the 

 feelings of our entire Society, if I express publicly that we are 

 undergreat obligations to our esteemed friend, Mr. John Thompson, 

 whose self-acquired, extensive, and accurate knowledge of the 

 Botany, Geology, and Antiquities of our district, particularly of 

 the Tyneside, has been, in the kindest manner, at the service of all. 



In Antiquities, the only branch which has, as yet, shown proof 



