15 



varieties, two of which he terms local, the third foreign. "The drift of the high 

 lands of Siluria " (to quote from " Silurian System, " p. 510), "is of the earliest 

 date, and was produced by the elevation of the older rocks. The next in age 

 arose from the upcasts of the various coal measures ; and the third or most modern 

 drift is that which covers large portions of the central countries, and contains 

 boulders of northern granite, all which detritus was accumulated beneath the sea 

 during successive epochs. The secojui cl.ass of " alluvia " includes all the deposits 

 formed in lakes and river courses since the elevation of the districts from beneath 

 the sea ; also the masses of travertine formed by calcareous springs and the 

 various results of atmospheric action." 



As we have no evidence in the district west of the Malvern Hills of the 

 deposition of any rocks more modern than those of the Palaeozoic ages, it is 

 evident that some of our gravels may be of very high antiquity. 



But to return to our fossils. Bones and teeth referable to the mammoth and 

 the deer were distinguishable from others which, on closer examination may 

 prove to belong to the hippopotamus, bos urus, or bison, and the hog. Important 

 and suggestive facts ! Has the climatal system of tlie earth, it may be asked, 

 undergone a change since these dry bones lived and moved, the denizens of this 

 land ? The representative's of some of these mammals are in our day confined to 

 the swamps and borders of certain tropical rivers, or at least to countries within 

 the torrid zone. 



From the wonderful adaptation to particular spheres of enjoyment which 

 characterises the various families of the animal kingdom, it seems just to argue 

 that, when those extinct creatures were indigenous and roamed the forests and 

 sported in the waters of this northern latitude, the conditions under which they 

 lived were analogous to those in which similar families exist in the present day. 

 But this is not the conclusion to which our most eminent geologists have arrived. 

 Huge pachyderms are known to have existed during the glacial epoch, and Sir 

 Charles Lyell and Professor Owen have explained the capabilities of these animals 

 to sustain the hardships of a cold climate equal in intensity to a Siberian winter. 



The weather having partially cleared up towards one o'clock, the investiga- 

 tions of the day commenced on the interesting grounds of Lady Emily Foley, 

 where our party divided, geologists and botanists taking separate routes. 



Near Tarrington were observed some examples of Do\vnton Sandstones at the 

 base of the Old Red System, but not in actual contact with it, the junction beds 

 being obscured by superficial accumulations. 



In ascending the hUl at Stoke Edith, our party crossed the Upper Ludlow 

 shale, and upon attaining the summit, recognised a ridge of Aymestry rock, a 

 formation one step lower in the Silurian series. In ascending the hill, however 

 paradoxical it may sound, we had, geologically speaking, penetrated deeper into 

 the earth's crust. Palaeontologically, we had receded to a period when, ere the 

 fiat had gone forth calling a higher order of beings into existence, invertebrata ap- 



