31 



Mr. Scobie said the tables in the Hereford Times were furnished by Dr. 

 Rowan, one of the members present, who he believed acted upon the principle 

 carried out for many years by the late Captain Pendergrass, whose averages for 

 the last thirty years, and instruments, had been handed over some time ago to Dr. 

 Rowan. 



Dr. Rowan said that, although he possessed duplicates of Capt. Pendergrass' 

 recorded observations, and continued to register according to the regulations of 

 the Greenwich Observatory, he did not possess Capt. Pendergrass' instruments, 

 although those he used had been approved of by the Captain. 



REPORT OF THE WHITCHURCH FIELD MEETING, HELD 

 20th JULY, 1852. 



In describing the geological phenomena which came under observation at our 

 First Field Meeting, I took occasion to remark that, in proceeding from the base 

 of the Old Red Sandstone to the Silurian formations of the Woolhope valley of 

 elevation, we receded from a period of vertebrate to one of invertebrate marine 

 life. At that early epoch of the world's physical history, " mighty ocean " seems 

 to have held almost undisputed dominion. Traces of dry land are but dimly 

 perceptible ; and the Terrestrial Flora, which to-day gladdens the face of 

 nature, lay undeveloped in the womb of time. Our researches at Whitchurch, 

 on the other hand, led us progressively forward from the upper strata of the Old 

 Red Sandstone to a formation crowded with evidence of vegetation infinitely 

 more profuse and luxuriant than can be found to have existed during the human 

 epoch. The weather was highly favourable, and the attendance of members good. 

 We were, moreover, gratified by the presence of three honorary members, Sir 

 Roderick Murchison, H. E. Strickland, Esq., and the Rev. Peter S. Brodie, 

 gentlemen of the highest distinction in the scientific world, to whom we are 

 indebted for much valuable geological information most courteously communicated 

 during the course of the day. 



Before entering upon the details of our visit to the Coal Measures of the 

 Forest of Dean, it may not be out of place to offer a few remarks upon the sand- 

 stones, marls, clays, and eornstones, or impure limestones, intervening between 

 the Silurian and Carboniferous formations, geologically known as the Old Red, or 

 Devonian system. In the clays and marls of the series, organic remains are 

 extremely scarce ; and it is therefore a matter of difficulty, except by observing 

 the order of super-position, to determine their relative ages. 



This difficulty is greatly increased by the dislocations and local upheavals to 

 which the area of our county has been subjected ; but, in the sandstones and 

 eornstones of some localities, remains of fishes of the placoid and ganoid orders 

 are readily discovered, and have enabled geologists to divide the system into 

 three groups, in conformity with a similar arrangement adopted in Scotland and 

 other parts of the world. Each group is characterised by peculiar organisms : of 

 these, without entering into minute detail, the Dipterus distinguished the Lower, 



