135 



vestigated those shales, and discovered in them small TrUobites, about the size 

 of pin's heads or peas. These Trilobites had never been seen in England before, 

 and were only known in Scandinavia ; and he strongly recommended students to 

 patiently examine the shales, as it might lead to results of great interest. 



The next prominent point in the address was an allusion to Haffield HiU, 

 near Malvern, which was pronounced to be a curious conglomerate of materials 

 brought together from various distant pjirts, some of its pebbles being supposed 

 to have drifted from Shrewsbury. Professor Ramsay's startling theory, founded 

 on the scratched appearance of certain stones and pebbles, was that those rubbings 

 and indentations were occasioned by icebergs passing over the rocks, and hence 

 the Haf&eld conglomerate might be an evidence of glaciers and icebergs at a 

 remote period. This theory was the more startUng from the fact that the appear- 

 ance of plants and animals just before the period of that conglomerate indicated 

 a very warm if not a tropical climate ! It was a fact, however, that no pebbles 

 on the sea-shore were ever seen to be So scratched or rubbed, and that in Switzer- 

 land and other mountainous countries, where glaciers existed, the rocks were 

 invariably scratched. He, therefore, recommended a careful examination of 

 the stones at HaflSeld, to ascertain whether similar traces existed. 



In conclusion, the Professor strongly urged aU persons belonging to field- 

 clubs not selfishly to retain the specimens they gathered, but to deposit them 

 where they might be of use to their feUow-explorers ; and above all, he advocated 

 the formation of an enturely local Museum at Malvern. Such an institution there 

 would prove of the utmost value ; but he cautioned them, if such a museum were 

 established, to decline accepting any specimens whatever that did not actuailly 

 belong to their own district. There was no reason why the British Museum 

 should swaillow up aU the provincial institutions, and a district so exceedingly 

 rich as Malvern ought to have one of its own ; for if they sent their specimens 

 to London they would be lost in the immense collection there, whereas, if deposited 

 at Malvern, geologists could go there and study them with advantage. For the 

 same reasons a local publication should be estabUshed at Malvern, devoted to 

 the purposes of natural history. 



The learned Professor's address was Ustened to with great attention and 

 rewarded by much applause, and a unanimous vote of thsinks was moved by Sir 

 P. Egerton and seconded by Canon Cocks. 



Dr. Wright, of Cheltenham, then made a short communication as a member 

 of the Cotteswold Club, to show how much benefit science derived from naturalists 

 steadily working out the details of their own respective localities. 



An interesting letter from Sfr R. Murchison, who was absent owing to Ulness, 

 was read. Sir Roderick observed :— 



" In reference to the classification of the upper Silurian rocks, my most efficient 

 assistant was my valued friend, the Rev. T. T. Lewis, of Aymestrey. That 

 gifted but modest individual first obtained the true key to the subdivision of those 

 rocks, and he was also the first who made known to me that the black limestone 

 of Sedgley must be the same as his own Aymestrey rock. 



