10 



note that England afforded visible proofs 

 that from the very earliest time in the for- 

 mation of the earth's crust volcanic dis- 

 charges had been without intermission. 

 For every instance known to-day, ])robably 

 there would be a hundred points that had 

 lieen either buried up or altogether de- 

 stroyed by degradation, and so unknown. 

 The Wrekin in Shropshire was a venerable 

 specimen. Mr. Cozens then went into de- 

 tails upon the abundant evidence of volcanic 

 action in the different periods, such, for in- 

 stance, the proofs in the Wrekin thatbefoic 

 the long distant period of the Cambrian 

 there existed volcanoes which ejected scoriae, 

 lapilli, and volcanic dust, the lower Silurian 

 locks which, while being laid down, were 

 contorted and pierced by varieties of molt'-n 

 granite which formed the mountain massoi 

 of Cader Idris, Berwyns. etc., proofs -n 

 North Wales and the Lake District of vol- 

 canic action on the grandest scale in SiKi- 

 rian times, renewed in the Devonian or Old 

 Redsandstone age, with fresh violence 

 upon that part of the earth's surface 

 now occupied by the British Islands, 

 diminished in the following Carbon- 

 iferous Age so that, instead of great 

 central volcanoes, there were innumer- 

 able small vents throwing out tuffs 

 and lavas round the bases of the now extinct 

 Devonian volcanoes. Th ^ well-known hill 

 called Arthur's Seat at Edinburgh was a 

 granite poured forth at this time, and many 

 castle crowned crags of the Forth and Clvde 

 valleys were the worn and denuded reli s 

 of those small volcanoes. At that time the 

 sea covered the South of Scotland, and nH 

 England except a ridge from Mid-Wales to 

 the Wash. In Permian times what volcanic 

 action took pi ice was probably below the 

 large inland sea which, like the Caspian, 

 covered the previous deposits. During the 

 next division of time what was now Devon- 



shire was the scene of several small volcanic 

 outbursts. The mountain- limestone which 

 in Derbyshire was not less than 1,G0U feet in 

 thickness, was clearly deposited in an open 

 and fairly deep sea. Mr. Cozens remarked 

 that during th2 Eocene Period England was 

 covered with a tropical sea like the Indian 

 Ocean, and turtles, tortoises, crocodiles, sea 

 snakes, and animal life suited to warm 

 waters, infested this area. On what little 

 land there was, tropical plants nourished. 

 He said tliat in his sand pits and around 

 by St. Thomas's hill they found sharks' 

 teeth, and they could not have sharks' teeth 

 without sharks. The lecturer alluded to the 

 Oligoccne and Pliocene times, and then to 

 the period when the ice cap was on the land. 

 It went withotii; saying, he proceeded, that 

 this great Ice Age was nece.ssary in the pur- 

 pose of the Great Creator in getting the 

 earth into a fit and proper state for man to 

 live upon. The ice passed away, the tropical 

 fauna and flora disappeared, the climate be- 

 came more temp 'rate, forms of life as we 

 knew them in this land began to show them- 

 selves in plant and animal, and in due time, 

 on the very last and uppermost of the 

 stratified deposits which we called Pleisto- 

 cene, and simply meant " most recent," we 

 found the first remains of primitive man 

 and his tools. We divided them into E<,- 

 lithic (Dawn of Stone Age), Paleolithic 

 (.Vncient Stone Age), Neolithic (New Stone 

 Age), Bronze Age, Iron Age, Historic 

 Period. To-day we looked upon our islands 

 as secure from volcanic peril, and serenely 

 read the news of eruptions and seismic 

 energy in other lands. 



A very hearty vote of thanks was given 

 to Mr. Cozens on the proposition of Dr. 

 Graham Wills, and Mr. Cozens, in replying, 

 said how interesting geology was, and stated 

 that he would be pleased to give assistance 

 to any person who was taking up the study. 



MEMBERS' EVENING. 



The winter programme of this Society 

 (■:inie U> a clo^e on April llth, when tiie 

 customary "members' evening" was ob- 

 served, members bringing interesting ex- 

 Iiibits or raising subjects of discussion. An 

 interesting lecture on the Delhi Durbar was 

 the chief feature, Mr. A. Lander manijni- 

 lating tlie lantern witli his usual skill, and 

 Mr. Underbill reading the lecture. The 

 slides were largely the work of Mr. Ernest 

 Brooks, who had the honour of being ap- 

 ]>ointed private photogTapher to the King 

 for this tour, and some particulars concern- 

 ing his photograjihic methods were given. 

 For all llir negatives taken by him in con- 

 nection with the Durbar, hcn.sed Tabloid 

 Rytol developer. The latest portraits of the 



King-Emperjr and Queen Empress, and of 

 Indian princes and notables in their state 

 robes, were particularly interesting, and 

 there was a specially beautiful ))icture of 

 Her Majesty on a terrace taking a last look 

 at the Taj Mahal 



Mr. W. Cozens liad a very interesting ex- 

 hibit — a jjiece of petrified timber found re- 

 cently about four feet deep in the gravel 

 pit at St. Stephen's, and showing medullary 

 rays, annular rings, fibre, bark, and worm 

 holes. Miss Mason exhibited a curious 

 transparent crystal. There was a discui- 

 sion on the summer programme of excur- 

 sions, particulars of which will be an- 

 nounced Infer. 



UL&^ 1- •"' 



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