The Ninth General Meeting. 7 



visited, and the party reached Malmesbury about six o'clock. The 

 weather was somewhat stormy, but notwithstanding this we believe 

 the excursionists, one and all, spent a most pleasant day. 



In the evening a Conversazione was held in the Town-Hall, the 

 attendance being again both large and influential. Mr. E. D. B. 

 Estcourt, who presided, opened the proceedings by a few remarks, 

 in which he expressed his regret that the weather had not been 

 more propitious, and begged the visitors not to believe "it was 

 usual in this part of Wilts." He then called upon the Rev. W. H. 

 Jones, F.S.A., Vicar of Bradford-on-Avon, to read a paper on 

 " Bishop Aldhelm and his Times." 



The Rev. A. C. Smith read a paper entitled "A Plea for the 

 Rooks : " which will be found in the Magazine. 



Mr. W. CuNNiNGTON, F.G.S., then made some observations on a 

 portion of the Geology of Wiltshire, illustrated by a diagram of a 

 section of the strata at Stert, near Devizes, which he pointed out 

 as one of the most remarkable geological " faults " (as they are 

 styled) in the county of Wilts. What causes these faults is not so 

 clear, but it is evident that there was some disturbance below, 

 pushing up the underlying horizontal strata through those which 

 were superincumbent, tilting them up most unceremoniously, and 

 leaving them in this strangely uncomfortable vertical position, at 

 an inclination of about 35 degrees. 



At the conclusion of Mr. Cunnington's address, the President 

 desired to express the thanks of the meeting to the three gentlemen 

 who had favoured them with such interesting papers. Of the first 

 and last he would not presume to express an opinion, having never 

 turned his attention to such matters, but with regard to Mr. Smith's 

 paper, he was happy to say that in that immediate district rooks 

 were not destroj'ed in the manner which had been described. Mr. 

 Estcourt then remarked in a humorous manner on the harmlessness 

 of the so-called bird boy, generally an old man with a rusty gun, 

 which seldom went off, and never hit the mark ; and also alluded 

 to the prevalent notion, to which however Mr. Smith did not seem 

 at all to assent, that rook-shooting, as the nestlings were leaving 

 their nests, was conducive to the prosperity of the rookery, though 



