145 
of the new line of railway between Bridgwater and Edington. 
In the absence of Mr. Clarke, through professional engagements, 
the paper was read by the Secretary. The object was to describe 
the first continuous excavation ever made through the heart of 
the Polden Hills, and was one of those papers so suitable to a 
local society, being a record of features likely soon to be obscured 
by time and vegetation. (Vide p. 127). 
A short discussion followed, in which Messrs. Mantell, Knight, 
Daubeny, Bartrum, Rose and others took part. Questions were 
asked as to the gradient of the line and the depth of the cuttings, 
and also the time considered necessary for the formation of peat 
beds. The Secretary, having replied to the queries put to him, 
undertook to convey to Mr. Clarke the thanks of the members 
for his communication, for the admirable drawings of the fossils 
found during the excavations, and for the section illustrating the 
Geology of the Hills. 
The fourth afternoon meeting was held at the Royal Literary 
Institution on Wednesday, Feb. 11th, when Col. A. F. Bingham 
Wright read a paper on “ Personal Experiences of the Effects of 
the Recent Earthquakes in the Riviera,” being the second part 
of a paper read on Feb. 6th, 1883, on “ The Cause of Earthquakes,” 
the Rev. Canon Ellacombe occupying the chair. 
Col. Wricut, in the course of his paper, explained that he was. 
wintering in the Riviera with his family when the great earthquake of 
1887 occurred. They were at Mentone, and at early dawn on Ash 
Weduesday they were aroused from sleep by the bed shaking violently, 
The oscillatious were tremendous, and were accompanied by a fearful 
- Noise, somewhat resembling the roar of a fast train runving through a 
_ tunnel, though even this was drowned in other sounds of smashing 
_ glass, crockery ware, and the falling of roofs and walls. About 15. 
minutes after the first shock the grinding roar and fearful shaking 
_ €ame on again. The house seemed to rock like a ship at sea, but, 
( contrary to expectations, the floor, below the top storey which was in, 
-Tuins, did not collapse. Having recounted some stirring incidents of 
_ personal escapes and rescues amid the desolation, Colonel Wright. 
