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acceptance, — not doubting that ahould the means suggested for increasing 

 our revenues fall short of the object aimed at, the Club will readily consent 

 to an increase of our subscriptions, rather than suffer the reputation of the 

 Club to decay, or its work to be starved for lack of the requisite funds. 



Having made these preliminary observations, I will now proceed to give 

 a summary of the work done by the Club during the past season. 



The annual meeting of the Club was held at the Earn Inn, Gloucester, 

 on Wednesday, 26th of February, when the usual business was transacted, 

 the accoimts audited, and the officers for the ensuing year appointed ; when 

 you were pleased to manifest your confidence in me, by re-electing me to 

 the office of president. The secretaryship, which had been held by Mr. 

 Jones for two years with great advantage to the Club, was resigned by that 

 gentleman, owing to increasing pressure of business interfering with his 

 leisure, and Mr. Luct was unanimously chosen to fill the vacant post. 



The day's excursion was directed to an examination of the drifts of tlie 

 Severn Valley, as exhibited in the neighbourhood of Gloucester. 



The question of the distribution of the different beds of gravel, and 

 their relation to one another, is one which has assumed a vast extension of 

 interest and importance since the researches of Mr. Prestwich and others 

 have shown that these beds are capable of sub-division into a higher and 

 lower series, characterised by well-marked organic contents, amongst which 

 the discovery both in this country and on the continent of Europe, of 

 human works of art, associated with osseous remains of now extinct quad- 

 rupeds, have attracted to these beds an amount of attention proportionate 

 to the novelty and importance of the arguments deducible from these 

 startling discoveries. 



The gravels in question are found distributed at various heights along 

 the flanks of the valleys which bound many, perhaps most of our river- 

 courses, and indicate the amount of water-action previous to the excava- 

 tion of the present channels. Mr. Prestwich is of opinion that the 

 constituents of these gravels are in all cases derived fi-om beds now existing 

 " in situ" along the valleys, and consequently that they have been brought 

 down and deposited by the present rivers. He considers that these gravels 

 may be divided into two distinct series, denominated by him " High 

 Level" and " Low Level" drifts, the latter occupying a position but a few 

 feet above the present water-level, while the former are to be looked for at 

 heights varj'ing from 50 to 200 feet above the level of the valley. Occa- 

 sionally, however, beds of gravel are found at intermediate levels, leading 

 to the conclusion that the " Upper-lying" and " Lower-lying" drifts must 

 be regarded as the extremes of a continuous series, rather than as beds 

 which owe their origin to separate and distinct influences. The " Upper 

 h2 



