17 
“When we are speculating on the excavating force which 
“a river may have exerted in any particular valley, the most 
“important question is, not the volume of the existing stream, 
“nor the present levels of its channel, nor even the nature of 
“the rocks; but the probability of a succession of floods at 
“ some remote period since the time when the valley may have 
“been first elevated above the sea.” 
And he, Dr Evans, further mentions that Mr Fergusson on 
“ Recent changes in the Delta of the Ganges,” says— 
“That all rivers oscillate in curves, the extent of which is 
“directly proportionate to the quantity of water flowing 
“through them.” 
It appears to me, while Mr Ellis’s theory is a factor, which 
must in future be recognised in the formation of river curves, 
it is only one of several. I have often noticed a brook, which 
is a miniature stream, in passing through alluvial meadows, is 
almost sure to wind, and sometimes it forms acute angles. The 
volume of water in a river—the velocity at which it travels— 
the character of the ground it passes through (as when hard 
rocks are crossed they often deflect its course)—and that the 
tributary of a stream is the minor force, and therefore under 
the control of the major one—the main stream—all of these, 
and probably others, must necessarily be present to our minds 
when considering the subject. 
The paper led to one of the longest discussions the 
Cotteswold Club has ever had, and Mr Ellis deserves our thanks 
for having given his own views, the result of many years’ 
original observations, on a difficult question. 
The Rev. Dr Smithe followed with a paper, ‘Report on 
the Celestine (Strontian sulphate) of Gloucester and its vicinity, 
with remarks on the same mineral in Sicily,” which will be 
found in our Transactions. 
I wish to commend to our members the great value of 
papers like Dr Smithe’s, and to express a hope that when they 
visit interesting places abroad, where like formations occur to 
those in our own neighbourhood, they will follow his example, 
and give us the result of their observations. 
c 
