240 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESVVOLD CLUB 



Sir R.J. Murchi.son * opposed the " Laurentian " hypo- 

 thesis of Dr. Holl, and contended that the gneisses and 

 schists are metamorphosed Cambrian strata. 



Much more recently, Mr. F. Rutley t has suggested a 

 modification of the views of PhiUips and Holl, and has 

 attempted to construct a succession amongst the foliated 

 rocks. He thinks that the structural planes " sometimes 

 certainly, at others possibly, indicate planes of stratifica- 

 tion." 



My attention was first attracted to the Malvern region 

 by Holl's " baked rocks,'' which, from his descriptions, 

 I suspected to be something very different. In 1878, I 

 visited the ground, and was at once able to identify the 

 rocks with our Salopian Pre-cambrian volcanic series, ijl 

 which is now known as the Uriconian system. Both 

 lavas and ashes were to be recognised in the craggy out- 

 crops, but nothing approaching a succession could be 

 made out. Happily, the local authorities of Malvern, with 

 unconscious benevolence, have come to the aid of science 

 by excavating a reservoir for water in the heart of these 

 volcanic rocks, thus exposing to view excellent sections of 

 the anatomy of the formation. It is now seen that the 

 lavas and ashes clearly alternate with each other in bands 

 which display definite dips and strikes. Mr. H. D. Acland, 

 President of the Malvern Field Club, has published § 

 a short account of the rocks exposed in the cuttings ; and 

 it is to be hoped that he will work out the details of this 

 interesting formation. 



We now come to the crystalline rocks which form the 

 core of the Malvern ridge from end to end. The main 



* ' Siiuria,' 1867, p. 14. 



t Q.uart. Jouni., Geol. Soc, Aug., 1887, p. 481. 



J Qii.Tit. Journ., (jcol. Soc, 1880.. p 53&- 



§ Prcs. Address; I'roc. Malvern Ficid Club. 1893. 



