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■was formed the columnar basalts near Eastnor, the result of a 

 lava-outpouring into a shallow sea. After this the base of the 

 Upper Silurians, viz., the coarse and fine conglomerates of May- 

 Hill, wliich must then have been a sinking area, were formed from 

 the disintegration of the rocks of the more ancient periods, and 

 washings of a shallow sea. Having thus brought the thoughts of 

 the members to the strata on which they were standing, Mr. 

 Symonds described the various changes, through earthquake and 

 other volcanic agencies, in the height of the land which had taken 

 place after the Permian period, and said that he had no doubt, 

 were a tunnel cut through the hill, they would find the same 

 nucleus of Gneissic beds beneath their feet as composed the 

 Malvern range. The summit of May-Hill was composed of the 

 usual conglomerate which, so far as his experience extended, 

 always composed the base of the Upper and the Lower Llandovery ; 

 at May-Hill it was the base of the Upper Llandovery beds that 

 they were standing on. Some idea of the elevation of the May- 

 Hill sandstone might be formed from the fact that all the rocks of 

 the Upper Silurians of Ledbury, the old Red sandstone of 

 Herefordshire, and probably the Carboniferous rocks of Dean 

 Forest once lay above the beds beneath their feet. Crossing to the 

 W. side of the hill whence the Forest of Dean coal field could be 

 seen, Mr. Symonds stated that the great dislocation which had 

 caused the elevation of the strata on the W., and the downthrow 

 on the E., had taken place after the Permian period, and in 

 conclusion he drew attention to the vast amount of denudation 

 which must have taken place, as most probably the Carboniferous 

 limestone had formerly extended from the South Wales coal basin 

 to the Clee hills in Shropshire. He also mentioned the detection, 

 a few weeks ago, of the Haffield or (Permian) ' breccias, on the 

 eastern flanks of May-Hill, by himself and Mr. W. E. Price, of 

 Tibberton Court, and that Mr. Price had since then found a fossil 

 in one of the pebbles embedded in the breccia, which' he was in 

 hopes might give them some clue as to the age of the deposits from 

 which the pebbles in the breccia were derived. An inspection of 

 the quarries on the top of the hill was now made, and a most 

 satisfactory confirmation of the theory that May-Hill is composed of 



