492 



efforts which were now made by local societies to protect the 

 ancient historical monuments of the country, and lamented 

 the destruction that was now silently undermining the fine old ruin 

 before them. Archeeology having had its fair portion of the 

 morning, the rest of the walk was devoted to geology, and the 

 members hastened on to the Vallis by the Whatley Koad. The 

 wonderful sections of Mountain Limestone, with the beds of 

 Inferior Oolite, deposited unconformably on their basset edges, and 

 the conglomeratic bed of Rhoetic age were, of course, the chief 

 points for examination ; in the latter beds fish teeth of Rhoetic age 

 were found associated with water-worn pebbles of coral from the 

 Mountain Limestone. The inspection of the Liassic infiUings of 

 the fissures was, however, much interfered with by the sound of 

 rifle bullets impinging upon the targets close at hand, and the band 

 of geologists, now much reduced in numbers by the fatigues of the 

 day, found themselves " under fire" for the first time, as the range 

 was directly over their heads and unpleasantly near. Frome 

 was, however, safely reached, and a frugal meal of meat and beer 

 refreshed the members for their homeward journey. 



As one of the features of our Proceedings the excursion of some 

 of the members of our Club to Great Malvern must not be omitted. 

 A joint expedition of the Malvern and Bath Field Clubs, with the 

 Woolhope Naturalists' Club, was arranged for 17th of May, and 

 our Treasurer, Col. St. Aubyn, undertook the command of the 

 Bath division, somewhat limited in number, however, owing to the 

 distance and the unfavourable weather for long excursions. The 

 muster at Malvern seems to have been good notwithstanding, and 

 a party of 60, under the gaidance of some veteran geologists and 

 naturalists, proceeded to explore the geology of those famous hills 

 considered by Mr. Symonds as some of the oldest known rocks in 

 Britain. The principal object of the day was the search at the 

 base of the Worcestershire Beacon for Miss Phillip's conglomerate, 

 all traces of which, owing to certain quarrying operations, had 

 unfortunately been obliterated. Mr. Lees, the President of the 

 Malvern Club, therefore explained that this conglomerate, a mass 

 of Llandovery and Syenite, was so called from the sister of the 

 eminent Professor of Geology at Oxford. " The Llandovery shells, 

 he said, which were mixed up with quartz and felspai', proved by 



