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opened the meeting Mr. Dowker delivered an address on *' the 

 Geology of the district visited by the Excursionists," illustrated 

 by Diagrams. 



Mr. Dowker commenced by observing that those members 

 who had taken part in the excursion had had an opportunity of 

 noticing some of the principal Geological features of this part 

 of Kent. — He might remind them that the hill they ascended 

 at Shottenden, was one of the lowest of the Eocene beds, 

 popularly termed the London clay. He explained that the 

 tertiary deposits overlying the chalk, of which the Woolwich 

 bed was a member, followed in the following succession ; — 

 Firstly, over the chalk, the Thanet sands ; next the Wool- 

 wich sands ; then the basement bed of the London clay, over 

 which they found the London clay proper. The out crop of 

 these lower beds extended from Eeculver in a south-westerly 

 direction to Canterbury, and thence to Faversham and Sitting- 

 bourne, the chalk hills bounding this region towards the South, 

 and forming the range of hills termed the North Downs. 

 From the top of Shottenden hill they might see the chalk 

 extending from the Isle of Thanet (Pegwell Bay Cliffs) to the 

 North Downs in the direction of Maidstone ; the London clay, 

 to the North, in the Isle of Sheppy ; and the intermediate 

 Woolwich sands extending from Heme Bay to the point from 

 which they were observing the scene. The Woolwich sands 

 were characterised by large beds of pebbles, and a good section 

 of them was pointed out to the Excursionists in a sand pit near 

 Shottenden hill. They were also interspersed with beds of a 

 ferruginous sandstone, impervious to water ; and it was 

 owing to the presence of this sand in the woods at Perry-street 

 that there were found so many springs of water issuing from 

 the surface. The Thanet sands lying immediately below these 

 series were not seen in sections, being for the most part 

 denuded by fluviatile action ; but they could be traced in the 

 neighbourhood from the number of green flints strewn over 

 the chalk ; these green flints being indicative of the pre- 

 sence of the Thanet sand. Towards the north, by Bough- 



