1866. | Geology and Paleontology. 591 
also discusses several collateral questions, which we have not space 
to notice. 
There are three papers on Post-pliocene Geology, namely :— - 
1. On the Formation of Lake-basins in New Zealand, by 
Mr. W. T. Locke-Travers. 
2. On the Occurrence of dead Littoral Shells in the Bed of the 
German Ocean, forty miles from the coast of Aberdeen, by 
Mr. Robert Dawson. 
8. On the Glacial Phenomena of Caithness, by Mr. T. F. 
Jamieson. 
The third paper is by far the most important, as in it Mr. 
Jamieson shows that the glacial phenomena of Caithness differ 
remarkably from those observed in the midland region of Scotland, 
especially in the direction of the glacial markings, which point with 
great persistence from N.W. to §.E., or thereabouts; that is to say, 
from the open sea towards the interior instead of vice versd. The 
author is therefore of opinion that the glaciation of the Caithness 
rocks has been produced by a movement of ice from an external 
region to the north-west; and from the abundance of marine shells 
in the drift it is probable that it was accumulated by the agency of 
marine ice. In these respects the traces of glacial action present a 
very strong contrast to those observed in central Scotland, as will 
be seen by a reference to former Chronicles. 
The distinction is further borne out by the absence from Caith- 
ness of tranquilly deposited glacial-marine beds, of valley gravel, 
and of moraimes and gravel hillocks. ‘The area over which these 
peculiarities extend has not yet been determined, nor has the relative 
age of the shell-bearing boulder-clay ; but it is probable that this 
is more recent than the true boulder-clay of central Scotland. 
Mr. Locke-Travers’s paper is occupied with a statement of facts 
tending to show that Dr. Haast’s views of the formation of the 
New Zealand lake-basins are not borne out by actual phenomena; 
and Mr. Dawson’s note is a record of the remarkable fact stated in 
the title. 
The last paper in the Journal, entitled “On the Carboniferous 
Slate (or Devonian Rocks) and the Old Red Sandstone of South 
Treland and North Devon,” by Mr. J. B. Jukes, is of extreme 
interest to British geologists from its containing a new interpreta- 
tion of the rocks of Devonshire; we must therefore devote the rest 
of this Chronicle to its consideration. 
Geologists have hitherto considered that the strata of North 
Deyon belong to the “ Devonian Rocks,” or marine equivalent of 
the Old Red Sandstone, and that in proceeding from Lynton to 
Barnstaple successively higher portions of the series were reached, 
there being a conformable dip southwards for the whole of the 
distance. In the south-west of Iveland there is a different set of 
