1869.] Geology. 597 



from the fact that the boundary Hue between the Devonian or Old 

 Red Sandstones and the Carboniferous series had been placed in two 

 different horizons. In Ireland the Carboniferous slates and inter- 

 bedded " Coomhola Grits " form the base of the Carboniferous series ; 

 in England they are treated as belonging to the Devonian. 



Professor Harkness then alluded to the Triassic j)ebble-bed at 

 Budleigh Salterton, with its remnants of palaeozoic fossils. He 

 mentioned the recent discovery by Mr. Whitaker of reptilian 

 remains, referred by Professor Huxley to Hijj^erodapedon, He 

 drew attention to the Miocene Lignite beds of Bovey Tracey, the 

 Flora of which has been so ably described by Dr. Oswald Heer, and 

 the geology by Mr. Pengelly. Dr. Heer has identified many forms 

 of plants with those which occur in the Miocene beds of Arctic 

 America, Greenland, and Spitzbergen. 



In referring to the exploration of Kent's Hole and similar 

 ossiferous caverns, the President observed that geology and archaeo- 

 logy were now shading into each other, and although the early 

 history of mankind had long remained dim and indistinct like 

 distant land, we were, by the labom's of Lyell, Lubbock, and others, 

 acquiring a clearer conception of early man, his mode of hfe and 

 conditions of existence. 



Mr. Godwin-Austen's paper " On the Devonian Group Con- 

 sidered Geologically and Geographically," dealt with the probable 

 distribution of laud and water during the Devonian epoch, 

 and the effect of such conditions on the Fauna and Flora of 

 the period. He spoke of the wide extent of the Devonian formation 

 in Europe, Asia and America, and of the old Silurian land-surface 

 which existed in the latter country during its deposition. From 

 the fact that the fossil fishes of the Devonian belonged to the 

 Ganoid family, the author inferred that a large portion of these 

 beds were of lacustrine (fresh- water) origin ; at the same time he 

 admitted that vast marine accumulations were also simultaneously 

 in process of formation in the adjoining seas. He spoke of the 

 passage of the Old Bed Sandstone group into the Silurian at its base, 

 and into the Carboniferous series above, and concluded by indicating 

 its easterly extension across Europe. 



Dr. P. Martin Duncan presented his " Second Beport on British 

 Fossil Corals." After describing several new forms and referring 

 to the 140 species already published, the author stated that 251 

 species of corals had been met with in British Secondary and Ter- 

 tiary strata. 



The author showed that not only are we able by the presence of 

 certain corals to arrive at a correct estimate of the conditions of the 

 seas of by-gone epochs, but also to trace out the ancient coast-lines 

 by their coral reefs. 



