538 Sir W. R. Hamilton’s Theorem connected with the 
It seems then that if instead of 20 or 30 there were 95 per 
cent. of species common to the red and coralline crag, even 
then these deposits might be as widely separated as the Sicilian 
tertiary strata and the formations of the present period ! 
I have yet to enter upon the most important stage of the 
present inquiry, that which relates to M. Deshayes’s examina- 
tion of the coralline crag shells, and to the consideration of 
how far the result affects the opinion I formerly advanced 
respecting the antiquity of the Ramsholt stratum. 
During the last two or three years I have embraced every 
opportunity of examining the marine and freshwater deposits 
in the counties of Norfolk, Essex, and Suffolk, and of late 
my attention has been particularly directed to those views 
of chronological arrangement which in so comprehensive 
and elaborate a manner are advocated in the ‘ Principles of 
Geology.’ From facts which have fallen under my own 
notice during the course of my investigation, and from other 
circumstances which have more recently transpired,] feel con- 
fident that a classification of the fossiliferous strata in ques- 
tion, founded upon the proportion of extinct Mollusca which 
they individually contain, would lead to the most erroneous 
conclusions. 
The sources of error which I have in the present instances 
detected, will, if clearly established, have a general application 
in the arrangement of tertiary formations, and will probably 
materially interfere with the confidence which we might other- 
wise place in the accuracy of those results which are con- 
nected with numerical calculations. 
To enter upon a full discussion of this most intéresting and 
complicated subject would greatly exceed the limits of the 
present communication, and I shall therefore confine myself 
to those points which are particularly connected with the 
present inquiry. [To be continued.] 
XCI. Theorem respecting Algebraic Elimination, connected 
with the Question of the Possibility of resolving in finite 
Terms the general Equation of the Fifth Degree. Extracted 
by Permission, from a Communication recently made to the 
Royal Irish Academy. By Professor Sir Witt1am Rowan 
Hamitton, Astronomer Royal of Ireland*. 
Theorem. [= x be eliminated between two equations, of the 
following forms, namely, 1st, an equation of the 
fifth degree, of the form 
= r+Der — E, Sec eneceruesesesee (1.) 
* Communicated by the Author. 
