74 



NATURE 



[Afay 23, 1872 



2. "On the Glacial Phenomena of the Yorkshire Uplands." 

 ByJ Mr. J. R. ])al<yns. The ^author stated that m Derliy- 

 shire and Yorkshire, south of the Aire, there is no 

 glacial drift 011 the eastern slope of the Pennine chain, 

 except where it is broken throiigli by the valleys of the 

 \Vye and of the Aire and Calder. Tlie b ,sis of the Aire 

 and the country northward are thickly covered with drift, whicli 

 contains no rocks foreign to the basis, and thus points to forma- 

 tion by local action. The author ascribed this to the glacialion 

 of the country in jiart by glaciers, and in part by a general ice- 

 sheet. Evidence of the latter he finds in the fact that drift occurs 

 only on one side of the valleys, namely, on the lee-side of tlie 

 hills with respect to the source of the drift materials. Traces of 

 tlie action of glaciers are llie great amount of scratched and 

 rounded pebbles in the mounds of drift, which increases in pro- 

 portion to the distance from their aource : the presence of great 

 piles of drift at the junction of valleys, as if by the shedding of 

 the lateral moraines of two glaciers ; and tlie existence of mounds 

 of pebbles and of an alluvial deposit wherever a rock-basin 

 crosses a valley. The Karnes or Eskers, wliicli are frequent in 

 the valleys, he ascribed to the deposition of moraines in the sea 

 instead of on land. Prof. Ramsay agreed with the author as to 

 the e.xistence of these rock-basins in the Yorkshire area, and as 

 to the absence of marine drift on great part of the slope of the 

 Pennine chain. The terminal moraines had to som> extent be- 

 come obscured by tlie washing of soil by rain ; but their ancient 

 existence in niany of the Yorkshire valleys was indisputable. 

 The features of the country, were, moreover in many instances 

 such as could not be reconcded with the deposition of the drill 

 by marine action. 3. " On a Sea-coast Section of liouldtr-clay 

 in Cheshire." By iMr. D. Mackintosh, F.G.S. The piincipil 

 object of tlie author was to draw attention to the fact of the 

 occurrence of numerous sea-shells in a lower boulder-clay at 

 Dawpool, as thoroughly glacial in its appearance, structure, and 

 compos, tion, as any clay to be met with along the shorts of the 

 Irish rfea, and dittering in no essential respec; from the Pind, 

 which runs up the slopes and valleys of the Lake District, lie 

 pointed out a number of very important distinctions between the 

 Eower and Upper Boulder-clays of Cheshire, referring especially 

 to the liglit grey or blue facings of the fractures of the latter. 

 He gave a Jist of a number ot large boulders, greenstone and 

 Cnffell granite predominating, though among the smaller stones 

 Silurian grit was most prevalent. The author likewise explained 

 the mode of striation of the stones iound in the clay, and the 

 position they occupied in reference to their flattened surface. 

 The paper was illustrated by simples of the two clays, a number 

 of shells in various states of preservation, and about forty 

 specimens (most of them named and their parentage assigned) 

 of Silurian grit and argillite, greenstone, several varieties of 

 felstone and porphyry, telspithic breccia, CrilTell and Eskdale 

 granites, and granites of unRuown parentage, Wastdaleor Ennes- 

 dale syenite, quartz, Carboniferous Limestone, chalk flints (?) 

 local gypsum, sandstone, «S;c. In a letter Mr. Searles V. Wo j 1, 

 Jun., stated that he regarded the Boulder-clay containing ihj 

 shells as later than the newest of the East-.-\.ngUan beds, and tlie 

 Upper clay as probably equivalent to the Hcisle clay. The 

 fragmentary ;hells sent had been determined by Mr. J. Gwyn 

 Jeffreys, who found eleven species represented among them, and 

 stated that they agreed with the shells from Moel- fryfaen and 

 Macclesfield. Pie remarked especially on the occurrence of 

 Astarte borcalis, a species now exanct in the British area. Prof. 

 Ramsay remarked, with regard to the Bridlington beds which 

 had been ciied, that they were probably preglacial, and not 

 glacial. lie thought that eventually it would be proved that 

 during the Glacial Period there had been several oscillations m 

 this country both m level and temperature. With respect to 

 temperature, the calculations of Mr. Croll showed the extreme 

 probability of such variations being due to astronomical causes ; 

 and these were best illustrated by reproducing his figures in the 

 form of a diagram, showing the curves and oscidation> of tempera- 

 ture. 4. "On Modern Glacial Action in Canidj. — II." By 

 the Rev. William Bleasdell, M. A. In this paper the author com- 

 municated some facts illustrative of the action of ice in Caiiad.i, 

 in continuation ot a former paper. Eidlar's Island, in the rapid-, 

 of the river Trent (lloA-ing into the head of Lake Ontario), has 

 been removed within the last eighteen mjnihs. Patrick's IslinO, 

 a mile lower down, is also rapidly disappearing, ^almoa Island, 

 in the Bay of Quinie, between Amherst Island and the manilan ', 

 which had an area of about an acre fifty years ago, has dis- 

 appeared, leaving a shoal with about four feet of water over it ; 



and three neighbouring islets, known as The Brothers, are in 

 course of removal. The removal of these islands is due to the 

 aciion of drift-ice. The author also referred to the formation of 

 ground-ice in the Canadian rivers. Prol. Ramsay mentioned that 

 .Sir William Logan had informed him that shore-ice in Canada, 

 charged with boulders, had been known to produce grooves on 

 the face of cliffs as well marked as those of glacial times. He 

 had also mentioned the case of a boulder transported by ice 

 which was of such a size as to have occasioned the wreck of a 

 vessel which had struck upon it. 



Mathematical Society, May 9. — W. Spottiswoode, Treas. 

 R.S., in the chair. — .Mr. J. W. Gliisher gave an account of his 

 paper " On r'unctions with Recurring Derivatives." Mr. Tucker 

 (Hon. Sec.) read portions of communications from Prof J. Clerk 

 .Maxwell, on E .)uations of Motion, and on the Transformation of 

 .Solids. — Prof. Clifford made some remarks on a theory of the 



exponential function derived from the equation '— — = pn. Prof. 



Cayley, Dr. Hirst, Mr. S. Roberts and others, took part in a 

 subsequent discussion on the degenerate forms of curves. 



Chemical Society, May 16.— Dr. Debus, F.R.S., vice- 

 president, in the chair. — "On the Influence of Pressure upon 

 Kermentation," Part I., by Mr. H. T. Brown. The results of his 

 experiments were that under diminished pressure the amount of 

 gas unabsorbed by potash is greatly increased, and that it con- 

 tains a proportionally large amount of hydrogen. Acetic acid 

 and aldehyde-are also formed under these circumstances, so that 

 it would seem that water is decomposed during the alcoholic 

 fermentation, especially when it takes place under diminished 

 pressure. Papers "On the Electrolysis of Sugar Solutions,' 

 by Mr. H. T. Brown ; " On the determination of the solubilities 

 and specific gravities of certain Salts of Sodium and Potassium," 

 by Messrs. D. Page and A. D. Keightley ; and " An examina- 

 tion of the recent attack on the Atomic Theory," by Mr. Atkin- 

 son, were then read. An animated discussion on the Atomic 

 Theory ensued. Mr. C. O'Sullivan then read his elabarate 

 memoir " On the transformation products of Starch." 



Anthropological Institute, M?y 20. — Dr. Charnock in the 

 chair. — Mr. f. Bonoini exhibited and described a new instrument 

 for measuring the proportions of the human body, being specially 

 applicable to the identificaii >n of criminals, aud adapted for a 

 rapid and very easy method of measurement in military and 

 other large establishments. — A paper was read by Mr. (ieorge 

 Harris, V.P., "On Moral Irrespontioility resulting from Insanity." 

 He concluded that persons are not responsible for their actions 

 in cases where they labour under delusions to such an extent that 

 their conduct is not only influenced, but determined, by their 

 belief, aldiough they may still continue to reason correctly. 

 Irresponsibility should be allowed also in those cases where they 

 are impelled by irresistible morbid impulses ; and where from 

 disorders of the nervous system they are suffering from violent 

 and uncontrollable irritability. He criticised the legal definition 

 of irresponsibility in cases of that nature. As to suicide affording 

 a proof of insanity, that must depend on the circumstances of 

 each particular case. The author pointed out the contradictory 

 theories laid down respecting insanity, and alluded also to the 

 conflicting opinions expressed by medical men. 



Geologists' Association, May 3. — James Thome, F.S..\., 

 vice-president, in the chair. " On Columnar Basalts, " by Mr. 

 John Curry. As a preliminary, the process of the formaiion of 

 columnar mud was briefly describe 1, the ana'ogy between 

 this process and tint of the formation of columuar basalt being 

 such that the same diagrams served for illustrations in both 

 cases, though, in the former case, heat penetrates the fine clayey 

 sediment, and produces columns of dried mud ; in the latter, cold 

 advances into the molten lava, and changes it into solid rock, 

 which frequently has a rude but sometimes a perfect columnar 

 structure. Hexagonal cohimns are the most perfect. In re- 

 ference to the production of these columnar structures, the 

 chief and most notable conditions are uneipial temperatures, 

 which the author designated heat and cold, closely situited at 

 the contact surfaces of dissimilarly constituted bodies. In the 

 above instances the dissimilar bodies in surface contact are, first, 

 the atmosphere and fine clayey sediment ; second, the oceanic 

 w.ater and the molten lava. While the solidifying of the lava is 

 being effected, the solid and molten parts may be considered as 

 distinct bodies. It is at and near the surface contacts that the 



