TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 95 



surface bed, where the coal-plants were growing when the ash was thrown out of 

 the volcano, the lime abounding in the bed, and which fills tlie numerous amyg- 

 daloidal cavities of the rock, having speedily seized and fixed them, preserving all 

 the details of the tissue. The plants are stems, fruits and leaves of carboniferous 

 plants, and innumerable roots penetrate the mass in every direction. The characters 

 of these plants are beautifidly shown on the shore fragments, which are polished 

 by blown sand. At this place the great power of air-driven sand is veiy evident 

 on the black basalt, which is all smoothed and almost glazed on its western 

 aspect. The author believed that the continuous bed of limestone containing 

 vegetables, above Ivingswood End, was different from the blocks on the shore and 

 those in the trappean ash, because of the different mineral conditions and organic 

 contents. 



On the General Conditions of ths Glacial Epoch ; with Sufff/estions on the 

 formation of Lalce-hasins. Bif John Cuhet. 



The paper contains a detailed topographical account of glacial drift in the north 

 of England, from which the author passes on to discuss the general conditions of 

 the glacial epoch. Increase and diminution of a polar ice-cap is the cause, in the 

 author's judgment, of the movements of subsidence and elevation of sea-level of 

 the glacial period. He maintains that the submerged forests of many parts of the 

 coast have been preserved by being imbedded in a sheet of ice. Remarks on the 

 origin of lake-basins follow. The author cites evidence to show the power of ice 

 and debris to dam up streams, and bases his conclusions largely upon facts quoted 

 from Mr. Jamieson's paper in vol. i. of the Geological Journal. 



On the General Geology of Queensland. By E,. Dainteee. 



This paper was illustrated by a series of photographs ; a number of fossils and 

 rock specimens had been collected by the author, but they were, unfortunately, 

 nil lost in the wreck of the ' Queen of the Thames.' The author recognized in 

 Queensland metamorphic and igneous rocks, and the equivalents, to some extent, 

 of our Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Liassic (?), Oolitic, and Cretaceous for- 

 mations. A still higher series of sandstones occurred, bat their precise age had 

 not yet been determined. Alluvial deposits fringed all the water-courses, and had 

 yielded remains of extinct marsupials. It was in these alluvial deposits that the 

 miner met with his chief supply of " free " gold. In the beds which Mr. Daintree 

 refers with doubt to the Lias, coal-seams of varied quality occur. They are only 

 employed for local purposes, and no attempt has yet been made to ascertain their 

 number and relative position. This coal-field occupies a certain district in the 

 south of Queensland, but another coal-field, belonging to the Carboniferous for- 

 mation, is met with in tlie north. None of the coals there have been worked, 

 owing to the want of railway communication. In the passage-beds between the 

 Carboniferous and Devonian formations, auriferous lodes occur, all the mineral 

 veins of the country appearing either in Upper rala30zoic or Metamoi-phic 

 rocks. Copper and lead-ore also al}ound. The author believes there is a close 

 connexion between the occurrence of veins and tlie appearance of Trappean dis- 

 turbance. 



The Relation of the Quaternary Mammalia to the Glacial Period. 

 By W. EoTD DAWKijfs, F.ll.S. 



The animals fell naturally into five distinct groups, the first of which comprises 

 those now living in the temperate regions of Europe and America, including the 

 Grizzly Bear, the Ljnx, the Bison, and the Wild Boar, and binds the Quater- 

 nary to the present fauna. The second gToup comprises those animals which are 

 now confined to cold regions, such as the Glutton, Reindeer, Musk Sheep, and 

 the Tailless Hare ; they constitute the iVrctic division of Quaternary Mammalia, 

 Jind imply a cold climate. The third gTOup consists of those animals which are 

 now only found in hot regions, the Hyajna and Hippopotamus ; and they indicated 



