TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 91 
The authors sum up the result of their communication by the following re- 
marks :—That, at some former period, a current of water or masses of glacial ice 
passed down the valley of the Wash from the site of the city of Durham to the. 
river Tyne, near Newcastle; that such a current or glacial action denuded the solid 
strata for a depth of from 150 to 200 feet, and that at its debouchure into the 
valley of the Tyne it excavated or denuded the solid strata to the depth of 
140 feet below the present high-water level at Newcastle, and consequently very 
considerably below the present level of the sea; that such denudation or wash 
has been subsequently filled up by the detritus partly produced on the spot and 
partly brought from distant localities; and that the present drainage of the county 
oa over this detritus in some places at a level of from 100 to 140 feet above the 
ed of the ancient Wash, and at the latter depth below the present high-water level 
of the North Sea. 
It is also somewhat extraordinary that though the present drainage of the 
county (the river Wear) passes along the general line of the ancient river, and 
at about 100 feet higher level, it does not follow the precise line of the Wash, but 
occasionally diverges in a zigzag direction, especially near Durham: passing 
through the solid rock in preference to keeping the straight line of the Wash, it 
again falls into the straight line of the Wash, along which it passes for a con- 
siderable distance, and, at Chester-le-Street, diverges almost at right angles to 
the line of the Wash to the eastward, and passes into the sea at Sunderland, pre- 
ferring that course through the magnesian-limestone rock to gp EE the straight 
line of “the Wash” northward along the river Team, though there is a descent 
of upwards of 50 feet to the river Tyne in the Wash; the ae drainage of 
the country by the river Team being 140 feet above the level of the Wash 
at its debouchure at the river Tyne, and 140 feet below the present high-water 
level of that river. 
ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, tyorupine PHYSIOLOGY. 
Address of Professor Batrour, F.R.S., President of the Section. 
In opening this Section of the British Association, it may be proper to make a 
few introductory remarks. At some of the meetings the President has given a 
résumé of the recent progress of the department over which he presides. I regret 
that I am unable on the present occasion to follow such a good example. The 
comparatively recent date at which I was requested to occupy this honourable 
Peele and my University engagements, which were only concluded, about a 
ortnicht ago, have prevented me from attempting to do more than make some 
eneral remarks on the value and importance of the investigations embraced in 
Section D. The subjects are Biological—haying reference to the structure, phy- 
siology, and distribution of living beings. Man, animals, and plants are alike in- 
cluded within the scope of our researches. Although our Section is separated for 
convenience from that of geology, nevertheless they have important bearings on 
each other. The study of paleontology cannot be prosecuted without a wee 
knowledge of the anatomy, mode of growth, and geographical distribution of the 
plants and animals of the present epoch. In fact, the study of fossil plants and 
animals ought to constitute a part of every course of botany and zoology. Geology, 
in place of being reckoned a istinet science, may be considered as the means by 
which the departments of mineralogy, botany, and zoology are combined in one 
harmonious system—embracing the natural history of the globe. Rash geological 
statements and conclusions often arise from imperfect knowledge of the sciences 
included in our Section. Fronds of ferns of different external forms have been 
described as distinct fossil species or even genera,—the geologist not knowing that 
very different forms of frond are exhibited by the same species of fern in the 
present day. Again, another error has arisen from the same form of frond being 
considered as indicating the same species, whereas the same form does occur in 
different genera in the present flora; and these can only be distinguished by the 
