52 BEPORT — 18GG. 



The discovery of Rhcetic beds'near Gaiusljorough forms the northernmost locality 

 of the series as yet known in England. 



On a Curious Lode or Mineral Vein at New Boseiuarne Mine, Givinear, Corn- 

 u'aU. Bij Dr. C. Le J^eve Fostek, F.Q.S. 

 The author observed that it was chietiy remarkable as being a brecciated lode, 

 containing- rounded pebbles. Tlie lode or vein ran east and west, and dipped south, 

 the average dip being about 85 degreej=. The surrounding rock was the ordinary 

 " killas," or a hard shale, for which the name of clay-slate was not appropriate. 

 The lode, which had an average width of aljout 8 feet, contained on the north side 

 mainl)' tin, and on the south copper ore. The "tinnj-," or stanniferous part, some 

 6 feet wide, consisted of fragments of killas, elvan, and killas — breccia, cemented 

 mainly by quartz, tin-stone, niispickel, and chlorite. The fragments were mostly 

 angular, but some of the pieces of killas and elvan were rounded — in many cases 

 sufficiently so to be called true pebbles. The whole history of the formation of the 

 lode described by the author implied an enormous lapse of time. 



On the Biscovery of Ancient Trees helow the surface of the Land at the Western 



Bock now under construction at Hull. By Dr. F. M. Foster, Hull. Head 



by James Oldham, C.E. 



The space intended for the west dock, in Hull, has been inclosed from the 

 Hmuber on three sides by a coft'er-dam. In the cuttings at the east end, the 

 upper stratum is noticed to be silt deposited from the turbid waters of the Humber, 

 locally knoNTii as " mud," and immediately under the silt, the trunks, roots, and 

 branches of oak-trees, together with a peat soil of 2 feet in thiclmess, beneath 

 that a strong clay soil, and under this (so far as is uncovered) an extensive bed 

 of blue sand, containing the freshwater shells Lymncca, Phmorhis, &c. 



At a depth of 40 feet below the level of the adjoining land, trees (chiefly oak) 

 are found in all positions; those which are upidght and still in situ having been 

 broken off within 3 feet of the roots. One oak-tree, of noble dimensions, is per- 

 fectly straight, its trunk being 45 feet long, and in the thickest part measuring 

 125 feet in circumference ; it is tolerably sound, but blackened in colour. This 

 tree lies nearly north and south, but others, which have also fallen, are to be met 

 with in everj^ direction. 



In a hole caused by the decay of a branch, was fomid a quantity of hazel-nuts, 

 possably the winter store of some pro\ident squirrel ; the shells, though black, 

 were quite perfect. 



The undulating state of the original surface may be seen by the silt abo-\e 

 bemg of a lighter colour than the lower stratum. It is evident, from the position 

 of the roots, that the ground on the north or land side, on which the trees gi-ew, 

 has been higher than the south or river side, thiis indicating the side of a valley 

 before the existence of the estuary of the Humber, and probably of the North Sea. 



The trees cannot be less than 3000 years old ; and would require at least 300 

 years to attain the dimensions given. In a boring made the chalk has been foimd 

 at the depth of 110 feet below the surface of the sea. 



On the Anylo-Beh/ian Basin of the Forest-bed of Norfolh and Suffolh, and 

 the Union of England with the Continent duriny the Glacicd Period. By 

 the Rev. J. Gunn. 



A question of the greatest importance had been raised by Mr. Godwin-Austen 

 with reference to the extension of the Belgian coal-measures to this cormtry. It 

 was evident that in the mesozoic period, the continuous ranges of chalk in Bel- 

 gium, France, and England, formed a basin, in which tertiaries were deposited. 

 The author, after researches carried on for upwards of thirty years, had come to the 

 conclusion that the forest-bed was the estuarine deposit of some great river or 

 rivers flowing westward, closed on the south by a ridge of chalk-hills, and open to 

 the sea on the nortli ; and that such ancient ri^er or rivers were now represented 



