Yorkshire Naturalists' Union : Annual Report, 1920. 45 



work, loc. cit., on the Red Conglomerates of the Sedbergh district, is 

 also worthy of note. 



A beginning has been made with the investigation of the Yorkshire 

 Rivers and the Peat deposits of the County. 



Jurassic Flora Committee. — ^Mr. J. J. Burton writes : — Inters 

 mittent and individual work has been done by several members during 

 the past year, but there has been no collective work by the Committee. 



Some fresh finds are frequently being obtained from workings in the 

 oolitic sandstone of the Cleveland area, consisting chiefly of Otozamites 

 obtusHS, Williamsonia pecten, and Williamsonia gigas. 



Some further work has been done at the Roseberry plant bed. 



Mr. Hamshaw Thomas is working at Cambridge on some of the plants 

 collected on the Yorkshire beds, but I am advised that there is nothing 

 yet ready on which a report can be issued. 



Yorkshire Glacial Committee. — Mr. J. W. Stather writes : — 



Beverley. — On the occasion of the Union's visit to Beverley last August 

 a very fine section of boulder clay was seen resting on chalk in Messrs. 

 Storry and Witty 's quarry south of the town. The bed, eighteen feet 

 thick, was unusually clear for an inland exposure, the dividing line of 

 silt between the Hessle clay (upper six feet) and the purple clay (lower 

 twelve feet) being very noticable. For particulars see The Naturalist 

 for December. 



North Feyyiby. — In connection with some extensive excavations 

 on the Humber foreshore between North Ferriby and Brough, interesting 

 sections in the glacial and late glacial series have been made. These have 

 been carefully measured by Mr. W. S. Bisat, and details will be given in 

 due course. 



Coast Erosion Committee. — Mr. J. W. Stather writes : — 



Holdeyyiess. — Severe erosion continues unabated on the Holderness 

 coast. At Cowden, four miles south of Hornsea, the boulder clay cliffs are 

 between seventy and eighty feet high. In 1902 a bungalow was erected 

 there, and a stone was built into the wall with this inscription — " Manor 

 Cars. Erected 71 yards from the cliff edge. G. W. Oldham, 1902." 

 In October this year (1920) the distance of the house from the cliff edge 

 was under twenty yards — showing a loss of fifty-one yards in eighteen 

 years — an average loss of nearly three yards per annum. 



Whitby. — Mr. J. T. Sewell, J. P., reports that during 1920 the inroads 

 of the sea on the east side of the town have been more marked than usual, 

 and along the Lias cliffs several new caves have appeared. On the other 

 hand, the level shales forming the scar alter very little, as the cart ruts, 

 made at least forty-five years ago by the collectors of cement doggers, 

 can still be seen. On the west side of the town, between Upgang and 

 Eastrow, there have been many minor falls of rock, and the path on the 

 edge of the cliff has had to be set back. 



Committee of Suggestions for Research Work. — Mr. Chris. A. 

 Cheetham reports : — A start has been made on the two lines of work 

 selected by this Committee at the meeting held in Leeds University in 

 May. An exhibit was made at the Conference of Delegates at the British 

 Association Meeting showing the work that is in progress. 



The Peat Investigation has been of a general type, and every oppor- 

 tunity has been taken to get a broad view of the problena. 



Reports have been made in connection with the Union's excursions, 

 and some local problems have been put before the Committee, with 

 samples of peat ; one by Mr. Leslie Armstrong from Broomhead Moor, 

 Sheffield, where flint implements were seen on the old surface, and in the 

 subsoil beneath four to six feet of peat ; another by Mr. Nowers, from 

 Darlington, where a thin deposit of peat was found below five to six 

 feet of clay, and resting on deep clay. Here the recognisable remains 

 were Menyanthes seeds, Chara spores and debris of Hypnum scorpioides . 



On October i6th Prof. Kendall demonstrated the use of boring tools 



1921 Jan. 1 



