604 REPORT— 1902. 



of slope. This has been called an escarpment, and the edge of the continental 

 plateau, but it is suggested that it is really the limit of terrigenous deposits in 

 bulk. 



The lateral expansion of the stream divides it into two spirals on the two sides 

 of the axis and separated by it. Along this axis the deposit will be carried 

 farther to sea than on the two sides. This will cause an apparent depression of 

 the sea-bottom opposite the mouths of direct rivers. These depressions have been 

 taken to be submerged river-channels, but they are the natural result of the form 

 of the deposit, except in special cases — of which the Congo may be one. Such 

 depressions may be seen indicated on charts of the sea opposite suitable rivers, 

 as on the west coast of Spain and India, and on the east coast of America. 



Original orgauicallj' formed limestones require not only water free from 

 sediment, which may be found between the openings of large rivers, but an abun- 

 dant supply of the organisms producing them. It is seen from the results of the 

 'Challenger ' expedition that 60 per cent, of the species of such animals, and 

 probably a higher one of the specimens, inhabit the first 100 fathoms, and another 

 20 per cent, the next 100 fathoms. Limestones are therefore most likely to form 

 narrow lenticles with the long axis parallel to the shore, as in the case of barrier 

 reefs ; and when we find them giving place to shales, it is not because we are 

 approaching a shore-line, but because in going parallel to the ahore-line we are 

 approaching a source of sediment. 



6. Fossils from Cretaceous Strata in the Salt Range of India. 

 By Professor H. G. Seeley, F.B.S., V.P.G.S. 



Hitherto there has been no evidence of cretaceous strata in the Salt Range of 

 the North of India. But Mr. Ernest G. Fraser, formerly of the Punjab Civil 

 Service, has found many species of the type or age of the Upper Greensand. In 

 1893 he crossed the Salt Range and made a collection, placed in my hands, in 

 which are the usual Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary types indicated by Mr. 

 Wynne. But in addition are typical Cretaceous species in limestone. Among 

 the moi'e abundant are Sj^ondi/lNs costnlatus (Stol), fSpondylus calcaratus (Forbes), 

 Hinnites andoorensis, and Tivtina arcotina. The specimens are in good preserva- 

 tion, and weathered out from the rock. They are from the shoulder of Sekasar. 

 Mr. Fraser did not draw a section ; but the fossils which are deposited in the 

 Royal Indian Engineering College show that the section must have been similar to 

 those given by Sir. A. B. Wynne, except that Mr. Fraser had the good fortune 

 to find Cretaceous fossils below the Tertiary strata. This noi'thward extension 

 of the fossils suggests that the Indian Cretaceous sea may possibly have been con- 

 tinuous with that of Central Asia, though the beds described by Dr. F. Schmidt 

 in Siberia have fossils of a Gault type which has not yet been recognised in the 

 Salt Range of India. 



7, 



Investigations into the Glacial Drifts of the North-east of Ireland, 

 conducted by the Belfast Natiiralists' Field Club. By Madame 



Christen. 



8. On the Brockrams of the Vcde of Eden and the Evidence they afford of 

 an inter-Permian Movement of the Pennine Faults. By Percy F. 

 Kendall, F.G.S. 



The author has been engaged during occasional visits to the Vale of Eden in 

 the study of the well-known Brockram conglomerates, which form so conspicuous 

 an element in the Poikilitic series of the district. Tentative results obtained five 

 or six years ago have been fully confirmed by later observations, and though the 

 investigation is not quite complete, the author regards the present occasion as an 



