82 REPOKT — 1875. 



than the rest of the beds ; yet no line of demarcation could be discovered which 

 separated it from the other strata, as -would have been the case Iiad there been an 

 intrusion of foreign matter ; the other parts of the quarry appeared throughout 

 tolerably imiform. The specimens of the metals and the limestone in ditterent 

 states were placed before the members of the Section. 



On Changes of Climate during the Glacial Period. 

 By the Rev. W. S. Symonds, F.Q.S. 



On the Age of the CanningfoH-Parh Limestone, and its Relation to Coal- 

 measures Soidh of the Mendiijs. Bg E. B. TAA^•JSI:T, F.G.S. 



After noticing earlier opinions which gave a Devonian age to the limestone, the 

 views of Mr. Baker were cited as the first expressed on the Carboniferous side. 

 The latter origin was upheld by Mr. S. G. Perceval's determination of the corals 

 in the Taunton Museum. The present .author had found Lithostrotion irreytdare 

 in situ, which was held to be conclusive as to its Carboniferous age. The occuri'ence 

 of Triassic veins intersecting the limestone was noticed. Theoretically the Carbo- 

 niferous age makes more probable the existence of productive Coal-measm-es imder 

 the Somersetshire flats. 



Discovery of a Submerged Forest in the Estuary of the Orwell. 

 By J. E. Tatior. 



The author stated that his attention had been drawn to some peaty material 

 which came from the bed of the river Orwell during the excavation of a nev.^ 

 channel. Fm-ther investigation proved it to be 9 feet in thickness, full of recum- 

 bent trees, such as dwarf oak, pine, alder, &c., the lower part resting on a marl 

 of freshwater shells &c., imderneath which was the solid chalk. The peat-bed was 

 buried beneath G or 8 feet of black river-mud. A series of thirteen excavations 

 and di'edgings conducted last November proved that the submerged forest extended 

 for seven or eight miles. The peat-bed on an average was about 9 feet (in some 

 places 14 feet) below low-water neap-tide.3. The tide rose 12 to 14 feet, and 

 therefore, even if the old forest had grown at the sea-level, it must have stood about 

 30 feet higher than we now find. Mr. Taylor then referred to other post-glacial 

 forest beds along the eastern coast, and expressed his belief that they represented 

 the last stage of the continental condition of England before the depression took 

 place which brought the North Sea over the low-lying plains, and so formed the 

 present German Ocean. Some fine perfect teeth of the Mammoth {Elephas primi- 

 t/enius) were found in the Orwell forest-bed and exhibited. 



Notes on the South-African Diamonds. By Professor J. Tennakt, F.G.S. 



The first diamond was found in March 1867, and was pronoimced by Dr. "\V. G. 

 Atherstone to be genuine. 



The number and quality of diamonds from the Cape are equal to these from the 

 Drazils, which have chiefly supplied Em-ope dming the last eighty years. 



.vbout 10 per cent, of the Cape diamonds may be taken as those of the first 

 quality, 15 per cent, of the second, 20 per cent, of the third ; the remainder, under 

 the name of barf, are employed for cutting diamonds, and for the numerous appli- 

 cations to which this valuable subst;mce is applied on the part of the glazier, the 

 engineer for drilling rocks, the lapidar}', and others. Many diamonds contain specks 

 and cavities ;. these are placed in the hands of skilled workmen who are acquainted 

 with the cleavage, and by careful manipulation they often get out portions of the 

 first quality for making small "brilliant?,'" "roses," and "tables." 



It is estimated that the value of the diamonds found at the Cape, from March 

 1867 to the present time, exceeds twelve millions of pounds sterling. 



