332 report— 1879. 



all that has an under-clay grew as vegetation on land. It is at present rather diffi- 

 cult to believe that where a coal seam is found upon a hard silicious bed without a 

 vestige of clay or of old soil, its plants were rooted there. But the stigmarian 

 roots are not unfrequent in the ganister, and at the present time a peculiar vege- 

 tation is growing on the grits to the west of this town with a very small amount of 

 humus intervening. Some coal seams, especially the cannels, would appear, how- 

 ever, not to have been produced by plants which grew on the rocks beneath, and 

 they are the result of vegetation drifting and becoming water-logged. 



In reflecting upon the history of those Carboniferous deposits in relation to the 

 subsequent great changes in the physical geography of the earth, the idea that 

 geological histories repeat themselves does not obtain that importance with which 

 it is credited in relation to human events. It is true that there were important 

 Triassic, Oolitic, Wealden, Neocomian, and Tertiary lands whose vegetation has 

 been metamorphosed into a kind of coal. But the wonderful depth and the 

 extraordinary vertical repetition of organic and inorganic deposits, of the Car- 

 boniferous formation, and the remarkable crust movements which enabled them to 

 accumulate, are without subsequent examples. 



In conclusion, I must remind you that the volumes of the ' Geological Record ' 

 give the literature of the Carboniferous formation year by year, and that lately a 

 magnificent contribution to the subject has appeared in the memoirs of the 

 Geological Survey of England and Wales in the form of a great volume on the 

 geologyof the Yorkshire coal fields, by Professor Green, one of our Vice-Presidents, 

 and Mr. Russell. A very concise and excellent geology of the West Riding has also 

 recently been published bv Mr. Davis, who is amongst us to-day, and Mr. Bauer- 

 mann has contributed a capital article on coal to the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica.' 



The following Report and Papers were read : — 



Seventh Report of the Committee appointed for the purpose of recording 

 the position, height above the sea, lithological characters, size, and origin 

 of the Erratic Blocks of England, Wales, and Ireland ; reporting other 

 matters of interest connected with the same, and taking measures for 

 their preservation. — See Reports, p. 135. 



2. Notice of the occurrence of a Fish allied to the Goccosteus in a bed of 

 Devonian Limestone near Chudleigh. By John Edward Lee, F.G.S., 

 F.8.A. 



In this paper the author mentions the discovery of a fish, allied to c< iccosteus, in 

 the Devonian Limestone of Lower Dunscombe, near Chudleigh, and endeavours to 

 show that this fish occurs in the middle or upper part of the Devonian Limestone, 

 just as it is found chiefly in the upper beds of the Old Red Sandstone. He also 

 points out that, from being associated with goniatites, clyrnenia, and crinoidal 

 remains, it cannot have been a fresh-water fish. 



3. Notice of Fossils found in a bed of Devonian Rocks at Saltern Cove, in 

 Torbay, and in a quarry of the Old Red Sandstone, near Caerleon, in 

 Monmouthshire. By John Edward Lee, F.G.S., F.S.A. 



In this notice the author states that the fossils found at Saltern are precisely 

 similar to those found at Biidesheim, in the Eifel, which are commonly considered 

 as Upper Devonian, and he therefore believes that, as the fossils are identical, this 

 small exposure at Saltern may be considered as Upper Devonian. He exhibits a 

 small series of fossils froru both places, to show their identity. 





