532 report— 1878. 



A study of the upper zone shows that the materials are remarkably angular, 

 and consist of fragments of grit derived from Devonian beds at no great distance ; 

 that they are very loosely aggregated, have no approach to a stratified arrange- 

 ment, but lie with their longest axes at all angles to the plane of the horizon ; that 

 the accumulation — never more than a few feet thick — is thinnest where the cliff is 

 highest ; that the contour of the surface on which it lies is very much the same as 

 that of the present surface ; and that stones so prevalently angular and so lacking 

 in arrangement could never have been subjected to the rolling and assorting power 

 of the sea ; in other words, that the accumulation is of sub-aerial origin. When, 

 however, the Torbay raised beaches were formed, and the country was 30 feet 

 lower than at present, the greater part of the Paignton cliff was submarine ; hence 

 the bed of angular stones must have been lodged in its present place at a period 

 subsequent to the elevation of the beaches. 



On following the coast towards the sandy plain on the south-west, the bed of 

 angular stones passes under a bed of clay. This superposition, distinct and unmis- 

 takeable, is exposed for a distance of nearly 400 feet ; and the clay, occupied with 

 stumps and roots of large trees, is finally covered with a thick accumulation of 

 peat, traceable, especially after violent gales, in all directions, and to the low-water 

 line ; forming, in short, a well-marked remnant of the Torbay Submerged Forest. 

 The clear superposition proves, beyond a doubt, that the period of the forest growth 

 was subsequent to that of the formation of the bed of angular stones, which,- as 

 already shown, was in its turn subsequent to the era of the elevation of the 

 beaches. The facts show, moreover, that since the beach era the Torbay district 

 has never been at so low a level as it was at that time. 



6. Experiments on Filtration of Sea Water through Triassic Sandstone* 



By Isaac Roberts, F.G.S. 



7. On the New Geological Map of India. By V. Ball, M.A., F.G.S. 



The last occasion when the subject of the geology of India was prominently 

 brought before this Association was during the meeting at Dundee in 1867, when 

 the late lamented Dr. Oldham described the general features and sequence of for- 

 mations as then known. To his memory a just tribute has already been paid by 

 the President of the Section and Professor Hull. Of him, on the occasion of his 

 leaving India, it was well said by the present Superintendent of the Survey, Mr. 

 H. B. Medlicott, F.RS., " Where he has sown others have reaped." 



Since the year just alluded to considerable progress has been made, and the 

 map now exhibited shows the state of our knowledge up to a twelvemonth ago, 

 when it was sent to press. From its small scale of 64 miles to the inch it is but 

 little more than an index, and merely indicates the limits of the principal forma- 

 tions. For large tracts of India, however, maps, showing the minor details and 

 subdivisions already exist. 



Some idea of the magnitude of India may be gathered from the fact that a 

 portion of country equal to Ireland, big as it looks on the map opposite on the 

 scale of one inch to a mile, would make but an inconsiderable gap were it removed 

 from the map of India. 



This map is intended to illustrate a manual of the geology of India, which is 

 now being prepared by the two senior members of the Survey, Messrs. Medlicott 

 and Blanford. The publication of this work, which will take place towards the 

 end of the present year, will, it is expected, place Indian geology on a more stable 

 and externally intelligible footing thau it has hitherto enjoyed. In Europe it is 

 hoped to prove the means of enlisting the interest and critical aid of geologists in 

 elucidating many of the peculiarly perplexing questions connected with the subject 



* Incorporated in the Report on ' Underground Waters.' See Reports, p. 397. 



