'16 REPORT — 1897. 



Geogeapht, Special. [Divisions of the first orcTtT onlj.] 

 The Earth as a whole. 



The Laxd as a whole. 



EXJEOPE. 



Asia. 



Atjstealasia. 



Pacific Islands. 



America as a whole. 



North America. 



Central America and West Indies. 



South America. 



Africa. 



Polar Regions. 



The Ocean as a whole, 



Atlantic Ocean (seas and islands as- 

 subordinate divisions). 



Indian Ocean (seas and islands a& 

 suhoi'dinate divisions). 



Pacific Ocean (seas only). 



Southern Ocean. 



5. On the Distribution of Detritus by the Sea. 

 By Vaughan Cornish, M.Sc, F.R.G.S., F.C.S. 



The object of this investigation is to explain the processes which distribute the 

 detritus that enters the sea at its margin. The processes can be deduced from the 

 observed mode of occurrence of terrigenous materials on the foreshore and on the 

 sea bottom, from the mode of occurrence of the rocks, from the motions of sea 

 water, from the circumstances of attrition, from the behaviour of dust, and from' 

 the motions of individual pebbles and grains of sand. 



The author deals in considerable detail with the motions of water due to tides 

 and waves, and the transporting effects of these motions. 



It is shown that the transport of fine mud downhill from the coast seawards is 

 not due to the action of gravity. 



Shoals and beaches (persisting structures of changing material) are dealt with 

 in a manner similar to that employed by the author in the study of sand dunes 

 (' Geographical Journal,' March 1897). 



It is shown that the usual reasoning from the behaviour of individual pebbles- 

 and sand grains to the behaviour of beaches is vitiated by the neglect to take 

 account of the fact that the variation in the proportion of the ingredients greatly 

 exceeds the variation in the mobility of the individuals. 



The paper, which will appear in e.vtenso in the 'Geographical Journal,' com- 

 prises the following: heads : viz.. The Motions of the Sea, Mud Flats of the Deep 

 Sea, The Sifting of Sand from Shingle, The Formation of a Shingle Beach, The- 

 Origin of the Ridge and Furrow Structure of a Shingle Ness, The Grading of 

 Beach Material (under which heading the case of the Chesil Beach is discussed}, 

 Sandy Beaches, The Origin of the ' Low ' and ' Ball ' of a Sandy Shore, The 

 Accumulation of Sandy Forelands and Sandbanks, and The Contours of Coasts. 



6. On certain Submarine Geolorjical Changes. 

 By John Milne, F.R.S., F.G.S. 



This communication was largely an epitome of a lengthy paper on ' Suboceanic 

 Changes' published in the July and August numbers of the 'Geographical 

 Journal.' To this, however, a few new but important observations were 

 added. 



The author pointed out that the general result of denudation on the land was 

 to bring materials to a lower level, and by gradually wearing away excrescences 

 like mountain heights to render such forms more stable. Beneath the sea these 

 materials are accumulated in slopes, which, being formed largely under the 

 influence of gravity, are unstable. As the deposits grow, from time to time facial 

 slidings take place from weight alone, and from the escape of fresh water from 

 subterranean springs. The most important cause of submarine landslides are the 



