54 REPORT — 1891. 



to' believe that many sets of observations of the level in welTs andl 

 springs had been made daily or weekly during past times, and the- 

 Committee thonght it highly important to secure these old records if 

 possible. 



The work of the Coast Erosion Committee, which was appointed in 1882, 

 had been carried on with important results, and much information had 

 been derived from a study of old charts to which the Committee had been 

 enabled to get access. The Committee on Erratic Blocks, of which Dr. 

 Crosskey, of Birmingham, was the Secretary, was appointed in 1871 with 

 the object of recording the exact positions of the more important boulders 

 and, if possible, of entering these positions on the Ordnance map. Copies 

 of these maps should be kept by the Societies taking part in the work, and 

 copies should also be "sent to the British Association Committee. It was- 

 important also to have a microscopical examination of sections of chips 

 from the boulders made by competent geologists, so that the probable 

 sources of the boulders might be ascertained. Another point in connec- 

 tion with thi? subject, in which the Corresponding Societies might exert 

 their local influence, was that the boulders where they occurred should 

 not be left to the mercy of the stone-breaker, but should be preserved. 

 This applied especially to public parks or gardens, where the local Socie- 

 ties might well use their influence with the Corporations to induce them 

 to have the boulders preserved and even placed in prominent positions,, 

 where they might be readily accessible and at the same time secure from 

 danger of demolition. 



With reference to the publication of the ' Geological Record,' Mr. De 

 Ranee had been requested by Mr. Topley to bring the subject prominently 

 before the Delegates. The woi'k was instituted, as was well known, by 

 Mr. Whitaker in 1874, and entailed a large amount of unremunerated 

 labour. The number of copies sold was insuSicient to meet the cost of 

 publication, notwithstanding the grant made by the British Association, 

 and unless more subscribers could be secured the publication would have 

 to cease. The ' Geological Record ' Committee took the opportunity of 

 appealing to the Delegates, and Mr. De Ranee on behalf of the Committee 

 asked them to make known the character and scope of the work in order 

 to increase the list of subscribers. Circulars for this purpose were dis- 

 tributed among the Delegates. 



Professor Meldola made some remarks with reference to the proposed 

 method for investigating the source of the Aire, after which he stated 

 that he had been requested by Dr. Crosskey to render the thanks of the 

 Erratic Blocks Committee to the Corresponding Societies for the aid 

 which they had already given, and to express a hope that their assistance 

 would be continued. Dr. Crosskey had forwarded for inspection a copy 

 of a paper on the boulders of the Midland district, by Mr. F. "W. Martin, 

 F.G.S., read before and published by the Birmingham Philosophical 

 Society. This paper was accompanied by a map of the Midland District 

 on the scale of two miles to the inch, and was considered by the Erratic 

 Blocks Committee to be an example of the method of investigation which 

 would yield the best results in this inquiry. In this paper attention had 

 been paid to distribution of the erratics, tlieir grouping and various levels, 

 their mixture with or freedom from local blocks, as well as to the import- 

 ance of discriniinatiug between erratics distributed without regard to 

 local hills and those that are gathered together in the valleys at present 

 existing. A copy of the last report of the Committee will be forwarded! 



