770 EEPOET — 1893, 



(2) That glaciers were potent excavators. It was shown that all the evidence 

 pointed in the opposite direction, and that this dogma was irreconcilable with the 

 former one. 



(3) That ice can scoop loose material from a sea-bed, carry it overland, and 

 deposit it unharmed far from and high above the water level. Instances were 

 given from the Swiss lowlands to show the improbability of this hypothesis. 



The deposits in this region differ from the British boulder clays (among other 

 things) in the absence of lenticular intercalations of sand and gravel. These 

 boulder clays are probably of more than one origin. They are not likely to be 

 understood until there is more attention to facts and abstention from hypotheses. 



4. On the Glacial Period, its Origin and Effects, and the Possibility 

 of its Eeczirrence. By C. A. Lindvall, of Stockholm. 



The author in this paper recalls the various explanations of the phenomena 

 of the Quaternary period offered by different observers. Linne supposed the 

 kames to contain the history of the first emergence of Sweden ; Sepstrom (1836), 

 Berzelius, Von Buch, and to a certain extent Sir A. Geikie, attributed the phe- 

 nomena to a mighty current of water sweeping from north to south ; Dr. Siljestrom 

 (1838) says that, even admitting the current, the upper valleys of Norway must 

 have been marked by glaciers. Sir C. Lyell refers to geographical changes; 

 Sir R. Ball calls in astronomical changes ; but most modern geologists call in the 

 action of inland ice. 



The author's theory is that the phenomena are due to the continued action of 

 ocean currents and loose drift ice. In Pleistocene times the Gulf Stream must 

 Lave swept over Lapland and back through the archipelago of Northern Europe 

 laden with drift ice. This ice, aided by tidal action and the gradual uplift of the 

 land, is considered capable of moving and carrying large blocks of stone, masses 

 of gravel and sand along the bottom of the sea, and of accounting for the denudation 

 and striation of rocks and many other phenomena of the Glacial period in Sweden, 

 Switzerland, Ireland, Norway, and North America. 



Report on the High-level Shell-bearing Deposits at Clava, Ghapelhall, 

 and other Localities. — See Reports, p. 483. 



6. Eeport on Erratic Blocks . — See Reports, p. 514. 



7. On some Shell-middens in North Wales. 

 By P. VV. Abbott and P. F. Kendall, F.G.S. 



The authors describe the occurrence of many well-preserved examples of 

 Cardium edule and other species of edible mollusca exposed in a bank of earthy 

 clay on the slopes of Penmaenmawr, about 200 yards from a farmhouse, ' the 

 Quinta,' on the old road from Llanfairfechan to Conway. They regard them as 

 kitchen-midden refuse, as they were associated with bones of birds, bits of charcoal, 

 and a sheep's tooth. Traces of the foundations of huts were observed, but there 

 was no remembrance remaining in the neighbourhood of any dwellings on the 

 epot. 



A second bed, in which the shells were extremely numerous, was observed in 

 the Aber Valley, about 50 yards above the Bridge. It was exposed beneath the 

 roots of a large tree which clung to the breached side of a fine terminal moraine, 

 and the shell-bed presented- the deceptive appearance of being overlaid by the 

 materials of the moraine. The whole of the marine shells were of edible species, 

 but it was remarked that the interior of a valve of Ostrea was encrusted with 

 Polyzoa. The authors consider that both accumulations were brought together by 

 human agency, and are of comparatively modern date. 



