80 Reports and Proceedings. 
meetings of this Society were held in September and October, at 
Hagley and Great Barr respectively. On the former occasion the 
principal points of interest were the Permian beds in Hagley Park, 
and a few antiquities on the route. The latter meeting was for the 
purpose of examining some beds of Carboniferous Drift on the eastern 
confines of the coal-field; and also a small patch of Upper Llandovery 
Sandstone (fossiliferous), which crops out beneath the Woolhope 
Limestone of Great Barr. A considerable number of fossils were 
obtained from this rock. 
Since the summer excursions, the members of the Society 
have continued to hold monthly meetings for the discussion of 
scientific subjects. At the October meeting, a paper was communi- 
cated by Mr. H. Beckett, F.G.S., on the ‘South Staffordshire Coal- 
field,’ and was continued at the November gathering. At the 
December meeting, a valuable paper was read from Mr, J. Ward 
Longton, on ‘The Distribution of Organic Remains in the North 
Staffordshire Coal-field.’ Papers have also been read by Mr. Thomas 
Coomber, Bristol, on ‘Mining Schools;’ by Mr. W. H. Hayward, on 
‘Mammalian Remains found near Oldbury;’ by the Secretary, on ‘The 
Somersetshire Coal-fields.’ 
In November the members visited a very interesting exposure of 
‘Thick Coal,’ which was then being got by ‘open work’ near Tipton, 
in consequence of the colliers’ strike having rendered coal extremely 
searce. This is about the only place where the ‘Thick Coal’ at its 
outcrop has not been all dug out. A splendid section, showing the 
coal occupying a total thickness of above 86 feet, and inclined at an 
angle of about 40°, was laid bare. ‘The outcrop was overlain by 8 to 
10 feet of drift-beds, containing numerous fossils washed from the 
adjoining Silurian deposits.—J. J. 
Bato Natura History anp ANTIQUARIAN FIELD-cLUB.—As 
the title of this Club indicates, its object is to investigate the Natural 
History, Geology, and Antiquities of the neighbourhood of Bath. 
To effect this, four excursions are planned for the year, two of which 
are arranged with a more immediate view to Geology and Natural 
History ; and two are more especially set apart for the Antiquities 
of the surrounding country. The following are notes of the last two 
Geological Excursions, which were of peculiar interest. 
The First Excursion took place on 7th April to Frome, Holwell, 
and the Vallis. As this was merely a rehearsal of the same expedi- 
tion made during the visit of the British Association to Bath, the 
incidents of which must be still fresh in the memory of many of our 
readers, it will be sufficient merely to touch slightly on some of the 
more salient points which render the geology of this neighbourhood 
so remarkable. 
Under the able guidance of Mr. Charles Moore, F.G.S., the 
peculiarities of the strata were pointed out, consisting of Carboni- 
ferous Limestone, traversed by perpendicular dykes of Lias. In an 
adjoining quarry, several members were successfully engaged in 
searching for Fish-teeth and other Rhetic remains, in that small 
