British Association. 83 
comprising about three hundred ladies and gentlemen. During the 
evening the following papers were read :— 
‘Ornithology ; by the President, R. G. Jebb, Esq. ‘ How I learnt 
to See; by the Vice-President, Rev. W. W. How. ‘On some 
Bronze Instruments recently discovered near Pool Quay; by the 
Rev. D. P. Lewis. ‘A Quarter of an Hour in Old Oswestry Gravel- 
pit; by Mr. D. C. Davies. ‘On the new metal Magnesium, with 
illustrations of the Magnesium Light;’ by Mr. Dumville. 
Selections of vocal and instrumental music were given during the 
evening; and refreshments were not forgotten. Occurring, as this 
Conversazione did, at a season of the year when outdoor Meetings 
of Field-clubs are impracticable, we commend the example of the 
Oswestry and Welshpool Club to the attention of those kindred 
Institutions that have not yet ventured to mix science with pleasure 
at a large evening entertainment.—D. C. D. 
NOTICES OF GEOLOGICAL PAPERS READ BEFORE THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION—continued. 
On tHE Lowest BEeps oF THE CARBONIFEROUS SERIES AT CLIFTON NEAR 
Bristot. By W. W. Sroppart, Esq., F'.G.S. 
HE Clifton gorge exposes a section of all the Lower Carboni- 
ferous strata, from the Devonian Beds to the Millstone-grit, 
in an extent of two miles, from Brandon Hill to a few yards beyond 
Cook’s Folly Wood. The Upper Limestone Shales have a thickness 
of 600 feet. The massive Mountain-limestone next succeeds, having 
a thickness of 2,000 feet. It extends along the path for nearly 3,000 
yards. This distance is owing to the great fault which causes the 
upper part of the limestone to appear twice over. This fault has a 
depth of 800 feet, giving a considerable area of broken ground, 
which consists of Coal-shales, Millstone-grit, &c., contorted in the 
most extraordinary manner. Beneath the massive limestone lie the 
Lower Limestone Shales, with an average thickness of 500 feet, and 
extremely rich in Fishes, Molluses, Crustaceans, and Echinoderms. 
Mr. Stoddart had noticed 81 fossil species from these Shales. It 
was to the lowest 83 feet of these Shales that attention was called, 
as they appear to settle a question that has arisen for some time 
past, as to the position of the Pylton and Marwood group, in what 
were formerly called the Upper Devonian strata. Mr. Stoddart 
described first, as a convenient starting-point, in descending order, 
the well-known ‘palate-bed.’ It is a dark red ferruginous conglo- 
merate of an immense quantity of teeth, spines, and Coprolites of 
Fishes, with Brachiopoda, Pteropoda, Polyzoa, &c. It is from four 
to six inches thick, and lies upon 18 inches of soft friable marl. The 
principal fossils obtained from this bed are: Fenestella (two or three 
species), Ceriopora rhombifera, Spirifera bisulcata, Sp. glabra, Dis- 
cina nitida, Lingula mytiloides, Conularia quadrisuleata, Cladodus 
conicus, Chomatodus linearis, Ctenacanthus tenuistriatus, Helodus 
G 2 
