184 Reports and Proceedings. 
the most gradual and quiet of all deposits. The Lecturer then pro- 
ceeded to develope the following positions :—1. That the Glacial 
beds of the Clyde district constitute a well-marked series, and can- 
not be confused together under any one term. They denote epochs 
separated by long intervals, and characterized by different conditions 
both of climate and the relative position of sea and land. 2. That 
this physical sequence is not an accidental circumstance, of one 
small river-basin, but extends over large areas. 38. That the 
Boulder-clay proper, at the base of the series, is destitute of fossils. 
A number of cases in which fossils were said to occur in the Boulder- 
clay have been examined by the Lecturer, and it has been found that 
they were either beneath it, or that an Upper Drift has been con- 
founded with it. Mistake upon this point is exceedingly easy. The 
upper beds often slip down and cover the face of the lower; while 
the Upper Drift, although differing widely in the obliteration of the 
striz on the stones, and its less compact character, is readily mis- 
taken unless studied in connection with a large range of beds. 
4. That the finely laminated clay which immediately succeeds the 
Boulder-clay is also unfossiliferous, and was probably the deposit 
of rapid waters issuing from beneath ice, and carrying the exces- 
sively comminuted mud well known to Alpine travellers. 5. That 
the fossiliferous clays aud sands belong to several ages; and that the 
fauna usually catalogued together must be separated into distinct 
groups, each referable to its own bed, and having its own place in 
the gradual transition from a severely Arctic, to a more moderate 
temperature. Mr. Crosskey concluded by a description of the pro- 
bable scenery of Scotland from the time of the Boulder-clay, and 
through the successive changes, down to the close of the Glacial 
Period ; and expressed his conviction that more minute and ex- 
tended observations may enable a map of Scotland to be drawn as 
it was when in the condition of Scandinavia. Every clay-pit, 
every heap of boulders, undoubtedly has its place in the great order 
of creation ; and we may work in the midst of the mud, in the faith 
that there is an order and a succession among the loose stones and 
in the lamination of each bed as definite and exact as that whieh 
prevails among the stars, so that not one faileth in its appointed 
course. 
II. At the Monthly Meeting, Feb. 16th, Mr. Jonn Youne 
described a large collection of the Products of the Destructive Distil- 
lation of Coal-tar, exhibited by T. P. Miller, Esq., Springfield ; 
amongst which were tar-oils, parafline, photogen, ammonia, &c., and 
specimens illustrating the formation of the Aniline-colours,—benzol, 
nitro-benzol, aniline, mauve, magenta, blue, violet, yellow, green, &c. ; 
also numerous specimens illustrating the application of these colours 
in dyeing and printing. Mr. Young said that the art of distilling 
coal had been known for a considerable time; but it is only 
recently that the Coal-tar products have come into extensive use. 
In a Table in the International Exhibition Jurors’ Report, Mr. 
Hoffman enumerates about fifty-one different substances derived from 
the tar, and doubtless many more will yet be discovered. In the 
manufacture of gas, the coal is placed in red-hot retorts, by which a 
