192 Ohltuarii— General McMulion—Trof. 0. E. Beechei: 



than the summit of Little Haltlon. Such a stream is the Lemon or 

 Leman, which rises on the east side of Dartmoor at a level of 

 about 1200 feet above the sea. The ancester of this stream must 

 have carved its channel out of the ancient plain of Eocene deposits ; 

 and it is suggested that the valley of the Teign estuary is a portion 

 of this ancient valley, which has survived all subsequent changes, 

 except that of being cut down to modern base-levels. 



The change which led to the diversion of the Upper Teign into 

 this more southern valley is attributed to the later earth-movements, 

 which gave a southerly tilt to the wliole region, and a still greater 

 local tilt owing to the formation of the Bovey syncline. This tilt 

 would increase the velocity and erosive power of the stream which 

 was then carving out the valley west of the Haldon Hills, and 

 as it gradually cut down to a lower base-level, the little affluents 

 which formed its head-waters would cut back northward into the 

 watershed which separated them from the eastward course of the 

 Upper Teign. It is supposed that the portion of the Teign Valley 

 which lies between Dunsford and Clifford Bridge was formed 

 by one of these affluents, and that it was deepened till the 

 separating ridge at its head was reduced to a col or pass leading^ 

 from the one valley into the other. A flood or the damming-up 

 of the river by a landslip might send down the waters of the Upper 

 Teign, and once this was accomplished the capture and diversion 

 of the Upper Teign would be permanent. 



The theory of the capture of one river by another has been 

 accepted as an explanation of similar difficulties in the case of 

 other rivers, and its application to the course of the Teign furnishes 

 an intelligible explanation of the facts. The author thinks that 

 some other river-courses and geographical features in Devon can 

 be explained on the same theory of an easterly incline modified by 

 a subsequent southerly tilt. 



OBXT"U"J^I?,"Y". 



We regret to record the death of Lieut.-General Charles 

 Alexander McMahon, F.R.S., F.G.S., who died at his residence, 

 20, Nevern Square, South Kensington, S.W., Sunday, 21st February, 

 1904, in his 74th year. He was a member of Council of the 

 Geological Society of London, and was the author of numerous 

 papers on geology. We hope to publish a notice of General 

 McMahon's geological work in our next number. 



We have also to notice with sorrow the death of a valued friend and 

 fellow-worker in America, Professor Cuakles Emerson Beecher, 

 Ph.D., Professor of Palfeontology and Curator of the Geological 

 Collections in Yale University, who died from heart-failure on 

 Sunday, 14th February', in his 52nd year. He was one of the 

 Editors of the American Geologist and tlie author of numerous 

 papers on palaeontology. We trust to be able suitably to record 

 his lifework in our next issue. 



