Reports and Proceedings. ISl 



growtk of peat and heather. It thins oiit at altitudes of from 100 to 

 150 feet, and its thickness is therefore very variable, though it 

 seldom much exceeds 100 feet. Mr. Jamieson first described the 

 distribution of the drift beds over the area in question, their texture 

 and colour at the difterent localities where they occur, and the 

 nature and appearance of the stones and boulders found in them ; 

 he then noticed the broken state of the shells, the most common 

 species being Cyprina Islandica, Astarte borealis, A. elliptica, Tellina 

 calcarea, T. JSalthica, and Turritella ungulina. The direction of the 

 glacial markings on the rocks was shown to be pretty uniformly 

 from N.W. to S.E. (true), so that it must have been produced by a 

 movement of ice ]Droceecling from an external region to the N.W., 

 and not by glacier-action proceeding from the interior of the country, 

 as is the case in the midland region of Scotland. The glacial drift 

 of Caithness and the old boulder-clay of the middle of Scotland, 

 resemble one another in their physical arrangement, but diifei- in 

 the prevalence of marine organisms in the former ; the absence of 

 tranquilly deposited glacial-marine beds, of moraines, and of gravel- 

 hillocks, and the deficiency of valley-gravel in Caithness, are also 

 points in which the glacial series of that area differs from that of 

 Central Scotland ; and Mr. Jamieson inferred that, of the two series, 

 the Caithness drift was the more recent. In conclusion, the author 

 described the deposits of the Post-glacial period in Caithness, and 

 showed that they did not differ materially from those occurring in 

 the rest of Scotland. 



III. — Annual General Meeting. — February 16, 1866. — W. J. 

 Hamilton, Esq., President, in the Chair. 



The Secretary read the Eeports of the Council, of the Library and 

 Museum Committee, and of the Auditors. The increase in the 

 numbers of the Society, and the flourishing condition of the Societ}- 's 

 finances were stated to be very satisfactory. 



The President announced the Award of the Wollaston Grold Medal 

 to Sir Charles Lyell, Bart., D.C.L., &c., in recognition of the highly 

 important services he has rendered to the study of Geology by his 

 various original works, and for the masterly and philosophic manner 

 in which he has treated the subject, both in developing the prin- 

 ciples and in expounding the elements on which the science is 

 founded : and, in handing the Medal to that distinguished geologist, 

 he more particularly dwelt upon the great influence the establish- 

 ment of Sir Charles's percentage system of classification, and his 

 division of the Tertiary strata into Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, and 

 Post-pliocene, had had in facilitating and aiding the study of Ter- 

 tiary Geology ; but he also showed how great had been the imme- 

 diate influence of the "Principles of Geology" when first published, 

 more than thirty-five years ago. Sir Charles Lyell, on receiving the 

 Medal, expressed his gratification at the honour which had been 

 done him by the Society, and remarked upon the increasing difiiculty 

 with which any single geologist could now keep pace with the pro- 

 gress of geology and its allied sciences. The President then stated 



