Geological Society of Loiiclon. 141 



He has elsewhere given reasons for believing that the Jordan Valley 

 from Lake Hulch to Arabah veas the bed of a lake over 200 miles 

 long, and at least 1300 feet above the present level of the Dead Sea. 

 He suggests that the waters of this lake escaped into the Levantine 

 basin through the plain of Esdraelon. With such physical con- 

 ditions existing, the fauna of the Levantine basin would have 

 a means of spreading throughout the whole system of waterways 

 connected with it. 



In conclusion the author adds some observations on the changes 

 which occurred in the Mediterranean area subsequent to the post- 

 Miocene epoch of earth-movement. 



3. " On the Loess and other Superficial Deposits of Shantung 

 (Northern China)." By S. B. J. Skertchly, Esq., and T. W. Kings- 

 mill, Esq., C.E. (Communicated by Sir John Evans, K.C.B.. F.R.S., 

 F.G.S.) 



The following deposits are described in the order of their 

 antiquity : — ■ 



(1) Recent Fluviatile deposits. 



(2) Marine sands with Cardium, Ostrcea, and Bulla, extending to 

 a height of 200 feet above sea-level, and indicating foi'mer sub- 

 mergence to that amount. 



(3) Old Eiver-gravels, often resting on loess, and possibly con- 

 temporaneous with the marine gravels. They furnish part of the 

 evidence relied on by the authors for supposing the existence at 

 that time of a climate moister than the present one. 



(4) Loess. 



(5) Basement-gravels having the same relation to the loess that 

 the Upper Greensand bears to the Chalk. 



The loess east of the Pamirs is extensively developed over an ai'ea 

 of upwards of one million square miles. It is sometimes over 2000 

 feet thick, and occurs up to several thousand feet above sea-level. 



Evidence is brought forward by the authors with the intention 

 of establishing the absolute want of connection between the Chinese 

 loess and the present river-systems, its original stratified condition 

 (as shown by variation of tint and horizontality of layers of con- 

 cretions), and its subsequent rearrangement to a great extent. The 

 absence of marine shells is discussed, and the suggestion thrown 

 out, with diffidence, that the shells have been destroyed by per- 

 colating water. 



The authors give their reasons for supposing that the loess is 

 a marine formation, and state that the sea need not have reached 

 to a higher level than 600 feet above the present sea-level, for the 

 Pamir region, where it occurs, 7000 feet above the sea, is an area 

 of special uplift. 



They maintain that there are no proofs of the glaciation of 

 Northern and Eastern Asia, so that the Chinese loess can have no 

 connection with an area of glaciation. They state that the zoological, 

 ethnological, historical, and traditionary evidence alike point to the 

 former depression of Asia beneath the sea, and the subsequent 

 desiccation of the land, consequent upon re-elevation. 



