51 



THE SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CORNISH 



SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



The Seventh AnnualJoint Meeting of the Cornish Scientific 

 Societies was held on Tuesday, Oct. 3rd, 1899, in the Museum 

 of the Eoyal Geological Society of Cornwall, Penzance, Mr. J. 

 D. Enys, F.Gr.S., of Enys, President of the E. C. Gr. Society, in 

 the chair. The President expressed regret at the loss Mr. T. C. 

 Peter had sustained by the death of his wife, with whom it 

 was a pleasure to be acquainted. 



Mr. P. J. Stephens, F.G.S., on behalf of the E. Cornwall Geo- 

 logical Society, contributed a paper on " Alluvial Deposits in the 

 Lower Portion of the Eed Eiver Valley, near Camborne." After 

 describing the valley (which is three miles south-east of the 

 town), and explaining theories as to alluvial tin ground in it, 

 Mr. Stephens came to the conclusion that in the far away days, 

 when tin gravel was deposited in the valleys, they were as a rule 

 much deeper, or the land bounding them was higher — much the 

 same thing. In the case of the Eed Eiver, clay and peat were 

 found lying upon the gravel, shewing that estuarine and marshy 

 conditions prevailed and alternated for a long period of years. 

 The beds of clay and peat were thin, and uninterrupted deposi- 

 tion could not have been of long duration. The thick bed of 

 clay, which so persistently continues for nearly a mile and a half 

 up the valley, marks the time when a -broad tidal creek ebbed 

 and flowed probably a good way up both the Eoseworthy and 

 Eed Eiver valleys. In those days the district must have 

 resembled the lower reaches of the Pal. On the north side of 

 the Eeskageage marsh,' the peat was deep and formed a sink in 

 the clay. This was, doubtless, the old bed of the creek, which 

 had gradually been filled with peaty material. A hollow in the 

 clay itself had been filled with sand; and might mark either an 

 older, or a more recent river or creek bed. It doubtless mean- 

 dered about the valley, after the wont of creeks. Very little 

 of geological interest had been discovered as the result of 

 operations for exploring the valley. The boreholes have proved 

 undoubtedly the fact that the Eed Eiver valley was formerly a,n 



