190 Reports and Proceedings — Geological Society of London. 



■ At West Wittering a fluviatile deposit, with erratics at its base 

 and stony loam above, is apparently closely allied to the mud- 

 deposit of Selsey ; it yields numerous plants, land and freshwater 

 'mollusca, and mammalian bones, of which lists are given. 



The strata between the brickearth (=Coombe Kock) and the 

 gravel with large erratics yield southern plants and animals, and 

 seem to have been laid down during a mild or interglacial episode. 

 A similar succession is found in the Thames Valley and in various 

 parts of our eastern counties. 



III.— March 9, 1892.- W. H. Hudleston, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., 

 President, in the Chair. — The following communications were read : 



1. "The New Railway from Grays Thurrock to Romford : Sections 

 between Upminster and Romford." By T. V. Holmes, Esq., F.G.S. 



In the Hornchurch cutting of the new railway, Boulder-clay, 

 of which about 15 feet is seen, rests upon the London-clay near 

 the 100-feet contour-line, and is overlain by 10 to 12 feet of sand 

 and gravel. The author gives reasons for inferring that this sand 

 and gravel belong to the oldest terraces of the Thames Valley gravel 

 occurring in this district, and states that it demonstrates the truth 

 of Mr. Whitaker's conclusion that the Thames Valley deposits are 

 (locally) post-Glacial, or newer than the local Boulder-clay. 



2. " The Drift Beds of the North Wales and Mid- Wales Coast." 

 By T. Mellard Reade, Esq., C.E., F.G.S. 



This paper is a continuation of papers by the author on the Drift 

 Beds of the N.W. of England and North Wales. The author first 

 treats of the Moel Tryfaen and other Caernarvonshire drifts ; he 

 describes the drifts of the coast and coastal plain, connecting his 

 observations with those of the Moel Tryfaen drifts. An important 

 feature of the investigation is the numerous mechanical analyses of 

 the various clays, sands, and gravels. In all the samples but one, a 

 large -proportion of extremely rounded and polished quartz-grains 

 have been found, which the author maintains to be true erratics, and 

 a certain sign of marine action. He shows that the Moel Tryfaen 

 marine sands are in part overlain by typical Till, composed almost 

 wholly of local rocks with a small percentage of cla}', whereas the 

 sands and gravels are full of erratics including i-ocks from Scotland 

 and the Lake District, numerous flints, Carboniferous Limestone, and 

 crystalline schists. Throughout the drifts of the coastal plain he 

 has found a gi-eater or less proportion of granite erratics, as well as, 

 in many cases, minute rolled shell-fragments. He maintains that 

 these drifts are the result of two opposing forces, one radiating from 

 Snowdonia, and the other acting from the sea to the southwards, 

 and their characteristics change as the one or the other force pre- 

 ponderated. 



The other divisions of the paper are taken up with a description 

 of the Merionethshire drift and that of Mid-Wales, numerous sections 

 being given. Attention is called to a remarkable glaciation of the 

 rocks at Barmouth. 



In a concluding part, giving inferences and suggestions, the author 



