398 
» March 10.—Donald Maclean, Esq., M:P.; His Grace the Duke 
of Richmond, Portland-place ; Joshua Milne, Esq., F.L.S., Stam- 
ford-hill, and William Lowe, Esq., Montague-street, Russell- -square, 
were elected Fellows of this Society. 
A paper ‘‘On the Geological Structure of the Northern and Cen- 
tral Regions of Russia in Europe,” by Roderick Impey Murchison, 
Esq., P.G.S., and M. E. de Verneuil, V.P.G.S. of France, was 
commenced. 
March 24.—Rey. James Prince Lee, M.A., aie cone: Charles 
D. Archibald, Esq., F.R.S. and F.S.A., York Terrace, Regent’s 
Park, and Samuel Pett, Esq., Regent-street, were elected Fellows of 
this Society. 
The reading of the paper on Russia, by Mr. Murchison and M. 
E. de Verneuil, was resumed and concluded. 
‘The Memoir, of which the following is an abstract, is the result 
of a journey through the Northern and Central Governments of 
Russia in Europe, made during the summer of 1840, a verbal account 
of some of the chief points of which, accompanied by a new geo- 
logical map of those regions, was offered to the public at the meet- 
ing of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, m 
September 1840. 
Introduction.—The authors preface their memoir with a sketch of 
the condition of geolegical knowledge concerning the flat and cen- 
tral countries of Russia in Europe anterior to their visit, and show 
that the early efforts of Strangways* had not been followed up by 
any connected attempt to establish the classification and succession 
of the older sedimentary deposits on the true principles of the order 
of their superposition, and their distinctions by organic remains. 
They point out, however, that certain elements of the subject had 
been prepared; first, by the map and descriptions of Strangways; 
secondly, by the publication of the paleontological works of Fischer 
de Waldheim, Pander, and Hichwald; thirdly, by the recent. re- 
searches of Colonel Helmersen in ne Waldai Hills; and fourthly, 
by the important zoological distinctions indicated by M. Leopold. de 
Buch, who, on hearing of the plan of the voyage of the authors, ex- 
pressed his belief (from the examination of certain fossils alone) that 
the triple subdivision of the paleozoic rocks into the Carboniferous, 
Old Red, and Silurian systems, as indicated by Mr. Murchison}, 
would be found to prevail in Esthonia, Livonia and Courland. 
After alluding to the vast importance to the Russian empire of a 
correct knowledge of the subsoil of these flat regions, the authors. 
explained the scheme which they had devised, before they left their 
own countries, for ascertaining the data required. Aware of the two 
great difficulties which are opposed to the examination of this region, 
—the slight altitude of the masses above the sea, and the vast quan- 
tity of drift or the slight superficial detritus which obscures the fun- 
damental rocks,—they overcame these obstacles by examining, in 
succession, the banks of the rivers between the longitude of St. 
* Geol. Trans., First Series, vol. v. ; Second Series, vol. t. 
‘+ Silurian System and map. 
