184 Proceedings of the British Association. 



and loss, containing 96 species of shells, 56 of which are terrestrial, and 

 40 fluviatile. Of these, seven belong to species now living, and nine oth- 

 ers are probably varieties of existing species — the most abundant species 

 are very rare in a living state, whilst those now common are of unfrequent 

 occurrence in the loss. With the shell are associated the remains of 

 mammoth, rhinoceros, tichorinus, &c., the bones of which have evidently 

 received very little injury from diluvial action ; and from the frequent 

 occurrence of entire skeletons, Mr. Murchison infers that these superfi- 

 cial deposits were formed by very tranquil operations, and that the great 

 mammalia inhabited tracts immediately adjacent to the spots where 

 they are now entombed. Mr. Owen stated, that the Mastodon of the 

 Mayence basin was identical with the species found in the Norwich 

 Crag, which was likewise a fluvio-marine deposit. He had not seen 

 any bones in the English tertiary or drift, which could be distinguished 

 from the ordinary horse or zebra, excepting a few teeth, which were 

 more curved than usual, and might possibly have belonged to the Hip- 

 potherium. 



Major L. Beamish, F. R. S., read a paper " On the apparent fall or 

 diminution of loaier in the Baltic, and elevation of the Scandinavian 

 coasty During a journey to Stockholm in the early part of the sum- 

 mer of 1843, Major B. had occasion to see and hear much respecting 

 the diminution of water in the Baltic, a practical and personal evidence 

 of which he experienced in the harbor of Travemunde, on the 4th of 

 May, by the sudden fall of water at the port, which took place very 

 rapidly and to a great extent ; by this cause the steamer which ought 

 to have left Travemunde on the 18th was detained until the 21st. It is 

 well known that although without tide, the Baltic is subject to periodical 

 variations of depth, but the water has fallen during the present summer 

 to a degree far below these ordinary variations ; and the fact was con- 

 sidered so remarkable as to be thought worthy of being brought before 

 the Swedish Academy of Sciences, by Baron Berzelius. This fall or 

 diminution of water was already perceptible in the summer of 1842, 

 since which the Baltic has never returned to its average mean height ; 

 but on the contrary, has diminished, and there seems now no probabil- 

 ity that the former level, or the height of 1841, will be again attained. 

 Meantime, no perceptible change has taken place in the waters of the 

 North Sea, and the unscientific observer asks, what has become of the 

 waters of the Baltic ? The answer is probably to be found in a simul- 

 taneous phenomenon apparent on the Swedish coast, the gradual eleva- 

 tion of which, has been satisfactorily proved by the personal observation 

 of Mr. Lyell. Recent observation, however, would seem to show, that 

 this elevation does not proceed at any regular or fixed rate, but, if he 

 might use the expression, fitfully, at uncertain periods, and at a rate 



