Notices of Memoirs—Short Notices of Memoirs. 171 
when plain evidence is within their reach, and in order to account for 
a few broken shells, a whole continent had to be sunk and re- 
elevated, a thing that is entirely out of the question, as there is not 
the least evidence as far as we can see to support it. Lake Champlain 
and the Gulf of St. Lawrence at one time formed an arm of the sea, 
which may account for the marine fossils found in the drift of that 
region. Shells could be washed up on the top of high gravel beds, 
as at Airdrie, where the writer of this article was born, as easily as 
the pieces of conglomerate found on Harber (Harbour?) Hill, and 
other acclivities of like nature on Long Island. It may seem like 
presumption for one like myself, who is by no means a scientist, to 
advance views in conflict with such learned authorities; but I am 
confident that when the whole drift phenomena is better understood, 
these theories will be found to be in the main correct. 
INO ERGO S)  (OLse IMEI IM OrtsgS 
—<—<>__—_ 
I.—Suyortr Notices or Memorrs. 
1.“ JOIVERS” is the title of a paper by Mr. T. Mellard Reade 
(reprinted from the Transactions of the Liverpool Geological 
Association, 1882) : he treats of the subject practically and poeti- 
cally. He thinks “there is no doubt that every river basin must 
have had its fluctuations of rainfall within certain limits; but there 
is no reason to suppose that on the whole there was more or less rain 
in previous periods than now; at all events the onus of proof lies 
on those who assert that there was.” He deals with the mechanical 
and chemical denudation of rivers and with their age, remarking 
also upon the! great thickness of the delta-deposits of the Ganges, 
Mississippi, etc. 
2. A useful paper “ On the Classification of Lake Basins” has been 
prepared by Mr. William M. Davis (Proc. Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist. 
vol. xxi. Jan. 1882). He gives notes on the literature of the subject, 
and describes various lakes, under the headings, A. Construction or 
Orographic Basins, B. Destruction or Erosion Basins, and C. Obstruc- 
tion, Barrier or: Enclosure Basins. He observes that ‘The theory 
of the glacial origin of lakes was first proposed by Hind in 1855, 
but did not attain prominence until advocated in a more general way 
by Ramsay in 1859, and especially in 1862.” 
3. Mr. W. M. Davis has also contributed some notes on “ The 
Tittle Mountains East of the Catskills” (Appalachia, vol. iii. No. 1), 
which are made up of Devonian and Silurian Beds, showing in- 
teresting synclinal, anticlinal and monoclinal structures. 
4, A paper “ On the Liss and associated deposits of Des Moines,” 
Iowa, has been communicated by Messrs. W. J. McGee and R. E. 
Call (Amer. Journ. Science, vol. xxiv. Sept. 1882). Lists of land 
and freshwater shells from the deposit are given, as well as figures. 
of some of the species—the authors observing that “In similar 
deposits to that now under consideration in Belgium many of the 
same genera and some few of the same species are found. ‘This is. 
