: Geologioal Society of London. 381 



actly resembling the Thames valley-gravels, and communicating with them. This 

 evidently formed part of the Thames valley-system, whatever that system might be 

 taken to be ; and if so, he thought it incredible that the loess should have been dis- 

 tributed by river-action over an area 12 or 15 miles in width. In conclusion, he 

 was quite content to adhere to the opinion held by the French geologists, and formerly 

 by several of our own most able writers, that the distribution of these superficial 

 drifts was in the first instance diluvial rather than fluvial. 



Col. A. Lane Fox, in reply, pointed out the artificial character of the implements, 

 and the manner in which the mammalian remains occurred. He thought that the 

 lower terraces of gravel might have been formed at the bottom of a lake. 



Mr. Busk, in proof of the animal remains not having been brought from a distance, 

 showed that remains of the same animal were found in close proximity to each other. 



Prof. Eamsay made some remarks on the undoubtedly artificial character of the 

 implements, and on their position at the base of the gravels. The origin of the 

 Thames valley he had already maintained to be of the Postmiocene age ; and though 

 there was at present no evidence of man's existence at that time, it was still possible. 

 Of the extreme antiquity of the human race there could, however, be no doubt. 



4. " On the Evidence for the Ice-sheet in North Lancashire and 

 adjoining parts of Yorkshire and Westmoreland." By E. H. Tidde- 

 man, Esq., M.A. Oxon, F.G.S., of the Geol. Surv. of Engl, and Wales. 



The country of which the earlier glacial phenomena were de- 

 scribed in this paper lies between the Lake-district on the north and 

 the plains of South Lancashire and Cheshire on the south, and extends 

 from the great watershed of England to the Irish Sea. 



On the west is a sea-side plain rising to levels of less than 200 

 feet. On the north-east is a portion of the Pennine Chain, com- 

 prising Ingleborough, Pennigent, and other Fells, rising to heights 

 of from 2000 to 2400 feet. Between these, from south to north, 

 we pass over (1) a range of moorlands from 1000 to 1500 feet high, 

 called the Eossendale Anticlinal, which forms the watershed be- 

 tween the basins of the Mersey and the Eibble ; 2, the valley of the 

 Burnley and Blackburn Coal-field, which drains north through 

 gorges in (3) the Pendle chain of hills into (4) the broad valley of 

 the Eibble ; 5, a group of Fells rising to a general level of 1800 ft., 

 between the valleys of the Eibble and the Lune, called for the pur- 

 poses of this paper, "The Central Fells;" 6, north of this the 

 valley of the Lune and the estuary of the Kent. The main direc- 

 tion of all these features, between the sea-side plain and the Pennine 

 Chain, is from north-east to south-west. 



The paper was illustrated by a map of the district on the scale of 

 1 inch to a mile, coloured to represent elevations, the level contours 

 having been reduced from the 6 -inch scale. Upon this all the ice- 

 scratches found on the solid rocks were inserted. A diagram illus- 

 trating the proportional number of scratches in dijBferent directions 

 showed that 20 per cent, of them were due south, although the 

 general direction of the valleys was to the south-west. 



An instance was mentioned of a ridge of 1400 feet in height, 

 which had scratches at the top running directly across it to the 

 south, although no land of equal height occurred north of it within 

 a distance of seven miles. A similar instance was shown to exist on 

 the ridge north-east of Pendle Hill. A roche moutonnee in the gorge 

 of the Calder at Whalley was shown to have been formed by ice 

 working from the north, although the river drains from the south. 



