234 Reports and Proceedings. 



or shortly after the beginning of the glacial epoch ; which conclusion 

 is confirmed by the deepest bore in the western portion of the 

 hollow. The chief geological value of this discovery consists in the 

 evidence it affords that at the time when water flowed down this 

 ancient river channel into the sea the land must have stood nearly 

 300 feet higher than at present. The surface of the land at Grange- 

 mouth is only 12 feet above the level of the sea ; and as the bottom 

 of this old river channel is 273 feet below the surface, it is evident 

 that the land must have stood at least about 260 feet higher than at 

 present. It is satisfactory thus to find on land a confirmation of 

 what has long been inferred from the mammalian and other remains 

 found in the bed of the German Ocean, the English Channel, and 

 other parts, that at a very recent period our island must have stood 

 several hundred feet higher than now, and formed part of the great 

 eastern continent, which then included in its area the present isolated 

 lands of Great Britain and Ireland. 



3. On the Discovery of a " Sand-dyke," or Old Eiver Channel, 

 running North to South, from near Kirk of Shotts to Wishaw, 

 I^anarkshire. By Eobert Dick. Mr. Dick first discovered this old 

 riverbed, or "sand-dyke" in mining language, in the Virtuewell 

 coal workings of No. 27 pit, connected with the Omoa Iron Works. 

 The level to the north-west had not been driven far from the pit 

 bottom when the coal was observed to become " rusty " or weathered 

 in appearance. The "joints " of the coal were open, and the roof of 

 the mine became brittle as the miners advanced. These signs radi- 

 cated the termination of the coal-seam, and when the " level " pierced 

 the '• boss " a finely -grained sand-bed was exposed. The attempt to 

 reach the coal-seam, which was known to exist at the opposite side 

 of this " sand-dyke," was successfully made, which demonstrated the 

 existence of an old river course, running through the strata in this 

 district, and forming a deep glen at a period before the deposition of 

 the Boulder clay. 



4. Notes on Chemical Geology. By Andrew Taylor. Mr. Taylor 

 drew attention to a number of curious observations, indicating a 

 relation betwixt terrestrial magnetism, underground temperature, 

 and the s^m's action. 



.I^:Ei:poI^,TS j^istid zpi^ocsEiDiisra-s. 



Geological Society of London. — I. March 23rd, 1870. — War- 

 ington W. Smyth, Esq., M.A., F.E.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. 

 The following communications were read : — 



1. Professor Huxley communicated a letter received by him from 

 Dr. Emanuel Bunzel, of Vienna, giving a short account, illustrated 

 with figures, of the posterior portion of a skull obtained by Professor 

 Suess from a coal-mine of Upper Cretaceous (Gosau) age. Dr. Bun- 

 zel stated that at the first glance this skull appeared to possess 

 Eeptilian characters, but that the convexity of the occiput, and its 

 gentle passage into the roof of the skull, the presence of a transverse 



