189 



A paper was next read, entitled "A Description of Specimens col- 

 lected on the Island of Ascension by the Rev. W. P. Hennah j" com- 

 municated by the Rev. Richard Hennah, F.G.S. 



The bays on the west and nortli sides of the island consist of a rock 

 formed of comminuted fragments of shells and corals, and occasion- 

 ally of masses of lava, the whole being cemented by carbonate of lime, 

 and covered by a loose sand of the same materials. Those parts of 

 the rock which are exposed to the action of the waves have a polished 

 surface, and are often covered by a coating of calcareous matter which 

 presents a peculiar appearance, like some varieties of lichen. On the 

 east and south sides of the island the shore is deep, and calcareous 

 accumulations are totally wanting. With the exception of this recent 

 limestone, the whole of the island consists of volcanic products, pre- 

 senting many varieties of lava, obsidian, ashes, and occasionally frag- 

 ments of trachyte. Caverns and oven-shaped hollows are stated to 

 be of common occurrence, and the former to be lined with stalactitic 

 matter. Two craters are mentioned by the author, and he savs that 

 the beds of ashes occur only on the leaward side of the island/ 



A paper was afterwards read, " On a Bed of Gravel containing- 

 Marine Shells of recent species, at 'The Willington', in Cheshire j" 

 by Sir Philip Grey Egerton, Bart., M.P., V.P.G.S. 



"The Willington", the residence of Major Tomkinson, is situated 

 at the western base of the " Forest Hills", four miles north of Tar- 

 porley, and about nine miles in a direct line from the nearest point 

 on the shore of the Mersey. The " Forest Hills" belong to the new 

 red sandstone formation, and at this point have an elevation of 120 

 or 130 feet above the Mersey, or from 50 to 60 feet above the adja- 

 cent valley. In the summer of 1834 a bed of gravel was exposed 

 close to their base, to the extent of three or four yards, and to the 

 depth of one ; and the autlior ascertained that it was between seventy 

 and eighty feet above the level of the Mersey. It presented so dif- 

 ferent a character from the usual gravel of Cheshire, that it attracted 

 the attention of the workmen. It was composed principally of fine- 

 grained gravel and pebbles from one to six inches in diameter, inter- 

 mixed with sand and fragments, and sometimes perfect shells of ex- 

 isting marine species. The pebbles had undergone considerable 

 attrition, but presented a flattened, not a spheroidal form. They con- 

 sisted chiefly of granite, slate, chert, porphyries, greenstone, amyg- 

 daloid, new red sandstone, coal-measure sandstone, and quartz peb- 

 bles, identical with those of the conglomerate beds of the new red 

 sandstone of the district. The shells, which were thickly disseminated 

 through the whole deposit, were in an extremely friable condition, 

 and belonged to Turritella terebra, Cardium edule, and Murex erina- 

 ceits, as well as to a thin smooth bivalve, the genus of which could 

 not be determined. The extent or thickness of the deposit the author 

 was not able to ascertain, though he was informed that in making a 

 well at the "Willington", twelve yards of gravel and sand were pene- 

 trated before the new red sandstone was reached ; he could not, how- 

 ever, learn if any Testacea had been noticed in making the well. 



