427 



port of Ephesus is converted into a stagnant pool 3 and the delta of 

 the Hermus threatens in a few centuries to destroy the harbour of the 

 prosperous city of Smyrna. 



Tlie memoir concluded with the description of a recent lacustrine 

 deposit in the valley of the Rhyndacus above Kirmasteu, which appears 

 to have been for the greater part removed by the action of that river, 

 only detached platforms, 50 or 60 feet thick, being left on the sides 

 of the valley. 



Nov. 16. — James Philips, Esq., of the Royal Navy; Lieutenant 

 Henry Drummond of the Bengal Army 3 Louis Hunter, Esq., of Loft- 

 house, Yorkshire ; and Henry Glasford Potter, Esq., of Ridley Place, 

 Newcastle-on-Tyne, were elected Fellows of this Society, 



In conformity with Section VI. Article 8. of the By-laws, the names 

 of the following Fellows proposed to be removed from the lists uf the 

 Society, on account of arrears, were read from the Chair for the se- 

 cond and last time : 



Lord Glenlyon, William Higgins, Esq. 



A paper was first read " On indications of changes in the relative 

 level of Sea and Land in the West of Scotland," by James Smith, Esq,, 

 of Jordan Hill, F.G.S. 



In the West of Scotland are two superficial deposits. The lowest, 

 in some districts called " Till," consists of stiff unstratified clav, con- 

 fusedly mixed with boulders. It rarely contains organic remains, but 

 stags' horns, tusks, and bones of the elephant have been found in it 

 in the bed of the Union Canal at Kilmarnock, and remains of the 

 elephant associated with marine shells at Kilmaurs in Ayrshire. 



The upper deposit is composed of finely laminated clay, overlaid 

 by sand and gravel ; and marine remains of existing species occur 

 in every part of it, but most abundantly in the clay. It has been 

 traced by Mr. Smith, on both sides of the Clyde from Glasgow to 

 Rosemeath and Greenock, at points varying from 30 to 40 feet above 

 the level of the sea. He has also observed sea-worn terraces on each 

 side of the Clyde below Dumbarton and between Cloch Light-house 

 and Largs. 



The following are the principal localities, mentioned in the paper, 

 at which the clay bed has been examined : 



A brick yard at Glasgow, 30 feet above high water-mark, where the 

 author found the remains of six species of recent marine shells of 

 common occurrence on the adjacent coasts of Scotland ; also a branch 

 of an elm and an oak-tree with its roots. The canal from Glasgow 

 to Paisley and Johnstown was excavated in the clay at the height of 

 40 feet above the sea, and numerous remains of 26 species of existing 

 marine testacea were found in it. In a pond lately dug at Paisley, 

 a bed of clay was exposed, to which a violet colour had been given 

 by decomposed muscles, in a manner similar to that described by 

 Mr. Lyell in his memoir on change of level on the coast of Sweden*. 



* Phil. Trans., 1835, pp. 5, 7. 



