XXXU PKOCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCLETT. 



of the great masses wliicli are irregularly heaped together, and in 

 which granitic rocks predominate ; he gives a detailed account 

 of the unstratified rocks, and minutely describes their peculiar 

 contents and the localities in which they occur. Amongst the 

 rarer minerals found in the Malvern Hills is epidote; and after 

 describing several varieties from various localities, he alludes to the 

 similarity between his specimens and those which Dr. Wollaston 

 had found under similar circumstances in the islands of Gruernsey 

 and Jersey. 



The general remarks with which Mr. Horner concludes his 

 paper clearly show the difficulties with which the geologist had 

 to contend in the earlier days of geological investigation. Mr. 

 Horner at once saw that the phenomena which he so carefully 

 observed exhibited appearances very inconsistent with the Wer- 

 nerian System of Greognosy, Reform was already at work. He 

 remarks on the great contrast between the two sides of the 

 range ; on the east a level plain for many miles, on the west a 

 constant succession of hills ; and then he shrewdly observes, " If 

 the unstratified rocks in the centre are to be considered as the 

 oldest, and if the stratified rocks have been deposited upon them, 

 how does it happen that they are only found on one side, that not 

 a vestige of the strata that occur on the western side is to be 

 met with on the eastern, and vice versa, &c. ; " and he then observes 

 that the Huttonian theory offers the only satisfactory explana- 

 tion of these phenomena, and that the position of the stratified 

 rocks can only be accounted for on the supposition of some 

 violent force which has elevated them from their original horizon- 

 tal position. His concluding remarks will be read with interest 

 even at the present day. 



The next paper which Mr. Horner read before the Society was 

 on the Brine-Springs at Droitwich*. In this paper he gives an 

 account of the natural and chemical history of the brine-springs, 

 chiefly derived from his own observations in 1810, together with 

 the results of some experiments which he subsequently made, 

 with the view of determining the chemical composition of the 

 brine. 



In 1815 Mr. Horner read a paper entitled " Sketch of the 

 Greology of the South-Western part of Somersetshire," accom- 

 panied by a geological map of the district. This paper con- 

 sists chiefly of a mineralogical account of the difierent rocks 

 which came under his notice, with scarcely any attempt at classi- 

 fication. The general arrangement of the Palaeozoic rocks was 

 at that time so imperfectly understood, that it is not surpris- 

 ing that Mr. Horner should have failed to perceive the true 

 relations of the rocks in this district, and that he should not have 

 distinguished the Devonian rocks of the western part of the 

 country he describes from the New Eed Sandstone in the eastern 

 portion. I|; is true he draws a distinction between what he calls 



* Geol. Trans, vol. ii. 1st ser. p. 94. 



