ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. xlvii 



pressions of leaves and stalks too imperfect for description, as well 

 as seed-vessels ; some portions being calcareous with a few fossils of 

 rather a heterogeneous character : the Espichel limestone, of con- 

 siderable thickness, and containing also a few fossils like those of the 

 sandstone, of rather a mixed character : then slate-clay associated 

 with trap-rocks ; a dark-grey limestone, being crystalline in the 

 vicinity of granite, and containing casts of 1 univalve and 1 bivalve 

 shell, too much crushed for determination ; and then another red 

 conglomerate without fossils. 



The Hippurite limestone, the Red sandstone, and the Espichel 

 limestone Mr. Sharpe had at first associated with three different 

 formations — the Cretaceous, the Oolitic, and the Liasic ; but he sub- 

 sequently altered this opinion, and placed them all in the cretaceous 

 epoch, without attempting to allocate them to their several divisions, 

 though in all probability the Hippurite limestone belongs to the 

 Chalk and the other two to the Greensand. The still lower forma- 

 tions he did not coordinate with the recognized geological formations 

 of England, the data being insufficient. 



The Igneous rocks are also described with great care and discrimi- 

 nation ; they consist of erupted or basaltic rocks and massive or 

 granitic rocks. The basalt appears to have been erupted at two 

 epochs : the newer, which is found capping some of the hills and is 

 occasionally covered by tertiary deposits, was erupted subsequent to 

 the cretaceous epoch, as it appears to have elevated, disturbed, and 

 flown over its strata ; the older is associated with deposits more 

 ancient than the chalk. The granite forms a small ridge of hills 

 seven miles long, four broad, and elevated 2000 feet at its highest 

 point. The position and form of this diminutive alpine ridge are 

 such, that its effects on the strata can be readily estimated, and by 

 careful observation Mr. Sharpe determined that the elevation or pro- 

 trusion took place between the deposition of the lower and the 

 middle member of the cretaceous system. Small portions of sye- 

 nitic and porphyritic rocks are connected with the granite : but we 

 shall merely further remark that many interesting observations were 

 made on the faults and other disturbances of the strata ; and that, 

 in an appendix on the great earthquake of 1 795, the curious fact is 

 stated, that the shock operated on the tertiary strata only, the line 

 of quiescence being the boundary between the secondary and tertiary 

 rocks. 



This paper, interesting to us as the first detailed paper of our late 

 respected President, is not only valuable for its geological merit, 

 but also as it affords a striking illustration of the candour of its author, 

 who, considering truth the first great characteristic of a true geolo- 

 gist, did not hesitate twice to correct the opinions he had previously 

 expressed, and by so doing practically inculcated on the young geo- 

 logist the wholesome precept, that he who climbs a pinnacle before 

 him must expect to discover from its summit many mistaken turns in 

 the path he has passed through, and be enabled thereby to correct 

 his future progress. 



Feb. 2, 1842. — In describing the works of Dr. Buckland I might 



