32 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [JuDG 4, 



mass as dense and compact, and of as close a texture as the best 

 quality found in the mine. To effect this, the dust obtained from 

 sawing graphite into thin plates and veneers, to be enclosed in the 

 cedar, is carefully washed and ground, and by repeated operations 

 is rendered pure and free from grit, being finally sifted through 

 spaces less than 50000 ^^ P^^* ^^ ^ square inch. 



Thus prepared, the powder is placed under a powerful press on a 

 strong die or bed of steel with air-tight fittings. The air is then 

 pumped from the dust, and while thus free from air a plunger 

 descends upon it, and it becomes solidified. The power employed 

 to perform the operation is estimated at 1000 tons, several blows 

 having been given, each of this power. 



Specimens of graphite, prepared by this process from the dust of 

 the best Cumberland black-lead, were exhibited; one of them a 

 block in a condition to be cut into thin plates for pencils ; another a 

 broken piece, showing the same smooth surface on both sides of the 

 line of fracture, an appearance often observed in native graphite. 



The author considers it a legitimate inference to be drawn from 

 this process, that the fine sediment deposited from the detritus of 

 rocks may be again converted into solid stone by mere pressure. 



5. Remarks on the Level of the Piraeus Harbour near Athens, 

 and of the country adjacent. By the Rev. Robert Everest, 

 F.G.S. 



The author in this paper directs attention to certain appearances 

 which he considers afford evidence of a depression of land along 

 certain portions of the Mediterranean coast. These appearances 

 consist of the foundations of some ancient buildings now observed 

 to be below the water-line, and of sarcophagi now also below the 

 sea-level. 



6. Notice of the Discovery of the Tusk of an Elephant in the 

 Gravel near Rochester. By Mr. W. J. Charlton. 



In this notice the author mentioned the fact, that many specimens 

 of the bones and tusks of elephants have been found in the gravel 

 near Rochester, about two furlongs from the banks of the Medway. 

 The fragment in question was about three feet in length, and mea- 

 sured ten inches across at the larger and nine inches at the smaller 

 end. 



7. On the Occurrence of a Fossil Petro-tympanic Bone of a Whale 

 from the Crag near Ipswich. By C. B. Rose, Esq., F.G.S. 



During a visit to the Crag district of Suffolk in July IS^^, while 

 travelling up the Orwell towards Ipswich, and at a short distance 



