6 4 6 [froc. B.N.F.C, 



towards Portglenone, but possessed little erosive power 

 near the axis of accumulation which, according to 

 Maxwell Close and Professor Hull, lay directly over the 

 middle of Lough Neagh. It will be remembered that 

 the axis stretched south-westward over the lake from the 

 highlands of South Antrim. 

 We must now turn to the glacial phenomena of this very 

 interesting region. 



GLACIAL DEPOSITS. 



If it would not seem entirely out of place for a stranger to 

 attempt it, I should have much pleasure in testifying to the 

 patient and long-persevering zeal evinced by your Club in the 

 study of Glacial questions, especially in the North-east of Ireland, 

 though your inquiry has by no means been limited to that region. 

 Your collection of erratics is, I can well suppose, the most 

 extensive that any region of equal size can boast, and a more 

 interesting one for the display of skill in this respect could, I 

 think, not be found. For here, contending, well-marshalled 

 boreal forces of the past, have had their stubborn conflicts, with 

 well-nigh infinitely varying results, and have left multitudes of 

 relics strewn upon many a field. 



Unfortunately, or the contrary, I am not one who has fallen 



in with the simple conception of adequate submergence during 



Glacial times, with its concomitant of detritus-charged floating ice, 



to account for everything met with — from the existence of 



Foraminifera upon Divis hill to the beautifully formed eskers in 



the Lagan Valley. That submergence to some extent obtained 



is by no means denied ;* and I am far from approaching your 



region in any spirit of contention. I merely plead for kindly 



forbearance on the present occasion • and am glad, in such 



matters, both to recognise and avail myself of the principle of 



toleration for all. 



*The existence of Mytilus edulis, associated with post-Pliocene Boulder- 

 Clays, near the shore of Lough Neagh, seems to prove it (W. Swanston " On 

 Supposed Fossilii'erous Clays over Basalt," &c, Geo. Mag., 1879, p. 69). 



