QUARTERLY JOURNAL 



THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



PEOCEEDINGS 



OF 



THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



jAiirTJAE,T 25, 1871. 



Eichard Atkinson Peacock, Esq., of St. Helier's, Jersey ; Artlmr 

 W. Waters, Esq., Davos Plaz, Canton of Grisons ; R. Koma, Esq., 

 of University College, London ; and Ransom Franklin Humiston, 

 Esq., M.A., Professor of Chemistry m Cleveland University, U. S., 

 were elected Eellows of the Society. 



The following communications were read : — 



1. On the Phtsicax Eelatioks of the New Eed Mael, Eh^tic Beds, 

 and Lower Lias. By Prof. A. C. Eamsay, LL.D., F.E.S., &c. 



If we look upon the Ehsetie beds of Europe as a whole, it is evident 

 that they were formed under very different conditions ia different 

 areas. Thus this formation on the south side of the Alps, as 

 described by Stoppani, contains a large and well- developed marine 

 fauna, whereas in England, Germany, Sweden, and in other parts of 

 the north of Europe, the strata are much less developed, and the 

 fauna has dwindled, containing fewer forms of life, whUe most of 

 them are small and some distorted in appearance. 



In this paper I propose to inquire into the reason of these pecu- 

 liarities with regard to the English beds, and to show their relations 

 to the New Eed Marl and the Lower Lias in a physical point of 

 view. 



I have for some years held that the New Eed Marl is physically 

 more intimately connected with the Ehsetic beds, and, in some 

 respects, even with the Lower Lias, than it is with our own New 

 Eed Sandstone. The absence of the Muschelkalk in. England 

 probably attests a break in succession in our Triassic series. I say 

 probably, because the opinion is every day growing stronger that our 



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