ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. Iv 



clearness which ensures attention, and with a simpUcity which dis- 

 arms all criticism. For my part, at least, I must disclaim all idea of 

 such a proceeding. I will merely state the principal conclusions at 

 which he has arrived. Beginning with the lowest tertiaries, he corre- 

 lates the Thanet Sands of the south-east of England with the Lower 

 Landenian, and the Woolwich and Reading series with the Upper 

 Landenian of M. Dumont in Belgium. The former of these is 

 wanting in the Paris basin, and of the latter the middle division 

 only, the Argile plastique^ is represented at Paris lying immediately 

 on the Chalk. The London Clay corresponds with the Lower 

 Ypresian of M. Dumont, and occurs near Dieppe, but dies out 

 southward towards Lille. This is succeeded by the Bagshot series, 

 the lower portion of which is represented by the sands below the 

 Bracklesham beds in Hants, by the lower Bagshots of the London 

 district, by the upper Ypresian and Panisilian combined in Belgium, 

 and by the Lits coquilliers in the Soissonnais district. The middle 

 portion is represented by the Bracklesham beds in Hants, the middle 

 Bagshots in the London district, the Systeme Bruxellien of M. 

 Dumont, and the Calcaire grossier of the Soissonnais and Paris, 

 which itself rests on the Argile plastique. 



Mr. Prestwich does not appear as yet to have carried his compari- 

 sons any further. I trust he will not omit to complete a work which 

 he has so well begun, although in some respects, I fear, he will find 

 a difficult task before him in proportion as he approaches those beds 

 which are supposed to mark the limits between the Eocene and 

 Miocene periods. 



I am bound, however, to state, that, although Mr. Prestwich does 

 not recognise the existence of the lower division of the Woolwich 

 beds in the Paris basin, I am informed by M. Deshayes that in the 

 course of last summer he found at Billy, near Epernay, a bed of 

 brackish water and other shells, underlying the great marine deposits, 

 exactly corresponding with our author's Woolwich beds. M. Des- 

 hayes has not yet published the results of his last year's excursions, 

 but I hope we shall soon have from him the evidence on which this 

 identification has been founded. 



I regret that in consequence of some delay in the preparation of 

 the plates, the volume of the Palseontographical Society for 1854 

 should not have yet made its appearance. It would be premature to 

 allude to the works which it will contain ; but there can be no doubt 

 that when it shall be in the hands of the members it will be found 

 fully to maintain the high reputation acquired by its predecessors, 

 and vdll be a valuable assistance to the students of British geology. 

 I will only mention that it is to contain the first part of the MoUusca 

 of the London Clay, the publication of which has been undertaken by 

 Mr. F. Edwards. This has been long expected by the subscribers, as 

 it must be in the recollection of many who first came forward as pro- 

 moters of this publication, and as I know it was the prevailing idea 

 in the minds of some who first suggested it, that this was one of the 

 great desiderata which led to the formation of the Society. 



It is a subject of hearty congratulation to all students of Palseon- 



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