536 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [JunC 13, 



The author then proceeded to point out the relation of the over- 

 lying strata to the old palaeozoic east and west ridge, and its accom- 

 panying coal-measures ; and he showed that the Oolites were evidently 

 affected by the presence of the ridge, and so also were the Cretaceous 

 deposits, especially the Lower Greensand, which puts on decided 

 littoral characters in the south-east of England. 



From the foregoing considerations the author deduced the follow- 

 ing inferences: — 1. That the physical configuration of Western 

 Europe at the Upper or true Coal-measure period indicates the pro- 

 bable continuity of a band of the littoral coal-growth from the mid- 

 land and south-west parts of England to the south of Belgium. 

 2. That there may also exist a lower stage of coal-deposits, extending 

 somewhat west of the Boulonnais, and of equal value. 3. That the 

 influence of the old axis of flexure on the distribution of the Oolitic 

 and Cretaceous groups favours the presumption that there are no 

 very thick series of overlying strata interposed between the Coal- 

 measure series and the present surface. 4. The Upper Coal-measures 

 may be regarded as occupying a line on the north of the Weald de- 

 nudation, or conforming generally to the direction of the valley of 

 the Thames ; whilst the lower series may occur on a line coincident 

 with the northern chalk-escarpment of that denudation. 



June 13, 1855. 



Dr. G. D. Gibb was elected a Fellow ; Dr. C. F. Naumann, of 

 Leipsic, was elected a Foreign Member. 



The following communications were read : — 



1. On the Occurrence of numerous Fragments of Fir-wood in the 

 Islands of the Arctic Archipelago ; with Remarks on the 

 Rock-Specimens brought from that Region. By Sir Roderick 

 Impey Murchison, D.C.L., F.R.S., V.P.G.S., Director-General 

 of the Geological Survey. 



On the present occasion I cannot attempt to offer any general, still 

 less any detailed description of the rocks and fossils of the north- 

 western portion of that great Arctic Archipelago whose shores were 

 first explored by Parry and Sabine. The specimens they brought 

 home from Melville Island, and which were described by Mr. Konig, 

 first conveyed to us the general knowledge of the existence there of 

 fossiliferous limestones and other rocks analogous to known European 

 types in Scandinavia. Since those early days, the voyages of Franklin, 

 and of the various gallant officers who have been in search of our 

 lamented friend, have amplified those views, and have shown us that 

 over nearly the whole of the Arctic Archipelago these vast islands 

 possess a structure similar to that of North America. We shall soon, 

 I believe, be made acquainted with the characters of the specimens 

 collected by the expedition under Sir Edward Belcher, who is pre- 

 paring a description of the natural-history products of his survey. 



