﻿Vol. 64.] ANmYEKSAKY ADDEE3S OP THR PEE3IDENT. CXI 



remains to be done before our knowledge of the sedimentary rocks 

 is brought up- to a level with that of the igneous and metamorphic 

 masses. A steady application of modern methods of research in. this 

 investigation should be encouraged by the reflection that, in de- 

 termining the mineral composition and source of a.ncient sediments, 

 we may provide materials for the solution of deeply interesting 

 questions regarding the geographical conditions of different geo- 

 logical periods, the nature of the rocks constituting the land, the 

 direction and force of marine currents, the varying rates at which 

 sediment was laid down, the internal changes which the consolidated 

 detritus has since undergone, and probably other points connected 

 with sedimentation, of which we at present may have no inkling. 

 When the recently received paper from Dr. Sorby dealing with 

 this subject, which was read on the 6th of last month, is printed, 

 my earnest hope is that it will stimulate vigorous efforts to follow 

 his methods, to carry out further the experiments which he has 

 initiated, and thus to give to the petrography of the sedimentary 

 rocks a greater share of the attractiveness and interest which have 

 so long been monopolized by the igneous masses. 



IV. Palaeontology. 



The publications of the Geological Society contain interesting 

 evidence of the gradual development of Palaeontology during the 

 nineteenth century. In the first series of the Transactions scarcely 

 any papers are to be found dealing with fossils at all, though the 

 last volume includes a paper by De la Beche & Conybeare on 

 Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus, which marked the rise of a new 

 interest in organic remains. In. the second series this awakened 

 appreciation is seen to be rapidly gaining ground. The first volume 

 of that series includes papers on the Liassic reptiles by Conybeare, 

 and on Megdlosaurus by Buckland. In the second volume ihQ 

 number of palseontological contributions is much increased in number 

 and range of subject, for it includes accounts of fossil plants, as well 

 as invertebrates and vertebrates. The fifth volume is still more 

 markedly palEeontological. In it Sir Philip Egerton's first paper 

 appears, likewise the earliest of the long series of memoirs con- 

 tributed by Owen. The sixth volume is full of communications 

 from Owen on the new organisms that were brought to him — 

 marsupials from the Stonesfield Slate ; bird, tortoise, and lizard from 

 the Chalk ; vertebrates from the Eocene series of the Isle of Wight ; 

 Hyracotherium, Lithornis, and Falceophis from the London Clay ; 



