Mr, Lobleys Lecture on Vesuvius. 321 



and strays, such as fragraents of coal, bits of glass, and the like, that 

 show its recent formation. At the present moment as I write I have 

 before me a fragment of a medicine bottle firmly imbedded in matrix 

 that cannot be distinguished from that on the upper and lower jaws 

 of BJiinoceros Etruscus found in situ, in the Forest-bed of Lowestoft, 

 which are lying by its side. If, therefore, the matrix prove that the 

 Mammoth remains in question were derived from the Forest-bed, it 

 must also establish the fact that glass bottles were used before the 

 deposition of the Boulder-clay. It is clear, therefore, that the per- 

 oxidated matrix is no certain guide to the geological horizon. Ever 

 since the Red Crag was saturated with peroxide of iron it must have 

 been the source from which the later deposits in the eastern counties 

 derived their ferruginous character; not only the Forest-bed, but 

 also all other strata deposited by water, that flowed through the 

 Crag area. Since, therefore, the ferruginous matrix is not charac- 

 teristic of the Forest-bed, as Dr. Falconer supposed, his argument in 

 favour of the Pre-glacial age of the Mammoth falls to the ground. 

 In the present state of our knowledge we must then fall back on M. 

 Lartet's theory of 1858, and view the animal as characteristic of Post- 

 glacial times, and as affording a means of differentiating the Pre- 

 glacial from the Post-glacial deposits. It invaded Western Europe 

 along with the Tichorhine Ehinoceros, the Musk Sheep, the Reindeer, 

 and other animals fitted to endure the severity of an arctic winter, 

 occupying the same position in the Post-glacial fauna as Elephas 

 meridionalis occupied in that of the Pliocene. 



A 



ilTOTICES OIF IlVCEIs^OIieS- 



Mr. Lobley's Lecture on Vesuvius. 



T a meeting of the Geologists' Association of London (May 1st) 

 a descriptive account of Mount Vesuvius was given by J. L. 

 Lobley, Esq., F.G.S., who had lately paid a visit to the district and 

 made the ascent of the Crater. 



The subject was treated under four heads — 1st, the geo- 

 graphical description of Vesuvius ; 2nd, the history of the volcano ; 

 3rd, the geology ; and 4th, the ascent to the Crater, with a notice of 

 the phenomena observed during the eruption of the present year. 



After an allusion to the situation of Vesuvius with reference to 

 the city and bay of Naples, and to the beautiful scenery of the 

 neighbourhood, to which this bold and picturesque mountain largely 

 contributes, a description of the outline and form of the mountain 

 was given. 



Unlike many volcanos Vesuvius is not a simple cone, but a 

 double-peaked mountain, with a widely -spreading, almost circular, 

 base of nearly thirty miles in circumference. One of these peaks 

 forms the highest point of a semi-circular ridge rising on the north 

 and east, and half encircling the modern cone, which towers above 

 the rest of the mountain. The semicircular ridge is called Monte 

 Somma, and is separated from the cone by a deep flat-bottomed 



