IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MANCHESTER. 463 



Chain. Not only does it increase in thickness^ but it be- 

 comes more complex, and contains beds of clay, marl, and 

 loam of several yards in thickness. The country lying 

 between Manchester, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, Ashton, and 

 Stockport, for the most part, is upon it, and forms one 

 great sandbank, which continues south into Cheshire.^^ 



The same classification he adopted in two papers, one 

 on the Drift of Manchester, and the other on the same 

 deposits at Blackpool, printed in vols. viii. and x. of 

 the Society^s Memoirs, as well as in a paper printed in the 

 Manchester Geological Society's ' Transactions ' for June 

 1862. 



Mr. Hull, in his communication read at the last Meet- 

 ing of the Society, divided the higher Drift-deposits into 

 (in descending order) — 



(i.) Upper Boulder-clay. 

 (2.) Middle Sand and Gravel. 

 (3.) Lower Boulder-clay. 



The Nos. 2 and 3 had been described by Mr. Binney, as 

 also a lower bed of sand and gravel, of whose existence he 

 (Mr. Hull) had considerable doubts, and considered it as 

 merely accidental. 



Now in his (the author's) paper on the Drift of Man- 

 chester, II sections of wells and bores are given, and in 10 

 of these the lower sand and gravel had been met with, thus 

 showing that it can scarcely be considered to be merely acci- 

 dental as Mr. Hull states. In many other sections since 

 examined in Lancashire this deposit has also been found 

 under the Till. With regard to the upper bed of boulder- 

 clay, Mr. Hull stated that he (the author) had alluded to 

 it ; but Mr. Hull considered it to be quite as important as 

 the lower, both in thickness and area. 



The old term " Till '^ is as good as that of Boulder-clay ; 

 and as it has been long used, there is not much use in chan- 

 ging it. During the last twenty years he had collected many 



SER.III.VOL.il. 2 J 



