1849.] BINNEY's REMARKS ON SIGILLARIA. 17 



climate were modified, and erratics from more distant localities were 

 dropped, upon the grounding and deliquescence of icebergs, whilst 

 the scratching and grooving action of littoral ice in a great measure 

 ceased. 



That the upheaval of the great terrace, which in the neighbour- 

 hood of Inverness rises from 90 to 120 feet above the sea, and from 

 30 to 130 feet on the east and west coasts of Great Britain and the 

 Isle of Man, marks the period of the last great change in the physical 

 conditions of the country during the glacial epoch. 



That after this upheaval and the consequent union of the British 

 Isles with each other and with the continent of Europe, the sea has, 

 through a vastly lengthened period, quietly eaten back its way into the 

 drift-gravel platform, and again separated these countries. 



This might be accompanied with a gradual depression again to a cer- 

 tain extent, so that the forests which had grown upon the lower allu- 

 vial grounds and valleys, cut out of the drift-gravel, were submerged. 



This depression, as indicated by inland cliffs and water-worn caves, 

 was probably to the extent of from 15 to 20 feet compared with the 

 present high-water level, so that a subsequent elevation has left in 

 sheltered situations a low line of beach rising from the present sea- 

 level to the base of the pleistocene cliffs inland, often forming rich 

 alluvial tracts on what were formerly the sands of wider estuaries. 



May 2, 1849. 



His Royal Highness Prince Albert, K.G., Samuel Black well, Esq., 

 and Ebenezer Rogers, Esq., C.E., were elected Fellows of the Society. 



The following communications were then read : — 



1. Remarks on Sigillaria and some Spores found imbedded in the 

 inside of its Roots, By E. W. Binney, Esq. 

 [Communicated by the President.] 

 Although Stigmaria may now be unquestionably taken to be the 

 root of Sigillaria, still so little is yet knoAvn with respect to the latter 

 plant, that every fact in any way calculated to tiirow light on its 

 history is worthy of being brought before the public. Many new 

 facts are wanted to support or overturn the numerous hypotheses 

 which have been advanced as to the nature of this singular plant and 

 the situation in which it grew. 



In seams of coal, as all persons who have carefully examined them 

 well know, there are frequently found remains of common coal plants, 

 such as Sigillariae, Lepidodendra, Calamites and others. In a paper 

 by me read before the British Association at Manchester in 1842, 

 this circumstance was particularly alluded to as occurring in the Great 

 Lancashire coal-field. They are generally found in the upper por- 

 tion of the seam, and for the most part appear merely as impressions 

 on the coal. 



In the present communication it is intended to show the occur- 



VOL. VI. PART I. C 



