74 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [May 1 894. 



present occasion to go into further details. Mr. Ussher, who is the 

 author of the other paper referred to on the Devonian rocks of 

 South Devon, in alluding to Mr. Champernowne's work, writes a» 

 follows : — " The existence of contemporaneous volcanic action — the 

 definition of the Ashprington series and of sporadic evidences of 

 local vulcanicity outside its borders — the correlation of the Ashburton 

 limestone with that of Newton and Ipplepen, — and palaeontological 

 contributions, adding to our knowledge of the Middle and Lower 

 Devonian, stand prominently forth amongst the labours of my de- 

 ceased friend .... So the present communication must be taken 

 as the outcome of my friend's life-work in Devonian geology, and 

 will, I trust, form not an unfitting tribute to his memory." 



There can be no doubt that it has required in the past, and will yet 

 require in the future, an immense amount of detailed observation 

 to put together the pieces of that geological puzzle which exists in 

 the region between Dartmoor and the English Channel. As re- 

 marked by the Director-General of the Geological Survey, dip and 

 strike go for little in such plicated and dislocated countries. Indeed, 

 we may say that without a palseontological key the history of the 

 region could never have been deciphered. Unfortunately, in North 

 Devon, where the stratigraphy of the Devonian rocks is less com- 

 plicated, the differences of development are so considerable, more 

 especially in the rarity of calcareous beds resulting from coral-reefs, 

 and in the almost complete absence of contemporaneous volcanic rocks, 

 that the requisite information can hardly be obtained. It is in less 

 disturbed regions on the Continent, where the original development 

 is similar to that of South Devon, that we must seek for comparisons^ 

 as Mr. Champernowne was in the habit of doing. Since his day an 

 important event has occurred ; I refer to the autumn excursion of 

 a party of the International Geological Congress of London, including 

 Messrs. Gosselet, Kayser, and others, conducted by Mr. Ussher. 

 Dr. Kayser embodied the results of his observations in a pamphlet, 1 to 

 which I drew attention in my address to the Devonshire Association 

 in July, 1889. 2 The following is an extract : — " Herr Kayser finds in 

 South Devon a development which intimately approaches the West 

 German. In the Upper Devonian of that region he recognizes 

 nodular limestones with Clymenia (more typically developed at 

 South Petherwin), ' Cypridinen-Schiefer,' Adorf Goniatite-limestone, 



1 ' TJeber das Devon in Devonshire und im Boulonnais,' Neues Jabrbv 

 1889, Band i. p. 179. 



2 Trans. Devonsb. Assoc, vol. xxi. p. 44. 



