290 Geological Society. 



them to have been in all probability independent organisms. Stig- 

 marian roots, when found connected with a stem, were more often 

 on the top of the coal-seam than at the bottom. 



Other reasons assigned for rejecting the hypothesis that coal- 

 seams were formed of plants that grew upon the spot were the 

 occasional absence of underclays, the sharp division between the 

 coal-seams themselves, and the beds above and below them ; the 

 distinct lamination of every seam and its division into layers of 

 different mineral character that are persistent over large areas ; the 

 presence of foreign bodies in the underclay, and especially of pebbles 

 and boulders transported from a distance ; the presence of similar 

 foreign bodies, and occasionally of remains of aquatic mollusca, 

 fish, &c. in the coal itself ; and the circumstance that many coal- 

 seams are impregnated with salt, and are associated with beds 

 containing marine fossils. 



5. " Note on some Dinosaurian Bemains in the Collection of A. 

 Leeds, Esq. Part I. Ornithopsis Leedsii. Part II. Omosaurus, sp." 

 By J. W. Hulke, Esq., P.B.S., E.G.S. 



6. " Notes on some Polyzoa from the Lias." By Edwin A. Wal- 

 ford, Esq., E.G.S. 



7. " On the Superficial Geology of the Southern Portion of the 

 Wealden Area." By J. Vincent Elsden, Esq.,B.Sc. 



The Author, after referring to Sir E. Murchison's paper, published 

 more than thirty years ago, on " The Distribution of the Plint Drift 

 of the S.E. of England," proceeded to give in detail his observations 

 on the angular flint-deposits of the Arun, Adur, Ouse, and Cuekmere 

 basins. He also noticed a sandy or loamy deposit containing angular 

 fragments of ironstone, and generally a few small angular flints that 

 occurred on the surface of the Lower Greensand and, to a small 

 extent, on the Weald Clay. A block of granite, weighing between 

 5 and 6 lbs., was found on the chalk escarpment at Kilhurst Hill. 



The angular flint-drift occurred mainly on the higher parts of the 

 area, and was wanting in the river-valleys, where, however, river- 

 gravels derived from the denudation of the older deposits were abun- 

 dantly developed. This distribution of the angular drift was shown 

 to be incompatible with the theory of its origin advocated by Sir P. 

 Murchison and some other geologists, who attributed it to a violent 

 and transitory current. The Author showed that not only in the 

 Wealden area, but throughout many of the neighbouring districts, 

 the angular drift consisted of the undenuded remnants of a deposit 

 formed before the present river-valleys were cut, and that many of 

 the river-gravels, though newer than the angular drift, were de- 

 posited when the valleys had been less excavated than they now are. 

 This was Mr. Topley's view with respect to the northern portion of 

 the Wealden area. Mr. Searles Y. Wood's marine theory of the 

 origin of these gravels was discussed and shown to be refuted by 

 their mode of occurrence. It was, moreover, contended that the 



