384 Geological Society : — 



felspathic and quartzose rocks. In Cape York itself the roek is a 

 porphyry, with numerous crystals of yellowish quartz. Resting on 

 the flanks of this axis are beds of sandstone, regarded as of Carbo- 

 niferous age by the Rev. W. B. Clarke, and referred to the Oolite by 

 Prof. M'Coy. The surface-rock in the neighbourhood of Cape York 

 is an ironstone, varying from a light friable clay to a dense ferru- 

 ginous conglomerate, sometimes nodular and magnetic ; an average 

 specimen contained 39*69 per cent, of iron. This deposit extends 

 at least as far south as the Mitchell River, on the west side of the 

 peninsula, and as far as Weymouth Bay on its east side. It is re- 

 garded as Posttertiary by Mr. Clarke. Between this and the igneous 

 rock intervenes a local deposit of coarse quartzose sandstone, which 

 forms bold cliffs in Albany Island and on the opposite coast of the 

 mainland. No boulder-deposits or glacial markings were detected 

 by the author. 



The author referred to the occasional occurrence of earthquakes 

 in Eastern Australia, and to the evidence that at least the north- 

 east of that continent is being slowly elevated — namely, the occur- 

 rence of water- worn caves above high- water mark in Albany Island 

 and on the opposite coast, the existence of extensive plains covered 

 with sand-dunes, especially towards the north of the peninsula, and 

 the gradual emergence of islands in the line of the great Barrier 

 Reef. 



2. " On the Formation of the Chesil Bank, Dorset." By H. W. 

 Bristow, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S., and Wm. Whitaker, Esq., B.A., F.G.S. 



The authors first described the general character of the bank, and 

 noticed the previous hypotheses that have been suggested to account 

 for its formation. They maintained that it had been formed as an 

 ordinary shingle-beach banked up against the land, and afterwards 

 separated by the wearing action of the small rivers flowing to the 

 sea at this part. They stated that west of the Chesil Bank there 

 are cliffs of greater or less elevation, through which small streams 

 flow down to the shore, when they turn a little eastward between 

 the beach and the land, and then filter through the shingle without 

 breaching it. The effect of a similar river-action on the low shore 

 behind the Chesil Bank would, in the authors' opinion, be to cut 

 such a channel as that of the Fleet, by which this bank is separated 

 from the shore. 



3. " On a Raised Beach at Portland Bill, Dorset." By W. Whit- 

 aker, Esq., B.A., F.G.S. 



The author stated that a deposit of shingle occurs upon the cliffs 

 of the south-east part of the Isle of Portland, extending from Cave 

 Hole to the Bill. At the former place it is from 30 to 40 feet above 

 the sea, and is capped by a considerable thickness of angular " head." 

 Further south there is less of the " head." The shingle consists of 

 pebbles of limestone, flint, and chert; and the deposit contains 

 shells of Littorina littorea and littoralis, Patella vulgata, and other 

 species. Near the beacon these species, with Purpura lapillus, 

 occur. To the west of the Bill the shingle is partly covered by a 



