390 Geological Society :— 



torted and false-bedded mass of middle sand and gravel. The 

 pinel he found running up the hill-sides to an altitude of 800 feet. 

 Above Soutergate, at a height of between 700 and 800 feet, he found 

 a distinct line of demarcation between the pinel and an upper boulder- 

 loam which lower down contained boulders of granite. The paper 

 contained a particular description of the completely isolated island- 

 hill called Dunnerholme with its capping of upper boulder-clay 

 and rounded pebbles, many of them still sticking in the funnel- 

 shaped cavities of the underlying limestone, which they apparently 

 helped to grind out. The author described a great thickness of 

 upper boulder-clay near Barrow, and defined the north-east boundary 

 of the granitic drift, which he believed could not all have come 

 from Eskdale in Cumberland. He likewise described the naturally 

 sculptured large boulder-stones of Stainton. On the west side of 

 the Duddon, he could clearly trace the pinel and middle sand and 

 gravel, and, he believed, an upper rubbly boulder- clay, the lower 

 limit of which, however, was not well defined. He found all the 

 drifts, but especially the upper, spreading out along the base of 

 Blackcombe in the shape of a regular terrace running up into its 

 combes, and choking up its gorges. He described the appearances 

 presented and positions occupied by the drifts at high levels on 

 Blackcombe, and endeavoured to trace a distinction between marine 

 drifts, glacial moraine matter, and ordinary " screes " or fallen debris. 

 The author gave a particular account of the enormous mounds of 

 sand and gravel between Lancaster and Carnforth, described the 

 mode of occurrence and striation of the limestone boulders, and 

 traced the latter to the action of sea-ice on old sea-coasts around 

 Warton Hill, &c. In conclusion, he considered the mode of accu- 

 mulation and derivation of the drifts of North-west Lancashire, and 

 compared them with the lower boulder-clay, middle sand and gravel, 

 and upper boulder-clay of the splendid section, 150 feet high, near 

 Preston, and with the drifts of other districts. 



7. " On the Connexion of the Geological Structure and Physical 

 Features of the South-east of England with the Consumption 

 Death-rate." By W. Whitaker, Esq., B.A., F.G.S. 



The author stated that his investigation of this subject, which 

 was carried on in conjunction with Dr. Buchanan, was suggested 

 by the fact that improved drainage had been found to exert a 

 marked influence upon the average number of deaths by consump- 

 tion in certain districts. The chief result arrived at by an exa- 

 mination of fifty-eight registration districts in Kent and Sussex 

 was, that " wetness of the soil is a great cause of consumption ;" 

 and this depends not only upon the perviousness or imperviousness 

 of the soils, but upon their position as regards elevation and slope. 



8. "On the Volcanic Phenomena of Hawaii." By the Eev. C. G. 

 "Williamson. 



In this paper the author gave a detailed account of the general 

 physical features of the island of Hawaii, noticing especially the 

 characters presented by the volcanic mountains of the island and 

 the results of their eruptions. The eruptions and earthquakes of 



