Proceedings of Learned Societies. 319 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



BY W, B. TEGETMEIEE. 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.— March 19. 



The Last Elevation op the Central Valley op Scotland, by 

 Archibald Geikie. — After alluding to the position and nature of the 

 raised beach which, at the height of from twenty to thirty feet 

 above the present high- water mark, fringes the coast-line of Scot- 

 land, the author proceeded to describe the works of art which had 

 been found in it. From their occurrence in beds of elevated silt and 

 sand, containing layers of marine shells, it was evident that the 

 change of level had been effected since the commencement of the 

 human period. The character of the remains likewise proved that 

 the elevation could not be assigned to so ancient a time as the Stone 

 Period of the archaeologist. The canoes which had from time to time 

 been exhumed from the upraised deposits of the Clyde at Glasgow 

 clearly showed that at the time when at least the more finished of 

 them were in use, the natives of this part of Scotland were ac- 

 quainted with the use of bronze, if not of iron. The remains found 

 in the corresponding beds of the Eorth estuary likewise indicated 

 that there had been an upheaval long after the earlier races had 

 settled in the country, and that the movement was subsequent to 

 the employment of iron. Prom the Pirth of Tay similar evidence 

 was adduced to indicate an upheaval possibly as recent as the time 

 of the Roman occupation. The author then cited several antiquaries 

 who from a consideration of the present position of the Roman re- 

 mains in Scotland had inferred a considerable change in the aspect 

 of the coast-line since the earlier centuries of the Christian era.. 

 He pointed out also several circumstances in relation to these 

 Roman relics, which tended to show a change of level, and he 

 referred to the discovery of Roman pottery in a point of the raised 

 beach at Leith. The conclusion to which the evidence led him was 

 that since the first century of our era the central parts of Scotland, 

 from the Clyde to the Porth and the Tay, had risen to a height of 

 from twenty to twenty-five feet above their present level. 



ROYAL SOCIETY— March 20. 



Exhibition op M. Plateau's Pilms. — Dr. Prankland exhibited be- 

 fore the society a series of very beautiful experiments with the solu- 

 tions and apparatus of M. Plateau, designed to show the optical and 

 mechanical properties of thin films. The films are obtained by 

 means of a solution of one part of pure oleate of soda in fifty of 

 water ; three parts of this solution are then mixed with two parts 

 of glycerine. The liquid thus obtained is capable of being blown, 

 by means of a common tobacco-pipe, into bubbles of very large size 



