ii2 Present State of the Devonian Question. [January, 



At any rate, in this conformable series we have to look 

 for the equivalents of the lower carboniferous series. It 

 may not be possible to fix any of the divisions, as we find 

 them marked at no very great distance away, in South 

 Wales and in the Mendip Hills; but in these places it is 

 often difficult enough to fix a precise line, so gradually -do 

 they merge one into the other, though they are clear 

 enough when looked at in a large way. A greater similarity 

 of conditions prevailed over the Devonian area, and natu- 

 rally the fossils differ from those found elsewhere in varying 

 sedimentary deposits of the same period. 



Whether the supposed fault of Prof. Jukes can be proved 

 or not is a matter that it is difficult to foresee. Possibly the 

 new line of railway in course of construction between 

 Barnstaple and Ilfracombe may afford some decisive evi- 

 dence. Let us hope, at any rate, that it may yield many 

 good sections. At present, as Mr. Jukes remarks, whilst 

 there is no direct evidence of the fault, yet no certain 

 physical or stratigraphical evidence has been adduced 

 against it. 



That there is much to be done in this field is a point 

 about which no doubt can exist. The workers have been 

 many ; and the names of Sedgwick, Murchison, Lonsdale, 

 De la Beche, Godwin-Austen, Phillips, Jukes, and Etheridge, 

 must always command the highest respect of the followers 

 in the same field.* They have all done great work in 

 elucidating the structure of a difficult country; and as their 

 followers have the advantage of their labours, so the path 

 becomes easier, and whenever a final solution of the question 

 is arrived at, it will probably be by a transition in opinion as 

 easy as that which binds the series of rocks together. 



* A list of works on the Geology of Devonshire has been compiled by Mr. 

 Whitaker. See Trans. Devon. Assoc, vol. iv., p. 330, and vol. v., p. 404. 



