S30 Mr. Jukes and the Geological Society. [July, 



thereby. Such differences are not unknown amongst scientific 

 societies, and we now propose to discuss one which has recently 

 arisen between the council and a distinguished Fellow of one of the 

 most prominent of the learned societies — the Geological Society of 

 London. 



On March 7th of last year, Mr. J. B. Jukes, local director of 

 the Geological Survey of Ireland, read before the Geological Society 

 a paper " On the Carboniferous Slate (or Devonian rocks) and the 

 Old Eed Sandstone of South Ireland and North Devon," which was 

 published in due course in the Society's ' Quarterly Journal,'* oc- 

 cupying fifty closely printed octavo pages. In this paper the author 

 endeavoured to prove two points : — (1) that the Devonian rocks of 

 North Devon are synchronous with the Carboniferous Slate of Ire- 

 land; and (2) that "the Lynton beds are on the same general 

 horizon as those of Baggy Point and Marwood," although " there 

 appears to be a regular ascending succession of rock-groups from 

 Lynton to the latitude of Barnstaple," which Mr. Jukes endeavoured 

 to explain by the aid of a " concealed fault running nearly east and 

 west through the centre of North Devon with a large downthrow 

 to the north.t In this way he split up the great mass of Devonian 

 rocks of North Devon into alternate zones of Carboniferous Slate and 

 Old Eed Sandstone (considered as distinct from Devonian). 



Than this hypothesis it would be difficult to conceive a more 

 startling heresy in British geology, and the reading of the paper 

 was consequently followed by an animated debate, in which every 

 speaker dissented from the view now for the first time expounded 

 in England. Nevertheless the paper was published in full, for the 

 idea was apparently new, and it is possible that future discoveries 

 may lend it confirmation. Its author saw, however, that to con- 

 vince his associates further evidence was necessary, and accordingly 

 on the 7th of last November he read a second paper, the title of 

 which is prefaced to this article. This paper, it appears, the council 

 of the Society declined to publish, except in the form of an abstract 

 without illustrations ; and as this decision did not fall in with the 

 views of the author, the council, at his request, returned to him his 

 manuscript and illustrations, and published only the title of his 

 paper in the ' Quarterly Journal.' Mr. Jukes has therefore printed 

 his second paper as a pamphlet, prefacing it with some observations 

 on the action of the council (at which he felt very much aggrieved), 

 and on the history of the subject, and has sent a copy to every 

 Fellow of the Geological Society. 



Having thus placed our readers in possession of the essential 

 facts, we can now discuss that part of Mr. Jukes's preface relating 

 to the action of the council, in which he strikes at the fundamental 



* Op. tit, vol. xxii., No. 87, August, 1866, pp. 320-371. 

 t See also ' Quart. Journ. Science,' No. XII. 



