150 Geological Society : — 



long, and at least 1300 feet above the present level of the Dead Sea. 

 He suggests that the waters of this lake escaped into the Levantine 

 basin through the plain of Esdraelon. With such physical con- 

 ditions existing, the fauna of the Levantiue basin would have a 

 means of spreading throughout the whole system of waterways 

 connected with it. 



In conclusion the author adds some observations on the changes 

 which occurred ia the Mediterranean area subsequent to the post- 

 Miocene epoch of earth-movement. 



3. ' On the Loess and other Superficial Deposits of Shantung 

 (Northern China).' By S. B. J. Skertchly, Esq., and T. W. Kings- 

 mill, Esq., C.E. 



The following deposits are described in the order of their 

 antiquity : — - 



1. Recent Fluviatile deposits. 



2. Marine sands with Cardium, Ostrcea, and Bulla, extending to 

 a height of 200 feet above sea-level, and indicating former sub- 

 mergence to that amount. 



3. Old River-gravels, often resting on loess, and possibly contem- 

 poraneous with the marine gravels. They furnish part of the 

 evidence relied on by the authors for supposing the existence at 

 that time of a climate moister than the present one. 



4. Loess. 



5. Basement-gravels having the same relation to the loess that 

 the Upper Greensand bears to the Chalk. 



The loess east of the Pamirs is extensively developed over an area 

 of over one million square miles. It is sometimes over 2000 feet 

 thick, and occurs up to several thousand feet above sea-level. 



Evidence is brought forward by the authors with the intention 

 of establishing the absolute want of connexion between the Chinese 

 loess and the present river- systems, its original stratified condition 

 (as shown by variation of tint and horjzontality of layers of con- 

 cretions), and its subsequent rearrangement to a great extent. The 

 absence of marine shells is discussed, and the suggestion thrown 

 out, with diffidence, that the shells have been destroyed by per- 

 colating water. 



The authors give their reasons for supposing that the loess is a 

 marine formation, and state that the sea need not have reached to 

 a higher level than 600 feet above the present sea-level, for the 

 Pamir region where it occurs, 7000 feet above the sea, is an area of 

 special uplift. 



They maintain that there are no proofs of the glaciation of 

 Northern and Eastern Asia, so that the Chinese loess can have no 

 connexion with an area of glaciation. They state that the zoological, 

 ethnological, historical, and traditionary evidence alike point to the 

 former depression of Asia beneath the sea, and the subsequent 

 desiccation of the land, consequent upon re-elevation. 



