62 



The b ish Naturalist. 



March, 



of that series, until after its conclusion The further 



evidence of Whitepark Bay and Portstewart carries on the Neolithic 

 period to the conclusion of the period of elevation. Applying this to 

 the Belfast [section], we have the Neolithic period extending from some- 

 where near the top of the lower estuarine clay (or earlier), through the 

 upper estuarine clay, to the beach deposit of yellow sand which overlies 



it, or possibly later" "As regards the sandhill sites, the 



mouth of the Bann shows an advanced Stone Age; and as that river 

 must have been always an important site for settlement, owing to its 

 importance as a salmon river and accessibility to Lough Neagh, it must 

 have been one of the earliest localities for metal in the north of 

 Ireland." 



And as regards the wider correlation : — " Over an area, then, including 

 northern Ireland, the southern half of Scotland, and northern England, 

 the land-oscillations during Post-Glacial times appear to have been 

 practically identical. Outside of this area, to the southward, the 

 evidence points to a high land-level in early Post-Glacial times, followed 

 by submergence, as in the area just defined; but the sharp Neolithic 

 uplift, which formed the ' 25-foot beach ' in the area mentioned, appears 

 to die out rapidly northward and southward. To the southward, the 

 evidence points to a continuous or intermittent submergence since early 

 Post-Glacial times, the land having at no time been appreciably lower 

 than at present." 



Besides the numerous figures and diagrams by which the text is 

 illustrated, the paper is embellished by five well-chosen and beautifully 

 reproduced photographic plates ; and we heartily congratulate not only 

 the authors but also the Royal Irish Academy on the excellent style of 

 the publication. 



As an important contribvition to Post-Glacial geology the appearance 

 of this paper is well timed, and the authors will probably have the satis- 

 faction of finding that it will rapidly reach its place as a work of 

 reference, for there are many indications that the Post-Glacial deposits 

 of our Islands, after having been sporadically studied during the last 

 half-century, are at length arousing a more general interest, and are 

 likely to. receive much wider consideration in the immediate future. 



G. W. ly AM PLOUGH. 



