Vol.  49.]  ANHIVEESAEY  ADDEESS  OF  THE  PBESIDENT.  1 35 
Trias  nearly  50  miles  farther  to  the  south-west.  The  same  Author 
also  contributed  a  paper  on  the  igneous  constituents  of  what  he 
regarded  as  the  Triassic  breccias  and  conglomerates  of  South  Devon, 
which  may  be  considered  in  this  connexion,  although  the  arguments 
are  mainly  petrological.  His  principal  conclusions  were  that  the 
igneous  materials  are  of  local  origin  ;  that  tbe}r  consist  of  granites, 
felsites,  and  volcanic  types,  ranging  from  andesites  to  basalts ;  and 
that  the  conditions  under  which  the  so-called  4  felspathic  traps  ’  occur 
in  situ  lead  to  the  inference  that  they  are  volcanic  phenomena,  which 
probably  represent  the  final  phase  of  the  igneous  activity  of  the  Dart¬ 
moor  region.  Mr.  Worth’s  contention,  as  to  the  evidence  of  the 
connexion  of  any  of  these  rocks  with  a  possible  upward  prolonga¬ 
tion  of  the  mass  of  Dartmoor,  is  hardly  necessary,  seeing  that  the 
origin  of  the  materials  may  well  be  sought  in  the  more  immediate 
neighbourhood,  where  there  are  so  many  indications  of  volcanic 
activity  contemporaneous  with  the  basal  conglomerate  of  the  Red 
Rock  Series,  whether  that  series  is  of  Triassic,  or,  as  appears  more 
probable,  of  Permian  age. 
This  subject,  as  well  as  the  subdivisions  of  the  Red  Rocks  of 
South  Devon  generally,  has  been  the  source  of  a  considerable  amount 
of  controversy,  as  must  often  be  the  case  where  there  are  few  or  no 
fossils  to  guide  the  geologist.  So  far  as  my  own  impressions 
extend,  there  was  a  time  when  all  the  Red  Rocks  of  South  Devon 
were  regarded  as  of  Keuper  age.  How  far  this  view  had  any 
connexion  with  the  age  of  the  so-called  Dolomitic  Conglomerate  of 
the  Mendips  is  not  for  me  to  say.  But  of  late  years  the  researches 
of  Mr.  H.  B.  Woodward  and  Mr.  TJssher,  to  mention  no  other 
names,  have  tended  to  demonstrate  that  the  divisions  of  Keuper  and 
Bunter  might  be  recognized  in  the  Devonshire  area ;  and  when  this 
was  once  admitted  it  seemed  difficult  to  exclude  the  Permian,  since 
I  am  not  aware  that  there  are  any  breccias  at  the  base  of  the 
Bunter  at  all  like  those  to  the  south-west  of  the  Exe.  However,  in 
spite  of  the  resemblance  of  these  basal  breccias,  in  many  respects, 
to  the  Permian  rocks  of  portions  of  England  and  of  Germany,  it 
seems  to  have  been  conceded  that  it  was  better  to  leave  the  whole 
in  the  Bunter,  apparently  from  lack  of  any  positive  evidence  to  the 
contrary. 
Ho  one  can  doubt  that,  apart  from  preconceived  ideas,  the  prima- 
facie  evidence  in  favour  of  the  Permian  age  of  the  basal  breccias  is 
very  strong.  Many  of  these  great  blocks  are  evidently  derived 
from  the  hill  talus  or  4  screes  9  that  once  lay  on  the  neighbouring 
