Vol.  49. j  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS  OE  THE  PRESIDENT©  I$7 
from  the  normal  type.  Dr.  Irving,  in  his  Supplementary  Note,  still 
adhered  to  his  contention  that  these  sandstones  and  marls  are  really 
of  Permian  age,  although  such  a  view  would  necessitate  the  absence 
of  the  Lower  Bunter  of  the  Midlands  in  Devonshire.  Prof.  Hull  has 
substantially  acceded  to  this  view,  since  he  stated,  in  the  discussion 
on  Dr.  Irving’s  second  Supplementary  Note,  that  he  had  concluded 
the  Budleigh  Salterton  Conglomerate  was  the  real  base  of  the  Trias, 
and  that  the  great  series  of  red  marls,  sandstones,  and  breccias 
below  the  Conglomerate  were  of  Permian  age. 
The  Upper  Division  of  the  Bunter  Prof.  Hull  considered  to  be  well 
shown  at  Sidmouth,  and  he  regarded  a  thin  calcareous  breccia  which 
occurs  in  the  cliffs  there  as  the  basement-bed  of  the  Keuper.  In  his 
Supplementary  Note  Dr.  Irving  accepted  the  breccias  at  Sidmouth 
as  the  base  of  the  Keuper,  and  in  a  second  Supplementary  Note  he 
states  that  he  has  obtained  satisfactory  data  for  determining  a 
similar  basement-line  in  the  country  between  the  valleys  of  the  Sid 
and  Otter,  where  the  Keuper  is  repeated  by  a  great  fault. 
We  can  scarcely  doubt  that  the  discussions  raised  by  Dr.  Irving 
and  Prof.  Hull  have  been  useful  in  directing  attention  to  the  Bed 
Hocks  of  South  Devon.  It  seems  pretty  evident,  more  especially 
after  Sir  A.  Geikie’s  last  Presidential  Address,  that  opinion  is  likely 
to  swing  round  to  the  view  of  the  older  geologists  that  the  basal 
breccias  are  of  Permian  age,  although  it  might  perhaps  be  difficult 
to  know  where  to  stop  in  considering  the  ascending  sequence.  But 
Prof.  Hull’s  final  adherence  to  the  views  of  Dr.  Irving,  in  relegating 
the  Bed  Bocks  of  Exmouth  to  the  Permian,  will  tend  to  simplify 
matters  if  the  Budleigh  Salterton  Conglomerate  should  ultimately 
be  adopted  as  the  base  of  the  Trias  in  that  district.  Einally,  we 
are  led  to  conclude  that  some  revision  of  the  geological  maps  of  the 
Devon  area  may  be  required,  though  possibly  the  evidence  on  which 
to  base  the  alterations  is  not  yet  sufficiently  established. 
Midlands  —  A  very  interesting  paper  by  Mr.  Horace  T.  Brown, 
on  the  Permian  rocks  of  the  Leicestershire  Coal-field,  next  de¬ 
mands  our  attention.  This  is  just  one  of  those  investigations 
which  are  best  carried  out  by  persons  living  in  the  district,  who 
have  constantly-recurring  opportunities  which  are  denied  to  the 
occasional  visitor.  By  availing  himself  of  the  use  of  the  hand- 
borer  and  by  studying  the  results  of  boring  operations  on  a  large 
scale,  in  addition  to  the  close  observation  of  numerous  artificial 
sections,  Mr.  Brown  has  been  able  to  suggest  some  corrections  in 
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