222 



THE NATURALIST. 



The party then visited the lowest beds of 

 the mountain limestone as seen in Cooper's 

 rock, Porthywaen, where several character- 

 istic shells were found, as Murchisonia 

 Venualiana, Produdus Liang oUensis, and 

 Cystinia carhonaria. The lower Silurian 

 shales, which in this neighbourhood under- 

 lie the Mountain Limestone, were next in- 

 spected where they are seen on the side of 

 the road leading from Porthyvaen to Tre- 

 flach, and in them were found some of their 

 ordinary fossils. OrtMs and Leptoena were 

 again seen in the railway cutting in Nant 

 Mawr. The alterations in Moreton's quarry 

 were next noticed. The quarry, in its pre- 

 sent state, shows a good view of the fault 

 or dislocation in the strata which extends 

 from the Moelydd to Lower Sweeney, and 

 into the plain beyond. The party returned 

 along the line of this fault to the old quarries 

 in the uppermost beds of limestone at Wern, 

 where many specimens of corals were ob- 

 tained. From this point to Sweeney Tower 

 the route lay nearly along the line of the junc- 

 tion between the Mountain Limestone and 

 its overlying formation, the Millstone Grit. 

 In "Sir Baldwin's" quarry Mr. D. C. 

 Davies pointed out the fault in the strata to 

 which Sweeney Hill owes its elevation. 

 From thence they visited Mr. Savin's sand- 

 stone quarries where they were interested in 

 observing the structure of the "Pockets" 

 in the thick sandstone beds, and the layers 

 of Feldspathic clay or Kaolin which lie be- 

 tween the sandstone beds. From the upper- 

 most beds, which dip under the coal 

 measures, numerous specimens oi Produdus 

 semireticulatus and P. Martini were ob- 

 tained ; these were associated with stems of 

 Catamites. The remains of Fucoids were 

 very numerous, also an unique specimen of 

 an Annelide or sea worm. The club 

 next noticed the beds of fine grained com- 

 pact sandstone adjoining the railway, which 

 are well adapted for the finer purposes of 

 architecture. The order and character of 

 the various beds of grit as they are seen in 

 the sides of Coed-y-go and Porthywaen 

 railway were then rapidly noticed. The 



horizon of the various fossils that have been 

 hitherto found was pointed Out by the before- 

 mentioned gentleman, and the party halted 

 to notice that the lowest beds of grit were 

 like the uppermost fossiliferous. 



The third and last meeting for the year was 

 at Llangollen, on the 17th of August. Al- 

 though a very stormy day the members 

 assembled in fair numbers. Two routes were 

 decided upon, one for the botanical, under 

 the guidance of Mr. J. Parrott, of Llantysil- 

 lio, the other for the geological section, under 

 Mr, D, C, Davies. The former, which 

 numbered most strongly on this occasion, 

 got out at Berwin station, and visited first 

 of all the beautiful ruins of Valle Crucis 

 Abbey, After discussing the various fea- 

 tures of the Abbey, the party set forth with 

 the resolve to reach the '* World's End," 

 On their way thither, they passed a most 

 picturesque and characteristic old house of 

 the Elizabethan period,called Plas Eglwyseg, 

 formerly a place of some distinction, but 

 now only a farm house. After a good deal 

 of stiffish climbing, they at length reached 

 the "World's End," and well does the spot 

 deserve its name, for a more secluded and 

 desolate place can hardly be found than the 

 head of this mountain glen. Here was 

 found, but growing very sparingly, the 

 Green Spleenwort, Asplenium viride. It 

 was afterwards seen more abundantly in 

 several other spots on the homeward route, 

 also three kinds of club moss, Lycopodium 

 clavatum, L. alpinum, L. Selago, Crowberry 

 Empetrum nigrum, and where the rocks crop- 

 ped out, plenty of the Brittle fern Cystopteris 

 fragilis, and other commoner sorts. After 

 descending to lower ground the botanists 

 were rewarded by the discovery of another 

 rarity, Polypodium calcareum, on the 

 banks of a mountain stream. The geologi- 

 cal section left Trevor station, and pro- 

 ceeded to examine the grit of the neighbour- 

 hood. The first quarry visited was that of 

 the Messrs, Roberts, where they were able 

 to trace the junction of this formation with 

 the local measures. The lowest seam of 

 coal in the North Wales coal field is ex- 



