GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF MANCHESTER. 



183 



sent numerous instances of violent commotion and uncon- 

 formability^ must be greatly modified before it can be 

 ^ admitted. 



In conclusion, the authors recapitulate the evidences of the 

 marine origin of all the regular formations to the newest 

 tertiaries inclusive, alluding, nevertheless, to the proofs of the 

 interruption in the sequence of the secondary strata, and the 

 probable influence which the elevation of the central dome of 

 Devonian rocks had, in the marked difference of the charac- 

 ters of the formations north and south of the dividing region, 

 and they show that the submarine condition of the surface did 

 not terminate with the post pliocene epoch, but extended 

 throughout the period when the superficial detritus was accu- 

 mulated, and, in part, to within the pistoric era. 



Lastly, they allude to the effect produced by the operations 

 of man on the waters of the lakes and rivers, proving incon- 

 testibly that their diminished volume is due to the felling of 

 the forests, and the cultivation of the soil. 



MANCHESTER GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



At the meeting of the members of this society, held on 

 Thursday the 28th of April, Eaton Hodgkinson, Esq. 

 F.R.S. in the chair, Mr. Binney read a communication, by 

 Robert Harkness, Esq. of Ormskirk, entitled " On the Influ- 

 ence of Temperature on the Waters of the Ocean^' of which 

 the following is an abstract : — 



The former existence of glaciers in localities where at the 

 present time the climate is mild, is inferred by Agassiz, 

 Buckland, and Lyell, from the occurrence of moraines simi- 

 lar to those which are now found to be produced by the 

 glaciers of Switzerland, as well as from the dispersion of 

 erratic boulders over surfaces which no cause at present 

 existing, with the exception of ice, would have been able to 

 effect. Besides these circumstances, there is another which 



