214 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
soon be in possession of mncli additional knowledge respecting it 
from the pen of the illustrious Humboldt^ I will confine myself 
to a single paragraph, by saying that our chief object was to 
refer those broken and altered masses to their normal types. 
We found this highly metamorphic chain, so rich in metal- 
liferous masses, to consist essentially of Silurian, Devonian and 
Carboniferous rocks, the fossils of which we traced at intervals 
notwithstanding the countless ridges of igneous matter and the 
highly crystalline structure which has been communicated by its 
eruption to the contiguous sedimentary strata. A short period 
only has elapsed, since rocks having quartzose, micaceous and 
gneissose characters would not have been admitted into the same 
category with strata containing organic remains ; but the theory 
of metamorphism, founded on patient observation and com- 
parison, has prevailed over ancient doctrines. The sedimentary 
rocks of the Ural being palaeozoic, must indeed, be viewed as 
among the most ancient of the metamorphic class. Many other 
crystalline chains are of much more reeent age, as long ago, 
indeed, shown by M. Leopold Von Buch and other observers. 
Of the truth of this I will first adduce as proofs the Caucasian 
chain which bounds the Eussian Empire on the south. Tlie 
second illustration of metamorphism will be derived from recent 
researches in the Western Alps. 
BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 
The annual assemblage of the Members of this Association 
took place in Cork, on August 16, 1843, when the meeting of 
the General Committee took place, the Earl of Rosse presiding. 
Colonel Sabine read the Report, which was, however, entirely 
destitute of interest on any subject connected with geology, and 
hence we pass it over in silence. 
At a subsequent meeting of tlie General Committee the foL 
