PROCEEDINGS OF GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 



95 



and those formed of older masses of sediment, contorted and altered, bears out the 

 principles of § VII. 



[A collection of the so-called " Kelpies' Feet," from the micaceous flagstones of 

 North Britain, from the Museum of Practical Geology and the Society's Museum, 

 were exhibited at this Meeting.] 



January 19, 1859, — The following communications were read : — 



1. " On the Gold-field of Ballaarat, Victoria." By H. Resales, Esq. Commu- 

 nicated by W. W. Smyth, Esq., Sec. G. S. 



Mr. Resales described the position of the quartz-lodes (the matrix of the gold) 

 in the schists of the hill-ranges, from whence originate the numerous auriferous 

 gullies, forming eventually several channels (charriages), and the different courses 

 of the old gold-bearing streams, which gradually passing to lower levels, reach the 

 gi'eat areas of basalt, under which they continue their hidden course. To illus- 

 trate these points, the author prepared and sent a MS. map of the district from 

 beyond Buninyong to Creswick, on which the granite, basalt, schists, and 'quartz 

 lodes were shown, as well as the gold-channels, gullies, runs, leads, &c., connected 

 with which 96 named spots or diggings were carefully indicated. 



2. " Description of a New Species of Cephalaspis [O. Aster olepis) from the Old 

 Red Sandstone of the neighbourhood of Ludlow." By John Harley, Esq., Sub- 

 dean, &c., King's College. Communicated by Prof. Huxley, F.G.S. 



This new form of Cephalaspis (from Plopton Gate) is at least twice the size of 

 C. Lyellii, and is fiurther characterized by the position, obliquity, and magnitude 

 of the orbits. The space between the orbits is proportionally small, and the occi- 

 pital crest very short. The outer enamel-layer is ornamented with tubercles, 

 which, though somewhat variable, bear so close a resemblance to those covering 

 the bony plates of Asterolepis, as to have suggested the specific name. The inner 

 layer of the bony plate presents lacunse and canaliculi resembling those of human 

 bone ; and many of them, in the specimen described, are naturally injected with a 

 transparent blood-red material, so distinctly and delicately, that in their minutest 

 details the structure of canals not more than 500 ooth of an inch in diameter is 

 beautifully revealed. 



Mr. Harley also described a more perfect specimen of Cephalaspis Salweyi than 

 the one on which Sir P. Egerton not long since determined the species. It was 

 found by Mr. Salwey at Hinstone near Bromyard. Associated with the G. Sal- 

 weyi, the author found a specimen of either a dermal plate or a tooth of a placoid 

 fish, resembling some Silurian fossils called Ccelolepidce by Pander. 



Geologists' Association. — On Tuesday, the 11th Jan. instant, the First Ordi- 

 nary Meeting of this Association was held in the Library of St. Martin's Hall. 

 There were nearly 200 persons present. 



The proceedings commenced by the election of several new members, after which 

 the President, Mr. Toulmin Smith, proceeded to deliver an inaugural address. 



In opening the subject, the President directed special attention to the importance 

 of finding true facts ; he stated that it had been well observed that there are even 

 more false facts than there are false theories in the world. 



He remarked that Geology is a science which rests exclusively on a knowledge 

 of the outer world, and can only exist as a science in the true interpretation of the 

 facts Avhich that world shows to us ; that there is no science which has been, and is, 

 liable to be more hindered hj false facts. There is none, therefore, in which the gather- 

 ing up of true facts, and the bringing them together as a common stock for the use 

 of science, can be more needed. This being so, there appear to be good reasons 

 for the work set to itself by the " Geologists' Association." Beyond the mere 

 advancement of the common stock of knowledge by means of association, it was to 

 be hoped that the enterprise of this country might be materially helped by its 

 labours, and that it, in return, would receive its reward in being made the deposi- 

 tory of many facts and observations, which, but for its existence, would remain 



