PEOCEEDINGS OF GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 



35 



are of dense structure; in the latter mostly of a porous character, taking 

 regular forms, not unlike those of many modern sponges. 



Some remarks were then made on Dr. Bowerbank's theory that the great 

 mass of the flints found iii the chalk are true sponges : a theory to which Pro- 

 fessor Tennant said he was inclined to subscribe. He pointed out as an illustra- 

 tion of its possible truth, and as a proof that organic remains may be enclosed in 

 silica, the well known appearance of moss-agates, sections of which, procured 

 from Oberstein, cannot under the microscope be distinguished from sections of 

 certain modem sponges. Professor Tennant also di'cw attention to the differ- 

 ence in the flints of volcanic and aqueous rocks ; the former being destitute of, 

 whilst the latter abound in, organic remains. 



After alluding to the beds of chert in many of the formations, such as the 

 Portland-rock, Greensand, etc., he advocated the view that the Paramoudra, of 

 Ireland, are nothing more than enormous silicified sponges, and concluded with 

 an account of the hollow flints found on Salisbury Plain, the core of which 

 when examined under the microscope is seen to be composed of a mass of 

 delicate spicules. 



A discussion by several of the members followed, during which the president 

 directed attention to a circumstance, which Mr. Charlesworth confirmed, viz., 

 that a mass of flint when surrounding the base of a ventriculite, never en- 

 velopes the whole of the root of the ventriculite. 



Mr. Charlesworth made several remarks, witli a view of explaining tliis phe- 

 nomenon, and at some length entered into reasons for disagreeing with the 

 views of Dr. Bowerbauk as to the spongous origin of many of the Chalk flints. 



The late Mr. John Brown, E.G.S., of Stanway, has bequeathed the sum of 

 £100 to the Association. 



Malvern Pield Club. — The Natui-alists' Pield Club lately held a meeting 

 at Pershore, on which occasion the President, the Kev. Mr. Symonds, of Pen- 

 dock, addressed the meeting at some length upon a few of the most important 

 scientific topics of the day. On tlie subject of the supposed flint implements 

 which have caused so much disquisition among geologists, Mr. Symonds re- 

 marked that they were discovered in the north of Prance, in undisturbed beds 

 of gravel, sand, and clay, in drift, in fact, of much the same geological age as 

 the old lake- and river- margins of the Avon, the Severn, and the Wye. The 

 level of the land in that part of Prance, however, appears to have been more 

 deranged by oscillating movements than has been the water-level of the peace- 

 ful vales of Worcestershire and Herefordshire. The stratified gravel, contain- 

 ing the weapon-looking flints, associated with the remains of the extinct ele- 

 phant and rhinoceros, occupies, in some localities, a height of one hundred feet 

 above the present level of the river Somme, which has worn for itself a newer 

 and deeper bed since those flints and tlie bones of wild beasts were buried 

 together in the mud, silt, and gravel of its ancient margins. On the question 

 of the human fabrication of the flints, Mr. Symonds said that he had seen many 

 exhibited at Aberdeen, by Sir Charles Lyell and Mr. R. W. Mybe, and that 

 the rudeness of many of these implements might well cause the cautious inves- 

 tigator of truth to pause before he believed that they were wrought by men ; 

 while on the other hand some of the specimens appeared to have been so 

 wrought. The question rested, from the evidence Mr. Symonds could collect, 

 on the fact as to whether or not the flints were human implements. The re- 

 mains of the extinct mammalia may have been drifted from older beds, but the 

 physical geology of the district, and the physical position of the stratified drifts, 

 containing the supposed human implements, compelled the most able of the 

 geologists of Prance and England to arrive at the conclusion that, if these flints 



