PEOCEEDINGS OP GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES, 



■883 



An inference was then drawn that the remains of the Secondary continent, 

 accumulated to the southward, caused cold currents to flow to the southern 

 shores of the Post-cretaceous continent, causing the extinction of the bottom- 

 feeding and shore-following Tetrabranchiata, to v/hich Mr. Wood attributes the 

 destruction of the Cestracionts which fed on them, and that of the marine 

 Saurians that fed on the Cestracionts. The preservation of the Dibranchiata, 

 on the contrary, was attributed to their being ocean-rangers. The extinction 

 of the Megalosauria he attributed to the effect produced on vegetation by the 

 alternation of dry seasons during the year, brought about by a great equatorial 

 extent of land — the extinction of the herbivorous Megalosauria, by this cause, 

 involving that of the carnivorous. 



The author also alluded to the contiguity of volcanos to the seas or great 

 waters, which he considered to admit of explanation by every volcanic elevation 

 causing a corresponding and contiguous depression, which either brings the sea 

 or collects the land-drainage into contiguity with the volcanic region ; and in 

 conclusion he alluded to the law of natural selection and correlation of growth 

 lately advanced by Mr. Darwin, in the soundess of which he asserted his belief. 



February 15, 1860. 



1. "On the Probable Glacial Origin of some Norwegian Lakes." By 

 T. Codrington, Esq., P.G.S. 



The lakes referred to were those frequently found situated at a short 

 distance from the head of the several fjords on the western coast of Norway. 

 The fjord and the valley in which such a lake or " vand" lies are parts of one 

 great chasm, with perpendicular sides, often thousands of feet high. The 

 vaUey generally shows traces of the former. existence of a glacier, and is now 

 traversed by a rapid river, which falls into a vand or lake six or seven miles 

 long, rarely a mile wide, and very deep. The lake is separated from the fjord 

 by a mass of rolled stones, shingle, and coarse sand roughly stratified, and 

 sometimes rising one hundred and twenty feet above the lake. Through this an 

 outlet has been cut to the fjord, a distance varying from about one to four 

 miles. On the side towards the lake this mound is terraced ; and at the upper 

 end of the lake similar terraces are sometimes seen. The author, with some 

 doubt, attributes the accumulation of this terraced barrier to glacial action. 



2. On the Drift and Gravels of the North of Scotland." By T. P. Jamieson, 

 Esq. Communicated by Sir R. I. Murchison, P.G.S. 



In a former communication the author gave an account of some features of 

 the Pleistocene deposits along the coast of Aberdeenshire, showing that in cer- 

 tain localities remains of marine animals occur, of a character similar to those 

 met with in the later Tertiary beds of the Clyde district, and, like them, in- 

 dicating the presence of a colder sea. In the present paper the author treated 

 of the Drift of the higher grounds in the interior of the country, more especially 

 as regards that part of Scotland lying between the Moray Pirth and the Pirth 

 of Tay. The following phenomena were more particularly described : — 1. The 

 upper gravels, their distribution and origin ; 2. the marine drift of the higher 

 grounds and of the highland glens ; 3. the striated and polished rock-surfaces 

 beneath the Drift ; 4. the high-lying boulders, and the dispersion of blocks 

 from the Ben Muic Dhui Mountains. The probability of extensive glacier- 

 action before the formation of the Drift, the extinction of the land-fauna pre- 

 ceding the Drift, and the sequence of events during the Pleistocene period 

 were then dwelt upon ; and the author expressed liis opinion that the following 

 course of events may be supposed to have occurred in the Pleistocene history 

 of Scotland. 1st. A period when the country stood as higli as, or probably 

 higher than at present, with an extensive development of glaciers and land-ice. 



