PROCEEDINGS OF GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 



137 



in some instances, as at Yarmouth, by judiciously constructed works, ma- 

 terial improvement was effected, and as at Orford, where no assistance was 

 rendered, great changes occurred, or as at Harwich, where, from constant 

 progressive change, it was difficult to speculate on the ultimate result of 

 the continued operation of natural agencies, unchecked by works of a con- 

 servative character. 



Geological Society. — Jan. 20.— 1. "Observations on supposed Gla- 

 cial Drift in the Labrador Peninsula, Western Canada, and on the South 

 Branch of the Saskatchewan." By Professor H. Y. Hind, Trinity Col- 

 lege, Toronto. — During an exploration of a part of the interior of the La- 

 brador peninsula, in 1861, the author had an opportunity of observing the 

 magnitude, distribution, and extraordinary number of the boulders on the 

 flanks of the tableland of that area ; and he commenced this paper with 

 a detailed account of the results of his observations, referring also to the 

 forced arrangement of blocks of limestone, shale, and Laurentian rocks in 

 Boulder-clay at Toronto, and on the south branch of the Saskatchewan. 

 Professor Hind then described briefly the Driftless Area, in Wisconsin, 

 discovered by Prof. J. D. Whitney, and the conclusions to which that 

 geologist has been led by the study of this district. He next adverted to 

 the beaches and terraces about the great lakes, and considered their origin 

 to be similar to that suggested by Mr. Jamieson for the Parallel Eoads of 

 Glen Boy. The formation of anchor-ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and 

 at the heads of rapids in the great river itself, was alluded to as one of the 

 means by which river-beds may be excavated. The parallelism of escarp- 

 ments in America, at great distances apart, and at elevations varying from 

 600 feet to 3000 feet above the sea, was next described, and their symme- 

 trical arrangement suggested to be the result of glacial rivers undermining 

 the soft strata of sedimentary rocks in advance of the glacial mass itself. 

 These escarpments were also thought to represent different and closely- 

 succeeding glacial epochs. 



2. " Notes on the Drift-deposits of the V alley of 1 he Severn, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Coalbrookdale and Bridgenorth." By Mr. George Maw. — 

 The patches of drift occurring in the Valley of the Severn from about four 

 miles below Bridgenorth up to Shrewsbury, including a north and south 

 range of about twenty miles, have been carefully examined by the author, 

 and were described in detail in this paper. Commencing with Strethill, a 

 hill close to the entrance of Coalbrookdale, the author described the 

 several beds which make up the drift-deposits of which it is composed, 

 and gave a list of the rocks which he had found in them. In the same 

 manner he described in succession the neighbouring districts in which the 

 drift-deposits are exhibited, and gave a list of the fossils which had been 

 found in the beds at the different localities. In conclusion, Mr. Maw put 

 forward some hypotheses as to the period when the degradation of the 

 older formations (the materials of which compose the Drift) took place, the 

 manner in which the Drift was deposited, the extent of the submergence 

 of England and Wales during the period of its deposition, and the influ- 

 ence of glaciers and glacier-action in its production. 



February 3. — 1. " On the Permian Bocks of the North- West of England, 

 and their Extension into Scotland." By Sir B. I. Murchison and Prof. 

 Harkness. — In this paper the authors propounded a new view of the compo- 

 sition of the Permian Groupin the north-west of England ; by rearrangement 

 of the rocks involved in this change in classification, they were enabled to 

 place the Permian strata of Great Britain in direct correlation with those of 

 the Continent. This new feature in British classification is the assign- 



VOL. VII. T 



