352 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



the most distinguished Continental savants have visited it for comparison 

 with the foreign Jurassic sections. It comprises the " cynocephala 

 stage " of Dr. Lycett. The party were soon at work on the " ammonite- 

 bed," and, after exhuming numerous characteristic specimens, struck 

 off toward Peaked Down to examine the sands, which are of considerable 

 thickness there. Geology and archseology as sister sciences so blend to- 

 gether at certain points, that it is difficult to apportion the peculiar pro- 

 vince of each ; our Cotteswoldians, however, came to a halt at Coaley 

 Hill tumulus, which, like a weir across a stream, effectually divided them 

 into two currents of geologists and archseologists — the latter plunging 

 with professional ardour into the cairn and its traditions ; a few, we 

 were told, even dexterously wriggled their way into the bosom of the 

 tomb itself ; while the geologists, with that gravity which befits students 

 of the " exact sciences," carefully wended along that line of neutral 

 ground yclept the Upper Lias sands by the many, but which has been 

 stripped of its nationality by some, and associated with the Lower Oolitic 

 group. Their route lay across a thickness of about 200 feet of these pecu- 

 liar sands, and brought them by way of Lodgdown and Peaked Down to 

 Dursley, where dinner-hour brought the scattered members together at the 

 Bell Hotel. Some papers of interest were read: 1. By Dr. Lycett, of 

 Scarborough, " On Ammonites opalinus ;" 2. By Mr. John Jones, " On the 

 Land and Muviatile Mollusca of the Grloucester District." The latter is 

 an elaborate paper, containing the observations of the author during a pe- 

 riod of twenty years, and is of great value to those pursuing that branch 

 of natural history. 



Dudley Geological and Scientific Society. — It is with much plea- 

 sure we convey to our readers the agreeable information of the establishment 

 of a Geological Society in the classic neighbourhood of Dudley, where many 

 of the finest organisms of the Silurian rocks have been exhumed. This 

 well-known locality once boasted a valuable collection of fossils, and had 

 also a society which did good work, for a short time, in developing the 

 geological features of the district ; but the museum has long since passed 

 from public view, and the society has become defunct. We observe that 

 the newlj'- established club is not merely a resuscitation of the society once 

 existing, but is cast on a much more comprehensive plan, and will include 

 all that belongs to the natural history and antiquities of the midland coun- 

 ties, but particularly that part which lies within easy access of the old town 

 of Dudley. • The inaugural meeting of the society was held on the 15th of 

 August, under distinguished local patronage ; and a very interesting day 

 must have been spent on the occasion. The party, after a public meeting 

 and luncheon, at which Lord Lyttelton presided, visited the Silurian beds 

 at the well-known "Wren's Nest Hill, and made a rapid survey of the pre- 

 sent limestone workings. After this they had an opportunity of inspecting 

 the ruins of the Castle Hill and the Priory grounds ; and in the evening, 

 through the kindness of the Earl of Dudley, the vast caverns beneath the 

 Castle Hill were brilliantly illuminated. It may be mentioned that a canal 

 runs through these vast subterranean workings, and well-kept paths enable 

 visitors to walk tlirough the caverns with perfect ease. The banks of 

 this canal were lighted up with innumerable candles, as were also the vast 

 arches in various ])arts of the caverns ; and the strange aspect of the boat- 

 men as they pHed their rafts along this Stygian pool, and the weird figures 

 of attendants in uncouth garb, who lit up the largest arches and caverns 

 with coloured fires, presented an extraordinary scene. Mr. T. Smith, his 

 lordship's agent, gave tlie party a full description of the caverns, and of the 

 mode by which the limestone has been excavated. 



