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THE GEOLOGIST. 



increasing prosperity of local societies of this kind, and their general establish- 

 ment throughout the country. 



The first meeting took place at Knowle, on the 20th of May. The locality was 

 an interesting one to the geologists present, as there is a small outlier of Lias 

 exhibited near the village, being the only trace of that rock seen in this district. 

 It has been already described by that able and lamented geologist, the late Hugh 

 Strickland, and was discovered by Dr. Lloyd, but there is one fact which seems 

 to have been noticed on this visit for the first time, viz., the occurrence of a sand- 

 stone belonging to the zone of the bone-bed, containing casts of a shell, Pullustra 

 arenicola, which always marks this part of the Liassic series; and although no actual 

 bone-bed was observed, there can be no doubt of the occurrence of the basement- 

 beds of the Lias in this neighbourhood identical with sections in Gloucestershire 

 and other places. The point where this was observed was on the bank of the canal 

 near the road to Hampton, and these lower strata of Lias rest immediately upon 

 the red marl. The section, however, is small and very obscure, and it is highly 

 probable that if a cutting were made at this spot the bone-bed itself would be 

 detected. At present this is the farthest extension recognized to the north, 

 although some portions were found by Mr. Strickland between Bristow and Wilm- 

 cote, in this county. The canal for some distance has been excavated in the Lias ; 

 but, as the best stone lies deep, and the whole is of very limited extent, it has 

 been worked by a shaft, which is now closed, and not likely again to be opened, 

 as the workings have not proved remunerative. The section as far as it could be 

 examined, and judging from the limestone and shale lying about, evidently cor- 

 responds in most respects with the section at Wainlode Cliff and other places in 

 (Tloucestershire, Some of the shales contained beautiful specimens of Ammonites 

 planorhis, spines and plates of Cidaris, and a small Cardium; with scales of fish and 

 bones of Saurians. Several slabs of rough limestone were full of the Ostrea liassica, 

 which distinguishes the " Ostrea-bed " in the neighbouring counties. There were 

 some thick blocks of a hard compact blue limestone, which resembled the insect- 

 bed, but probably belongs to another argillaceous stratum, higher up, which con- 

 tains few fossils, except the minute foraminifer, the SpirilUna infima, which occurs 

 abundantly in Gloucestershire. There is reason to think this patch of Lias was 

 at one time of far greater extent, although now not exceeding a mile and a half in 

 one direction, but it probably never was of great vertical thickness. 



As this club does not confine its excursions to Warwickshire, but visits other 

 and neighbouring counties once at least during the season, the second meeting was 

 held at the Wrekin, in Shropshire, on Tuesday, the 22nd of June. The party, 

 which was a numerous one, proceeded by the Great Western Railway to Wel- 

 lington, which they reached soon after 10 o'clock, and were conveyed in carriages to 

 the Escal, a picturesque glen at the foot of the Wrekin. The day was sunny and 

 fine, and, though very hot, the novelty and beauty of the scenery made the eager 

 naturalists forget the toil of the steep ascent to the summit. Owing to a mistake, 

 they did not see the small patch of carboniferous limestone visible only at two 

 points in this district, and therefore were obliged to make their first attack with 

 hammers and chisels on the hard felspathic igneous rocks which were seen in this 

 naiTow gorge, and which form a part of the main plutonic mass of the Wrekin, 

 the whole of which has been upraised and has thrown off, and altered the Caradoc 

 sandstone and other fossiliferous rocks on its flanks. This metamorphosed and 

 crystallized Caradoc appeared only in a few places in the ascent. Gradually the 

 fine view for which this hill is famous unfolded itself, in spite of the hazy atmo- 

 sphere which obscured remoter objects. Seated on the crest of the hill, on the 

 rough edges of the Syenite, Mr. Randall, an intelligent local geologist, gave a short 

 geological description of the district, which forms Sir R. I. Murchison's grand 

 typical region of Siluria, and which is unrivalled, both for the beauty of its scenery 

 and the variety and interest of its geology. 



On a clear day the Bveiden hills, the Berwyn mountains, Snowdon, Cader Idris, 

 and the Malverns, may be distinctly seen ; as it was, however, the prospect was 

 sufficiently extensive, ranging over the INevv Red Sandstone plain on the east and 

 north, the bold and striking ridge of Wenlock Edge rising up above the Severn on 



