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acknowledgment of his services, said that the step he had taken had not 
been suddenly resolved upon, but that ever since the Proceedings had 
taken their present form, he had been gradually coming to the conclusion 
that the work required was more than he had time for, consistently with 
his other engagements. Without wishing to make a merit of it, he would 
mention that he had frequently been obliged to write reports or look over 
proofs for the Proceedings, at a time when most people were in bed, and 
this was very undesirable. He felt that the end of a volume was a suit- 
able time for discontinuing his editorship, and he had therefore chosen 
this opportunity for resigning. In conclusion, his interest in the Society 
was unabated, and it had been a struggle to him to cease official connection 
with it, and he could only say that he hoped there would always be an 
abundance of papers at the General and Sectional meetings, for his 
successor to report. 
Mr. A. Leipner then stated that the Council recommended to the 
Society the appointment of Mr. Thomas Graham P onton, as Honorary 
Reporting Secretary. 
The Vice-President, having briefly alluded to the qualifications of 
Mr. Pooton, put the motion from the chair, and it was carried unanimously. 
Mr. W. L. Carpenter mentioned as a fact worth recording, that a 
few days previously a perfect human skull had been found at the works of 
the Avonbank Brick and Tile Co., St. Philip's, Bristol. It was embedded 
in clay, which was being dug for bricks, ten feet from the surface. About 
two feet below the place where the skull was found, a bed of peat existed, 
underneath this another clay bed, and below that again, gravel. Further 
than this, the excavations had not proceeded. 
Major Thomas Austin, F.G.S., then read the following paper on 
" The Towans of Cornwall, the Dunes of Norfolk, the Sandhills of Holland, 
and sandy accumulations generally, illustrated with plans and sketches. 
Also remarks on the occurrence of Double Tides." 
Towans, Dunes, and Sandhills, are in fact synonymous terms locally applied 
to phenomena, identical in character. 
In a geological stroll through Cornwall, I availed myself of the opportunity of 
examining, and collecting much information relating to the manner in which the 
sandy accumulations have been formed. I had previously visited the Dunes of 
Norfolk, and before making that investigation had seen the Sand-hills of Holland. 
To describe the manner in which the Cornish Towans have been produced, is 
almost tantamount to describing all such deposits of sand, as they mostly owe 
their origin to causes identical in character ; they are in fact accumulations of 
drifted sand, and which in some places are still in progress. The Towans of 
Sand-hills of Cornwall attain an elevation of sixty feet. Hayle stands on a flat 
amid extensive sands, which range with occasional interruptions, along the coast 
