BRISTOL NATURALISTS SOCIETY. 
EXCURSION MEETING. 
From the " Bkistol Daily Post" of June 20th, 1864, 
The first excursion meeting of this society for the season 
{ was held last Friday, the 17th inst. The members of the 
Bath and West ef England Agricultural Society had been 
I invited to attend, and for the sake especially of these visitors 
! the excursion of last September was repeated. The party, 
' upwards of seventy in number, including several ladies, 
assembled, for the most part, at the Hotwell-house, and pro- 
ceeded along the course of the Port and Pier Railway as far 
as Shirehampton, in order to study the various geological 
sections laid bare by the cuttings, the interesting features 
of which were pointed out and descanted upon by the presi- 
dent, Mr. W. Sanders, F.R.S., and the hon. treasurer, Mr. 
W. W. Stoddart. From the Hotwell-house to the Black- 
I rock the strata belong to the carboniferous series — the 
I fossils in the mountain limestone, as well as the shales, a 
thin bed of coal, and the millstone grit, attracting much 
attention. At the Black-rock, a great fault, or displacement 
of strata, occurred, and the whole series began again. Near 
the old shooting-ground of the Rifle Corps, the first indica- 
tions of the Devonian, or old red sandstone group, presented 
themselves in the form of micaceous scales in the shales. 
In this field, also, the botanists and entomologists of the 
party captured several specimens, and here Mr. Stoddart 
pointed out a small bone bed, about three inches thick, 
which he had accidentally discovered on a former occasion, 
as well as some strata containing many fossil entomostraca, 
or water-fleas. The most curious section, however, was thaft 
near the powder-house, where the railway skirts the edge of 
Kingsweston-park ; the beds are contorted, and thrust up- 
wards in the middle, as though by the former action of a 
disturbing force, and form what is known as an anticlinal 
curve. These curved strata belong to the old red sandstone 
series, and lying horizontally on the top of them is a bed of 
new red conglomerate. After passing beds of red clays and 
sands, the party left the line of the railway, and passing 
through Shirehampton, came down into the marshes, where 
the botanists and microscopic zoologists found many oppor- 
tunities for adding both to their collections and to their 
knowledge of the habitat of many minute organisms. 
At a quarter-past four the whole party re-assembled at 
Hooper's-hotel, where a cold dinner was provided, but owing 
to the fact that many members and friends having come 
without giving notice to the secretary of their intention, 
considerable difficulty was experienced in providing for all, 
and the resources of the establishment were taxed to the 
utmost. Fortunately, however, there was abundance of 
food, which was done ample justice to, and after the removal 
of the cloth the President rose, and said it was not the custom 
of the society to drink toasts after dinner, and very seldom 
to have any speaking, but they were favoured that day 
with the presence of a gentleman of great repute among 
agriculturists. Professor Buckman, late of the Royal 
Agricultural College, Cirencester, whom he would ask to 
favour the society with his opinion on the results of that 
