261 
PROCEEDINaS OF GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 
Manchestee Geological Society. — April 29. — 1. " On tlie Geology 
of the Eailway between Hyde and Marple." The length of the line is 
seven miles, and some of the sections are as much as sixty feet in depth. 
It trends in a direction nearly coincident with the line of strike of the 
rocks. The country through which it passes undulates very much, so that 
the line in places crosses, at a height of more than a hundred feet, valleys 
worn out by denudations, probably, the author thinks, at the close of the 
Pleistocene age, as Drift-beds cap their summits. The geology of the 
railway may be set down as belonging to two widely -separated forma- 
tions — the Lower Coal Measures and the Pleistocene. 
Going along the line from Hyde, about two miles from the town, a 
thin-bedded argillaceous sandstone rises, overlying beds of shale. iSo 
organic remains have been found in it. The dip is on the right-hand side, 
in a direction nearly N.W., and at an angle of 10 or 15 degrees. Iron- 
stone bands, several inches in thickness, frequently alternate with the 
shales, and along the whole length of the line these beds are not lost sight 
of. Towards Marple they have been affected by dislocations, and about 
a quarter of a mile beyond the aqueduct a downthrow fault of several feet 
is seen. IS'ear Pomilly the gullets are deeper, and the shale-beds are suc- 
ceeded by those ripple-marked flag-stones. Over these beds lie masses of 
sandstone rock of coarser texture, containing imperfect impressions of 
Calamites and Sigillariae. Two miles further on this rock is succeeded by 
one of a conglomerate character, and very hard, — the matrix being of a 
light grey colour, the imbedded pebbles red. 
Near Hyde, where the shales first come to view, they contain fragments 
of Lepidodendra and Neuropteris, with numbers of Spirorhis carhonarius 
and Cyprides, in company with several species of Anth^acosia : the whole 
so commingled as to show they shared a common habitat. 
The Anfkracosia found in the ironstone bands are interesting, from the 
fact that numbers show the interior of the valves, and consequently expose 
the hinge — a feature which is valuable in settling the various opinions 
maintained as to the habits of these mollusca. In tracing these apparently 
freshwater shales towards Marple, we find a change towards marine con- 
ditions, Goniatites, Avicula-pectens, etc. being mixed up with Anthra- 
cosicB. 
This fact, the author considers, goes to prove that the Unio or Anthra- 
cosia, formerly regarded as a freshwater shell, was in reality a marine one 
that lived in shallow and brackish waters. 
The Drift deposits which overlie the Carboniferous beds above described, 
are of the general character. Not much Till is met with until the aqueduct 
at Marple is crossed, where these beds contain huge boulders of porphyry, 
granite, syenite, etc. The boulders are generally rounded ; the larger 
ones being scratched and striated. In a section about two miles from 
Hyde the Drift beds are cut through to a depth of thirty feet, and consist of 
beds of sand and clay alternating with each other, and containing marine 
shales, Tellina, Cardium edule, Turritella, Terehra, and Astarte. The 
author considers these beds are a continuation of the fossiliferous sands on 
the Stockport and Woodley Line, formerly described by him. 
Rich beds of calcareous marl, sometimes several feet in thickness, are 
sometimes seen capping the Drift deposits. 
2. " On the North Staffordshire Corn Field." By Mr.- John Bradbury, 
jun. The strata of this field were minutely detailed, and a section given, 
with their measured thicknesses. 
3. " On an improved Safety-Cage for Miners." By Mr. T. Farrimoud. 
