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 archaeology 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 cun-ents of geologists and archaeologists — 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 Longdown 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 Fluviatile Mollusca of the Gloucester 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 newly 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 ISTest Hill, and made a rapid survey of the pre- 
sent hmestone 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 through 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 plied 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. F. Smith, his 
lordship's agent, gave the party a full description of the caverns, and of the 
mode by which the limestone has been excavated. 
