338 
PUOCEEDINGS, 1859—1870. 
at Halifax at ten o'clock in the morning, and were joined by a num- 
ber of members of the Manchester Geological Society, including 
Messrs. Binney, Horsfall, Parker, Hodgson, Knowles, and Atkinson. 
Chevalier W. P. Barbel de Morny, captain of the Imperial Corps of 
Miners in Russia ; Mr. H. Green ; John Waterhouse, F.R.S., Dr. 
Alexander, Leyland, and Ward, of Halifax ; Henry Briggs, P. O'Calla- 
ghan, Thomas AVilson, S. Baines, Edward Brook, R. Carter, J. 
Richardson, E. Woodliead and others were present. The collection 
of coal plants at the Halifax Museum was examined, and the party 
proceeded to Swan Bank Collier}^ and the outcrops of the Hard and 
Soft Bed Coals were examined. Numerous examples of goniatites, 
nautilus, orthoceras, avicula-pecten, etc., were obtained. The i\fan- 
chester geologists recognised these beds as identical with the lower 
or Rochdale series of Lancashire. The party proceeded to Mr. 
Richardson's at Southowram, and inspected his interesting collection 
of specimens. They then proceeded to some of the flagstone quarries 
of Southowram and Hipperholme, and afterwards partook of lunch at 
Holroyd House, the residence of Mr. Baines. The party thence 
proceeded to Low Moor by rail, and inspected the Low Moor Iron- 
works, and went down one of the Better Bed Coal pits, under the 
guidance of ]\Ir. Woodliead. In due course they adjourned to the 
Railway Hotel and there dined, bringing the day's proceedings to a 
satisfactory conclusion. 
On May 28tli, 1863, a meeting was held at Leeds, at which Mr. 
H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., read a paper on the microscopical structure 
of Mount Sorrel Syenite, artificially fused and cooled slowly. He 
was indebted to Mr. James G. Marshall for the material used in his 
microscopical enquiries. Mr. Marshall had, in some instances, melted 
as much as a ton of rock, and allowed it to cool very slowly. From 
this thin sections were prepared for the microscope. The rock is a 
mixture of reddish felspar, clear green hornblende, and quartz, along 
with some opaque mineral in a greatly altered state, perhaps origin- 
ally pyrites, or magnetic oxide of iron. The quartz contains many 
fluid cavities nearly filled with water, a feature which had been 
previously described by the author at the Geological Society in 
London. The cavities indicate that the rock was consolidated under 
