456 
He was inclined to the opinion, that at the time of this low 
temperature, the whole of Switzerland had stood 3000 feet higher 
above the sea than at present ; the effect of which would be to pro- 
duce at Geneva a temperature equal to that now prevalent at the 
places where the alpine glaciers melt. 
In support of this view, he referred to the upheavals and depres- 
sions of this part of Europe, before and after the transportation of 
the blocks. The former is established by the dislocation and slope 
of the beds of molasse, a deposit which immediately underlies the 
gravels and blocks of the great glacial period. The latter is estab- 
lished by the stratification of the glacial detritus into regular beds, 
mostly horizontal, and in very many instances enveloping transported 
blocks. 
His notion of the sequence of events was therefore as follows : — 
Switzerland elevated 3000 feet higher than at present ; at 
which time the molasse beds were fractured and thrown into steep 
slopes. The temperature of low Switzerland would then be low enough 
to allow the glaciers to descend as far as the Jura ; and the whole 
country would then be overspread with glacial detritus. 
2 d, A submergence of Switzerland under the sea, to the extent of 
3000 or 4000 feet lower than the existing levels, followed, when 
the glacial detritus would be arranged into horizontal beds of gravel, 
sand, and clay. 
3 d, A re-elevation of the country to the present levels took place, 
since which event, the pleistocene strata in the valleys have been 
scoured out by the action of the rivers. 
Monday , 29 th April 1861. 
Professor ANDEHSON, in the Chair. 
The following Communications were read - 
1. On the Aqueous Origin of Granite. By Alexander Bryson, 
P.B.S.S.A. 
In this paper the author referred to the labours of Dr William 
Smith, who published his u Tabular View of the British Strata” in 
1790, and remarked that since that period geology had been studied 
mainly in the direction of Palaeontology. Physical, chemical, and 
