77 
coloured by carbonaceous matter, occur all over this district 
at elevations not exceeding from 400 to 600 feet above the 
level of the sea. These are most probably ancient sea- 
margins, or current-deposits, belonging to the period when 
extensive denudation was taking place in what is now the 
East Lancashire basin. 
The President said that he was quite aware of Mr. Wil- 
kinson’s observations, having been present at the reading of 
his paper, but he did not then state that he had found chalk 
flints and shells near Burnley. When he (the President) 
came to treat on the Lancashire drift generally he should 
avail himself of Mi\ Wilkinson’s researches. 
Professor Reynolds described the effects of an explosion 
of a copper cylinder forming part of the hot water apparatus 
at his house, and pointed out the dangers to be apprehended 
from such cylinders in frosty weather. 
“Notes on the Effects of Cold upon the Strength of 
Iron,” by William Brockbank, F.G.S. 
The severity of the present winter has brought the 
question of the effects of low temperatures upon the 
strength of iron, very prominently before the public, and it 
is a curious circumstance, that a subject of so great impor- 
tance should have escaped the attention of winters on iron, 
to such an extent, as that it is either ignored, or dismissed 
with a few brief remarks or inconclusive experiments, 
which leave the subject altogether unsettled. 
After referring to the observations and experiments on 
the effects of low temperatures on the strength of cast and 
wrought iron, in the works of Sir W. Fairbairn, Dr. Percy, 
and David Kirkaldy, and pointing out the inconclusiveness 
of all the experiments hitherto recorded, the writer went 
