303 
ORDINARY MEETING-, Dec. 17, 1866. 
The Rey. Walter Mitchell, Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. 
The Honorary Secretary announced that Mr. Alfred J. Woodhouse, 
had been elected a member of the Council. 
The following Paper was then read : — 
ON THE GENERAL CHARACTER. OF GEOLOGICAL 
FORMATIONS. By Evan Hopkins, Esq., C.E., F.G.S., 
Mem. Viet. Inst. 
A LTHOUGH it may not be the intention of the members 
•YX of the Victoria Institute to support any geological 
theory, or, indeed, any of the [doctrines of physical science 
which may be promulgate a from time to time, I presume that 
papers describing the general facts of geology will be accept- 
able, inasmuch as they will furnish materials and data by which 
unreasonable speculations may be fairly met and checked. 
Had the public at large been better acquainted with the 
leading facts of geology, many speculations with reference to 
the world would never have been -entertained. It is not 
sufficient to point out the absurdity of some geological specu- 
lations : we should also be prepared to show what are the 
actual conditions of the surface of the globe, founded on direct 
observations, in order to satisfy the inquiring mind and lead 
it in the right direction. The object of this paper is to give a 
brief description of geological formations according to my own 
experience, as well as the experience of others, in various parts 
of the world, which I trust will be of some service in discuss- 
ing and elucidating questions connected with geology, when 
they are brought forward at our meetings as arguments 
bearing upon the Mosaic account of the creation or the origin 
of the earth. The first step towards establishing the order 
ot deposition of the Sedimentary rocks was made about the 
commencement of the present century by Mr. William Smith. 
He discovered, during his surveys in England, that there were 
z 2 
