MEETING OF NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETIES. 
195 
thousand feet in thickness. He (the lecturer) commenced to study the 
question at Shineton, where he found a new series of fossils which 
prdVed that the Shineton Shales were Upper Cambrian, whilst under¬ 
lying the Shales he found sandstone with some fossils. He next came 
to a band of quartzite, and at the base of the quartzite were pebbles 
derived from the Wrekin series, showing that the Wrekin volcanic 
series must have been Upper Cambrian ; but he found another piece of 
evidence which demonstrated the matter beyond a doubt, for he dis¬ 
covered that the Longmvnd Hills were largely derived from the 
volcanic rocks of the Wrekin. He found, for instance, in the Wrekin 
series, certain distinctive lavas, and he found similar lavas un- 
distinguishable under the microscope from the Wrekin series, embedded 
in this range of hills. He ascertained also that the sandstones of the 
Longmynd were fragments of the same lava, so that they could con¬ 
clude that the Longmynd series was derived from the Wrekin series. 
As to the structure of the Wrekin, it was, iu the centre, composed of 
volcanic rocks, whilst the quartzite rested on either side. These were 
real strata—not a mass of molten matter forced up from below. The 
bedding of the rock was oblique to the axis, which was a peculiarity 
attached to mountains of great antiquity, and he had described this 
structure as plagioclinal. At the south-west end of the Wrekin there 
was a little rise known as Primrose Hill, which was formed of meta- 
morphic rock—of a sort of granite—and of ordinary gneiss rocks. 
Then he found in the Wrekin series a conglomerate, or pudding stone 
as it was commonly termed, which was made by rounded fragments, 
and was derived from the metamorpliic series of which Primrose Hill 
was a fragment. He had lately discovered an Archaean formation at 
Rusliton. They were reminded that at this very ancient epoch this 
region was occupied by volcanoes, and these volcanoes probably 
extended from North Wales to Charnwood Forest. 
Mr. Luff, in describing the geological character of the Clun district, 
dwelt principally upon the fact that he had discovered on the hill-tops 
in the neighbourhood large blocks of very hard stone, which were 
similar to those found at Rhayader. For the stones to have been 
conveyed by ice from Rhayader to Clun, however, the flow must have 
travelled in an entirely opposite direction to their invariable course— 
north to south—and the question therefore arose as to how stones 
similar to those found in the district of Rhayader got to Clun, unless 
they were carried by a flow running from west to east, which was very 
remarkable, should such have been the case. He had sent specimens 
of the stone to the British Association, and they had been trying to 
solve the problem, but up to the present their efforts had been futile. 
His supposition, however, was that the sheet ice and snow by which 
England was formerly covered gradually melted as the climate became 
warmer, and left these blocks of stone stranded upon the hill tops in 
the Clun and Rhayader districts. To add to the variety of the pro¬ 
ceedings, Mr. Pumphrey delivered a series of interesting dissolving- 
view lectures in an adjoining room, whilst Mr. Lea’s excellent choir 
contributed several glees, which were sung with exceeding sweetness 
and precision. 
Mr. John Bennett, Mardol, Shrewsbury, exhibited fine specimens of 
old Salopian china, a cannon ball found near Castle Hill about 50 years 
ago, a framed painting of Wenlock Abbey, an engraving of Charles 
Darwin, and also one of the Hon. T. Kenyon, together with a painted 
portrait of General Lord Hill. Mr. Henry Shaw kindly sent several 
cases of stuffed birds of a very beautiful character ; whilst Mr. W. 
Phillips showed a series of diagrams, illustrating the algae which 
