82 
REPORT—1854. 
Abrasion of the surface of the shore takes place also to a considerable extent by 
the alternate frosts and thaws that occur during the winter months. 
The submarine forest on the Formby shore is supposed to be due to the same 
causes that operate at Leasowe. 
A section was shown of Oidston Marsh, which for^s a continuation of the flat 
shore at Leasowe, having also the remains of an ancient forest imbedded ill pest m a 
similar manner. The levels taken of the surface upon which trees now grow in the 
S.E. corner of the marsh, and of the surface upon which the roots of the ancient trw* 
exist, prove the difference to be only IS inches, i. c. the surface upon which tin 
living trees now grow is 18 inches higher only than the surface upon which the 
forest trees flourished, and therefore Mr. Cunningham conceived that forest tin* 
could flourish aB luxuriantly on the present surface of the marsh us those of the 
ancient forest. 
Mr. Cunningham had entered into some speculations ns to whether the cxtcimv* 
flat lands on both sides of the estuary were encroachments of the land upon the 
how far those encroachments extended, or whether the whole of the flut land* virr 
not simultaneously elevated to their present level. These questions, although 
esting and intimately connected with the subject of tho submarine forest, were * 
for future consideration. 
On an Ichthyoid Fossil from India. By Sir Philip Eoerton, Bart. 
Sir Philip Egorton stated the results of his examination of what had been sent t 
the Section as “ a fossil tooth from India," by Mr. Oldham. From the examination 
he had made, lie was convinced that the organism was not u tooth, but a dors* sc* 1 
ot some large ganoid fish, the species of which had not yet been ascertained. 
On the Discovery of Microscopic Shells in the Lower Silurian Bock- By 
Prof. Lhrevbero. (Communicated by Leonard Horner* I'-B-o.) 
ie * ninute grains of greensand, which arc characteristic of many rocks, n 
different nature from the green earth often met with iri concretionary masses. ■ 
former, from the glauconie of the Paris calcaire nromer to the azoic Lower. i • 
greensand near Petersburg, appears to consist of green opalescent casts of roly 
lamia, composed of a hydrosilicate of iron. The cretaceous greensands of Log 
contain, unmistakeably, these stony casts. In the calcaire grosswr and num 
limestones occur beautifully preserved and perfect examples of 
. '/f " , a ' Orammostoma and Alveolina. In the Lower Silurian green 
cas o detached cells of Tettularia and Nodosaria were found. 
On the. 
Foliation of some Metamorphic Bocks in Scotland. 
By Professor Edward Forbes, F.B.S. 
.»JV? S .? fgrea J tywrtttiCe to geologists to distinguish between lamination, clea^ 
■line ° IO, j * 16 * rst re,l, ltcd from original planes of deposition ; the sec 
supermduced stmeture, dividing rocks into h.tnime of similar constitution, not 
SlfnL fj-j* lxnw of Lidding; thirdlv, foliation was the division of 
wiTw w °f different mineral condition. Cleavage had been attributed by 1«»- ^ 
WMr n t0 ck ’ ctrical action; by Mr. Sorby, to a mechanical ' icJ 
te. or , i . o mcc ;hanical and chemical influence. The 
2 
in 
■Inf.. __ J ..cnemicai mnuence. * , „„ m£ uii 
attributed To ° ,, f. muu ' ral constituents into distinct layers, had been * h 
considi i t ® m .V a r r ? ,,, e nctio, l of different constitution; 
duo to the 
^reed with fl, J IO u KamC vkw 1,88 maintained by Mr. Sharpe, 
Kir*?,lit. “ * "Verind—I 5™=— •- 
The author tlien referred to examples of foliated structure; in a roadddeqjjjj ^ 
at Cnanlanch, near the bead of Loch Lomond, where the metamorphic b®* 
