The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-03 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 3, 1863,

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

SECTION C.—GEOLOGY.
President, Warrington W. Smyth, M.A.

FOSSIL FISHES FROM TIIE PERMIAN LIMESTONE.
Profe,mor JONES gave an extract of a paper by Mr. J.
W. Kirby, on some fossil fishes from the Permian lime-
stone of Falwell, near Sunderland. The object of the paper
was to record the discovery of fish remains in the upper
magnesian limestone of the Permian formation ; the dis-
covery being of interest, especially on account of the re-
mains having been found at a horizon considerably higher
in the Permian series than any vertebrate remains had
been previously known to occur. The fossils were first
noticed in August, 1861, in a newly-opened quarry, be-
longing to Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bart., at Falwell, a
mile and a half to the north of Sunderland.

SWEDISH FOSSILS.
Mr. C. JEFFREYS gave a list of the upper tertiary fos-
sils of Uddewalla, in Sweden.
In the course of a conversation which followed,
Sir C. LYELL, referring to certain shells which had been
found in Wales, said it was proved to demonstration that
the whole of Snowdonia, the highest mountains in Wales,
were islands at the time the shells existed. The changes
that must have taken place in the earth's crust to produce
this permanent upheaval were really most astonishing, and

it was proved how the study of the living species of shells,
which Mr. Jeffreys had so successfully cultivated, opened
up wonderful geological inferences in regard to the changes
that had taken place in the earth in modern times.
Mr. JEFFREYS also read a paper, contributed by Dr. A•
W. Maim, " On the Upper Tertiary Strata of the Bohuslan
District." This was another contribution from Sweden.
Mr. Jeffreys stated that it had been accompanied by a slab,
which unfortunately excited the suspicions of the Customs
officers, who, suspecting perhaps the concealment of brandy
or cigars, or concluding that the slab was rubbish, broke it
up and destroyed it.
The PRESIDENT remarked that observation was now esta-
blished beyond the possibility of a doubt that certain por-
tions of the north of Europe were now being elevated at a
slow, still comparatively speaking rapid, rate above the level
of the sea, and also that we had in our country, especially
in Wales, most conclusive evidence that the land had been
elevated to an enormous height within a comparatively recent
period. Dr. Malm had shown that there had been almost
magical transformation in Sweden, but nearer home we might
find the same class of phenomena. He had now to call
attention to a most extraordinary depression between Dur-
ham and the south of the Tyne. The paper to be read
showed that at a recent period, comparatively speaking,
there had been a channel of considerable depth between
Durham and a point above the High Level Bridge. The
subject was of much importance to the coal trade, and it had
excited great interest among viewers and miners generally.
THE PERMIAN ROCKS OF THE NORTH WEST OF ENGLAND.

Sir RODERICK nuncuisoN, in introducing this subject,
described the Permian rocks as the newest pelreozoic de-
posits, forming a natural group characterised by community
of animal and vegetable life, existing in various parts of
Europe; and said that, until he proposed the term Permian,
this group had no collective mate. In the oast of England
there was no perceptible deposit that could be classed with
the Permian. In the north-west, particularly at St. Bees'
Head and in the valleys leading from the river Eden to the
Pennine range, there was a remarkable display of rocks,
sandstones, and conglomerates, which were linked indis-
solubly and conformably with the magnesian limestones.
The lower portion of the deposit over a very large portion
of England was formerly called the Lower Red Sandstone.
All these deposits were in the first instance admirably de-
scribed by Professor Sedgwick, whose description had been
the foundation of our knowledge on this subject. His
reason for proposing this simple name was that he found
on the continent the characteristics of the formation spread
over a country twice as large as France; and when the
same community of character was found in this
country, geologists adopted the name and applied
it to this country. In Germany, he had asserted that there
was a great overlying sandstone superposed on the magne-
sian limestone which formed the upper part of the group ;
and he showed in all sections that were typical that this
mass of sandstone went with the magnesian limestone, and
was completely separated from the Triassic deposits which
were named the new Red Sandstones. This conclusion was
steadily contested by many German authorities who did not
like to part with any portion of their Bander Sandstein or to
accord any part of it to his Permian group. Amongst these
who opposed this view was Dr. Geinitz,who had endeavoured
to show that it was a dual deposit, and not a triad deposit,
and he now called it Dias. Against that he (Sir Roderick)
had entered his protest. He was now charmed to find that

the labours of Mr. Binney, followed by those of Professor
Harkness, and confirmed by his own survey of the rocks,
that in reality the west side of England offered the most
complete confirmation that could be given of the tripartite
arrangement of the Permian group, and completely fortified
him in the opinion he promulgated that the Germans were
wrong and that he was right. A detailed examination of the
rocks, which he had been looking at with Professor Hark-
ness, had led him to the conviction that if you ascend any
one of the little groups, particularly the Hilton group, from
the vale of Eden, up to the great Pennine fault, you will
find a concession of conglomerate beds overlaying the enor-
mous mass of the lower portion of this great group. The
details were explained by Professor Harkness, whose ob-
servations he had confirmed. He called attention to the
value of them in reference to certain beds of plants which
were absolutely Permian plants. Above the limestone and
conglomerate came a series of clay or shale—he would call
them marl—which he associated with sandstone. They passed
comfortably without any break whatever into the upper
sandstone. Hewes sure Mr. Binney would sustain all he had
said in reference to this group being a great palarozoic tries.
He did not like the words dies and tries, because in England
we had no tries ; there was no 'central member of the sys-
tem; the name was given to that superior formation by a
German geologist, because the division was clear in that part
of the country. It was not so, however, in other parts; and
no general name ought to be given from the division of rock
that happened in any one country. St. Bees head exhibited
a small and most instructive portion of the roth-todte-lie•
gende (red dead hers) of the Germans, or the lower red
sandstone of English geology. The conglomerates which
were deposited unconformably on the summit, called sand-
stones in that country, were 'enroded in a most irregular
manner, and the breccia entered into all the sinuosities,
showing in that part a complete physical break between
coal, sandstones, and the superjacent Permian rocks. This
was an important point, because an eminent German geolo-
gist had endeavoured to class this roth-todte-liegende with
a coal deposit. St. Bees Head was an instance of the total
separation of the carboniferous deposit, and the beginning
of a new series of things in these breccia and gravel and
sand, and so forth entering into all the sinuosities of the
sea worn or water worn rock. Immediately upon this
breccia, the representative of the yellow sandstones, the
lime-
stone lower
to
of
tthhoi thiscountry,
comes which
uynundeertilnieivtohoetti gnmmaagneessijanan
lime-
stone, filled with some fossils that would be found at Sun-
derland and along the Hartlepool coast. There they had,
then, magnesian limestone distinctly resting en this lower
breccie, and superposed and passing upwards, without the
slightest break in the argillaceous beds, into the sandstones.
He would say a word on a point of importance to gentlemen
living in mining districts. In Germany this deposit would
not have been known so well had there not existed under
it a certain thin band called knpfer•schiefer, which, though
thin, was in that part of Germany explored most pertina-
ciously by the miners, and followed everywhere. In this
country the roth-todte-liegende afforded no mineral sub-
stance, and we had been hitherto unaquainted with the
value of a deposit to which he would now call attention. It
was the most important mineral deposit that had ever been
discovered in the north-west of England, and it was en-
riching the people to an incredible extent. He referred
to the hematite deposits in the cavities of the moun-
tain limestone. It had, often been asked—to what age are
we to attribute this enormous infilliag of this beautiful
hematite ironstone ? There are acme who had attributed
it to tertiary periods. Professor Phillips was the first who
made the suggestion that it was probably connected with
the very series of deposits to which he now called attention.
Professor Phillips, therefore, had the great merit of having
pointed out the way to them, and he would allow that to-day
they had a proof of the value of his suggestion, with which
he was possibly unacquainted before. He had said that the
bottom of this series was this great accumulation of breccia.
It was distinctly seen as forming the bottom part of it in
many parts of Furness. There were masses of brockram
superjacent to, and making a natural cover for the hema-
tite limestone. The hematite had been frequently worked
out by old workmen from the cavities under the breccia.
This discovery enriched his Permian group, and it showed
that that period of the earth, so remarkable in Germany for
the uppouring of porphyry, and the great change which
took place in the earth after the formation of coal, enriched
the Permian system by the formation of a deposit of the
richest and most valuable mineral in the British Isles.
(Applause.)
Mr. BINNEY, of Manchester, said it was only after atood
many years trackinghoof trhoselsleybdeidds,
fionvothyeozsegtsoi,dfoielf therod
Pennine range that
sandstone, and then he unquestionably found,a series of red
she roi es o
no
lf
dr eodosnafinrdins t
vio nbds. t Hs
for
mb
tee
olhaisys
ost een
.13
.pßahseasedisn
sigaiuiedsp.di
eTtonhade conglomerate rested totally uncon-
formably on the rock underneath. He never saw. a more
complete specimen of non-conformability than at White-
yheaavre
Rodericksnag betweeno
mcalulreod
nit
iths
toohneclo ulTdghrl oee indo
sandstone,
an) tde s
ptaonrudoef
,et
bshsueotrs
has nes ddo
igs twor n.i
oßek.
manyn(eS3 r)
called it coal-measure rock.
Mr. HOWES said that he showed Dr. Ganitz the red
rocks at Tynemonth, and he_said they were roth-todte.

liegende ; he then showed him a fossil (which Mr. Howes
produced), and he said that the rocks were glacial.
(Laughter.) Now paleontological evidence decided the
question; and if any one would give him a fossil out of
these red beds identical ith that he produced he would say
what the rocks were, but he could not without such evi-
dence. Sir Roderick took the Cambrian system on the pa-
leontological evidence; it was to be feared he would have
to give up the Permian system on the same condition.
(Laughter,) He could not help saying so, because he be-
lieved it was the truth. There were volcanic conditions in
the north-west of this island when there were none here,
and those volcanic conditions produced the brecciated beds.
He had a great distrust in all red beds together, and nothing
would satisfy him any more than Sir Charles Lyell but a
fossil in the right place. Mr. Kirkby, who had worked at
the Permian system for a long time, and himself, had
found that the Permian system was as entirely connected
with the mountain limestone and with the carboniferous
system as the Cambrian was with the Silurian. (Laughter.)
Atter a few words in explanation and reply from Sir
Roderick Murchison,
Profcssot HARKNESS, at some length, entered into details
supplementary to the statement of Sir Roderick Mur-
chison.
The PRESIDENT remarked that they required further in-
formation to enable them to come to definite conclusions on
this subject, and the conversation then terminated.
THE SANDSTONE OF TILE N.E. OF SCOTLAND.
Professor HARKNESS made a statement on the reptilife-
rous and footprint sandstones of the N.E. of Scotland, which
afforded evidence of forms belonging to a period far more
remote than any of which palasontology spoke.
Sir C. LYELL regretted the short time left for discussion
of a question relating to the,thcory of progressive develop-
ment of organic life, for if the facts put forward were true,
one of the greatest blows had been struck at the theory of
development as generally understood that could possibly
have been dealt. There had been too great an inclination
on the part of geological discoverers to assume that any
given form of animal entered into this planet at the
period of the rock in which it happened to be found ;
and the warning ho had constantly given against
this tendency had been interpreted as a mach stronger pro-
test against the doctrine of progression than it ought to
have been. When the first of these telerpeton, being a
new form, was announced to be found in rock, reported on
authority to be Devonian, or, at any late, palaaozoic, he did
feel a pleasure in the rebuke such a fact gave to the doc-
trine that no reptiles existed at that period. (Hear, hear.)
It always appeared to him unphilosophical, merely because
we knew nothing of the vertebrate life of that period, to
assume therefore that no reptiles existed older than the
trias. But afterwards, when it was discovered that the
staganolepis, a supposed fish, was a crocodilian reptile, and
that some of the other forms were the same as those of the
crocodiles now living in the Ganges, he began seriously to
doubt whether his friends had assigned a true position in
the geological series to these beds. Now, he quite saw from
the investigations that these must be admitted to be a con-
secutive regular series, from unquestionably lower red beds
containing the well-known fishes of the old red forms that
were known to be carboniferous, up to the beds containing
those reptiles. He was inclined strongly to conclude that
we had here a conformable series, each containing in the
lower part Devonian rocks, and in the upper part something
newer than the coal.

horse side by side, Odine being fourth, and Tippler, pull-
ing hard, last. Upon reaching the gate to which Warhorse
had previously bolted, he tried again to make for that outlet
towards home, aad, in keeping him in the course, Kenyon
lost considerable ground, and quickly dropped into the last
',lace. Immediately afterwards, however, Warhorse went
in pursuit of his compeers, and Odine gave way both to him
and Tippler, the latter of whom, in the meadows, took
second place, and waited upon Jack's Alive to nearing the
distance, where the Marquiz,'s horse took up the running,
and won in a canter by three lengths; Jack's Alive, who
' was stopped a dozen strides from home, beat Warhorse for
second place by a head; My Mary was a bad fourth,

ST. LEGER.
st) 1 agst Lord Clifden (offered)
sto 1 agst Ranger (offered)
6to 1 agst Queen Bertha (taken)
13 to 1 agst Avenger (offered)
14 to 1 agat Golden Pledge (offered)
33 to 1 agat Mogador (taken)
33 to 1 agst Blue Mantle (taken)

DEVON AND EXETER MEETING—WEDNESDAY.
The Devon and Exeter Club Stakes (Handicap) of 5 sous
each, 3 ft, with 50 added; winners extra, Three quarters
of a mile. 5 subs.
Mr. Ellison's Heber, 2 yrs, Gst (Cannon) 1
Mr. Meredyth's Barmaid, 3 yrs, 7st 51b (Pearson) 2
Mr. J. B. Starky's Souveraine, 3 yrs, 7st 71b
(S. Adams) 3
Betting-7 to 4on Heber, who won by half a length; a
bad third.
The Mamhead Stakes of 15 soya each, 5 ft, with 100 added,
for two -yr-olds ; colts, Bst 101 b ; fillies, Bst 71b ; certain
winters extra; allowances. Three-quarters of a mile.
27 subs.
Mr. E. Brayley's Outlaw, Bst 101 b
Mr. J. B. Starky's Agatha, Bst 41b
Mr. Merry's Mo3stissima filly, Bst lllb (Covey) 3
Hengist and Faith also ran.
Betting-6 to 4on Hengist-4 to 1 each agst Faith, Out-
law, and Agatha.
Won by three-quarters of a length; four lengths be-
tween second and third.
The County Cup, a Piece of Plato value 100 soya, by sub-
scription of 10 soya each, 5 ft, the surplus in specie;
weight for age; certain winners extra; the winner to be
sold for 500 soya if demanded, &T.. Two miles and a half.
15 subs.
Lord Portsmouth's Cachuca, 3 yrs, 7st 101 b , (Covey) 1
Mr. Brayley's Golden Dust, 3 yrs, 7st 10th.... (Cannon) 2
Betting 7 to 4 on Golden Dust.
Won ty a neck.
A Sel ing Sweepstakes of 3 soya each, with 25 added ;
weight for age, with selling and other allowances. One
mile.
Mr. Sargent's Newfoundland, 3 yrs, Bst 31b
(F. Adams) t w.o.
Mr. Brayley's Kennett, 3 yrs, 3st 51b .... (Cowley) t
Mr. Jorrock's Surbiton, 4 yrs, Oat llb (Reeves) 3
Ring also ran.
Betting--5 to 4 agst Newfoundland-6 to 4 agst Kennett.
A dead heat. Newfoundland afterwards walked over and
divided the stakes with Kennett.
Ihe winner was bought by Captain Horton Rhys for
55 guineas.
The Nursery Plate (Handicap) of 5 sous each, 2 ft, to the
fund, with 100 added, for 2 -yr-olds; winners extra. Three-
quarters of a mile. 13 subs.
Mr. Starky's Izaak Walton, 7st 121 b (S. Adams) 1
Mr. Ellison's Heber, 7st 13ib One 81b (Cannon) 2
Mr. Starky's Agatha, Bst (A. Edwards) 3
Verbena and Oberon also ran.
Betting-5 to 4 agst Agatha, 7to 4 agst Heber, sto 2
agst Oberon, 5 to 1 agst any other.
Won by a head; two lengths between the second and
third.

A Handicap Sweepstakes of 5 soya each, 2 ft, with 25
added ; winners extra. Half a mile.
Capt. Batchellor's Lady di Vergy, 2 yrs, sst 101 b
(Whitehore) 1
Mr. Brayley's The Dictator, 3 yrs, 7st 121 h.... (Cowley) 2
Mr. Meredith's Barmaid, 3 yrs, Sat 31b (Payne) 3
Raael and Champagne also ran.
Betting-6 to 4 apt Lady di Vergy and 7to 4 agst The
Dictator.
Won by a length and a half; two lengths between the
aeeond and third.

DONCASTER MEETING.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15.

Acceptances for the Great Yorkshire Handicap. St. Leger
Course.
Age st 1b
Oldminster
Knowsley 4 8 9
Ca'isbrook 4 S S
Hartington
Doncaster
Lady Ripon
Dulcibella
Brighton
Welcome
Drummer Boy
Leonora 4 7 5
Makeshift
Change
Hubert
Blithfield
Earl of Surrey
Jack of Hearts 3 6 11

Age st lb
Dr. Syntax
Sea King
Silkstone
Blondia
Cachuca .. 3 6 7
Bryn Gwyn
Daniel O'Connell 3 6 5
Deception: 3 6 2
Nebula

Schoolmistress 3 6 1
Columba. 3 6 0
Kemptown
Kangaroo
Actaeon
Barter
The Serf
Jack's Alive 3 5 12