surface, there we may expect to find pre-existing disturbances of the older beds beneath. This, however, is a somewhat controversial question, and much remains to be done on it; but should it be proved as a general rule it may have much effect on our underground coal.

Finally, the question of the possibility of finding and of working coal in various parts of South-Eastern England is not merely of local interest; it is of national importance. The time must come when the coal-fields that we have worked for years will be more or less exhausted, and we ought certainly to look out ahead for others, so as to be ready for the lessening yield of those that have served us so well. It is on our coal that our national prosperity largely, one may say chiefly, depends, and, as far as we can see, will depend. Let us not neglect any of the bounteous gifts of nature, but let us show rather that we are ready to search for the treasures that may be hidden under our feet, and the finding of which will result in the continued welfare of our native land.

APPENDIX.

List of the Chief Papers on the Old Rocks Underground in South-Eastern England since 1889, when the literature of the subject was treated of in the Memoir on the Geology of London, &c.

Bertrand, Professor M. Sur le Raccordement des Bassins houillers du Nord de la France et du Sud de l'Angleterre. Annales des Mines and Trans. Fed. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. v. (1893).

Brady, F. Dover Coal Boring. Observations on the Correlation of the FrancoBelgian, Dover and Somerset Coal Fields, 8vo. 1892. Second Issue, with Additions, 1893. Notice by E. Lorieux in Annales des Mines, 1892.

Dawkins, Professor W. B. The Discovery of Coal near Dover, Nature, vol. 41, pp. 418, 419; Iron and Coal Trades Gazette; Contemporary Review, vol. lvii., pp. 470-478. The Search for Coal in the South of England, Proc. Roy. Inst. (nine pages); Nature, vol. 42, pp. 319-322. The Discovery of Coal Measures near Dover, Trans. Manchester Geol. Soc., vol. xx., pp. 502-517 (1890).

The Further Discovery of Coal at Dover and its Bearing on the Coal Question. Trans. Manchester Geol. Soc., vol. xxi., pp. 456-474 (1892).

On the South-Eastern Coalfield at Dover, Trans. Manchester Geol. Soc., vol. xxii., pp. 488-510; The Probable Range of the Coal-Measures in Southern England, Trans. Fed. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. vii., 13 pages and plate (1894).

Harrison, W. J. On the Search for Coal in the South-East of England; with Special Reference to the Probability of the Existence of a Coal-field beneath Essex, 28 pages and plate. 8vo. Birmingham (1894).

Irving, Rev. Dr. A. The Question of Workable Coal Measures beneath Essex. Herts and Essex Observer, July 14, 1894.

Martin, E. A. On the Underground Geology of London. Science Gossip, no. 335, pp. 251-254; no. 337, pp. 11–15 (1892, 1893).

Rücker, Professor A. W., and Professor T. E. Thorpe. Magnetic Survey of the British Isles, Phil Trans., vol. 181, see pp. 280 &c., and plate 14 (1891); A popular account by Professor Rücker under the title Underground Mountains, Good Words, January to March 1890.

Topley, W. Coal in Kent. Trans. Fed. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. i., pp. 376–387 (1892).

Whitaker, W. Coal in the South East of England, Journ. Soc. Arts., vol. xxxviii., pp. 543-557; Suggestions on Sites for Coal-search in the South-East of England, Geol. Mag., dec. iii., vol. vii., pp. 514-516 (1890).

Whitaker, W., and A. J. Jukes-Browne. On Deep Borings at Culford and Winkfield, with Notes on those at Ware and Cheshunt. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. 1, pp. 488-514 (1894).

The Eastern Counties' Coal Boring and Development Syndicate . . . Geological Reports by T. V. Holmes, J. E. Taylor and W. Whitaker, 15 pages, 8vo. Ipswich (1893). Partly reprinted in Essex Naturalist.

Omitted from Notice in 1889.

Drew, F. Is there Coal under London? Science for All, vol. v. pp. 324–328. Firket, A. Sur l'Extension en Angleterre du Bassin houiller Franco-Belge. Ann. Soc. Geol. Belg., t. x. Bulletin, pp. xcii-xciv (1883).

Taylor, W. On the Probability of Finding Coal in the South-East of England, pp. ii., 22, 8vo. Reigate (1886).

Topley, W. On the Correspondence between some Areas of Apparent Upheaval and the Thickening of Subjacent Beds. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxx. see pp. 186, 190-195 (1874). See also Memoir 'The Geology of the Weald,' pp. 241, 242, pl. vi. (1875).

The following Papers were read:

1. The Southern Character of the Molluscan Fauna of the Coralline Crag tested by an analysis of its characteristic and abundant species. By F. W. HARMER, F.G.S.

Out of 436 species of Mollusca from the Coralline Crag, excluding varieties given in Mr. Searles Wood's monograph, nearly 90 are represented by unique specimens only, and more than 100 others are very rare. Some of these rarer forms may be only locally so, although, with few exceptions, all the species which are common in the Belgian Pliocene beds, of similar age to the Coralline Crag, are common also in that deposit. An analysis of all the shells in any horizon of the Crag in which the same value is attached to forms which are exceedingly rare, and to those which occur in countless profusion, is apt to be, to some extent, misleading. The Southern character of the fauna of the Coralline Crag, and its close resemblance to that of the Mediterranean, is much more strongly evidenced when we confine our enquiry to the more abundant shells of this deposit.

Omitting the rare species, we have 240 which may be regarded as characteristic forms. Of these 89, or about 37 per cent., are regarded by Mr. Wood as extinct, and eight others may be, for our present purpose, taken as such, as they have ceased to exist in European seas, and are only found in parts of the world more or less distant. Of the 143 species remaining, there is only one, Buccinum (Buccinopsis) Dalei, which is not now found living, either in the Mediterranean or the West European area, which Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys said cannot be regarded as zoologically distinct from it. This shell cannot, however, be looked on as a boreal species, as it is given by M. Dollfus as occurring in the Miocene beds of Touraine. Thirty-three of the extinct shells of the Coralline Crag are also found in the Mediterranean Pliocene, either at Monte Mario, or Biot, near Antibes. Altogether 170 species out of 396 found at Monte Mario are common to that deposit and to the Coralline Crag, a larger proportion than is the case with the Diestien beds of Belgium. The practical identity thus shown between the Molluscan fauna of the Coralline Crag, and that of the Mediterranean and West European province, and the close resemblance between both of them and some of the Italian Pliocenes, point to a more direct and open communication between the Mediterranean and the seas of Great Britain at some period subsequent to the coming into existence of the present fauna than exists at present.

The distinctly Southern character of the Mollusca of the Coralline Crag is evidenced by the comparatively small proportion of the species which range northwards into British waters, and this also comes out more strongly when we confine ourselves to its more abundant forms. While there is only one which is British, and not Southern, there are 42, or 29 per cent., of the European species which are Southern and not British. There are, however, nine shells which are characteristic Mediterranean species, and are only included in lists of the British Mollusca because of the occasional discovery of some rare specimen on our coasts. If we regard these nine species as Mediterranean, it raises the proportion of exclusively Southern forms to 36 per cent. The abundant shells are practically all Southern, and if it were possible to count shells, and not species, we should meet

with some thousands of specimens of Southern Mollusca for every boreal shell we could discover. Among the extinct genera, a study of the more abundant forms also shows an equal preponderance of Southern types. Only one specimen of a truly Arctic shell, viz., Cerithiopsis lactea, has been met with in the Coralline Crag, but as to its correct identification Mr. Wood had considerable doubt.

Professor Prestwich, on the contrary, believes that ice action had come into existence even at the commencement of the Coralline Crag era, resting his opinion on the occurrence of a block of porphyry in the basement bed at Sutton, which, however, was neither angular nor striated, but which he thinks could only have been transported either from Scandinavia or the Ardennes by floating ice. No ice, however, reaches our shores at the present day either from Belgium or Norway, and the winter climate of Northern Europe would have to fall considerably before this could take place. At present there is a difference of not less than 10° Fahr. between the temperature, both of the sea and the atmosphere, in the British and Mediterranean areas.

Summary of the abundant and characteristic species of Mollusca
occurring in the Coralline Crag.

2. On the Derivative Shells of the Red Crag. By F. W. HARMER, F.G.S.

It has been generally held by geologists, among whom may be mentioned Mr. Searles V. Wood, Professor Prestwich, Sir Charles Lyell, and Mr. Charlesworth, that a considerable number of the Mollusca found in the Red Crag are extraneous. Mr. Wood, in the supplement to his well-known Monograph, expresses the opinion that 118 species have been derived from older deposits, principally from the Coralline Crag. Professor Prestwich thinks that only 46 species are derivative, but his list contains 13 which Mr. Wood, on the contrary, believes are Red Crag forms.

There seems much, à priori, to support the derivative theory. The great denudation to which the Coralline Crag has been exposed by the Red Crag sea;

This and the previous paper will be published in the Geol. Mag

the existence over a great part of the area of the Nodule bed, which is full of derivative fossils; and the fact that many of the shells supposed to be extraneousas, for example, Cassidaria bicatenata, Trophon alveolatus, Cassis Saburon, Trochus Adansoni, Ringicula buccinea, Cardita chameformis, C. orbicularis, C. scalaris, Astarte Basterotii, A. Burtinii, A. Omalii, Cyprina rustica, Gastrana laminosa, Panopæa Faujasi, and others, are characteristic Coralline Crag species, and either southern or extinct forms, which seem out of place in a fauna as boreal as that of the Red Crag.

On the other hand, M. E. van den Broeck, of Brussels, published in 1893 lists of fossils recently discovered in the Scaldisien and Poederlien beds of Antwerp (Zones à Trophon antiquum,' and 'à Corbula striata'), from which it appears that the species just named, and a number of other forms suppose to be derivative in the Red Crag, lived on to a period considerably later than that of the Coralline Crag, in the eastern part of the Anglo-Belgian basin. The fauna of the Scaldisien beds closely resembles that of the Walton Crag, while the Poederlien strata seem to be more nearly related to the Sutton zone of the Red Crag. Neither of these Belgian horizons contains the purely Arctic shells, Cardium grænlandicum, Leda lanceolata, and Tellina lata, or the Arctic and boreal species, Scalaria grænlandica, Natica grænlandica, and Natica clausa, which give its peculiarly northern character to the Butley Crag, so that it would seem that they are somewhat older than that deposit. Fifty out of Mr. Wood's list of 118 species, and 23 out of 46 regarded by Professor Prestwich as extraneous, occur in these horizons of the Belgian Crag. If these shells were living during the deposition of the Sutton bed, it seems more probable that a few individuals may have survived until the period of the Butley Crag than that they are derivative at that horizon.

Some of the Red Crag shells, however, are no doubt extraneous. Five are Eocene forms, which are not found in the Coralline Crag; and there are 31 others which have been discovered only at Waldringfield or in the Nodule bed at Sutton, and neither in the Belgian nor the Coralline Crag, many of them being new to science, and most of them represented by unique specimens only.

Although a great number of fossils, such as sharks' teeth, from Eocene strata are found in the Red Crag, very few specimens of Eocene Mollusca occur in it; and it seems still less likely that shells from the Coralline Crag, which are very much more fragile, could have been preserved, except as rare exceptions, during the denudation of that deposit by the Red Crag sea.

3. On the Stratigraphy of the Crag, with especial reference to the Distribution of the Foraminifera. By H. W. BURROWS.

Materials collected by the author during the past eight years, and some supplied by Professor Prestwich, have been examined by Messrs. H. W. Burrows, R. Holland, and F. Chapman; and contributions by Mr. F. W. Millett have also aided in the completion of Part II. of the Monograph of the Foraminifera of the Crag' (Palæontographical Society). I. From the Newer Pliocene Formation-or Upper Crag including the Norwich Crag and associated beds of Southwold, Thorpe, Bramerton, and Chillesford: there are altogether 29 species of common North Atlantic Foraminifera. II. In the Red Crag 20 species are known. III. The St. Erth beds of Cornwall, formerly noted by S. V. Wood, Jun, and R. G. Bell, and more recently by P. F. Kendall and C.Reid, are regarded as equivalent to a part of the Older Pliocene (Lower or Coralline Crag). The Foraminifera have been worked out by F. W. Millett, and amount to 163, of which 76 are met with ir the Coralline Crag. IV. Professor Prestwich (1871) and Messrs. S. V. Wood, Jun., and F. W. Harmer (1872) divided the Coralline Crag into two main divisions. These were subdivided by Prestwich into eight zones ('h' toʻa '), about 83 feet altogether; and by Wood and Harmer into three groups, with an estimated thickness of 60 feet.

The author then gave notes on several of the localities where exposures of these beds have been, or can still be seen; namely, beginning with the lowest

zones:-1, Sutton and Ramsholt; 2, Broom Hill; 3, Sudbourne; 4, Tattingstone; 5, Sutton; 6, Gedgrave; at High House, Low Farm, and Ferry Barn; 7, Aldborough; E, Sudbourne, north-east of the church.

The characters and thicknesses of the strata representing the several zones at these places were carefully detailed, and their most characteristic Foraminifera were enumerated and compared. V. The nodule-bed' at the base of the Crag, at Foxhall, was alluded to in its place. VI. The Lenham Beds of Kent were noticed as being equivalent to the Lower Crag and of Diestian age, as stated by Prestwich and confirmed by C. Reid.

Some Foraminifera found by S. V. Wood in the Coralline Crag at Sutton and elsewhere were derived from much older Tertiary beds, namely, Orbitolites, Orbiculina, Alveolina, Peneroplis, Amphistegina, Nummulites, and Orbitoides.

The most characteristic Foraminifer in the Coralline Crag is Polymorphina frondiformis, and it seems to be limited to England. The conclusions arrived at point to the constancy and determinability of the zones established by Prestwich. In the author's opinion the Mollusca also confirm the same zonal arrangement. Some remarks on the zonal and local distribution of several genera and species of Mollusca concluded this paper.

4. Note on a section at the North Cliff, Southwold. By HORACE B. WOODWARD, F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of England and Wales. The recent damage done to the cliff at the north end of Southwold by the 'moderate gale' of last May is described below by Mr. J. Spiller. One result of the storm was the exposure of an interesting section along the lower portion of the cliff. The strata now seen comprise pebbly sands and shingle with a shell-bed, grouped by the author with the Norwich Crag; several masses of Chalky Boulder Clay, which formerly extended in one mass along the face of the cliff; a Freshwater Bed, consisting of greenish grey loam with freshwater shells and layers of gravel cemented into iron-pan,' overlaid by laminated peaty earth (age at present uncertain); and a Recent beach-deposit in which a human skeleton was found this year. This beach-deposit, which now forms part of the low cliff, consists of reassorted Boulder Clay, together with sand and shingle. The Freshwater Bed presents a synclinal structure, supported on either side by Boulder Clay.

5. On Recent Coast Erosion at Southwold and Covehithe.
By JOHN SPILLER, F.C.S.

Owing to the prevalence of northerly winds, culminating in a moderate gale on May 16 last, the tide rose to an unusual height all along the east coast, and attacked the soft sandy cliffs between Dunwich and Covehithe, creating a new cove at the northern extremity of Southwold and sweeping away the roadway at the back of the beach to the extent of half an acre at this particular spot. The cliffs at Easton Barents and Cove hithe likewise suffered considerably, and this loss being reported to Mr. W. Whitaker induced that gentleman to lend his maps with certain measurements noted thereon for the purpose of exact comparison. Thus provided the author walked over the ground and took fresh measurements at the several points along the route, which resulted in the determination of the amount of cliffwaste since 1882 and 1889, and this stated briefly was as follows:

The accuracy of these observations was checked by Mr. Horace B. Woodward, and other indications observed conjointly proved that the general loss at Covehithe amounted to about 50 yards since the present Ordnance map was constructed. The lines of high and low water mark had manifestly altered, so that a fresh