72 CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES' MEETING AT DOVER.
that Mr. Stebbing's paper would be printed in full, and the
meeting came to an end.
It occurs to me here to remark that it is highly desirable
that an account of the finding of a Well-shrimp, or other wholly
subterranean creature, should give not only the depth of the
well, but also the nature of the rocks through which it is sunk.
Of course, in the case of a well sunk in sand or gravel, no
subterranean animal could be expected, unless it were so minute
that not only the ova but the adult animal could pass through
the mass as the percolating water does. But it would be
interesting to be able to note the proportion of subterranean
creatures, if any, in sandstones as compared with limestones.
In both kinds of rock water circulates mainly along lines of
jointing or lines of fault, but in limestones the dissolution of the
rock here and there, by the action of the water percolating
through it, gives rise to hollows and caverns varying in size
from spaces only large enough to accommodate a few Well-shrimps
to the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. In sandstones, on the
other hand, hollows arising from the dissolution of the rock do
not occur, but it seems possible that here and there in a sand-
stone, along lines of jointing or of fault, the erosive action of
water carrying particles of sand in suspension might at length
give rise to spaces capable, as regards size, of being the residence
of Well-shrimps, though nothing comparable to limestone caverns
would be produced. Therefore, while subterranean animals may
naturally be expected to exist mainly, if not wholly, in lime-
stones, it seems quite within the limits of possibility that certain
forms of life, probably differing from those common in lime-
stone, may some day be found in sandstone wells. Wells, how-
ever, in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk are almost certain to be
either in that well-known limestone, the Chalk, or in superficial
sand and gravel.
At the Second Meeting of the Conference on September
19th, the proceedings began with a long and desultory debate as
to the best ways of making the meetings of the Conference more
useful. While it was proceeding Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing had
to leave, and Professor W. W. Watts became Chairman. At
length it was decided that it would be best for individual
delegates to write to the Corresponding Societies' Committee,
suggesting improvements, not later than the end of the first
week in November. Letters received by that date would then
be considered by the Committee, when they met later in that