XXI. 



ANXIVERSARY ADDRESS. 

 By the President, the Eight Honourable the Earl of Verulam. 



Delivered at Watford, 20th March, 1900. 

 Ladies and Gentlemen, — 



It is the unenviable lot of the President of the Hertfordshire 

 Natural History Society to have to give an address to the Members 

 of that Body at the termination of each of his years of office. And 

 if, as in my case, he is of a modest disposition, and has never 

 committed such a crime before, he will naturally approach his task 

 with much trepidation, which he may hope his audience will 

 understand and for which it will make generous allowance. 



With regard to the choice of a subject, it may be at once said 

 that unless one has followed up a special line of research with some 

 assiduity, one is scarcely justified in presenting what would be 

 little more than a rechauffe of the labours of some of the Pioneers 

 of Science ; and therefore I propose to-night not to go deeply into 

 any special matters, but to offer a few reflections upon some of the 

 phenomena which exist in our own immediate neighbourhood, in 

 the hope that, if not very profound or scientific, they may still be 

 considered of interest as an illustration of the conditions which once 

 prevailed in this portion of the globe. Probably every person 

 whom I am now addressing is perfectly well aware that there 

 exists beneath our feet a natural phenomenon about which they 

 have not, I imagine, given themselves much trouble to think, but 

 which, to the careful student of natm'e, presents a history as 

 amazing as any in the remarkable series of marvels which geology 

 can unfold. I refer to the immense layer of chalk which exists 

 over so important a portion of our Island, and which I think I may 

 safely say is to be found at varying depths beneath the whole of 

 the top soil of Hertfordshire, except in the extreme north and west. 



A casual observer will, in all probability, scarcely give a thought 

 to this marvel of Nature : he will be content, perhaps, with 

 wondering if lime can be made of it ; or, if a farmer, may 

 speculate as to its value as a fertilizer to his crops ; while the 

 sentimentalist will, maybe, admire its scenic beauty in the white 

 cliffs of Dover, and, ignorant of its wonderful history, hardly spare 

 it a second thought. 



