THE EVOLUTION OF DERBYSHIRE SCENERY. 203 



equally productive. It is an interesting and instructive thing to 

 take a walk across the strata which crop out on the east or west 

 flanks of the Derbyshire anticlinal, say from Matlock to Stretton, 

 noting the changes in the rock scenery, the vegetation, and the 

 industries on the way ; from the romantic scenery of Matlock 

 Dale, over the millstone moors, with their scanty herbage and 

 straggling population, right to the coal measure country over 

 which, looking from the grit slope, we can see fertile fields and 

 the kindling fires of tlie coal and iron industries, surrounded by 

 the busy hives of workers. Much light has been thrown upon 

 the comparative fertility of soils by chemical and physical 

 examinations, for we must not only consider them in regard to 

 the plant foods which they contain, but also with regard to their 

 capacity for absorbing and retaining moisture. The subject is, 

 however, too complex to be dealt with in a few words, it is 

 mentioned here as bearing in an important degree on the relation 

 between geology and scenery. 



In an article on " The Origin of Derbyshire Scenery," in last 

 year's Journal, I pointed out the effect of jointing and stratifica- 

 tion planes upon scenery. It is my intention in the present 

 article to give further local examples of this,* and to deal with 

 underground drainage and the formation of caves. This subject 

 was dealt with by me in a paper on " Valleys and Caves," read 

 at the annual meeting of the Society last year ;■}" but further 

 additional facts have been observed by Mr. Ward in caves and 

 elsewhere in the Peak, which should be placed on record. 



The variety met with in the scenery of Derbyshire is due to 

 the association of strata of differing hardness and structure. 

 Over lying the Mountain Limestone, the lowest of the series in 



* My attention has been called to the fact that this subject has been 

 previously dealt with in the Society's Journal, although very briefly : " On 

 the Geology of some of the River Scenery of Derbyshire." A. T. Metcalfe, 

 F.G.S. Vol. VIII., 1886. The diagram there given, however, of the erosive 

 action of a stream upon rocks, is misleading, taking no account of the modi- 

 fying effect of the divisional planes. 



t I should here acknowledge the remarks on the formation of caves 

 contained in Mr. Ward's article " On Rains Cave, Longcliffe, Derbyshire." — 

 /ourna/odhe Derbyshire Archreological and Natural History Society, 1889. 



