Ei)c ^vtgin of ^erl^gsfjitc Sccuevg. 



By George Fletcher. 



HE surface-conformation of Derbyshire exhibits in a 

 remarkable degree the close relationship which 

 subsists between the physical structure of rock- 

 masses and the effects of sub-aerial denudation. There are 

 comparatively few people at the present day, although in recent 

 years their number was legion, who believe that the surface of 

 the earth has remained much, the same froui the begmning of 

 time. The " everlasting hills " are eternal only in the sense that 

 ihe materials of which they are composed are indestructible. 

 Their shapes are as changeful as those oi the summer cloud, — 



" All the forms are fugitive, 

 But the substances survive." 



Minute observation of the effects of the weather on rocks, as well 

 as determinations of the amount of material carried out to sea 

 annually by rivers, have shown that the surface is gradually being 

 worn down by various agents, chief among which must be 

 included water in its different forms. 



The most superficial observer will have noticed that the softer 

 rocks are worn down most rapidly ; but the fact is scarcely 

 recognised as the cause of the different varieties of scenery met 

 with in Britain. The softer rocks of our southern counties give 

 rise to a gently undulating surface, while the harder and older 

 rocks of Wales, the lakes, and the highlands give rise to their 

 characteristic rugged scenery ; and where, as in Derbyshire, we 

 get a series of strata exposed at the surface, widely differing in 

 hardness, the effects of this difference upon the contour of the 



