142 Address to the L.N.U. 
some remarkable depressions, one of which, the Silver Pit, is a 
narrow submarine valley 50 fathoms in depth, forty miles off the 
north-east coast of Lincolnshire. The intrusion of this great 
water, the North Sea, between ourselves and the continent may 
have been very rapid, for when the chalk barrier, which presum- 
ably at one time extended eastward from Flamboro’ Head 
(cropping out again round Heligoland) was once breached and the 
central river taken in flank, there is no reason why the great level 
plain of intermediate Lincolnshire should not have been sub- 
merged in a period even of a few days. 
The second meeting was at Woodhall Spa, on August 7th, 
with a very fair attendance of members, who were taken over the 
ground by the Rev. J. Conway Walter; the day was very hot, 
scarcely any birds were seen and very few insects taken ; the 
botanical section, was, however most successful, and several rare 
plants were found, the most interesting, perhaps, being the lovely 
dark blue gentian, in damp places on the moor. I must take this 
opportunity of publicly expressing the thanks of the Union to the 
Secretary Mr. Walter F. Baker, whose untiring and intelligent 
exertions, and great aptitude for organisation, have done so much 
in setting us in motion and making the Union a success. 
Before closing these remarks—as we are now engaged in rock- 
ing the cradle of the Union—I should like to say a few words as 
to the possibilities of a future, and the taking up-of a useful 
position. ‘There is no other county in England in which the 
fauna and flora have so greatly altered ; large numbers of birds, 
insects and plants have been altogether destroyed, or in the 
former case, driven away by enclosure and drainage. It becomes 
therefore an imperative duty that we should use our best 
endeavours to preserve what is left and to take care that our 
scarcer mammals, nesting birds and surviving plants are not 
ruthlessly destroyed and unnecessarily banished. ‘There is no 
sadder chapter to read than that on ‘Extermination,’ in 
Professor Newton’s recently published Part I. of ** A Dictionary of 
Birds ;” it isa record of a destruction and waste of life in this 
fair world, brought about directly or indirectly by the ignorance, 
