Address to the Lincolnshire Naturalists’ Union. BA. 
again to the surface, a period of subsidence once more set in. 
The North Sea,--which had come into existence prior to the 
invasion of the ice, but had, during this period, been filled up 
with its débris,—again resumed its sway. Our land, in course of 
time, became separated from the Continent, and Great Britain, as 
it now is, appeared. 
I should like to have spoken of a great river system, which 
cut through the Oolite and Lias on the south and west, and 
poured its waters into the Wash,—a system, the only remains of 
which are seen in the Lincoln Gap, through which the ‘Trent once 
flowed, and where the Witham still finds its way,—but time will 
not permit of it. 
I have drawn attention to the vast period of time that must 
have been consumed during the events I have attempted to 
describe; and this is a point that I cannot too strongly impress. 
on your memory. 
I have dwelt on the structure and configuration of the land 
as it appeared during the several ages my paper deals with ; for 
this is the goal that all geological investigation should aim at. 
The special study of strata, and their imbedded relics, valuable as 
it is, is nothing, if, out of it, we do not try to build up the frame- 
work of the world, as it appeared at the time these strata were 
deposited. I do not mean in any sense to under-estimate the 
value of such special studies. Those who labour at them are the 
patient seekers after facts, without whose labours it would be 
impossible to read the story the rocks are meant to teach. And 
here I must bring my paper to a close. 
Elevations and subsidences are still going on, though we 
cannot see them. Attrition and denudation of the strata are still 
proceeding, though, in our short existence, we cannot trace them. 
Rains, frost, and rivers are still at work. ‘lhe dragon land is 
slowly altering year by year; and the carving and modelling of 
the surface will last, as long as raindrops fall, and a vestige of 
_ land remains above the waves. 
