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On the Physical Geography of the District Drained hy the River 

 Frome and its Tributaries. By G. F. Plat'ne. 



Eead at Sharpness, Jult 22nd, 1868. 



That portion of the Cotteswold Hills which is drained by the 

 River Frome and its tributary streams is remarkable for the 

 narrow winding valleys which traverse the district in almost 

 every direction. The probable means by which these deep 

 valleys have been made is an interesting problem, which has 

 frequently formed a topic of discussion on those occasions when 

 the Field Meetings of the Club have been held in this district ; 

 and the subject has been brought prominently forward by the 

 able and forcible paper of Mr. Witchell, " On the Denudation 

 of the Cotteswolds." 



Having lived all my life in these valleys, and for many years 

 past taken an interest in the Geology of the district, this 

 subject has often engaged my attention; and four years ago I 

 endeavoured to ascertain the relative levels of the various 

 Geological horizons in different parts of the district, in order to 

 ascertain whether, in the elevation of the strata, irregularities 

 had occurred which would in any way account for the forma- 

 tion of the valleys. Through the imperfection of the Aneroid 

 barometer then used, the measurements of heights proved 

 imreliable, and I abandoned the inquiry, and had to content 

 myself with the belief, then so commonly held, that the sea 

 had, in some mysterious way, scooped out these vaUeys, either 

 by marine currents before the land emerged above its waves, or 

 C 



