38 



process of consolidation and other changes of condition due to 

 induration, metamorphism, and mechanical changes, &c., prior 

 to that epoch of grand denudation, which was ushered in with 

 the commencement of the Permian and succeeded by the Trias 

 epochs. It was also during the vast period of time which suc- 

 ceeded, that the denudation, removal, and destruction of the 

 bolder masses and tilted edges of the older or Palaeozoic rocks 

 took place; and this also during their depression to profound 

 depths in the then New Red Ocean, thus giving rise to the accu- 

 mulation of the deposited Sandstones and Marls upon them, 

 and added to these the superimposed Lias and Oolites. This 

 depression and consequent accumulation of raatter having gone 

 on to the depth of some 4000 or 5000 feet. The process of time 

 and physical cosmical changes again brought to the surface the 

 old Palaeozoic land under new modifications ; and during its 

 slow and gradual emergence, the accumulated Permian, Trias, 

 Lias, and Oolitic rocks were in their turn swept away, leaving 

 the general features of the Severn Yalley somewhat like its 

 present aspect. Thus we have to do with two distinct epochs of 

 denudation; the first, that of the Palaeozoic rocks, through the 

 ushering in of the Mesozoic period, and by the agency of the 

 Permian and Triassic Seas, which cut back and denuded the 

 bold coast lines that must have been exposed to their influence, 

 and depositing in the quieter regions of their depths the spoils of 

 the older continent. The second epoch was upon the re-eleva- 

 tion — or re-emergence of these accumulated or newly formed 

 secondary masses, and their removal consequent upon the forces 

 exercised by the sea, as the land rose and came under the suc- 

 cessive action of the unceasing and destroying influence of the 

 waves, until the old surfaces, if not still deeper ones, were again 

 exposed — a question depending upon the amount of oscillation 

 the land then underwent, with relation to the stabihty of the 

 ocean's level. Thus may the fissures and faults in the Palseozoic 

 rocks have been twice exposed and influenced, and through great 

 periods of time, by these denuding forces. No one can witness 

 the remnants of the Permian and Trias rocks, which rest upon 

 the higher lands occupied by the Carboniferous Limestone and 



