98 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 



periods have been the result of the slow and ceaseless 

 working of ordinary physical forces ; further, that the life 

 of one period was the progenitor of the life which 

 appeared in the succeeding formation. Within the last 

 fifty years the theory of Catastrophy has been shown to 

 be erroneous, and that of Uniformity generally accepted. 



One of the greatest geological discoveries of the last 

 fifty years is associated with the name of Mr E. Wethered, 

 a vice-president of the Club and a former secretary. The 

 Oolitic rocks were until a few years ago looked upon as 

 of mineral origin, the small grains being supposed to have 

 been formed by layers of lime gathering round a tiny 

 nucleus. By microscopic examination, Mr Wethered has 

 demonstrated that instead of being of mineral origin, the 

 Oolitic grains are organic in structure, and were formed 

 by the tubules of a very low form of life, to which the 

 name " Girvanella"' has been given. Had the Cotteswold 

 Club done nothing else of importance, it might rest its 

 geological fame upon the work of Mr Wethered. But 

 the work also done by Mr Lucy in connection with the 

 Glacial Epoch as it affected the Cotteswolds, by Professor 

 Etheridge and Mr Taunton relative to the hydrology of 

 the Cotteswold area, by Mr Hoskold upon the coal-bearing 

 strata of Dean Forest, and by other members on other 

 branches of geological science, have placed the Cottes- 

 wold Club in the front rank of scientific societies in the 

 kingdom. 



PREHISTORIC MEN 



The progress made in our knowledge of our pre- 

 historic ancestors since the Cotteswold Club was founded 

 has been enormous. Fifty years ago, indeed, scarcely any 

 attempt had been made to classify the evidences of pre- 

 historic occupation afforded by burial mounds, flint and 

 stone implements scattered over the surface of the soil, 



