1900 THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS I49 



valley were formed by tributaries of the Severn — that, in 

 fact, the pass of Andoversford was scooped out by a river 

 which was an ancestor of the Chelt, fed from the Cottes- 

 wolds when they were much higher than they now are. 



Of late years, however, new investigations and parti- 

 cularly the researches of Professor W. M. Davis, as re- 

 corded in a paper on " Development of English Rivers," 

 in the Geographical Journal, vol. v., 1895, have caused 

 another theory to be advanced which, expressed briefly, is 

 this : that before the Severn Valley was scooped out, 

 rivers flowed from Wales in a south-easterly direction 

 across the Cotteswolds and the Chilterns to the sea ; that 

 the valleys which break through the escarpment were 

 formed, not by tributaries of the Severn, but by feeders 

 of the Thames ; and that instead of the Severn Valley 

 having been excavated by the Severn alone, the cutting- 

 out process was begun by an extended Thames. 



I referred in my last address to the paper on the " De- 

 velopment of Rivers" which our Hon. Secretary had just 

 published in Natural Science ; and it was to hear his views 

 upon the spot that the meeting was arranged. 



The discussion during the day was largely of an en- 

 quiring character, especially among the older school of 

 geologists. The botanists of the party were interested by 

 some specimens to which Mr W. L. Mellersh led them, 

 while Mr John Sawyer and the Hon. Secretary called atten- 

 tion to the ancient roads of the Cotteswolds. Luncheon 

 was taken at the Andoversford Hotel. Afterwards a 

 resolution was passed in support of the Wild Birds Pro- 

 tection Bill, about which Mr C. A. Witchell gave an 

 address. He also read a short paper about a combat 

 between a beetle and an ant (see p. 195). 



On June 26th nearly a score of members assembled at 

 Marlborough Station, whence they drove across the Wilt- 

 shire Downs via Oare Hill, Pewsey, Stonehenge, Ames- 

 bury, and Old Sarum, occasional halts being made at 



