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an attempt he would have reason to fear that the accusation 
would be considered as a calumny against a man who could no 
longer defend himself.” 
Notes on sone Railway Sections near Bath. By Rev. H. H. 
Winwoop, M.A., F.G.S. 
(Lead March 18th, 1874.) 
In few places have railways done more for Geology than in the 
neighbourhood of Bath. Formerly Geologists had to be contented 
with quarries and wayside cuttings, which afforded but imperfect 
glimpses into the underlying strata. For often the material to 
obtain which these excavations were made consisted of some one 
particular bed, admirably adapted for its purpose, but frequently 
destitute of fossils, the master keys to unlock the history of the 
various formations. Those sections, too, whence our forefathers 
of the hammer have derived their knowledge, are frequently so 
covered with the overgrowth and accumulated talus of past years 
that it is next to impossible to recognise even their localities. 
Hence we are particularly grateful to that iron necessity which 
ruthlessly pushes its way through hill and dale without let or 
hindrance, opening up many a rock surface, and exposing many 
a passage bed hitherto hidden. It is more especially in this 
opening up of passage beds, where one formation dovetails into 
another, or passes from one condition gradually into another— 
from deep to shallow water sediment, from clays to sand or 
shingle—that the railroads in our neighbourhood have done us 
such good service. 
I will then this evening take you with me in a geological 
walk along the Bath and Evercreech line, from the point where 
the line diverges from the Great Western Railway, so far as 
Midford, resuming our further progress on some other occasion. 
