426 ON A SUBMARINE FOREST IN THE FRITH OF TAY. 



" understood to arise from the mere yielding of some of the 

 " strata immediately underneath, but is conceived to be a part 

 " of that geological system of alternate depression and eleva- 

 " tion of the surface, which probably extends to the whole mi- 

 " neral kingdom. To reconcile all the different facts, I should 

 " be tempted to think, that the forest which once covered 

 " Lincolnshire, was immersed under the sea by the subsidence 

 " of the land to a great depth, and at a period considerably 

 " remote ; that when so immersed, it was covered over with 

 " the bed of clay which now lies upon it, by deposition from 

 " the sea, and the washing down of earth from the land ; that 

 " it has emerged from this great depth till a part of it has be- 

 " come dry land ; but that it is now sinking again, if the tra- 

 " dition of the country deserves any credit ; that the part of 

 " it in the sea is deeper under water at present than it was a 

 " few years ago." Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory, 

 p. 453. 



A careful examination of these conjectures, which had been 

 offered to account for the phenomena of submarine forests, 

 soon convinced me that the subject was still imperfectly un- 

 derstood. Under this impression, I endeavoured to become 

 possessed of all the conditions of the problem, and now ven- 

 ture to offer a solution. The opinion which I have been led 

 to form has been entertained for some years, and stated to se- 

 veral friends, without an objection having presented itself. 



If we suppose a lake situate near the sea-shore, and having 

 its outlet elevated a few feet above the rise of the tide, we 

 have the first condition requisite for the production of a sub- 

 marine forest. 



If we now suppose, that, by means of mud carried in by 

 rivulets, and the growth of aquatic plants, this lake has be- 

 come 



