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came the Folkestone or upper beds of the lower greensand, 

 which could be traced westward till they died out, and 

 other beds were seen cropping out above them. These 

 were the Hythe beds, the lower division of the same series, 

 in which could be found a vast assemblaffe of fossils of gi- 

 gantic reptilia— one of these in particular having originally 

 been so large that its size would take up more space than 

 the large room they were occupying. They could hardly 

 conceive the great changes this globe had undergone since 

 such monstrous reptiles had their existence. He had only 

 given them a general view of the geology of the district 

 which they might study for themselves in detail. He could 

 not resist going to the end of this remarkable series of beds 

 that afternoon. The Hythe beds contained the stone called 

 Kentish Rag— used principally for building churches, 

 and it was in these beds that the remains of 

 these gigantic reptiles were found. With reference 

 to Hythe, it was an important port at one time, 

 but now it was a long way to travel to it from the sea, and 

 then it was all over beach. Further on they came to Rom- 

 ney Marsh, a most extraordinary place, said to have been 

 dropped from the clouds, so that it might be said there 

 were now five great divisions of the globe, instead of four, 

 viz., — Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Romney Marsh. 

 (Laughter.) At one time this marsh must have formsd the 

 bed of the ocean. Lympne was once a port in the time of 

 the Romans, and Appledore another, but in a most extra- 

 ordinary manner it had been reclaimed from the sea. Mil- 

 lions of tons of beach had accumulated there, and banked 

 out the sea, and it would be for them to find out how the 

 change had taken place ; his own opinion was that it must 

 have been caused by some peculiar alteration in the set of 

 the currents forming local sandbanks. The whole appear- 

 ance and character of the district had undergone a change, 

 and it presented features well worthy of special study. He 

 did not intend to weary them, but would merely conclude 



