171 



trees have been felled with the axe : for, if they had been 

 levelled by a storm of wind, they would have been torn up by 

 the roots, not snapped off close to the ground, and at their 

 strongest part; so, likewise, if they had been thrown down by 

 an irruption of the sea, the force of water sufficient to snap 

 an oak tree of the size of those in Bidston Marsh would have 

 carried away, not only their stems, but the loose sand also in 

 which they were growing. 



Above this sand, and enveloping the roots and stems of the 

 trees, is an irregular accumulation of peat, varying in thickness 

 from two to three feet, at the south-east end of the cutting, to 

 twelve or fifteen, a few hundred yards from the road ; it then 

 dips towards the north for a short space, and again rises to 

 the surface of the marsh, and continues within a few inches to 

 three feet of it, as far as the cutting extends. 



A reference to the section will explain my description, in 

 which the dark coloured part represents the peat. 



Such an accumulation of peat would be the natural result 

 of the prostration of a dense forest upon a damp soil, and 

 there is more than one instance upon record, of the accu- 

 mulation and formation of a moss in consequence of the over- 

 throwing of a forest. 



Some of the vegetable remains in the moss are very perfect, 

 such as rushes, equiseta, etc., especially where the moss is the 

 thickest. 



Above this peat is a deposit of alluvial soil varying from 

 a few inches to six or seven feet in depth, and forming the 

 soil of Bidston Marsh, which has long been celebrated for the 

 feeding nature of its grasses. 



Where this alluvium rests immediately upon the peat, it is 

 of a dark colour, but becomes lighter towards the surface 

 of the ground. I think there can be no doubt it has been the 

 deposit of comparatively still water, because all the lighter 

 particles of the moss remain undisturbed, and adhering to the 

 clay or alluvium above. Wherever there has been a crack or 



