196 DRIFT DEPOSITS OF MANCHESTER 



beds of clay, sand, and gravel, are now termed ; 

 and it is only by a series of correct levels that the 

 phenomena of that deposit can be well studied, 

 and their origin correctly ascertained. Although 

 he has not yet been so fortunate as to obtain the 

 assistance required, to enable him to give such 

 an account of the Drift as he designs, yet he will 

 give what particulars he has collected. 



The examination of the older fossiliferous 

 rocks, rich with the remains of organic life, has 

 generally attracted the attention of geologists, to 

 the exclusion of the Drift, which has been but 

 too often considered as a dry and uninteresting 

 study. My intention is to attempt to dispel this 

 delusion. However delightful it may be to the 

 human mind to examine the "medals of creation," 

 as Cuvier aptly denominated fossil organic re- 

 mains, and to trace back through countless ages 

 the successive races of beings that have formerly 

 peopled this globe — performed the parts for which 

 they were designed, and then ceased to exist ; 

 to investigate the various forms of vegetable life 

 that deprived the atmosphere of its surplus carbon, 

 for the double purpose of forming our invaluable 

 beds of coal, and at the same time fitting the air 

 for the respiration of animals of a higher order ; 



