246 SCIENCE. [x, 



denuding power, which kept continually increasing by 

 combination as the glen ate its way inwards, and the 

 rainfall drained by all these little springs was collected 

 into the one central stream. So that when the ground 

 being bare was most liable to be denuded, the water 

 was least able to do it ; and as the denuding power of 

 the water increased, the land, being covered with vege- 

 tation, became more and more able to resist it. AIL 

 this he has seen, going on at the present day in the 

 similar gullies worn in the soft strata of the South 

 Hampshire coast ; especially round Bournemouth. 



So the two disturbing elements in the calculation 

 may be fairly set off against each other, as making a 

 difference of only a few thousands or tens of thousands 

 of years either way; and the age of the glen may 

 fairly be, if not a million years, yet such a length of 

 years as mankind still speak of with bated breath, as if 

 forsooth it would do them some harm. 



I trust that every scientific man in this room will 

 agree with me, that the imaginary squire or plough- 

 man would have been conducting his investigation 

 strictly according to the laws of the Baconian philo- 

 sophy. You will remark, meanwhile, that he has not 

 used a single scientific term, or referred to a single 

 scientific investigation ; and has observed nothing and 

 thought nothing, which might not have been observed 

 and thought by any one who chose to use his common 

 sense, and not to be afraid. 



But because he has come round, after all this further 

 investigation, to something very like his first conclusion, 

 was all that further investigation useless ? No a thou- 

 sand times, no. It is this very verification of hypotheses 

 which makes the sound ones safe, and destroys the 



