PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 3 



a marshy swamp, supporting a vegetation of vascular Cryptogams 

 and other coal-producing plants, which towards the close of the 

 Carboniferous age underwent great disturbances, accompanied with 

 a considerable compression of the beds into numerous folds near the 

 German and Belgian frontier. The coal measures of Westphalia have 

 a visible breadth of about 16 miles, but are really much greater, as 

 they dip under the Cretaceous series, beneath which they are now 

 worked. The diminution of breadth in the Belgian coalfields is 

 referable to the foldings of the strata, otherwise the area would 

 occupy more than five times its present surface breadth. The 

 synclinals only have been preserved, denudation having removed 

 the upper folds (anticlinals), forming a chain of isolated narrow 

 troughs parallel to a lineal ridge, which Mr. Godwin Austen terms 

 the Axis of Artois, elevated after the deposition of the uppermost 

 Coal Measures, and the conversion of the vegetable matter and 

 associated strata into Coal and crystalline limestones. This line of 

 disturbance traverses the coal-bearing districts, far into the German 

 area, and along the whole line the beds are of the same mineral 

 character ; the precarboniferous rocks of Somersetshire are also 

 similar to those on the Continent. After an interval of ten or 

 eleven years, when Mr. Godwin Austen's bold theory became 

 generally accepted by geologists, a Royal Commission was appointed 

 to consider the question. In 1871 Professor Prestwich, who was a 

 prominent member of the Commission, drew up a report which 

 supported Mr. Godwin Austen's views, especially on the ground 

 that the Belgian, French, and Somerset coalfields similarly 

 disappeared beneath the upper Secondary beds. In the year 

 following, the Sub-Wealden Exploration Committee was formed, of 

 which Mr. Henry Willett was the originator and director. Boring 

 was commenced at Netherfield near the base of the Wealden Beds. 

 The work was abandoned after carrying it on to a depth of 

 about 2,000 feet, when 60 feet only of the Oxford clay was reached, 

 mainly in consequence of an accident to the lining pipes and the 

 irrecoverable loss of the boring tool. The expense, which 

 amounted to 6,275, was defrayed by private subscription. It was 



