VI PREFACE. 



and accurate conceptions of the successive geographical 

 phases through which the British area has passed. 



The pioneer in this branch of geological science was Mr, 

 Godwin- Austen, whose masterly essays published in the 

 " Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society," between 

 1856 and 1866, may still be read with advantage, for many 

 of his conclusions have been confirmed by the information 

 subsequently derived from deep borings in the eastern and 

 midland counties. 



Many geologists have dealt in more or less detail with the 

 geographical conditions of particular epochs, but the first 

 systematic treatise on the geography of successive geo- 

 logical periods was that by Professor Hull, published in 

 1882, and entitled, "Contributions to the Physical History 

 of the British Isles." The larger part of Professor Hull's 

 book, however, is devoted to the consideration of the 

 Palaeozoic periods and the origin of the Atlantic" Ocean ; 

 the space allotted to the Neozoic periods being hardly 

 proportionate to the knowledge that we really possess 

 concerning them. 



The aim and scope of the present volume are somewhat 

 different from Professor Hull's, the successive periods of 

 Neozoic time being treated at much greater length than 

 those of Palaeozoic time, partly because much more infor- 

 mation is available, but chiefly because it is my object to 

 trace out the succession of physical and geographical 

 changes which have led up to the existing disposition 

 of land and water in the north-western portion of 

 Europe. 



My thanks are due to many friends and correspondents 

 for information and advice, especially to Dr. Callaway 

 with regard to the Cambrian period, to Professor Hull 

 respecting the Irish Devonians, to Professor A. H. Green, 

 Mr. E. Wilson, and Mr. H. B. Woodward in connection 

 with the Carboniferous, Permian, and Jurassic periods 



