272 Sheppard : The Evolution of Bridlington. 



As we stand at the foot of the Speeton cliffs to-day, and 

 gaze skyward at the 450 feet of towering chalk above us, 

 remembering that it also extends some distance beneath our 

 feet, does it not fill us with wonder at the way the world 

 was made. When we recollect that a single inch layer pro- 

 bably represents the accumulation of over a century, it is 

 appaling to think of the enormous amount of time that is 

 represented in these grand cliffs. It is also worth remembering 

 that practically all this rock is formed of the skeletons of 

 myriads of microscopic organisms. Bearing this in mind, let 

 anyone who is at all concerned with his own importance, try 

 to imagine what impression he will have made upon this earth's 

 surface, say ten thousand years hence ! He will probably not 

 by then have left behind so much as one of these small fora- 

 minifera, and by then the foraminifera will, in all probability, 

 be still in evidence. 



Let us digress a little, and examine the chalk itself. A 

 small fragment, prepared and placed under a microscope, 

 will, as stated, be found to consist almost entirely of the skele- 

 tons of the small foraminifera. Even now, after all these 

 years, their exceedingly delicate shells are still preserved, 

 and, in fact, seem quite unchanj,ed ; so much so, that it is 

 possible to separate and classify and name the various forms, 

 just as to-day we can distinguish an oyster from a periwinkle 

 or a mussel. When we come to compare this fossil ooze with 

 the ooze from the beds of modern oceans, it will be seen that 

 the similiarity is simply marvellous. To view the two together 

 will leave no doubt in the mind of any person that they must 

 have had a similar origin. 



Then, too, in the quarries or in the cliff face, will be found 

 the oyster-like shells, the sea-urchins, the cuttle fish bones, 

 the great nautilus-like shells, the sponges, the corals and even 

 the teeth and bones of sharks, all clearly and indisputably 

 telling the story of their origin, and of the way in which the 

 chalk was formed. 



Let us for a moment get back to the .land. Soon after 

 the great upheaval of the ocean floor, the rains and winds, the 

 snows and frosts would start their work, and carve what was 

 probably at first a fairly level surface, into hills and hollows, 

 valleys and dales. This would seem inevitable. Lakes and 

 streams and rivers would be formed, and the old sea bed would 

 soon present a surface, perhaps, not so very much unlike that 

 of the wolds to-day. Where a bed of flint, or an extra hard 

 bed of chalk rock occured, the river channels would be diverted 

 and changed. Possibly, also, in the process of upheaval, 

 cracks and fissures would be made, such as, indeed, we still 

 can see. Or, as at " Old Dor," great crumplings and foldings 

 would be formed in the strata. All these would effect the 



