T. Mellard Reade — British Geology. 557 



suggestion that it was formed rapidl}' have any truth, fossils need 

 not be expected. Thick muddy waters would probably be quite 

 unfitted for life. I do not thitik there are fish in the muddy Swiss 

 glacial streams.^ And the artificial clays I have described some- 

 times show little or no stratification on a small scale. On a large 

 scale the Boulder-clay is stratified. I have seldom gone far without 

 finding traces of this. Often, indeed, it is as clearly stratified as any 

 other clay. 



There are doubtless many other difficulties, some of which may be 

 fatal. I ofier this paper as an independent contribution to a most 

 controverted, and therefore most attractive, question. 



YII. — British Geology in relation to Earth-Folding and 

 Faulting.'^ 



By T. Mellard Eeade, C.E., F.G.S., F.R.I. B. A. 



THE history of every science may be compared to the ascent of 

 lofty and diversified mountains, in which level benches and 

 plateaux alternate with steep and rugged slopes. The first explorers, 

 beginning at the base, toil upwards, hardly knowing which course 

 to take, and having little idea of the country that lies before and 

 above them. But they toil on, gathering information as they go, 

 until, reaching a level resting-place, they can look back and form 

 a more accurate conception of the country they have traversed. 

 Still, they can see but a little way upwards, much less perceive the 

 summit, but ascend they must, gaining an ever-widening view and 

 grander and more just conceptions of the wide world below. 



It is thus that the study of geology has progressed. By the 

 combined operation of an army of explorers a vantage-ground has 

 been obtained from which we are enabled to review our position and 

 determine upon the next point of attack. 



The history and succession of the rocks have been traced, their 

 position in time and in part, their location in space — but the latter 

 knowledge can never be complete until the whole world has been 

 surveyed, both above and below the waters ; now a seemingly 

 impossible task : yet who shall speak lor the future ? 



By the aid of numerous geologists, both great and humble, of all 

 climes and countries, manfully working towards a common end, the 

 order of succession has been outlined, and a fair but very crude 

 knowledge of the earth's history reached. So far as palaeontology 

 and stratigraphy can speak, they tell us a good deal, but we cannot 

 realize the meaning of it all without the aid of correct physical 

 conceptions to reveal the processes of the wonderful earth-history 

 which lies buried under our feet. 



It is with this object that I ask your indulgence this evening in 

 mentally travelling with me over the British Isles to see what help 

 we can get from known British geology. 



1 In the discussion on this paper it was stated that the Dora Baltea, though thick 

 with glacier mud, contains excellent fish. 

 * Presidential Address to the Liverpool Geological Society, 1895. 



