8 Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Isle of Man. 
could carry boulders in a W.S.W. direction to the other side of a 
mountain some 700 feet higher than the ground from which the 
granite blocks could be derived. On the other hand, if the island 
were gradually submerged to the depth of 1,500 feet or more, shore- 
ice might by degrees raise the blocks of granite, and they would be 
carried in the end to positions into which they could not possibly 
have been brought by an ice-sheet moving from the north. 
But there is yet another fact pointing to a great submergence. 
There are no Alpine plants upon the mountains of the Isle of Man, 
no trace—according to the late Edward Forbes (quoted by Cumming 
in an appendix to his volume)—of that Alpine Flora which has 
representatives upon the English and Welsh mountain-summits, and 
which remains as a testimony to the geologically recent Arctic 
climate of our latitudes. Now this receives a full explanation if we 
can find reason to believe that the highest land upon the island was 
completely submerged after the period of maximum glaciation. If — 
there was a submergence in the adjacent Cumbria to the extent of 
2,000 feet, it is certainly not impossible that the area of the Isle of 
Man experienced a submergence to the same amount; and since 
Snae Fell is only 2,054 feet in height, this would mean the, destruc- 
tion of the glacial flora altogether. 
' It may be difficult to believe in this great oscillation of level, but if 
the evidence is strong in support of it, mere difficulty of belief must 
not stand in the way of our accepting it. It is certainly not more 
difficult to believe than the fact that Alpine summits 12,000 feet 
high, formed of marine beds of Hocene age, must have been 
elevated to this amount, accompanied by contortion and meta- 
morphism of the rocks, since the close of that period. It has 
always seemed to me that the unwillingness to admit this great 
depression and re-elevation in such recent times, on the part of some 
geologists, arose in this case from there being so little to show for it, 
or, in other words, from the movement having necessarily taken 
place quickly or continuously, and for the most part unaccompanied 
by great disturbance. But surely if widespread movements of the 
crust are possible at all—as we know they are—we need not expect 
them always to take place at the same rate, or to be accompanied by 
similar results. It is well also to remember the strong evidence 
brought forward of late to show that great submergence took place 
at this same time over the northern part of N. America (see especially 
the papers by Mr. G. M. Dawson). 
Puysitcat History oF THE Is~E or Man anp CUMBRIA CONTRASTED. 
Contrasting now the physical history of the Isle of Man during 
past periods with that of the Lake District, we find that the earliest 
records in both areas are of the same age—that of the Skiddaw 
Slate; and that in both cases the deposits indicate a generally 
shallow sea in which muddy and sandy strata were laid down, 
while the still coarser material of an occasional pebble-bank points 
to not far distant continental land. 
