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426 ON A SUBMARINE FOREST IN THE FRITH OF TAY. 



" understood to arise from the mere yielding of some of the 

 " strata immediately underneath, but is conceived to be a part 

 " of that geological system of alternate depression and eleva- 

 " tion of the surface, which probably extends to the whole mi- 

 " neral kingdom. To reconcile all the different facts, I should 

 " be tempted to think, that the forest which once covered 

 " Lincolnshire, was immersed under the sea by the subsidence 

 " of the land to a great depth, and at a period considerably 

 " remote ; that when so immersed, it was covered over with 

 the bed of clay which now lies upon it, by deposition from 

 the sea, and the washing down of earth from the land ; that 

 it has emerged from this great depth till a part of it has be- 

 " come dry land ; but that it is now sinking again, if the tra- 

 " dition of the country deserves any credit ; that the part of 

 " it in the sea is deeper under water at present than it was a 

 " few years ago." Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory, 

 p. 453. 



A careful examination of these conjectures, which had been 

 offered to account for the phenomena of submarine forests, 

 soon convinced me that the subject was still imperfectly un- 

 derstood. Under this impression, I endeavoured to become 

 possessed of all the conditions of the problem, and now ven- 

 ture to offer a solution. The opinion which I have been led 

 to form has been entertained for some years, and stated to se- 

 veral friends, without an objection having presented itself. 



If we suppose a lake situate near the sea-shore, and having 

 its outlet elevated a few feet above the rise of the tide, we 

 have the first condition requisite for the production of a sub- 

 marine forest. 



If we now suppose, that, by means of mud carried in by 

 rivulets, and the growth of aquatic plants, this lake has be- 

 come 



