BIOLOGICAL CHANGE IN GEOLOGICAL TIME. 119 



destroyed by denudation, leaving only a small proportion in this 

 limited area of the British Isles. I took the British Isles because 

 they are better known. 



With regard to the uniformity ; I am not a rigid Uniformitarian, 

 as has been suggested. I consider there has been a general 

 uniformity in connection with the laws of nature, in the past, and 

 that the positive evidence we have of slow deposition shows that 

 the general inorganic conditions of the globe were similar from the 

 Cambrian times to the present. 



The argument with respect to the proximity of the moon giving 

 a greater tide is based on the assumption that the moon was half 

 way to the earth in Jurassic times.* That is an assumption ; there 

 is no proof. But we have positive proof on the other hand that 

 there has been very slow deposition, and I read an extract from Sir 

 A. Geikie to show that in the very old rocks, the Pre-Cambrian, 

 you have absolute evidence of extremely slow deposit entirely 

 analogous to the deposit of the present time, and that we see ripple 

 marks and sand marks in very old rocks, Pre-Cambrian rocks, and 

 we must come to the conclusion that these inorganic conditions were 

 going on very similar to the present day. That there was a great 

 sweeping of material together in some small areas, there may 

 have been, but the general rule is that you find evidences of deposit 

 quite similar to the deposit that is going on at the present time. 



The Chairman. — At this late time it does not become me to say 

 very much. What strikes me is the very short time man has had to 

 see what has been going on. We are all agreed that the paper has 

 been both interesting, learned and picturesquely written, and I think 

 we ought to give our best thanks to the author, Professor Lobley. 



The Meeting closed with the usual vote of thanks to the Chairman. 



Communication. 



Rev. Dr. Irving. — Professor Lobley has given to the Institute a 

 paper which will no doubt prove useful to many of the members 



* This was only stated as an hypothesis, the actual distance may have 

 been more or less. — E. H. 



I 



