194 PKOFESSOK EDWARD HULL, M.A., LL.D._, F.R.S., ON 



well beyond the question, as from seven thousand to ten thousand 

 years ago. The paper which we have had the pleasure of listening 

 to, would not, I apprehend, be regarded by its author as entirely 

 conclusive. The evidence cannot be called demonstrative. At the 

 same time there is a great deal of probability about it. He has 

 brought forward witnesses of very good character and unimpeach- 

 able honesty. The Roman wall strengthens his argument, and 

 what the author says on page 180 of the paper shows there is a great 

 deal to be said for this interesting theory. What he says in the 

 last paragraph of page 180 with regard to the iron anchors and iron 

 boat hook seems to be of very great interest indeed. 



I should like to ask Professor Hull whether he can draw any 

 date of demarcation between what is called the Stone Age and what 

 we know as the Iron Age ? 



I would also like to ask him his opinion as to the cause of these 

 supposed uprises in the British Islands. 



The Chairman. — I would like to say one word concerning what 

 Professor Lobley said about the cooling of the earth. If I have 

 correctly understood Lord Kelvin in his remarks on the thermal 

 conductivity of the earth, it seems to me that the earth is giving off 

 its heat, but it does not necessarily follow that the earth is becoming 

 actually lower in temperature. 



I think there can hardly be any doubt that the earth must be 

 giving off its heat through volcanos, and all sorts of ways. The sun 

 itself is giving off heat constantly, and yet we are told that the sun 

 is not becoming cooler, because it is contracting constantly, the 

 contraction causing the temperature to be maintained while the 

 heat is being given off, as we know, in enormous quantities. That 

 may possibly be a reconciliation between what Professor Lobley said 

 and Lord Kelvin's writings as I have understood them, 



I am sure we are all very grateful to Professor Hull for bringing 

 such an interesting subject as this to our notice. 



The Secretary. — I have listened with great pleasure to our 

 chairman's remarks, which indicate that he has grasped subjects 

 connected with geology and with physical history as well as those 

 of a higher and different kind. 



But to pass on to Professor Lobley's questions, I would ask him 

 whether he is perfectly sure that those cases of submergence on the 

 shores of Cheshire and, as I have seen them, on the shores of 



