218 PKOF. E. HULL. F.R.S., ON DR. NANSEN's BATHYAIETRICAL 



the platform from the present lands seawards, and deeply 

 indenting the continental slope. Of these important features, 

 Nansen gives numerous instances; the Barents Sea and the 

 platform off the coast of Siberia afford numerous examples. 

 From all of which we learn, that the platform itself was 

 formerly a land surface traversed by rivers draining out into 

 the Arctic Ocean, and sometimes continuous with the streams 

 which drain the adjoining lands of the present day. The 

 discovery of such " drowned river-valleys " within the Arctic 

 circle, as also along both borders of the Atlantic Ocean, when 

 fully grasped in all their significance, cannot fail to convince us 

 of the great changes which the crust of our globe and the 

 enveloping hydrosphere have undergone within recent post- 

 Tertiary times. 



Discussion. 



Mr. Hudleston (Chairman).— I do not need to introduce 

 Professor Hull to you. We are very much obliged to him for the 

 interesting representation of these remarkable oceanic phenomena. 

 I daresay that some of us remember the various papers we have had 

 on these phenomena from the same author; but it is extremely 

 interesting to me to be reminded of the existence of these features ; 

 and Professor Hull's object is to group all the features, all the sub- 

 oceanic features, almost from the Equator to the Pole, as far as 

 those features are known, and more especially on the eastern side of 

 the Atlantic basin. It is in consequence of Dr. Nansen's visit to this 

 country that Professor Hull has thought it desirable to reopen this 

 subject, and it is a very useful opportunity for those who have not 

 heard Nansen himself to have some idea of what he has been about 

 of late. 



Now I think that perhaps I might read one or two extracts from 

 Nansen's remarks before inviting discussion upon the paper. It is 

 the oscillation of the shore line which is the crux of the entire 

 problem, and the amount of oscillation differs according to different 

 views. 



