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like the above, though apparently useless in themselves, 
that a vast amount of information is to be derived, throwing 
light upon the past history of the district, which cannot be 
obtained from any other source ; — a chronicle of events of 
a far distant date ; a page of history, concerning which no 
record of man reveals a glimpse, and which, but for such 
medals of creation, would be wholly unknown to us or dis- 
believed. For to what book, but that of nature, can we turn 
to gain a retrospect of the past and compare it with the 
present state of our island, or even this county ? Where 
can we find traces of the mighty changes to which York- 
shire has been subject, but to the evidence which geology 
alone supplies ? Who, on looking at the busy and crowded 
population of some of our neighbouring towns, with the din 
of machinery and commerce, or the more quiet and retired 
villages, would see any indication of these same spots having 
been, at a comparatively recent period, the sites of inter- 
minable forests or swamps, tenanted by the Elephant, 
Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Auroch, Urus, Wolf, Gigantic 
Deer, &c, or that our more elevated limestone tracts afforded 
caves for the Lion, Tiger, Bear, and hordes of Hyaenas, 
and numerous other quadrupeds no longer inhabitants of 
Britain? Yet such are the facts, the indisputable facts, 
which geology alone teaches us in such legible characters, 
— " That he who runs may read ! " 
Having alluded in the early part of this communication to 
the effects of currents in transporting materials to great 
distances, I would beg to say a word in conclusion. 
As, to persons unacquainted with geological phenomena, it 
may appear a startling assertion to hear of large boulders 
travelling from Cumberland over the plains of Lancashire 
and Cheshire, or even to Bridgenorth, by the mere action of 
water, or of the continuous streams of boulders in Forfar- 
shire, between three and four miles broad, and in a straight 
line for thirty miles, yet by no other agent than water has all 
