550 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by GOULD AND LINCOLN, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. THE REV. W. S. SYMONDS, RECTOR OF PENDOCK, HEREFORDSHIRE. DEAR SIR, Am I presuming too much on my position, as merely the editor of the following Lectures, when I ask leave to dedicate them to you? It is unquestionably a liberty with the production of another which only very peculiar circumstances can at all excuse. Yet, in the present case, I venture to think that those peculiar circumstances do exist; and I feel assured he would readily pardon me, whose work this is, and whose memory you so much revere. Without your coöperation, I believe that neither the "Cruise of the Betsey" nor these pages could by this time have seen the light. When my own overladen brain refused to do its duty, you gave me to hope, by offers of welltimed assistance, that the task before me might still be accomplished. Your friendly voice, often heard in tones of sympathizing inquiry when I was unable to endure your own or any other human presence, even that of my dear child, was for a time the only sound that brought to my heart any promise or cheer for the future. It was then, while unable to read the very characters in which they were written, that I put into your hands the papers containing "The Cruise" and "Ten Thousand Miles over the Fossiliferous Deposits of Scotland." You undertook the editorial duties connected with them con amore, and performed your task in a manner that left nothing to be desired. During the preparation of the present volume for the press, you have given me all the advantage of your ready stores of information, both in carefully scrutinizing the text to see where any addition was required in the form of. notes, and in referring me to the best authorities on every point regarding which I consulted you. And while so doing, you have confirmed my own judgment, perhaps too liable to be swayed by partiality,- by expressing your conviction that this work is calculated to advance the reputation of its author. Long may you be spared to be, as now, the life and soul of those scientific pursuits so successfully carried on in your own district! Many a happy fieldday may you enjoy in connection with that Society of which you are the honored president. Would that all associations throughout our country were as harmless in their methods of finding recreation, as invigorating to body and mind, and as beneficial in their results to the cause of science! In exploring the beautiful fields, and woods, and sunny slopes of Worcestershire, and Herefordshire, in earnest and healthful communings with nature, and, I trust, with nature's God, the perennial springs of whose bounty are seldom quaffed in this manner as they ought to be, — I trust that much, much happiness is in store for you and for the other gentlemen of the Malvern Club,* to whom, as well as to yourself, I owe a debt of grateful remembrance. And for the higher and nobler work which God has given you to do, may he grant you no stinted measure of his abundant grace, to enable you to perform it aright. Ever believe me, dear Sir, Yours most faithfully, LYDIA MILLER. * The Malvern Club devotes stated periods,-monthly, I think,- to rambles over twenty or thirty miles of country, when the naturalists of whom it is composed, — botanists, geologists, etc., carry on the researches of their various departments separately, or in little groups of two or three, as they may desire. They all dine afterwards together at an inn, or farm house, as the case may be, where they relate the adventures of the day, discuss their favorite topics, and compare their newly-found treasures. As a consequence of this the Malvern Museum is a perfect model of what a local museum ought to be. There is no town or district of country where a few young men, possessing the advantage of an occasional holiday, might not thus associate themselves with the utmost advantage both to themselves and others. CONTENTS. Junction of Geologic and Human History Scottish History of Modern Date- The two periods previous to the Roman Invasion; the Stone Age and the Bronze Age - Geological Deposits of these Pre-historic Periods - The Aborig- inal Woods of Scotland Scotch Mosses consequences of the Roman Invasion - How Formed - Deposits, Natural and Artificial, found under them - The Sand Dunes of Scotland-Human Remains and Works of Art found in them -An Old Church Disinterred in 1835 on the Coast of Cornwall- Controversy regarding it-Ancient Scotch Barony underlying the Sand - The Old and New Coast Lines in Scotland Where chiefly to be observed - Geology the Science of Landscape Scenery of the Old and New Coast Lines - Date of the Change of Level from the Old to the New Coast Line uncertain — Beyond the Historic, but within the Human Period - Evidences of the fact in remains of Primitive Weapons and Ancient Boats - Changes of Level not rare events to the Geologist - Some of these enumerated The Boulder-Clay - Its preva- lence in the Lowlands of Scotland-Indicated in the Scenery of the Country -The Scratchings on the Boulders accounted for - Produced by the Grating of Icebergs when Scotland was submerged · Direction in which Icebergs floated, from West to East" Crag and Tail," the effect of it- Probable Cause Problem first propounded to the Author in a Quarry-The Quarry's Two De- posits, Old Red Sandstone and Boulder-Clay - The Boulder-Clay formed while the Land was subsiding - The Groovings and Polishings of the Rocks in the Lower Parts of the Country Evidences of the fact- -Sir Charles Lyell's Ob- servations on the Canadian Lake District- - Close of the Boulder Clay Record in Scotland-Its Continuance in England into the Pliocene Ages The Trees Marine Deposits beneath the Pre-Glacial Forests of England - Objections of Theologians to the Geological Theory of the Antiquity of the Earth and of the Human Race considered Extent of the Glacial Period in Scotland - Evi- dences of Glacial Action in Glencoe, Gare!ock, and the Highlands of Suther- land Scenery of Scotland owes its Characteristics to Glacial Action-The Period of Elevation which succeeded the Period of Subsidence - Its Indica- tions in Raised Beaches and Subsoils - How the Subsoils and Brick Clays were formed Their Economic Importance Boulder Stones interesting fea- tures in the Landscape - Their prevalence in Scotland - The more remarka- ble Ice-travelled Boulders described - Anecdotes of the "Travelled Stone of Petty" and the Standing-Stone of Torribal Elevation of the Land during the Post-Tertiary Period which succeeded the Period of the Boulder-Clay — The Alpine Plants of Scotland the Vegetable Aborigines of the Country - Panoramic View of the Pleistocene and Post-Tertiary Periods - Modern Sci- ence not adverse to the Development of the Imaginative Faculty, 84-124 The Poet Delta (Dr. Moir) — His Definition of Poetry Place at Inveresk - Vision, Geological and Historical, of the surrounding Country What it is that imparts to Nature its Poetry- The Tertiary Forma- tion in Scotland -In Geologic History all Ages contemporary -Amber the Resin of the Pinus Succinifer — A Vegetable Production of the Middle Tertiary 2 |