CHAPTER XXV.

ANTIQUITY OF THE RIVER-DRIFT.

Hypothetical case of River-action — Origin of River Systems — Amount of Solid Matter in Turbid Water — Nature of Flood-deposits — Effects of Ground-Ice — Deposits left on the Slopes of Valleys during Excavation — Solvent power of Carbonic Acid — The results of the Deepening of Valleys — Actual Phenomena compared with the Hypothetical — The Denudation of the Fen Country — The Valley of the Waveney — The Valley of the Thames — Deposits in the South of England — Deposits near Salisbury — The Origin of the Solent — Deposits at Bournemouth — Breach through the Chalk-range South of Bournemouth — The Question of Climate — Evidence as to Climate — Association of Implements with a Quaternary Fauna — Scarcity of Human Bones in the River-drift — Attempts to formulate Chronological Data — Data from Erosion — Conclusion . . . 662

WOODCUT ILLUSTRATIONS.

* The cuts marked with an asterisk have been borrowed from various sources, which are duly acknowledged in the body of the book.