LOST LANDS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 552, 6 July 1909, Page 6

LOST LANDS.

, THE NEW ZEALAND CONTINENT,'', "The; lips and clowns of this old planet of ,ouxs," was tno subject of a scieiitine tai& by'we .'iter. J. 'i. nott, JiLA., last evening, li was. the first of the lectures organised by the Library Committee at the. iNewtown i'ublia Library. .Jitt. jH'Laren, vALIV, prosided over a fairly large, audience, wliich followed Mr., Nott's. luciu exposition of'terrestrial changes with close attention. Entitling Ms lccturo ■ "The Lost Lands, of Long Ago, - ' dir. Nott. : said there were three ways in. -which, continents had' .been ' lost. Some bad been covered by the-sea,'; through the operation of the'internal forces of tuo ; oarth,'which pushed up some portions of the crust and caused others to be submerged. Other lauds wore lost by the denuding acuori of the streams, which simply wore thoni; away, and others, like Antarctica, suffered changes of climate, owing to the earth's orbit being affected by other planets, and became buried under ice and snow. By way of. reassuring his hearers, Mr. Nott' stated that the last,of these methods,of losing a 'continent took about 13,000 years, and the : others much ,longer." After a glance at Antarctica and its past "ups and .downs," as 1 proved by;tho geological discoveries of tho Shackleton expedition, Mr. Nott showed, with tho help of one of the excellent diagrams which illustrated his lecture, the outlinos; at different periods^of the tinont-which at ono timo included New; Zea-' land and Antarctica, and joined them, as well as .many ' of., tho Pacific and southern islands, to Australia aud to South- Amorica. Confirmatory evidence of tho past existence of this great land area was to be found in tho bird and fish life of: tho different regions affected. Scientists believed that there was no likelihood of New Zealand,, being again subjected to a glacial epoch.for 150,000 years to come. This country had not beori- sub-, merged .for several zoological periods, and' was one of the oldest and stablest countries; in the world. The facts of "science-.:- wore' not things to be afraid, of, for the.'more wo know of them, tho more satisfied wo should feel that our planet : was in tho hands of the Great Architect of the univorso. (Applause.) The lecturer received a hearty voto of thanks. ."■.;'-•■.;:■■:-,:•:■ •\:' : '-