305 
reared up from the depth of one, two, or three, not to say 
ten miles, should be able to withstand the impetus of the 
tides and currents ? 
' “The surface of our globe has been explored, from the 
verge of the ocean, to its highest pinnacle. In this space, 
the-most elevated point hardly exceeds the perpendicular 
height of four miles. Yet so great is the difference in the 
temperature and density of the atmosphere, that the animals 
Which flourish in the lower regions, cannot exist in the 
upper; nor can those whose organization is framed for living 
in the upper regions, exist in the lower; while the highest 
region of all is utterly unfit to support either animal or 
vegetable life, 
_“ The mean depth of the ocean, as calculated by La Place, 
(Mec. celeste,) is four leagues, bearing to the altitude of the 
highest land a ratio of three to one. Is it not extremely - 
Probable, that at this vast depth the pressure of the aqueous 
fluid is so great as to prove absolutely inconsistent with 
animal life? Or may it not, at all events, be safely main- 
tained, that if there are animals whose organization enables 
them to live at such a depth, that organization will disqualify 
them for existing at the surface? It is well known that a 
fish, hauled up from the depth of only one or two hundred 
fathoms, is rendered incapable of performing its usual 
functions by the time it arrives at the surface, owing to 
the diminution of external pressure on its body; one effect 
of which is to distend its air-bladder so as to protrude 
into its throat. How much more must a transition, how- 
ever gradual, from the extreme depths of the ocean to its 
Surface, derange the functions of life? 
* The opinion, therefore, that the coral-worms are con- 
stantly at work laying the foundation of islands and. conti- 
nents at the bottom of the sea, and rearing them up to the 
Surface, appears to me more than questionable. That they 
contribute to the formation of land when they find "m hese 
near the surface, on which they may commence their work, 
Will not be denied; yet, as they cannot build higher than 
e reach of the tide, it is to the winds and the waves, 
VOL, 11, x 
