14G M. Desor on 



not uniform throughout. Finally, if it is true that the osars, 

 which may be traced a long distance into the interior, and 

 whose mode of formation we have explained above, indicate 

 successive sea-shores, it follows that the Gulf of Bothnia was 

 once much larger than at present. A large belt of coast now 

 under cultivation, was then under water, and only gradually 

 became elevated. 



This successive retreat of the waters has taken place mostly 

 during the present epoch, as undeniable traces of man* are 

 found in the interior of osars. It is probable that during this 

 period of slow emersion, there lived in Scandinavia a pri- 

 mitive people, an entirely different race, as their osteology 

 indicates, from that of recent Scandinavia, and whose skele- 

 tons are found in the peat beds mingled indiscriminately with 

 those of animals, some of which have completely disappeared 

 from the surface of the earth, such as the Bos urus, and 

 others, which are no longer known in the same countries, as 

 the rein-deer, t 



Conclusion. — It follows, from the preceding considerations, 

 that, whilst the upheavals of Scandinavia are of great im- 

 portance in the study of erratic blocks, the latter furnish us, 

 in their turn, with valuable hints as to the time and the geo- 

 logical bearing of these elevations. I have shewn that the 

 elevations are not confined to the historical epoch, but extend 

 far back into the period of the diluvium. On the other hand, 

 we learn, from the same examinations, that these elevations 

 have not been continuous ; that, on the contrary, they were 

 intermitting and in sweeps, since the land is successively 

 raised and depressed. We have distinguished, in this con- 

 nection, three principal points ; 1^^, an epoch when the land 

 was higher than now, the epoch of the glaciers ; 2d, a gene- 

 ral sinking of the plains of Scandinavia, bringing with it an 

 irruption of the sea ; Sd, the rising of the same plains, which 

 is even now in operation. 



♦ See Lyell upon the proofs of a gradual elevation of the soil in certain parts 

 of Sweden. 



t I am indebted to the beautiful \voik of Messrs Wilson and Eschricht for 

 these details. 



