Mr. M. Roberts on the Electric and Nervous Influences* 41 



to be by no means conclusive, but rather the reverse: during 

 the tertiary formation our island had been submerged in the 

 bosom of the ocean, and as we know not how many ages 

 may have elapsed between that period and its subsequent 

 elevation, may not the temperature in that interval have been 

 reduced to a sufficient degree as to become suitable to the 

 formation of glaciers ? Certainly, without seeking proof for 

 either side, which is not yet obtained, we may as readily ad- 

 mit that at the asra in question the temperature had been a 

 few degrees lower than it is at present, as that at the car- 

 boniferous epoch it had been so much higher ; for any thing 

 we know there may be a cycle of change going onward in the 

 roll of time unknown to man, who seems to be but a creature 

 of yesterday. 



But to conclude : do we not see in those later changes a 

 great and grand design ? Had the land been elevated with all 

 its hard and serrated rocks unreduced by attrition of a very 

 powerful kind, what may we suppose it to have been but so 

 many piles of rugged rock, ever and anon sending down some 

 loose fragments covering over their flanks with a totally barren 

 and impenetrable crust, rendering the greater part for ever a 

 howling desert? We see that the whole operation has been 

 guided by a mighty mind ; the various elements of nature 

 have each been called upon to act their destined part, and well 

 we see they have been performed. What is more beautiful 

 than our finely rounded hills, covered with verdant turf to 

 their very summits, together with the smoothed undulating 

 uplands, and the fertile and smiling valleys, altogether forming 

 a rich and beautiful dwelling for man ? 



Galashiels, Jan. 25, 1843. WlLLlAM Kemp. 



IX. On the Analogy between the Phenomena of the Electric 

 and Nervous Influences. By Martyn J. Roberts, Esq., 

 F.R.S. Ed* 



[Continued from vol. xix. p. 38.] 



31. TN my last communication on this subject I pointed out 

 the striking analogy that exists between the nervous and 

 electric influence as displayed in the action of electricity upon 

 fluids flowing through capillary tubes, — the corresponding ac- 

 tion of nervous influence upon the circulation of the blood 

 through capillary vessels, — the explanation the phaenomena 

 of inflammation receives from this view of the subject, — the 

 elucidation of that of turgescence ; — and the probable cause of 



* Communicated by the Author. 



