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 

 regie .1 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 pi'essure 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 perfoi'ming 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 a base 

 near the surface, on which they may commence their work, 

 will not be denied ; yet, as they cannot build higher than 

 the reach of the tide, it is to the winds and the waves, 



VOL. II. X 



