240 SEE— TEMPERATURE, SECULAR COOLING [April 20, 



upon the earth, and was himself destroyed by a thunderbolt. Now this has 

 the form of a myth but really signifies a declination of the bodies moving in 

 the heavens around the earth, and a great conflagration of things upon the 

 earth, which recurs after long intervals ; at such times those who live upon 

 the mountains and^ in dry and lofty places are more liable to destruction 

 than those who dwell by rivers or on the seashore. And from this calamity 

 the Nile, who is our never failing saviour, delivers and preserves us. When 

 on the other hand, the gods purge the earth with a deluge of water, the 

 survivors in your country are herdsmen and shepherds who dwell in the 

 mountains, but those who, like you, live in cities are carried by the rivers 

 into the sea. . . . ' " 



Plato continues the discourse and finally tells of the sinking of the 



islands of Atlantis by an earthquake : 



" ' Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your state in our 

 histories. But one of them exceeds all the rest in greatness and valour. For 

 these histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition 

 against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end. 

 This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the 

 Atlantic was navigable ; and there was an island situated in front of the straits 

 which are by you called the pillars of Herakles; the island was larger than 

 Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and from 

 these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounds 

 the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of Herakles is only 

 a harbor, having a narrow entrance, but that other is a real sea, and the 

 surrounding land may be most truly called a boundless continent. Now 

 in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had 

 rule over the whole island and several others, and over parts of the conti- 

 nent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had subjected the parts of Libya 

 within the columns of Herakles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far a§ 

 Tyrrhenia. This vast power, gathered into one, endeavored to subdue at a 

 blow our country and yours and the whole of the region within the straits; 

 and then, Solon, your country shone forth, in the excellence of her virtue 

 and strength, among all mankind. She was preeminent in courage and mili- 

 tary skill, and was the leader of the Hellenes. 



" ' And when the rest fell off from her, being compelled to stand alone 

 after having undergone the very extremity of danger, she defeated and 

 triumphed over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those who were 

 not yet subjugated, and generously liberated all the rest of us who dwell 

 within the pillars. But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and 

 floods, and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in 

 a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner dis- 

 appeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those parts 

 is impassable because there is a shoal of mud in the way; and this was caused 

 by the subsidence of the island.' " 



This account clearly shows that Plato ascribed to earthquakes the 



power to cause the submergence of land beneath the sea. As he 



was an excellent geologist for his time, he no doubt accepted also 



