

By HEV. M. B. SAUNDERS. 



Bead before the Geological Section. 



MR. MILLARD READE'S book is very interesting, as 

 being full of facts and experiments, and presenting 

 a theory of mountain building which, is not generally 

 accepted. 



In this paper I propose to take his side of the question. 

 Let me state at the outset that he entirely rejects that view 

 of mountain building which is based on the secular cooling 

 and contraction of our planet. 



On page 267, Mr. Reade writes: '* Considering the varying 

 materials of which the interior of the earth is composed, as 

 shown by the diverse composition of erupted lavas, an 

 equilibrium of its constituents has" not yet been attained. 

 It is not improbable that large masses of the heated globe, 

 far below the thirty-mile zone, undergo slow changes which 

 produce fluctuations even in that superheated mass . . . 

 the masses so affected must fluctuate in bulk . . . while 

 the extravasation of lava must create an internal flow of the 

 heated magma below the crust, thus bringing its various 



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