— 37 — 



humau species cndures. The idea of" a Huid most gradually 

 (reo-ularly and coutinuouslj) propelled onwards, from beneath 

 one part of the solid crust to anotlier", but especialljs as 

 moving in vast undulations of elevation and dcpression, the latter 

 undisturbed by earthquakes and upheavals of low islands (1), 

 amounting to thousands of fect, has not yet been proved to be 

 the right one. 



XXV. »I cannot at preseat , do more ihan allude to sorne of the resuUs, 

 »which ra;iy be deduced from these views. If we examine the points of 

 » eruplioa over the Pacific, and Indian Oceans , we shall find ihat all the 

 vactive F~olcanoes occur within the areas of elevation. (The Asiatic land 

 »must be excepted, innsinuch , aS we are entirely in want of informalion 

 »of all kinds respecting it). ün the olher hand in the great spaces sup- 

 »posed to be now subsiding, between the Radack and Dangerous Archi- 

 » pelagoes , in the Corrallian Sea , and araong tlie atoUs which front the 

 » V7est Coast of India not one occnrs. If we look at the changes of level , 

 »as a conseqnence of the propulsion of fluid matter beneath the crust, as 

 » before suggested , tlien , the area to which the force is directed , might 

 »be expecled to yield more readily, than that , whence it was gradually 

 »retiring. I am the more convinced that tlie above law is true , because, 

 »if we look to other paris of the world , proofs of recent elevation alraost 

 «invariably occur , wliere there are active vents; I may instance the West 

 »Indies, the Cape de Verds , Cauary Islands, Southern Italy , Siciiy and 

 » olher places. But, in answer to this , those geologists who , judging from 

 » the isolaled volcanic mounds of Europe , were inclined to believe that 

 »tlie level of the ground was conlinually oscillating up and down, raight 

 »maintain that on these sarae wide areas, the amount of subsidence had 

 » been equal to that of elevation , but, that we possessed no means of know- 

 »ing it. I conceive it is by eliminating this source of doubt, that the 

 » alternale bands of opposite raovement , deduced from the configuratioa 

 sof the reefs , direclly bear on this law. I need not do more than simply 

 » state , that we thus obtain (if the view is correct) a means of forming 

 «sorne judgment of the prevailing movements , during the formation of 

 »even the oldest series, where volcanic ro ks occur interstratified wilh se- 

 »dimentary deposils." 



Of course, allusion was all that could be made in this 

 abstract or resumé of the contents of so many chapters, 

 of the then forthcoming volume (made up on this department 



(I) Vide the earlhquakes occurring under the Cocos , and the upheavals 

 of many low islands , as nlready mentioried. 



