Me MOUNTAINS 245 
give rise to areas of high temperature, and 
consequently to volcanoes. We must also 
remember that the real mountain chains of 
our earth are the continents, compared to 
which even the Alps and Andes are mere 
wrinkles. It is along the lines of the great 
mountain chains, that is to say, along the 
main coast lines, rather than in the centres of 
the continents, which may be regarded as com- 
paratively quiescent, that we should naturally 
expect to find the districts of greatest heat, 
and this is perhaps why volcanoes are gener- 
ally distributed along the coast lines. 
Another reason for regarding Volcanoes as 
local phenomena is that many even of those 
comparatively near one another act quite 
independently. This is so with Kilauea and 
Mouna Loa, both on the small island of 
Hawaii. 
Again, if volcanoes were in connection 
with a great central sea of fire, the erup- 
tions must follow the same laws as regulate 
the tides. This, however, is not the case. 
There are indeed indications of the exist- 
ence of slight tides in the molten lake which 
