XL] GEOLOGICAL REFORM. 209 



expansion of formless and diffused matter. At one point of this 

 he supposes a single centre of attraction set up ; and, by strict de 

 ductions from admitted dynamical principles, shows how this must 

 result in the development of a prodigious central body, surrounded 

 by systems of solar and planetary worlds in all stages of develop 

 ment. In vivid language he depicts the great world-maelstrom, 

 widening the margins of its prodigious eddy in the slow progress 

 of millions of ages, gradually reclaiming more and more of the 

 molecular waste, and converting chaos into cosmos. But what is 

 gained at the margin is lost in the centre ; the attractions of the 

 central systems bring their constituents together, which then, by 

 the heat evolved, are converted once more into molecular chaos. 

 Thus the worlds that are, lie between the ruins of the worlds 

 that have been and the chaotic materials of the worlds that shall 

 be ; and in spite of all waste and destruction, Cosmos is extending 

 his borders at the expense of Chaos. 



Kant s further application of his views to the earth itself is to 

 be found in his &quot; Treatise on Physical Geography &quot; l (a term under 

 which the then unknown science of geology was included), a 

 subject which he had studied with very great care and on which 

 he lectured for many years. The fourth section of the first part 

 of this Treatise is called &quot; History of the great Changes which 

 the Earth has formerly undergone and is still undergoing,&quot; and 

 is, in fact, a brief and pregnant essay upon the principles of 

 geology. Kant gives an account first &quot; of the gradual changes 

 which are now taking place &quot; under the heads of such as are 

 caused by earthquakes, such as are brought about by rain and 

 rivers, such as are effected by the sea, such as are produced by 

 winds and frost ; and, finally, such as result from the operations 

 of man. 



The second part is devoted to the &quot; Memorials of the Changes 

 which the Earth has undergone in remote antiquity.&quot; These 

 are enumerated as : A. Proofs that the sea formerly covered the 

 whole earth. B. Proofs that the sea has often been changed 



1 KANT S &quot; Sammtliche Werke,&quot; Bd. viii. p. 145. 



