FETCH, EXPOSURE, AND WAVE-POWER. 77 



It is well known that at the present time parts of Norway 

 and Sweden are being raised at the appreciable rate of something 

 like 4 feet in a century, and that there are raised beaches, similar 

 to those I have just described, existing at elevations of from 400 

 to 500 feet above the sea, and some miles inshore. 



Lapland and Japan are also being slowly raised, whereas the 

 west coast of Greenland has, for the last 400 years, been sinking 

 at the rate of several feet in a century. 



In the island of Jura, on the west coast of Scotland, there are 

 six or seven lines of beaches, the lowest of which is on a level 

 with high water, and the highest about 40 feet above it ; indeed, 

 the presence of similar raised beaches and ancient sea-cliffs, now 

 inshore and high above the sea-level, furnishes strong proof that 

 much of Scotland has been raised to a considerable extent within 

 (geologically speaking) very recent times. 



On the sea-coast at Pozzuoli, near Naples, may be seen the 

 ruins of the celebrated temple built by the Romans in honour of 

 Jupiter Serapis. Since that time the ground upon which it 

 stands has been lowered and again raised to the extent of fully 

 20 feet, the most remarkable feature in connection with this 

 movement being that it has been so gradual and even as not 

 to overturn or disturb three columns which remain standing 

 upright, notwithstanding that they are 41 feet in height and 

 barely 5 feet in diameter at the base. 



The evidence of this movement is, however, undeniable. 



A belt, measuring about 8 feet in width, around each column 

 has been perforated by the pholas ; while, strange to say, from 

 the lower margin of this belt to the base of the columns, a 

 distance of 11 feet, the stone has not been attacked at all. This 

 has been accounted for by assuming that the lower portion of the 

 columns was embedded in mud, and so protected. 



The work of the pholas can only have been performed under 

 water. It therefore follows that the columns must have been 

 immersed up to the level of the top of the perforated belts, or to 

 a depth of at least 19 feet, and that they have been subsequently 

 elevated to such an extent that the perforated belts may now be 

 seen many feet above the water-level. 1 



As an example of a still more recent raising of land, I may 

 cite that which took place in the north island of New Zealand, 

 at the time of the earthquake in the year 1855. The surface of 



1 " Temple of Serapis," Babbage. 



