32 THE MODERN PERIOD. 



remarks, Professor Cook presented to the meeting of the American 

 Association in Montreal, in 1857, an interesting summary of indi- 

 cations of modern subsidence observed on the coasts of New England, 

 New York, and New Jersey, and estimated the average rate of 

 sinking at two feet in a century, under the impression that it is 

 still in progress, which would coincide with the view above-mentioned 

 as entertained in some parts of the marsh districts of Nova Scotia, that 

 the tides now rise higher than formerly. Additional interest is thus 

 given to the Fort Lawrence instance, as indicating the great vertical 

 amount of this very extensive subsidence. In 1861 also, Dr Gesner, 

 in his paper on " Elevations and Depressions of the Earth in North 

 America," noticed several additional instances of modern submergence 

 in various parts of the British Provinces and the United States, and 

 inferred that such submergence is still in progress, or, at least, 

 has occurred in very recent times. Within the limits of Acadia, 

 and in addition to the examples above referred to, he mentions 

 Grand Manan, Bay Yerte, Louisburg in Cape Breton, and Cas- 

 cumpec in Prince Edward Island, as places in which there is 

 evidence of subsidence since the European colonization of the 

 country. 



I would ask the non-geological reader to pause here, to remark 

 that, in the mud-deposits of the Bay of Fundy, we have an example 

 of a geological formation enclosing remains and traces of several 

 of the animals and plants now inhabiting the land or its shores; 

 and that if, in consequence of the colonization of the country, or 

 any physical change, these creatures or any of them were to become 

 extinct, we might find, in digging into the marshes or by examining 

 their borders, evidence of the former existence of such extinct 

 animals or plants, just as the remains of the now extinct European 

 beaver and Irish gigantic stag are found in the peat bogs and lake 

 deposits of Great Britain. Farther, we have in the submarine 

 forests the evidence of extensive changes of level ; and if we suppose 

 that, by such changes occurring in the future, the marshes were 

 to be buried under new deposits until they had been consolidated 

 into rock by pressure, by aqueous infiltration of mineral substances, 

 or by internal heat, and then elevated again to the surface, we 

 should discover in their hardened masses a variety of fossils, which, 

 if properly interpreted, would throw much light on the present 

 condition of the country. By bearing in mind these obvious con- 

 clusions, much time and perplexity may be avoided, when we arrive 

 at the consideration of ancient formations to which changes of these 

 kinds have actually happened. 



