20 THEORY OF THE EARTH. 



formation than the others, between schists of va- 

 rious kinds, and between some newer beds of gra- 

 nular marbles. Life, which was in the end to 

 obtain entire possession of the globe, seems, in 

 these primordial times, to have struggled with 

 the inert nature which formerly predominated; 

 and it was not until a considerable time after, that 

 it obtained the ascendancy over it, and acquired 

 for itself the exclusive right of continuing and ele- 

 vating the solid envelope of the Earth. 



Hence, it is impossible to deny, that the masses 

 which now constitute our highest mountains, 

 have been originally in a liquid state ; and that 

 they have for a long time been covered by waters 

 in which no living beings existed. Thus, it has 

 not been only since the appearance of life that 

 changes have been operated in the nature of the 

 matters which have been deposited ; for the mas- 

 ses formed previous to that event, have varied, 

 as well as those which have been formed since. 

 They have also experienced violent changes in 

 their position, and a part of these changes must 

 have taken place at the period when these masses 

 existed by themselves, and were not covered over 

 by the shelly masses. The proof of this lies in 

 the overturnings, the disruptions, and the fissures, 

 which are observable in their strata, as well as 

 in those of more recent formations, and which 



