398 ON THE LEVEL 



the masses on which they rest, what are their layers, of- 

 ten interrupted, and which must be searched for with care, 

 before they can be recognised, to the enormous volcanic 

 peaks of the Sandwich Islands, the Island of Bourbon, 

 the Moluccas, the Marian Islands, the mountains of 

 Timor, New Guinea, &c. Sec. ? Nothing, certainly ; and 

 the solid zoophytes are in no degree capable of being 

 compared with the testaceous mollusca, with reference 

 to the materials which they have furnished, and still con- 

 tinue to furnish to the crust of the Globe. 



NOTE I, p. 33. 



ON THE LEVEL OF THE BALTIC. 



About the middle of the last century, a controversy 

 took place among the natural philosophers of the north 

 of Europe, regarding the alleged gradual lowering of 

 the level of the sea in general, and of the Baltic Sea in 

 particular. Celsius was the first who introduced this 

 idea to notice. He generalised it by applying it to all 

 the planets, and was supported by the authority of the 

 celebrated Linnaeus. He soon perceived, however, that 

 the point could never be settled by mere discussion, and 

 that facts alone could lead to any certain result. Obser- 

 vation was therefore had recourse to ; and thus the dis- 

 pute in question had at least one good effect, that of di- 

 recting to the subject the attention of men of science, 

 whose situation might enable them to mark the varia- 

 tions of level that take place along the coasts of the 



i 



