THE GLOBE. 255 



great and the small are both equally susceptible to 

 impressions. Thus, though the weight of a con- 

 tinent was upon the surface which was to be ele- 

 vated by the internal action, a few pounds would 

 put it in motion ; and whatever was the state of 

 the substances when they began to ascend, the 

 two pressures were quite sufficient to bring them 

 to that state of cohesion which we find in rocks. 



In those parts of the ocean which may be re- 

 garded as covering the slopes of volcanic ridges, 

 there are still occasional displays of the action of 

 those vast powers ; and there are in many places 

 decided proofs of that action having been at some 

 time carried on in situations where it had ceased 

 before the records of history began. It is import- 

 ant, too, to bear in mind that the formation of 

 large tracts of alluvial land so as to remove the 

 sea to a distance, occasions the internal action to 

 cease. In that ridge of mountains in France 

 which stands nearest to the Mediterranean, on the 

 right bank of the Rhone, there are many extinct 

 volcanoes ; and the plain of Languedoc, which 

 lies between those mountains and the sea, is allu- 

 vial, composed in many parts of sand, in others of 

 gravel and stones, and in others, again, of shells, 

 the whole giving the clearest evidence of having 

 been under the sea, or formed by the action of its 

 waters upon the shores. 



The farther part of Italy, and the island of Sicily, 

 are still volcanic countries. Vesuvius and Etna 

 burn continually, and often pour out eruptions of 

 melted matters ; the whole of Calabria is subject 

 to earthquakes ; and fires are continually burning 

 in the little islands which lie nearly in the line 

 between Vesuvius and Etna. 

 z 2 



