148 



The town oi Pompeii which at the time of the erup- 

 tion of Vesuvius stood on the sea shore now stands back 

 quite a quarter of a mile from the coast ; on the island 

 of Java, especially rich in seismic records, there are cases 

 of coast towns which now stand eight or nine miles 

 from the sea. Such have been the results of organic 

 eruptions, owing to the mass of matter ashes and 

 cinders with pumice and slime thrown out from the cra- 

 ters, which has united and formed firm deposits. It is 

 evident therefore that volcanic action is an effort on the 

 part of the earth to widen solid surface at the expense 

 of the watery waste ; in other words an effort to effect 

 the gradual desiccation of the globe. 



