274- AN ENQUIRY INTO THE NATURE OF [Ch. XIII. 



to the north-west, and on the other to the south-east." For 

 what reason is this distinction made? is it not suggested 

 rather on theoretical grounds, than by any distinct evidence ? 

 'There does not appear to have been any necessity for this 

 proceeding ; for since the strata are in general nearly hori- 

 zontal, that is, since they have suffered no angular displace- 

 ment, why not suppose that they are all in their original 

 position ? For the same author has shown in many instances, 

 even in the very case itself of the pass of Palagonia, that the 

 materials of such strata may have been thrown down here 

 and there upon steep slanting banks at the bottom of the sea, 

 not only at an angle of 25 (equal to that of Lentini, above 

 quoted), but at various angles between 30 and 50. Why then 

 attribute the inclination of some of these strata to violence, 

 when the adjacent and continuous beds, extending over a 

 considerable tract, are supposed to have been elevated several 

 thousand feet without any disturbance ? 



Whilst considering these Sicilian deposits, it may be re- 

 marked, in passing, that, however easy it is to conceive that 

 their present elevated position, relatively to that of the sea- 

 level, has arisen either from an upheaving of the land, or a 

 depression of the sea ; yet, during the formation of the suc- 

 cessive deposits, it is probable that the action of the power 

 producing the change was not so simple as is generally sup- 

 posed. Lyell, if we mistake not, has attributed the position 

 of these tertiary rocks to a gradual and constant elevation 

 of the land : now, without supposing this to have continued 

 during the period of the formation of these rocks, what an 

 immense depth the Mediterranean must have had at the time 

 the lowest deposit was accumulating; and the same would be 

 greatly increased, if the calculation was founded on the more 

 extensive deposits of Italy. The testacea and corals found 

 in these rocks are said to resemble, for the most part, the 

 inhabitants of the adjacent sea : have they not then more the 

 character of littoral than of pelasgic creatures ? And if so, is 

 U not probable that these tertiary rocks, during their depo- 



