322 GEOLOGICAL REFORM X 



and the chaotic materials of the worlds that shall 

 be; and in spite of all waste and destruction, 

 Cosmos is extending his borders at the expense of 

 Chaos. 



Kant's further application of his views to the 

 earth itself is to be found in his " Treatise on 

 Physical Geography" 1 (a term under which the 

 then unknown science of geology was included), a 

 subject which he had studied with very great 

 care and on which he lectured for many years. 

 The fourth section of the first part of this Treatise 

 is called " History of the great Changes which 

 the Earth has formerly undergone and is still 

 undergoing," and is, in fact, a brief and pregnant 

 essay upon the principles of geology. Kant gives 

 an account first " of the gradual changes which 

 are now taking place " under the heads of such as 

 are caused by earthquakes, such as are brought 

 about by rain and rivers, such as are effected by 

 the sea, such as are produced by winds and frost ; 

 and, finally, such as result from the operations of 

 man. 



The second part is devoted to the " Memorials 

 of the Changes which the Earth has undergone in 

 remote Antiquity." These are enumerated as : 

 A. Proofs that the sea formerly covered the whole 

 earth. B. Proofs that the sea has often been 

 changed into dry land and then again into sea. 

 C. A discussion of the various theories of the 

 1 KANT'S Sammtliche Werke, Bd. viii. p. 145. 



