IV 



The Origin of the Scenery of the 

 British Islands 1 



THE insular position of these islands, which we are 

 apt to regard as an essential and aboriginal feature, is 

 merely accidental, and has not always been maintained. 

 The intimate relation of Britain with the Continent is 

 well shown by the Admiralty charts. If the west of 

 Europe were elevated 200 feet that is, the height of 

 the London Monument the Straits of Dover, half 

 of the North Sea, and a large part of the English 

 Channel would be turned into dry land. If the eleva- 

 tion extended to 600 feet that is, merely the united 

 heights of St. Paul's and the Monument the whole 

 of the North Sea, the Baltic, and the English Channel 

 would become land. There would likewise be added 

 to the European area a belt of territory from 100 to 

 1 50 miles broad, stretching to the west of Ireland and 

 Scotland. 



With an uprise of 600 feet a vast plain would unite 



1 An abstract of five lectures given at the Royal Institution in 

 January, February, and March, 1884. Nature, vol. xxix. pp. 325, 

 347, 396, 419, 442. The notes here inserted are now added for 

 the first time. 



