Natural History of Volcanos and Earthquakes. 277. 



give probability to the supposition, that the sinking took place, 

 and still takes place, not suddenly, but gradually. Forchham- 

 mer* likewise alluded to similar phenomena, in order to prove 

 that elevations in Scandinavia take place not only in different 

 proportions, but that a depression is also going on. He infers 

 from his observations, that the level of the coast of Denmark has 

 varied in a different proportion from that of the Swedish coast, 

 which he ascribes to the feeble earthquakes that have been felt 

 so often in Sweden, but never in Denmark. He estimates, ac- 

 cording to rough calculations, the elevation of the island Born- 

 holm, to amount to one foot in the course of a century. 



If elevations of countries, in which volcanic actions are felt, 

 and which are agitated by violent earthquakes, be produced, as 

 is very probable, by the same causes as these phenomena, yet it 

 is difficult to imagine these causes to operate in elevating coun- 

 tries where no such phenomena occur, or where, at least, they 

 take place but rarely, or to a small extent. The latter is the 

 case in the Scandinavian Peninsula. That region has no active 

 volcanos, no hot springs — even thermal springs bearing a tempe- 

 rature of but a few degrees higher than the mean temperature 

 of the place, are considered as rarities ; whilst, in other countries, 

 they are of very frequent occurrence. All this proves that the 

 crust of the earth in this country must be very solid, and trav- 

 ersed by comparatively few rents or fissures. 



Berzelius assigns as the cause of this rising of the Swedish 

 coast, the gradual cooling of the earth ; and says : " Its diam- 

 eter, in this manner, decreases, and the consolidated crust leaves 

 either empty spaces between itself and the fluid mass, or sinks 

 downwards. Being, however, of so large an extent, that fold- 

 ings and bendings must occur, portions must rise up on one side 

 and sink on the other. This supposition seems to be supported 

 by the sinking of the western coast of Greenland, and of an 

 island situated in the Gulf of Youghall, a phenomenon which 

 has been recently pointed out by Elie de Beaumont and Pingel. 

 Kloden also has recently given much probability to the suppo- 

 sition of a sinking of the Dalmatian coast.f 



* Phil. Mag. ser. iii, v. ii, p. 309, and Poggend. Ann. t. xlii, p. 476. 

 t Poggendoiff's Ann., t. xliii. p. 361. 



