344 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



pied in their formation. In every case, we believe, they 

 terminate abruptly ; that is, their sides have just such an 

 indication towards the sea as we find in the high-water ter- 

 races of modern formation. They seem to have been 

 thrown up by the advancing wave in the period that imme- 

 diately preceded the last elevation of the land. 



The Upheaval of the Scottish Qoast has teen sudden. 

 Many maintain that it has been gradual. They direct 

 our attention to the coasts of Sweden, and tell us that there 

 we find evidence of a gradual rise, and that we should 

 therefore conclude that such has also been the case in Scot- 

 land. To this we reply, that if the land be slowly and 

 gradually rising in Sweden, it has been suddenly elevated 

 in many other quarters of the globe. We go farther, and 

 affirm that sudden upheaval is the rule, if rule may be 

 spoken of in such a case, and that gradual elevation is the 

 exception. Again, we ask, " How do we know that the 

 land is gradually rising in Sweden ? " It is because channels 

 with rocky bottoms are becoming shallower, and because 

 rocks that were formerly under the water are now seen 

 above it. By a parity of reasoning, we conclude that the 

 land in Scotland is not rising, because there are no rocks 

 that were formerly known to be under the water that now 

 rise above it, and there is no instance of the height to 

 which the water rises in any flood-gate or harbour having 

 become less than it was in the days of our fathers. It has 

 again been argued, that in some places where the water 

 was formerly deep it has become shallow. That, however, 

 is no decisive proof of a general elevation of the land. It 

 may be the natural effect of those changes that are con- 

 tinually taking place in tidal currents. If, in the bay oppo- 

 site the mouth of the Esk, we find land where there formerly 

 was sea, between Leith and Newhaven we have sea where 

 formerly there was land. Neither history nor tradition 

 affords the slightest countenance to the idea of a gradual 



and uniform rise The appearance of our 



links and carses is precisely such as we might expect to re- 

 sult from the continued action of the billows at the present 



