GERMAN OCEAN, OR NORTH SEA. 315 



tedious and unnecessary to enumerate these addi- 

 tional instances ; and I shall therefore content my- 

 self with referring to it, in [so far as regards the 

 wasting effects of the sea, and proceed to notice the 

 particular tendency of these upon the bed of the 

 German Ocean or North Sea ; and endeavour to ac- 

 count, agreeably to the laws of Nature, for the im- 

 mense quantity of water which must thus be dis- 

 placed by the deposition of debris, and the conse- 

 quent elevation of the bottom of the sea. 



We are therefore to view the ocean as the great 

 receptacle for the waste of the globe, produced not 

 only by the direct effects of the sea on the margin 

 of the land, but also by the more latent effects 

 arising from the changes of the atmosphere, acting, 

 to a certain extent, in mouldering away the firm 

 ground, which is afterwards transferred to the bed 

 of the ocean. At first sight, the deposition arising 

 from this process, may appear to be a trivial quan- 

 tity, compared with the great expanse of the ocean ; 

 but if we confine our attention to the bed of the 

 North Sea, we find, in the course of our inquiries, that 

 it is by no means so inconsiderable. Great Britain 

 alone, is estimated to contain about 20,000,000 acres 

 of cultivated land ; and it is further estimated to 

 possess an extent of about 25,000 miles of prin- 

 cipal roads, which expose a surface of upwards 

 of 1000 acres to the constant action of the 

 weather, and to the wearing of carriages. Now, 

 when we consider that every river and rill of water, 



