GERMAN OCEAN, OR NORTH SEA. 331 



Nile" is very considerably increased by the allu- 

 vium deposited annually by the inundations of the 

 river, as ascertained by the marks on some ancient 

 nilometers and statues, the dates of which have 

 been traced and compared by Girard, with the cor- 

 responding historical periods. In the quarter of 

 Thebes, where the statue of Memnon is erected, 

 the increase of the soil since the commencement of 

 the Christian era, is l m .924 (6 feet 3.7 inches), or 

 this process may be stated as going forward at the 

 rate of 0 m .106 (4.17 inches), in the course of each 

 century. The magnitude of the deposites at the 

 mouths of the Nile in the bed of the Mediterra- 

 nean appears to be no less surprising. It is re- 

 marked, that the Isle of Pharos, which, in the 

 time of Homer, was a day's journey from the coast, 

 is now united to the continent. 



If, then, we compare these effects with the same 

 process, going forward in a certain proportionate 

 rate over all parts of the globe, and where the same 

 facilities for these depositions being made on firm 

 ground are not afforded, we shall find that the 

 quantity of deposite in the bottom of the ocean 

 must be so considerable as to affect the level of the 

 waters of the ocean. 



In thus disposing of the waste of the surround- 

 ing land beyond the accumulation of the sunken 

 banks of the German Ocean, we are not left at any 

 loss for a distributing cause, as this is provided by 

 the tides and currrents of the sea ; and with regard 



