344 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 
pied in their formation. In every case, we believe, tliey 
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 U'pheaval of the Scottish Coast has been 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 
aflPords 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 
