350 
Presuming, then, that the facts I have previously stated 
sufficiently prove, that towards the close of the tertiary era, 
the elevation of the land in this quarter of the globe was 
considerably less than at present, there would be a prepon- 
derance of water similar to that now existing in the southern 
hemisphere. We may imagine a large proportion of Europe 
to be submerged, while the mountainous districts of Scot- 
land, and of the northern counties of England, would be 
covered with perpetual snow, huge glaciers occupying the 
valleys, and bringing the spoils derived from the rocky 
summits to the shores of the sea, into which icebergs would 
be continually cast, and floating away covered with detritus, 
would deposit it in their course, either by grovmding in 
shallow water, or by their gradual dissolution, thus giving 
rise to an unstratified mass of clay and boulders. 
By the elevation of the bottom of the sea, the shallower 
parts would approach the surface, and now a new system of 
action would commence, — currents, and the rolling of the 
breakers, would affect the upper portion of the deposit, — stra- 
tification would result, — layers of sand and gravel, similar to 
those now found on sand-banks and sea beaches, would be 
formed, and some of those superficial appearances which 
have been considered most difficult of explanation would be 
produced. 
If I am correct in attributing the origin of my first and 
second divisions to these causes, we may consider the hil- 
locks and terraces in our northern valleys, comprising my 
third division, to be true moraines, left by the glaciers, as 
they retreated before the increased temperature attendant 
upon the gradual elevation of land ; and thus the varied 
appearances under consideration will have resulted from the 
same general cause. 
I am aware that many objections are urged against the 
adoption of the glacial theory : one of the most powerful 
