169 
RAISED BEACHES AND THEIR ORIGIN. 
BY EDWARD HULL, B.A., F.G.S. 
Tf^HAT the coasts of our continents and islands change their 
level, while that of the ocean remains unaltered, is a 
fact in physical science first demonstrated by Sir C. Lyell in 
his celebrated work, “ The Principles of Geology The former 
proposition is capable of demonstration by a direct appeal to 
phenomena within the reach of all observers ; but the latter 
is a deduction arrived at by a process of reasoning. The 
immobility of the earth, which finds its popular expression 
in ancient literature, whether sacred or secular, is indeed 
only relative; for, neglecting for a moment the local and 
sudden paroxysms of earthquake-waves, we now know that 
the only changeless level on the face of our globe is that 
of the ocean. 
On the other hand, the earth on which we build our temples 
and palaces, and pierce with our deepest mines, is in some 
part or other undergoing a process of elevation or subsidence. 
The law of change has therefore been implanted in the 
material as well as the moral world; but it is mercifully 
ordained that in both cases — with occasional exceptions — the 
process should be slow, and frequently imperceptible, even 
through generations. The vertical movements of the land, 
though unfelt, are not the less real ; for they can be proved 
by an appeal to marks and monuments of ancient sea-action, 
to be found at intervals along our coasts, and at elevations far 
beyond the reach of the highest tides. Of the process of 
elevation now in progress, the shores of the Baltic offer the 
most interesting example ; and of depression, the northern 
coast of Egypt;* but for evident reasons, the latter is less 
capable of direct proof than the former. 
The action and effect of waves acting along various parts 
of our coast are familiar to almost every observer or inhabi- 
tant of our isles, now that there is a periodical migration from 
the interior to the sea-side. In most cases, the limit of the 
highest tides is marked by a precipitous bank or cliff (de- 
pending on the nature of the rock which forms the coast), 
from the base of which the shore descends with a gentle 
VOL. 
# See Lyell’s “ Antiquity of Man,” p. 35. 
\ — NO. XIX. 
