German Ocean, or North Sea. 41^ 
Sea forms, to an almost unlimited extent of drainage from the 
surrounding countries, on which the change of the seasons, and 
the succession of rain and of drought upon the surface of the 
earth, are unceasingly producing their destructive effects. All 
have remarked the quantity of mud and debris with which every 
rill and river is charged, even after the gentlest shower ; espe- 
cially wherever the hand of the agriculturist is to be found. 
His labours in keeping up the fertilizing quality of the ground 
consist in a great measure in preparing a fresh matrix for the 
chemical process or the germination of the seeds of the earth, in 
lieu of that portion of the finely pulverised soil which the rains 
are perpetually carrying to the sea, as the grand receptacle and 
store-house of nature for these exuviae of the globe. From the 
effect of rills and rivulets, we should, perhaps, rather be apt to 
expect a greater deposition in the bed of sheltered bays and 
arms of the sea, than we really observe.. So that we can readily 
believe that the quantity of debris, even for a single year^ along 
such an extent of coast, may bear some consideration in respect 
to the bed of the German Ocean ; what, then, must these ef- 
fects produce in the lapse of ages ? 
Whatever be the cause, the fact is certain, that on almost 
every part of the shores of Great Britain and Ireland, and their 
connecting ’ islands, from the northernmost of the Shetland to 
the southernmost of the Scilly Islands, and also upon the shores 
of Holland, and part of France, particularly in the neighbourhood 
of Cherbourg, this wasting effect is going forward. These shores 
I have myself examined. But my inquiries have not been con- 
fined to the coasts which I have personally visited, having also,, 
through the kind attentions of some nautical friends, been en- 
abled to extend my investigations even to the remotest parts of 
the globe. The general result has been, that equally in the 
most sheltered seas, such as the Baltic and Mediterranean, and 
on the most exposed points and promontories of the coasts of 
North and South America, and the West India islands, abun- 
dant proofs occur, all tending to shew the general waste of the 
land by the encroachments of the sea. Such wasting effects are 
quite familiar to those locally acquainted with particular por- 
tions of the shores ; and I have often received their testimony 
von. III. NO. 5. JULY 1820. 
D 
