German Ocean^ or North Seat 
bulk of the fluid, and has therefore a direct tendency to produce 
the derangement which we are here endeavouring to describe. 
A striking illustration of this doctrine may be drawn from 
M. Girard’s able and ingenious observations on the delta of 
Egypt, made in 1799, and published in the Mem. de VAcad. fot 
18i7, in a memoir Snr la ValUe d^Egypte^ et sur T exJiaussement 
seculaire du Sot qui la recouvre. It appears that the whole soil 
of the ‘‘ Valley of the Nile” is very considerably increased by 
the alluvium deposited annually by the inundations of the Nile, 
as ascertained by the marks on some ancient nilometers and 
statues, the dates of which have been traced and compared by 
Girard, with the corresponding 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 1”^.924! 
(6 feet 8.7 inches), or this process may be stated as going forward 
at the rate of 0«i.l06 (4.17 inches), in the course of each cen- 
tury. The magnitude of the deposites at the mouths of the 
Nile in the bed of the Mediterranean appears to be no less sur- 
prising. It is remarked, that the Isle of Pharos, which, in the 
time of Homer, was a day’s journey from the coast of Egypt, 
is now united to the continent. 
If, then, we compare these effects with the same pi^oCesS^ 
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 surrounding land beyond 
the accumulation of the sunken banks in the German Ocean, we 
are not left at any loss for a distributing cause, as this is provided 
by the tides and currents of the sea ; and with regard to their 
action we have many proofs, even at very considerable depths, 
by the breaking up of the wrecks of ships, the occasional drift 
of sea-weed, and also drift timber, nuts, &c. into regions far 
distant from those in which they are spontaneously produced. 
The dispersion of fishes, evinced by their disappearance from 
the fishing-grounds in stormy weather, tends to shew the dis- 
turbance of the waters of the ocean to the depth of 80 or 4# 
fathoms. This observation I have frequently had an opportu^ 
