192 
GENERAL VIEWS. 
northern zones of the globe. (See Mr. Lyell on Elevation of Land in 
Scandinavia, Phil. Trans. 1835.) Admitting then the gradual elevation 
of the district in question after the production of the numerous sudden 
dislocations already described, let us inquire whether these phenomena 
can be referred to any general cause. Have the disturbing movements 
been caused by forces acting towards the centre, or from the centre 
of the globe ? by a general cooling of the surface and consequent collapse 
of the strata, or by local violence of subterranean chemical excitement ? 
The phenomena of one district certainly are insufficient to decide such 
a question, but as general inferences in geology can only arise from 
combining local truths, the tendency of the evidence in this region must 
be stated. 
A general collapse of the strata of the globe in consequence of re- 
frigeration of the subterranean regions, would bring the spherical area 
corresponding to one radius of the globe into the space corresponding 
to a shorter radius : the consequence would be not only fracture but 
bending of the superficial beds, until the adjustment were completed, 
and the lateral and vertical pressures balanced. On the contrary, expan- 
sion of the surface of the globe should be expected to leave traces of 
the stratified masses being borne to situations where they would not 
occupy the whole space, and bending strata indicative of lateral strains 
should be rare and exceptional. The greater part of the phenomena 
appear favourable to the view of the disturbances being accompanied 
by general contraction of the globe: the whole Ribblesdale system 
consists of undulations indicating lateral pressure ; and it is frequently 
seen among the faults of the Penine region that the dislocated beds 
bend upwards or downwards to the plane of the fault. The same is 
the case in many of the faults of the Newcastle coalfield. (See Dia<>-. 
No. 18.) 
It is remarkable, and by some geologists thought confirmatory of 
this view, that in the south-western part of the district in question, 
and along a considerable portion of the western coast of England and 
Wales, beds of marine shells in sand and gravel have been found under 
