Ch. X.] 
TERTIARY FORMATIONS OF CAMPANIA. 
119 
we pointed out that, on the shores of the Bay of Baize, there 
are recent tufaceous strata filled with fabricated articles, min- 
gled with marine shells. It was also shown that the sea has 
been making gradual advances upon the coast, not only sweep- 
ing away the soft tuffs of the Bay of Baise, but excavating 
precipitous cliffs, where the hard Ischian and Vesuvian lavas 
have flowed down into the deep. 
These events, we shall be told, although interesting, are the 
results of operations on a very inferior scale to those indicated 
by geological monuments. When we examine this same re- 
gion, it will be said, we find that the ancient cone of Vesuvius, 
called Somma, is larger than the modern cone, and is inter- 
sected by a greater number of dikes, — the hills of unknown 
antiquity, such as Astroni, the Solfatara, and Monte Barbara, 
formed by separate eruptions, in different parts of the Phle- 
graean fields, far outnumber those of similar origin, which are 
recorded to have been thrown up within the historical era. 
In place of modern tuffs of slight thickness, and single flows 
of lava, we find, amongst the older formations, hills from 500 
to more than 2000 feet in height, composed of an immense 
series of tufaceous strata, alternating with distinct lava-cur- 
rents. We have evidence that in the lapse of past ages, 
districts, not merely a few miles square, were upraised to the 
height of 20 or 30 feet above their former level, but extensive 
and mountainous countries were uplifted to an elevation of more 
than 1000 feet, and at some points more than 2000 feet above 
the level of the sea. 
These and similar objections are made by those who com- 
pare the modern effects of igneous and aqueous causes, not with 
a part but with the whole results of the same agency in ante- 
cedent ages. Thus viewed in the aggregate, the leading 
geological features of each district must always appear to be 
on a colossal scale, just as a large edifice of striking architec- 
tural beauty seems an effort of superhuman power, until we 
reflect on the innumerable minute parts of which it is com- 
posed. A mountain mass, so long as the imagination is occu- 
