Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, Vol. 13: 1894 97
Even if the Science Of Geology had no existence, if the structure Of the earth's crust were absolutely unknown to us, nevertheless the researches Of the zoologist and botanist would have convinced us that the present distribution of land and water could by no means have existed unchanged Since the beginning Of terrestrial history. Were it otherwise - were the present configuration of the earth's surface a matter of primordial arrangement, and immutable, then the innumerable problems connected with the distribution of animals and plants would be absolutely insoluble, unless upon the entirely unscientific hypothesis of special creation.
Geology teaches us, however - by the amplest and clearest evidence - that the present state of things is only the last phase of a long series of mutations, which began with the first formation of the solid crust, and which are still in progress. These changes are generally admitted to be the result of differential movements Of the crust, by which certain areas undergo elevation or are pushed up, while others are depressed or Sink down. The primary cause Of these earth-movements is to be found in the slow contraction of the globe, consequent on the loss of its internal heat by radiation; a subsidiary, but probably very active cause being the transference of material from one area to another, as the result of denudation. Roughly speaking, the elevated areas of the earth's crust are the dry lands, while the depressed areas constitute the ocean-basins.
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