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PRINCIPLES
OF
GEOLOGY,
BEING
AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE FORMER CHANGES
OF THE EARTH'S SURFACE,
BY REFERENCE TO CAUSES NOW IN OPERATION.
BY
CHARLES LYELL, ESQ., F.R.S.
FOR. SEC. TO THE GEOL. SOC., PROF. OF GEOL. TO KING'S COLL., LONDON
"The inhabitants of the globe, like all the other parts of it, are
subject to change. It is
not only the individual that perishes, but whole species."
"A change in the animal kingdom seems to be part of the order of
nature, and is visible
in instances to which human power cannot have extended." --
PLAYFAIR, Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory, § 413.
VOLUME THE SECOND.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
MDCCCXXXII.
LONDON:
Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES
Stamford Street.
TO
WILLIAM JOHN BRODERIP, ESQ., B. A.,
BARRISTER AT LAW,
F.R.S., P.L.S., ETC.,
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
In dedicating this volume to you, I am glad of an
opportunity of acknowledging the kind interest which you
have uniformly taken in the success of my labours, and the
valuable assistance which you have afforded me in several
departments of Natural History.
I am,
My Dear Friend,
Yours, very sincerely,
CHARLES LYELL.
London, December 8th, 1831.
PREFACE
THE author has found it impossible to compress into two
volumes, according to his original plan, the wide range of
subjects which must be discussed, in order fully to explain his
views respecting the causes of geological phenomena. As it
will, therefore, be necessary to extend the " Principles of
Geology" to three volumes, he prefers the publication of the
present part without delay, because it brings to a close one
distinct branch of the inquiry, the study of which will be found
absolutely essential to the understanding of the theories hereafter to be proposed. Considerable progress has already been
made in the remainder of the work, which will shortly be laid
before the public.
London, December 8th, 1831.
CONTENTS
- Front
Matter
- Chapter 1: Changes of the Organic World now in progress
Division of the Subject Examination of the question, Whether Species
have a real existence in Nature? Importance of this question in
Geology Sketch of Lamarck's arguments in favour of the Transmutation
of Species, and his conjectures respecting the Origin of existing
Animals and Plants His Theory of the transformation of the Orang
Outang into the Human Species
- Chapter 2:
Recapitulation of the arguments in favour of the
theory of transmutation of species Their insufficiency The
difficulty of discriminating species mainly attributable to a defective
knowledge of their history Some mere varieties possibly more distinct
than certain individuals of distinct species Variability in a species
consistent with a belief that the limits of deviation are fixed No
facts of transmutation authenticated Varieties of the Dog The Dog
and Wolf distinct Species Mummies of various animals from Egypt
identical in character with living individuals Seeds and plants from
the Egyptian tombs Modifications produced in plants by agriculture and
gardening
- Chapter 3: Variability of a species compared to that of an
individual Species which are susceptible of modification may be
altered greatly in a short time, and in a few generations; after which
they remain stationary The animals now subject to man had originally
an aptitude to domesticity Acquired peculiarities which become
hereditary have a close connexion with the habits or instincts of the
species in a wild state Some qualities in certain animals have been
conferred with a view of their relation to man Wild elephant
domesticated in a few years, but its faculties incapable of further
development
- Chapter 4:
Consideration of the question whether species have
a real existence in nature, continued Phenomena of hybrids Hunter's
opinions as to mule animals Mules not strictly intermediate between
the parent species Hybrid plants Experiments of Kφlreuter The same
repeated by Wiegmann Vegetable hybrids prolific throughout several
generations Why so rare in a wild state Decandolle's opinion
respecting hybrid plants The phenomena of hybrids confirms the
doctrine of the permanent distinctness of species Theory of the
gradation in the intelligence of animals as indicated by the facial
angle Discovery of Tieddemann that the brain of the foetus in mammalia
assumes successively the form of the brain of a fish, reptile, and bird
Bearing of this discovery on the theory of progressive development and
transmutation Recapitulation
- Chapter 5:
Laws which regulate the geographical distribution
of species Analogy of climate not attended with identity of species
Botanical geography Stations Habitations Distinct provinces of
indigenous plants Vegetation of islands Marine vegetation In what
manner plants become diffused Effects of wind, rivers, marine currents
Agency of animals Many seeds pass through the stomachs of animals
and birds undigested Agency of man in the dispersion of plants, both
voluntary and involuntary Its analogy to that of the inferior animals
- Chapter 6: Geographical distribution of Animals Buffon on
the specific distinctness of the quadrupeds of the old and new world
Different regions of indigenous mammalia Quadrupeds in islands Range
of the Cetacea Dissemination of quadrupeds Their powers of swimming
Migratory instincts Drifting of quadrupeds on ice-floes On
floating islands of drift-timber Migrations of Cetacea Habitations
of Birds Their migrations and facilities of diffusion Distribution
of Reptiles and their powers of dissemination
- Chapter 7: Geographical distribution and migrations of fish
Of testacea Causes which limit the extension of many species Their
mode of diffusion Geographical range of zoophytes Their powers of
dissemination Distribution of insects Migratory instincts of some
species Certain types characterize particular countries Their means
of dissemination Geographical distribution and diffusion of man
Speculations as to the birth-place of the human species Progress of
human population Drifting of canoes to vast distances On the
involuntary influence of man in extending the range of many other
species
- Chapter 8: Theories respecting the original introduction of
species Proposal of an hypothesis on this subject Supposed centres
or foci of creation Why the distinct provinces of animals and plants
have not become more blended together Brocchi's speculations on the
loss of species Stations of plants and animals Complication of
causes on which they depend Stations of plants, how affected by
animals Equilibrium in the number of Species, how preserved Peculiar
efficacy of insects in this task Rapidity with which certain insects
multiply, or decrease in numbers Effect of omnivorous animals in
preserving the equilibrium of species Reciprocal influence of aquatic
and terrestrial species on each other
- Chapter 9: The circumstances which constitute the Stations of
Animals are changeable Extension of the range of one species alters
the condition of others Supposed effects which may have followed the
first entrance of the Polar Bears into Iceland The first appearance of
a new species in a region causes the chief disturbance Changes known
to have resulted from the advance of human population Whether man
increases the productive powers of the earth Indigenous Quadrupeds and
Birds of Great Britain known to have been extirpated Extinction of the
Dodo Rapid propagation of the domestic Quadrupeds over the American
Continent Power of exterminating species no prerogative of Man
Concluding Remarks
- Chapter 10: Influence of inorganic causes in changing the
habitations of species Powers of diffusion indispensable, that each
species may maintain its ground How changes in the physical geography
affect the distribution of species Rate of the change of species
cannot be uniform, however regular the action of the inorganic causes
Illustration derived from subsidences by earthquakes From the
elevation of land by the same From the formation of new islands From
the wearing through of an isthmus Each change in the physical
geography of large regions must occasion the extinction of species
Effects of a general alteration of climate on the migration of species
Gradual refrigeration causes species in the northern and southern
hemispheres to become distinct Elevation of temperature the reverse
Effects in the distribution of species which must result from
vicissitudes in climate inconsistent with the theory of transmutation
- Chapter 11:
Theory of the successive extinction of species
consistent with their limited geographical distribution The
discordance in the opinions of botanists respecting the centres from
which plants have been diffused may arise from changes in physical
geography subsequent to the origin of living species Whether there are
grounds for inferring that the loss from time to time of certain animals
and plants is compensated by the introduction of new species? Whether
any evidence of such new creations could be expected within the
historical era, even if they had been as frequent as cases of
extinction? The question whether the existing species have been
created in succession can only be decided by reference to geological
monuments
- Chapter 12:
Effects produced by the powers of vitality on the
state of the earth's surface Modifications in physical geography
caused by organic beings on dry land inferior to those caused in the
subaqueous regions Why the vegetable soil does not augment in
thickness Organic matter drifted annually to the sea, and buried in
subaqueous strata Loss of nourishment from this source, how supplied
The theory, that vegetation is an antagonist power counterbalancing the
degradation caused by running water, untenable That the igneous causes
are the true antagonist powers, and not the action of animal and
vegetable life Conservative influence of vegetation Its bearing on
the theory of the formation of valleys, and on the age of the cones of
certain extinct volcanos Rain diminished by the felling of forests
Distribution of the American forests dependent on the direction of the
predominant winds Influence of man in modifying the physical geography
of the globe
- Chapter 13: Effects produced by the action of animal and
vegetable life on the material constituents of the earth's crust
Imbedding of organic remains in deposits on emerged land Growth of
Peat Peat abundant in cold and humid climates Site of many ancient
forests in Europe now occupied by Peat Recent date of many of these
changes Sources of Bog iron-ore Preservation of animal substances in
Peat Causes of its antiseptic property Miring of quadrupeds
Bursting of the Solway Moss Bones of herbivorous quadrupeds found in
Peat Imbedding of animal remains in Caves and Fissures Formation of
bony breccias Human bones and pottery intermixed with the remains of
extinct quadrupeds in caves in the South of France Inferences
deducible from such associations
- Chapter 14:
Imbedding of organic remains in alluvium and the
ruins caused by landslips Effects of sudden inundations Of landslips
Terrestrial animals most abundantly preserved in alluvium and
landslips, where earthquakes prevail Erroneous theories which may
arise from overlooking this circumstance On the remains of works of
art included in alluvial deposits Imbedding of organic bodies and
human remains in blown sand Temple of Ipsambul on the Nile Dried
carcasses of animals buried in the sands of the African deserts Towns
overwhelmed by sand-floods in England and France Imbedding of organic
bodies and works of art in volcanic formations on the land Cities and
their inhabitants buried by showers of ejected matter by lava In
tuffs or mud composed of volcanic sand and ashes
- Chapter 15: Imbedding of organic remains in subaqueous
deposits Division of the subject Phenomena relating to terrestrial
animals and plants first considered Wood sunk to a great depth in the
sea instantly impregnated with salt-water Experiments of Scoresby
Drift timber carried by the Mackenzie into Slave Lake and into the sea
Cause of the abundance of drift timber in this river Floating trees in
the Mississippi In the Gulf stream Immense quantity thrown upon the
coast of Iceland, Spitzbergen, and Labrador Imbedding of the remains
of insects Of the remains of reptiles Why the bones of birds are so
rare in subaqueous deposits Imbedding of terrestrial quadrupeds
Effects of a flood in the Solway Firth Wild horses annually drowned in
the savannahs of South America Skeletons in recent shell marl
Drifting of mammiferous and other remains by tides and currents
- Chapter 16:
Imbedding of the remains of man and his works in
subaqueous strata Drifting of bodies to the sea by river-inundations
Destruction of bridges and houses Burial of human bodies in the sea
Loss of lives by shipwreck Circumstances under which human corpses may
be preserved under a great thickness of recent deposits Number of
wrecked vessels Durable character of many of their contents Examples
of fossil skeletons of men Of fossil canoes, ships, and works of art
Of the chemical changes which certain metallic instruments have
undergone after long submergence Effects of the subsidence of land in
imbedding cities and forests in subaqueous strata Earthquake of Cutch
in 1819 Submarine forests Berkely's arguments for the recent date of
the creation of man Concluding remarks
- Chapter 17:
Imbedding of aquatic species in subaqueous strata
Inhumation of freshwater plants and animals Shell marl Fossilized
seed-vessels and stems of Chara Recent deposits in the American lakes
Fresh-water species drifted into seas and estuaries Lewes levels
Alternations of marine and freshwater strata, how caused Imbedding of
marine plants and animals Cetacea stranded on our shores Their
remains should be more conspicuous in marine alluvium than the bones of
land quadrupeds Liability of littoral and estuary testacea to be swept
into the deep sea Effects of a storm in the Frith of Forth Burrowing
shells secured from the ordinary action of waves and currents Living
testacea found at considerable depths
- Chapter 18: Formation of coral reefs They are composed of
shells as well as corals Conversion of a submerged reef into an island
Extent and thickness of coral formations The Maldiva isles Growth
of coral not rapid Its geological importance Circular and oval forms
of coral islands Shape of their lagoons Causes of their peculiar
configuration Openings into the lagoons Why the windward side both
in islands and submerged reefs is higher than the leeward
Stratification of coral formations Extent of some reefs in the Pacific
That the subsidence by earthquakes in the Pacific exceeds the
elevation due to the same cause Elizabeth, or Henderson's Island
Coral and shell limestones now in progress, exceed in area any known
group of ancient rocks The theory that all limestone is of animal
origin, considered The hypothesis that the quantity of calcareous
matter has been and is still on the increase, controverted
- Description of the Plates and Map
- Index
ERRATA
Frontispiece, for Montagnola
read Montagnuola
Page 39, line 2 from the bottom, for excusively read exclusively
131 -- 14 -- top -- Hypnum -- Sphagnum
147 -- 21 -- top, dele of.
178 -- 8 -- top, for even read ever.
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