Principles of Geology: or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology

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PRINCIPLES

GEOLOGY.

[Illustration: VIEW OF THE TEMPLE OF SERAPIS AT PUZZUOLI IN 1836.]

PRINCIPLES

GEOLOGY;

OR,

THE MODERN CHANGES OF THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS

CONSIDERED AS ILLUSTRATIVE OF GEOLOGY.

SIR CHARLES LYELL, M.A. F.R.S.

VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON; AUTHOR OF "A MANUAL OF ELEMENTARY GEOLOGY," "TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA," "A SECOND VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES," ETC. ETC.

NEW AND ENTIRELY REVISED EDITION.

ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS, PLATES, AND WOODCUTS.

NEW YORK: D. APPLETON & CO., 346 & 348 BROADWAY.

M.DCCC.LIV.

"Vere scire est per causas scire."--BACON.

"The stony rocks are not primeval, but the daughters of Time."--LINNAEUS, _Syst. Nat._ ed. 5, _Stockholm_, 1748, p. 219.

"Amid all the revolutions of the globe, the economy of nature has been uniform, and her laws are the only things that have resisted the general movement. The rivers and the rocks, the seas and the continents have been changed in all their parts; but the laws which direct those changes, and the rules to which they are subject, have remained invariably the same."--PLAYFAIR, _Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory_, Section 374.

"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 a part of the order of Nature, and is visible in instances to which human power cannot have extended."--PLAYFAIR, _Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory_, Section 413.

PREFACE TO THE NINTH EDITION.

The Principles of Geology in the first five editions embraced not only a view of the _modern changes_ of the earth and its inhabitants, as set forth in the present work, but also some account of those monuments of analogous changes of _ancient_ date, both in the organic and inorganic world, which it is the business of the geologist to interpret. The subject last mentioned, or "geology proper," constituted originally a fourth book, now omitted, the same having been enlarged into a separate treatise, first published in 1838, in one volume 12mo., and called "The Elements of Geology," afterwards recast in two volumes 12mo. in 1842, and again re-edited under the title of "Manual of Elementary Geology," in one volume 8vo. in 1851. The "Principles" and "Manual" thus divided, occupy, with one exception, to which I shall presently allude, very different ground. The "Principles" treat of such portions of the economy of existing nature, animate and inanimate, as are illustrative of Geology, so as to comprise an investigation of the permanent effects of causes now in action, which may serve as records to after ages of the present condition of the globe and its inhabitants. Such effects are the enduring monuments of the ever-varying state of the physical geography of the globe, the lasting signs of its destruction and renovation, and the memorials of the equally fluctuating condition of the organic world. They may be regarded, in short, as a symbolical language, in which the earth's autobiography is written.

In the "Manual of Elementary Geology," on the other hand, I have treated briefly of the component materials of the earth's crust, their arrangement and relative position, and their organic contents, which, when deciphered by aid of the key supplied by the study of the modern changes above alluded to, reveal to us the annals of a grand succession of past events--a series of revolutions which the solid exterior of the globe, and its living inhabitants, have experienced in times antecedent to the creation of man.

In thus separating the two works, however, I have retained in the "Principles" (book i.) the discussion of some matters which might fairly be regarded as common to both treatises; as for example, an historical sketch of the early progress of geology, followed by a series of preliminary essays to explain the facts and arguments which lead me to believe that the forces now operating upon and beneath the earth's surface may be the same, both in kind and degree, as those which at remote epochs have worked out geological changes. (See Analysis of Contents of this work, p. ix.)

If I am asked whether the "Principles" or the "Manual" should be studied first, I feel much the same difficulty in answering the question as if a student should inquire whether he ought to take up first a treatise on Chemistry, or one on Natural Philosophy, subjects sufficiently distinct, yet inseparably connected. On the whole, while I have endeavored to make each of the two treatises, in their present form, quite independent of the other, I would recommend the reader to study first the modern changes of the earth and its inhabitants as they are discussed in the present volume, proceeding afterwards to the classification and interpretation of the monuments of more remote ages.

CHARLES LYELL.

_11 Harley Street, London_, May 24, 1853.

_Dates of the successive Editions of the "Principles" and "Elements" (or Manual) of Geology, by the Author._

Principles, 1st vol. in octvo, published in Jan. 1830. ----------, 2d vol. do. do. Jan. 1832. ----------, 1st vol. 2d edition in octavo 1832. ----------, 2d vol. 2d edition do. Jan. 1833. ----------, 3d vol. 1st edition do. May, 1833. ----------, New edition (called the 3d) of the whole work in 4 vols. 12mo May, 1834. ----------, 4th edition, 4 vols. 12mo June, 1835. ----------, 5th do. do. do. Mar. 1837. Elements, 1st edition in one vol July, 1838. Principles, 6th do. 3 vols. 12mo June, 1840. Elements, 2d edition in 2 vols. 12mo July, 1841. Principles, 7th edition in one vol. 8vo Feb. 1847. ----------, 8th edition in one vol. 8vo May, 1850. Manual of Elementary Geology (or "Elements," 3d edition) in one vol. 8vo Jan. 1851. Manual, 4th edition, one vol. 8vo Jan. 1852. Principles, 9th edition, now published in one vol. 8vo June, 1853.

ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENTS OF THE PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY.

BOOK I. (CHAPTERS I. TO XIII.)

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF GEOLOGY, WITH A SERIES OF ESSAYS TO SHOW THAT THE MONUMENTS OF THE ANCIENT STATE OF THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS, WHICH THIS SCIENCE INTERPRETS, CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD BY A PREVIOUS ACQUAINTANCE WITH TERRESTRIAL CHANGES NOW IN PROGRESS, BOTH IN THE ORGANIC AND INORGANIC WORLDS.

CHAPTER I. Geology defined--Its relation to other Sciences Page 1

CHAPTER II. Oriental and Egyptian Cosmogonies--Doctrines of the Greeks and Romans bearing on Geology 4

CHAPTER III. Historical progress of Geology--Arabian Writers--Italian, French, German, and English geologists before the 19th century--Physico-theological school 17

CHAPTER IV. Werner and Hutton--Modern progress of the science 46

CHAPTER V. Prepossessions in regard to the duration of past time, and other causes which have retarded the progress of Geology 61

CHAPTER VI. Agreement of the ancient and modern course of nature considered--Changes of climate 73

CHAPTERS VII. VIII. Causes of vicissitudes in climate, and their connection with changes in physical geography 92, 114

CHAPTER IX. Theory of the progressive development of organic life at successive periods considered--Modern origin of Man 130

CHAPTER X. Supposed intensity of aqueous forces at remote periods--Erratic blocks--Deluges 153

CHAPTER XI. Supposed former intensity of the igneous forces--Upheaval of land--Volcanic action 160

CHAPTER XII. Causes of the difference in texture of older and newer rocks--Plutonic and Metamorphic action 175

CHAPTER XIII. Supposed alternate periods of repose and disorder--Opposite doctrine, which refers geological phenomena to an uninterrupted series of changes in the organic and inorganic world, unattended with general catastrophes, or the development of paroxysmal forces 180

BOOK II. (CHAPTERS XIV. to XXXII.)

OBSERVED CHANGES IN THE INORGANIC WORLD NOW IN PROGRESS: FIRST, THE EFFECTS OF AQUEOUS CAUSES, SUCH AS RIVERS, SPRINGS, GLACIERS, WAVES, TIDES, AND CURRENTS; SECONDLY, OF IGNEOUS CAUSES, OR SUBTERRANEAN HEAT, AS EXHIBITED IN THE VOLCANO AND THE EARTHQUAKE.

CHAPTER XIV. Aqueous causes--Excavating and transporting power of rivers 198

CHAPTER XV. Carrying power of river-ice--Glaciers and Icebergs 219

CHAPTER XVI. Phenomena of springs 232

CHAPTER XVII. Reproductive effects of rivers--Deltas of lakes and inland seas 251

CHAPTER XVIII. Deltas of the Mississippi, Ganges, and other rivers exposed to tidal action 263

CHAPTERS XIX. XX. XXI. Denuding, transporting, and depositing agency of the waves, tides, and currents--Waste of sea-cliffs on the coast of England--Delta of the Rhine--Deposition of sediment under the influence of marine currents 290, 321, 337

CHAPTER XXII. Observed effects of igneous causes--Regions of active volcanoes 344

CHAPTERS XXIII. XXIV. History of the volcanic eruptions of the district round Naples--Structure of Vesuvius--Herculaneum and Pompeii 360, 375

CHAPTER XXV. Etna--Its eruptions--Structure and antiquity of the cone 396

CHAPTER XXVI. Volcanoes of Iceland, Mexico, the Canaries, and Grecian Archipelago--Mud volcanoes 424

CHAPTER XXVII. Earthquakes and the permanent changes attending them 451

CHAPTER XXVIII. Earthquake of 1783 in Calabria 471

CHAPTER XXIX. Elevation and subsidence of dry land, and of the bed of the sea during earthquakes--Evidence of the same afforded by the Temple of Serapis near Naples 493

CHAPTER XXX. Elevation and subsidence of land in regions free from volcanoes and earthquakes--Rising of land in Sweden 519