itself, in abstracting those of the others, more or less. Thus there are
several views in which the subject is to be examined, in order to find
facts with which the result of the theory may be compared, and by which
confirmation may be procured to our reasoning, as well as explanation of
the phenomena in question.



CHAPTER I.

_Facts in confirmation of the Theory of Elevating Land above the Surface
of the Sea._

The first object now to be examined, in confirmation of the theory, is
that change of posture and of shape which is so frequently found in
mountainous countries, among the strata which had been originally almost
plain and horizontal. Here it is also that an opportunity is presented
of having sections of those objects, by which the internal construction
of the earth is to be known. It is our business to lay before the reader
examples of this kind, examples which are clearly described, and which
may be examined at pleasure.

No person has had better opportunities of examining the structure of
mountains than M. de Saussure, and no body more capable of taking those
comprehensive views that are so necessary for the proper execution of
such a task. We shall therefore give some examples from this author,
who has every where described nature with a fidelity which even
inconsistency with his system could not warp. Speaking of the general
situation of the beds of the Saleve, (p. 179.)