CHAPTER II.

THEORY OF DENUDATION ILLUSTRATED BY FACTS.

Principle of Reasoning common to all the Physical Sciences--This Principle applicable to Geology--Carbonic Acid an Agent of Denudation--Vast Quantity of Lime dissolved by the Waters of the Rhine and borne away to the German Ocean--Disintegration of Rocks by Frost--Professor Tyndall on the Matterhorn--Running Water--its Erosive Power--an active and unceasing Agent of Denudation--Mineral Sediment carried out to Sea by the Ganges and other great Rivers--Solid Rocks undermined and worn away--Falls of the Clyde at Lanark--Excavating Power of Rivers in Auvergne and Sicily--Falls of Niagara--Transporting Power of Running Water--Floods in Scotland--Inundation in the Valley of Bagnes in Switzerland, 47