The author trusts that he may have succeeded in giving a sketch of the phenomena resulting from the action of subterranean forces, which, with his account of the wonders of the sea, of the tropics, and of the frozen regions, may impart to the reader a fair idea of the history and present condition of the wonderful world in which we live. SALON, NEAR LUDWIGSBURG: _July 6, 1871_. CONTENTS. ------- CHAPTER I. GEOLOGICAL REVOLUTIONS. The Eternal Strife between Water and Fire—Strata of Aqueous Origin—Tabular View of their Chronological Succession—Enormous Time required for their Formation— Igneous Action—Metamorphic Rocks—Upheaval and Depression—-Fossils—Uninterrupted Succession of Organic Life Page 1 CHAPTER II. FOSSILS. General Remarks—Eozoon Canadense—Trilobites—Brachiopods— Pterichthys Milleri—Oldest Reptiles—Wonderful Preservation of Colour in Petrified Shells—Primæval Corals and Sponges—Sea-lilies—Orthoceratites and Ammonites—-Belemnites—Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus— Pterodactyli—Iguanodon—Tertiary Quadrupeds—Dinotherium— Colossochelys Atlas—Megatherium—Mylodon—Glyptodon— Mammoth—Mastodon—Sivatherium Giganteum—Fossil Ripple- marks, Rain-drops, and Footprints—Harmony has reigned from the beginning 8 CHAPTER III. SUBTERRANEAN HEAT. Zone of invariable Temperature—Increasing Temperature of the Earth at a greater Depth—Proofs found in Mines and Artesian Wells, in Hot Springs and Volcanic Eruptions— The whole Earth probably at one time a fluid mass 31 CHAPTER IV. SUBTERRANEAN UPHEAVALS AND DEPRESSIONS. Oscillations of the Earth’s Surface taking place in the present day—First ascertained in Sweden—Examples of Contemporaneous Upheaval and Depression in France and England—Probable Causes of the Phenomenon 34 CHAPTER V. SUBTERRANEAN WATERS AND ARTESIAN WELLS. Subterranean Distribution of the Waters—Admirable Provisions of Nature—Hydrostatic Laws regulating the Flow of Springs—Thermal Springs—Intermittent Springs—The Geysir—Bunsen’s Theory—Artesian Wells—Le Puits de Grenelle—Deep Borings—Various Uses of Artesian Wells— Artesian Wells in Venice and in the Desert of Sahara 39 CHAPTER VI. VOLCANOES.