Some portions of the earth are sinking while others are rising. The millions of cubic feet of matter deposited daily in the oceans by rivers would be sufficient to accomplish this. Every pound of matter thus transferred, _is an energy transferred_. In the course of 1,000 years, 1,000 square miles of oceanic bottom would be covered to the depth of 240 feet. This enormous pressure on the underlying rocks is so much transferred energy converted into mechanical heat. This must expand the rocks thus under increased pressure. If this sediment were not borne into the ocean along the Atlantic coast and spread out over vast areas it would be lined with mountains and volcanoes, as that of the Mediterranean sea; but being spread out over an extensive floor it prevents their formation by lateral pressure. Volcanoes are located where sediments can accumulate, and are doubtless the result of this accumulation. Sixty-five thousand feet of steel blocks piled one upon another would cause sufficient heat to melt the lower ones or reduce them to a plastic state. The lava that issues from a volcano is the deep bed-rock fused by pressure produced by lateral expansion. Accumulating sediments cause rock expansion in some regions, and being removed from others, causes contraction. Expansion elevates the earth’s crust; contraction lowers it. A downfall of water that would raise the ocean fifty feet above its present level would cause an expansion that no rocks could resist, and its lateral pressure must result in mountain making. The New England coast has been elevated in comparatively recent times. The St. Lawrence is so new that it has not yet swept its channel clean. From Nova Scotia to Florida and around the whole boundary of the Gulf of Mexico are the submerged shore-lines of a former continent. Many miles out the lead-line suddenly plunges from about 100 fathoms to from 200 to 1,500 fathoms. So around the British Isles, the coast of Norway, and that of Northern Europe and Asia. South America, Africa and the Pacific present the same characteristics. The course of a submerged continent has been traced in mid-ocean. SUMMARY. The Vailan Theory is proved, 1. By mathematical reasoning and philosophic necessity. 2. By the mineral character and philosophical deposition of strata. 3. By analagous facts relating to other worlds, belted and ringed under the reign of law. 4. By the action of the moon. 5. By the records of man whose ancient writings declare, and re-declare, again and again, the truth of this claim. The first eight chapters of Genesis alone afford proof sufficient if all else failed. 6. The waters on the earth themselves declare the fact. GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.