CHAPTER XII

Summary

The second branch of our inquiry, respecting the changes of the organic world, relates to the effects produced by the powers of vitality on the state of the earth's surface, and on the material constituents of its crust.

By the effects produced on the surface, we mean those modifications in physical geography of which the existence of organic beings is the direct cause,—as when the growth of certain plants covers the slope of a mountain with peat, or converts a swamp into dry land; or when vegetation prevents the soil, in certain localities, from being washed away by running water.

By the agency of the powers of vitality on the material constituents of the earth's crust, we mean those permanent modifications in the composition and structure of new strata, which result from the imbedding therein of animal and vegetable remains. In this case, organic beings may not give rise immediately to any new features in the physical geography of certain tracts, which would not equally have resulted from the mere operation of inorganic causes; as, for example, if a lake be filling up with sediment, held in suspension by the waters of some river, and with mineral matter precipitated from the waters of springs, the character of the deposits may be modified by aquatic animals and plants, which may convert the earthy particles into shell, peat, and other substances : but the lake may, nevertheless, be filled up in the same time, and the new strata may be deposited in nearly the same order as would have prevailed if its waters had never been peopled by living beings.