statement of Marsilli, that the earthy deposits of the coast of
Languedoc form a stony substance, for which reason he ascribes a certain
bituminous, saline, and glutinous nature to the substances brought down
with sand by the Rhone.[349] If the number of mineral springs charged
with carbonate of lime which fall into the Rhone and its feeders in
different parts of France be considered, we shall feel no surprise at
the lapidification of the newly deposited sediment in this delta. It
should be remembered, that the fresh water introduced by rivers being
lighter than the water of the sea, floats over the latter, and remains
upon the surface for a considerable distance. Consequently it is exposed
to as much evaporation as the waters of a lake; and the area over which
the river-water is spread, at the junction of great rivers and the sea,
may well be compared, in point of extent, to that of considerable lakes.

Now, it is well known, that so great is the quantity of water carried
off by evaporation in some lakes, that it is nearly equal to the water
flowing in; and in some inland seas, as the Caspian, it is quite equal.
We may, therefore, well suppose that, in cases where a strong current
does not interfere, the greater portion not only of the matter held
mechanically in suspension, but of that also which is in chemical
solution, may be precipitated at no great distance from the shore. When
these finer ingredients are extremely small in quantity, they may only
suffice to supply crustaceous animals, corals, and marine plants, with
the earthy particles necessary for their secretions; but whenever it is
in excess (as generally happens if the basin of a river lie partly in a
district of active or extinct volcanoes), then will solid deposits be
formed, and the shells will at once be included in a rocky mass.

_Coast of Asia Minor._--Examples of the advance of the land upon the sea
are afforded by the southern coast of Asia Minor. Admiral Sir F.
Beaufort has pointed out in his survey the great alterations effected
since the time of Strabo, where havens are filled up, islands joined to
the mainland, and where the whole continent has increased many miles in
extent. Strabo himself, on comparing the outline of the coast in his
time with its ancient state, was convinced, like our countryman, that
it had gained very considerably upon the sea. The new-formed strata of
Asia Minor consist _of stone_, not of loose incoherent materials. Almost