ample evidence of their marine origin.

"We are led, in this manner, to conclude that all the strata of the
earth, not only those consisting of such calcareous masses, but others
superincumbent upon these, have had their origin at the bottom of the
sea.

"The general amount of our reasoning is this, that nine-tenths, perhaps,
or ninety-nine-hundredths, of this earth, so far as we see, have been
formed by natural operations of the globe in collecting loose materials
and depositing them at the bottom of the sea; consolidating those
collections in various degrees, and either elevating those consolidated
masses above the level on which they were formed or lowering the level
of that sea.

"Let us now consider how far the other proposition of strata being
elevated by the power of heat above the level of the sea may be
confirmed from the examination of natural appearances. The strata formed
at the bottom of the ocean are necessarily horizontal in their position,
or nearly so, and continuous in their horizontal direction or extent.
They may be changed and gradually assume the nature of each other, so
far as concerns the materials of which they are formed, but there cannot
be any sudden change, fracture, or displacement naturally in the body
of a stratum. But if the strata are cemented by the heat of fusion,
and erected with an expansive power acting below, we may expect to find
every species of fracture, dislocation, and contortion in those bodies
and every degree of departure from a horizontal towards a vertical
position.

"The strata of the globe are actually found in every possible position:
for from horizontal they are frequently found vertical; from continuous
they are broken and separated in every possible direction; and from a
plane they are bent and doubled. It is impossible that they could have
originally been formed, by the known laws of nature, in their present
state and position; and the power that has been necessarily required
for their change has not been inferior to that which might have been
required for their elevation from the place in which they have been
formed."(2)

From all this, therefore, Hutton reached the conclusion that the
elevation of the bodies of land above the water on the earth's surface
had been effected by the same force which had acted in consolidating the
strata and giving them stability. This force he conceived to be exerted
by the expansion of heated matter.

"We have," he said,