RELATIVE ANTIQUITY OF MOUNTAIN-CHAINS.

That the different parts of our continents have been elevated, in succession, to their present height above the level of the sea, is an opinion which has been gradually gaining ground with the progress of science; but no one before M. Elie de Beaumont had the merit even of attempting to collect together the recorded facts which bear on this subject, and to reduce them to one systematic whole. The above-mentioned geologist was eminently qualified for the task, as one who had laboured industriously in the field of original observation, and who combined a considerable knowledge of facts with an ardent love of generalization.

But he has been ambitious, we think unfortunately, of anticipating the march of discovery in reference to the comparative antiquity of different mountain-chains and their supposed connexion with changes in the animate world. His speculations differ entirely from the conclusions to which we have arrived, and we therefore think it necessary to explain fully the reasons of our dissent. In order to put the reader in possession of the principal points of M. de Beaumont's theory, we shall first offer a brief sketch of them, and then proceed to analyze the data on which they are founded.