Section 82. THE NECESSITY OF[1] VOLCANOES.
Reading edition
Section 82. THE NECESSITY OF[1] VOLCANOES.
The[2] remarkable proofs which modern geology has presented of vast accumulations of heated[3] and melted matter[4] beneath the earth’s crust[5], make it evident that (S. 3, N. 2) volcanoes are essential[6] to the preservation of the globe. If (App. § 36) there[7] were no safety-valves through[8] the crust, such vast accumulations of heat would rend asunder[9] even[10] a whole continent. Volcanoes are[11] those safety-valves[12], more than two hundred of which are scattered[13] over the earth’s surface. But if no such passages[14] existed (see S. 27, N. 8), nothing could prevent the[15] pent-up gases from accumulating till they had (Impf. Subj.) gained strength[16] enough to rend a whole continent, and[17] perhaps the whole globe, into fragments.—Rev. Prof. Hitchcock.