Though Europe is naturally the best known of all the regions of the globe, yet even of its physical features an absolutely correct registration has not been attained. It is the only continent of which we possess an approximately complete cartography; but in spite of the geodetic labours which have been carried on since about the middle of last century with ever growing activity, much has still to be laid down on very unsatisfactory data. While in some districts, for instance, of England or France, we can find on our maps the exact locality of every hamlet or homestead, every streamlet or clump of trees, there are portions of several other countries where the main physical features are but vaguely indicated. A considerable part of Finland is practically unexplored; and it was not until 1875 that the labours of Kanitz furnished a fair representation of the Balkan range. Nor is it only about such outlying regions as Turkey and Finland that our information is either scanty or of the most recent acquisition; the topographical survey of Switzerland, which first provided the Alpine traveller with an authentic guide, was completed by Dufour only in 1865, and the corresponding surveys of England, Italy, Spain, Russia, <fcc., are still in progress. Till the last country in Europe has been thus triangulated, we must be content with more or less approximate estimates of areas and distances: in two recent statements of the area of Portugal there is a difference of no less than 104 English square miles (4 ’ 89 German geog. sq. m.,or 269 05 sq. kil.),— so that the possible error for the whole of the continent must be something considerable. Even the astronomical distance between Paris and Berlin cannot be given with absolute accuracy.

Owing to its peninsular conformation the present boundaries of Europe are on three sides easily stated: its western shores form the irregular rim of the great basin of the North Atlantic, and bear witness in their dilapidated headlands and sandy dunes to the power and fury of its tides and storms; on the N. it lies along the Arctic Ocean; aud on the S. it is separated from Africa and Asia by the Mediterranean, the Sea of Marmora, the Black Sea, and their connecting straits. Towards the east, on the other hand, the boundary is almost purely conventional: the Ural Mountains, indeed, may be regarded as furnishing a sort of natural barrier, but they leave a considerable gap both towards the N. and the S. In the S. the river Ural is usually accepted as the line of demarcation, though the plain through which it flows is perfectly similar on both sides, and it forms neither a geological, faunal, botanical, political, nor historical limit. In the administrative divisions of the Russian empire, which has no desire to make a severe distinction between its Asiatic and European territory, even the line of the Ural Mountains is disregarded: 39,545 square miles (1860 02 German geog. sq. miles, 102,4181 sq. kil.) of the government of Orenburg, 49,333 square miles (2320 ’ 425 German geog. sq. m., 127,769 ’ 3 sq. kil.) of the government of Perm, and 297 - 6 sq. miles (14 Germ, geog. sq. m., 812’9 sq. kil.) of the government of Ufa lie to the E. of the range. Across the peninsula between the Black Sea and the Caspian, the line of the Caucasus is now accepted as the boundary. The British islands have been separated from the Continent in a comparatively recent geological period, and really form the prominences of a submerged plateau which at one time must have presented a long and regular coast to the Atlantic. Iceland, though distant more than 600 miles, and geologically, it may be, of indej>endent origin, is usually reckoned as an outlying portion of Europe. Nova Zemlya and Waigatch may also be included; but Spitzbergen is more accurately assigned to the Arctic archipelago. In the Mediterranean the Balearic islands are conventionally attached to Spain, Corsica to France, and Sardinia, Sicily, and the Pantellarian grouplet to Italy. Malta is also regarded as European. Among the central islands of the great archipelago between the Balkan peninsula and Asia Minor it is hard to find a line of demarcation; but the Cyclades, as part of the kingdom of Greece, may be considered to belong to the western, and the rest of the islands to the eastern continent. Properly speaking, they are both Asiatic and European, and for that very reason neither European nor Asiatic. '

The four corners of Europe are marked by the mouth of the Kara ou the Arctic Ocean in the N.E., 69° N. lat. and 65° E. long.; by the North Cape on the Arctic Ocean in the N. W., 71° 1Γ N. lat. and 25° 50' E. long.; by Cape Tarifa on the Atlantic in the S.W., 36° N. lat. and 5° 36' W. long.; and by Cape Apsheron on the Caspian Sea in the S.E., 40° 12' N. lat. and 50° 20' E. long. Its most northern point as a continent is Cape Nordkun in Norway, 71° 7' N. lat.; its most southern, Cape Matapan in Greece, 36° 24' N. lat.; its most western, Cape da Roca in Portugal, 9° 31' W. long.; and its most eastern, a spot at the junction of the Ural range with the Grossland’s Ridge in 66° E. long. A line drawn from Cape St Vincent in Portugal to the Ural Mountains near Ekaterinburg has a length of 3293 miles, and finds it centre in the W. of Russian Poland. From the mouth of the Kara to the mouth of the Ural river the direct distance is 1600 miles, but the boundary line has a length of 2400 miles. The total area of the continent, according to Behm and Wagner’s calculation, is 179,833’37 German sq. miles, 9,902,149 sq. kilometres, or 3,823,383*32 English sq. miles; so that it forms rather more than a thirteenth part of the whole land surface of the globe. Asia is about 4⅜ times, and America about 4∣ times as large. The total population in round numbers is 309,178,300, which gives an average of 1719 for the German mile, 3U2 for the square kilometre, and 80 8 for the English sq. mile—considerably more than the average of any other of the continents.

Two of the most striking features in the general conformation of Europe are the great number of its primary and secondary peninsulas, and the consequent exceptional development of its coast-line,—an irregularity and development which have been the most potent of the physical factors of its history. The peninsulas which are of most historic interest are those which trend southward into the Mediterranean:—the Balkan peninsula terminating in the wonderful cluster of peninsulas aud islands which bears the name of Greece, the long Italian peninsula with Sicily at its foot, and the massive Pyrenean peninsula, so thoroughly shut off by its mountain isthmus that in ordinary language it is distinguished as the Peninsula par excellence. The northern peninsulas are much less symmetrical in their arrangement, and have exercised less influence on the history of Europe. The total coast-line is estimated at 19,820 miles, of which about 3600 belong to the Arctic Ocean, 8390 to the Atlantic, and 7830 to the Black Sea and Mediterranean. This gives 1 mile of coast to 192 miles of area, which is a higher rate than that of any of the other continents. Much of this coast-line, more especially in Norway and Spain, is of course practically useless as far as commerce is concerned, owing to the absence of natural harbours; but even when such portions are withdrawn, the facilities for maritime activity are exceptionally great. That so small a part of the total belongs to the Arctic Ocean, which lies ice-bound during many months of the year, and so large a part to the Mediterranean, with its comparative freedom from winter and storm, has been of no small importance to the progress of the European peoples.

The coast-line of Europe is in its general features very much the same as it was at the commencement of the true historic period; but when it is examined in detail it is found to have undergone a number of important local changes, some at least of which are due to causes that are at work over very extensive areas. These changes may be conveniently classified under four heads :—the formation of deltas by the alluvium of rivers; the increase of the land-surface due to upheaval; the advance of the sea by reason of its own erosive activity; and the advance of the sea through the subsidence of the land. The actual form of the coast, however, is frequently due to the simultaneous or successive action of several of the causes—sea and river and subterranean forces helping or resisting each other. Our information is naturally most complete in regard to the Mediterranean coasts, as these were the best known to our first bookwriting nations, There w e find that all the great rivers have been successfully at work—more especially the Rhone, the Ebro, and the Pυ. The activity of the Rhone, indeed, as a maker of new land, is really astonishing. The tower of St Louis, erected on the coast in 1737, is now upwards of four miles inland; the city of Arles is said to be nearly twice as far from the sea as it was in the Roman period. The present St Gilles was probably a harbour when the Greeks founded Marseilles, and Aigues Mortes, which took its place in the Middle Ages, was no longer on the coast in the time of St Louis. According to a calculation quoted by M. Reclus, the total alluvium of the river in the space of a year is 17,000,000 cubic metres, or 590,000,000 cubic feet; and this estimate is supported by M. Reybert, who found that the new land formed between 1841 and 1859 implied an annual deposit of nearly 19,000,000 cubic metres, or 671,000,000 cubic feet. The increase of the land is observable, not only in the immediate neighbourhood of the mouth, but round almost the whole of the gulf of Lyons, and is, of course, partly due to the alluvium of minor rivers. At the mouth of the Hérault, according to Fischer, the coast advances at least two metres or about seven feet annually; and it requires great labour to keep the harbour of Cette from being silted up. The Po is even more efficient than the Rhone, if the size of its basin be taken into account. Were it not counteracted in some measure, it would soon, with the assistance of the Isonzo, the Adige, and the neighbouring streams, turn the northern part of the Adriatic into a plain. Ravenna, which was at one time an insular city like Venice, has now a wide stretch of downs partly covered with pine forest between it and the sea. Aquileia, one of the greatest seaports of the Mediterranean in the early centuries of the Christain era, is now 7 miles from the coast, and Adria, which gives its name to the sea, is 13. And this increase of the land has gone on in spite of the fact that both cities are on the northern part of an area of subsidence which apparently extends southwards along the whole Dalmatian coast. The islands on which Venice is built have sunk about three feet since the 16th century: the pavement of the square of St Mark’s has frequently required to be raised, and the boring of a well has shown that a layer of vegetable remains, indicating a flora identical with that observed at present on the neighbouring mainland, exists at a depth of 400 feet below the alluvial deposits. At Zara ancient pavements and mosaics are found below the sea-level, and the district at the mouth of the Narenta has been changed into a swamp by the advance of the sea. A process of elevation, on the other hand, is indicated along nearly all the coasts of Sicily, round the bay of Naples and the bay of Gaieta, at the southern end of Sardinia, the east of Corsica, and perhaps in the neighbourhood of Nice. The borings of pholads are found at a height of 600 feet on Monte Pellegrino; the ancient harbour which gave its name to Palermo (Panormus) is now nearly covered by the modern town; and the Grotto of San Ciro, which now lies 6000 feet inland, and at a height of more than 220 feet, must have had a direct communication with the sea during the period of human occupation. That the rise thus rendered evident is taking place over a wide area is shown by similar facts observed on the African coast. The Tunisian harbour of Porto Farina, which had a depth of 30 or 40 feet in last century, can hardly be trusted for 2; and this change can only be very partially due to the action of the Medjenda river, as it brings down but little alluvium. If the movement be maintained the Mediterranean will again be divided into two basins by the old ridge between Sicily and Africa whose existence has been posited to explain the present distribution of zoological fossils. Passing eastward to the Balkan peninsula, we find considerable changes on the coast-line of Greece; but as they are only repetitions on a smaller scale of the phenomena already described, it is sufficient to indicate the Gulf of Arta and the mouth of the Spercheius as two of the more important localities. The latter especially is interesting to the historian as well a3 to the geologist, as the river has greatly altered the physical features of one of the world’s most famous scenes—the battle-field of Thermopylae.

If we proceed to the Atlantic seaboard we observe, as we might expect, great modifications in the embouchures of the Garonne and the Loire, but by far the most remarkable oscillations of sea and land have taken place in what are emphatically the Low Countries of Europe. It is one of the familiar facts of geography that a large par,t of the soil of Holland with its villages and cities is many feet below the level of the sea; but it is not so generally known that about a fifth of the area of the country is thus situated. The story of the contest carried on along the coast between man and nature has often been told, and is well worth the telling. If success is to be measured by the amount of territory acquired, nature has hitherto had the best of the battle, and no wonder, if it be true that the very ground on which man has built his ramparts against the sea is slowly sinking under his feet. Such, at least, is the opinion of Elie de Beaumont and other geologists of note: in fact the whole maritime region from the Scheldt to the Weser is an area of subsidence. The Dutchman, however, does not intend to give up the contest. It was only in 1395 that he finally lost possession of the 500,000 hectares or 1,236,570 English acres of good land which are now covered by the Zuyder Zee; aud he hopes to get the best part of it back again. A scheme has been proposed by which the whole southern portion, with an area of 195,000 hectares (481,872 acres) will be inclosed by a dyke extending from Enkhuizen to Kämpen; and the feasibility of the enterprise is sufficiently attested by the brilliant success of the Haarlem engineers who, at a cost of less than £7 65,000, have recovered the area of the Haarlem Lake which had been lost in the 16th century. Further east along the coast, between the Elbe and the Eider, it is hard to say whether land or sea is gaining: on the one hand it is stated that the ruins of the castle of chlei are now covered by the sea, and that a forest of historic identity is totally destroyed; while on the other it is equally certain that the parish of Busum in the north part of Ditmarsh was made laud-fast only in the 16th century, that the Friedrick Koog, an area of new alluvial land five miles long and two miles Droad, was endyked in 1853, and that islands are being formed further out towards the sea.

The Baltic shores of Germany display the same phenomena of local gain and loss; and there is more than a suspicion that the whole line lies along an area of subsidence. In the western section the inroads of the sea have been very extensive: the islaud of Rügen would no louger serve for the disembarkation of an army like that of Gustavus Adolphus; Wolliu and Usedom are growing gradually less; large stretches of the mainland are fringed with submerged forests; and at intervals the site of well-known villages is occupied by the sea. Towards the east the great rivers are successfully working in the opposite direction. In the gulf of Dantzic the alluvial deposits of the Vistula cover an area of 1G00 square kilometres or 615 square miles; in the 13th century the knights of Marienburg inclosed with dykes 900 sq. kil., or 346 sq. m., and 180 sq. kil., or 69 sq. m., were added in the course of the 14th. The Memel is silting up the Kurische Haff, which, like the Frische Haff, is separated from the open sea by a line of dunes comparable with those of the Landes in France.

A large amount of evidence has gradually accumulated in favour of the hypothesis that the Scandinavian peninsula is in process of elevation. Within the last two centuries fiords have been left dry or broken into lakes, reefs have been turned into islands, bays into pasture grounds. Μ. Reclus has pointed out that the presence of certain beds of oysters goes to show that the lakes Malar, Hjelmar, and Wener are remains of a channel which at no distant date communicated between the Baltic and the North Sea; but the facts of marine distribution, as stated by Forbes, are rather against the opinion of Celsius, that there was also a connexion with the Arctic Ocean as late as the time of the first Roman exploration. At Pitea, in the Gulf of Bothnia, the land is said to have gained a mile in 45 years, and at Lulea a mile in 28 years.

It is only right, however, to mention that the statements made in.the preceding paragraphs in regard to areas of subsidence and elevation are by several geologists considered to be of very dubious validity. The data, they believe, are much too slight and fragmentary for the...