Noah and his family, from the face of the earth, was oned by the train of a comet, which passing near the was condensed upon it in the form of a deluge of s hardly necessary to say that such a supposition is at a single circumstance in favor of its probability, erefore, being entirely hypothetical, is unworthy of ents either for or against it. iston was the first who proposed that the first book nesis should be interpreted differently from its ordinaeptation, so that it should not be heretical to believe he earth had existed for an indefinite period before eation of animals, and man. He had the art to throw of truth or probability over the most whimsical and bable assumptions, and by absorbing the mind of the with mathematical calculations, to make him assent positions, which in themselves were utterly false. We might occupy our theories which have bee present appearances of this part of our subject, by an Kepler, and with a short Platonian doctrines. 1 Bafin's Theory. This hat of Leibnitz. He adds lent blow upon the sun, s arth is composed in a liq he other planets which c From such suppositions ata by which he arrived Thus by estimating the h ginally of the same tem e present heat of the ea a rate of cooling) how s far. Then as the ot at the same time with the same rules how m de larger ones, so as to and how far the smaller destroyed all anima He accounts for the sph nets from their being s With Leibnitz, cory of Leibnitz. Leibnitz was one of the most promathematicians of his time. His theory was pubin 1680, and is another curious specimen of imagiCosmogony. He supposed that this globe was oriy a luminous burning mass, and that from the time creation it had been gradually cooling. When the which surrounded it in the form of steam, became sed by the cooling of the earth, then the sea was 1, which at first entirely surrounded it in every part, as of such depth as to cover the highest mountains er consolidation of the earth by cooling, produced which opening into caverns beneath the crust, ada part of the universal ocean, thus leaving a porthe earth dry land, preparatory to the creation of and for his habitation. He imagined, also, that the rature of the earth was continually diminishing, and e level of the sea was constantly sinking. The first was considered as entirely groundless by succeeding gists, but recently the doctrine of subterranean heat een embraced by several respectable naturalists, and the prevailing foundation of the theories of earths and volcanoes. The gradual sinking of the sea, octrine which has had many strong advocates, and is upposed to have been proved by various tests. But be seen in the progress of this volume, that facts decided against this hypothesis. ce to its e enveloped the wh Mountains, and hence the evel of the sea. The w Thich opened into the ea present level. S blished, he received a Theology at Paris, & Some of his propositions the creed of the Ch follows. the mountains and valle Heavens reducing all Over to the sea, which su ill leave dry, new Co habit The objection that in the opinion of alleys of the earth ar were as "The 3 occupy our whole volume with the different ch have been proposed, to account for the rances of this earth, but we must close this bject, by an epitome of those of Buffon, and vith a short account of the Neptunian and trines. heory. This is principally an extension of tz. He adds another comet, which by a vion the sun, struck off the mass of which our osed in a liquid state, and with the earth, all ets which compose our system. suppositions, Buffon was enabled to assume 1 he arrived at several important conclusions. nating the heat of the sun (the earth being he same temperature) and comparing it with eat of the earth, it could be told (by assumcooling) how long it had taken to cool down en as the other planets had come from the ne time with the earth, it could be calculated ules how many ages is still required to cool es, so as to admit of their being inhabited, he smaller ones were now frozen, so as to d all animal life. s for the spherical form of the earth and other their being set in motion while in a semi-fluid Leibnitz, Buffon supposed that the ocean ed the whole earth, covering the highest d hence the appearance of shells far above the ea. The water afterwards ran into caverns I into the earth, and thus the ocean subsided = level. Soon, after Buffon's theory was received an official letter from the Faculty at Paris, dated January, 1751, stating that ropositions were reprehensible, and contrary of the Church. One of these propositions vs. "The waters of the sea have produced s and valleys of the land-the waters of the acing all to a level, will at last deliver all, , which successively prevailing over the land, y, new Continents like those which we inobjectionable doctrine seems to have been inion of Buffon the present mountains and me causes will destroy all the continents, hills, and s, and re-produce new ones, and so on perpetually, the scripture doctrine warns us that there shall be 1 of all created things, &c. fon was invited to a conference with the Faculty in to make an explanation, or rather a recantation of rors. To this he submitted, and having satisfied that of his Orthodoxy in a written instrument, called his aration," he was required to publish the same in the dition of his work. This declaration begins thus. clare, that I had no intention of contradicting the text Scriptures;-that I believe most firmly all therein 1 about the creation, both as to the order of time and of fact; and I abandon every thing in my book ting the formation of the earth, and generally all may be contrary to the narrative of Moses," &c. oler's Theory. Kepler, one of the profoundest maticians and astronomers the world has ever seen, 1 a theory of the earth more singular and whimsical ny of his contemporaries, or predecessors. His noindeed are so odd, and void of common sense, that ht be supposed he intended to ridicule his brother sts by going beyond them in improbabilities, rather o offer the world his sober opinions. UBULU strata of the earth, are kingdom, and the meta decar and disease, and of these products. These several theori have been invented in phenomena, and to sol manner, or by what cha for the present appears surface? The reader w beorists, instead of tak pler supposed, or pretended to suppose, that the contained a circulating vital fluid, and was possessed ng powers-and that a process of assimilation goes it as well as in other animals. Every particle of , according to him, is alive, and possesses volition stinct; hence these particles attract and repel each according to their several sympathies, or antipathies. the particles of water will repel those of oil because ave an antipathy to each other, but each fluid will y unite with another portion of the same kind se the particles possess mutual sympathies. Each -f mineral substance is capable of converting masses er matter into its own peculiar kind, as animals -t their aliment into blood. The burning mounare the respiratory organs of the globe; and the are the organs of secretion, as the glands are those animal. The slates decompose the waters of the in order to prepare its elements to produce earthsand volcanic eruptions. The metallic veins in the ad to draw just conclus ace formed their syst est manner they could ausibility, and false ar The science of Geolo the folly of forming the ts. To record facts i st, and if he cannot ac ientific manner, to let restigations. Plutonian and Neptu his part of our volume Werner and Hutton, c and Plutonian doctrines The theories of these the last half ical writers, each side century ha compromising terms Cause. The Plutonians or present appearances of undergone, to the age rejecting that of water. The Neptunians or to prove in as positive appearances may, with be traced entirely to t solution, disintegration There is one diffic doctrines of Werner, them second handed, 1 ng never himself pub earth, are caries or abscesses of the mineral d the metals themselves are the products of isease, and hence the offensive odour of some lucts. veral theories, and a great variety of others, invented in order to account for the same and to solve the same problem, viz. in what by what changes, or events, are we to account ent appearances, or condition of the earth's 'he reader will observe in general, that these stead of taking the trouble to observe facts just conclusions from them, have in the first d their systems, and supported them in the they could, calling to their aid, ingenuity, and false argument. ce of Geology never progressed until men saw forming theories which had no concern with ecord facts is the first business of the geolohe cannot account for them in a rational and anner, to let them stand recorded until further ns. n and Neptunian Doctrines. We shall close our volume by an abstract of the theories of d Hutton, commonly entitled the Neptunian an doctrines. ries of these two distinguished geologists for f century have divided the opinions of geolos, each side insisting in the most positive and ising terms, on the truth of their adopted tonians or Huttonians, attribute most of the earances of the globe, and the changes it has to the agency of fire, not, however, entirely at of water. tunians or Wernerians, on the contrary, affect as positive terms that these same changes, and smay, with the exception of volcanic products, entirely to the agency of water-"to aqueous sintegration, and deposition." one difficulty in attempting to expound the f Werner, which is, that we are obliged to take d handed, from the writings of others, he hav imself nublished them in a nnected view In ng therefore of Werner's theory, we can only avail es of such transient glimpses as he has himself t fit to give us, and must fill up the various chasms aterials derived from the more extended sketches ustrations of his pupils.* ner's theory may be thus stated. The matter of be was once in a soft, or fluid state, or at least its s was once enveloped by a chaotic aqueous solusuch a nature as to retain the various earthy found in the lowest strata in chemical combination; s state of things was of short duration, and during there was deposited from the water a variety of ine aggregates, such as the different species of 2, and what are called primitive slate, and priminestones. These constitute the primary rocks, nations of the Wernerian school, and are supto have had their origin before the creation of ed beings, and hence no organic remains, such as are found in these rocks. The second class of re supposed to have been formed during the transithe earth from its chaotic, to its habitable state, ace are called transition rocks. These are partly line aggregates, and partly mechanical deposites water: they contain the fragments of pre-existing cemented together, and sometimes contain impernains of the lower orders of animals and plants, as and impressions of ferns. Certain kinds of limend sandstones belong to this class. These rocks ived from the fragmentary remains and the disinteof the primitive rocks. third class of rocks are supposed to have been formhe action of the natural elements on these, and by they have been broken down, and mechanically in water. The action of frost, water, and attriare supposed to have chiefly produced this effect, afch the materials were deposited in horizontal strahese are the Floetz, or flat rocks of Werner, and the y, or secondary rocks, of later authors. They in vegetable and animal remains, as ferns, shells, d bones. The newer limestone, red sandstone, and ata, belong to this class. * Brand's outlines of geology. P. 21. Abore these rocks we kis supposed that all t a of aqueous origin, and pen more than a few i news. the most Although the na excessive, approachi bold and pired all his pupils, som Eminence, with the most Their admiration," he feelings of gratitude for him, were not undes which he usurped over the event prejudicial The Plutonic, or H Dr. Hutton of Edinbur has been more recently publication by Professo We have already sta the same phenomena t water. The Plutonia stratified rocks were d Hutton's Theory m The materials which globe, have been deri 3. |