tion of Noah and his family, from the face of the earth, was occasioned by the train of a comet, which passing near the earth, was condensed upon it in the form of a deluge of

waters.

It is hardly necessary to say that such a supposition is without a single circumstance in favor of its probability, and therefore, being entirely hypothetical, is unworthy of arguments either for or against it.

Whiston was the first who proposed that the first book of Genesis should be interpreted differently from its ordinary acceptation, so that it should not be heretical to believe that the earth had existed for an indefinite period before the creation of animals, and man. He had the art to throw an air of truth or probability over the most whimsical and improbable assumptions, and by absorbing the mind of the reader with mathematical calculations, to make him assent to propositions, which in themselves were utterly false.

Theory of Leibnitz. Leibnitz was one of the most profound mathematicians of his time. His theory was published in 1680, and is another curious specimen of imaginary cosmogony. He supposed that this globe was originally a luminous burning mass, and that from the time of the creation it had been gradually cooling. When the water which surrounded it in the form of steam, became condensed by the cooling of the earth, then the sea was formed, which at first entirely surrounded it in every part, and was of such depth as to cover the highest mountains Further consolidation of the earth by cooling, produced rents, which opening into caverns beneath the crust, admitted a part of the universal ocean, thus leaving a portion of the earth dry land, preparatory to the creation of man, and for his habitation. He imagined, also, that the temperature of the earth was continually diminishing, and that the level of the sea was constantly sinking. The first idea was considered as entirely groundless by succeeding geologists, but recently the doctrine of subterranean heat has been embraced by several respectable naturalists, and is now the prevailing foundation of the theories of earthquakes and volcanoes. The gradual sinking of the sea, is a doctrine which has had many strong advocates, and is still supposed to have been proved by various tests. But it will be seen in the progress of this volume, that facts have decided against this hypothesis.

We might occupy our whole volume with the different theories which have been proposed, to account for the present appearances of this earth, but we must close this part of our subject, by an epitome of those of Buffon, and Kepler, and with a short account of the Neptunian and Plutonian doctrines.

Buffon's Theory. This is principally an extension of that of Leibnitz. He adds another comet, which by a violent blow upon the sun, struck off the mass of which our earth is composed in a liquid state, and with the earth, all the other planets which compose our system.

From such suppositions, Buffon was enabled to assume data by which he arrived at several important conclusions. Thus by estimating the heat of the sun (the earth being originally of the same temperature) and comparing it with the present heat of the earth, it could be told (by assuming a rate of cooling) how long it had taken to cool down thus far. Then as the other planets had come from the sun at the same time with the earth, it could be calculated by the same rules how many ages is still required to cool the larger ones, so as to admit of their being inhabited, and how far the smaller ones were now frozen, so as to have destroyed all animal life.

state.

He accounts for the spherical form of the earth and other planets from their being set in motion while in a semi-fluid With Leibnitz, Buffon supposed that the ocean once enveloped the whole earth, covering the highest mountains, and hence the appearance of shells far above the level of the sea. The water afterwards ran into caverns which opened into the earth, and thus the ocean subsided to its present level. Soon, after Buffon's theory was published, he received an official letter from the Faculty of Theology at Paris, dated January, 1751, stating that some of his propositions were reprehensible, and contrary to the creed of the Church. One of these propositions were as follows. The waters of the sea have produced the mountains and valleys of the land-the waters of the Heavens reducing all to a level, will at last deliver all, over to the sea, which successively prevailing over the land, will leave dry, new Continents like those which we inhabit." The objectionable doctrine seems to have been that in the opinion of Buffon the present mountains and valleys of the earth are due to secondary causes, and that

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the same causes will destroy all the continents, hills, and valleys, and re-produce new ones, and so on perpetually, while the scripture doctrine warns us that there shall be an end of all created things, &c.

Buffon was invited to a conference with the Faculty in order to make an explanation, or rather a recantation of his errors. To this he submitted, and having satisfied that body of his Orthodoxy in a written instrument, called his Declaration," he was required to publish the same in the next edition of his work. This declaration begins thus. I declare, that I had no intention of contradicting the text of the Scriptures;-that I believe most firmly all therein related about the creation, both as to the order of time and matter of fact; and I abandon every thing in my book respecting the formation of the earth, and generally al which may be contrary to the narrative of Moses," &c.

Kepler's Theory. Kepler, one of the profoundest mathematicians and astronomers the world has ever seen, offered a theory of the earth more singular and whimsical than any of his contemporaries, or predecessors. His notions, indeed are so odd, and void of common sense, that it might be supposed he intended to ridicule his brother theorists by going beyond them in improbabilities, rather than to offer the world his sober opinions.

Kepler supposed, or pretended to suppose, that the earth contained a circulating vital fluid, and was possessed of living powers-and that a process of assimilation goes on in it as well as in other animals. Every particle of matter, according to him, is alive, and possesses volition. and instinct; hence these particles attract and repel each other according to their several sympathies, or antipathies. Thus the particles of water will repel those of oil because they have an antipathy to each other, but each fluid will readily unite with another portion of the same kind because the particles possess mutual sympathies. Each kind of mineral substance is capable of converting masses of other matter into its own peculiar kind, as animals convert their aliment into blood. The burning mountains are the respiratory organs of the globe; and the slates are the organs of secretion, as the glands are those of the animal. The slates decompose the waters of the ocean, in order to prepare its elements to produce earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The metallic veins in the

strata of the earth, are caries or abscesses of the mineral kingdom, and the metals themselves are the products of decay and disease, and hence the offensive odour of some of these products.

These several theories, and a great variety of others, have been invented in order to account for the same phenomena, and to solve the same problem, viz. in what manner, or by what changes, or events, are we to account for the present appearances, or condition of the earth's surface? The reader will observe in general, that these theorists, instead of taking the trouble to observe facts and to draw just conclusions from them, have in the first place formed their systems, and supported them in the best manner they could, calling to their aid, ingenuity, plausibility, and false argument.

The science of Geology never progressed until men saw the folly of forming theories which had no concern with facts. To record facts is the first business of the geologist, and if he cannot account for them in a rational and scientific manner, to let them stand recorded until further investigations.

Plutonian and Neptunian Doctrines. We shall close his part of our volume by an abstract of the theories of Werner and Hutton, commonly entitled the Neptunian and Plutonian doctrines.

The theories of these two distinguished gcologists for the last half century have divided the opinions of geological writers, each side insisting in the most positive and uncompromising terms, on the truth of their adopted

cause.

The Plutonians or Huttonians, attribute most of the present appearances of the globe, and the changes it has undergone, to the agency of fire, not, however, entirely rejecting that of water.

The Neptunians or Wernerians, on the contrary, affect to prove in as positive terms that these same changes, and appearances may, with the exception of volcanic products, be traced entirely to the agency of water-"to aqueous solution, disintegration, and deposition."

There is one difficulty in attempting to expound the doctrines of Werner, which is, that we are obliged to take them second handed, from the writings of others, he having never himself published them in a connected view. In

speaking therefore of Werner's theory, we can only avail ourselves of such transient glimpses as he has himself thought fit to give us, and must fill up the various chasms with materials derived from the more extended sketches and illustrations of his pupils.*

Werner's theory may be thus stated. The matter of our globe was once in a soft, or fluid state, or at least its nucleus was once enveloped by a chaotic aqueous solution of such a nature as to retain the various earthy bodies found in the lowest strata in chemical combination; but this state of things was of short duration, and during which, there was deposited from the water a variety of crystalline aggregates, such as the different species of granite, and what are called primitive slate, and primitive limestones. These constitute the primary rocks, or formations of the Wernerian school, and are supposed to have had their origin before the creation of animated beings, and hence no organic remains, such as shells, are found in these rocks. The second class of rocks are supposed to have been formed during the transition of the earth from its chaotic, to its habitable state, and hence are called transition rocks. These are partly crystalline aggregates, and partly mechanical deposites from water: they contain the fragments of pre-existing rocks cemented together, and sometimes contain imperfect remains of the lower orders of animals and plants, as shells and impressions of ferns. Certain kinds of limestone and sandstones belong to this class. These rocks are derived from the fragmentary remains and the disintegration of the primitive rocks.

The third class of rocks are supposed to have been formed by the action of the natural elements on these, and by which they have been broken down, and mechanically diffused in water. The action of frost, water, and attribution, are supposed to have chiefly produced this effect, after which the materials were deposited in horizontal straThese are the Floetz, or flat rocks of Werner, and the Tertiary, or secondary rocks, of later authors. They abound in vegetable and animal remains, as ferns, shells, fish, and bones. The newer limestone, red sandstone, and coal strata, belong to this class.

ta.

* Brand's outlines of geology. P. 21.