UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 ANDREW 
 
 SMITH 
 
 HALL1D1E: 
 
A BRIEF 
 
 TREATISE ON GEOLOGY; 
 
 OR 
 
 FACTS, SUGGESTIONS, 
 
 AND 
 
 INDUCTIONS IN THAT SCIENCE. 
 
 BIBLICUS DELVINUS. 
 
 'ADle. L/BPJ-V SECOND EDITION. 
 
 NIVERSITY I 
 
 jX 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 L. AND G. SEELEY, FLEET STREET, AND 
 HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY. 
 
 MDCCCXXXIX. 
 
ENTERED AT STATIONERS HALL. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHNSTON AND BARRETT, 
 
 MARK LANE. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 WHOEVER enters deeply into the study of Natural 
 Philosophy, with an unbiassed and devotional 
 turn of mind, will perceive that theri^exists a 
 remarkable connexion between the scriptural 
 records of such philosophy, and the discoveries 
 of modern science, especially in those relating to 
 Geology. As in the prophetic declarations of the 
 Bible, the truth of God's word has been demon- 
 strated by clearer discoveries of the actual fulfil- 
 ment of those prophecies, so science, if rightly 
 applied will elucidate and become as it were the 
 handmaid and illustrator of divine revelation, 
 leading us to repose an implicit trust in the word 
 of that Being, who in the beginning created all 
 things, and pronounced them " very good." 
 
 From the mode at present adopted, the task 
 appears replete with difficulties to reconcile the 
 discoveries of Modern Geology with the Mosaic 
 detail of the creation; but these difficulties are 
 increased by the Geologist himself, for when he 
 A 2 
 
 103912 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 arrives at the knowledge of what he considers a 
 fact in Geology, in most cases he is unwilling to 
 bring such a fact, like gold to the touchstone of 
 all truth, in order to see, what light divine reve- 
 lation will throw upon his discovery. 
 
 It was the opinion of Lord Verulam, that the 
 Book of Job is full of the mysteries of natural 
 philosophy; and other philosophers have held, 
 that there is a complete system of Geology ob- 
 scurely shadowed forth in this book, and in the 
 first chapter of Genesis, though man may not 
 always succeed in gathering it from the incidental 
 and elementary passages in which it is embodied. 
 
 In the first Chap, of Genesis it is revealed that 
 God created the heavens and the earth; and a formal 
 account of the work is there particularly related. 
 
 But according to the opinion of some Geolo- 
 gists, God is an insignificant word, and the ac- 
 count of the creation there given is false; so that 
 every one is still left at liberty to frame what 
 notions he pleases, and to lay down his own laws 
 for the laws of nature. Are not such men as much 
 in the dark about these important points, as if 
 nothing had been revealed? That Moses, the 
 legislator of the Hebrews, and a prophet of God, 
 should introduce his laws with a false account of 
 the creation and formation of things ; and that 
 
INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 the God of truth should allow, much less inspire, 
 his servant to hand down to posterity a formal 
 untruth, is repugnant to common sense, and 
 sounds harsh to a Christian's ear : yet what less 
 does every one say in his heart, who denies the 
 Mosaic philosophy to be true ? 
 
 If Moses accommodated his account of natural 
 things to the understanding of the vulgar, and if 
 the Jews were so carnal a people as supposed, 
 might he not do the same with regard to spiritual 
 things? So that this supposition, of writing for 
 the vulgar, by clearing the inspired record of 
 one objection, la'ys it open to another, viz. That if 
 he conformed or adapted his account to their con- 
 ception of nature, he might do the like in respect 
 to God. And if so, it is to no purpose to look for 
 either sound philosophy or divinity in his writings. 
 It may be objected, however, that God, by his 
 revelation, did not intend to instruct*men either 
 in Geology or Philosophy generally, but in faith 
 and obedience. Had this been the case, revela- 
 tion would have been confined to those points 
 solely, or at least chiefly, and not have so largely 
 and frequently intermixed an account of physical 
 phenomena with them ; so that if all the places of 
 scripture which treat of, or relate to philosophical 
 subjects, were collected together, they would make 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 one half or nearly two thirds of the Bible. Besides, 
 when God was rectifying the errors of their con- 
 ceits with regard to his nature and worship, and 
 giving them a complete ritual to preserve them in 
 the true faith and worship, would he let them re- 
 main in all their errors and false opinions with re- 
 gard to Nature and her operations? Nay, stamp 
 them with his authority, by treating of them in 
 the same idle manner men were at that time wont 
 to conceive of them? This is to make the Holy 
 Ghost lie unto man. And if the inspired writers 
 of the books of the Old Testament understood 
 the real nature of things, and their true causes, 
 as it is expressly asserted of Solomon, then by 
 this supposition, did the Holy Ghost over-rule 
 these penmen to suppress their real knowledge 
 of nature, and to transmit down to posterity under 
 their hands what they knew to be false? To 
 such strange absurdities does this opinion drive 
 its advocates. If the knowledge of philosophy 
 or nature be attainable by human reason and ap- 
 plication, there was no need of a revelation : yet 
 a revelation has been given. Why must it be 
 adapted only to the vulgar? A revelation being 
 made, and that from God, implies it to be, in 
 the nature of things, both necessary, full, per- 
 fect, and true. Otherwise why was it made 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 that after ages should find it to be false? This 
 cannot be supposed, without highly derogating 
 from the wisdom and goodness of the supreme 
 Being ; and yet it is supposed even by some of 
 our learned men. They say, That philosophy not 
 being necessary to salvation, and being what 
 man could by his natural abilities discover, the 
 inspired writers did not meddle with it ; and what 
 we meet with in the Scriptures, being only inci- 
 dentally spoken, they conformed to the received 
 opinions of the persons they wrote to ; and that 
 as to the Deity, the New Testament has fully 
 opened his nature, essence, and personality, 
 which were either wholly unknown, or but faintly 
 revealed to the Jews. 
 
 Whether philosophy is necessary to salvation 
 we need not now stop to inquire : but when we 
 know what philosophy is, it may, in its proper 
 place, be shewn to be more necessary to theo- 
 logy than is generally thought ; and that human 
 reason with all its boasted discoveries, has not 
 yet been able to find out the true system of the 
 world. Indeed, when matters are fairly stated, 
 and rightly understood, it will appear that the 
 Jews were not so ignorant either of God or 
 Nature as some imagine who do not know the 
 Scriptures and the power of God. 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 That philosophy is incidental only, is an asser- 
 tion not correct. The books of Moses begin with 
 an account of the creation, and the steps the 
 Divine Being took in establishing this mundane 
 system. 
 
 There is also mention made of the manner in 
 which the earth was destroyed by a flood, and of 
 its being restored again to an inhabitable state. 
 And those accounts are so circumstantial, that 
 they seem designed rather to rectify than to con- 
 form to the mistaken notions of mankind ; and 
 shew, in the clearest manner, that the mention of 
 philosophy in the Scriptures is not incidental 
 only nor accomodated merely to vulgar minds. 
 
 But why, it may be asked, should it be thought 
 by some a thing incredible, that the Scriptures 
 should give a true description of nature as well 
 as of its great Author?^ Could not then the 
 Creator of all things frame this world so as to 
 give some idea or resemblance of himself? Would 
 
 * The miracle of Joshua commanding the sun to stand still, 
 is no argument against this position, as is most satisfactorily 
 proved by Jones in his " First Principles of Natural Philo- 
 sophy and Theology," and Pikes' "Philosophia Sacra;" in 
 which works the nature of that miracle and also various ex- 
 pressions referring to the operations of nature, are ably and 
 fully discussed. 
 
> INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 he order his servants to use names not significant, 
 or improper, for his being and attributes? Or 
 can we suppose a language formed by his direc- 
 tion, while Adam was perfect, vague and uncer- 
 tain and to want words properly expressive of 
 what he thought fit to reveal of himself and his 
 works ? Would he give a revelation defective in 
 two such main points, at a time when he was 
 separating the Jews from the rest of the nations, 
 who had apostatized from the true God, the Maker 
 of the heavens and the earth, to the worship of his 
 material agents ? The contest was then the same 
 as in Elijah's time, Whether Jehovah was God, or 
 Baal was God. Whether the sun, moon, stars, 
 and all the host of heaven, were uncreated, eter- 
 nal, and so God; or whether the Lord Jehovah, the 
 God of the Jews, created and made the heavens, 
 the earth, and all the host of heaven? Was a 
 short dark account in words inexpressive of 
 God's essence or powers, and a false unintel- 
 ligible one of nature, a likely method to deter- 
 mine this contest? Why should God give any 
 account of nature, if not a true one ? Why direct 
 his servants to write for vulgar understandings 
 only ? And if men were so ignorant as to swallow 
 a false account, could not infinite wisdom foresee, 
 that the present learned race would arise, and be 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 framing schemes to detect the falsity of it ? Was 
 not the knowledge of God and nature as neces- 
 sary to men then as to men now ? And if God was 
 pleased to record his revelation of these things, 
 was he not bound by his veracity to do it truly 
 and intelligibly ? When our translation was 
 made, the learned and unlearned both agreed in 
 their notion of philosophy ; so the translation 
 was agreeable to the received opinion. But there 
 has since been a progressive improvement in 
 science, whereby men have obtained a more 
 thorough knowledge of certain physical facts and 
 phenomena ; and had the translators of the Bible 
 commenced their work in our times, their transla- 
 tion, (without supposing them to bend to the pre- 
 sent notions), would have been more in accord- 
 ance with the actual and true system of nature. 
 
 These and many such reflections, which natu- 
 rally arise in the mind employed 011 this subject, 
 lead us to conclude, from the necessity of the 
 thing, and the wisdom and goodness of the Deity, 
 that a full and perfect revelation was at first made, 
 and afterwards renewed, as occasion served, when 
 the wantonness of imagination had corrupted and 
 defaced it, and at last committed to writing by 
 Moses, for the use of the then present and all 
 succeeding generations, to be the rule and stan- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 dard whereby they should measure and regulate 
 their opinions and belief of things natural and 
 
 divine. 
 
 * 
 
 The heathen, we are told in Scripture, thought 
 the sun, moon, and host of heaven, Gods; so 
 worshipped them ; and no doubt mocked the 
 prophets who preached to them, That the Lord 
 made the heavens and the earth. Pharaoh knew 
 not the Lord, neither would obey his voice : why ? 
 because his magicians deluded him by experi- 
 ments, into a belief that the powers which Moses 
 attributed to the Lord, were lodged in the material 
 agents. So now some of our Geologists, by digging 
 into the bowels of the earth pretend to find out 
 the works of God ; and in endeavouring to fix 
 the age of the world, have built a system of theo- 
 logy diametrically opposite, in the fundamental 
 point, to what is taught in Scripture ; but the day 
 is coming it is to be hoped, when they, will see 
 that nothing but true philosophy is in keeping 
 with divine revelation, for those who are pre- 
 judiced with false notions of the one, cannot be 
 brought to entertain just and proper notions of 
 the other. 
 
 It has been the Author's object in the present 
 Treatise, to search into the workings of nature, 
 and thence to display the truth 9 goodness, wisdom, 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and power of the Creator, which -the wonders of 
 Geology unfold. Whilst tracing out a scriptural 
 system, his mind has been unbiassed by any one 
 opinion however generally received, having found 
 it easier to get nearer the truth by proposing an 
 accommodation which is done in the fourth chap- 
 ter, between the two antagonist theories, that of 
 Werner and Doctor Hutton. Being anxious to 
 lay the foundation of his remarks in well tried 
 and undeniable experiments, he has not scrupled 
 to avail himself of the practical researches of 
 scientific men as contained in their works, but 
 wishing as much as possible to avoid darkening 
 counsel by words without knowledge, he has 
 preferred condensing his Facts, Suggestions, &c., 
 into a small compass, being satisfied, that if there 
 is any truth contained in them, it is not the thick- 
 ness or size of the book, which is to recommend 
 them to the attentive consideration of the public. 
 The last chapter of this second edition con- 
 tains some additional matter, with observations 
 on the formation of valleys, and an explanation 
 of the phenomena of those erratic blocks which 
 are found scattered at a distance from their 
 parent rocks in every country of the globe. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Form of our earth at the creation Design of the 
 Creator in thus forming it Salt an original forma- 
 - tion ; its origin' ....... S 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Salt and Organic Remains peculiar to Basins A more 
 general research necessary to establish any Geo- 
 logical Theory How to discover if there have 
 been successive formations The Scriptures will 
 reflect light on Geology The design considered of 
 the progression from simple to more complex forms 
 Molecules, the nutriment provided for the earliest 
 marine inhabitants All organized and unorganized 
 bodies composed of Molecules The place of Mole- 
 cular origin Balance of Molecular Affinities 
 Cause and period of the derangement of the balance 
 of Affinities suggested by which the primitive Hocks 
 were formed Molecules the substratum of all sub- 
 stance This confirmatory of divine truth . . 23 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Much of the earth's surface formed by organic secretion 
 Remains not confusedly heaped together No 
 higher orders of organic beings originally depo- 
 sited in the most ancient strata In the upper 
 strata organic remains are found confused and 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 broken, cause explained Mr. Brown's Experi- 
 ment on Molecules What Molecular motion and 
 rest seem to indicate Period and condition of our 
 
 flobe when many of the organic tribe perished 
 n what manner their remains are found Total 
 change of the primeval earth and atmosphere which 
 accounts for the extinction of many of the organic 
 beings Salubrity of the primitive atmosphere 
 most favourable to vegetable and organic life 
 Vegetable and organic lite kept in due bounds by 
 herbiverousand carniverous animals Earthquakes 
 the second causes of the Deluge Manner in which 
 many of the fossil fishes are found Period and 
 manner in which they were destroyed Cause 
 suggested why the human bones of the Antedi- 
 luvian race are not to be found . ,41 
 
 CHAP. IY. 
 
 Period and manner considered in which the primitive 
 mountains were formed When some were ele- 
 vated by Earthquakes On the formation of the 
 vast stratified Deposits and beds containing organic 
 remains Attempts made to account for the latter 
 by supposing prolonged ages of Creation This hy- 
 pothesis not in accordance with Scripture Period 
 when some of the metallic veins were formed, 
 and how Majority of the strata, how formed 
 Conflicting views, how reconciled The two theories 
 of veins being filled from above and below, con- 
 sidered Metallic ores which occur in beds, and 
 regular strata when formed Period and manner 
 in which veins were filled from above and below 
 Metallic veins containing different ores at various 
 depths, accounted for by the balance of affinities 
 Electricity an agent in the formation of some 
 veins The 'formation of some metallic veins has a 
 close connexion with the period in which the 
 Coal strata were deposited Manner in which 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 the Coal strata were formed Faults in the coal 
 beds The beneficent design of the Creator in the 
 arrangement of the minerals Central heat Earth- 
 quakes, and Volcanoes, confined to certain spaces- 
 Difficulties that attend the theory of Central heat 
 Experiments to ascertain the tern, in Mines and 
 Artesian Wells Increase of the tern, ascribed to 
 subterranean fires Their action in the Mining- 
 districts and mountainous chains An analogy be- 
 tween the tern, of the Thermal waters and the 
 height of the mountains near which they occur 
 Tern, of the Thermal waters of England and of some 
 on the Continent General researches necessary to 
 ascertain the tern, of Artesian wells Boring for 
 water at Boston in Lincolnshire, the result To 
 ascertain the tern, of Artesian wells, the borings 
 should be through clay, the alluvial deposits, 
 gypsum, and shale Tern, of different mines Re- 
 markable variation This at variance with the 
 theory of a general central heat The high tern, 
 of the water in mines attributed to volcanic heat 
 Theories on the formation of vallies On the phe- 
 nomena of erratic blocks How we should regard 
 the convulsions which have taken place in the 
 earth 55 
 
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 THE following question must often present 
 itself to the student in Geology : Of what ma- 
 terials is the world ~we live in composed ? This 
 question, with certain conditions, comprises the 
 most important objects of geological research ; 
 namely What are the substances of which the 
 earth is composed ? What is the order in which 
 they are arranged ? And what are the changes 
 they appear to have undergone ? But how are 
 satisfactory answers to these inquiries to be ob- 
 tained ? 
 
 From the surveys that have been made of the 
 solid crust of the earth, so far as it has been 
 penetrated, it is evident, that the rudimental 
 materials of the globe existed, at its earliest 
 period, in a liquid mass : that they were after- 
 wards separated and arranged by a progressive 
 series of operations, and an uniform system of 
 B 
 
laws ; and that they have since been convulsed 
 and dislocated by some dreadful commotion and 
 inundation that have extended to every region, 
 and again thrown a great part of the organic and 
 inorganic creation into what appears to us to be 
 a promiscuous jumble. 
 
 Hence, have originated the Plutonic and the 
 Neptunian hypotheses : the former, ascribing the 
 origin of the world, in its present state, to igneous 
 fusion; the latter, to aqueous solution. 
 
 The Plutonic theory aspires, in many of its 
 modifications, not only to account for the present 
 appearances of the earth, but for that of the uni- 
 verse ; and traces out a scheme by which every 
 planet, or system of planets, may be continued 
 indefinitely, and, perhaps, for ever, by a perpetual 
 series of restoration and balance. 
 
 With this system the Neptunian forms a per- 
 fect contrast. It is limited to. the earth, and the 
 present appearances of the earth. It resolves the 
 general origin of things into the operation of 
 water ; and while it admits the existence of sub- 
 terranean fires to a certain extent, and that 
 several of the phenomena which strike us most 
 forcibly must be the result of such agency, it 
 peremptorily denies, that this agency is the sole 
 or universal cause of the existing state of things, 
 
or that it could possibly be rendered competent 
 to such an effect. 
 
 Of these two theories, the Neptunian is more 
 in accordance with the geology of the Scriptures. 
 The Mosaic narrative, indeed, takes a bold and 
 comprehensive sweep through the vast range of 
 the solar system, if not through that of the uni- 
 verse ; and in its history of the simultaneous 
 origin of this system, touches chiefly on geology, 
 as the part most interesting to ourselves ; but 
 so far as it enters upon this doctrine, it is in 
 general coincidence with the Neptunian scheme, 
 and with the great volume of Nature as now 
 cursorily dipped into. The narrative opens with 
 a statement of three distinct facts, each follow- 
 ing the other in a regular series, in the origin 
 of the visible world. First, an absolute creation, 
 as opposed to a re-modification of the heaven 
 and the earth, which constituted the earliest 
 step in the productive process. Secondly, the 
 condition of the earth when it was thus primarily 
 brought into being, which was that of an amor- 
 phous or shapeless waste. And, thirdly, a com- 
 mencing effect to reduce the unfashioned mass 
 to a condition of order and harmony. " In the 
 beginning," says the sacred historian, " God 
 created the heaven and the earth. And the 
 
earth was without form and void: and darkness 
 was on the face of the deep (or abyss.) And the 
 Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."* 
 
 We are hence, therefore, necessarily led to 
 infer, that the first change of the formless chaos, 
 took place when the Spirit commenced his oper- 
 ative power by moving upon the surface of the 
 waters. We are next informed that this chaotic 
 mass acquired shape, not instantaneously, but by 
 a series of six distinct days, each being of the 
 same duration as what we now understand to be 
 a day. 
 
 The Mosaic narrative proceeds to tell us, that 
 during the first of these days was evolved, what 
 agreeably to the laws of gravity, must have been 
 evolved first of all the matter of light and heat, 
 of all material substances the most subtle and 
 
 * If we look to what has been collected from the 
 Heathens, we shall find that their traditions agree with 
 the sacred account in the following particulars : first, that 
 the earth was originally in a formless state ; secondly, that 
 its materials floated confusedly in a watery abyss ; thirdly, 
 that the matter of the heavens was dark and stagnant ; 
 fourthly, that the night was prior to the day, or that Ere- 
 bus, or evening was before the day-light ; fifthly, that the 
 world was subject to a sort of incubation from the Spirit ; 
 and sixthly, that water was held most sacred, because it 
 was the first of all things. 
 
attenuate; those by which alone the sun operates, 
 and has ever operated upon the earth and the 
 other planets, and which may be the identical 
 substances that constitute its essence. And it 
 tells us, also, that the luminous matter thus 
 evolved produced light without the assistance of 
 the sun or moon, which were not set in the sky 
 or firmament, and had no rule till the fourth day : 
 that the light thus produced flowed by tides, and 
 alternately intermitted, constituting a single day 
 and a single night of each of the six periods or 
 days of creation. 
 
 It tells us, that during the second day, uprose 
 progressively the fine fluids, of the firmament, 
 and filled the blue etherial void with a vital atmo- 
 sphere. That, during the third day, the waters, 
 more properly so called, or the grosser and com- 
 pacter fluids of the general mass, were strained 
 off and gathered together into the vasjt bed of the 
 ocean, and the abyss in the hollow of the earth, 
 and the dry land began to make its appearance, 
 by discovering the peaks or highest points of the 
 primitive mountains : in consequence of which, 
 a progress instantly commenced from inorganic 
 matter to vegetable organization, the surface of 
 the earth, as well above as under the waters, 
 being covered with plants and herbs bearing 
 
6 
 
 seeds after their respective kinds; thus laying a 
 basis for those carbonaceous materials, the re- 
 mains of vegetable matter, which are occasionally 
 to be traced in some of the layers or formations 
 of the class of primitive rocks, (the lowest of the 
 whole,) without a single particle of animal relics 
 intermixed with them. 
 
 It tells us, that during the fourth day, the sun 
 and moon, now completed, were set in the firma- 
 ment, the solar system was finished, its laws 
 were established, and the celestial orrery was put 
 into play; in consequence of which, the harmo- 
 nious revolutions of signs and seasons, of days 
 and of years, struck up for the first time their 
 mighty symphony. That the fifth period was 
 allotted exclusively to the formation of water 
 fowl and the countless tribes of aquatic creatures. 
 It tells us, still continuing the same grand and 
 exquisite climax that towards the close of this 
 period, the mass of waters having sufficiently re- 
 tired " unto the place which God had founded for 
 them," Psalm civ. 8. the sixth and concluding 
 period was devoted to the formation of terrestrial 
 animals ; and, last of all, as the master-piece of 
 the whole, to that of man himself. 
 
 Thus, in progressive order, uprose the stupen- 
 dous system of the world : the bright host of 
 
morning stars shouted together on its birth-day ; 
 and the eternal Creator looked down with com- 
 placency on the finished fabric, and " saw that it 
 was very good." 
 
 We have seen how Scripture teaches us the 
 order in which the Divine Intelligence created 
 our earth, and the truth of the foregoing detail 
 is amply confirmed by the researches of modern 
 geologists. But there have since been desola- 
 tions, changes, and new formations effectuated 
 by -the universal deluge on the surface and upper 
 strata of the earth, as well as fractures, upheaving, 
 and subsidences caused by earthquakes, which it 
 is exclusively the province of the geologist to 
 notice. 
 
 In tracing out the designing intelligence of 
 the Creator in various of his formations, it has 
 been the author's object to endeavour also to 
 answer the three questions proposed at the out- 
 set of these observations, namely, What are the 
 substances of which the earth is composed ? What 
 is the order in which they are arranged? And, 
 what are the changes they appear to have under* 
 gone ? 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 IT has frequently been the remark of the author 
 of this little treatise, that he has never yet met 
 with any person, who either in writing or in 
 conversation, seems to have made up his mind 
 according to geological theory, as to the precise 
 form or state, in which the earth must of necessity 
 have existed before that period given in the 
 Mosaic detail, the formation of light. It being 
 requisite that every one should have clear and 
 well defined notions on this subject, (especially 
 if they wish to make Geology their study,) it is 
 here proposed with the aid of Scripture to 
 attempt determining, in as concise and clear a 
 manner as possible, what was the form and state 
 of the earth, before it arrived at its present 
 condition . 
 
 In the Mosaic narrative we are told, that, " In 
 the beginning, God created the heaven and the 
 earth ; and the earth was without form and void ; 
 and darkness was on the face of the deep ; and 
 the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the 
 waters." 
 
9 
 
 Many commentators agree, that between the 
 second and third verses of the ancient Hebrew 
 versions there exists an obvious break ; by which 
 it is evidently signified, that our earth existed, in 
 some form or other, previous to the moment, 
 when God said, " Let there be light." Should 
 any be unwilling to allow, that such a break does 
 occur, it need not be insisted on ; for we are 
 plainly told in the second verse of the first chap- 
 ter of Genesis, that tjie earth did once exist in a 
 different state from that in which we now find 
 it; only it was "without form and void." The 
 first act of remodelment* from this shapeless 
 
 * The word remodelment is here used in preference, be- 
 cause matter such as it was in the foundation rocks, the 
 deep, and darkness, existed previously it was now that 
 the first shaping process commenced, wherehy the darkness 
 was converted into light, or, to use the more emphatical 
 Hebrew phrase, God divided between the light, and between 
 the darkness, taking from one and giving to another, which, 
 before the interruption, were mixed one with the other. 
 Next was separated the firmament from the waters, and 
 these gathered together to one place, whereby the dry land 
 appeared, out of which was formed the vegetable kingdom 
 the celestial bodies being then set in the firmament, the sun 
 in the day-time to keep alive and cherish the vegetation by 
 its warmth, and the moon and stars to shed their influences 
 by night. The waters now produced the first animated beings 
 in the fish and fowl which they brought forth abundantly, 
 
10 
 
 condition, proceeded from the Almighty's fiat, 
 when he said: "Let there be light and there 
 was light," darkness previously resting upon the 
 face of the deep. 
 
 We are thus taught by Scripture, that our 
 earth, previous to its formation in order, was 
 found in a shape of some kind or other, though 
 not clearly defined. As to its precise state little 
 is said ; but even from this little, we are led 
 to the important result, that the vast and uni- 
 versal deep which then covered the earth, must 
 have rested on some foundation or other ; and 
 what could that be, but on those rocks called 
 Primary, of which granite is generally the 
 lowest? By this, we arrive at the conclusion, 
 that water was coeval with original granite ; and 
 will not this, in a great measure, account for the 
 highly crystallized state in which that rock is 
 found : as for ages it must have formed the sole 
 bed of the ocean or " deep?" 
 
 In the Mosaic narrative, no mention is made 
 of the creation of any of the rocks which formed 
 
 and these being provided with food in their respective 
 elements ; the earth next brought forth " the cattle and 
 creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind." Thus, 
 was every thing created " beautiful and in order and very 
 good." 
 
11 
 
 the foundation of the earth as it then was ; the 
 reason appears obvious, for we are led to the 
 inevitable conclusion, that they existed previously 
 to the reduction of the original chaos into order, 
 see Gen. i. 2. 
 
 When our minds have been thus familiarized 
 with the idea, , as to what state the primitive 
 earth, (or rather the foundation rocks and the 
 water which covered them,) was found in, we 
 should next consider the design the intelligent 
 Being may have had, in creating from the be- 
 ginning such a vast abyss of waters. And here 
 we must be led to ponder on the deep import of 
 those words which are the conclusion of the 
 second verse of the first chapter of Genesis ; 
 " And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of 
 the waters." The word which in our translation 
 is rendered " moved, " in the original Hebrew 
 signifies brooded, as fowls do hatch or qherish 
 their young ; which operation intimates & pre- 
 liminary character of vitality, but excludes the 
 notion, that the Spirit of God can mean the 
 wind, for as yet a vital atmosphere like the 
 present was not in being. * 
 
 * Some philosophers of the ancient and modern school of 
 science, object to the idea of attributing to the Divine Spirit 
 the immediate acting or operating upon the fluid chaotic 
 
12 
 
 This idea of the incubation of the Spirit, or 
 of the principle of life, which was in operation 
 from the beginning, and which also produced 
 the first motion, prevails, more or less, in all cos- 
 mogonies. It was by this principle or by the 
 Spirit of God, that motion was infused into the 
 chaos of elements, which was followed by the 
 creation of light, and heat the cause of expan- 
 sion, and lastly, by the whole harmonious circle 
 of creation.* 
 
 Where the Spirit of God is, there must be 
 creative energy ; and it seems plainly deducible 
 from Scripture, that the Almighty, who acts 
 prospectively is final causes, whose " ways are in 
 the great deep," and " who sitteth above the 
 water-flood," was, at that very time, wonderfully 
 
 mixture ; and consider that the expression "Spirit of God," 
 refers to the air in its grosser form of wind, as the material 
 agent by which the earthly mass or shell of the earth was 
 separated from the watery medium. The original Hebrew 
 word for that of the Divine and natural Spirit is precisely 
 the same through the Bible. 
 
 * See Buckland's Bridgwater Treatise, vol. 1. pp. 18 to 26. 
 Also Catcott on Creation and Deluge, and Jones's Phy- 
 siological Disquisitions. Translation of the Pentateuch by 
 the Rev. Julius Bate ; and Inquiry after Philosophy and 
 Theology, by the learned Mr. Spearman, author of Letters 
 on the Septuagint. 
 
13 
 
 preparing the future earth for those beings which 
 he intended should inhabit it ; though, as yet, the 
 operations of his Spirit, were confined to the 
 " deep," over which he brooded, causing it to 
 bring forth abundantly, not as on ,the fifth day 
 of creation, " the moving creature that hath life," 
 but the necessary provision for sustaining life, 
 and adding to the comforts of those creatures 
 which were destined, at a subsequent period, to 
 owe their existence to his creative wisdom, good- 
 ness, and love. 
 
 Among the minerals, it is probable, also, that 
 common salt is an original formation, as in sea- 
 water it is every where held in solution. There 
 is no production of God's providence more con- 
 ducive to man's existence and comfort than that 
 of salt : and various have been the attempts made 
 to account for its origin, especially, of that with 
 which the ocean is impregnated. The subject 
 has long perplexed the minds of philosophers; 
 but the difficulty appears, in this instance, to 
 arise from their unwillingness to forego what 
 they cannot satisfactorily explain by second causes ; 
 and revert at once to the great first cause of all, 
 who, in the beginning, created every thing, " and 
 behold it was very good." And though no men- 
 tion is made in the Mosaic account of the impor- 
 
14 
 
 tant production of salt, we may fairly conclude, 
 that it then, as it now does, formed a component 
 part of the "deep," (Gen. i. 2,) which existed 
 before the world began, or was formed in order. 
 As the rocks on which that "deep" must have 
 rested, are not named among the works of the 
 then creation, because they existed previously, 
 so we may conclude, that salt also was in a pre- 
 existent state, and coeval with original water, in 
 which it was held in solution. 
 
 As man was created in a state of great purity 
 and innocence, being placed in the garden of 
 Eden to dress it, and permitted to eat the fruit 
 thereof, everything necessary to his existence, 
 comfort, and happiness, is mentioned, as created 
 in the six days in which the Lord made heaven 
 and earth. The non-essentials are not named ; 
 but after the fall of man, other things became 
 necessary to him, such as the minerals, and 
 metals of all kinds ; yet these he could procure 
 only by the sweat of his brow, the condition by 
 which he was then doomed to eat his bread. 
 
 The all-wise Being, indeed, foresaw that the 
 wants of man would increase when his condi- 
 tion should, by his own sinful act, be changed ; 
 these wants, therefore, he, in his boundless love 
 to him, had provided for in a wonderful manner. 
 
15 
 
 He foresaw, likewise, that man, after his apos- 
 tacy, would not be content with having domi- 
 nion only over all the earth, which God had 
 assigned to him ; but that he would also seek to 
 extend this dominion over even the seaby means 
 of his ships. The waters thereof were, therefore, 
 previously prepared, and made buoyant, that he 
 might float his burthens upon them. As the 
 ocean now occupies more than two-thirds of the 
 globe, we cannot but recognize in this also the 
 wise provision of the Creator, that its waters 
 should thus be salted and seasoned for preser- 
 vation and the salubrity of the atmosphere. 
 
 If the objection is raised against the theory of 
 the ocean being impregnated from the "begin- 
 ning" with salt, that this mineral is never found 
 resting on the primary rocks ; this difficulty may 
 be obviated by explaining, that salt only becomes 
 insoluble when it exceeds 40 grains of salt to 
 100 grains of water. It must arise, therefore, 
 that until the salt exceeds this given quantity, it 
 cannot form a deposit, but only by the evaporation 
 of the water in which it is contained. 
 
 If there was no deposition of salt remaining 
 from the primitive ocean, and it is asked, how 
 then were the wants of man supplied, from the 
 period of his disobedience, when he did eat of 
 
16 
 
 the forbidden fruit, to the destruction of the 
 ancient world by the flood, a space of about 1650 
 years? To this objection, the answer presents 
 itself -that salt for the first time became neces- 
 sary to man after he was permitted to eat, not as 
 during the 1650 years, of only " every fruit and 
 green herb" but when his diet was extended, and 
 "every moving thing that liveth was given to 
 him for meat." 
 
 In his own mind, the author can obviate many 
 existing difficulties with respect to the origin of 
 many of those vast beds of salt which are now 
 found, by supposing them to have been formed 
 by the evaporation of the diluvial waters, when 
 " the Lord made a wind to pass over the earth 
 and the waters assuaged." Thus, this most ne- 
 cessary mineral would be more generally spread 
 over the earth, the number and depth of the 
 beds, varying according to local circumstances. 
 From calculation it is now found, that if the 
 average depth of the sea be five miles, and it 
 contains 2J per cent, of salt, if the water were 
 entirely evaporated, the saline residue would 
 form a stratum of salt more than five hundred 
 feet in thickness, covering three-fifths of the 
 surface of the globe. In another place, the endea- 
 vour has been made to account for the alterna- 
 
17 
 
 tions of the different strata, which in some places 
 occur with those of salt. 
 
 Rock salt, generally occurs near the feet of 
 extensive mountain ranges. This adds proba- 
 bility to the opinion, that these ranges were once 
 the boundaries of the extensive lakes and pools 
 of salt water which remained after the ocean had 
 retired from the present continents; the rock salt, 
 in these situations, being formed by the gradual 
 evaporation of these lakes and pools ; and this 
 evaporation taking place slowly, regular crystals 
 would be formed. In other places, it is probable, 
 that subterranean fire may have been the active 
 agent in the formation of rock salt, by quickly 
 evaporating the water which lay in the valleys 
 that were formed by the volcanic upheaving of 
 some of these mountain ranges, before the coun- 
 try had emerged from the ocean. In such in- 
 stances, the evaporation rendered rapid by heat, 
 the salt would be deposited in a confused crystal- 
 line mass, as it is, indeed, in many places. The 
 frequent occurrence of anhydrousgypsum with 
 rock salt, which is also anhydrous, favours the 
 supposition, that the salt with which it is asso- 
 ciated, owes its formation to the action of heat, 
 the consolidation of both having, probably, been 
 effected simultaneously by this element. 
 
18 
 
 But it is readily allowed that two difficulties 
 seem to present themselves unfavourable to the 
 preceding hypotheses. The first is : How could 
 the beds of rock salt be covered with earthy 
 strata, if they were formed by the gradual or 
 speedy evaporation of saltwater? The second, 
 That rock salt sometimes covers the summits 
 of the loftiest mountain ranges. 
 
 It has indeed, been observed, that rock salt ge- 
 nerally occurs at the feet of extensive mountain 
 ranges, and that these, probably, formed the 
 boundaries of the salt water lakes which remained, 
 after the country had emerged from the ocean, 
 on the third day of creation. If, in some in- 
 stances, the process of evaporation gradually took 
 place in a warmer atmosphere, before the deluge, 
 see p. 41 and 42, the crystallized salt that re- 
 mained might afterwards be covered by earthy 
 strata during the deluge, or from partial sea or 
 fresh water inundations. If in other places the 
 evaporation was effected speedily by volcanic 
 fire, during the universal deluge, a fresh and 
 successive rush of waters would cover the mineral 
 deposit with diluvial strata, swept along by the 
 current, till it met with a boundary in the moun- 
 tain ranges. In this manner the salt would re- 
 main deeply covered by the diluvial strata, and 
 
19 
 
 only be brought to light by the persevering in- 
 dustry of man. 
 
 With regard to the mountain ranges on whose 
 summits salt is said to exist ; it seems probable 
 that they were elevated by volcanic agency after 
 the deluge, by which the earth's surface was 
 then entirely changed. 
 
 The author having previously suggested that 
 the Creator gave our present ocean its saltness 
 from the"" beginning," when " darkness was on 
 the face of the deep," will not be content with- 
 out attempting to prove this ; and here, he does 
 not mean to say, that the waters of the ocean do 
 not owe some of their saltness to the salt which 
 the rivers, rains, and other waters, dissolve in 
 their passage through divers parts of the earth, 
 and which are carried into it. But these causes 
 alone are insufficient to account for the average 
 quantity of salt mingled in sea water, being about 
 -g^th part of the whole. All the rivers in the 
 world could not have conveyed into the ocean a 
 quantity of salt equal to yj-oth part of its weight; 
 though we suppose they daily carried into the 
 ocean, and there left, the same quantity of salt 
 which they at present daily deposit in it. If 
 there are, as some suppose, beds of rock salt 
 situated at the bottom of the ocean, and its 
 c2 
 
20 
 
 waters, ever since the creation have been ex- 
 erting their dissolving power on such solid 
 masses, why are they not at this time perfectly 
 saturated with salt ? 
 
 In researches made by the Honourable Mr. 
 Boyle, to ascertain the saltness of the sea at its 
 surface, and at greater depths, he says : " that 
 equal bulks of water taken up in the English 
 channel at the surface, and at the depth of fifteen 
 fathoms, were equally heavy, as they contained 
 the same quantity of salt." 
 
 In other places it has been observed, that water 
 is more salt near the surface, than at greater 
 depths. This was also the opinion of some of 
 the ancient philosophers. From experiments 
 made on this subject, on the occasion of the voy- 
 age to the North Pole ; it was found that equal 
 quantities of water, taken up in the open sea off 
 Shetland, 60 N. lat., at the surface, and at the 
 depth of 65 fathoms, yielded by evaporation 
 equal quantities of salt : namely, ^th part of the 
 whole. 
 
 In N. lat. 65 water taken from the surface 
 gave nearly -^gth of its weight of salt : at the 
 depth of 64 fathoms, it yielded by evaporation 
 equal quantities of salt, namely, nearly ^Vth P art 
 of its weight : an equal weight of water taken 
 
21 
 
 up from a depth of 683 fathoms in the same 
 place, gave only -^-nd of its weight in salt. From 
 these results, we find that water is more salt near 
 its surface, than at greater depths, which would 
 not be the case were the bottom of the sea stored 
 with inexhaustible rocks of salt, which some 
 imagine. 
 
 Where, in some instances, the saltness of the 
 sea has been found to be greater at a lower 
 depth, it may arise from the discharge of fresh 
 water, which being lighter than the sea water, % 
 will not readily mix with it ; and therefore, the 
 superficial water being most readily diluted, will 
 contain less salt, than that which is at a greater 
 depth. It may also owe this difference, in some 
 few instances, to the beds of fossil salt, which it 
 is possible, may be situated at the bottom of the 
 ocean; but the difference, generally, between 
 the saltness of the surface of the sea, and the 
 water at a greater depth, may be more satisfac- 
 torily accounted for, by the exhalation of vapour : 
 for, in all the experiments that have been 
 made, it has been found that where the heat 
 of the sun is greatest, the surface of the water 
 is more salt ; the purer parts of the element 
 being extracted and drawn up into the atmo- 
 sphere by the sun's influence. 
 
22 
 
 From the results of the foregoing researches, 
 it appears evident, that the ocean cannot owe its 
 saltness to the solution of beds of mineral matter 
 at the bottom ; nor to the agency of rivers or 
 sub-currents discharging their contents into it. 
 These appear insufficient, satisfactorily, to ac- 
 count for a general and pretty equally diffused 
 saline impregnation of about ^th part of the 
 whole; and we should take into consideration, 
 that the fact, of the ocean generally containing 
 at its bottom beds of rock salt, has never yet 
 been substantiated. In the difficulty then which 
 arises, in accounting for the natural production 
 of common salt, how can we help recurring to 
 Him, who is the first cause of all we know, 
 and of what we cannot understand, who by his 
 almighty fiat called light out of darkness, at the 
 beginning of the formation of all things? 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THAT there are many natural basins which con- 
 tain successive layers of salt, over which alter- 
 nations of strata and marine remains occur, 
 cannot be denied ; but this is no conclusive evi- 
 dence, against what has been advanced ; namely, 
 that the beds of salt which are found in every 
 country, were formed 'by slow or speedy evapo- 
 ration of the waters in which that mineral was 
 contained. The sea and land alternations, pecu- 
 liar to the basins, may easily be accounted for 
 by successive eruptions of the sea, which, in latter 
 times, filled those natural basins : but when the 
 water was dried up by evaporation, the salt would, 
 of course, remain at the bottom, over which, 
 in process of time, a layer of soil -might be 
 formed, either by the decay of vegetation, or by 
 the drying up of a. fresh water inundation. And 
 here we should notice, that the organic contents 
 of basins, can furnish no correct evidence to 
 geologists in illustration or confirmation, of any 
 general theory. Every one is aware, that the 
 nature of a basin, implies, that it is separated 
 
24 
 
 from the sea coast by ridges, so that its deposits, 
 both of strata, and organic remains, become 
 peculiar. In every separate basin they may be 
 different, according to the various changes which 
 have acted upon them. 
 
 Cuvier supposes, " that there has been an 
 alternate flux and efflux of salt and fresh water 
 over the country around Paris." May not the 
 same have taken place in our own country?* for, 
 at Headon Hill, in the Isle of Wight, at the isles 
 of Purbeck, Sheppy, &c., successive formations 
 of fresh and salt water have been discovered ; 
 these singular fossil formations seem to contain 
 mixtures of fishes and land productions, and of 
 salt and fresh water shells and fishes. 
 
 Would not our modern geologists more effec- 
 tually establish their theories, if they prosecuted 
 
 * An inundation of the sea recently happened in Newry. 
 It is thus described in the Times paper, Dec. 1838. "About 
 8 o'clock on Wednesday night, the tide rose suddenly and 
 impetuously, and poured through the streets with awful 
 rapidity. The middle of Hill Street was in some places 
 two and in others three feet and upwards under water. The 
 area in front of the Telegraph establishment was submerged 
 to the depth of four feet ; and in the counting-houses and 
 lower offices^ the water was upwards of five feet deep ; so 
 quickly did the tide tumble in, that books and papers of 
 every kind were under water." 
 
25 
 
 their researches generally, and in various parts 
 of the world, instead of limiting them (as it is 
 to be feared, they too commonly have done) to 
 the vast natural basins in the vicinity of London 
 and Paris? There are to be found intermix- 
 tures of sea, fresh water, and land fossils, in these 
 basins, which certainly shew that they have 
 alternately been occupied by sea and fresh water. 
 If we seek to discover, whether there have 
 been successive formations of vegetable and ani- 
 mal life, and which of them is the most ancient, 
 it will be necessary, that we should extend our 
 researches deep into the crust of the earth, till 
 we come to those rocks which are called primary 
 or most ancient. These rocks generally occur, 
 in immense masses, and form the lowest part of 
 the earth's surface we are acquainted with ; they 
 constitute the foundation on which rocks of the 
 
 other classes are laid. 
 
 
 
 The most ancient rocks are found to contain 
 neither animal nor vegetable remains ; for they 
 are extremely hard, and the minerals they are 
 composed of, are more or less perfectly crys- 
 tallized : this leads us to conclude that they were 
 formed prior to the creation of organic beings. 
 
 Having failed to discover fossil, animal, or 
 vegetable remains in the primary rocks, the tran- 
 
26 
 
 sition rocks must next be searched. These cover 
 the primary, and here we find the first appear- 
 ance of the lowest kinds of vegetable and organic 
 remains. These rocks may therefore be regarded, 
 as presenting the most ancient records of our 
 globe's earliest inhabitants. As we ascend from 
 the transition rocks to the more recent strata, 
 we discover a progressive development, and a 
 succession of more perfect forms. This appears 
 confirmed by the fossil remains of animals and 
 vegetables peculiar to these. Every regular stra- 
 tum in which they are disseminated, was once 
 the uppermost rock, however deep it may be 
 below the present surface, or with whatever rocks 
 it may now be covered. Thence, we learn, that 
 the secondary strata were formed in succession, 
 and thus these fossil remains preserve the records 
 of the ancient condition of our planet. 
 
 It is only by divine revelation, that man can 
 learn the state in which the earth existed at the 
 creation, as also the order of that creation, and 
 of the world's earliest inhabitants. This know- 
 ledge, our first parents must have derived from 
 an immediate communication from the divine 
 Being, and which has been transmited to us, not 
 by tradition only, but by means of the inspired 
 writings. The most ancient of these, are the 
 
27 
 
 Pentateuch and Book of Job. The Book of Job, 
 Lord Bacon was of opinion, is pregnant with 
 the mysteries of natural philosophy. There is 
 no doubt, that both these books, if applied to 
 aright, will reflect light on the researches of 
 modern geology. 5 * 
 
 In the 26th and 28th chapters of Job, there 
 are many mysteries of philosophy enlarged upon. 
 In the 25th chapter, after Bildad had endea- 
 voured to exhibit to Job the power of God, Job 
 rebukes him in the 3rd and 4th verses of the 
 26th chapter, by ironically asking him, " If he 
 has plentifully declared God's power as it really 
 is, and by whose spirit he had done so ?" He 
 then proceeds himself in the 5th verse, to declare 
 greater instances of the works of God, than 
 Bildad had done, for among other proofs of 
 these, he says, " Dead things are formed from 
 under the waters, and the inhabitants tjiereof :" 
 and in the 7th verse, " he hangeth the earth 
 upon nothing." In the 14th verse, Job, after 
 enumerating many instances of God's power, de- 
 
 * See Pikes's Philosophia Sacra, edited by the Rev. S. 
 Kittle ; and Jones's first principles of Natural Philosophy, 
 also, his Philosophical Disquisitions. Bishop Home's cele- 
 brated statement of the case between Sir Isaac Newton and 
 Mr. Hutchinson. 
 
28 
 
 clares, "that these are but parts of his ways," 
 but adds, " how little a portion is heard of him, 
 (understood,) but the thunder of his power, who 
 can understand ?" 
 
 The Almighty has permitted great light to be 
 thrown on his ways by means of the discoveries 
 of modern science. That the earth does hang 
 upon nothing, being sustained and moved by the 
 etherial fluid or expansion which fills and per- 
 vades all space, the system of central gravity 
 clearly discovers ; and the author has long since 
 come to the conclusion, that science, if it will 
 but bring divine revelation to its aid, can discover 
 what is implied by the words, " dead things are 
 formed from under the waters." Commentators 
 are not all agreed with respect to the literal ren- 
 dering of the Hebrew word " Rephaim" which in 
 our English version is translated " dead things;" 
 but the translation as we now have it, is nearly 
 the same as the preceding one of Queen Eliza- 
 beth's time. In a copy, bearing date 1595, 
 there is this printed marginal note to the text, 
 " The dead things are formed from under the 
 waters and near unto them:" "here Job be- 
 ginneth to declare the force of God's power and 
 providence, in the mines and deep places of the 
 earth." In the Douay version of the Vulgate, the 
 
29 
 
 passage is thus rendered; "Behold the giants 
 groan under the waters, and they that dwell with 
 them." If we take into consideration the context ', 
 where the Hebrew word Rephaim occurs, our old 
 English rendering of the passage seems more in 
 accordance with what Job wished to set forth, 
 namely, God's power and providence, not in de- 
 struction^ but in the creation and preservation of 
 those things which his bounteous goodness had 
 called into existence. 
 
 If there arise doubts in our minds respecting 
 the obscure meaning of those words of Job, 
 " dead things are formed from under the waters," 
 let us see if the researches of modern science 
 will reflect light upon them ; and in order to 
 arrive at a conclusion, we must consider several 
 relations between cause and the effective design 
 of the intelligent Creator. 
 
 We find it so arranged by God's providence, 
 that in the early stages of the vegetable and 
 animal kingdom, there should be a progress from 
 simple to more complex forms. In the animal 
 kingdom there once existed forms, without head, 
 heart, or eyes ; and as we have now reason to 
 believe, that animals of every species derive 
 pleasure from the action of their organs, and 
 from existence itself, what kind of pleasure could 
 
30 
 
 creatures like these enjoy, enveloped in darkness 
 and without the power of moving their habita- 
 tions, we can form no idea. Yet we know that 
 the Lord has created nothing in vain, "for the 
 earth is full of his goodness." 
 
 The Rev. William Kirby,* in the first volume 
 of his work, "On the Power, Wisdom, and 
 Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation 
 of Animals," &c., p. 162, remarks, " that the 
 first plants, and the first animals, are scarcely 
 more than animated molecules, and appear ana- 
 logous of each other. These could most easily 
 be converted into nutriment for the tribes imme- 
 diately above them." Do we not discover, in 
 this, the designing intelligence of the Creator ? 
 for on what could the creatures which the waters 
 brought forth abundantly on the ffth day of 
 creation subsist had it not been that their wants 
 were previously provided for, as the wants of 
 " the beast of the earth, the fowl of the air, and 
 everything which crept upon the earth," were, 
 at a subsequent period provided for, when God 
 made the earth for all alike, giving them " every 
 green herb for their meat ?" 
 
 * See this learned and truly Christian Author's Intro- 
 duction and Appendix to his work on Entomology a 
 Bridgwater Treatise. 
 
31 
 
 As it is the author's belief, (and he knows it to 
 be a scriptural one,) that nothing which was en- 
 dued with life, was destroyed until after man's 
 transgression ; that is, as we are told, when death 
 came into the world by his sin ; so in endeavour- 
 ing to prove that the earliest marine inhabitants 
 of the deep, (if inhabitants they could be called,) 
 were constituted to become the food of those 
 higher orders which were brought into being on 
 the fifth day of creation, it will appear a startling 
 assertion, when he says, it does not, conse- 
 quently follow, that the life of any of them was 
 destroyed. 
 
 We know that most, if not all, the marine 
 tribes of the present time, are predaceous. 
 The land animals which existed before the 
 flood, to them every green herb was given for 
 meat. On what then, may it be asked, could 
 those animals have subsisted, that lived in the 
 sea from the period of their creation on the fifth 
 day, to the fall of man, when death first com- 
 menced his reign in the world ? probably, 
 on nothing but those molecules which had pre- 
 viously been prepared for their food, and which 
 Job seems to refer to as the " dead things 
 formed from under the waters."^ It produces 
 
 * The words of Job " Dead things are formed from under 
 the waters" seem to imply, that, God first formed the food 
 
32 
 
 more sublime ideas of the power and goodness 
 of God, in thus conceiving him working silently, 
 by second causes, in the deep, providing at the 
 same time for the wants of every creature in- 
 habiting it; and it seems more in consonance 
 with the methods he now adopts, to bring about 
 those great final results, which from eternity he 
 had predestinated "according to the good plea- 
 sure of his will." 
 
 That scientific botanist, Mr. Brown, in the 
 course of his investigations into the mysteries of 
 natural philosophy, has discovered that jiot only 
 vegetable, but mineral molecules, when placed 
 in a fluid medium, would move about in various 
 directions; but, as to the cause by which these 
 motions were generated, he offers no conjecture. 
 These motions, he observed, and was satisfied, 
 arose neither from currents in the fluid, nor from 
 its gradual evaporation, but belonged to the 
 
 for the inhabitants of the deep, and when that was prepared 
 the "inhabitants thereof" were then called into life, the 
 waters being commanded to bring forth "the moving crea- 
 ture that hath life" Gen. i. 20 ; this implies that previously 
 to the fifth day of creation, they had brought forth moving 
 creatures not endued with life, for the word "life" seems 
 given here in contradistinction to that which had it not, and 
 it is remarkable that the designation " moving creature that 
 hath life" is only applied to those tribes of fish and fowl 
 which the waters brought forth. 
 
33 
 
 particle itself. And from the spherical molecules 
 mixed with the other oblong particles, obtained 
 from cleraki pulchella, that they were in rapid 
 oscilatory motion in both mineral, animal, and 
 vegetable substances. Along with the molecules, 
 he found other corpuscles, like short fibrils, 
 somewhat moniliform, or having transverse con- 
 tractions, corresponding in number as he con- 
 jectured with the molecules comprising them ; 
 and these fibrils, when not consisting of more 
 than four or five molecules, exhibited motion 
 resembling that of mineral fibrils, while longer 
 ones of the same apparent din meter were at rest. 
 These motions of the molecules he describes as 
 being vermicular, which is progressive. 
 
 But another and a greater law of the Creator, 
 seems to be ascertained from the experiments of 
 Mr. Brown, whilst penetrating into the depths 
 and mysteries of Philosophy before unexplored ; 
 which is, that all bodies, whether organized or 
 unorganized, are formed as fibrin in the animal 
 kingdom, by spherical molecules made, as it were, 
 into necklaces, and then adhering in bundles, and 
 that these are the substratum of all substance. 
 
 With respect to the rocks which are called 
 granite, the mineralogist has ascertained that they 
 are of a compound substance, made up of three 
 D 
 
34 
 
 distinct and simple mineral bodies, quartz, fel- 
 spar, and mica, each presenting certain regular 
 combinations of external form and internal struc- 
 ture, with physical properties peculiar to itself. 
 Chemical analysis has shewn that these several 
 bodies are made up of other compound bodies, 
 all of which had a prior existence in some more 
 simple strata, before they entered on their present 
 union, in the mineral constituents of what are 
 supposed to be the most ancient rocks accessible 
 to human observation. 
 
 The cry st alloy rapher has also shewn, that the 
 several ingredients of granite, and all other kinds 
 of crystalline rocks, are composed of molecules 
 which are invisibly minute, and that each of 
 these is made up of smaller and more simple 
 molecules, every one of them combined in fixed 
 and definite proportions, and affording at all 
 the simple stages of their analysis, presumptive 
 proof, that they possess determinate geometrical 
 figures. These combinations and figures are 
 so far from indicating the fortuitous result of 
 accident, that they are disposed according to 
 laws the most severely rigid, and in propor- 
 tions mathematically exact. 
 
 The crystalline mineral bodies occur under a 
 fixed and limited number of external forms called 
 
35 
 
 secondary. These are constructed on a series of 
 more simple primary forms, which are demon- 
 strable by cleavage and mechanical division, 
 without chemical analysis. The integrant mole- 
 cules of these primary forms of crystals are 
 usually compound bodies, made up of an ulterior 
 series of constituent molecules, i. e. molecules 
 of the first substances obtained by chemical ana- 
 lysis ; and these, in many cases, are compound 
 bodies made up of the elementary molecules, or 
 final indivisible atoms, of which the ultimate 
 particles of matter are probably composed. The 
 particles of the several substances existing in 
 nature, may thus deserve to be regarded as the 
 alphabet composing the great volume which 
 records the wisdom and goodness of thfe Creator. 
 We may illustrate the combination of exact 
 and methodical arrangement, under which the 
 ordinary crystalline forms of minerals have been 
 produced, by the phenomenon of a single species, 
 namely, the well known substance of carbonate 
 of lime ; chemical analysis divides the integral 
 molecules of carbonate of lime into two com- 
 pound substances, namely, quick lime and car- 
 bonic acid, each of which is made up of an incal- 
 culable number of constituent molecules ; a fur- 
 ther analysis of these constituent molecules, 
 
 D2 
 
36 
 
 shews, that they also are compound bodies, each 
 made up of two elementary substances ; the lime 
 being made up of elementary molecules of the 
 metal calcium and oxygen, and the carbonic acid 
 of elementary molecules of carbon and oxygen ; 
 these ultimate molecules of calcium, carbon, and 
 oxygen, form the final indivisible atoms into 
 which every secondary crystal of carbonate of 
 lime can be resolved. 
 
 The author's object in thus introducing the 
 discoveries of scientific men, is to shew the pro- 
 bability that animal, mineral, and vegetable 
 molecules had their origin in that deep which 
 covered the foundation of the earth from " the 
 beginning," where they could exist without at- 
 mosphere and without light ; and that a portion 
 of them constituted the food of those aquatic 
 tribes which were afterwards called into being, 
 whilst another portion of them was employed in 
 forming the earth's surface, as it was destined to 
 appear, when the waters were to be gathered 
 together into their decreed place. 
 
 It seems probable, that the mineral molecules 
 of which the primitive rocks are made up, were 
 at one time all held together in solution in the 
 dep by the balance of affinities ; when that 
 balance was deranged, or so acted upon by ex- 
 
37 
 
 ternal circumstances, precipitation would take 
 place, and the primitive rocks would thus, in 
 process of time, be formed in the hard and 
 crystalline state in which they were destined to 
 appear, when the waters were to be gathered 
 together into their decreed place. It seems na- 
 tural, and at the same time necessary, that, in 
 order to form the primitive and transition rocks, 
 the balance of reciprocal affinities thus held in 
 solution, must be deranged by a variation in tem- 
 perature ; and what strengthens this conclusion is 
 the fact, that the Geiser springs of Iceland, whilst 
 in a heated state retain the flint and lime-stone 
 contained in them ; but when the water is exposed 
 to the air, and it loses its heat, the flint and lime- 
 stone are precipitated, and hard incrustations of 
 these are formed in the course of the fountain. 
 A suggestion is here offered, that the period 
 
 in which the balance of affinities was thus de- 
 
 
 
 ranged, by a variation of temperature acting on 
 the surface of the primitive ocean, was, when the 
 Spirit moved (or brooded) on the face of the deep, 
 Gen. i. 2. 
 
 The above hypothesis may seem somewhat in- 
 consistent with the remarks already made, pages 
 9 and 10, where it is said that the primary rocks 
 must for ages have formed the sole bed of the 
 
38 
 
 deep. In explanation of this, we would say, that 
 when the molecules, of which these primary rocks 
 are composed, became hard and consolidated by 
 cohesion, they would form a fitting bed for the 
 deep to rest upon; but previous to that period, 
 they may have been held in suspension in the 
 fluid medium by the law of the Creator, universal 
 gravitation. It has also been suggested, pages 12 
 and 13, that sea-water, and the salt contained 
 therein, together with the rocks on which the 
 deep rested, were original formations being coeval 
 with each other. The two last of these may have 
 existed in the fluid medium for ages before the 
 period given in the 3rd verse of the 1st chapter 
 of Genesis ; but an objection will here be raised, 
 that if these were held together by central gravi- 
 tation, there would be no necessity of forming a 
 bed of rocks for the deep to rest upon. We 
 should, however, always bear in mind, that the 
 world was, at that stage of its existence, under- 
 going a state of preparation for the reception of 
 man, who, in God's appointed time, was to have 
 dominion over all the earth. Thus, when the 
 original rocks were formed either by precipi- 
 tation, or shifting of their mineral molecules, 
 caused by a variation of temperature acting on 
 the surface of the watery medium, these mole- 
 
39 
 
 cules, would swarm together by mutual attrac- 
 tion, and become a consolidated body on which 
 the water would rest. This hypothesis involves 
 no change of the great Creator's law, that of 
 universal gravitation, as it remains the same. 
 
 The recent discoveries, of science, having shewn 
 us, that the primitive rocks, and the earth's sur- 
 face, are made up of molecules ; and that mole- 
 cules, indeed, form the substratum of all substance . 
 It is singular and very confirmatory of divine 
 truth, that the first vegetation which had its 
 origin on the third day of creation " before it 
 grew" was brought forth by the earth, of which 
 molecular matter it was instantly and wonderfully 
 created? From the same material, " the living 
 creature, cattle, and beast of the earth, on the 
 sixth day, started into life, and, last of all, 
 man himself was formed from the dust of the 
 ground. The birds and fish, (which had their 
 origin on the fifth day, previous to the creation 
 of animals and man), we are told, were children 
 of the ocean. In confirmation of this, we find 
 them similar in their organic structure, and the 
 elements in which they. move appear analogous, 
 they are similar also in their manner of moving, 
 and propagating by eggs. Dr. Thomas Willis 
 observes, that their brains and eyes are likewise 
 
40 
 
 very similar ; their bodies, like those of the vege- 
 table and animal kingdom, which were formed 
 from the earth, are found also to be of molecular 
 origin, or compound bodies made up of others, 
 which had an existence in a more simple state. 
 These vegetable and animal forms which are en- 
 dued with life peculiar to themselves, after a 
 while again resume their prior condition; " for 
 dust they are and unto dust return," and like 
 their parent earth, they also become the nourish- 
 ment of worms. Thus there is a tendency ma- 
 nifested throughout the vegetable and animal 
 kingdom to flourish and decay, one body be- 
 coming in succession merely the nourishment of 
 another living one. In this uncertain state, 
 " there is an end of all perfection." May we 
 seek then, more simply and diligently after what 
 is truth, for that we are assured abideth for ever. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 IN the preceding chapter we have seen, that no 
 inconsiderable portion of the earth's surface has 
 been formed by organic secretion of the most 
 simple forms, their fossilated remains being 
 found many hundred feet below its present sur- 
 face. And there was a time, when such im- 
 mense multitudes of those animals flourished, 
 which have the smallest number of organs and 
 senses, that calcareous mountains of vast extent 
 are found chiefly to consist of their remains. 
 
 The transition rocks are almost entirely com- 
 posed from the exuviae of such kind of forms. 
 These rocks had their origin under a tranquil 
 sea, as their sedementary structure indicates. 
 The cause remains to be seen, why zoophytes of 
 the most simple organization, occupy exclusively 
 the lowest bed of the transition series which rest 
 on the most ancient or primary rocks; for we 
 do not find the remains of different classes of 
 zoophytes, testaceous animals, of reptiles, and 
 vegetable mamiferous quadrupeds, confusedly 
 intermingled together, excepting in beds of clay 
 and gravel near the surface, or in fragments of 
 
42 
 
 various rocks which have been broken down and 
 subsequently united. 
 
 Bones of vertebrated animals, or such as had 
 a brain or spinal marrow, have never been found 
 in the lower strata, except a few species of 
 fishes; nor have the bones of large marnmiferous 
 quadrupeds ever been discovered below the chalk 
 formation. All, or nearly all, the instances that 
 have been cited of animals of the higher class 
 being found in the ancient strata, have proved 
 on further examination to be fallacious ; yet, 
 when we consider what disturbing causes have 
 acted on the crust of the globe, it need not appear 
 surprising, if recent species of animals should 
 sometimes be found buried in the lower rocks. 
 May not these have fallen there through the ver- 
 tical fissures caused by earthquakes, which at dif- 
 ferent times have broken down and dislocated 
 the earth's solid strata? 
 
 In the lower strata, the animal remains are 
 so delicate and regularly deposited, that we can 
 have little doubt, that their exuviae were em- 
 bedded where we now find them ; but, in the 
 upper secondary strata, the remains are dis- 
 persed and broken, and the animals appear to 
 have perished by some convulsion of nature, 
 such as that must have been, when the ancient 
 
43 
 
 world was destroyed by the flood. From these 
 two facts, we acquire a perfect knowledge, that 
 the beds which now form the crust of our planet, 
 were deposited in different epochs of time, and 
 under different conditions of the globe. 
 
 The author has stated his belief, that animal, 
 mineral, and vegetable molecules, such as that 
 highly intelligent botanist Mr. Brown describes, 
 are coeval with original water, by which the 
 primitive and transition rocks, and much of the 
 earth's surface, were formed, the time being as 
 described, first chapter of Genesis, when "dark- 
 ness was on the face of the deep ;" creative 
 wisdom and goodness, from the beginning, 
 having laid the foundation of the vegetable 
 arid animal kingdom, with such as could most 
 easily be converted into nutriment, by those 
 tribes which in his own due time, he had 
 destined should be called into life. 
 
 Mr. Brown has described a portion of the 
 molecules when placed in a fluid medium, as 
 having a progressive motion, whilst another por- 
 tion varying in character from these, were at 
 rest ; and though he does not offer any conjecture 
 as to the cause of these varied motions, we know 
 that every thing in nature, is the result of wise 
 and determinate laws, and even the motions of 
 a molecule are governed by the same wisdom 
 
44 
 
 which regulates each part of the external uni- 
 verse. In the waters of the sea, an infinity of 
 animal, and vegetable molecules exist, some of 
 them are locomotive ; others fixed : these mole- 
 cules now furnish a principal portion of the food 
 of innumerable animals of a higher order than 
 themselves. The fact, of a great portion of the 
 molecules having a progressive motion when in 
 a fluid medium, seems to indicate, it was thus 
 intended, that they might every where be disse- 
 minated through the ocean ; thus furnishing food 
 for the numerous and various tribes of marine 
 animals ; whilst those which were by their struc- 
 ture formed to be at rest, in the very earliest 
 stage of the earth's creation, would swarm toge- 
 ther under the waters ; and thus, in process of 
 many ages, the vastly thick strata which we find 
 chiefly composed of the simplest organic forms of 
 vegetable and animal remains, would be formed 
 by molecular attraction, and become hard and 
 crystallized by long submergence. * But it 
 could only be in the water of a deep and tranquil 
 ocean, that such a hard and solid formation of 
 
 * Salt appearing to be an original substance, what has 
 previously been stated with respect to the formation of rock 
 salt, does not forbid the supposition that mountainous 
 masses of salt were also formed by molecular attraction, 
 the waters being overcharged with this mineral. 
 
45 
 
 vegetable and animal together with mineral 
 molecules could take place. 
 
 Having submitted the foregoing opinion as to 
 the origin of the primary and transition rocks, 
 and also much of the earth's surface, to the 
 candid consideration of the geologist, we pro- 
 ceed to say, it is only from Scripture, that 
 knowledge can be derived, as to the period and 
 condition of our globe, when part of those nume- 
 rous tribes of animals perished, whose remains 
 are found in the upper secondary strata. 
 
 About 1650years after the creation of the world, 
 we are told, that it was destroyed by the flood, 
 " for the earth was filled with violence, and the 
 wickedness of man was very great;" but Noah 
 and all his house were saved, " for he was righ- 
 teous in the eyes of the Lord." In this mighty 
 deluge " all flesh died that moved upon the earth, 
 both fowl, cattle, and beast, and every creeping 
 thing that creepeth on the earth, and every man." 
 The remains of all these we might suppose 
 would be dispersed, broken, and drifted into 
 every land under the heavens, where, by the force 
 of the waves, they would be embedded deep in 
 the earth, or sometimes deposited on the ancient 
 formations previously described. These covered 
 with other matter, would form their own peculiar 
 
46 
 
 strata, precisely as they are found at this day. 
 In latter times, the sea has, in many places, 
 gained the ascendancy, and partially flooded 
 some countries, leaving at its subsidence, like- 
 wise, its own peculiar deposits. These, again, 
 would of course be different from those spread 
 by the universal deluge ; for some of those tribes 
 would be wanting, which are now found in the 
 strata formed at that great epoch, such as the 
 genus of trilobites, and saurian tribe. Of neces- 
 sity, these became extinct after the grand catas- 
 trophe, whereby the' earth's surface, and climate 
 were re-modelled and changed. 
 
 We learn from the apostle St. Peter, that the 
 primeval globe, and its heavens, (or atmosphere,) 
 perished at the deluge ; by wl^ich expression less 
 cannot be intended, than that the atmosphere, 
 and the earth, were new mixed, so as to render 
 the former less friendly to life and health ; 
 whence would gradually follow the shortening 
 of human, and probably, animal life; and sub- 
 ject to raging storms and hurricanes, to the fury 
 and fearful effects of thunder arid lightning, and 
 to the overflowing violence of torrents of rain, 
 while the latter, from the breaking up, inver- 
 sion, mixing, depression, or elevation, of its 
 original strata, and the addition of new ones from 
 
47 
 
 animal and vegetable deposits, was rendered in 
 many places utterly barren, and in others, much 
 diminished in fertility. Such a change having 
 taken place in the earth, and vast countries being 
 essentially altered, both in the temperature and 
 atmosphere, and productions of the soil, the ex- 
 tinction of many of the original animal forms 
 incapable of bearing the past diluvial changes 
 would necessarily follow, 
 
 Of the actual condition of the antediluvian 
 world before this great revolution took place, 
 Scripture does not afford us sufficient materials 
 from which to draw very correct geological con- 
 clusions. Of this we are informed, that the life 
 of man extended to a period of ten-fold greater 
 duration than it does at present, which indicates 
 a much greater salubrity of atmosphere ; and, it 
 is remarkable, that the organic remains of that 
 first period of the human history, correspond 
 with this indication. 
 
 The state of the air and of the seasons, which 
 was so healthful for man, may readily be sup- 
 posed to have been equally favourable to the 
 nourishment of other organized existences ; and 
 if we are to look for proofs from Geology to con- 
 firm the assertion of the sacred volume on this 
 point, we must seek for it in a greater luxuriance 
 
48 
 
 in the growth of plants and animals- Man him- 
 self, who seems not to have arrived at the 
 period of puberty before sixty or seventy years 
 of age, was probably of a superior stature than 
 at present; a conjecture which is confirmed 
 by the existence of giants, as we are expressly 
 assured before the flood, and for some time 
 after it. Many of the organized existences of 
 that period, were of much greater dimensions 
 than are now to be found, either in the vege- 
 table or animal kingdoms. Tropical plants 
 seem to have spread over our temperate regions 
 in great luxuriance of vegetation, and among 
 animals, there are found in these regions some 
 of immense proportions, whose species are now 
 extinct. From these facts we have the evi- 
 dence, that, the antediluvian climate was pecu- 
 liarly genial, and, therefore, we need not be 
 surprised to find that it was far more favourable 
 to animal life, than the mingled and polluted 
 atmosphere in which we at present exist. 
 
 It appears that, during such a genial epoch, 
 the whole surface of Europe was densely peopled 
 by various orders of mammalia, the numbers of 
 the herbivera being maintained in due proportion 
 by the controlling influence of the carnivera ; 
 the individuals of every species, being con- 
 
49 
 
 structed in a manner fitting each to the enjoy- 
 ment of the pleasures of existence, and placed 
 in due and useful relations to the animal and 
 vegetable kingdom, by which they were sur- 
 rounded. Thus, we may suppose, that, in the 
 earliest ages of our earth's history, sharks, 
 and the saurian tribe, would, by their voracity, 
 keep in check the too great increase of the 
 smaller marine and fresh water inhabitants, the 
 time not being arrived when many species of 
 them were to furnish food for man, whilst the 
 genus mammalia, spreading over the whole 
 earth, would, by feeding on the plants and her- 
 bage, keep down their excessive redundancy, 
 consequent on the universal genial temperature 
 of the atmosphere ; and here it is worthy of 
 notice, that the bones of sharks, and of the gigan- 
 tic saurian tribe, and mammalia, are discovered 
 buried in the earth in every latitude ; and also, 
 (as before mentioned,) plants, which are found 
 to be analogous to those which now grow in tro- 
 pical climes. 
 
 There are many reasons for concluding that 
 (as on the third day of creation), earthquakes 
 were employed, as the second causes in sepa- 
 rating and gathering the waters together unto 
 one place, so at the time of the deluge, volcanic 
 E 
 
50 
 
 agency may have been exerted, in order to "break 
 up all 5 * the foundations of the great deep." In 
 this case, many of those marine animals would 
 perish, which were, at that time, within the 
 sphere of their action ; for it is known, that 
 fishes and saurians, which are cold blooded 
 animals, will perish immediately that the tem- 
 perature of their water becomes changed from 
 cold to warm. In this manner, their remains 
 would be preserved entire, and, accordingly, we 
 find that the greater number of fossil fishes pre- 
 sent no appearance of having perished from 
 mechanical violence, but seem to have been de- 
 stroyed by some change effected in the water in 
 which they moved. The circumstances under 
 which those were found at Monte Bolca, appear 
 to indicate that they perished suddenly, on arriv- 
 ing at a part of the then existing sea, which 
 was rendered fatal to them by volcanic agency. 
 The basaltic rocks, which are in the vicinity, 
 lead to this conclusion ; the skeletons of these 
 fishes, lie parallel to the laminae of the strata 
 of the calcareous slate ; they are always entire, 
 and so closely packed upon one another, that 
 
 * The word all as it occurs here, implies volcanic subsi- 
 dences, elevations, disruptions of strata, and even of conti- 
 nents, together with the subterraneous infusion of trap 
 basalt, granite, porphery, and every kind of metallic vein. 
 
51 
 
 many individuals are often contained in a single 
 block. The thousands of specimens which are 
 dispersed over the cabinets of Europe, are taken 
 from one quarry. All these fishes must have 
 died suddenly on this fatal spot, and have been 
 speedily buried in the calcareous sediment then 
 in the course of deposition. 
 
 The fishes of Torre d'Orlando, in the bay of 
 Naples, seem also to have perished in a like 
 manner. An entire shoal has been destroyed at 
 once, at a place where the waters were either 
 contaminated with some noxious impregnation, 
 or overcharged with heat. In like manner, the 
 proximity of this place to the Vesuvian chain 
 of volcanic "eruptions, offers the same cause to 
 account for the destruction of these fishes, at a 
 period preceding those intense volcanic actions, 
 which have, at a more recent period, prevailed 
 
 in this district. There is evidence of vast mini- 
 
 
 
 bers of fishes and saurians having thus met 
 with sudden death, and immediate burial; for 
 their bodies are found entombed in the lias, 
 in a state of entire preservation, by hundreds. 
 Sometimes it happens, that scarcely a single bone 
 or scale has been removed from the place it 
 occupied during life. This condition could not 
 possibly have been retained had the uncovered 
 
 E2 
 
52 
 
 bodies of these animals been left, even for a few 
 hours, exposed to putrefaction, and to the at- 
 tacks of fishes and other smaller animals at the 
 bottom of the sea. 
 
 The motive for describing the above interesting 
 discoveries, is, to shew the period in which those 
 now extinct animals were destroyed, which had 
 their origin under a different condition of our 
 planet, the temperature of which, being changed 
 after the deluge, they ceased to exist, leaving 
 their remains in the regular and unbroken order 
 described ; or from a variation of circumstance 
 caused by the great deluge, confusedly heaped 
 together in the diluvial deposit. 
 
 Some geologists are of opinion, that the ab- 
 sence of human bones in the stratified rocks, or 
 in the undisturbed beds of gravel, or clay, indi- 
 cates that man, the most perfect of terrestrial 
 beings, was not created till ages after those great 
 revolutions which buried many different orders 
 and entire genera of animals, deep under the 
 present surface of the earth. It is unsafe in 
 the present dearth of evidence, to endeavour to 
 establish such an anti-scriptural fact ; for, have 
 the vast diluvial beds of gravel and clay, and the 
 upper strata in Asia, been searched by scientific 
 men ? All writers agree that this continent was the 
 cradle of the human race. Supposing, that very 
 
53 
 
 extensive search had been made, and no human 
 bones were discovered, even this can furnish no 
 decisive proof in support of the opinion that men 
 could not then have been settled in the countries, 
 where the remains of those animals are found, 
 which perished by one grand convulsion of nature. 
 
 The animals which were called into being on 
 the sixth day of creation, as they increased by 
 the propagation of their species, their pasture 
 becoming diminished, would consequently spread 
 themselves to seek it elsewhere : thus, in process 
 of time, every part of the earth would be in- 
 habited by some of them. 
 
 But man is a social being, an inhabitant of 
 towns and cities. It is probable, before the flood 
 came, mankind were spread over but compara- 
 tively a very small portion of the earth, and, 
 perhaps, this was limited to the continent of 
 Asia ; so that it is not surprising, if the remains 
 of man are not found in the diluvial deposit of 
 other countries. 
 
 Besides, there appears some probability for the 
 conjecture, that as the remains of man must have 
 been less scattered than those of the quadrupeds, 
 they would furnish food for those predaceous 
 beasts, (especially the rodentia tribe,) which on 
 their liberation from the Ark could more readily 
 feed and batten upon bones, as the lion, the hyena , 
 
54 
 
 the wolf, and dog, &c. It seemed desirable, that 
 some animals should thus become, as it were, the 
 scavengers of the earth, in order that it might 
 not long appear as a vast charnel-house to Noah 
 and his family, after God had blessed them and 
 said: "be fruitful and multiply and replenish it." 
 
 It appears worthy of observation, that the clean 
 beasts which were taken into the ark by sevens, 
 being in greater number than the unclean, which 
 were taken in by twos, would sooner multiply, and 
 spread, and fill the earth, subsisting on vegetation ; 
 whilst the smaller number of unclean animals 
 would have no need to scatter in search of food 
 as it might be met with close at hand in the 
 carcasses with which the earth must everywhere 
 have been strewn, these being consumed, they 
 would then spread in search of it elsewhere, and 
 when carrion food at length became scarce and 
 difficult to find, they would be driven to prey on 
 the herbiverous animals, which, by that time, 
 would be found in every country on the earth. 
 
 In endeavouring to account for the absence of 
 human bones in the diluvial deposits, the author 
 would wish to avoid, as much as possible, any- 
 thing like speculation on so difficult a subject ; he 
 therefore puts forth the above in the shape of a 
 suggestion only, which another may take up and 
 reason more profitably upon than he has done. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 IN the 104th Psalm, (which is supposed to have 
 been written by Moses,) in the fifth verse, " the 
 foundations of the earth" are mentioned. This 
 passage appears evidently to refer to that period 
 before the creation of light, given in the Mosaic 
 record ; for, at the sixth verse, the foundations 
 of the earth are spoken of as being covered with 
 the deep " as with a garment, the waters stand- 
 ing above the mountains." In the 9th verse of 
 the 28th chapter of Job, reference is also made 
 to the same period, " when thick darkness was 
 a swaddling band for it" (the deep); these pas- 
 sages severally refer to the same period, given in 
 the opening of the first book of Genesis, " when 
 darkness was on the face of the deep." 
 
 Thus, by divine revelation, we are taught, that 
 some of these mountains which would be essen- 
 tial to the enjoyment of both man and beast,* 
 
 * It is from the mountains we are told, that God " sendeth 
 the springs into the valleys," and these "give drink to every 
 beast of the field." 
 
56 
 
 existed before the formation in order of this our 
 world ; which appears quite plain, if we con- 
 sider the 6th verse of the 104th Psalm, taking 
 it in connexion with those previously named. 
 But should this not be quite clear and satisfac- 
 tory, the author would again appeal to Scripture 
 as his authority, for he can in this matter assert 
 nothing of himself. In the sublime opening of 
 the 90th Psalm, ver. 2, we are told, " that the 
 Lord is God from everlasting to everlasting," and 
 that he was thus " before the mountains were 
 brought forth, or ever he had formed the earth 
 or the world." Again, in Proverbs viii. ver. 25 ; 
 "before the mountains were settled, before the 
 hills was I brought forth; ver. 26: " while as 
 yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields," 
 &c. It appears that the writers of these passages, 
 by divine inspiration, go back to the very remotest 
 period, (before the formation of the earth and the 
 world, as we now find them), when the original 
 mountains were brought forth. 
 
 In the Mosaic account of the creation, no men- 
 tion is made how the mountains were brought 
 forth ; but if we take Scripture for our guide, 
 the reason for this omission will appear to us 
 quite obvious; which is, that many of these 
 mountains existed previously, but others, which 
 
57 
 
 were afterwards elevated by volcanic agency, date 
 their origin from the third day of creation, 
 when the waters under heaven were gathered 
 together unto one place ; whilst the waters of 
 the sea were thus being fixed in their channel, to 
 which " they hasted away at the thunder and 
 rebuke of the Lord," and " a place and a bound 
 was set for them, that they should not turn again 
 to cover the earth," no doubt all this took place 
 during a crisis of stupendous and terrible con- 
 vulsion of nature, which seems plainly implied 
 from tfye 7th and 8th verses of the 104th Psalm, 
 where it is said "at thy rebuke, they fled (the 
 waters*) at the voice of thy thunder they hasted 
 away. They go up by the mountains, they go 
 down by the valleys unto the place which thou 
 hast founded for them." 
 
 * As the waters in these two passages of this Psalm, are 
 described as "hasting away and going up by the mountains 
 and down by the valleys unto the place God had founded 
 for them," it evidently refers to the period given in Genesis 
 i. verse 9, the third day of the creation, when the waters 
 under heaven were gathered together unto one place. No 
 one can with propriety apply the above description of the 
 action of the waters to anything that took place at the 
 deluge, for when those waters assuaged it was by a gradual 
 process of evaporation caused by the wind which God made 
 to pass over the earth. 
 
58 
 
 Thus earthquakes may have been, then, (as 
 they sometimes now are,) the second causes em- 
 ployed in forming many of the inequalities of the 
 earth's surface ; but the vast thickness of the 
 stratified deposits, which in some countries com- 
 pose entire mountain chains, cannot be said 
 entirely to have originated on the 3rd day of 
 creation, nor can we reasonably suppose they 
 were formed within the period of about 1650 
 years, which elapsed from the remodelment to 
 the destruction of the old world, the origin of 
 these, as we have endeavoured to show, being 
 much more remote. 
 
 Some modern geologists vainly endeavour to 
 account for the immense depth of the beds con- 
 taining organic remains, by the hypothesis of pro- 
 longed ages or days of creation, when numerous 
 tribes of the lower orders of aquatic animals lived 
 and flourished, leaving their exuviae embedded 
 in the strata in which they are now found. 
 
 In the 20th chapter of Exodus, we are told, 
 that " in six days the Lord made heaven and 
 earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested 
 on the seventh day." Throughout the detail of 
 the six days of creation, (1st chapter of Genesis), 
 we learn that the evening, and the morning, 
 were the limitation of each day's work. This is 
 
59 
 
 the Jewish mode of computing the length of the 
 day, which was reckoned from the beginning of 
 one evening to the beginning of another evening. 
 The light was called " day" and the darkness was 
 called "night;" the days of creation consisting 
 of an evening arid morning, that is, an alternation 
 of darkness and light, day being according to 
 Moses, as now, the general term for the light 
 portion, and the comprehensive term for the whole 
 diuturnity, comprising all its light and all its 
 darkness. According to this, we shall see, it is 
 clearly specified, that each day consisted of 24 
 hours ; precisely then the same number of hours 
 the Almighty has been pleased to reveal to man, 
 that he rested from his work, man was com- 
 manded to do no manner of work, but to keep 
 the day on which the Lord rested, holy to his 
 Maker, setting that time apart to the remem- 
 brance and worship of the Being who had 
 called him into existence, giving him life and 
 all things richly to enjoy. Are not then the 
 notions of some geologists quite at variance with 
 Scripture truth, when they assert, that it may 
 have been millions of ages after the world was 
 created before man was called into existence? 
 Did not the Almighty, when he had perfectly 
 finished the world for man's reception, form him 
 
60 
 
 the last of all things, in order that he might 
 then give unto him the dominion over " the fish 
 of the sea, and the fowl of the air, and over all 
 the earth, and over all the creeping things of 
 the earth?" Thus, all was made subservient to 
 mind, but is it not reversing the order of God's 
 providence and love, to suppose, that he created 
 everything beautiful and " very good," in order 
 that they might be possessed by dumb creatures 
 without sense and incapable of appreciating and 
 enjoying their beauty, or rendering homage to 
 their bountiful Creator ?* 
 
 It appears that the upheaving of some of the 
 ancient primary rocks, and the formation also of 
 the metallic veins, have a close connexion with 
 the period of the great deluge, when our earth's 
 surface underwent so vast and important a 
 change. The same volcanic agency by which 
 so mighty a revolution was probably effected, 
 would operate in expanding the strata where 
 
 * A geologist of some celebrity has taken the sceptre of 
 this earth, which by right divdne belongs only to man, and 
 placed it in the hands of gigantic reptiles, for to use his own 
 expression, " they at one time attained an appalling magni- 
 tude, and rioting in the wide expanse of water, they swayed 
 the sceptre of uncontroverted power over all other created 
 beings.!!" 
 
61 
 
 they were thickest, at the same time, lifting 
 them up in solid masses from the horizontal po- 
 sition in which they must have been originally 
 deposited, to their present level. Rocks thus 
 lifted up with violence, would appear of a rugged 
 nature, as', indeed, we find them ; and the ex- 
 panding and upheaving power which acted on 
 the primary and transition rocks, would also act 
 in disseminating through them those metalli- 
 ferous veins which have originated in enormous 
 cracks and crevices penetrating obliquely down- 
 wards to an unknown depth, and resembling the 
 rents and chasms which are produced by modern 
 earthquakes. It was of the utmost importance, 
 that these veins should be disposed in such a 
 manner as to render them accessible to man's 
 industry, and this, by their present arrange- 
 ment, is admirably attained. Can we fail here 
 to recognize that wisdom and goodness of the 
 Creator, which is displayed throughout all his 
 works, who, at the time he was punishing man's 
 transgression, yet in judgment remembered 
 mercy, causing his beneficence to appear even in 
 the convulsions which destroyed a wicked world ? 
 Modern geologists have discovered, that a 
 great majority of the strata have originally been 
 formed under water, and from materials evi- 
 
62 
 
 dently in such a state, as to subject their arrange- 
 ment to the operation of the laws of gravitation; 
 had no disturbing forces interposed, they must 
 have formed layers almost regularly horizontal, 
 and, therefore, investing in concentric coats the 
 nucleus of the earth. If their position had been 
 left strictly horizontal, the inferior strata must 
 have been buried for ever beneath the highest, 
 and, in this case, we should have wanted that 
 variety of useful minerals almost indispensable to 
 the existence of man in a state of civilized society. 
 
 It is by the present arrangement of the earth's 
 surface, Dr. Hutton endeavours to establish 
 two facts ; the one, " that there has been a vast 
 convulsion of nature, by which rocks that have 
 evidently been formed in a horizontal position, 
 are now found standing upright or nearly so ; " 
 the other fact is, " that such appearances of 
 rocks rugged and broken, cannot be explained 
 by crystallization or subsidence, and, therefore, 
 must have been occasioned by expansion of heat." 
 This expansion must have been exerted at dif- 
 ferent times, being more violent in its opera- 
 tions when it raised the primary rocks, than 
 when the secondary rocks were elevated. 
 
 That there are obviously two orders of mineral 
 masses which form the surface of our globe, the 
 
63 
 
 aqueous and the volcanic, no one who is a prac- 
 tical geologist can deny. The sedementary for- 
 mations contain the remains of organic beings, 
 and occupy a large part of the surface of our con- 
 tinents, but here and there the volcanic rocks are 
 found breaking through, alternating with, or 
 covering the sedementary deposits. There is also 
 another class of rocks which cannot be assimilated 
 precisely to either of the preceding, and which is 
 often seen underlying the sedementary, or break- 
 ing up to the surface in central parts of mountain 
 chains, constituting some of the highest lands, 
 and at the same time, passing down and forming 
 the inferior parts of the earth's crust. This 
 class, usually termed primary, is divisible into 
 two groups, the stratified, and the unstratified. 
 The stratified rocks exhibit well defined marks 
 of successive accumulation, and consist of the 
 rocks called gneiss, mica, schist, argillaceous 
 slate, hornblende, primary limestone, ami others. 
 The unstratified or Plutonic rocks which evi- 
 dently appear of an igneous origin, are composed 
 in a great measure of granite, and rocks closely 
 allied to granite. Both these groups agree in 
 having a highly crystalline texture, and in not 
 containing organic remains. The stratified rock, 
 gneiss, is composed of the same ingredients as 
 
64 
 
 granite itself, and it occurs in beds. In hand 
 specimens, it is often quite undistinguishable 
 from granite, yet the lines of stratification are 
 still evident ; these lines imply deposition from 
 water, whilst the passage of this rock into gra- 
 nite would lead us to infer an igneous origin. 
 How can these apparently conflicting views be 
 reconciled ? It appears by no other way, than as- 
 cribing one common origin to each of these classes 
 of rocks, that of the aqueous; but at the same 
 time, not overlooking the modification which both 
 fire and water may have had on these in producing 
 a like joint effect, and especially, as exhibited in 
 the crystallization of some of these rocks. 
 
 Anciently volcanic action, far exceeding any 
 thing of the kind at present known, was probably 
 the chief agent of God's providence in effecting 
 many mighty changes ; but the force of such vol- 
 canic action, may have been then, as indeed we 
 now find it, confined to certain spaces ; and it 
 was by beneficent convulsions such as these, that 
 the present internal arrangement of the earth's 
 surface was effected. This now enables man to 
 supply his wants from its numerous varieties of 
 mineral products, illustrating, at the same time 
 the judgment and yet the paternal care of an all- 
 directing providence. " Lord how manifold are 
 
65 
 
 thy works, in wisdom hast thou made them all, 
 the earth is full of thy riches." 
 
 As to the manner in which the metallic veins 
 were filled, whether from above, by water, or from 
 below, by fire, much maybe said on both sides of 
 the question. The Huttonians allege, that the 
 cracks have been made by expansion; and the 
 Wernerians, that they have been caused by sub- 
 sidence. The Huttonians in support of their 
 assertion, maintain, that " the deeper you trace 
 a vein, the wider it becomes ; " but this the Wer- 
 nerians deny, and say: "that veins terminate 
 below, being in the form of a wedge, the edge of 
 which is lowest." 
 
 As there appears a total discrepancy between 
 these two theories of Hutton and Werner, the 
 author's object will be, first to endeavour to 
 prove that neither of them is correct, when taken 
 in & general point of view, but that each .may be 
 right, when taken in a limited sense ; and then, 
 in order to get nearer the truth, and at the same 
 time obviate many difficulties and inconsistencies 
 in the two opposing theories, each maintaining 
 that theirs only is the right one, he will endeavour 
 to effect an accommodation between the two, by 
 suggesting that some veins were filled from above, 
 and some from below. 
 
If we are to give credit to Dr. Button's general 
 theory, that fissures were formed by the rending 
 of rocks from the expansion of heat acting below, 
 how shall we get over the fact of veins being 
 found to exist in rocks nearly horizontal? Sup- 
 posing Dr. Hutton to be correct, why are not 
 these rocks raised by the expansion to a con- 
 siderable angle, instead of being in the hori- 
 zontal position in which we find them? Again, 
 supposing, according to Hutton, that all veins 
 were filled from an expansion below, would not 
 the metallic veins be most numerous in the ver- 
 tical or primary rocks ; though metallic veins 
 are more numerous in these rocks, it is a fact, 
 that basaltic and limestone veins are no less so 
 in the newer and horizontal rocks. If all veins 
 were uniformly filled from below, they would 
 give evidence of it by the uniform compactness 
 of their substance ; but this is not the case, for 
 though many of them are filled with substances 
 that exhibit the appearance of having been 
 melted, others are found to contain not only sand- 
 stone, but clay, gravel, sand, and bowlders, ma- 
 terials which could never have been injected in a 
 fused state from below. 
 
 On the other hand, if, according to Werner, 
 mineral veins are all filled from above by metallic 
 
67 
 
 solutions, how will this account for coal being 
 found reduced to a cinder several inches on each 
 side where a granite vein has passed through it?* 
 If the general theory of a sedementary deposition 
 is to be relied on, it must be demonstrated by an 
 exhibition of facts, which will, beyond all dispute 
 prove the truth of it, and the objection which is 
 brought against this theory should be set at rest, 
 that the structure of many veins are not arranged 
 according to the specific gravities of the sub- 
 stances as they ought to be, had they been filled 
 only by deposition from water. 
 
 By proposing an accommodation between the 
 two opposing theories of Button and Werner, and 
 suggesting that the metallic veins were formed 
 some from above, and some from below, at diffe- 
 rent periods, many difficulties which now perplex 
 the minds of geologists will be removed. 
 
 Those metallic ores which occur in thp form of 
 beds in the primary and transition rocks, must be 
 contemporaneous with the rocks in which they are 
 found, the metallic and earthy minerals having 
 been deposited at the same time, and have been 
 
 * A vein of basalt is found traversing Walker's Colliery, 
 near Newcastle ; it is of a fine hard, and unbroken nature, 
 on an average about 13 feet thick ; on each side of it, the 
 coal is converted into coke to a considerable extent. 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 probably separated, by chemical affinity, during 
 the process of consolidation, when those rocks 
 were formed which had their origin at the bot- 
 tom of a deep and tranquil ocean, at that period 
 of the Mosaic narrative which has been frequently 
 alluded to. Those metallic ores which are found 
 in the form of regular strata in the secondary 
 rocks, as well as the basaltic and limestone veins, 
 may have been formed also by deposition at the 
 bottom of the sea, with the rocks in which they 
 are found, within the period of about 1650 years, 
 between the creation and destruction of the old 
 world. Here then are two periods of great ex- 
 tent allowed for these various formations. 
 
 It will be our endeavour to shew, not only the 
 origin of the mineral veins, but the different 
 periods of time in which we may be led to infer, 
 that they were formed in the condition in which 
 they now appear. 
 
 Miners frequently find one metallic vein cross- 
 ing or cutting through another, and displacing it. 
 In such instances, it is evident, that the vein 
 which is cut through, must be more ancient than 
 that which intersects it. As an illustration of 
 this, see Fig. 1. The vein, a a divides and unites 
 again, and finally branches off into small strings, 
 c c c ; b b is another vein which cuts through 
 
69 
 
 the former, and has thrown the lower part of the 
 vein, a a, with the branching strings c c c out 
 of its course. It is obvious, that the vein, a a 
 was formed before that of b b, which has up- 
 heaved the rock on one side with the lower part 
 of the vein a. Here then (which is very com- 
 monly the case) are two veins dissimilar in their 
 appearance, and both evidently formed at different 
 periods. It has been shewn that the vein a a is 
 the most ancient, and the question now arises as 
 to its origin. This, we conclude, is of an aqueous 
 nature, and of course filled from above, as the 
 branching off in strings downwards, seems to 
 indicate; for had it been filled by igneous injec. 
 tion from below, those orifices would have been 
 too narrow for the passage of such a body of 
 fused mineral matter, which increases in width 
 as it approaches the surface. 
 
70 
 
 It now remains to be seen what was the origin 
 of vein b b ; and here, in reason, no other can be 
 assigned for it, than that of an igneous one ; for 
 would it not require a volcanic force to displace 
 vein a a, which it is utterly inadequate to attri- 
 bute to water, but which a volcanic agency shoot- 
 ing up a mass of mineral matter from below, 
 could alone effect? It seems probable, that this 
 mass of mineral matter, must have originally 
 existed below in the shape of a bed, before the 
 formation of the vein it intersects and cuts off; 
 this bed, probably, being formed by chemical 
 subsidence at the bottom of that deep which the 
 Mosaic narrative tells us, covered the ancient 
 world from " the beginning." Previous to the 
 fusion of this bed, and its being driven upwards 
 in the shape of a vein, it seems probable, that the 
 fissure a a, was produced by the shrinking of the 
 materials in which the metallic vein is found, the 
 fissure being afterwards filled from above by the 
 ore in a state of solution* Accordingly, we find 
 the mineral substances of which these kind of 
 veins are composed, arranged in a regular manner 
 in the form of plates, each succeeding layer being 
 
 * Some veins alter in character and thickness, when they 
 leave one rock and enter another ; this probably arises from 
 a variation in the shrinking of those rocks in whose fissures 
 the veins are now found. 
 
71 
 
 deposited on the preceding. This could only be 
 effected at the bottom of a deep and tranquil 
 ocean, such as that might have been from the 
 creation to the destruction of the ancient world, 
 a period of about 1650 years. When that world, 
 through man's sin, was destroyed by the flood, 
 and volcanic agency most likely employed to 
 " break up the fountains of the great deep," 
 many of those veins which are now found inter- 
 secting others in different directions, were pro- 
 bably shot up in a fused state from their original 
 beds below. 
 
 If the fact of metallic veins being frequently 
 found to contain different ores at various depths, 
 be brought in objection to the proposition that 
 much of the metallic matter is a deposition from 
 water, the author would refer again to his hypo- 
 thesis of the balance of affinities in the waters 
 of the primitive ocean ; when, in the Almighty's 
 providence, that balance was deranged, the ma- 
 terials of which the ores are composed, would, 
 by deposition, become arranged according to 
 their specific gravities ; and thus iron ore, copper 
 ore, cobalt ore, and silver ore, would follow each 
 other in succession, as they actually do in some 
 of the mines in Saxony. 
 
 In the counties of Northumberland and Dur- 
 
72 
 
 ham, the deeper the lead mines are followed, the 
 poorer they become ; we can hardly reconcile this 
 fact with the theory of injection from below, 
 see vein, a a, fig. 1, which is supposed to have 
 been formed by solution from above, as the 
 branching strings indicate. The contrary is the 
 case in the copper mines of Cornwall ; these 
 become richer, and, it is said, they are never 
 known to come to an end, although several of 
 them have been traced to a depth of 1000 feet 
 from the surface ; it seems reasonable to suppose, 
 that these have been formed by injection from 
 below, their original beds being situated at an 
 unknown depth. But there is a general tendency 
 of veins to take a north and south, or east and 
 west direction, which cannot be explained by 
 either of these theories. The interesting expe- 
 riments, however, made by Mr. Fox, give some 
 probability to the opinion, that electricity has been 
 an active agent in the formation of these veins : 
 but further experiments are necessary, before a 
 theory of this kind can be fully established, and 
 new discoveries, with respect to the nature of veins, 
 will, no doubt, enable the miner to distinguish, 
 in searching after the ores, which metallic veins 
 are entirely of an aqueous nature, and wiiich are 
 of a modified aqueous nature, that is, Codified 
 
73 
 
 by the action of volcanic fire. Such a knowledge, 
 as to the origin of veins, might prove of the 
 greatest utility. 
 
 It appears that the formation of some of the 
 aqueous metallic veins, has a close connexion 
 with the period, when the coal strata were de- 
 posited in the basin-shaped concavities in which 
 they lie. In the section of a bed, Fig. 2, we see 
 
 the regular coal strata e e, displaced and lifted 
 up by the dyke d, which is composed of mineral 
 substance, precisely in the same manner as the 
 intersecting vein b b, Fig. 1, page 69, cuts off 
 and displaces the vein a a. So closely are the 
 walls or dykes associated with the beds of the 
 coal measures, that they have been considered 
 almost an essential part of their formation, their 
 
74 
 
 present condition being mainly attributable to 
 them. 
 
 The dislocation which interrupts the progress 
 of the metallic vein, and the regular coal strata, 
 as shewn in the two preceding cuts, is similar 
 and seems effected at the same period, and by the 
 same convulsion. From this it appears, that the 
 coal beds, and some of the metallic veins, were 
 of contemporaneous origin, inclining us to give 
 credence to the opinion of that useful and able 
 geologist, Mr. Bakewell, namely, " that these 
 kinds of basins in which the coal strata are 
 deposited, were originally fresh-water lakes or 
 marshes ; and the plants whose remains compose 
 the coal, grew where the coal is now found, be- 
 tween the periodical inundations, to which the 
 basins have been subjected. These plants being 
 analagous to those, which at present grow in 
 tropical climates, they must have been subjected 
 to the same atmospheric influence which pro- 
 motes the rapid growth and decay of vegetation 
 in hot climates." Should this hypothesis of the 
 coal formation be admitted, there seems no period 
 more probable for the alternate formation of the 
 coal beds, than the time which elapsed between 
 the creation and the Noachian deluge, when the 
 whole world and atmosphere " which then was," 
 
75 
 
 was of equable temperature. To the same period, 
 we may assign the formation of many of those 
 mineral veins, which seem to be of an aqueous 
 nature. 
 
 The accumulation of vegetable matter at a re- 
 mote epoch in the history of the world, for the 
 consumption of creatures which should afterwards 
 exist on its surface, must strike the least in- 
 quiring ; but when the upturned, twisted, and 
 shattered strata so common in the districts com- 
 posed of the coal measures, are before us, design 
 is not so apparent, more particularly when the 
 miner complains of the dislocations (faults) which 
 interrupt his progress. We might, therefore, 
 regard this as a bar to the ingenuity and industry 
 of man, in extracting the combustible so valuable 
 to him. When, however, we look more closely 
 into this subject, we find that the shattered and 
 contorted condition of the rocks, though it may 
 embarrass the wishes of the miner for a time, is, 
 in reality, highly advantageous, as preventing the 
 passage of subterraneous waters from one mass to 
 another, and the miners in collieries situated in 
 one particular mass, have only to contend with 
 the waters in it; whereas if the strata were always 
 horizontal, unbroken, and continuous, the abun- 
 dance of water that would flow into the work s 
 
76 
 
 would render them so difficult and expensive, that 
 the extraction of the coal must be abandoned. 
 The present arrangement likewise of the ma- 
 terials in which the metals are now found, so 
 calculated to stimulate the industry of man in 
 search of them, exhibits no small proof of the 
 wise foresight, and benevolent intention of the 
 Creator, in directing, modifying, and controlling 
 the operations of a destructive agency to bene- 
 ficial ends. The disturbing forces by which many 
 strata, affording numerous varieties of mineral 
 productions, are made to emerge in succession 
 on the surface of the earth, appear to have been 
 effected by volcanic fires having their source 
 within the earth itself. That there exists a mass 
 of heated matter under the surface of the whole 
 globe, seems very improbable ; but that there is 
 subterranean fire under a considerable extent of 
 it, can scarcely be doubted. The volcanoes that 
 are thickly scattered over both the northern 
 and southern hemispheres, the long period of 
 their activity, and the connexion that appears 
 to subsist between those in distant districts,* 
 
 * During the earthquake at Lisbon, in 1775, almost all 
 the springs and lakes in Britain and every part of Europe, 
 were violently agitated, many of them throwing up mud 
 and sand, and emitting a fetid odour. Even the distant 
 
77 
 
 prove the depth and extent of the source of vol- 
 canic fire ; but do not afford sufficient evidence in 
 support of the theory, that there is a deep cen- 
 tral heat under the whole surface of the globe. 
 
 We know that there are very extensive regions 
 to which both volcanoes and earthquakes seem 
 chiefly to be confined ; these, Mr. Lyell informs 
 us, appear to be connected with immense inter^ 
 nal fissures in the crust of the earth, through 
 which the central heat finds its way to the sur- 
 face. He particularizes the whole region of the 
 Andes, including Mexico and the West Indies, 
 which pursues a course of several thousand miles, 
 from north to south. The region of at least equal 
 extent, which commences on the north with the 
 Aleutian Isles, and extends, first, in an easterly 
 direction, for nearly 200 geographical miles, and 
 then southward, without interruption, through- 
 out a space of between 60 and 70 of latitude to 
 the Molluccas, where it branches off in different 
 directions. And, in the Old World, the region 
 extending from the Caspian Sea to the Azores, a 
 distance of about 1000 geographical miles. 
 
 waters of the lake Ontario, in North America, were violently 
 agitated at the time. These phenomena offer proofs of 
 there being subterranean communications under a large por- 
 tion of the globe. 
 
78 
 
 " Over the whole of the vast tracts alluded to," 
 says this author, " active volcanic vents are dis- 
 tributed at intervals, and most commonly arranged 
 in a linear direction. Throughout the inter- 
 mediate spaces, there is abundant evidence, that 
 the subterranean fire is at work continuously ; 
 for the ground is convulsed, from time to time, 
 with earthquakes, gaseous vapours, especially 
 carbonic acid gas, are disengaged plentifully from 
 the soil. Springs often issue at a very high tem- 
 perature, and their waters are very commonly im- 
 pregnated with the same mineral matters, which 
 are discharged by volcanoes during eruptions." 
 
 The fact, then, seems to be established, that 
 there is a vast region of excessive heat in the 
 centre of the earth ; the crust of the globe 
 being rent internally into very extensive fis- 
 sures, along which, that formidable agent ap- 
 proaches nearer the surface, and through which, 
 it finds occasional or permanent vents ; but there 
 are many difficulties accompanying the theory, 
 that this central heat is extended under the 
 whole surface of our globe; one of these objec- 
 tions as noticed by Professor Sedgwick, is here 
 given : " If," says he, " the earth has during any 
 period undergone any considerable refrigeration, 
 it must have also undergone a contraction of 
 
79 
 
 dimensions, and also, as a necessary consequence 
 of a well-known mechanical law, an acceleration 
 round its axis; but direct astronomical obser- 
 vation, proves, that there has been no sensible 
 diurnal acceleration during the last 2000 years, 
 and, therefore, during that long period, there 
 has been no sensible diminution in the mean tem- 
 perature of the earth. This difficulty does not, 
 however, entirely upset the hypothesis of central 
 heat ; it only proves, that the earth had reached 
 an equilibrium of mean temperature, before the 
 commencement of good astronomical observa- 
 tions." 
 
 The direct astronomical observations, how- 
 ever, which prove that there has been no sensible 
 diurnal acceleration of the earth round its axis 
 during the last 2000 years, completely upsets the 
 hypothesis of M. Cordier, who maintains, " that 
 there is a source of immense heat in the earth, 
 arid that the external crust may be from 50 to 
 100 miles in thickness, and that all within this 
 crust is a mass of melted matter : that originally 
 the whole globe was an entire mass of melted 
 matter, before the external crust became solid 
 by throwing out its heat into space ; and that, in 
 this manner, the solid crust is constantly grow- 
 ing thicker, and the internal heat diminishing !" 
 
 It appears, that M. Cordier^ has drawn the 
 
80 
 
 above conclusions, from the results of numerous 
 experiments made by himself and others in mines 
 and Artesian wells. Witn respect to the expe- 
 riments made on the temperature both of the air, 
 the water, and the rocks in mines, the result has 
 been that in many cases a considerable increase 
 of heat has been indicated by an increase of depth, 
 though the amount remains to be proved. 
 
 In those instances, where the temperature of 
 mines has been found to increase with the descent, 
 we can attribute this to no other cause but to 
 volcanic fires situated beneath these mines, which 
 in some remote and disturbing epoch, have 
 exerted their agency in disseminating through 
 the rocks those metalliferous veins which are 
 now accessible to the industry of man : but this 
 may be one of those partial operations of subter- 
 ranean fire peculiar to the Neptunian system 
 which admits several of the phenomena accom- 
 panying it, which strike us most forcibly. 
 
 It can scarcely be expected, that an inquiry 
 relating to the temperature of the central parts of 
 our planet, can be brought within the limits of 
 human observation and experiment, as the depth 
 to which we can explore by boring or by excava- 
 tion, bears so inconsiderable a proportion to the 
 diameter of the earth. It has been calculated, 
 that the depth of the sea in any part does not 
 
81 
 
 exceed 30,000 feet, or a little more than 5 miles; 
 this, compared with the diameter of our earth, 
 about 8,000 miles, may be regarded as nothing. 
 That there is a vast hollow, contained in its 
 centre which must be the seat of volcanic fire, 
 appears conclusive, from the existence of vol- 
 canoes in every latitude of the globe. This vol- 
 canic fire, probably arranged as a series of vaults 
 beneath the crust of the earth, has, in ancient 
 times operated, as before stated, in the mining 
 districts, and also in effecting the elevation of 
 the vast mountainous chains, particularly of those 
 at whose basq, thermal waters are found, which 
 evidently indicate, that these are situated over or 
 near one common source of heat, by the agency 
 of which, the beds of the mountains have been 
 thrown up in a situation nearly vertical. 
 
 It is not improbable, that there exists an analogy 
 between the temperature of the Thermal waters, 
 and the height of the hills or mountains in the 
 neighbourhood of which these warm springs are 
 found ; as it would require a greater volcanic 
 force to elevate the Alps mountains, (among 
 which numerous Thermal springs are found), 
 than it would those of our own country.* 
 
 * Thermal springs are of frequent occurrence on the sum- 
 mit of the Alps ; these being further removed from the source 
 
82 
 
 The following will shew an account of the tem- 
 perature of the Thermal waters of England, and 
 of a few celebrated Thermal waters on the Con- 
 tinent. 
 
 Farenheit. 
 
 Bristol 74 
 
 Matlock 66 
 
 Buxton 82 
 
 Bath 112 and 116 
 
 Vichy (Auvergne) 120 
 
 Carlsbad (Bohemia) .... 165 
 Aix-la-Chapelle (Flanders) . . 143 
 Aix-les-Bains (Savoy) . . . 117 
 Leuk (in the Haut Valais) 117 to 126 
 Bareges (South of France) . .120 
 From the experiments of M. Cordier in ascer- 
 taining the temperature of Artesian wells, it 
 appears, that, in some parts of France, the average 
 increase of heat above the mean temperature of 
 the surface, is about 1 degree of Farenheit's ther- 
 mometer for every 45 feet in depth ; but this 
 is liable to variation of increase or decrease in 
 different situations. 
 
 It seems that we cannot arrive at any definite 
 conclusion as to the temperature of Artesian wells, 
 
 of the deep volcanic heat, their temperature would, conse- 
 quently, be less. 
 
83 
 
 which will go to establish the theory of there 
 being a deep central heat situated under the 
 whole surface of our earth, unless the results of 
 general researches in England, France, Italy, and 
 Germany, are compared together. It is known 
 that the southern and central departments of 
 France, where the experiments of M. Cordier 
 were conducted, have been the seat of active vol- 
 canoes at no remote geological epoch. This is 
 evident from the basaltic rocks and the nume- 
 rous hot springs which remain; it is therefore not 
 improbable, that the increase of temperature with 
 the increase of depth of the Artesian wells in that 
 part of France, may be derived from volcanic heat 
 situated in comparatively a quiescent state deep 
 under the primitive or lowest rocks.* 
 
 * The elevation of temperature may, for aught we know, 
 be confined to the neighbourhood of uplifted chains of moun- 
 tains ; it may be a consequence of those great natural events 
 to which are owing the disturbance these experienced ; and, 
 consequently, it may not extend to the great plains of Rus- 
 sia, Siberia, Poland, and Prussia, where no such local in- 
 fluences exist. It is certain at least that throughout these 
 vast tracts of level country, neither basaltic rocks, nor ther- 
 mal or carbonated springs, have been noticed ; whilst both 
 the one and the other appear to become more and more 
 abundant in proportion as we find other indications of vol- 
 canic action. 
 
 o2 
 
84 
 
 In order fully to establish the theory of & general 
 central heat, Artesian wells should be sunk in 
 plains remote from the scene of volcanic dis- 
 turbance, by which the originally horizontal strata 
 have been tilted up and dislocated. Any re- 
 searches made in valleys would not present an 
 equally fair criterion for drawing conclusions, as 
 these valleys themselves may have been formed 
 by volcanic subsidence, the internal heat still 
 existing deep within the bosom of the earth, the 
 nearer to which an approach being made by 
 boring, the mean temperature would conse- 
 quently be found to increase. 
 
 In England many borings for water have been 
 executed ; but it does not appear that experiments 
 have been made on the water to ascertain the 
 temperature. At Boston, in Lincolnshire, water 
 was bored for, to the depth of 600 feet ; the boring, 
 during the whole depth, was in clay; and the 
 experiment was unsuccessful, no good water being 
 obtained. It is to be regretted, that the tempe- 
 rature of the water, at that depth, had not been 
 ascertained. 
 
 The author would here hazard the following 
 opinion, to which the foregoing observations 
 have been tending. That the only means of 
 coming to a correct decision with respect to the 
 
85 
 
 long contested theory, of there being a general 
 central heat under the surface of our earth, can 
 be by means of boring Artesian wells, not only in 
 plains through clay, and the alluvial deposits, 
 but, also, through the newer rocks of sandstone, 
 gypsum, and shale, which are found in an hori- 
 zontal position, or nearly so. These not having 
 been subjected to volcanic disturbance would 
 offer a fairer test for the experiment, than those 
 localities which from their appearance are known 
 to have been subjected to volcanic upheaving or 
 subsidence. 
 
 It has been stated, that by the experiments 
 which have been made, the temperature of some 
 mines (though as it will afterwards appear not 
 all) rises as we sink deeper into the earth. But 
 there is a very great difference in the rate of this 
 increase in different mines. It may be worth 
 while to collect this rate as deduced from the dif- 
 ferent mines observed. 
 
 Huel Abraham . . 
 
 1 
 
 for 43 feet 
 
 United Mines 
 
 1 
 
 64 
 
 Dolcoath .... 
 
 1 
 
 77 
 
 Tincroft .... 
 
 1 
 
 66f 
 
 Cook's Kitchen . . 
 
 1 
 
 50 
 
 Whitehaven . . 
 
 1 
 
 43 
 
86 
 
 Workington . . 
 
 ; 1 
 
 for 
 
 42 feet 
 
 Teen .... 
 
 1 
 
 
 37 
 
 Percy Main . . 
 
 . 1 
 
 55 
 55 
 
 47 
 
 J arrow 
 
 . 1 
 
 5> 
 
 46 
 
 Killingworth 
 
 . 1 
 
 55 
 
 48 
 
 Beschertgluch 
 
 . 1 
 
 59 
 
 38-5 
 
 Hoffnung Gottes 
 
 . 1 
 
 55 
 
 57 
 
 Poullaouen . . 
 
 . 1 
 
 99 
 
 157 
 
 Huel Goat . . 
 
 . 1 
 
 55 
 
 48 
 
 Carmeux <. 
 
 . 1 
 
 55 
 
 50 
 
 Littry .... 
 
 1 
 
 
 35 
 
 
 
 J5 
 
 
 Decises . . . 
 
 . 1 
 
 55 
 
 30 
 
 Herzogenrath 
 
 . 1 
 
 5? 
 
 76 
 
 Bagoslowsk . 
 
 . 1 
 
 95 
 
 34 
 
 Charliesliope 
 
 . 1 
 
 59 
 
 22 
 
 From the above, we perceive that the diffe- 
 rence in temperature is enormous. In the mine 
 of Decises, there is an elevation of 1 for every 
 30 feet of descent ; while in Poullaouen an 
 elevation of 1 requires a descent of 157 feet, or 
 more than five times as great. If we were to 
 leave out Poullaouen and Charlieshope, as de- 
 viating too much from the rest, and take the 
 mean temperature of all the others, we should 
 obtain nearly an increase of 1 for every 50 feet 
 of descent. 
 
87 
 
 I 
 
 Can this augmentation and variation of tem- 
 perature of mines be accounted for by any acci- 
 dental causes, such as the burning of candles, the 
 blasting of gunpowder, or the number of work- 
 men employed in the mine? It seems probable, 
 that much may be attributed to natural, and some 
 also to accidental causes. 
 
 In the year 1819, the number of men employed 
 in Dolcoath mine was 800, of whom a third part 
 or 266 were always in the mine. The candles 
 burnt, amounted to 200 Ibs. every day. The gun- 
 powder employed in blasting the rock in which 
 tlie mine is situated, amounted to 86-f Ibs. per day. 
 
 Now, the quantity of water pumped daily out 
 of Dolcoath mine was 535,173 gallons, or nearly 
 4-J millions of pounds ; and this water had the 
 temperature of 84, or 33 higher than the mean 
 temperature of Redruth, where the mine is 
 situated : thus, the heat carried off daily, in the 
 water pumped out of the mine, would have heated 
 824,000 Ibs. of water from the freezing to the 
 boiling point. 
 
 From the facts ascertained respecting animal 
 heat, we have reason to conclude, that the heat 
 given out daily by 266 men, would be sufficient 
 to raise the temperature of the whole water from 
 the mine one degree. 
 
88 
 
 200 Ibs. of candles, according to the best ex- 
 periments of the heat evolved during the burning 
 of tallow, would be only sufficient to raise the 
 temperature of the water so much as -i^th of a 
 degree. 
 
 Thus, it is clear, that all the heat from these 
 adventitious causes, does not amount to so much 
 as ^th of the 33 of heat which the water con- 
 tains above the mean temperature of Redruth, 
 which must be very nearly 51. 
 
 In order to explain this curious fact, many 
 Geologists have adopted the notion that the 
 temperature of the central parts of the globe is 
 much higher than that of the surface ; so high 
 indeed as to be in a state of intense ignition. 
 According to this hypothesis, if the mean tem- 
 perature at the surface be 56, since the tem- 
 perature augments 1 for every 50 feet, it is 
 obvious, then, that the temperature of the centre 
 of the globe must be almost 418,000. 
 
 But though this supposition of a central heat 
 existing under the surface of our earth, seems 
 plausible, it must not be concealed, that there 
 are several circumstances which greatly militate 
 against it. Had this central heat really existed, 
 the temperature of the earth would have varied 
 by gradual refrigeration, during the last 2000 
 
89 
 
 years, and, consequently, the length of the day 
 become altered, but M. Arrago has demonstrated 
 that, during this long period, no sensible diminu- 
 tion of that temperature has taken place. 
 
 It is sufficiently obvious, that the temperature 
 of a place is regulated by the latitude. The 
 mean temperature of the equator is 81*5; that 
 of latitude 45 is 56 ; that of Stockholm in north 
 latitude 60 is 41, and that of Lapland in north 
 latitude 67 is 32. The following table will 
 show the difference in temperature between the 
 frigid and temperate zones, both in summer and 
 winter : 
 
 PLACES. 
 
 Latitude. 
 
 Mean 
 Winter 
 Temp. 
 
 Mean 
 Summer 
 Temp. 
 
 Madeira ....... 
 
 32 Q -37 
 
 63-5 
 
 72*28 
 
 Italy 
 
 40-50 
 
 50 
 
 77 
 
 France 
 
 43-30 
 
 44-6 
 
 75-2 
 
 France 
 
 47-10 
 
 41 
 
 68 
 
 England 
 
 53-30 
 
 37-8 
 
 62.6 
 
 Scotland . 
 
 57 
 
 36-14 
 
 56-48 
 
 Sweden 
 
 60-30 
 
 24-8 
 
 60.8 
 
 Gulf of Bothnia .... 
 
 62-5 
 71 
 
 16-7 
 23-9 
 
 59 
 44-7 
 
 It is obvious from this table, that, in all these 
 places, tiic higher the sun is elevated above the 
 horizon, and the longer it continues above it, the 
 higher is the temperature; and that in winter, 
 
 
90 
 
 when the altitude is low, and the days short, the 
 temperature is much lower. From all this, it 
 cannot be doubted, that the temperature is regu- 
 lated entirely by the sun. Now, how could this 
 be the case, if there existed a central fire, which 
 makes its influence be felt so much as to raise 
 the temperature 33 at a depth of 200 fathoms 
 under the surface ? It has been said, indeed, 
 that the heat lost by radiation is just equal to 
 that transmitted from the centre, so that the 
 surface cannot be heated by the central fire, but 
 only by the sun. But, whatever effect may be 
 ascribed to radiation, surely it must act equably 
 on every part of the surface of the earth. But 
 the poles are twelve miles nearer the centre than 
 the equator is. Now, if every 50 feet of descent 
 occasion an increase of 1, twelve miles should 
 occasion an increase of 1291; so that allowing 
 the heat dissipated from the surface by radiation 
 to be equal at the poles and equator, still there 
 ought to be an increase of more than 1200 of 
 heat at the pole, derived from the central fire ; 
 and the temperature at the pole, instead of being 
 13, ought to be enormously high. The low 
 temperature of the pole, owing to k the long 
 absence of the sun, and probably also the absence 
 of land, seems totally irrr^oncileable with the 
 
91 
 
 existence of a central fire in the globe, or, at 
 least, that this central fire transmits heat to the 
 surface in such quantity as to affect the ther- 
 mometer. 
 
 The observations of Mr. Moyle, which were 
 made during a series of years in Cornwall, seem 
 to shew that the high temperature of the mines 
 in that county, continues only while they are 
 working. When these mines are abandoned, they 
 get filled with water, which, of course, remains 
 stagnant, and the temperature gradually sinks as 
 it approaches that of the mean temperature of 
 the place. The Oatfield engine shaft, at the 
 depth of 1 82 fathoms, had a temperature of 77 
 while the mine was working. Mr. Moyle exa- 
 mined the temperature at that depth, a few 
 months after the mine had been abandoned, and 
 found it reduced to 66. He tried it again many 
 months after and found the temperature reduced 
 to 54. Thus, the temperature at the bottom of 
 this mine had sunk, after it was abandoned, no 
 less than 23. It is obvious, that if the original 
 high temperature had been derived from the 
 central fire, the mere abandonment of the mine 
 could not have reduced it. 
 
 Mr. Moyle found the temperature in the aban- 
 doned mines of Herland and Huel Alfred, that 
 
92 
 
 of the former 54, and of the latter 56, and this 
 at all depths. The working of these two mines 
 being resumed, the water was drawn off, and 
 Mr. Moyle examined it during the observation, 
 to the depth of 100 fathoms, without finding any, 
 increase of temperature. 
 
 Huel Trenoweth is another example which Mr. 
 Moyle has brought forward. It is 100 fathoms 
 east of Crenver and Oatfield mines, on the same 
 load. This mine was discontinued working for 
 more than twelve months, at least, as far as re- 
 gards the presence of the miners ; but the engine 
 was still kept working to relieve the other two 
 mines. The adit at which the water is discharged, 
 is 32 fathoms from the surface. Here its tem- 
 perature was 54 ; and it gradually increased from 
 this place to the mouth of the pump, where it 
 was 56; 15 fathoms deeper, the walls of the 
 shaft were 54. A gallery at this level, 40 
 fathoms east of the shaft, was only 53 ; 5 
 fathoms deeper, or 52 from the surface, where 
 there is a second cistern of water, the water was 
 57 ; the walls in the same place were 54J. At 
 the bottom, in 66 fathoms, the water that ran 
 through a small crevice, as well as the walls of 
 the shaft, were still 54. The temperature of 
 the air before going down was 68 ; after return- 
 
93 
 
 ing, 64. Here, it is obvious, that there was no 
 increase of temperature for 34 fathoms, being 
 precisely the same at the bottom as at the adit 
 shaft. 
 
 Mr. Moyle exhibits the whole of his observa- 
 tions in a table which he has drawn up. They 
 show, in the clearest point of view, that the 
 elevation of temperature is chiefly confined to 
 mines at work, and disappears when they are 
 abandoned. 
 
 These facts seem to prove that the increase of 
 temperature observed in mines as we descend, 
 cannot be owing to the heat communicated from 
 the central parts of the earth ; for if it were so 
 derived, it would not disappear when the work- 
 men left it, or when stagnant water was allowed 
 to accumulate in it. 
 
 If it were merely the air in the mine, or even 
 the surface of its walls which augmented in tem- 
 perature, there would be little difficulty in ac- 
 counting for the phenomenon. The nnmber of 
 miners usually present in the mine at one time, 
 (often amounting to 400,) together with the heat 
 from the candles and gunpowder exploded, might 
 easily be Supposed to increase the temperature 
 very considerably, and this temperature would 
 naturally increase somewhat as the mine deep- 
 
94 
 
 ened, in consequence of the greater density of 
 the air ; but we have seen that these are utterly 
 inadequate to account for the augmented tempe- 
 rature of the vast quantity of water which is daily 
 pumped out of these mines. 
 
 It has before been stated, that the quantity of 
 water pumped daily out of Dolcoath mine was 
 535,173 gallons ; this water had the temperature 
 of 84, being 33 higher than the mean tempera- 
 ture of Redruth, where the mine is situated. It 
 was likewise shewn, that if all the adventitious 
 causes attending the working of mines, were put 
 together, they would not have been sufficient to 
 raise the temperature of the water -^th of the 
 33 of heat which the water contained above the 
 temperature of the place. 
 
 It likewise appears evident, that the tempera- 
 ture of the air in mines, as well as the surface 
 of their walls is increased, in proportion with 
 the number of men that are employed in them, 
 and the quantity of candles and gunpowder ex- 
 pended in lighting and blasting ; this heat may 
 also be augmented by the chemical changes which 
 are known to take place in the mineral sub- 
 stances in mines, from access to the water or the 
 atmosphere. 
 
 But to whatever causes we may ascribe the 
 
95 
 
 augmented temperature of the air and rocks in 
 mines, the facts above stated are quite insuffi- 
 cient to account for the very great increase of 
 the temperature of the water of those mines ; we 
 can ascribe this phenomenon to no other cause 
 than that of a volcanic heat which still exists in 
 those localities where the mines are found ; this 
 heat, as we have before stated, at some remote 
 epoch, having acted in such a manner as to dis- 
 seminate through the rocks those metalliferous 
 veins which otherwise would never have been 
 within the reach of man's industry. But this 
 local volcanic action, as will be perceived, was 
 peculiar in its nature and design, and in no way 
 serves to establish the theory of a general central 
 heat. 
 
 In pages 64 and 65 it has been shewn that some 
 metallic veins owe their dissemination through 
 the rocks with which they are associated, to vol- 
 canic fire; the dissemination of other veins being 
 attributed to deposition from water. In every 
 case, where the veins have been shot up through 
 the superincumbent rocks by the action of fire, 
 we may suppose the latent cause still to exist deep 
 beneath the mines upon which it has acted, 
 
 In veins that have been formed by deposition 
 from water, no volcanic heat having been em- 
 
96 
 
 ployed, it will not appear surprising, if we do not 
 discover an augmentation in the temperature of 
 the air of some mines, as we descend : and it seems 
 probable that fresh discoveries will establish 
 the truth of what, at present, is only put forth 
 as a theory, namely, That, in all cases, where 
 the temperature in mines is not found to increase 
 the deeper the descent, such mines or veins have 
 been formed by deposition. This will explain 
 why Mr. Moyle found the temperature of the air 
 in the abandoned mines of Herland and Huel 
 Alfred the same at all depths, the former being 
 54 and the latter 56, there being likewise no 
 increase of temperature in the water though it 
 was examined to the depth of 100 fathoms. 
 
 We have now seen the nature of those convul- 
 sions, by which the earth's surface was at one 
 period totally submerged, and at another acted 
 upon by volcanic agency causing many of the 
 strata containing mineral productions, to emerge 
 to its surface. But the question will naturally 
 arise, can we, to these convulsions, with truth 
 attribute the formation of all the valleys and de- 
 pressions on the earth's surface ? 
 
 Whilst any general theory is untenable with 
 respect to the origin of all valleys, the following 
 theories which have been maintained respecting 
 
97 
 
 them, when taken collectively each according to 
 the peculiarity of circumstance [ will, we think, 
 satisfactorily account for every Valley^ and de- 
 pression to be met with on the earth's surface. 
 Their formation has been ascribed 
 
 1st. To excavation by the rivers that flow 
 through them. 
 
 2nd. To the elevation or subsidence of part of 
 the earth's surface. 
 
 3rd. To excavations, caused by the sudden re- 
 treat of the sea from our present continents. 
 
 4th. To excavations caused by the great deluge, 
 or by a succession of inundations that have sud- 
 denly swept over the surface of different parts of 
 the earth. 
 
 If practical Geologists would examine the local 
 peculiarities of each valley, we think they might 
 with reason attribute its formation to one or 
 other of the above theories, or, perhaps in some 
 instances, to the combined operation of several 
 causes which have produced so great a diversity 
 in the appearance of valleys. 
 
 It seems that we can only account through the 
 operations caused by the great deluge for those 
 phenomena, the fragments of rocks which are 
 scattered over extensive plains at an immense 
 distance from the Alpine districts, where rocks 
 
98 
 
 similar to those fragments occur. But, though 
 in this manner we assign a cause by which these 
 fragments of rocks were carried to their present 
 position, still a difficulty presents itself; for we 
 find in the midland counties of England, beds of 
 gravel and fragments of rock scattered over hills 
 that are not only far distant from the rocks which 
 have supplied the fragments, but which are se- 
 parated from them by deep valleys over which it 
 is supposed that the fragments could not have 
 been carried by any power of diluvial agency. 
 To solve this difficulty, it has been imagined that 
 these fragments and beds of gravel were deposited 
 by diluvial agency in their present positions, be- 
 fore the intervening valleys were scooped out. 
 Yet it seems highly probable that these valleys 
 were not scooped out, but formed by subsidence, 
 after the expansion and lifting up of the strata, 
 and this, perhaps, effected during the great deluge. 
 Such being the case, the fragments and beds of 
 gravel would remain where originally deposited, 
 for, had the valleys been scooped out by the 
 deluge, or by any subsequent agency, it is obvious, 
 that a force sufficiently powerful *to scoop out 
 valleys, would also have swept away those loose 
 fragments from the surface. 
 
 In Switzerland, also, there are blocks of granite, 
 
99 
 
 which have been torn from Mont Blanc and the 
 adjacent granitic range, these lie scattered over 
 the calcareous mountains, and in the valleys of 
 Savoy, to the distance of 60 miles, or more, from 
 the parent rocks, and some of these blocks have 
 traversed the Jura into France a distance of 100 
 miles. 
 
 On the little Saleve, in the vicinity of Geneva, 
 at the height of fourteen hundred feet above the 
 valley, are scattered numerous blocks of granite 
 of vast size, not at all water worn, and almost as 
 fresh, as if recently torn from their parent moun- 
 tains. They are of that kind of granite called 
 Protogine, in which talc or chlorite is one of the 
 component parts, and identical with the granite 
 of Mont Blanc, while the Saleve, on which they 
 lie, as well as the surrounding mountains, are 
 calcareous. On the great Saleve adjoining, there 
 is one block of this granite seven feet in length, 
 at the height of 2500 feet above the .valley. 
 Saussure has remarked that these blocks are not 
 broken or shattered, as they would have been, 
 had they been hurled with violence from the 
 Alps ; neither do the limestone strata beneath 
 them present any appearance of having been 
 fractured or indented by their fall ; on the con- 
 trary, the blocks lie upon the surface. Two of 
 
 H'2 
 
100 
 
 them rest upon pedestals of limestone, a few 
 feet above the general level of the ground. 
 Two hypotheses have recently been formed re- 
 specting these blocks of granite : the one, that 
 they were thrown from the mountains by an 
 expulsive force at the period of their eleva- 
 tion : the other, that the calcareous mountains 
 have been subsequently raised with their load of 
 granite blocks upon them. Whilst there are 
 facts which appear to favour the first of these 
 hypotheses, there are others which are entirely 
 opposed to the second ; for, had the calcareous 
 mountains actually been raised with their load of 
 granite blocks upon them, the force which thus 
 raised the mountains, would, in all probability, 
 have dislodged from their positions the loose 
 blocks of granite also. 
 
 Saussure has noticed that there are blocks which 
 in their passage from the Alps, appear to have 
 taken the course of the present valleys ; and, 
 where they have been carried as far as the Jura 
 chain, they rest at various heights on the sides 
 of that range of mountains ; he supposes that the 
 whole of the valley of Geneva, arid the valleys 
 that run from the Alps, and all the lower moun- 
 tains of Savoy, were covered by the sea at the 
 period, when the great catastrophe took place, 
 
101 
 
 and that the rocks were torn off and transported 
 by a sudden rush of waters. He further supposes 
 that the specific gravity of the blocks, being 
 diminished by the medium in which they were 
 borne along, they might be carried to a great 
 distance by the violence of the current, and de- 
 posited at considerable altitudes. 
 
 But there is a fact accompanying this theory 
 of Saussure, which seems to render it not quite 
 satisfactory ; which is, that some of these blocks 
 are lodged at a height of 1500 feet and more 
 above the valleys, which we are inclined to think 
 could not have been the case had the valleys 
 been formed previously to the transportation of 
 the granite blocks. 
 
 We have, in another place, shown that the 
 inequalities of the earth's surface, owe their 
 origin to deposition from water, as well as to the 
 combined force of volcanic and diluvial action ; 
 the two last exerted at the period, when the 
 earth's solid strata was broken up, arid a devas- 
 tating deluge of waters swept over its whole 
 surface. It seems natural then that those valleys 
 or depressions were formed by volcanic subsidence, 
 before the country emerged from the ocean, and the 
 same volcanic force which elevated some of the 
 contiguous mountains, would detach from them 
 
102 
 
 immense blocks of granite, hurling them with 
 violence to the situations where they are now 
 lodged ; and, as this operation took place at a 
 time before the country had emerged from the 
 ocean, the fall of these projectile blocks would, 
 in some instances, be broken by the water, whilst 
 others, having been projected at an earlier period, 
 before the waters had gained such an ascendency 
 as to cover, we are told in Scripture, " the moun- 
 tains by fifteen cubits upward" would fall upon 
 the bare strata or earth. And will not this 
 account for the broken and shattered appearance 
 of some of these fragments ? 
 
 This hypothesis may serve to explain the reason 
 why, on the great Saleve, neither the blocks of 
 granite, nor the limestone on which they lie, 
 present any appearance of being fractured or 
 indented by their fall; and also, indicate the 
 period when the rocks were elevated from which 
 these masses were torn, as well as that of the 
 mountains on which they are now lodged ; for it 
 is evident that the mountains must be the most 
 ancient, their structure being calcareous, which, 
 as shown elsewhere, implies deposition from 
 water, and that at the time of our world's earliest 
 history. 
 
 In the valley of the Arve, in Switzerland, there 
 
103 
 
 are to be seen blocks of granite resting on the 
 deep mass of sand and rolled stones that form 
 the bed of the lower part of the valley. Blocks 
 of similar granite, may be seen in the lake of 
 Geneva between that city and Thonon. The 
 transportation of these granite blocks appears to 
 have taken place suddenly ; but the rounded stones 
 and sand at the bottom of the valley on which 
 the blocks of granite rest, appear to have been 
 subjected to attrition* by the violent agitation of 
 water, such as was, no doubt, caused by the great 
 deluge, through the force of which this deep mass 
 was swept along, and, at length, here collected, 
 forming a bed upon which the projected masses 
 were subsequently cast on the volcanic elevation of 
 
 * Rounded stones are called water- worn fragments ; 
 but, with greater propriety, they may be termed rock- 
 worn fragments, as, in some places, traces are still to be 
 seen on the rocks, along which they have been violently 
 transported by the action of water, no doubt, at a period 
 when a large extent of the earth's surface was torn off, 
 and the lower rocks uncovered ; this being what is under- 
 stood by a denudation. 
 
 The term " water- worn" seems more properly applicable 
 to those smooth and rounded pebbles which being subject 
 to the action of tides are always to be met with on the 
 sea beach. 
 
104 
 
 their parent rocks, and where they probably will 
 remain until another revolution changes the sur- 
 face of our globe. 
 
 In the foregoing chapters we have briefly 
 alluded to the many convulsions which have 
 affected the earth's surface ; some of these, we 
 can easily perceive, have been directed to a bene- 
 ficial end, such as those by which, many of the 
 strata containing mineral productions, have been 
 made to emerge to the light. 
 
 In the earliest ages of the world, we may sup- 
 pose these convulsions had not taken place, as 
 the wants of man were then limited to those 
 metals which were easily found, and which occur 
 in considerable quantity in a native state, on or 
 near the surface of the earth, such as gold, silver, 
 and copper ore,* and it seems not improbable 
 that those metallic veins which were filled by 
 
 * It appears probable that in the early ages of the world, 
 the facility with which these precious metals were acquired, 
 was the reason of their being called in succession the golden, 
 silver, bronze or copper, and last of all the iron ages, for as 
 civilization advanced, iron, the most useful of all the metals, 
 would be searched for in mines and more generally brought 
 into use. 
 
 The first mention that is made of gold, is in Gen. ii. 11, 
 12 " the gold which was in the land of Havilah was good," 
 
105 
 
 solution /raw above, were then more easily got at 
 than at present, as they would not be covered by 
 any of the diluvial strata. If, from our finite 
 capacities, we cannot always see the beneficent 
 design of the Creator in the convulsions that have 
 since taken place in our earth, we may rest assured 
 that what he has done was the fiat of justice; 
 for we should ever remember, that, since the 
 apostacy of man, the world has been in rebellion 
 against the government of God, so that even the 
 elements have been employed as instruments in 
 his punishment, and the vindication of God's 
 righteous sovereignty. These elements we are 
 told " are yet kept in store reserved unto fire 
 against the day of judgment and perdition of un- 
 godly men." 
 
 Delvinus has now finished the task he imposed 
 on himself of making out a scriptural system of 
 Geology, not by setting himself in opposition to 
 well-known facts and well accredited theories, but 
 viewing Geology through the medium of divine 
 revelation, and putting aside every thing which 
 
 being probably in its virgin state. Silver is first mentioned 
 Gen. xiii. 2. " And Abram was very rich in silver." Brass 
 (or copper) and iron are first mentioned Gen. iv. 22, " Tubal 
 Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron." 
 
106 
 
 appears opposed to it, he has endeavoured to 
 inarch onwards to the truth, having thus found 
 that made easy and plain, which before appeared 
 inexplicable ; and should these short observa- 
 tions serve to reconcile conflicting views, and 
 at the same time clear away any existing diffi- 
 culties, he can take no credit to himself; to 
 God's word and to the researches of truly en- 
 lightened scientific men be all the praise. 
 
 Whilst the present edition was yet in the press, 
 the Author had put into his hands, a book en- 
 tituled " Scriptural Geology, or an Essay on the 
 high antiquity ascribed to the organic remains 
 embedded in the stratified rocks" By the Rev, 
 George Young, D . D . He regrets not having met 
 with it before the work exceeds not 100 pages, 
 but it is a valuable one, and though the remarks 
 are not all in accordance with his own, still, 
 those on the absence of human bones in the 
 strata, and some others, fully coincide with the 
 views contained in this little Treatise. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 JOHNSTON and BARRETT, Printers, 13, Mark Lane. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 12, line 5, for cosmogonies read cosmogonies. 
 12, note, line 3, for earthly read earthy. 
 17, line 22, for anJiydrousgypsum read anhydrous gypsum. 
 39, line 15, for ? read . 
 
'' 
 
 
 103912