Sio The probable causes of the Delude. 0£l. ig, 



that the general order of nature has at fome time been 

 difturbed, and the manner in which matter obeys the 

 laws of gravity difarranged. Hence tlie philofophic 

 miner fipds ftrata of various denfity in digging down- 

 wards ; and in purfuing his vein of ore, finds that ftra- 

 ta are broken and divided ; nay, if he lofes the vein, he 

 can eafily tell where to find it again, by the manner in 

 which it broke off. In this he is never miftaken : he 

 fees it as it were through many fathoms of earth ! evi- 

 dently fuggefting that fome revolution in the earth has 

 broken ,up its naturally arranged ftrata, and introduced 

 'f this regular confufion." 



The various ftrata of the earth feldom lie on one 

 another horizontally^ they generally dip, and, near the 

 fliore, commonly incline towards the fea. On the fouth 

 cdaft of England the rocks incline foutherly ; on the 

 oppofite coaft of France, they incline to the north. 

 is it not probable that at the deluge the horizontal ftra* 

 turn was broken between thefe countries, and the ends 

 falling loweft at the breach, formed the channel into, 

 which the fea flowed when it loft the influence of the 

 comet, and again obeyed the pov/er of gravity ? Coun- 

 tries feparated by narrow channels, univerfally have 

 their fliores inclining towards the fea, Ihewing that the 

 General Geography was at that time altered. 



It is true, we have an old dodlrine revived and fitp- 

 ported by refpe(n:able authority, that mountains were 

 formed originally by thofe eruptions we call volcanos. 

 The votaries of this theory pronounce the hollows 

 And cavities on the tops asul fides of mountains, cra« 

 ters, or tb.e cups of extinguiihed volcawos ; and if the 

 ftone of the mountain be of a blueifh colour, then it is 

 declared lava, and the proof of a volcano having ex- 

 ifted there becomes incontrovertible ! Hiftory, how- 

 ever, aff^brds us very few inftances of mountains fo 

 formed. This doftrine has received very juft autho* 

 fity from the late fcienfific circumnavigators. The 

 rocks which furround the iilands of the Pacific Ocean 



