in the Axis and Voles of the iZurlh. 3t7 



place in the heavens which give reafon to fuppofe any C(»n- 

 iiderable variation in the inclination ot' the earth's a.\i<, or ia 

 the place of the poles. What Herodotus therefore i'ay=, 

 rcfjjeftino- the Icirends of the Kgvptian priefls, is mere fables; 

 for if the fun, in the courfe of iiooo years, aAually changed 

 the place of his riling and fetting three times, fo often uiuft 

 the place of the poles, and confequentlv the climate of EgypN 

 have been changed. But fuppofing this to have been the 

 cafe, how coidd the inhabitants of lo level a country- preferve 

 thenifelvcs from utter deft ruftion during the repeated trans- 

 formation of land into water, which muft have been the 

 confequence of thefe changes ? By a mere increafe or decreafc 

 in the |)refent inclination of the earth's axis, which is 66'-". 

 Germanv, for example, could never be transferred into what 

 is called the torrid zone. In the firft cafe, if the inclination 

 Ihould be changed to 90", the fun in futnrner woidd be re- 

 moved about 2'-5[° further towards the (outh from that coun- 

 irv. In the fecond cafe, if the inclination fhoukl decreafe 

 {030^, the fun would go to the di (lance of 60^ from the 

 equator, and in fummer pafs* twice over Germanv in a per-^ 

 pfcndieular diredion; but in winter he would be invilibic for 

 a month, and the cold there would be much more intenfe 

 than ai prefent. On this account, neither the aultral plants 

 nor elephants could ever thrive in fuch a climate. 



If Germanv was ever fituated in the torrid zone, or near 

 the ecpiator, the north pole mull have been fituated in the •>' 

 Pacific ocean between Alia and America, and the foulh pole 

 at ilie foutbern extremitv of Africa, more than 3000 miles 

 from tlie places which they occupy at prefent. The north- 

 ta(t part of Alia mull in that cafe have been nearer the north 

 pole than at prefent, and Siberia in the temperate zone. 



But as the bones of the elephant have been found under 

 the earth in the northern parts of Siberia as well as in Ger- 

 many, both countries murt have been fituated in the torrid 

 zone: but, in this cafe, ilie north pole nnift have been fitu- 

 ated in California, and the fouth pole in Madagafcar, above 

 4000 miles from their prefent place. If the poles were ever 

 in that fituation, it may be afked, If elephants exifkd flieri 

 in Siberia and Germanv, wh^re were the forefathers ofthofa 

 which now exill in the Kali: Indies and Africa ? as thefe 

 countries at that period mult have been in the middle of the 

 Ibuth temperate zone, or partly in the frigid .^one. 



Thus there arc manifeit contradiclions in lo readily fup- 

 pjfini a difplacement of the pole, and when the revolutions 

 which fuch a change mult liave ])roduced, in regard to the 

 furiacc ol ihc canh aiwi fea, arc not taken into confideraiion. 



A natural 



