209 



the other philosophers he mentions, have been 

 brought by their researches. They discovered 

 that a great variety of concurrent circumstances, 

 founded on the principle I have now alluded to, 

 fixed them down to a period at which the present 

 surface of the world must have taken its form, 

 agreeing, in no unequivocal manner, with the 

 chronology of the inspired writings, as to the era 

 of the deluge. 



As an instance of the convincing manner in 

 which these geologists reason on the subject, I 

 select the following interesting extract from Cu- 

 vier's Theory of the Earth, which contains only 

 one of many appropriate illustrations. " M. De 

 Praney, a learned member of the Institute, in- 

 spector-general of bridges and roads, has com- 

 municated to me some observations which are 

 of the greatest importance, as explaining those 

 changes that have taken place along the shores 

 of the Adriatic. Having been directed by go- 

 vernment to investigate the remedies that might 

 be applied to the devastations occasioned by the 

 floods of the Po, he ascertained that this river, 

 since the period when it was shut in by dykes, 

 has so greatly raised the level of its bottom, that 

 the surface of its waters is now higher than the 

 roofs of the houses in Ferrara. At the same 

 time, its alluvial depositions have advanced so 

 rapidly into the sea, that by comparing old charts 

 with the present state, the shore is found to have 

 gained more than six thousand fathoms since 

 1604, giving an average of a hundred and sixty 



