Sect. IV.] Gcologjj, 2 1 7 



frequently raised up such laru^o portions of tli(» hcd 

 of the ocean, with its incumbent stnita, a.> to Ibnu 

 iolauds and (hy mountains. At sonir times, as lie 

 supposed, tiic presence of so large a hody of water 

 caused it to break throuiih the cavities made bv 

 previous eruptions, and at otlier times the \ iiiienco 

 of the subterraneous explosions was so great as to 

 remove mountains from one place to anothcM*; while 

 the heat of the internal hres causing tliesc e.\j)lo- 

 sions w^as so intense as to molt, calcine, or vitrify, 

 all adjacent substances. 



In 177^j t)r. William AVorthingfon, of (»rcal 

 Britain, published a theory*, in which great Icaru* 

 ing and piety, and a considerable share of inge- 

 nuity, are combined. He maintained that the earth, 

 in its primitive state, Avas plain and nniform; and 

 that all mountains, and every thing irregular and 

 rugged in the surface of it, are the result of tJie 

 curse pronounced on the ground alter the fall ; 

 that the melancholy lapse of our fu'st parents \\iw 

 immediately followed by earthquakes, and e\XMy 

 species of convulsion, which produced these dread- 

 lul eflects in the surface of our earth; that the 

 antediluvian earth greatly abounded \\\x\\ water, 

 much more than at present, and that the greatest 

 quantity of it was collected about the poles; that 

 at first the poles of the earth Avere erect, and at 

 right angles with the plane of the equator; tiiat the 

 centre of the earth was then tlie centre of gravity; 

 that the deluge was produced by the centre of gra- 

 vity being removed twenty-three degrees and a half 

 nearer to one of the poles^ uhii h led to a cone- 



* Scripture Theory of the Earth, bvn, 1773. 



