oo(5 Natural Ilistoiy. [Chap. III. 



causes. Tiie waters surpassed the highest moun- 

 tains; in other words, they were at least three thou- 

 sand toiscs abo\ e their present level. All moun^ 

 tains, valleys, and plains, were formed by crystal- 

 Usation amidst the Maters. The materials which 

 formed them w^ere truly dissolved; but as they 

 would require much more water for solution than 

 is now to be found, it is evident that most of the 

 waters of the primitive seas have disappeared. 

 He thinks, that these have chiefly retreated into the 

 bowels of the earth: that cavities were formed there 

 at the time of the crystallisation of the globe, 

 which were at hrst filled with elastic fluids; but 

 the A\'ater afterwards finding its way into them, 

 became lodged there: that some caverns have been 

 formed by subterraneous fires, but that the most 

 powerful cause of them has been the refrigeration 

 of our globe: and that, though the surface of 

 the earth has been brought to its present state 

 by the action of water, it may, at the first moment 

 of its formation, have undergone a very great de- 

 gree of heat, as happens to a comet passing near 

 the sun. 



In the formation of this theory, AT. Delame- 

 therie discovered considerable ingenuity and great 

 learning. He can scarcely, however, be called an 

 oricrinal Avriter : Voi^t had held the doctrine of 

 the aqueous crystallisation of strata before him; andy 

 indeed, the greater part of his system is made up 

 of parts collected from diflcrent theorists. This 

 is generally considered as one of those theories 

 Avhich are hostile to revelation. 



Of a very different character is the tlicory of Mr. 

 lIowar<l, a British geologist, ^^llO, about the same 



