Sect. IV.] Geology. o<27 



time published his opinions on this subject*. This 

 gentleman is a firm believer in revelation, and his 

 theory is intended to be perfectly consistent with 

 the sacred histor3^ 



He supposes that the elements of all material 

 substances were originally in a confused mass, called 

 the abyss, without motion or animation; and that 

 the present order of things was gradually, and at 

 different intervals, drawn from it, by means of laws 

 impressed by the power of the Creator. The earth, 

 of which we now behold the ruins, was originally 

 constructed with its poles perpendicular to the 

 equator ; the centre of gravity was the centre of 

 the globe ; and the year consisted of three hundred 

 and sixty days. At that time, the irregularities of 

 the earth's surface being less considerable, and the 

 distribution of land and sea being more equal, the 

 atmosphere was more temperate and salubrious, 

 and, of course, the life of man was prolonged greatly 

 beyond its present limits. The termination of this 

 " golden age '^ might have been effected by the 

 proximity of a Comet condensing the vapours of 

 the atmosphere and attracting the subterraneous 

 waters, which, bursting through the exterior sur- 

 face, precipitated indiscriminate portions of the 

 primitive earth into the cavities below. The more 

 perfect consolidation of the globe in the southern 

 hemisphere changed the centre of gravity, wiiich 

 produced a proportionate deviation from the plane 

 of the equator. The ocean did not, at once, how- 

 ever, sink to its present level. The posterior ac- 



* Thou<rhts on the Structure of the Globe, and the Scriptural 



History of the Earth, and of Mankind, ^c, by Philip IIow .u\l, 



<?sq. 4to, London, 1797- 



Q 2 



