GEOLOGY. 



though in its tendency it is highly excep- 

 tionable, a more prepossessi?ig appear- 

 ance, since it ascribes the formaiion of 

 continents, of mountains, vallies, &c. not 

 to accidental occurrences, but to the ope- 

 ration of regular and uniform causes ; 

 making the decay of one part subservient 

 to the restoration of another, by succes- 

 sive reproductions. Thus he supposes 

 this globe to be regulated by a system of 

 decay and renovation, and that these are 

 effected by certain processes which bear 

 a uniform relation to each other. The so- 

 lid matter of the earth, especially of the 

 rocks and high lands, he supposes to be 

 perpetually separating by the reiterated 

 action of air and water, and when thus de- 

 tached, carried by the streams and rivers, 

 and then deposited in the beds of the 

 ocean. From these deposits, the various 

 strata of our earth are supposed to be 

 formed, obtaining their consolidation from 

 the action of sub-marine fires ; which, be- 

 ing placed at immense depths, must ope- 

 rate on these stratified depositions under 

 the circumstance of vast pressure ; by 

 which volatilization must be prevented, 

 and such changes produced, as would not 

 otherwise be effected by the power of 

 heat. The expansive power of subterra- 

 neous fire is called also in to explain, by 

 the elevation of strata, their various posi- 

 tions. Thus, while the ocean is in one 

 part removed by the accumulation and 

 the elevation of strata, fresh receptacles 

 are forming for it on other spots, where 

 new strata will be deposited, rendered 

 solid, and elevated. 



According to this system, therefore, in 

 the present world, which is made up of 

 the fragments of those which preceded it, 

 the materials are arranging for the forma- 

 tion of its successor ; the system mani- 

 festing, as its author avowed, neither ves- 

 tige of a beginning, nor prospect of an 

 end. 



Having thus sketched the outlines of 

 the most interesting of the systems, which 

 suppose Ihe formation of this globe to 

 have chiefly depended on the agency of 

 fire, we shall now proceed to take a view 

 of those in which the same effect is de- 

 scribed as having been produced by the 

 influence of water. 



Woodward, with too little attention to 

 facts, well known at the period at which 

 he wrote, supposed that the solid parts of 

 the earth were arranged in strata, accord- 

 ing to their degrees of specific gravity ; 

 the water which had held them in solu- 

 tion having afterwards retreated to the 

 grand abyss, which he supposed to exist 

 in the centre. After some time, God or- 



dained that the crust should break and fall 

 into the abyss, and that the water should 

 cover the surface. By the great solvent 

 powers of this water, he supposed that 

 every thing was again dissolved, and that 

 afterwards they were again precipitated 

 in concentric layers. The surface was 

 then supposed to have been again broken, 

 by which the waters again reached the 

 centre, and the broken surface yielded 

 those inequalities which now exist. 



De Luc conceived; that in the begin- 

 ning the sun did not exist in a luminous 

 state, and that the earth, not feeling its 

 influence, was frozen ; but that, as the 

 sun diffused its rays, the ice on the earth's 

 surface became thawed, and penetrating 

 inwards, dissolved the earth and other 

 frozen matters to the depth of several 

 leagues below the surface. But the thaw 

 having reached this point, he supposes 

 that the dissolved substances became 

 either crystallized or precipitated, and 

 that as they solidified they formed the pri- 

 mitive crust of the earth. After this, orga- 

 nized beings were created, many of which 

 became involved in new strata, (the secon- 

 dary) which were now formed at the bot- 

 tom of the ocean ; and the thawing of the 

 internal parts of the globe continuing, ca- 

 vities were formed, in consequence of the 

 thawed substances possessing less space 

 than they did whilst frozen. The whole 

 of the crust, thus losing its support, sunk 

 partially, at different periods, and the ex- 

 ternal water rushed in to fill the cavities 

 which existed, and thus caused a conside- 

 rable diminution of the waters which co- 

 vered the earth; whilst, from the over- 

 turned fragments, arose the irregularities 

 of the earth's present surface 



Led by the observation that the Alpine 

 Mountains were frequently composed of 

 strata obliquely disposed, Saussure ima- 

 gined that the surface of the globe, form- 

 ed by successive depositions and crystalli- 

 zations, was originally covered by the p.n - 

 cient ocean ; but that the crust bursting 

 by the expansive force of heat, or of elas- 

 tic fluids, the interior or primitive parts 

 of the crust were turned outwards, and 

 supported by those of secondary forma- 

 tion. By the rapid retreat of the waters 

 into the cavities thus formed, he accounts 

 for the enormous blocks, now lying in 

 plains far distant from the rocks from 

 which they were separated. After this 

 retreat of the waters, he supposes that 

 plants and animals were formed; and that 

 since that period several immense cur- 

 rents have been caused by the opening of 

 fresh gulfs, into which the waters have re- 

 treated at different periods; the last of 



