HINTS AND CONJECTURES. sn 



seems to jirove, that, at the epoch at which these beds were formed, 

 a deluge took place, &c."* The deluge which formed these con- 

 glomerate beds, is supposed by Mr. Greenough to have been more 

 ancient than "that which determined the present outline of the earth;" 

 but why may we not regard it as the very same? The beds alluded 

 to seem to mark the extent to which the primeval strata were dis- 

 solved by the deluge. 



But how could the deluge dissolve so large a portion of the 

 earth's ancient crust? To this we answer, that the beds so demolished 

 might be much softer than some of our secondary strata now are; 

 and might bear some analogy to our alluvial beds. The ancient 

 world may be presumed to have been more fertile than the present ; 

 as the people of that world lived to a great age, though they were 

 not, as far as we know, permitted to use animal food. Hence it is 

 probable, that the primeval earth was covered with a rich and deep 

 soil ; and it is by no means unlikely, that vast beds of clay, of sand, 

 of marl, or calcareous matter, as well as quantities of gravel, were 

 lying over the solid strata: and even the latter might not then have 

 acquired their utmost hardness. If such Avas the case, it is easy to 

 see, how sufficient materials might be supplied, for forming our strata 

 of sandstone, limestone, and shale; without attributing to the waters 

 of the deluge any preternatural power of decomposition. 



If the inquiry be made, How could the antediluvian world 

 furnish the inconceivable quantity of animal and vegetable matter, 

 contained in our present strata? We reply, that if we take into con- 

 sideration the superior fertility of the ancient world, the difficulty will 

 vanish. Even our present earth could perhaps yield a supply of such 

 matter, little or nothing short of the quantity observed. Were the 

 vast forests of America, for instance, rooted up, and floated in masses, 

 they would go far towards furnishing materials for coal strata, equal 

 * Greenough's Geology, p. 212. 



