320 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 



The abrasions or denudations of the strata, appear to have been 

 occasioned, chiefly by the rushing or hasty retiring of the waters, from 

 a higher to a lower position, as the strata ascended ; and the materials 

 abraded, with fragments detached at the breaks, and lighter matter 

 yet floating or held in solution, would form the alluvial beds; the 

 higher regions generally supplying materials for the alluvium of the 

 lower. The quantity of gravel required for the alluvium, need not 

 cause any serious difficulty, if we consider, that the waters of the 

 deluge might not retire from the lower regions, till many years after 

 Noah quitted the ark. The gravel of the old world would suffice for 

 the ancient breccias and conglomerates. Perhaps some of the phe- 

 nomena observed, must be explained by supposing, that the strata in 

 some places have been twice submerged ; and those who make the 

 strata dance up and down at pleasure, to produce fresh and salt water 

 formations, cannot object to this double submersion. 



If it be asked. How could the earth, after such a catastrophe, so 

 soon become a firm habitation for man and beast? We reply; that 

 since the consolidation of the strata was not the work of time, as we 

 have already seen (§ 12), there is little or no difficulty in the case, 

 especially as the volcanic heat might serve to accelerate their con- 

 solidation. Besides, the place where the ark rested, might consist 

 chiefly of primary strata ; and men might live on the mountains, till 

 the valleys were fit for their reception. 



Again, it will be inquired, How was the vegetable world pre- 

 served, and so quickly restored? Why were not all vegetables, and 

 even all marine animals, overwhelmed by the breaking up of the 

 earth's crust, or destroyed by the volcanic heat? We answer; that 

 no doubt a great proportion of the vegetables and marine animals 

 perished, and several species, and even genera, appear to have become 

 extinct ; but others were preserved, like the ark, towards the surface 

 of the waters, in sufficient quantity for replenishing the new world. 



