86 PRIMEVAL MAN. 



twenty-eighth century B.C. would be some 



400 years before the Flood. On the other 



hand, a difference of 800 years is allowed 



by the chronology which is founded on the 



Septuagint Version of the Scriptures. But 



the fact of this difference tells in two ways. 



A margin of variation amounting to eight 



centuries between two versions of the same 



document, is a variation so enormous, that 



it seems to cast complete doubt on the 



whole system of interpretation on which such 



computations of time are based. And yet 



it is more than questionable whether it is 



possible to reconcile the known order of 



events with even this larger estimate of the 



number of years. It is true that, according 



to this larger estimate, the Flood would be 



