44 THE HISTORY OF CREATION. 
-worm, the garden and vineyard snails, as well as the great 
majority of plants, a single individual. 
Linnzeus further follows the Mosaic legend in regard to the 
flood, by supposing that the great general flood destroyed all 
existing organisms, except those few individuals of each 
species (seven pairs of the birds and of clean animals, one 
pair of unclean animals) which Noah saved in the ark, and 
which were placed again on land, on Mount Ararat, after the 
flood had subsided. He tried to explain the geographical 
difficulty of the living together of the most different animals 
and plants, as follows: Mount Ararat, in Armenia, being 
situated in a warm climate, and rising over 16,000 feet in 
height, combines in itself the conditions for a temporary 
common abode of such animals as live in different zones. 
Accordingly, animals accustomed to the polar regions could 
climb up the cold mountain ridges, those accustomed to 
a warm climate could go down to the foot of the mountain, 
and the inhabitants of a temperate zone could remain mid- 
way up the mountain. From this point it was possible for 
them to spread north and south over the earth. 
It is scarcely necessary to remark that this Linnean 
hypothesis of creation, which evidently was intended to 
harmonize most closely with the prevailing belief in the 
Bible, requires no serious refutation. When we consider 
Linnzeus’ clearness and sagacity in other matters, we may 
doubt whether he believed it himself. As to the simulta- 
neous origin of all individuals of each species from one pair 
of ancestors respectively (or in the case of the hermaphro- 
dite species, from one original hermaphrodite), it is clearly 
quite untenable ; for, apart from other reasons, in the first 
days after the creation, the few animals of prey would have 
