19 



From such tendency came the hypothesis of huge floods coming 

 somehow, and from somewhere, sweeping across continents with 

 irresistible power, carrying before them all loose materials and even 

 great rock masses. The general term " diluvium " was applied to 

 the deposits, while references more or less vague were made to the 

 Deluge of Noah, When our early geologists were pressed to 

 account for these torrential floods, they spoke of the sudden upris- 

 ing of mountain chains, like the Alps, Himalayas, and Andes. 

 Certainly if we can but hypothetically allow a sudden emergence 

 from the depth of the sea of a mountain ridge 500 to 1,000 miles 

 long, and 15,000ft. or 20,000ft. high, we shall be at no loss to 

 account for destructive currents of water over the lands. But 

 such catastrophes and cataclysms have long ago been rejected in 

 geology. You may find a somewhat sensational, very circumstantial 

 and highly interesting account of these floods in Figuier's " World 

 before the Deluge." He tells us that " There is very distinct 

 evidence of two successive deluges in the northen hemisphere. He 

 gives us a practical illustration of one, caused by the upheaval of 

 the Norwegian mountains ; it covered all the plains and valleys of 

 Northern Europe with a mantle of shifting soil. It carried with it 

 " enormous masses of ice ; and the shock produced by the collision 

 of these several solid blocks of frozen water would only contribute 

 to increase the extent and intensity of the ravages occasioned by 

 this violent cataclysm, which (he says) is represented in Plate xxx." 

 (Shown). 



The time will not allow us to enter more at length into the 

 hypothesis of this altogether abnormal flood, the account of which 

 you can easily read for yourselves, together with the proofs of its 

 occurrence. In their calmer moments men began gradually to 

 doubt the soundness of such an explanation. They found these 

 travelled blocks of stone, these erratics, some of them weighing 

 thousands of tons, lying, perhaps, hundreds of miles from their 

 original homes ; and they said, "No ; no possible floods can ac- 

 count for them." For, in many instances, these huge erratics have 

 been actually carried up hill, and over into the next valley ; and 

 though a strong flood of water might possibly assist gravitation in 

 hurling them down a slope, we cannot image such a flood 

 against the power of gravitation carrying them up another 

 one. It was not long before men noticed certain portions of 

 the earth were absolutely free from these irregular phenomena ; 

 that they were not to be detected in the countries round the Medi- 

 terranean ; that they occurred only in the colder regions, becoming 

 more and more numerous as we travel northward :ind approach 

 the Pole. It was said that no traces of them had been seen in the 

 tropics, but that they re-appeared as we neared the South Pole. 



