﻿AREA 
  OF 
  THE 
  FLOOD. 
  93 
  

  

  culty 
  indeed, 
  as 
  compared 
  with 
  the 
  difficulty 
  

   of 
  reconciling 
  it 
  with 
  a 
  very 
  limited 
  destruc- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  Human 
  Race. 
  The 
  evidence 
  for 
  

   a 
  higher 
  antiquity 
  of 
  Man 
  is 
  derived 
  from 
  

   countries 
  in 
  comparatively 
  close 
  proximity 
  

   with 
  those 
  which, 
  under 
  any 
  possible 
  supposi- 
  

   tion 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  a 
  Deluge, 
  must 
  have 
  

   been 
  then 
  submerged. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  

   we 
  have 
  seen 
  how 
  utterly 
  uncertain 
  and 
  

   how 
  enormously 
  different 
  are 
  the 
  chronologies 
  

   which 
  profess 
  to 
  be 
  founded 
  on 
  the 
  Penta- 
  

   teuch. 
  They 
  all 
  involve 
  suppositions 
  as 
  to 
  

   the 
  principle 
  of 
  interpretation, 
  and 
  as 
  to 
  

   the 
  import 
  of 
  words 
  descriptive 
  of 
  descent,, 
  

   which 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  highest 
  degree 
  doubtful, 
  

   and 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  evident 
  cannot 
  be 
  applied 
  

   consistently 
  throughout. 
  Thus, 
  when 
  we 
  

  

  