dent proofs of the total overthrow which 

 must have preceded the present order of the 

 universe. 



" These traces of desolation have ahvays 

 acted on the human mind ; the traditions of 

 deluges, preserved among almost every people, 

 are derived from these marine productions 

 thus scattered over the earth. Those not less 

 universal ideas of giants, are owing to the dis- 

 covery of larger bones than any produced in 

 those climates, where; from time to time, 

 they have been found." After mentioning the 

 spirit of investigation, which from these effects 

 has sought their solution among wild and in- 

 consistent theories, until a better philosophy 

 has determined to reject them all, and establish 

 nothing but upon the immutable basis of 

 facts— facts which are collecting from every 

 source for mutual elucidation, and already 

 more abundant than could have been expected 

 when the practice first was adopted; he pro- 

 ceeds to state, that what relates to the fossil 

 remains of quadrupeds has been least of all 

 attended to, although unquestionably the 

 most interesting of any, from the fewness of 

 their numbers and the extent and accuracy of 



