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nection with this subject, Mr. Hayden has 

 examined, with great attention, the pheno- 

 mena presented at the embouchures of our 

 principal rivers, and has satisfactorily ac- 

 counted for the peculiar appearance along 

 the banks and shores. A vast collection of 

 facts is accumulated to prove that all our 

 great alluvial district has been formed by a 

 sudden and violent deluge, accompanied by 

 powerful and irregular currents, which 

 buried numerous vegetables and animals, 

 whose remains are now frequently disinter- 

 red. This flood, contrary to the specula- 

 tions of Mr. Hill, in his JVew Theory of the 

 Earthy published at Baltimore in 1823, is 

 supposed by Mr. Hayden to have been 

 caused by the melting of the ice at the poles, 

 in consequence of a change in the axis of 

 the globe. The general direction of this 

 great overwhelming current, is strongly 

 indicated to have been from northeast to 

 southwest, and the evidences in favor of 

 this hypothesis, are numerous and plausible. 

 The disintegration of rocks, a favorite 

 source of supply with all writers on alluvial 

 districts, is very clearly shown by Mr. Hay- 



