424 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
causpd suoli an aooumulatiou of water in tlio souihcni homispliorc ; wliile, on 
the other liand, we liud in tiie northern hemisphere a considerably smaller 
amount of water, bnt a greater excess of land. If we divide the laud and 
water on our earth into one thonsand parts, wc shall find that there are but 
two hundred and seventy-five parts land, and seven hundred and twenty-five 
parts water. In the southern hemisphere opposed to the perihelion, wc find 
si.\ty-five parts of land out of two hundred and seventy-five, while there are 
four hundi'ed and thirty-five of water out of the seven hundred and twenty-five 
parts ; on the other hand, in the northern hemisphere, opposed to the aphelion, 
there arc two hundred and ten parts out of the two hundi-ed and seventy-five 
parts of land, and but two hundred and ninety parts out of seven hundred and 
twenty-five of water. Can such remarkable facts and such a great disparity be 
accounted for in any other way than as stated in our theory ? 
"As already stated, and being demonstrably proved, that the perihelion 
moves round the ecliptic in twenty thousand nine hundred and eighty-four 
years, we will, for example, divide this circle into four quarters of ninety 
degrees, each of five thousand two hundred and forty-six years ; and also state 
the change and amount in degrees of declination through which the perihelion 
will pass, both north and south, for it is at these four points of declination 
(that is, the two extreme and the two middle points of declination) that certain 
dynamical effects arc produced, which wiU most sensibly strike the reader. 
"At present, in the year 1830, the longitude of the perihelion is about one 
hundred degrees, one minute, five seconds, or in about ten degrees, one 
minute, five seconds of Capricorn ; if from this year we fall back some thou- 
sand years, say, from ten degrees, one minute, five seconds of Capricorn, to the 
first degree of Cancer, a period of eleven thousand and seventy-seven years, 
and take our starting point when the perihelion point had its place in tlie first 
degree of Cancer, in extreme north decimation, we may conclude that the low 
lands in the northern hemisphere would be overwhelmed by the ocean, as is the 
case with the low lauds in the southern hemisphere at tiie present day. It 
follows, therefore, that (relatively to the year 1830) it is now eleven thousand 
and seventy-seven years ago since the northern hemisphere was last submerged, 
or nine thousand two hundred and forty-seven years before Christ. 
" The perihelion would then pass through Cancer, descend through Leo to 
the first degree of Virgo, where it would be at a middle declination of eleven 
degrees forty-five minutes north, when the ocean would commence descending 
either rapidly or gradually southward, and overwhelm the lands of the southern 
tropics, while the northern hemisphere would be becoming gradually dry, at 
the time of the perihelion passing through the sign of Vii-go, and crossing the 
equator: this would occur five thousand eight hundred and thirty years ago, 
or about four thousand years before Christ. 
We may here remark the close agreement of our physical theory at this 
period with many Oriental traditions, and the records of the Jewish wTiters, 
and also with the description in the first chapters of the Mosaic account. 
" This completes the first quarter of ninety degrees of the ecliptic, in five 
thousand two hundred and forty-six years of motion through the same circle. 
" In commencing our second quarter, we find the perihelion crossing the 
equator to the first degree of Libra, the ocean descending and overwhelming 
the southern tropics, where the lands would be exposed to the force of turbu- 
lent floods ; this commotion would continue while the perihelion was descend- 
ing through Libra to the first degree of Scorpio, at eleven degrees forty-five 
minutes of south declination, and while passmg through Scorpio, the rapid 
descent of the ocean southwards would then gradually subside, having con- 
tinued three thousand foiu' hundred and ninety-eijjht years, while the perihelion 
had been descending from the first degree of Vu-go, in north declination, to 
