426 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
elapse before tliis passage throiigli the four disturbing signs can be accom- 
]iiisiunl ; iind thus no disturbances of any consecptcncc have occurred since the 
last catastrophe, two thousand two hundred and lii'ty-onc years before the 
Christian era, and none will occur till four thousand six hundred and sixty- 
four years after the year 1830, when the perihelion will approach the equator. 
It will then have passed, from the year 1830, about eighty degrees in four 
thousand six hundred and sixty-four years. When the pcrilielion approaches 
the equator, then the equilibrium of tlie ocean might possibly be violently dis- 
turbed, and the ocean itself encroach forcildy on the northern tropics, and 
cause much destruction, as we liud was actually the case when last the perihe- 
lion ])assed over the equator, from Virgo to Scorpio, about five thousand 
eight hundred and thirty years ago. The perihelion having now moved over 
tiie three signs, from the first degree of Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces, in 
iive thousand two hundred and forty-six years, completes the third quarter and 
extends to six thousand four hundred and ninety -four years of the Christian 
era, or, relative to the year 1830, will have advanced four thousand six hun- 
dred and sixty-four years into the future. 
" The fourth quarter will begin with the perihelion and ocean passing through 
Aries, and overwhelming the northern tropics, siuiilar to the last-mentioned 
crossing of the equator. When the perihelion point shall have arrived at the 
(irst degree of Taurus, at a middle north declination of eleven degrees forty-five 
miuutes, the ocean will then overwhelm the northern lands, and so continue to 
jiass on until the perihelion shall have arrived at the first degree of Cancer, at 
extreme north declination, when the northern hemisphere will have all its low 
lands submerged, all but its loftiest mountains covered by the ocean, as they 
were twenty thousand nine hundred and eighty-fom- years before. The peri- 
helion will now have moved over the two last inundating signs, namely, from 
the first degree of Pisces to the first degree of Taurus, both of middle declina- 
tion; the former of south, the latter of north declination: and this ends the 
fourth and last quarter of five thousand two hundred and forty-six years. 
" Referring to future periods, this will extend from six thousand four hun- 
dred and ninety-four to eleven thousand seven hundred and forty-one years of 
the Christian era, or will have proceeded onwards from four thousand six hun- 
dred and sixty-four to nine thousand nine hundred and eleven years into the 
future. Then the perihelion point will have travelled from one hemisphere to 
another in ten thousand four hundred and ninety-two years, and round the 
whole of the ecliptic of three hundred and sixty degrees in twenty thousand 
nine hundred and eighty-four years. 
" How often the two hemispheres of our globe have been alternately sub- 
merged and left dry iu a tranquil state we know not ; but we do know that 
these phenomena of the alternate inundation and retirement of the ocean will 
be repeated at the same periods, and from the same causes, so long and as 
often as it may please the Great Designer of our system. * * Geologists 
know how forcibly the surface of our earth has been disturbed by a tumultuous 
or inundating ocean at various and distant periods, as most of our strata testify 
in the most striking manner ; and we may oe assured that these periodical dis- 
turbances and inundations will be repeated as often as these forces approach 
the equator ; this is evidently the period when these forces occur. 
" It is when the peiihelion point of the earth's orbit is ascending or descend- 
ing near the equator, that the equilibrium of the ocean is much disturbed, and 
consequently inundation is the residt. Tor instance : when descending from 
the first degree of Virgo, at eleven degrees forty-five miuutes of middle north 
declination, to the first degree of Scorpio at eleven degrees forty-five minutes 
of middle south declination, through sixty degrees of the ecliptic, in three 
thousand four hundred and ninety-eight years ; and the same occurs when the 
