TERTIARV FORMATIONS : THE DELUGE 
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cations witli eacli oilier the periods durinf>; wliich tlie strata we 
are now considerin'^ were deposited, tlie rollowinji; terms, which 
liave come into jiretty g;eneral use, andaie oi'lreciuent occurrence 
in the recent works on neology, liave been pro])oseil liyLyell. 
1. For the earliest of tlie periods we liave noticed, that during 
which the strata of the Paris basin were deposited, he has jiro- 
posed the title of Eoceiic, from aurora, and xxiyct, recent, or 
new, because the extremely small proportion of living sjiecies 
contained in these strata, indicates wbat may be considered as the 
first commencement, or dawn of the existing state of the animate 
creation. 
2. The next following epoch he names Pliocene; from 
minor, less, and xaivo?,- a minority only of fossil shells em¬ 
bedded in the formations of this period being of recent species ; 
a little less than eighteen in one hundred. 'I'hc south of Fi'ance 
near llourdeaux. Piedmont, and the basin of Vienna, arc exam¬ 
ples of Miocene formations. 
3. -1. To the strata of Italy and Sicily are appropriated the 
designations of older and newer Pliocene; from vMiuy, major, 
greater, and x-cam, indicating a nearer approach and more inti¬ 
mate resemblance to the existing population of the ocean. A 
part at least of the Low Country of North Carolina ; perhaps the 
whole, (a few isolated rocks excepted.) belongs to the Pliocene 
jieriod. 
From the statements just made, it will appear, that since the 
era when the deposition of the tertiary strata commenced, geo¬ 
logical formations have been of limited extent. The materials 
of which they are composed arc accumulated during an indefinite 
period in the bottom of the sea ; the causes of geological phenom¬ 
ena that had apparently been slumbering for ages then awaken 
to new activity, and a tract of greater or less extent is raised above 
the waves, and added to the previously existing continents. It 
is in this way, and not by the gradual accretion and extension of 
its shores, that the Low Country of the United States has been 
gained from the ocean- 
57. Prop. VIII. Since ihe tertiary strata ivere deposited, 
and since the creation of the existing races of brute animals, 
and of man, one great catastrophe has changed the face of the 
earth. A food of waters has covered those ])arts of the earth’s 
surface which had previously been and are now dry land. 
'I’he approjiriate flemonstration of the truth of this jrroposition 
is furnished by the Holy Scriptures. Of the truth and credibility 
of the statements contained in the scriptures, the well authenticat¬ 
ed miracles recorded in them furnish ample proof, shewing as 
they do, that this one book is a r evelation from the most high Cod. 
'I’he belief has been fontlly entertained by some persons, that 
evident marks and traces of the deluge arc still visible upon the 
surface of the globe, and they would bring in physical, to aid in 
the establishment and support of theological truth. But even if 
