412 
GEO 
the north-wefl; fide of the peninfula, and the coaft then 
nearly makes good a nortlierly direftion to a bay be¬ 
tween Cape Stephens and Cape Rodney. It turns from 
thence about north-wed to Cape Prince of Wales, which 
is the mod wederly point of the whole continent of 
Nortli America; this, with the Eaft Cape on the coaft 
of Afia, diftant only about fourteen leagues from each 
other, form Beering’s Straits, which is the paffage from 
the North Pacific Ocean to the Ar< 51 :ic Sea, as was ob- 
ferved iir concluding our account of Afia. Thus is 
completed a connedted fketch of all the feas and fea- 
coalts hitherto navigated upon the furface of the globe. 
With, refpect to the meafurement or dimenfions of the 
dry land contained in the whole world, M. Mentelle, 
member of the national inflitute of France, in his Geo- 
graphis Statijlique, publiflied at Paris in 1806, has dated 
it to be nearly as follows ; 
“It is not podible to calculate with exaSlnefs the quan¬ 
tity of dry land which the furface of the globe con¬ 
tains; becaufe we are not acquainted with the limits of 
America towards the pole ; becaufe we are not fure 
that the interior of Africa does not contain fome great 
lakes, and tliat New Holland is not diminidied by Me¬ 
diterranean feas and gulfs ; in fliort, becaufe fome lit¬ 
tle traefs of unknown land may exid towards the two 
pioles, and a frozen continent near the fouth pole, 
tiiough this is not very probable. Let us fuppofe the 
unknown parts to be equal to 1,000,coo of fquare 
leagues. However this may be, we may reckon the ex¬ 
tent of rhe old continent at 4,160,000 fquare leagues, of 
which Europe contains 500,000, Afia 2,100,000, Alrica 
1,560,000, and th.at of tlie new at 2,100,000 fquare 
leagues, (and pet haps at 100,000 more,) of which South 
America contains 960,000, and North America at lead 
1,240,000,- New Holland might meafure 400,000 ; and 
all the iflands, not comprifed in the five parts of the 
globe above enumerated, make 300,000 more. So that 
tlie furface of all the regions of the earth, with which 
we are acquainted, will by tliis calculation amount to 
nearly 6,960,000 fquare leagues, being about 100,000 
fquare leagues more than a quarter of the whole (urface 
of the globe. Thus does the quantity of water fo 
greatly furpafs that of the dry land on the earth’s fur¬ 
face i ” 
The whole population of the eartli, is dated by this 
.'luthor at 1,080,000,000. He has alfo prefented us with 
didiacl datements of the extent of territory, and com¬ 
parative population, of the two grand empires of 
France and Great-Britain, for which fee the article 
Gr.e.\t Britain in this volume. 
Geography is rep'refented in pointing and fculp- 
ture, by a majedic female, crowned with turrets, havr 
ing a terredrial globe ftanding by her, in her right hand 
a compafs, in her left a fquaring rule. 
GEOL'OGY,y. [from yn, the earth, and A070;, a 
difeourfe.] The doctrine of the earth; the knowledge 
cf the date and nature of the earth. 
Notwithdanding the w'onderful progrefs made of late 
years in the analylis of mineral bodies, and in the know¬ 
ledge of theTiifterent ways in which’' they.are found dif- 
pofed in feveral parts of the globe, the trails on gene¬ 
ral geology, w'hich have been given to the public, con¬ 
tinue to be rather fanciful hypothefes, than fober phi- 
lofophical lucubrations. This prevalent fault we rather 
afcr'ibe to the hady impatience of writers, than to the 
abdrufenel's of the fubjeil ; though it is no doubt one 
of the mod complicated of natural fciences. If the 
writers of thefe works would confine theinfelves to pro¬ 
ceeding dep by dep, drawing only immediate and ne- 
celfary confequences from accurate obfervations, and. 
leaving to future ages the care of advancing farther in 
proportion to the knov/ledge thus acquired, the real 
progrefs of geology would be greater; and many ge¬ 
neral fails would" be better afeertained by this fafe and 
impartial method, than tJiey now arc by the continual 
GEO 
attempts of thefe autliors to fquare them to their fan- 
cilul fyltems. From the impatience to give general- 
theories before folid foundations h.ave beertiaid forthem, 
airy hypothefes are fuccelTively obtruded on the public ; 
each dedroying the former, and itfelf enlarging but lit¬ 
tle, if at all, the boundaries of real fciertce. The only 
advantages, perhaps, refulting from thefe wild attempts, 
confid chiefly in the objeilions againd the preceding 
fydems, and occafionally in I'ome fortunate obfervatiou, 
or conjeilure ; which deferves to be kept in dore, even 
after the illufory vifion, which it is made to prop, has 
vanifhedand funk into oblivion. Thefe refleclions arc 
peculiarly applicable to M. Bertrand’s new theory of 
the earth ; which, from the neologic and figurative ex. 
preflions frequently ufed by the author, and from the 
incoherence of his reafoning, is in fome meafure rather 
darkened than illudrated by his explanations. In or. 
der to convey Ids theory with more clearnefs to our rea¬ 
ders, we fhall divide it into epochs-. -• • 
id Epoch. Motion, heat, light, and life, are not ne- 
ceflary companions of matter, but local temporary ac¬ 
cidents: immobility, cold, and darknefs, are on the - 
contrary the mod natural date of things throughout the. 
immenfily of fpace. Befides thofe heavenly bodies 
which now enjoy light and life, an infinite number of 
other worlds exid ; reding iuvifible in darknefs and in- 
adlivity, and waiting for fome favourable circumdance ' 
which may bring to them light and motion. -Water, 
according to this author, is the original fubdaiice of 
our planetary world, and undoubtedly of any other 
world : but this waiter, before motion and heat are com¬ 
municated to it, is only a folid mafs of ice. Gravita¬ 
tion being the only force adherent to matter, when it 
a6ls alone, as it does in thefe frozen dead worlds, it 
tends only to keep the parts of matter united and mo- 
tionlefs; every other motion, which may fet them in 
activity, mud be aferibed to mechanic impuifion and 
projetlion. 
2d Epoch. It is difficult to conceive that a comet, 
of the order of thofe which move round our fun, could 
be drong enough to impart this principle of motion and 
life to our globe, and to the others of our planetary 
iydem. M. Bertrand fuppofes the exidence of comets 
of a fuperior and unknown order ; wliich, wandering 
about a great many worlds, finally end their career, and 
tulfil tlieir dedination, by driking one of the dead and 
Irozen ; breaking it in pieces; and mixing their rnate- 
rials with thofe of the till then lethargic mafs. Thefe 
fragments acquire, by this impuifion,'a common pro- 
jeitile motion in the fame plane, and in the fame direc¬ 
tion. The light, heat, and life, brought by this ener¬ 
getic comet, mixing with tlie original ice, form new 
combinations; ad'ord caufes of intedine motions; and 
begin by thefe means a new order of things: which M. 
Bertrand calls vital and organic conditution, and whicli 
he fuppofes to be dilFerent iu every planet, lince their 
denfity is not the fame. 
3d Epoch. The ice, by the medium of heat as a dif- 
folvent, being reduced to primordial matter, all ancient 
combinations were de.dro.yed, to give room to new com¬ 
binations of a diil'erent order. The fird, perhaps the 
only, convcrfion of this regenerated element was the cal¬ 
careous earth ; the I'pecies of earth from which, in his 
opinion, every other earth is originally formed. This 
depolitionof calcareous matter, being equal every where, 
could not but produce a regular nucleus in our globe; 
‘and tliis nucleus being equally covered by water, the 
druflure of our planet was far different from what it 
now is. No fpot of ground could be out of the water; 
no mountains, no valleys, could be formed by Inch an 
liomogeneous equal depoiition. How, then, were they 
produced ? 
4th Epoch. A new comet of high degree approached 
our globe, near enough to influence its dedinies; changed 
and dackened both the annual and diurnal motions of 
the 
