OPINIONS OF CATCOTT, JONES, HUTCHINSON, AND CUVIER. 225 
In the works of Catcott, Jones, and Hutchinson a mass of strong- 
evidence is brought forward to show the agency of diluvial currents in 
excavating valleys, over large portions of the surface of this island. 
And M. Cuvier, in his Essay on the Theory of the Earth, expresses 
his conviction, that if there he any one fact thoroughly established 
by geological investigations, it is that of the low antiquity of the 
present state of the surface of the earth, and the circumstance of 
its having been overwhelmed at no very distant period by the waters 
of a transient deluge; and although Voltaire may have indulged 
himself in denying the possibility of such an event f, and Linnaeus 
have overlooked its evidences^;, the discoveries of modern geology, 
founded on the accurate observation of natural phenomena, prove to 
* See Catcott, on the Deluge, 1T68; Jones’s Physiological Disquisitions; and 
Hutchinson’s Works, Vol. XII. 
-f- “ Y a-t-il eu un temps ou le globe a ete entierement inonde ? Cela est physique- 
ment impossible.”—Voltaire, Diet. Phil. Art. Inondation. 
J The opinion expressed by Linnaeus, that he could discover in the earth’s struc¬ 
ture no proofs whatever of a deluge amidst abundant evidences of very high antiquity, 
was obvious to be adopted by an accurate observer, at a time when it was attempted to 
explain all the phenomena of stratification and organic remains, by reference to this 
single catastrophe; the infant state of geology at that time rendered it almost impos¬ 
sible to distinguish the phenomena which are strictly of diluvial origin from those which 
must he referred to other and more ancient causes: but the advances that have 
since been made in this science have established a numerous and widely varied series of 
facts, a certain class of which bears as unequivocal evidence of the existence of a deluge 
at no very distant period, as the phenomena of stratification afford on the other hand 
of more ancient revolutions affecting our planet during the time in which its strata 
were deposited; and it has been from want of accuracy in distinguishing between these 
two distinct classes of facts that errors have arisen, such as those into which Linnaeus 
fell. For an explanation of the manner in which these natural appearances may be 
reconciled with the Mosaic account of the creation, I must again refer to my inaugural 
lecture, before quoted. 
G G 
