and consequently the one will descend when the other cannot As for example suppose a sphere of an inch diameter was put into an oily fluid whose resistance was just equal to the force of gravity in the descending body there being an aequilibrium the former would swim in the latter Now if another sphere of two inches diameter and of the same intensive gravity were put in the same fluid in gravity or force by which it would separate the particles of the fluid would be eight times greater than the descending force of the former sphere and if in resistance were also eight times greater it is plain that it also could not descend but the resistance being always as I noted before as the surface of the descending body is only in the present case four times greater which will not equal the force of its gravity and therefore the sphere must descend So in our present case tho' some small grains of dust or earth may swim upon the surface of Oil yet these when increas'd by the addition of a great many others which fall upon them augment their weight the same resistance continuing and must fall to the bottom Besides this the earthy particles falling from a great height some of them descending from places as high as the Moon as the Theorist will have them must needs in their descent â—â—â—â—ire a very considerable degree of velocity with which falling upon the surface of the oily Orb they will not only by that force descend themselves but also carry down with them and condense whatsoever bodies they met in their way or found swimming upon the surface of the oil Now that the force of a descending body is so great as to perform this effect I think is clear to any who considers that a heavy body runs down fifteen foot in a second and that the spaces thro' which it does move are always in duplicate proportion to its times as is demonstrated by Galileo and confirmed by the experiments of Riscioli from whence by calculation it will follow that a body would run down four thousand miles in the space of twenty three seconds abstracting from the resistance of the air But if we will suppose but the hundredth part of this space run thro' in that time allowing all the rest for the resistance of the Medium yet even in that case the velocity would far exceed that of the swiftest bullet that can be shot out of a Cannon Thus I think I have made it evident that the particles of earth after falling thro' the air could not rest upon the surface of the oily Orb to form there an hardened habitable 〈◊〉 not only upon the account of their greater gravity which the Theorist acknowledges and is also plain by experience common earth being near twice as heavy as water but also upon the account of the great force by which they must of necessity fall upon the liquid Orb which will carry them down towards the Center I hope now it will appear to any thinking man plainly impossible that either oil or water should sustain such an immense heavy Orb in which was not only the soft earth which in few places in ten foot deep but also a prodigious quantity of stones and minerals much heavier than water for it is certain that these great heavy bodies must have sunk to the bottom if they were left to themselves and yet these bodies make up the greatest part of our outward earth I know the Theorist does boldly affirm that there was neither Metals nor Minerals in the primitive earth but this is both contrary to reason and Scripture for the Holy Scriptures tell us that Tuhal Cain before the floud was an instructer of every Artificer in Brass and Iron and I would fain know how there could be such Artificers before the flood when according to him there was no such thing to be seen as Metals Besides 't is hardly possible to build an Ark that should contain all the terrestrial and aerial animals without Iron The Americans without any Iron made themselves small Cannoes of one solid piece of Timber which they hollowed by burning but it would be a strange Tree that was of the dimensions of the Ark and could contain so many animals as it did These things do in my judgement plainly show that the Theorists opinion in this point is utterly false From what I have already said I think it may be clearly demonstrated that the Fabrick of the 〈◊〉 can never be deduced from a Chaos by the sole help of Mechanical principles and Natural causes For it is evident to any one who has eyes tho there have been some wise Philosophers of another opinion that the Land is higher than the Water and it is also plainly experienced that common arable earth or clay is much heavier than water and if we descend into the Mines or Pits we shall find the matter there to be three or four times heavier than the earth above Now it is plain from what I have already proved that in a Chaos the true change that would follow from Mechanical principles and Natural causes is that if all were fluid the heaviest solidest Bodies would subside and fall to the Center every one taking place according to the specifick gravity so that the lighter Bodies would always be forced uppermost the earth therefore being heavier than the water must of necessary place it self nigher the Center and leave the water to cover the face of the whole Orb. Thus the surface of the World could never be inhabited by any other Animal than Fishes But in how much wiser order than this has the great Creator of the World plac'd all the Bodies of the earth so that notwithstanding the greater gravity of the Land it is raised higher than the Sea and thereby made fit and habitable both for man and beasts without the help of Natural and Mechanical causes which would have produc'd the contrary effect Several other arguments might be brought to demonstrate that the fâ—â—me of this World was the result of wisdom and counsel and not of the necessary and essential Laws of motion and gravitation which could never have either made or supported the World I always wonder'd at the wild and extravagant fancy of the Philosophers who thought that brute and stupid matter would by it self without some supreme and intelligent director fall into a regular and beautiful structure whose parts should be so extreamly well adapted to various uses as if they had been the result of wisdom and contrivance I will conclude this Chapter with a discourse of the Theorist in his 10 th Chap. lib. 2. In the construction of the Body of an Animal says he there is more of thought and contrivance more of exquisite invention and fit dispositions of parts than is in all the Temples Palaces Ships Theaters or any other pieces of Architecture the World ever yet saw and not Architecture only but all other Mechanism whatsoever Engines
writers of Hydrostaticks that a sphere whose centre of Gravity is the same with its centre of Magnitude if put in a fluid of the same specifick gravity with it self will retain any given position and therefore there can be no reason drawn from the earths gravity or equilibration why the position of its axis should be perpendicular to the plane of the Ecliptick rather than any other of its diameters CHAP. V. Of Rivers THE Theorist having represented to us the first Earth as a smooth regular and uniform body without Mountains and without a Sea In the 5th Chap. of his second book he starts a great difficulty how it was watered from what causes and in what manner how could Fountains rise or Rivers flow in an Earth of that form and nature he has shut up the Sea with thick walls on every side and taken away all communication that could be 'twixt it and the external earth he has removed all the Hills and Mountains where the Springs use to rise and whence the Rivers descend to water the face of the ground and lastly he has left no issue for these Rivers no Ocean to receive them or any place to disburthen themselves into So that his new found World is like to be a dry and barren wilderness and so far from being Paradisaical that it would scarce be Habitable These indeed are great difficulties and the Theorist has acknowledged them to be such for he sayes there was nothing in his whole Theory that gave so rude a stop to his thoughts as that part of it concerning the Rivers of the first Earth But as the difficulties are great and as one would think insuperable so no doubt the glory that redounds to the Theorist must be nothing less if they be clearly taken away To understand therefore what the state of the primitive Rivers and waters would be he finds it necessary to consider and examine how the rains fell in the first Earth and he tells us that the order of nature in the Regions of the an would be very different from what it is now there could be no violent motions there nor any thing that proceeded from extremity of cold as Ice Snow or Hail and as for Winds they could neither be impetuous nor irregular in that Earth of his seeing there were no Mountains nor any other inequalities to obstruct the course of the vapours nor any unequal seasons nor unequal actions of the Sun but as for waters meteors dews and rains there could not but be plenty of these in some part or other of that Earth for the action of the Sun in raising vapours was very strong and very constant and the Earth was at first moist and soft and according as it grew more dry the rayes of the Sun would pierce more deep into it and reach at length the great abyss which lay underneath and was an unexhausted storehouse of new vapours Now the same heat which extracted these vapours so copiously would also hinder them from condensing into rain in the warmer parts of the Earth and there being no mountains or contrary winds or any such causes to stop or compress them they would take their course where they were least resisted which is towards the Poles and the colder regions of the Earth for East and West they would meet with as warm an air and vapours as much agitated as themselves which therefore will not yield to their progress that way but North and South they will find a more easy passage so that the concourse of vapours which were raised chiefty about the Equinoctial and middle parts of it would be towards the extreme parts or the Poles When these vapours thus driven by the heat of the Sun were arrived in the cooler Regions near the Poles they would be condensed into rain for wanting there the cause of their agitation namely the heat of the Sun their motion would soon begin to languish and they would fall close to one another in the form of water Thus he thinks he has found a sufficient source for waters in the first earth which would never fail neither diminish nor overflow But tho' he esteems this an inexhaustible store-house and an easy way to furnish Waters yet if it be narrowly examined he will find it not in the least sufficient for such an effect For first according to his own hypothesis there could be no Rivers for a long time after the formation of the Earth till the Sun had crackt the outward crust thereof and its heat had reacht the great abyss which the Theorist must needs own will require a very considerable space of time one would think it would be several hundreds of years before the Suns heat could perform such an effect during all which time the inhabitants of the Earth must be without waters and rivers and lead very sad and uncomfortable lives Is this the fruit of the Golden Age or is this consistent with the happiness of the antediluvian Fathers in my opinion it is directly contrary to the Scriptures for they give us an account of rivers immediately after the formation of the Earth But 2 dly I will hereafter prove that the Suns Beams did never yet reach so deep in the Earth as the thickness of the first crustation must have been and consequently there never could arise any vapours from the abyss to furnish the rivers 3 dly Supposing the heat of the Sun to have crackt the crust and to have raised vapours from the abyss yet it is certain it could not do it in such a quantity as would be sufficient to furnish the Earth with waters And now the Theorist will tell us what can be more sufficient than the whole orb of water sure this would do or else nothing could this he will say is an inexhaustible treasure that the rivers could never drain and therefore there was no fear of want of waters from thence Yes there was reason to fear it very much for supposing that there was enough in the abyss yet perhaps the action of the Sun would not raise so much as would be sufficient to water the Earth so there may be enough of Gold in the bowels of the earth but if we cannot come at it we shall never be the richer for it That I may examine this I will suppose that the mouths of these cracks which the Sun is said to have made by its heat to be a 1 10000 part of the surface of the earth this will exceed 2600 square miles which I think is as much as the Theorist can reasonably allow them for if it were but one continued crack round the equator of a miles breadth it would not exceed 25000. miles 2 dly I will suppose with the Theorist that one half of the surface of the present earth is Land and the other is Sea and by consequence the mouths of those pits or cracks must be one five thousandth part of the whole of the now Ocean Now it is evident
reasons that I cannot be induced to believe Mr. Whistons Hypothesis that the Earth had no diurnal rotation before the fall to be probable it seeming to be far more agreeable to the Laws of Nature and Philosophy that the Earth received both its annual and diurnal motions at the same time viz. when it was first Created These are the chief and principle Remarks that I have made on the Original State and Formation of the Earth I will now briefly consider his Theory of the Deluge which is in short thus He supposes that a Comet at the time of the Deluge came very near and passed by the Earth that the Comet when it came below the Moon would raise a vast and strong Tide both in the Seas that were then on the Surface and in the Abyss which was under the upper Crust of the Earth after the same manner as the Moon doth at present in the Ocean that this Tide would begin to rise and encrease all the time of the approach of the Comet would be at its greatest height when the Comet was at its least distance from the earth By this tide and the attraction of the Comet he supposes that the Abyss would put on an Elliptick or rather an exactly oval figure whose surface being much larger than the former spherical one the exterior crust of earth which lay upon it must conform it self to the same figure which it could not do as long as it remain'd solid and conjoin'd and therefore it must of necessity by the violent force of the tide be stretched and broken and have innumerable fissures made quite through it After this he supposes that the Comet in its descent towards the sun passing close by the body of the earth involved it in its Atmosphere and tail for a considerable time and left prodigious quantities of condensed and expanded vapours on its surface a great part of which being very much rarify'd after their primary fall would be immediatly drawn up into the Air again and afterwards descend in violent and outragious Rains upon the Earth and would be the canse of the forty dayes rain mentioned in Scripture The other great Rain which together with the former lasted an hundred and fifty dayes was occasioned as he thinks by the Earths being involved a second time in the Comets tail from which and from its Atmosphere he derives one half of the water which served for the Deluge The other half he supposes was deduced from the subterraneous Abyss the fluid whereof he says was forced upon the Surface of the Earth by the vast and prodigious pressure of the incumbent water that was derived from the Comets Atmosphere and Tail which he supposes would press downwards with a mighty force and endeavour to sink the outward Crust of the Earth into the Abyss by which vast quantities of the subterraneous fluid would be forced and raised upon the Surface of the Earth through the Cracks and Fissures that were made in the Crust by the violence of the Tide in the Abyss By these methods Mr. Whiston supposes that there was water enough brought on the Surface to cover the face of the whole Earth for the perpendicular height of three miles that is above the tops of the highest Mountains But he further supposes that neither that water which was derived from the Comet nor that which was forced up from the bowels of the Earth was pure Elementary water but rather a thick and muddy fluid which he sayes being heavier than water sunk to the bottom and covered the Earth for the depth of 166 feet After having thus formed the Deluge his next great work is to remove these waters which were brought on the Earth and this he supposes to be performed by a wind which dried up some and forced the rest through the Cracks and Fissures of the Earth into the Abyss in which a great part of them had been before and from whence they were derived These are the suppositions by which Mr. Whiston pretends to account for all the Phaenomena of the Deluge But tho I can easily allow the first Hypothesis to be true viz. That a Comet at the time of the Deluge came very near and passed by the Earth since its approach at that time is not only made possible but also very probable by him yet I cannot admit of the particular explications he has given of several of the Phaenomena of the Deluge a great many of them as he has explained them seeming to be no wayes agreeable to the Laws of Mechanicks and Philosophy For first tho it is certain that a Comet when it passed by the Earth would raise a very strong and prodigious Tide in the Seas that were then on the Surface yet I cannot perceive that such an effect would be produced in the Abyss which he supposes to be a dense and heavy fluid encompassed on all sides with a thick and solid Crust of Earth lying closely upon it For Tides being only a violent swelling and motion of the waters produced by the attraction of some great Bodies that come near them if we should suppose that the waters were every where shut up within a solid Orb lying on them so that there were no room or space left for them to move in it is plain that in such a case there could be no Tide or agitation of the waters but they would remain in the state they were in before nor could they press stronger on that Orb which inclosed them than Sand Gravel or any other firm and hard Bodies would do that could fill their place all Bodies whether firm or Fluid being equally attracted when the attracting Body is at the same distance from them This being then the true case of the Abyss which Mr. Whiston supposes to be enclosed by the thick solid and upper Crust of the Earth which pressing so close upon it as to leave no void space at least not such a one as would make room enough for any considerable commotion of the waters and because fluids are not more attracted than solids are it is plain that by the Tide of the Abyss and the attraction of the Comet there could never be produced any greater effect on the Crust which encompassed the subterraneous fluid than if the whole Earth had consisted of firm and solid matter without any Abyss It is certain therefore that since there was no tide in the Abyss there could be no cracks and fissures made in the Earth by it To explain the great rains which fell on the Earth during the time of the deluge Mr. Whiston assumes a proposition which I believe he can hardly prove viz. that after the Earth was involved in the Comet 's Atmosphere and tail and had acquired a prodigious quantity of condensed and expanded Vapours that fell on its surface a great part of them being much rarify'd would be drawn up again into the Air and afterwards descend in violent and outragious rains Now if we consider
at rest or which is the same thing a heavy body placed at either of the Poles where there is no diurnal rotation and consequently no centrifugal force which weighs 289 pounds if it were brought to the aequator will weigh only 288 pounds Having thus determined the proportion of the centrifugal force at the aequator to the force of gravity it will be easy from thence to shew their proportions in any parallel for it is compounded of the proportion of 1 to 289 and of the co-sine of the Latitude to the Radius for if two bodies describe different peripheries in the same time their centrifugal forces are proportional to their peripheries or to the semi-diameters of these Peripheries as is determined by Mons. Hugens in his Theoremata de vi centrifuga motu circulari but the Periphery which a body in the aequator describes has its semi diameter equal to the radius or semi diameter of the Earth and in any other place the parallels in which Bodies move have the co-sines of their Latitude for their semidiameters and therefore it will follow that the force of gravity is to the centrifugal force in a proportion compounded of the radius to the co-sine of the Latitude and of 289 to 1. and therefore at the Latitude of 51 degrees 46. minutes for example it will be as 466 to 1. By this also it will appear that the direction of heavy Bodies is not to the Centre of the Earth as has been alwayes supposed For if we take a heavy Body and hang it by a thread the thread produced will not pass through the Centre any where but at the Poles and the AEquator for in the Figure the thread is carryed by the centrifugal force of the Body B from the position AC into the position AB where it will rest From hence also it will appear that it is not the line AC which being produced passes through the Centre but the line AB that is perpendicular to the curve PQ for all the particles of the fluid will settle themselves in such a position that their lines of direction downwards must be perpendicular to the surface of the Body which they compose for otherwise the parts of the fluid would not be in an AEquilibrium one with another and therefore altho the lines of direction of heavy Bodies do not pass through the Centre of the Earth yet are they still perpendicular to their Horizons and upon this account there could arise no error in levelling of lines and in finding the risings and fallings of the ground It is upon the account of this diminution of gravity according as we approach the Equator that pendulums of the same length in different Latitudes take different times to perform their vibrations for because the accelerating force of gravity is less at the Equator than under any parallel and under any parallel it is still less than under another which is nearer the Poles it do's plainly from thence follow that a body plac'd in the Equator or in any parallel will take a longer time to descend through an arch of a given circle than it would do at the Poles and the farther a body is removed from the Poles the longer time it will take to descend through any given space From hence it follows that the length of pendulums which perform their vibrations in equal times in different Latitudes are directly as the accelerating forces of their gravities For the time a Body takes to descend through an Arch of a Cycloid is to the time it will take to fall through the Axis of the Cycloid always in a given proportion viz. as the Semiperiphery of a circle is to its Diameter by the 25 th Prop. of Hugens Horologium Oscillatorium and therefore when the times in which a body descends through the Axes of two different Cycloids are equal the times of the descent through the Cycloids will be also equal but when the times of the descent through the Axes are equal these Axes and consequently the lengths of the pendulum which vibrates in these Cycloids are proportional to the accelerating forces of their gravities By this if we know the length of a pendulum which performs its vibrations in a given time in any one part of the Earth it is easy to determine the length of a pendulum which performs its vibrations in the same time in any other part of the Earth as for example the length of a pendulum which vibrates seconds at Paris is three foot eight lines and a half let it be required to find the length of a pendulum which vibrates seconds at the Equator Because the gravity at the Pole is to the gravity at the Equator as 692 is to 689 therefore the decrease of gravity at the Equator is 3 692 parts of the whole gravity but as I have before demonstrated the decrease of gravity at the Equator is to its increase in any other Latitude as the square of the radius is to the square of the sine of the Latitude now the Latitude of Paris being 48â—â— 45 its sine is 75. 183 and therefore the square of the Radius is to the square of the sine of the Latitude as 1000000 to 565248 but as 1000000 is to 565248 so is 3.000 the number which represents the decrease of gravity at the Equator to 1. 695 the number which represents its increase at Paris which added to 689 the gravity at the Equator makes 690.695 the number which will represent the gravity at Paris But I have already shewed that as the gravity at Paris is to the gravity at the Equator so is the length of a pendulum which vibrates seconds at Paris to the length of a pendulum which vibrates seconds at the Equator that is as 690,695 to 689 so is 36,708 the length of a pendulum at Paris which performs its vibration in a second to 36,616 which therefore is the length of a pendulum which performs its vibrations in a second at the Equator so that the difference btween these two pendulums is 92 1000 parts of an inch which comes pretty near the observations of Mons. Richer who at the island of Cayen whose Latitude is 5 degrees found that a pendulum which vibrates seconds there was a tenth part of an inch shorter than a pendulum which vibrates seconds at Paris Thus we see that the principles and hypothesis and withal their consequences upon which the broad Spheroidical Figure of the Earth is founded do exactly agree with observations and therefore there is no doubt to be made but that the Earth is really of such a Figure and that the hypothesis upon which this Figure is grounded viz. the diurnal rotation of the Earth and by consequence the centrifugal force of all Bodies upon it must be admitted for a true one since the different vibrations of Pendulums of the same length in different Latitudes can depend upon no other cause for the change of
Air is not able to produce any such effect for if the Air made really any alterations in the vibrations of a Pendulum it would produce a quite contrary effect than what is observed for Pendulums near the AEquator would move faster than they would do in places of greater Latitude the Air in the one place being more rarified is much thinner and siner than it is in the other and therefore gives less resistance to Bodies which move in it In this reasoning we have supposed the Earth to have been at first fluid as the Theorist has done before us but if we will put the case that the Earth was at first partly fluid and partly dry as it is at present yet because we find that the land is very near of the same Figure with the Sea only raised a little higher that it might not be overflowed composing with it the same solid and I have already shewed that the Surface of the Ocean is spheroidical and not spherical there is no doubt to be made but that the Land was formed into the same Figure by its wise Creator at the beginning of the World for if it were otherwise then would the Land towards the AEquator have been overflowed with water which as I have already proved must have been higher at the AEquator than at the Poles and therefore the Sea would rise there and spread it self like an inundation upon all the Land But for a further confirmation of the spheroidical Figure of the Earth let us consider some of the other Planets especially Iupiter who turns round his own Axis in the space of ten hours It may easily be observed that his Axis is considerably shorter than the Diameter of his AEquator and that in the proportion of seven to eight is the observations of Mr. Flamstead and Mons. Casini do testify and therefore we need not doubt but that the Earth which is a Planet like the rest and turns round its Axis as they do is of the same Figure But the Theorist in his Latin Edition of the Theory as also in his Answer to Mr Warren seems to insinuate that the only way to find the true Figure of the Earth is by measuring of it and by that means to find what proportion the degrees of the Meridian in different Latitudes have to one another for if they were exactly equal one to another and also equal to the degrees of Longitude counted upon the AEquator then without doubt the Figure of the Earth would be Spherical but if otherwise Spheroidical Now tho I have already determined the Earths Figure from other Principles Yet to comply with the Theorist in this point I will give him an account of a Book whose extract I have seen in the Acta Eruditorum Lipsiae publicata for the year 1691. written by one Ioh. Casp Eisenschmidt a German who calls himself Doctor of Philosophy and Physick The Title of the Book is Diatrihe de Figura Telluris Elliprico-Sphaeroide And it is Printed at Strasburg in the Year 1691. The Learned and deep-thinking Author of this Book after he has Answered at least has endeavoured to Answer the Arguments of Archimedes and others by which the Figure of the Earth was proved to be Spherical doth embrace the Opinion of the Theorist and asserts that its Poles are higher or further distant from the Centre than its AEquator To prove this he sets down an account of the different magnitudes of degrees of the Meridian according to the observations made of them in different Latitudes and comparing them one with another he found that they continually decreased as the Latitudes increased and indeed as he sayes in the same proportion as appears by the following Table which I have inserted from the above named Extract Observers The Latitude of the Places observed The Magnitude of a Degree in Roman Miles Eratosthenes 27° 100 Ricciolus 44½° 80 Mons. Piccard 49° 74 Fernellius 49½° 73½ Snellius 52° 71⅓ From this he concludes that a plane cutting the Earth along its Axis would not be a Circle but an Ellipsis whose longer Axis would pass through the Poles and coincide with the Axis of the Earth but its lesser Axis would be the common Section of the AEquator with the Ellipsis and from thence he infers that the Earth is not of a Spherical but an oblong Spheroidical Figure After that he disputes against Mr. Newtons Hypothesis which makes the Earth of a direct contrary Figure and thinks that the accurate Observations by him related are by far to be preferred to the Hypothesis upon which Mr. Newtons Calculus is grounded So far is this Argument drawn from Observations from destroying Mr. Newtons Hypothesis that it would most evidently confirm it if the Observations were exact enough which I believe they are not I cannot but wonder at the strange Logicks of our Modern Philosophers who are able to draw any conclusion they have a mind for from any Principles that can be given them No man that looks narrowly into their Books can want Instances in this matter But in case this is not so well observed I have furnished the Reader with two examples of this sort The one is the Theorists way by which he proves the Earth to be of an Oblong or Oval Figure from the Principles of a Centrifugal force which all Bodies have that are on it Now I think I have plainly shown that the true Conclusion he ought to have inferred from this Hypothesis is that the Earth had a quite contrary Figure from what he fancyed it had But Mr. Eisenchmidt has given us a yet plainer proof of this thing for because he found that the Degrees of Latitude near the aequator were bigger than those which were near the Pole he very innocently concludes that the Earth had its Axis longer than the Diameter of its Equator but if he had understood the first six Elements of Euclid or indeed those of common sense he might easily have demonstrated the contrary it is strange that when there is but one Right and one Wrong Opinion in this Point that he should be so unlucky as to hit upon the false one to maintain it CHAP. VII Of the Dissolution of the Primitive Earth HITHERTO I have refuted the Theorists for Motion Position and Figure of the Primitive Earth I am now to consider his method of Dissolving the Fabrick he has raised and to Examin how and by what causes the first Earth which had all the Beauty of Youth and Blooming Nature Fresh and Fruitful and not a Wrinkle or Scar on all its Body came to be dissolved how the Fabrick was broke and the Frame of the whole torn in pieces how it came to be a shattered and confused heap of Bodies as we now see it placed in no order one to another nor with any correspondency or regularity of parts as the Theorist represents it to be He tells us that one would soon imagin that such a structure as that of the first Earth
the Abyss and so the case would be reduced to the former one where the water is supposed to press immediately on the Fluid in the Abyss by which pressure the Crust would be so far from sinking deeper that it would be raised to a greater height as I have shown before From all this it is demonstratively evident that by no sort of pressure of the incumbent fluid the Abyss could be forced upwards to spread it self on the Surface of the Earth Another Argument which may be urged against deriving water from Mr. Whiston's Abyss is this He supposes the Abyss to consist of a very dense Fluid whose intensive gravity is greater than the gravity of the Crust which subsided into it but this Crust being three or four times heavier than water it must be immediately contiguous to the Abyss so that there can be no room for any considerable quantity of water to ly between them and therefore it is plain that whatever water was raised from the Abyss must be only on the Cracks and Fissures of the Earth But Mr. Whiston supposes that the half of that water at least which was necessary for the Deluge was derived from the Abyss that is as I shall hereafter prove there must have been eleven times more water derived from the Abyss than there is in the whole Ocean which is a prodigious greater quantity than the Cracks and Fissures can be supposed able to contain Perhaps Mr. Whiston will grant that the greatest part of what was drawn from the Abyss was not pure water but that dense and heavy Fluid on which the Crust subsided but if it were so it is certain that such a Fluid being heavier than water must have taken its place next to the Surface of the Earth and have filled up all the pits holes and valleys that were on the Earth nay it would have driven the Sea out of its Channel and would have compleatly filled its place where it would have remained to this day It is most evident that if such a thing had happened there would have been vast quantities of that dense and heavy Fluid still abiding on the Surface of the Earth and in pits and holes there being nothing to drive it from thence into the Fissures again But yet it is evident from Observations that there is not any such thing in Nature to be seen and that there is no where to be found any quantity of such a dense and heavy Fluid which Mr. Whiston supposes covered the Earth at the time of the Deluge There is only a little Quick-silver which is found in some Mines in the very bowels of the Earth but the quantity of it is so small and inconsiderable that we cannot possibly suppose it to be the remains of the Fluid in the Abyss For if ever there had been any such Fluid on the Surface of the Earth there must have certainly remained greater quantities of it to this day since as I have observed before the very Seas must have been full of it I freely acknowledge Mr. Whiston's Hypothesis about Shells Bones Teeth and other Exuviae of Land and Sea Animals found and dug out of the Bowels of the Earth to be very Ingenious and more Philosophical than any other Hypothesis that I have yet seen so that to me it seems indeed probable that the water which made the Deluge from whence soever it was derived had in it much Mud and Earthy matter which after the waters were gon off settled on the Surface of the old Earth and became a new Crust in which these Shells Teeth and Bones subsided This Hypothesis I think doth very naturally explain all the Phaenomena Dr. Woodward mentions in his Theory and on that account it may be easily admitted as a true one I come now to consider Mr. Whiston's way by which he supposes all the waters that were necessary for the Deluge were drawn off the Earth He imagins this to be performed partly by a wind which dried up some and partly by the descent of the waters through the Cracks and Fissures of the Earth to which the wind by hurrying the waters up and down would be very sufficient Before I examin these causes it is fit that I should make an estimate of the quantity of water that would be necessary to cover the whole Earth above the tops of the highest Mountains Dr. Burnet in his Theory of the Earth reckons it to be about eight Oceans of water supposing the Surface of the Sea to be equal to the Land and to be every where a quarter of a Mile deep taking one place with another But on the same supposition I believe I can more exactly determin it to be near three times as much I must here assume that the height of the highest Mountain above the level of the Ocean is above three Miles perpendicular height I know Varenius in his Geographia Generalis Calculates the height of the Pico in the Island of Tenerife to be one German Mile or above four English Miles in height and tho I am inclined to believe that its height is yet greater than Varenius makes it for he seemes to allow too much both for refraction and errors in the Observations yet because three Miles is the height Mr. Whiston seemes to allow the waters at the Deluge I will suppose the Hills no higher and from thence I will Calculate what water would be necessary to make an Universal Deluge It is evident upon such a supposition that the waters must be raised beyond three Miles perpendicular height that they may be as high as the tops of the Hills Now it is easy to Calculate how much water would be necessary to raise the Surface of the Sea to such an height The Ocean being by Hypothesis a quarter of a mile deep there are twelve such quarters in three Miles and consequently there must not be less than twelve Oceans of water lying on the Surface of the Sea that it may be of the same height with the water which covered the Land Let me in the next place suppose the whole surface of the Land thickly beset with Mountains every one of which was three Miles perpendicularly high now because three Miles has but a very small proportion to the semidiameter of the Earth it is evident that the Orb or rather part of an Orb consisting of waters and Mountains would be also equal to a Cylinder whose height is three Miles and its base a Circle equal to the Surface of the Land But because the Hills are supposed to be of a conical Figure and cones by the 10 th of the 12 th of Euclid are the third part of a Cylinder on the same base and of the same height it is evident that the Hills would make but one third part of the former Cylinder that is all the Mountains if they were levelled would raise the Surface of the Earth a mile higher than it is from thence it follows that the water which lay on the