Writer hath probably inferred that all the Rivers in the World together do daily discharge half an Ocean of Waters into the Sea I must confess my self to be unsatisfied therewith I will not question their Calculations but I suspect they are out in their Hypotheses The Opinion of Mr. Edmund Halley that Springs and Rivers owe their Original to Vapours condensed on the sides of Mountains rather than unto Rains I acknowledge to be very ingenious grounded upon good Observations and worthy of its Author and I will not deny it to be in part true in those hot Countreys in the Torrid Zone and near it where by reason of the great heats the Vapours are more copiously exhaled out of the Earth and its likely carryed up high in the form of Vapours The inferiour Air at least is so charged with them and by that means so very moist that in some places their Knives rust even in their Pockets and in the Night so very fresh and cold partly also by reason of the length of the Nights that exposing the Body to it causes Colds and Catarrhs and is very dangerous Whence also their Dews are so great as in good measure to recompence the want of Rain and serve for the nourishment of Plants as they do even in Spain it self I shall first of all propose this Opinion in the Words of the Author and then discourse a little upon it After he had enumerated many of the high Ridges and Tracts of Mountains in the four Quarters of the World he thus proceeds Each of which far surpass the usual height to which the Aqueous Vapours of themselves ascend and on the tops of which the Air is so cold and rarified as to retain but a small part of those Vapours that shall be brought thither by the Winds Those Vapours therefore that are raised copiously in the Sea and by the Winds are carried over the Low Lands to those Ridges of Mountains are there compelled by the Stream of the Air to mount up with it to the tops of the Mountains where the Water presently precipitates gleeting down by the Crannies of the Stone and part of the Vapour entring into the Cavities of the Hills the Water thereof gathers as in an Alembick into the Basons of Stone it finds â— which being once filled all the overplus oâ— Water that comes thither runs over by the lowest place and breaking out by the sideâ— of the Hills forms single Springs Many oâ— these running down by the Valleys or Guts between the Ridges of the Hills and coming to unite form little Rivulets or Brooks Many of these again meeting in one commoâ— Valley and gaining the plain ground being grown less rapid become a River and many of these being united in one common Channel make such Streams as the Rhâ—e the Rhosne and the Danube which latter onâ— would hardly think the Collection of Wateâ— condensed out of Vapour unless we consideâ— how vast a Tract of ground that River drains and that it is the summ of all those Springs which break out on the South side of the Carpathian Mountains and on the North-side of the immense Ridge of the Alps which is one continued Chain of Mountains from Switzerland to the Black Sea And it may almost pass for a Rule that the magnitude oâ— a River or the quantity of Water it evacuates is proportionable to the length and height of the Ridges from whence its Fountains arise Now this Theory of Springs iâ— not a bare Hypothesis but founded on Experience which it was my luck to gain in my abode at St. Helena where in the night time on the tops of the Hills about Eight Hundred Yards above the Sea there was so strange a condensation or rather precipitation of the Vapours that it was a great impediment to my Celestial Observations for in the clear Sky the Dew would fall so fast as to cover each half quarter of an hour my Glasses with little drops so that I was necessitated to wipe them off of so often and my Paper on which I wrote my Observations would immediately be so wet with the Dew that it would not bear Ink by which it may be supposed how fast the Water gathers in those mighty high Ridges I but now named At last he concludes And I doubt not but this Hypothesis is more reasonable than that of those who derive all Springs from the Rain-waters which yet are perpetual and without diminution even when no Rain falls for a long space of time This may for ought I as yet see or know be a good account of the Original of Springs in those fervid Regions though even there I doubt but partial but in Europe and the more temperate Countries I believe the Vapours in this manner condensed have but little interest in the production of them though I will not wholly exclude them For First The Tops of the Alps above the Fountains of four of the greatest Rivers iâ— Europe the Rhine the Rhosne the Danoâ— and the Po are for about Six Months in the Year constantly covered with Snow to a great thickness so that there are no Vapours all that while that can touch thoâ—e Mountains and be by them condensed into Water there falls nothing there but Snow and that continuing all that while on the ground without Dissolution hinders all access of Vapours to the Earth if any rose oâ— were by Winds carried so high in that form as I am confident there are not And yet for all that do not those Springs fail but continue to run all Winter and it is likely too without diminution which is a longer time than Droughts usually last especially if we consider that this want of supply is constant and annual whereas Droughts are but rare and accidental So that we need not wonder any more that Springs should continue to run and without diminution too in times of Drought True it is that those Rivers run low all Winter so far as the Snow extends and to a good distance from their Heads but that is for want of their accidental Supplies from Showers Nay I believe that even in Summer the Vapours are but rarely raised so high in a liquid form in the free Air remote from the Mountains but â—e frozen into Snow before they arrive at â—at height For the Middle Region of the â—ir where the Walk of the Clouds is at â—ast the superior part of it is so cold as to â—eez the Vapours that ascend so high â—ven in Summer time For we see that in â—e height and heat of Summer in great â—hunder-Storms for the most part it hails â—ay in such Tempests I have seen mighty â—howers of great Hail-stones fall some as â—g as Nutmegs or Pigeons Egs and in some â—laces such heaps of them as would load Dung Carts and have not been dissolved in day or two At the same seasons I have â—bserved in some Showers Hail-stones fall â—f irregular Figures and throughout pelluâ—id like great pieces of
Constitution of the Bodies â— the Antediluvians was more firm and dâ—rable than that of their Posterity after thâ— Flood and that this Change of the Term of Life was not wholly to be attributed to Miracle may both be demonstrated from the gradual decrease of the Age of the Postdiluvians For had it been miraculous why should not the Age of the very first Generation after the Flood have been reduced to that Term And what account can we give of their holding out for some Generations against the inconveniencies of the Air or deteriority of Diet but the strength and firmness of their Constitutions which yet was originally owing to the Temperature of the Air or Quality of their Diet or both seeing a Change in these for there was no other visible Cause did by degrees prevail against and impair it What influence the lying so long of the Water upon the Earth might have upon the Air and Earth in changing them for the worse and rendring them more unfit for the maintenance and continuation of Humane Life I will not now dispute But whatever might be the Cause of the Longaevity of the Antediluvians and the contracting of the Age of the Postdiluvians it is manifest that the Age of these did at the last settle as I said at or about the Term of Threescore and Ten and hath there continued for Three Thousand Years without any diminution I proceed now to the Accidents which might possibly in process of Time infer a Dissolution of the World 1. The possibility of the Water in process of Time again overflowing and covering oâ— the Earth For First of all The Rains continually washing down and carrying away Earth from the Mountains it is necessary that as welâ— the height as the bulk of them should answerably decrease and that they do so iâ— evident in Experience For as I have else where noted I have been informed by a Gentleman of good Credit that whereas thâ— Steeple of Craich in the Peak of Derbyshire in the memory of some Old Men then living 1672. could not have been seeâ— from a certain Hill lying between Hopton anâ— Wirksworth now not only the Steeple buâ— a great part of the Body of the Church mayâ— from thence be seen which comes to pasâ— by the sinking of a Hill between the Church and place of view a parallel example where to the Learned Dr. Plot gives us in a Hill between Sibbertoft and Hasleby in Northamptonshire Hist Nat. Stafford p. 113. And thuâ— will they continue to do so long as there fallâ— any Rains and as they retain any declivity that is till they be levelled with the Plains 2. By reason of the abundance of Earth thus washed off the Mountains by Shots of Rain and carried down with the Floods to the Sea about the out-lets of the Rivers where the violent Motion of the Water ceases settling to the bottom and raising it up by degrees above the Surface of the Water the Land continually gains upon and drives back the Sea The Egyptian Pharos or Light-house of Old Time stood in an Island a good distance from Land which is now joyned to the Continent the interjacent Fretum having been filled up by the Sill brought down by the River Nilus in the time of the Flood subsiding there Indeed the Ancient Historians do truly make the whole Land of Egypt to have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Gift of the River and by this means gained from the Sea Seneca in the Sixth Book of his Nat. Quest chap. 26. gives this account Egyptus ex â—imo tota concrevit Tantum enim si Homero fides aberat à continenti Pharos quantum navis diurno cursu metiri plenis lata velis potest Sed continenti admota est Turbidus enim defluens Nilus multúmque secum limum trahens eum subinde apponens prioribus terris Aegyptum annuo incremento semper ultra tulit Inde pinguis limosi soli est nec ulla intervalla in se habet sed crevit in solidum arescente limo quo pressa erat cedens structura c. That is All Egypt is but a Concretion of Mud. For if Homer may be believed the Pharos was as far distanâ— from the Continent as a Ship with full saiâ— could run in a days time but now it is joyneâ— to it For Nilus flowing with troubled Waters brings down a great deal of mud and Silt and adding to it the old land carries oâ— Egypt further and further still by an annuaâ— increase Hence it is of a fat and muddâ— soil and hath no pores or cavities in it Aâ— this reason he gives why it is not troubled witâ— Earthquakes Thus by reason of the greâ— Rivers Po Athesis Brenta and others whicâ— empty themselves into the Lagune or Shaâ—lows about Venice in Italy and in times oâ— floods bring down thither great store â— earth those Lagune are in danger to be iâ— time atterrated and with the City situate iâ— the midst of them added to the firm Lanâ— Thus in the Carnarg or Isle that the Riveâ— Rhosne makes near Arles in Provence theâ— hath been so much lately gained from thâ— Sea that the Watch tower had in the memory of some Men been removed forwarâ— three times as we were there informed And it seems to me probable that the whoâ— Low Countreys were thus gained from thâ— Seâ— For Varenius in his Geography tel us That sinking a Well at Amsterdam aâ— near an hundred foot depth they met with a bed or floor of Sand and Cockle-shells whence it is evident one would think that of old time the bottom of the Sea lay so deep and that that hundred foot thickness of Earth above the Sand arose from the Sediments of the Waters of those great Rivers the Rhine Scheld Maes c. which thereabouts emptied themselves into the Sea and in times of Floods brought down with them abundance of Earth from the upper grounds The same Original doubtless had that great Level of the Fens running through the Isle of Ely Holland in Lincolnshire and Marshland in Norfolk That there hath been no small quantity of Earth thus brought down appears also in that along the Channels of most great Rivers as for example the Thames and Trent in England especially near their Mouths or Out-lets between the Mountains and higher grounds on each side there are large Levels and Plains which seem to have been originally part of the Sea raised up and atterrated by Earth and Silt brought down by those Rivers in great Floods Now the Rain thus continually washing away and carrying down Earth from the Mountains and higher Grounds and raising up the Vallies near the Sea as long as there is any descent for the Rivers so long will they continue to run carry forward the low ground and streighten the Sea which also by its working by reason of the declivity easily carries down the Earth towards the lower and middle part of its Channel alveus and by degrees
or Gravel By the by we may here take notice that one reason why plowing harrowing sifting or any comminution of the Earth renders it more fruitful is because the Roots of Grass Corn and other Herbs can with more facility creep abroad and multiply their Fibres in the light and loose Earth That the rotting of Grass and other Herbs upon the ground may in some places raise the Superficies of it I will not deny thâ— is in Gardens and Enclosures where thâ— ground is rank and no Cattel are admitteâ— to eat off the Fogg or long Grass but elsewheâ— the raising of the Superficies of the Eartâ— is very little and inconsiderable and not at all unless in level grounds which haâ— but little declivity For otherwise the Soâ— would by this time have come to be of a verâ— great depth which we find to be but shalloâ— Nor do I think that so much as the Trunk of fall'n Trees are by this means covered but rather that they sink by their owâ— weight in time overcoming the resistance oâ— the Earth which without much difficultâ— yields being soaked and softned by thâ— Rains insinuating into it and keeping iâ— continually moist in Winter time But â— these Buildings be situate in Valleys it iâ— clear that the Earth brought down from thâ— Mountains by Rain may serve to land theâ— up Again the Superficies of the Earth may be raised near the Sea Coast by they continual blowing up of Sand by the Winds This happens often in Norfolk and in Cornwall where I observed a fair Church viz. that of the Parish called Lalant which is the Mother Church to St. Ives and above two Miles distant from the Sea almost covered with the Sand little being extant above it but the Steeple and ridge of the Roof Nay a great part of St. Ives it self lyes buried in â—he Sand and I was told there that in â—ne night there had been a whole Street of Houses so covered with Sand that in the morning they were fain to dig their way out of their houses through it All along the Western Shoar of Wales there are great Hills of Sand thus blown up by the Wind. We observed also upon the Coast of Flanders and Holland the like Sandy Hills or Downs But there are not many places liable to this Accident viz. where the bottom of the Sea is Sandy and where the Wind most frequently blows from off the Sea where the Wind sets from the Land toward the Sea this happens not where it is indifferent it must in reason carry off as much as it brings on unless other Causes hinder A Digression concerning the Dâ—luge in the Days of Noah BEfore I proceed to the Second Particâ—lar being as it were led and invite thereto by what hath been said I shall makâ— a Digression to discourse a little concerniâ— the general Deluge in the days of Noah â— shall not enlarge much upon it so as tâ— take in all that might be said but confirâ— my self to Three Heads 1. I shall confirâ— the Truth of the History of the Deluge recorded in the Scripture by the Testimonie of some ancient Heathen Writers 2. I shalâ— consider the Natural Causes or Means whereby it was effected 3. I shall enquire concerning the Consequents of it what considerable effects it had upon the Earth First then I shall produce some Testimonies of Ancient Heathen Writers concerning the Deluge The First shall be that of Berosus recorded by Josephus in the fifth Chapter of his first Book of Jewish Antiquities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That is Berosus the â—aldaean relating the Story of the Deluge â—ites thus It is reported that there is â—he part of the Vessel the Ark still reâ—ining at the Mountain of the Gordyaeans â—d that certain persons scraping off the Biâ—nen or Pitch carry it away and that â—n make use of it for Amulets to drive â—ay Diseases A Second Testimony the same Josephus â—ords us in the same place and that is of Niâ—aus Damascenus who saith he gives us â— History of the Ark and Deluge in â—se words About Minyas in Armenia there a great Mountain called Baris to which â—s reported that many flying in the time of Deluge were saved that a certain person â—s carried thither in an Ark which rested the top of it the reliques of the Timâ— whereof were preserved there a long â—e Besides these Josephus tells us in the â—e place that Hieronymus the Egyptian who â—ote the Phoenician Antiquities and Mnaâ—s and many others whose words he alâ—ges not make mention of the Flood Eusebius superadds two Testimonies more â—e one of Melon to this effect There deâ—ted from Armenia at the time of the Deâ—e a certain man who together with his â—ns had been saved who being cast out of his House and Possessions was driven awâ— by the Natives This man passing over tâ— intermediate Region came into the mouâ—tainous part of Syria that was then delate This Testimony makes the Deluâ— Topical and not to have reached â—menia The other is of Abydenus an ancient Wâ—ter in the same Eusebius Praepar Evang lib. 9. cap. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. â—ter whom others reigned and then Sisithâ— so he calls Noah To whom Saturn foâ— told that there should be a great Flood Waters upon the Fifteenth Day of â— Month Desius and commanded him to hâ— all Writings or whatever was commiâ— to Writing in Heliopolis of the Syppariâ— Which Sisithrus as soon as he had perform presently sailed away to Armenia whâ— what God had predicted to him immeâ—ately came to pass or came upon hiâ— The third day after the Waters ceased sent forth Birds that he might try wheâ— they could espy any Land uncovered Water But they finding nothing but Sâ— and not knowing whither to betake theâ—selves returned back to Sisithrus In lâ— manner after some days he sent out othâ— with like success But being sent out the third time they returned with their feet fouled with Mud. Then the Gods caught up Sisithrus from among men But the Ship remained in Armenia and its Wood afforded the Inhabitants Amulets to chase away many Diseases These Histories accord with the Scripture as to the main of the being of a Flood and Noah escaping out of it only they adulterate the Truth by the admixture of a deal of fabulous stuff Cyril in his first Book against Julian to prove the Deluge alledges a passage out of Alexander Polyhistor Plato himself saith he gives us an obscure intimation of the Deluge in his Timaeus bringing in a certain Egyptian Priest who related to Silon out of the Sacred Books of the Egyptians that before the particular Deluges known and celebrated by the Grecians there was of old an exceeding great Inundation of Waters and devastation of the Earth which seems to be no other than Noah's Flood Plutarch in his Book De Solertia Animalium tells us That those who have written of Deucalion's Flood report that there
power of the Omnipotent God and instrumentality of an inexplicable multitude of Clouds amassed together wherewith it was filled changed into Water so that the upper and lower Air might seem to be transmuted into an Ocean not by the strength of Nature but of him to whose Will and Power all things are subject And he is so confident that this Deluge in which the Water was raised fifteen Cubits above the highest Mountains was not nor could be effected by natural Causes but by the right hand of the Most High God only that he saith No man can deny it but he who doth not penetrate how far the power of Nature can extend and where it is limited To conclude this Hypothesis hath the Suffrages of most Learned Men. But because the Scripture assigning the Causes or Means of the Inundation makes no mention of any conversion of Air into Water but only of the breaking up the Fountains of the Great Deep and the opening of the Windows of Heaven I suppose those Causes may be sufficient to work the Effect and that we need not have recourse to such an Assistance As for those that make the Deluge Topical and restrain it to a narrow compass of Land their Opinion is I think sufficiently confuted by the fore-mentioned ingenious Author to whom therefore I refer the Reader I shall not undertake the Defence or Confutation of any other Hypothesis only tell you which at present seems to me most probable and that is theirs who for a partial cause of the Deluge assign either a change of the Center of the Earth or a violent depression of the Surface of the Ocean and a forcing the Waters up from the subterraneous Abysse through the Channels of the Fountains that were then broken up and opened First then let us consider what Causes the Scripture assigns of the Flood and they are two 1. The breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep 2. The opening of the Windows of Heaven I shall first treat of this last By the opening of the Windows of Heaven is I suppose to be understood the causing of all the Water that was suspended in the Air to descend down in Rain upon the Earth the effect hereof here mentioned being a long continuing Rain of Forty nay perchance One Hundred and Fifty Days And that these Treasuries of the Air will afford no small quantity of Water may be made appear both by Scripture and Reason 1. By Scripture which opposes the Waters that are above the Heavens or Firmament to those that are under them which if they were not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in some measure equal it would never do Gen. 1.6 God is said to make a Firmament in the midst of the Waters and to divide the Waters which were under the Firmament from the Waters which were above the Firmament And this was the work of a whole day and consequently no inconsiderable thing By the Heavens or Firmament in this place is to be understood the inferiour Region of the Air wherein the Fowls fly who Gen. 1.20 are said to fly above the Earth in the open Firmament of Heaven though elsewhere it be taken for the Celestial Regions wherein the Sun and Moon and Stars are placed 2. The same may be made appear by Reason grounded upon Experience I my self have observed a Thunder-Cloud in passage to have in less than two hours space powred down so much Water upon the Earth as besides what sunk into the parched and thirsty ground and filled all Ditches and Ponds caused a considerable Flood in the Rivers setting all the Meadows on flote And Dr. Wittie in his Scarborough Spaâ— tells us of great Spouts of Rain that ordinarily fall every year some time or other in Summer that set the whole Countrey in a Flood Now had this Cloud which might for ought I know have moved Forty Miles forward stood still and emptied all its Water upon the same spot of ground it first hung over what a sudden and incredible Deluge would it have made there and yet what depth or thickness of Vapours might remain uncondensed in the Air above this Cloud who knows Now it is to be considered that not only the Air above the Dry Land but also all that covers the whole Ocean is charged with Vapours which are nothing else but diffused Water all which was brought together by Winds or what other Means seem'd good to God and caused to distil down in Rain upon the Earth And you may easily guess that it was no small quantity of Water that was supplyed this way in that it sufficed for a Rain that lasted more than Forty Days as I shall afterwards shew if I understand the Text a right And that no ordinary Rain neither but Catarracts or Spouts of Water for so the Septuagint interprets the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Catarracts or Spouts of Heaven were opened I return now to the first Cause or Means of the Deluge assigned by the Scripture and that is the breaking up of all the fountains of the great Deep By the great Deep in this place I suppose is to be understood the Subterraneous Waters which do and must necessarily communicate with the Sea For we see that the Caspian and Mediterranean Seas to mention no others receive into themselves many and great Rivers and yet have no visible Out-lets nay this latter receives also abundance of Waters from the great Ocean running in at the Streights of Gibraltar and therefore by Subterraneous Passages must needs discharge their Waters into the Abyss of Waters under the Earth and by its intervention into the Ocean again By the breaking up of the Fountains of the Great Deep is I conceive meant the making great Issues and Apertures for these Subterraneous Waters to rush out You will say how could that be sith the Water keeps its level and cannot ascend to a greater height above the common Center than the Superficies of the Sea is much less force its way remove Obstacles and break open Passages I answer According to them that hold that all Rivers come from the Sea by Subterraneous Passages it is no more than daily happens For they must needs grant thaâ— the Water in the Subterraneous Channels is raised as far above the level of the Ocean as are the Heads and Fountains of great Rivers Which considering the height of their first Springs up the Mountains the length of their Courses and swiftness of their Streams for a great part of the way is very considerable a constant declivity being necessary to their descent And therefore 〈◊〉 can by no means assent to the Learned Doctor Plot if I understand him alright That the Valleys are as much below the Surface of the Sea as Mountains are above it For how then could Rivers descend down to the Sea through those Valleys the Sea would rather run into them and make Siâ—uses or else if they were enclosed the Water would stagnate there and make Pools
either above or under ground or both ways one Sea cannot be higher or lower than another but supposing any accident should elevate or depress any by reason of this confluence or communication it would soon be reduced to a level again as might demonstratively be proved But I return to tell the Reader what I think the most probable of all the Causes I have heard assigned of the Deluge which is the Center of the Earth being at that time changed and set nearer to the Centeâ— or middle of our Continent whereupon the Atlantick Pacifick Oceans must needs press upon the Subterraneous Abyss and so by mediation thereof force the Water upward and at last compell it to run out at those wide mouths and apertures made by the Divine Power breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep And we may suppose this to have been only a gentle and gradual Emotion no faster than that the Waters running out at the bottom of the Sea might accordingly lowre the Superficies thereof sufficiently so that none needed run over the Shores These Waters thus powred out from the Orifices of the Fountains upon the Earth the declivity being changed by the removal of the Center could not flow down to the Sea again but must needs stagnate upon the Earth and overflow it and afterwards the Earth returning to its old Center return also to their former Receptacles If any shall object against this Hypothesis because by it the Flood will be rendr'd Topical and restrained only to the Continent we live in though I might plead the Unnecessariness of drowning America it being in all probability unpeopled at that time yet because the Scripture useth general expressions concerning the extent of the Flood saying Gen. 1.19 And all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered and again Ver. 22. All in whose nostrils was the breath of life of all that was in the dry land dyed And because the Americans also are said to have some ancient Memorial Tradition of a Deluge and the Ingenious Author of the Theory of the Earth hath by a moderate Computation demonstrated thaâ— there must be then more people upon the Earth than now I will propose anotheâ— way of solving this Phaenomenon and that is by supposing that the Divine Power might at that time by the instrumentality of some natural Agent to us at present unknown so depress the Surface of the Ocean as to force the Waters of the Abyss through the forementioned Channels and Apertures and so make them a partial and concurrent Cause of the Deluge That there are at some times in the course of Nature extraordinary pressures upon the Surface of the Sea which force the Water outwards upon the Shores to a great height is evident We had upon our Coasts the last year an extraordinary Tide wherein the Water rose so high as to overflow all the Sea-banks drown multitudes of Cattel and fill the lower Rooms of the Houses of many Villages that stood near the Sea so that the Inhabitants to save themselves were forced to get up into the upper Rooms and Garrets of their Houses Now how this could be effected but by an unusual pressure upon the Superficies of the Ocean I cannot well conceive In like manner that the Divine Providence might at the time of the Deluge so order and dispose second Causes as to make so strong a pressure upon the face of the Waters as to force them up to a height sufficient to overflow the Earth is no way unreasonable to believe These Hypotheses I propose as seeming to me at present most facile and consonant to Scripture without any concern for either of them and therefore am not folicitous to gather together and heap up Arguments to confirm them or to answer Objections that may be made against them being as ready to relinquish them upon better information as I was to admit and entertain them Of the Effects of the Deluge I Come now to the Third Particular proposed that is To enquire concerning the Consequents of the Deluge What considerable effects it had upon the Earth and its Inhabitants It had doubtless very great in changing the Superficies of the dry Land In some places adding to the Sea in some taking from it making Islands of Peninsulae and joining others to the Continent altering the Beds of Rivers throwing up lesser Hills and washing away others c. The most remarkable effects it 's likely were in the skirts of the Continents because the Motion of the Water was there most violent Athanasius Kircher gives us a Map and Description of the World after the Flood shewing what Changes were made therein by it or upon occasion of it afterward as he fansies or conjectures But because I do not love to trouble the Reader with uncertain Conjectures I shall content my self to have said in general that it may rationally be suppoâ—ed there were then great Mutations and Alterations made in the superficial part of the Earth but what they were though we may guess yet can we have no certain knowledge of and for particulars refer the curious to him One malignant effect it had upon Mankind and probably upon other Animals too in shortning their Age or the duration of their lives which I have touched before and shewn that this diminution of Age is to be attributed either to the change of the Temperature of the Air as to Salubrity or Equality sudden and frequent changes of Weather having a very bad influence upon the Age of Man in abbreviating of it as I could easily prove or else to the deteriority of the Diet or to both these Causes But how the Flood should induce or occasion such a change in the Air and productions of the Earth I do not comprehend Of formed Stones Sea-shells and othâ— Marine-like Bodies found at great dâ—stances from the Shores ANother supposed Effect of the Flooâ— was a bringing up out of the Sea aâ—â— scattering all the Earth over an innumerablâ— multitude of Shells and Shell-fish there bâ—ing of these shell-like Bodies not only oâ— lower Grounds and Hillocks but upon tâ— highest Mountains the Appeunine and Alpâ— themselves A supposed Effect I say because it is not yet agreed among the Learned whâ—ther these Bodies formerly called petrifâ— Shells but now a-days passing by the namâ— of formed Stones be original Productions of Nature formed in imitation of the Shells of Fishes or the real Shells themselves either remaining still entire and uncorrupt or petrified and turned into Stone or at least Stones cast in some Animal Mold Both parts have strong Arguments and Patrons I shall not ballance Authorities but only consider and weigh Arguments Those for the latter Part wherewith I shall begin are First Because it seems contrary to that great Wisdom of Nature which is observable in all its Works and Productions to design every thing to a determinate end and for the attaining that end make use of such ways as are most agreeable to
and in that where and when the Air is more charged with them as in cold Countries and cold Weather the Fire rages most That likewise it cannot be continued without an unctuous Pabulum or Fewel I appeal to the experience of all Men. Now then in the rarified Air in the Torrid Zone the nitrous Particles being proportionably scattered and thin set the Fire that might be kindled there would burn but very languidly and remissly as we said just now and so the Eruptions of Vulcano's if any such happened would not be like to do half the Execution there that they would do in cold Countries And yet I never read of any spreading Conflagration caused by the Eruptions of any Vulcano's either in hot Countries or in cold They usually cast out abundance of thick Smoak like Clouds darkening the Air and likewise Ashes and Stones sometimes of a vast Bigness and some of them as Vesuvius Floods of Water others as Aetna Rivers of melted Materials running down many Miles as for the Flames that issue out of their Mouths at such times they are but transient and mounting upwards seldom set any thing on Fire But not to insist upon this I do affirm that there hath not as yet been nor for the future can be any such drying or parching of the Earth under the Torrid Zone as some may imagine That there hath not yet been I appeal to Experience the Countries lying under the Course of the Sun being at this day as fertile as ever they were and wanting no more Moisture now than of old they did having as constant and plentiful Rains in their Seasons as they then had That they shall for the future suffer any more Drought than they have heretofore done there is no reason to believe or imagine the Face of the Earth being not altered nor naturally alterable as to the main more at present than it was heretofore I shall now add the Reason why I think there can be no such Exsiccation of the Earth in those parts It 's true indeed were there nothing to hinder them the Vapours exhaled by the Sun-beams in those hot Regions would be cast off to the North and to the South a great way and not fall down in Rain there but toward the Poles But the long and continued Ridges or Chains of exceeding high Mountains are so disposed by the great and wise Creator of the World as at least in our Continent to run East and West as Gassendus in the life of Peireskius well observes such are Atlas Taurus and the Alps to name no more They are I say thus disposed as if it were on purpose to obviate and stop the Evagation of the Vapours Northward and reflect them back again so that they must needs be condensed and fall upon the Countries out of which they were elevated And on the South Side being near the Sea it is likely that the Wind blowing for the most part from thence hinders their excursion that way This I speak by presumption because in our Countrey for at least three quarters of the year the Wind blows from the great Atlantick Ocean which was taken notice of by Julius Caesar in the fifth of his Commentaries De Bello Gallico Corus veâ—tus qui magnam partem omnis temporis in his locis flare consuevit As for any Desiccation of the Sea I hold that by mere natural Causes to be impossible unless we could suppose a Transmutation of Principles or simple Bodies which for Reasons alledged in a former Discourse I cannot allow I was then and am still of opinion that God Almighty did at first create a certain and determinate number of Principles or variously figured Corpuscles intransmutable by the force of any natural Agent even Fire it self which can only separate the parts of heterogeneous Bodies yet not an equal number of each kind of these Principles but of some abundantly more as of Water Earth Air Ether and of others fewer as of Oil Salt Metals Minerals c. Now that there may be some Bodies indivisible by Fire is I think demonstrable For how doth or can Fire be conceived to divide one can hardly imagine any other way than by its small parts by reason of their violent Agitation insinuating themselves into compound Bodies and separating their parts which allowing yet still there is a term of Magnitude below which it cannot divide viz. it cannot divide a Body into smaller parts than those whereof it self is compounded For taking suppose one least Part of Fire 't is clear that it cannot insinuate it self into a Body as little or less than it self and what is true of one is true of all I say we can imagine no other way than this unless perchance by a violent Stroke or Shock the parts of the Body to be divided may be put into so impetuous a motion as to fall in sunder of themselves into lesser Particles than those of the impellent Body are which I will not suppose at present Now it is possible that the Principles of some other simple Bodies may be as small as the Particles of Fire But however that be it is enough if the Principles of simple Bodies be by reason of their perfect Solidity naturally indivisible Such a simple Body I suppose Water separated from all Heterogeneous Mixtures to be and consequently the same quantity thereof that was at first created doth still remain and will continue always in despight of all natural Agents unless it pleases the Omnipotent Creator to dissolve it And therefore there can be no Desiccation of the Seas unless by turning all its Water into Vapour and suspending it in the Air which to do what an immense and long-continuing Fire would be requisite to the maintenance whereof all the inflammable Materials near the Superficies of the Earth would not afford Fewel enough The Sun we see is so far from doing it that it hath not made one step towards it these four thousand years there being in all likelyhood as great a quantity of Water in the Ocean now as was immediately after the Flood and consequently there would probably remain as much in it should the World last four thousand years longer This Fixedness and Intransmutability of Principles secures the Universe from Dissolution by the prevailing of one Element over another and turning it into its own Nature which otherwise it would be in continual danger of It secures likewise the perpetuity of all the Species in the World many of which if their Principles were transmutable might by such a change be quite lost And lastly bars the Production or Creation of any new Species as in the forementioned Treatise I have shewn The Mention of these Principles or Primitive Simple Bodies gives me a fair opportunity of making a second Digression to Discourse a little concerning the Primaeve Chaos and Creation of the World A Digression concerning the Primitive Chaos and Creation of the World WHich yet I should not have done had I not been
thereto requested The mention of these Principles I say gives me an opportunity of making such a Digression because I take them to have been the Effects of the first Creation spoken of in the first and second Verses of Genesis In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth And the earth was without form and void and comprehended in the word Earth By the word Chaos the Ancients understood a huge Mass of Heterogeneous Bodies or the Principles and Seeds of natural Bodies confusedly and disorderly mingled together in one lump for so Ovid describes it in the beginning of the first of his Metamorphosis Quem dixere Chaos rudis indigestáque moles Nec quicquam nisi pondus inors congestáque côdem Non bene junctarum discordia semina rerum I suppose therefore that God Almighty did at first create this terrestrial Globe containing the Seeds and Principles of all natural visible sublunary Bodies variously and confusedly commixt together which the Ancients called by the name of Chaos partly of solid and more ponderous partly of fluid and lighter parts the solid and more ponderous naturally subsided the fluid and watry as being more light got above them That the Waters did at first cover the Earth seems to me clear from the testimony of the Scripture For in the History of the Creation in the first Chapter of Genesis Vers 2. It is said Darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters intimating that the Waters were uppermost And in Ver. 9. And God said Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear Whence I think it is manifest that before that time the Land was covered with Water And that this gathering together of Waters was not into any subterraneous Abyss is likewise clear from the Text For it is said that God called this Collection of Waters Seas as if it had been on purpose to prevent such a Mistake So Psalm 104.6 It is said of the Earth at the Creation Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment the waters stood above the mountains And again Ver. 9. That they turn not again to cover the earth The more solid and ponderous parts tho they were of various Figures and perhaps Magnitudes were all called by the common name of Earth and the fluid by the name of Water This solid part of the Earth was made up of the Principles of many simple Bodies variously commix'd and irregularly disperst one among another yet tho they seem to be thus disorderly mingled as tho they had been carelesly shaken and shuffled together yet I do believe there was some Order observed by the most wise Creator in the Disposition of them The fluid part of this Globe as we said and as of its own nature it must needs do covered the solid till it pleased God to separate them and by providing great Receptacles for the Waters to gather them together into one place Whether this were done by the immediate Application and Agency of his Almighty Power or by the Intervention and Instrumentality of second Causes I cannot determine It might possibly be effected by the same Causes that Earthquakes are viz. Subterraneous Fires and Flatuses We â—e what incredible effects the Accension of Gunpowder hath It rends Rocks and blows up the most ponderous and solid Walls Towers and Edifices so that its force is almost irresistible Why then might not such a proportionable quantity of such Materials set on fire together raise up the Mountains themselves how great and ponderous soever they be yea the whole Superficies of the dry Land for it must all be elevated above the Waters And truly to me the Psalmist seems to intimate this Cause Psalm 104.7 For after he had said The waters stood above the mountains he adds At thy rebuke they fled at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away Now we know that an Earthquake is but a subterraneous Thunder and then immediately follows The mountains ascend the valleys descend c. If there might be a high Hill raised up near the City Troezen out of a plain Field by the force of a subterraneous Fire or Flatus as Ovid tells us Est prope Pitthaeam tumulus Troezena sine ullis Arduus arboribus quondam planissima campi Area nunc tumulus nam res horrenda relatu Vis fera ventorum coecis inclusa caverniâ— Expirare aliqua cupiens luctatáque frustra Liberiore frui coelo cum carcere rima Nulla fuit toto nec pervia flatibus esset Extentam tumescit humum ceu spiritus oris Tendere vesicam solet aut derepta bicorâ—â— Terga capri tumor ille loci permansit alti Collis habet speciem longóque induruit aâ—â— A Hill by Pitthaean Traezen mounts uncrown'd With Sylvan Shades which once was level ground For furious Winds a story to admire Pent in blind Caverns strugling to expire And vainly seeking to enjoy th' Extent Of freer Air the Prison wanting vent Puffs up the hollow Earth extended so As when with swelling Breath we Bladders blow The humour of the place remained still In time grown solid like a lofty Hill A parallel Instance hereto we have of later date of a Hill not far from Puzzuolo Puteoli beside the Gulph of Baiae which I my self have view'd and been upon It is by the Natives called Monte di cenere and was raised by an Earthquake Sept. 29. 1538. of about one hundred foot perpendicular altitude though some make it much higher according to Stephanus Pighius it is a Mile Ascent to the top and four Miles round at the foot We indeed judged it not near so great The People say it bears nothing nothing of any use or profit I suppose they mean else I am sure there grows Heath Myrtle Mastick tree and other Shrubs upon it It is a spungy kind of Earth and makes a great sound under a Mans feet that stamps upon it The same Earthquake threw up so much Earth Stones and Ashes as quite filled up the lacus Lucrinus so that there is nothing left of it now but a fenny Meadow If such Hills I say as these may be and have been elevated by subterraneous Wild-fire flatus or Earthquakes Si parvis liceat componere magna if we may compare great things with small why might not the greatest and highest Mountains in the World be raised up in like manner by a subterraneous Flatus or Wild-fire of quantity and force sufficient to work such an effect that is that bears as great a proportion to the superincumbent weight and bulk to be elevated as those under these smaller Hills did to theirs But we cannot doubt this mâ—y be done when we are well assured that the like hath been done For the greatest and highest Ridge of Mountains in the World the Andes of Peru have been for some hundreds of Leagues in length violently shaken and many alterations made therein
as the Ibex and Rupicapra or Chamois among Quadrupeds and Lagopus among Birds 3. The Mountains are most proper for the putting forth of Plants yielding the greatest variety and the most luxuriant sort of Vegetables for the maintenance of the Animals proper to those places and for Medicinal Uses partly also for the Exercise and delight of such ingenious persons as are addicted to search out and collect those Rarities to contemplate and consider their Forms and Natures and to admire and celebrate the Wisdom of their Creator 4. All manner of Metals Minerals and Fossils if they could be generated in a level Earth of which there is some question yet should they be dug or mined for the Delfs must necessarily be so flown with Water which to drive and rid away no Adits or Soughs could be made and I much doubt whether Gins would suffice that it would â—e extremely difficult and chargeable if posâ—ible to work them at all 5. Neither are the very tops of the highâ—st Mountains barren of Grass for the feedâ—ng and fattening of Beasts For on the â—idges of the high Mountains of Jura and â—aleve near Geneva and those of Rhoetia or â—he Grisons Countrey which are the highest â—f all the Alps excepting the Vallesian and â—baudian there are Multitudes of Kine fed 〈◊〉 Summer time as I my self can witness â—aving in my Simpling Voyages on those of â—ra and Saleve observed Herds of Cattel here and many Dairy Houses built where I have been more than once refreshed by their Milk and Milk-Meats Nay there are but very few and those of the highest Summits of the Alps that keep Snow all Summer and I was told by the Inhabitants that one time or other in seven or eight years space for the most part there came a Summer that melted all the Snow that lay on them too 6. Anorher great use and necessity of Mountains and Hills is for the Generation and Maintenance of Rivers and Fountains which in our Hypothesis that all proceed from Rain-Water could not be without them or but rarely So we should have only Torrents which would fail in Summer-time or any dry Season and nothing to trust to but stagnating Water reserved in Pools and Cisterns Which how great an Inconvenience it would be I need not take pains to shew I say that Fountains and Rivers would be but rare were there no Mountains For upon serious consideration I find that I was too hasty in concluding because I had observed no Fountains springing up in Plains therefore there were oâ— could be absolutely none and do now granâ— that there is reason to believe the Relations made of such For the whole dry Land being but one continued Mountain and ascending all along from the Sea to the Midland as is undeniably proved by the Descent of Rivers even in plain Countries the Water sinking into the Earth may run under ground and according as the Vein leads it break out in the side of this Mountain tho the place as to outward appearance be a Plain But some may say Granting there be some use and benefit of moderate Hills and Risings what necessity is there of such extended Ridges of vast and towring Mountains hiding their Heads among the Clouds and seeming for Altitude to contend with the Skies I answer there is very great use of them for repelling the Vapours exhaled by the Sun-beams in the hot Regions and hindring their Evagations Northward as we have already shewn and shall not repeat I might add hereto 7. Those long Series and Chains of Mountains are of great use for Boundaries and Limits to the Territories of Princes or Commonwealths to secure them on those parts from sudden Incursions of Enemies As for the rudeness and confusion of Mountains their cragged and broken Rocks and Cliffs and whatever other Disorder there may be among them it may be accounted for from the manner of their first Generation and those other mutations they have been since obnoxious to by Earth-quakes Eruptions of Vulcano's foundering and falling in of their Props and Foundations and by time and weather too by which not only the Earth is washed away or blown off from the Stones but the very Stones and Rocks themselves corroded and dissolved as might easily be proved by Instances could I spare time to do it I should proceed now to say something concerning the rest of the Works of the Creation but that would be too great a Task and swell this Digression into a Volume I shall only add that to me it seems That the Almighty Creator did not only at first make the various Principles of all simple inanimate Bodies and scattered them throughout the upper Region of the Earth but also the Seminal Principles of Animate Ones too and disperst them also all over the Earth and Water and of these were the first Plants and Animals created by the Virtue of his Omnipotent Word and after all these were spent there remained no more Ability in those Elements to produce any Individuals but all since them owe their their Original to Generation God having given each Species power to procreate their like CHAP. VI. Containing an Answer to the Second Question Whether shall this Dissolution be effected by natural or by extraordinary means and what they shall be 2. AS to the Second Question Whether shall this Dissolution be brought about and effected by natural or by extraordinary means and Instruments and what those Means and Instruments shall be I answer in brief that the Instrumental Efficient of this Dissolution shall be natural For it is clear both by Scripture and Tradiâ—ion and agreed on all Hands that it shall be that Catholick Dissolvent Fire Now to the being and maintenance of Fire there are four things requisite 1. The active Prinâ—iple or Aether 2. Air or a nitrous Paâ—ulum received from it These two being â—ommixt together are every where at hand â— Fewel which considering the abundance of combustible Materials which are to be â—ound in all places upon or under the Surface of the Earth can no where be wanting 4. The Accension and the sudden and equal Diffusion of this Fire all the World over And this must be the Work of God extraordinary and miraculous Such a Dissolution of the World might indeed be effected by that natural Accident mentioned in the Answer to the precedent Question viz. The Eruption of the Central Fire But because it is doubtful whether there be any such Fire in the middle of the Earth or no and if there ever were it is hard to give an account how it could be maintained in that infernal Dungeon for want of Air and Fewel And because if it should break forth in the Consistency of a thin Flame it would in all likelyhood speedily like Lightening mount up to Heaven and quite vanish away unless we could suppose Floods nay Seas of melted Materials or liquid Fire enough to overflow the whole Earth to be poured forth of those Caverns For these
Tancred Robinson for the solving of that Phoenomenon The same also induces me to believe that Vapours may have a greater interest in the production of Springs even in temperate and cold Regions than I had before thought The Experiment or Observation is this About the beginning of December 1691. there happened to be a Mist and that no very thick one which continued all day the Vapour whereof notwithstanding the Trees were wholly divested of Leaves condensed so fast upon their naked Branches and Twigs that they dropped all day at such a rate that I believe the Water destilling from a large Tree in twenty four hours had it been all received and reserved in a Vessel might have amounted to a Hoggs-head What then may we rationally conjecture would have dropped from such a Tree had it been covered with Leaves of a dense Texture and smooth Superficies apt to collect the Particles of the Vapour and unite them into Drops It is clear by this effect that Trees do destil Water a pace when Clouds or Mists hang about them which they are reported by Benzo constantly to do about the Fountain tree in Ferro except when the Sun shines hot upon it And others tell us that that Tree grows upon a Mountain too So that it is no wonder that it should drop abundance of Water What do I speak of that Tree all the Trees of that kind grow on the sides of vast Mountains as Dr. Robinson hath noted Besides that in hot Regions Trees may in the night time destil Water though the Air be clear and there be no Mist about them seems necessarily to follow from Mr. Halley's Experiment Now if there be in Mists thus much Vapour condensed upon Trees doubtless also there is in proportion as much upon the Surface of the Earth and the Grass And consequently upon the Tops and Ridges of high Mountains which are frequently covered with Clouds or Mists much more so much as must needs have a great interest in the production and supply of Springs even in temperate Countries But that invisible Vapours when the Sky is clear do at any time condense so fast upon the Trees as to make them drop I never observed in England or elsewhere no not in the Night-season though I do not deny but upon the Appennine and Southern side of the Alps and elsewhere in the hotter parts of Europe in Summer Nights they may However considering the Penetrancy of such Vapours that in moist Wether they will insinuate themselves deeply into the Pores of dry Wood so that Doors will then hardly shut and Chinks and Crannies in Boards and Floors be closed up I know not but that they may likewise strike deep into the Ground and together with Mists contribute to the feeding and maintenance of Springs in Winter-time when the Sun exhales but little it being an Observation of the Learned Fromondus Quod hyeme nec nivali nec imbrifera fontes tamen aquam largiùs quà m aestate nisi valdè pluvia sit vomant That in Winters neither snowy nor rainy yet fountains powre forth more Water than in Summer unless it happen to be a very wet season Yet are their Contributions inconsiderable if compared with the supplies that are afforded by Rains And one reason why in Winter Fountains flow more plentifully may be because then the Sun defrauds them not nor exhales any thing out of the Earth as in Summer time he doth Therefore whenever in this Work I have assigned Rain to be a sufficient or only cause of Springs and Rivers I would not be understood to exclude but to comprehend therein Mists and Vapours which I grant to have some interest in the production of them even in Temperate and Cold Regions and a very considerable one in Hot. Though I cannot be persuaded that even there they are the sole Cause of Springs for that there fall such plentiful and long continuing Rains both in the East and West Indies in the Summer Months which must needs contribute something to their Original Pag. 169. lin 19. add This end and use of Mountains I find assigned by Mr. Halley in his Discourse concerning the Original of Springs and Rivers in these words This if we may allow Final Causes and why may we not What needs this hesitancy and dubitation in a thing that is clear seems to be the Design of the Hills That their Ridges being placed through the midst of the Continents might serve as it were Alembicks to distil fresh Water for the use of Man and Beast and their heights to give a descent to those Streams to run gently like so many Veins of the Macrocosm to be the more beneficial to the Creation Pag. 170. lin 10. add To summ up all relating to the Division and Disposition of the Water and Earth in brief 1. I say the Water being the lighter Element doth naturally occupy the upper place and stand above the Earth and so at first it did But now we see it doth not so the Earth being contrary to its nature forcibly elevated above it being as the Psalmist phraseth it founded above the Seas and established above the Floods and this because it was best it should be so as I shall clearly prove and deduce in particulars in another Discourse 2. The Dry Land is not elevated only upon one side of the Globe for then had it had high Mountains in the middle of it with such vast empty Cavities within as must be equal to the whole Bulk raised up the Center of Magnitude must needs have been considerably distant from the Center of Gravity which would have caused a very great and inconvenient inequality in the Motion of the parts of the Earth but the Continents and Islands are so equally disperst all the Globe over as to counterballance one another so that the Centers of Magnitude and Gravity concur in one 3. The Continents are not of exactly equal and level Superficies or Convexity For then the Parts subject to the Course of the Sun called the Torrid Zone would have been as the Ancients fancied them unhabitable for Heat and Drought But there are huge Ridges and extended Chains of lofty Mountains directed for the most part to run East and West by which Means they give free Admittance and Passage to the Vapours brought in by the Winds from the Atlantick and Pacifick Oceans but stop and inhibit their Excursions to the North and South either condensing them upon their sides into the Water by a kind of external Destillation or by streightening and constipating of them compelling them to gather into Drops and descend down in Rain These are great things and worthy the Care Direction and Disposal of the Great and Wise Creator and Governor of all things And we see they are accordingly excellently ordered and provided by him Some Greek and Latin Quotations Englished Pag. 25. Lin. 7. THose Words of Lactantius Ergo quoniam sex dierum c. signifie in English Therefore because all the