**

PART II.

Concerning the Univerfal Deluge. That these Marine Bodyes were then left at Land. The Effects it had upon the Earth.

T

HE Confectaryes of the former Part of this Difcourfe are all negative; that being only introductory, and ferveing but to free the Way to this fecond Part: to refcue the Enquiry from the Perplexityes that fome Undertakers have incumber'd it withall; and to fet afide the falfe Lights they ufed in Quest of the Agent which tranfpofed these Sea-fhells to Land.

Now

Now the only fure Lights we have to conduct us, in the Afcertaining this Affair, are Hiftory of Fact, and Obfervations. So that I fhall give here fome Intimation of the Chief of thofe that ferve to clear up this Subject, and bring the Thing in Question to a fair Decifion. Thefe are, That the Earth, all round the Globe, appears, wherever it is laid open, to be wholey compos'd of Strata, lying on each other, in Form of fo many Sediments, fall'n down, fucceffively, from Water. That, accordingly, thofe Strata that ly deepest, are ordinarily the thickeft: and thofe that ly above, gradualy thinner, quite. up to the Surface. That there are Sea-fbells, and Teeth and Bones of Fishes, found repofited in thefe feveral Strata, not only in the more lax, Chalk, Clay, and Marle, but even in the most folid, Stone, and the reft. That thefe marine Bodyes are incorporated with the Sand that conftitutes the Stone of thefe Strata, in fuch fort as together to compofe one common Mafs. That on Breaking up this Mafs, fo as to part the Shell from the Stone, this is ever obferv'd

to

to have receiv'd an Impreffion, of the exteriour Surface of the Shell, fa exact as to fhew it had been contiguous and apply'd to all Parts of the Shell; which the Stone could not have been capable of, had it not been then in a State of Solution, the Matter whereof it confifts loofe, and fucceptible of Impreffion. That, upon Breaking the Shells, and examining the Infides of them, they are found to contain in them Stone, commonly of the fame Kind with that without, which the Stratum is made up of and apply'd as exactly to the Infides of the Shells, fo as to have taken the Impreffion and all the Lineaments of them, after the Manner of Matter caft, foft, or melted, in a Mould. That the Shells are, as frequently, immers'd in the Subftance of the Mineral, and Metallic Nodules, even the most firm and solid, Flint, Spar, Pyrita, and the reft; the Matter of thefe Nodules exhibiting the Lineaments and Impreffions of both the Outfides and Infides of the Shells, as truely as the Stoney Matter of the Strata does. That thefe Marine Productions are thus repofited as well

in

in the lowest Strata, as in the uppermoft at the Bottoms of the deepeft Mines, as to the very Tops of the bigbeft Mountains. That they are obferv'd in fome Places in fuch Multitudes as, in Bulk, and Quantity, to equal if not exceed the Sand, or other terreftrial Matter of the Stra

ta.

1

That there are ordinarily dig'd up, amongst the reft, Shells that are of forreign Origin and Extract; being not the Product of the Neighbouring Seas, but of Seas much remote and at great Diftance. Thus we here in England difcover, frequently at great Depths, Shells of Fish, very numerous, and of different Kinds, that appear now liveing only on the Coafts of Peru, and other Parts of America. That there are likewife difcover'd, commonly, at Land, and in the Bowels of the Earth, Shells that are not at this Day found liveing on any Coafts, being doubtlefs fuch as naturaly refide and inhabit only in the deepeft and moft remote Receffes of the Main Ocean, without ever now approaching near any Shore, or being confequently ever feen. That, in

all

* Confer Pag. 27,8 28. fupra.

all Parts of the Earth, as well in Afia, Africa, and America, as in Europe, as well in Countryes the most Diftant from any Seas, as thofe that by nearer to them, the Strata are compil'd, and the Marine Bodyes difpos'd in them, every where after the very fame Method: and fo as apparently to fhew Things were reduced into this Method, in all Countryes, at the fame Time, and by the fame Means. That there are also lodg'd in the Strata, Bones, Teeth, and other Parts, of Quadrupedes, or Land-Animals, and oftentimes of fuch as are not Natives of the Country in which they are thus found. Particularly here in England we dig up the Tusks, and the Grinder-Teeth, the Bones, yea whole Skeletons, of very great Elephants and likewife incredibly large Horns of the Moofe Deer, a Creature not known to be now liveing in any other Country excepting America. That there are, befides, repofited in Stone, and even in the firmeft and hardest Strata, Leaves of various Kinds of Vegetables and fometimes whole Trees: as alfo fuch Fruits as are dureable,