Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Geology and Geologists: Or Visions of Philosophers in the 19th Century
Some years ago, the poetical idea of Ovid, that our world was once a chaos or confused mixture of earth and water, prevailed to a considerable extent amongst every class of philosophers; and, as it seems to be generally entertained by school-boys, it probably is the current Opinion Of the mass of our population. Scriptural commentators, for want of a better explanation, took up the same view: so that, upon reading the first verses of the Bible with this pre-conceived notion, the phrase without form and void was supposed to mean an earthy paste such as the Roman poet had described; and Ovid's Metamorphosis was received as a pretty good version of real history. Werner adopted it for the ground-work of his geological system. He conjectured that all the particles of the earth's surface were once held in an aqueous solution; but that they were eventually united by chemical attraction, and precipitated by gravitation. When the primary rocks had been thus deposited, the water retired until they were consolidated. It again returned to form a new series; and this process was repeated at long intervals, accompanied by sundry catastrophes, until the whole strata were completed. His conjectures were readily entertained by other geologists, who thought to have hereby discovered the great agent by which the world was fashioned. The water thus set at liberty by the consolidation of the land, was supposed to have retired into beds of the ocean, and into vast caverns of the earth; but at the deluge they again burst forth, and overwhelmed all living creatures. Some eminent naturalists embraced this scheme, and the high name of Cuvier seemed for a time to frown down all Opposition. Sundry appearances were adduced in support of the theory; and, when we were boys studying mineralogy, we gladly surrendered the primitive empire of our globe to the fabled god of the waters.
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