200

ESSAY III.

ON THE INEQUALITIES WHICH EXISTED ON THESURFACE OF THE EARTH PREVIO USL Y TO DILUVIANACTION, AND ON THE CAUSES OF THESE INEQUA-LITIES.

I have endeavoured in the preceding Es-say to refer to their immediate causes, theinequalities which diversify the present sur-face of the earth ; but, as the operation ofthose causes must have been greatly modi-fied by the form of the surface on whichthey acted, it is necessary, in order to com-plete our enquiry, that we should endea-vour to ascertain the figure of the earth inpreceding ages.

While its construction was yet going on,is it probable that the surface of our planetexhibited one uninterrupted plane, or that