Buffon's Natural History, Volume I (of 10). Comte de Buffon Georges Louis Leclerc
There are a prodigious quantity of petrified shells to be met with in an infinity of places, not only inclosed in rocks, masses of marble, lime-stone, as well as in earth and clays, but are actually incorporated and filled with the very substance which surrounds them. In short, I find myself convinced, by repeated observations, that marbles, stones, chalks, marls, clay, sand, and almost all terrestrial substances, wherever they may be placed, are filled with shells and other substances, the productions of the sea.
These facts being enumerated, let us now see what reasonable conclusions are to be drawn from them.
The changes and alterations which have happened to the earth, in the space of the last two or three thousand years, are very inconsiderable indeed, when compared with those important revolutions which must have taken place in those ages which immediately followed the creation; for as all terrestrial substances could only acquire solidity by the continued action of gravity, it would be easy to demonstrate that the surface of the earth was much softer at first than it is at present, and consequently the same causes which now produce but slight and almost imperceptible changes during many ages, would then effect great revolutions in a very short space. It appears to be a certain fact, that the earth which we now inhabit, and even the tops of the highest mountains, were formerly covered with the sea, for shells and other marine productions are frequently found in almost every part; it appears also that the water remained a considerable time on the surface of the earth, since in many places there have been discovered such prodigious banks of shells, that it is impossible so great a multitude of animals could exist at the same time: this fact seems likewise to prove, that although the materials which composed the surface of the earth were then in a state of softness, that rendered them easy to be disunited, moved and transported by the waters, yet that these removals were not made at once; they must indeed have been successive, gradual, and by degrees, because these kind of sea productions are frequently met with more than a thousand feet below the surface, and such a considerable thickness of earth and stone could not have accumulated but by the length of time. If we were to suppose that at the Deluge all the shell-fish were raised from the bottom of the sea, and transported over all the earth; besides the difficulty of establishing this supposition, it is evident, that as we find shells incorporated in marble and in the rocks of the highest mountains, we must likewise suppose that all these marbles and rocks were formed at the same time, and that too at the very instant of the Deluge; and besides, that previous to this great revolution there were neither mountains, marble, nor rocks, nor clays, nor matters of any kind similar to those we are at present acquainted with, as they almost all contain shells and other productions of the sea. Besides, at the time of the Deluge, the earth must have acquired a considerable degree of solidity, from the action of gravity for more than sixteen centuries, and consequently it does not appear possible that the waters, during the short time the Deluge lasted, should have overturned and dissolved its surface to the greatest depths we have since been enabled to penetrate.
But without dwelling longer on this point, which shall hereafter be more amply discussed, I shall confine myself to well-known observations and established facts. There is no doubt but that the waters of the sea at some period covered and remained for ages upon that part of the globe which is now known to be dry land; and consequently the whole continents of Asia, Europe, Africa, and America, were then the bottom of an ocean abounding with similar productions to those which the sea at present contains: it is equally certain that the different strata which compose the earth are parallel and horizontal, and it is evident their being in this situation is the operation of the waters which have collected and accumulated by degrees the different materials, and given them the same position as the water itself always assumes. We observe that the position of strata is almost universally horizontal: in plains it is exactly so, and it is only in the mountains that they are inclined to the horizon, from their having been originally formed by a sediment deposited upon an inclined base. Now I insist that these strata must have been formed by degrees, and not all at once, by any revolution whatever, because strata, composed of heavy materials, are very frequently found placed above light ones, which could not be, if, as some authors assert, the whole had been mixed with the waters at the time of the Deluge, and afterwards precipitated; in that case every thing must have had a very different appearance to that which now exists. The heaviest bodies would have descended first, and each particular stratum would have been arranged according to its weight and specific gravity, and we should not see solid rocks or metals placed above light sand any more than clay under coal.
We should also pay attention to another circumstance; it confirms what we have said on the formation of the strata; no other cause than the motions and sediments of water could possibly produce so regular a position of it, for the highest mountains are composed of parallel strata as well as the lowest plains, and therefore we cannot attribute the origin and formation of mountains to the shocks of earthquakes, or eruptions of volcanos. The small eminences which are sometimes raised by volcanos, or convulsive motions of the earth, are not by any means composed of parallel strata, they are a mere disordered heap of matters thrown confusedly together; but the horizontal and parallel position of the strata must necessarily proceed from the operations of a constant cause and motion, always regulated and directed in the same uniform manner.
From repeated observations, and these incontrovertible facts, we are convinced that the dry part of the globe, which is now habitable, has remained for a long time under the waters of the sea, and consequently this earth underwent the same fluctuations and changes which the bottom of the ocean is at present actually undergoing. To discover therefore what formerly passed on the earth, let us examine what now passes at the bottom of the sea, and from thence we shall soon be enabled to draw rational conclusions with regard to the external form and internal composition of that which we inhabit.
From the Creation the sea has constantly been subject to a regular flux and reflux: this motion, which raises and falls the waters twice in every twenty-four hours, is principally occasioned by the action of the moon, and is much greater under the equator than in any other climates. The earth performs a rapid motion on its axis, and consequently has a centrifugal force, which is also the greatest at the equator; this latter, independent of actual observation, proves that the earth is not perfectly spherical, but that it must be more elevated under the equator then at the poles.
From these combined causes, the ebbing and flowing of the tides, and the motion of the earth, we may fairly conclude, that although the earth was a perfect sphere in its original form, yet its diurnal motion, together with the constant flux and reflux of the sea, must, by degrees, in the course of time, have raised the equatorial parts, by carrying mud, earth, sand, shells, &c. from other climes, and there depositing of them. Agreeable to this idea the greatest irregularities must be found, and, in fact, are found near the equator. Besides, as this motion of the tides is made by diurnal alternatives, and been repeated, without interruption, from the commencement of time, is it not natural to imagine, that each time the tide flows the water carries a small quantity of matter from one place to another, which may fall to the bottom like a sediment, and form those parallel and horizontal strata which are every where to be met with? for the whole motion of the water, in the flux and reflux, being horizontal, the matters carried away with them will naturally be deposited in the same parallel direction.
But to this it may be said, that as the flux and reflux of the waters are equal and regularly succeed, two motions would counterpoise each other, and the matters brought by the flux would be returned by the reflux, and of course this cause for the formation of the strata must be chimerical; that the bottom of the sea could not experience any material alteration by two uniform motions, wherein the effects of the one would be regularly destroyed by the other; much less could they change the original form by the production of heights and inequalities.
To which it may be answered, that the alternate motions of the waters are not equal, the sea having a constant motion from the east to the west, besides, the agitation, caused by the winds, opposes and prevents the equality of the tides. It will also be admitted, that by every motion of which the sea is susceptible, particles of earth and other matters will be carried from one place and deposited in another; and these collections will necessarily assume the form of horizontal and parallel strata, from the various combinations of the motions of the sea always tending to move the earth, and to level these materials wherever they fall, in the form of a sediment. But this objection is easily obviated by the well-known fact, that upon all coasts, bordering