Chapter LXIX: Book X

THE PHILOSOPHY OF PALÆTIOLOGY.

τὴν μὲν οὖν τοιαύτην _Αἰτιολογίαν_ ἧττον ἄν τις ἀποδέξαιτο· μᾶλλον _δ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν φανερωτέρων_ καὶ τῶν καθ᾽ ἡμέραν τρόπον τινὰ ὁρωμένων ἀναπτέον τὸν λόγον. Καὶ γὰρ κατακλυσμοὶ, καὶ σεισμοὶ, καὶ ἀναφυσήματα, καὶ ἀνοιδήσεις τῆς ὑφάλου γῆς, μετεωρίζουσι καὶ τὴν θάλατταν· αἱ δὲ συνιζήσεις ταπεινοῦσιν αὐτήν.

STRABO, _Geogr._ 1. p. 54.

IT is therefore, not so much what these forms of the earth actually are, as what they are continually becoming, that we have to observe; nor is it possible thus to observe them without an instinctive reference to the first state out of which they have been brought.... Yet to such questions continually suggesting themselves, it is never possible to give a complete answer. For a certain distance, the past work of existing forces can be traced; but then gradually the mist gathers, and the footsteps of more gigantic agencies are traceable in the darkness; and still as we endeavour to penetrate further and further into departed time, the thunder of the Almighty power sounds louder and louder, and the clouds gather broader and more fearfully, until at last the Sinai of the world is seen altogether upon a smoke, and the fence of its foot is reached, where none can break through.

RUSKIN, _Modern Painters_, Vol. IV. p. 143.

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