The Testimony of the Rocks: or, Geology in Its Bearings on the Two Theologies, Natural and RevealedMiller, Hugh
Philosophy
The Testimony of the Rocks: or, Geology in Its Bearings on the Two Theologies, Natural and Revealed
Miller, Hugh
Bible and geology; Creation; Religion and science
the rest. Of beasts, some feed on vegetables, others on flesh. There are
one-and-thirty kinds of the greater sort feeding on vegetables, of which
number only three are clean, according to the law of Moses, whereof
seven of a kind entered into the ark, namely, three couples for breed,
and one odd one for sacrifice; the other eight-and-twenty kinds were
'taken by two of each kind; so that in all there were in the ark
one-and-twenty great beasts clean, and six-and-fifty unclean; estimable
for largeness as ninety-one beeves; yet, for a supplement (lest,
perhaps, any species be omitted), lot them be valued as a hundred and
twenty beeves. Of the lesser sort feeding on vegetables were in the ark
six-and-twenty kinds, estimable, with good allowance for supply, as
fourscore sheep. Of those which devour flesh were two-and-thirty kinds,
answerable to threescore and four wolves. All these two hundred and
eighty beasts might be kept in one story or room of the ark, in their
several cabins; their meat in a second; the birds and their provision in
a third, with space to spare for Noah and his family, and all their
necessaries." Such was the calculation of the great voyager Raleigh,--a
man who had a more practical acquaintance with _stowage_ than perhaps
any of the other writers who have speculated on the capabilities of the
ark; and his estimate seems sober and judicious. It will be seen,
however, that from the vast increase in our knowledge of the mammals
which has taken place since the age in which the "History of the World"
was written, the calculation which embraced all the eighty-nine known
animals of that time would embrace those of but a single centre of
creation now; and that the estimate of Sir Walter tells, in consequence,
on the side, not of a universal, but of a partial deluge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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