Reliquiae Diluvianae PDF Download

Excerpt from Reliquiae Diluvianae Or Observations on the Organic Remains Contained in Caves, Fissures, and Diluvial Gravel, and on Other Geological Phenomena, Attesting the Action of an Universal Deluge In its interior it divides into several smaller passages, the extent of which has not been ascertained. In its course it is intersected by some vertical fissures, one of which is curvilinear, and again returns to the cave; another has never been traced to its termination; whilst the outer extremity of a third is probably seen in a crevice or fissure that appears on the face of the quarry, and which closes upwards before it leaves the body of the limestone. By removing the sedi ment and stalactite that now obstruct the smaller passages, a farther advance in them may be rendered practicable. There are but two or three places in which it is possible to stand upright, and these are where the cavern is intersected by the fissures; the latter of which continue open upwards to the height only of a few feet, when they gradually close, and terminate in the body of the limestone; they are thickly lined with stalactite, and are attended by no fault or slip of either of their sides. Both the roof and floor, for many yards from the entrance, are composed of regular horizontal strata of limestone, uninterrupted by the slightest appearance of fissure, fracture, or stony rubbish of any kind; but farther in, the roof and sides become irre gularly arched, presenting a very rugged and grotesque appearance, and being studded with pendent and roundish masses of chert and stalactite; the bottom of the cavern is visible only near the en trance and its irregularities, though apparently not great, have been filled up throughout to a nearly level surface, by the introduction of a bed of mud or loamy sediment, the history of which, and also of the stalac tite, I shall presently describe. (see Plate II. Fig. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.