it is plain, that the Surface of the Earth does not tranfmit the half, nay not the hundredth part of the Suns beams which fall upon it. These things being fuppofed, it is plain that but one half of the Rays which fall upon the firft Surface, would fall upon the fecond, but one fourth of them upon the third, one eighth part of them upon the fourth, and one fixteenth part upon the fifth, &c. fo that they would still decrease in a Geometrical proportion of 2 to I; and if there were but one hundred of these Surfaces, the number of Rays which fell upon the first would be to the number of Rays which paffed thorough to the last as 299 to 1, or as the ninty ninth power of 2 is to 1. How great a difproportion then would there be between the number of thofe Rays which fell upon the first furface and thofe which fell upon the laft? for the ninty ninth power of 2 is a number which if written at length would confift of a hundred Figures: but if we fhould imagin all the spaces between the Surfaces filled up with folid and not diaphanous matter as it really is fo in the Cruft of the Earth, the heat upon the furface must be much less than what it would be by the former proportion.

From thence we may conclude that if the heat of the Sun upon the Surface of the Antediluvian Earth was not much greater than it is now, it could never reach fo far into the Cruft as to be able to raise Vapours from I 4

the

the Abyss or if it was fo great as to be able to raise Vapours from thence, that is, if it was then as great upon the Surface of the Abyss as it is generally upon the Surface of the prefent Earth, it must have been almost infinitely greater upon the Surface of the Antediluvian World. Certainly there could be no neceffity for a Deluge in that cafe, except it were to cool the Earth again after fuch an exceffive heat, which must have deftroyed all the Animals, Plants, and Trees which were upon the earth, and have turned them into Glafs.

But perhaps it may be urged that the heat of the Sun does generate and prepare Metals which lie hid in its bowels; To which I anfwer, that I have already brought a fufficient demonftration that the heat of the Sun does pafs but a very little way within the earth, and therefore the Opinion that Metals are generated by the Suns influence must be falfe; for they generally lie far hid within the bowels of the earth, and therefore without the reach of the Suns influence.

But the Theorift affirms further, that there was a continual Summer in the Antediluvian earth, and therefore if the heat of the Sun made a crack in the earth in one year, there being no Winter or Rains to repair the chaps that were made in the earth, this crack would continually grow deeper, till at laft it would reach to the Surface of the Abyss. Let us

now

now bring this general way of fpeaking to a Calculation, and try if the heat of the Sun could this way reach the Abyss. To determin which, I will fuppofe that through length of time, the Sun has made a crack in the earth of a Miles depth and one hundred foot in length extended from East to Weft, and let it be proposed to Calculate what proportion the heat upon any point of the Surface bears to the heat upon the bottom of the crack. In the Figure [Fig. 1. Plate I.] let PSAQ reprefent the Equator in which the Sun moves, PRT the Earth, PQ the fenfible Horizon, and Pnm R the Pit made by the heat of the Sun in the Cruft of the Earth: it is plain that the Sun fhines on the point R on the Surface of the Earth all the time it is moving through the Arch PQ, but it fhines only on the point m in the bottom of the Crack while it defcribes by its motion the Arch SA. Now the Action of the Sun upon any point is always more or lefs ftrong in proportion to the fine of the Angle of incidence of its Rays, that is, if the Sun be at S, and afterwards come to A, the action of the Sun upon the point R when it is at S, is to its action when it comes to A, as the fine of the Angle SRP is to the fine of the Angle ARP. From whence it follows, that the action of the Sun upon the point R is to its action upon the point m, as the fum of all the fines of the Suns Altitude while it

fhines upon R is to the fumm of all the fines of the Suns Altitude while it fhines upon the point m, that is if the times it fhines upon R and m be taken for Bafis's or the Arches PQ and SA which are proportional to them, be extended into freight lines HSA O, [Fig. 9. Plate VI.] and SA, and all the fines be erected on them perpendicularly, AE being the Sine of the Arch AH and SD the fine of the Arch SH, and the Curve line HDEO be drawn thorough the extremity of the fines, the heat upon the point R is to the heat upon the point m, as the space HDEO is to the fpace SDEA, But the Periphery PSAQ being a femicircle (for the Diameter of the Earth is but a point in refpect of the Suns ditance from us) It is plain that the space HDEO is two figures of fines, which the Mathematicians have demonftrated to be equal to two fquares of the Radius; and it is alfo by them demonftrated that the space SDEA is equal to a rectangle contained by the Radius and the fine of the Arch SA; but as I have already fhewed the heat of the Sun upon the point R is to its heat upon the point m as the fpace HDEO is to the space DSAE. It is plain from thence, that the heat or action of the Sun upon the point R is to its action upon the point m as two iquares of the Radius is to a rectangle contained by the Radius and the fine of the Arch SA, that

that is, as twice the Radius is to the fine of the Arch SA, by the firft of the 6th of Euclid: But because Pn is to PR as 5000 is to an 100, or as 50 to 1, therefore by a trigonometrical Calculation the fine of the Angle SmA, or of the Arch SA is 19594 fuppofing the Radius a 100000, the heat therefore upon the point R is to the heat of the Sun upon the point m, as 200000 is to 19594, and confequently the one is more than decuple of the other. If therefore the heat upon the bottom of the Crack was fo great as to reach further into the Crust, it must have been at least ten times greater upon the furface of the Earth; and if the heat of the Sun upon the bottom of the Crack was as great as is neceffary for to raise the waters in the Abyss into Vapours, or as great as our Summers heat is, the heat upon the furface of the Earth must have exceeded the heat of red hot Iron, which is only seven times greater than the ordinary heat of the Sun in Summer.

But notwithstanding all this, fhould I grant to the Theorift that the heat of the Sun had reached the Abyss, and had raised the Vapours fo that the cruft of the Earth fell down and was broken in pieces, yet I cannot fee how from thence there could follow any univerfal Deluge, or indeed any Deluge at all, tho' the Theorift does endeavour to explain it thus.

When