Theory of the Earth

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Theory of the Earth
by James Hutton
[1788 and 1795]

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James Hutton (1726-1797) is considered the father of modern geology. Although less well known than Darwin, Hutton's theory is one of the cornerstones of the modern rationalist view of the world. Hutton was one of the first scientists to propose that the Earth is extremely old, much older than the few thousand years that a literal reading of Genesis would indicate. This caused a furour much like Darwin's Origin of Species when it was first released.

Leonardo Da Vinci had privately speculated about this two centuries earlier in his notebooks, noting the presence of marine fossils on the top of mountains, and estimating the huge amount of time it would take to carve out river valleys. But Hutton was the first to reject the 'Neptunian' theory of his day which saw a universal deluge (presumably, the Noachian flood) as the source of geological formation. Instead he proposed a 'Vulcanian' theory, in which processes of heat from the earth's interior had built up continents and mountains over a long period of time.

In later times this became couched in terms of 'Catastrophism' versus 'Gradualism,' with the gradualists eventually winning out. This is why conventional geologists reject ideas such as Atlantis, Lemuria, or pole shifts out of hand, working from first principles. However, 21st century geologists have become less prickly about the occasional catastrophic event, such as the Oregon Scablands, which were formed when a glacial dam broke at the end of the ice ages.

The two texts provided here are his 1788 paper Theory of the Earth, read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the two extant volumes of his 1795 book of the same name in which he not only elaborated his views but defended them against the bitter criticism that had been leveled against him in the interim. Although his books, filled with long quotes in French, make difficult reading, Hutton deserves to be better known as one of the makers of the modern view of the Earth.

The third volume is available in image format from Google Books.

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http://sacred-texts.com/earth/toe/index.htm

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THEORY of the EARTH;
or
an INVESTIGATION of the Laws observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe.
By JAMES HUTTON, M.D. F.R.S. EDIN.
and Member of the Royal Academy of Agriculture at PARIS.
 

Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. I, Part II, pp.209-304
[1788]
 

p. 209

[Read March 7. and April 4. 1785.]
 
 

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Plate I

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Plate II

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P A R T. I

Prospect of the Subject to be treated of.
WHEN we trace the parts of which this terrestrial system is composed, and when we view the general connection of those several parts, the whole presents a machine of a peculiar construction by which it is adapted to a certain end. We perceive a fabric, erected in wisdom, to obtain a purpose worthy of the power that is apparent in the production of it.

WE know little of the earth's internal parts, or of the materials which compose it at any considerable depth below the surface. But upon the surface of this globe, the more inert matter is replenished with plants, and with animals and intellectual beings.

WHERE so many living creatures are to ply their respective powers, in pursuing the end for which they were intended, we are not to look for nature in a quiescent state; matter itself must be in motion, and the scenes of life a continued or repeated series of agitations and events.

THIS globe of the earth is a habitable world; and on its fitness for this purpose, our sense of wisdom in its formation

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must depend. To judge of this point, we must keep in view, not only the end, but the means also by which that end is obtained. These are, the form of the whole, the materials of which it is composed, and the several powers which concur, counter-act, or balance one another, in procuring the general result.

THE form and constitution of the mass are not more evidently calculated for the purpose of this earth as a habitable world, than are the various substances of which that complicated body is composed. Soft and hard parts variously combine, to form a medium consistence adapted to the use of plants and animals; wet and dry are properly mixed for nutrition, or the support of those growing bodies; and hot and cold produce a temperature or climate no less required that a soil. Insomuch, that there is not any particular, respecting either the qualities of the materials, or the construction of the machine, more obvious to our perception, than are the presence and efficacy of design and intelligence in the power that conducts the work.

IN taking this view of things, where ends and means are made the object of attention, we may hope to find a principle upon which the comparative importance of parts in the system of nature may be estimated, and also a rule for selecting the objet of our enquiries. Under this direction, science may find a fit subject of investigation in every particular, whether of form, quality, or active power, that presents itself in this system of motion and of life; and which, without a proper attention to this character of the system, might appear anomalous and incomprehensible.

IT is not only by seeing those general operations of the globe which depend upon its peculiar construction as a machine, but also by perceiving how far the particulars, in the construction of that machine, depend upon the general operations of the globe, that we are enabled to understand the constitution of this earth as a thing formed by design. We shall thus also be led to acknowledge an order, not unworthy of Divine wisdom, in

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a subject which, in another view, has appeared as the work of chance, or as absolute disorder and confusion.

TO acquire a general or comprehensible view of this mechanism of the globe, by which it is adapted to the purpose of forming a habitable world, it is necessary to distinguish three different bodies which compose the whole. These are, a solid body of earth, an aqueous body of sea, and an elastic fluid of air.

IT is the proper shape and disposition of these three bodies that form this globe into a habitable world; and it is the manner in which these constituent bodies are adjusted to each other and the laws of action by which they are maintained in their proper qualities and respective departments, that form the Theory of the machine which we are now to examine.

LET us begin with some general sketch of the particulars now mentioned.

1st, THERE is a central body in the globe. This body supports those parts which come to be more immediately exposed to our view, or which may be examined by our sense and observation. This first part is commonly supposed to be solid and inert; but such a conclusion is only mere conjecture; and we shall afterwards find occasion, perhaps, to form another judgment in relation to this subject, after we have examined strictly, upon scientific principles, what appears upon the surface, and have formed conclusions concerning that which must have been transacted in some more central part.

2dly, WE find a fluid body of water. This, by gravitation, is reduced to a spherical form, and by the centrifugal force of the earth's rotation, is become oblate. The purpose of this fluid body is essential in the constitution of the world; for, besides affording the means of life and motion to a multifarious race of animals, it is the source of growth and circulation to the organized bodies of this earth, in being the receptacle of the rivers, and the fountain of our vapours.

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3dly, WE have an irregular body of land, raised above the level of the ocean. This, no doubt, is the smallest portion of the globe; but it is the part to us by far most interesting. It is upon the surface of this part that plants are made to grow; consequently, it is by virtue of this land that animal life, as well as vegetation, is sustained in this world.

Lastly, WE have a surrounding body of atmosphere, which completes the globe. This vital fluid is no less necessary in the constitution of the world than are the other parts; for there is hardly an operation upon the surface of the earth, that is not conducted or promoted by its means. It is a necessary condition for the sustenance of fire; it is the breath of life to animals; it is at least an instrument in vegetation; and while it contributes to give fertility and health to things that grow, it is employed in preventing noxious effects from such as go into corruption. In short, it is the proper means of circulation for the matter of the world by raising up the water of the ocean, and pouring it forth upon the surface of the earth.

SUCH is the mechanism of the globe; let us now mention some of those powers by which motion is produced, and activity procured to the mere machine.

FIRST, There is the progressive force, or moving power, by which this planetary body, if solely actuated, would depart continually from the path which it now pursues, and thus be for ever removed from its end, whether as a planetary body, or as a globe sustaining plants and animals, which may be termed a living world.

BUT this moving body is also actuated by gravitation, which inclines it directly to the central body of the sun. Thus it is made to revolve about that luminary, and to preserve its path.

IT is also upon the same principles, that each particular part upon the surface of the globe, is alternately exposed to the influence of light and darkness, in the diurnal rotation of the earth, as well as in its annual revolution. In this manner are

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produced the vicissitudes of night and day, so variable in the different latitudes from the equator to the pole, and so beautifully calculated to equalize the benefits of light, so variously distributed in the different regions of the globe.

GRAVITATION and the vis incita of matter thus form the first two powers distinguishable in the operations of our system, and wisely adapted to the purpose for which they are employed.

WE next observe the influence of light and heat, of cold and condensation. It is by means of these two powers that the various operations of this living world are more immediately transacted; although the other powers are no less required, in order to produce or modify these great agents in the oeconomy of life, and system of our changing things.

WE do not now enquire into the nature of those powers, or investigate the laws of light and heat, of cold and condensation, by which the various purposes of this world are accomplished; we are only to mention those effects which are made sensible to the common understanding of mankind, and which necessarily imply a power that is employed. Thus, it is by the operation of those powers that the varieties of season in spring and autumn are obtained, that we are blessed with the vicissitudes of summer's heat and winter's cold, and that we possess the benefit of artificial light and culinary fire.

WE are thus bountifully provided with the necessaries of life; we are supplied with things conducive to the growth and preservation of our animal nature, and with fit subjects to employ and to nourish our intellectual powers.

THERE are other actuating powers employed in the operations of this globe, which we are little more than able to enumerate; such are those of electricity and magnetism.

POWERS of such magnitude or force, are not to be supposed useless in a machine contrived surely not without wisdom; but they are mentioned here chiefly on account of their general effect; and it is sufficient to have named powers, of which the

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actual existence in well known, but of which the proper use in the constitution of the world is still obscure.

WE have thus surveyed the machine in general, with those moving powers, by which its operations, diversified almost ad infinitum, are performed. Let us now confine our view, more particularly, to that part of the machine on which we dwell, that so we may consider the natural consequences of those operations which, being within our view, we are better qualified to examine.

THIS subject is important to the human race, to the possessor of this world, to the intelligent being Man, who foresees events to come, and who, in contemplating his future interest, is led to enquire concerning causes, in order that he may judge of events which otherwise he could not know.

IF, in pursuing this object, we employ our skill in research, not in forming vain conjectures; and if data are to be found, on which Science may form just conclusions, we should not long remain in ignorance with respect to the natural history of this earth, a subject on which hitherto opinion only, and not evidence, has decided: For in no subject is there naturally less defect of evidence, although philosophers, led by prejudice, or misguided by false theory, have neglected to employ that light by which they should have seen the system of the world.

BUT to proceed in pursuing a little farther our general or preparatory ideas. A solid body of land could not have answered the purpose of a habitable world; for a soil is necessary to the growth of plants; and a soil is nothing but the materials collected from the destruction of the solid land. Therefore, the surface of this land, inhabited by man, and covered with plants and animals, is made by nature to decay, in dissolving from that hard and compact state in which it is found below the soil; and this soil is necessarily washed away, by the continual circulation of the water, running from the summits of the mountains towards the general receptacle of that fluid.

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THE heights of our land are thus levelled with the shores; our fertile plains are formed from the ruins of the mountains; and those travelling materials are still pursued by the moving water, and propelled along the inclined surface of the earth. These moveable materials, delivered into the sea, cannot, for a long continuance, rest upon the shore; for, by the agitation of the winds, the tides and currents, every moveable thing is carried farther and farther along the shelving bottom of the sea, towards the unfathomable regions of the ocean.

IF the vegetable soil is thus constantly removed from the surface of the land, and if its place is thus to be supplied from the dissolution of the solid earth, as here represented, we may perceive an end to this beautiful machine; an end, arising from no error in its constitution as a world, but from that destructibility of its land which is so necessary in the system of the globe, in the oeconomy of life and vegetation.

THE immense time necessarily required for this total destruction of the land, must not be opposed to that view of future events, which is indicated by the surest facts and most approved principles. Time, which measures every thing in our idea, and is often deficient to our schemes, is to nature endless and as nothing; it cannot limit that by which alone it had existence; and as the natural course of time, which to us seems infinite, cannot be bounded by any operation that may have an end, the progress of things upon this globe, that is, the course of nature, cannot be limited by time, which must proceed in a continual succession. We are, therefore, to consider as inevitable the destruction of our land, so far as effected by those operations which are necessary in the purpose of the globe, considered as a habitable world; and so far as we have not examined any other part of the oeconomy of nature, in which other operations and a different intention might appear.

WE have now considered the globe of this earth as a machine, constructed upon chemical as well as mechanical principles,

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by which its different parts are all adapted, in form, in quality, and in quantity, to a certain end; an end attained with certainty or success; and an end from which we may perceive wisdom, in contemplating the means employed.

BUT is this world to be considered thus merely as a machine, to last no longer than its parts retain their present position, their proper forms and qualities? Or may it not be also considered as an organized body? Such as has a constitution in which the necessary decay of the machine is naturally repaired, in the exertion of those productive powers by which it had been formed.

THIS is the view in which we are now to examine the globe; to see if there be, in the constitution of this world, a reproductive operation, by which a ruined constitution may be again repaired, and a duration or stability thus procured to the machine, considered as a world sustaining plants and animals.

IF no such reproductive power, or reforming operation, after due enquiry, is to be found in the constitution of this world, we should have reason to conclude, that the system of this earth has either been intentionally made imperfect, or has not been the work of infinite power and wisdom.

HERE is an important question, therefore, with regard to the constitution of this globe; a question which, perhaps, it is in the power of man's sagacity to resolve; and a question which, if satisfactorily resolved, might add some lustre to science and the human intellect.

ANIMATED with this great, this interesting view, let us strictly examine our principles, in order to avoid fallacy in our reasoning; and let us endeavour to support our attention, in developing and subject that is vast in its extent, as well as intricate in the relation of parts to be stated.

THE globe of this earth is evidently made for man. He alone, of all the beings which have life upon this body, enjoys the whole and every part; he alone is capable of knowing the

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nature of this world, which he thus possesses in virtue of his proper right; and he alone can make the knowledge of this system a source of pleasure and the means of happiness.

MAN alone, of all the animated beings which enjoy the benefits of this earth, employs the knowledge which he there receives, in leading him to judge of the intention of things, as well as of the means by which they are brought about; and he alone is thus made to enjoy, in contemplation as well as sensual pleasure, all the good that may be observed in the constitution of this world; he, therefore, should be made the first subject of enquiry.

NOW, if we are to take the written history of man for the rule by which we should judge of the time when the species first began, that period would be but little removed from the present state of things. The Mosaic history places this beginning of man at no great distance; and there has not been found, in natural history, any document by which a high antiquity might be attributed to the human race. But this is not the case with regard to the inferior species of animals, particularly those which inhabit the ocean and its shores. We find in natural history monuments which prove that those animals had long existed; and we thus procure a measure for the computation of a period of time extremely remote, though far from being precisely ascertained.

IN examining things present, we have data from which to reason with regard to what has been; and, from what has actually been, we have data for concluding with regard to that which is to happen hereafter. Therefore, upon the supposition that the operations of nature are equable and steady, we find, in natural appearances, means for concluding a certain portion of time to have necessarily elapsed, in the production of those events of which we see the effects.

IT is thus that, in finding the relics of sea-animals of every kind in the solid body of our earth, a natural history of those animals is formed, which includes a certain portion of time;

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