Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/791

 DELUC DELUGE 787 was $11,163, of live stock $7,540. There were 1 saw mill and 1 manufactory of pig iron. Capi- tal, Escanaba. DELUC. I. Jean Andre, a Swiss physicist, born in Geneva, Feb. 8, 1727, died at Windsor, England, Nov. 7, 1817. He received an ex- cellent education, and spent the first half of his life in commercial pursuits. During his numerous journeys of business he made, with the assistance of his brother Guillaume An- toine, a fine collection of objects of natural his- tory. About 17-73, obliged by commercial mis- fortune to leave his native city, he went to Eng- land, was elected a fellow of the royal society of London, and was appointed reader to the queen, which situation he held till his death. In the latter part of his life he made several tours in central Europe, passing six years in Germany, and after his return in 1806 made a geological tour in England. He received at Gottingen the appointment of honorary pro- fessor of geology. His principal writings treat of geology and meteorology; his first impor- tant work was Recherches sur les modifications de r atmosphere (2 vols. 8vo, Geneva, 1772), which contains many valuable suggestions on the practical applications of barometers, ther- mometers, and hygrometers. He substituted mercury for spirits of wine in Reaumur's ther- mometer, and invented a portable barometer, establishing correct rules for determining by this instrument the height of mountains and the depth of mines. Other papers on subjects connected with meteorology are scattered through the "Philosophical Transactions" from 1771 to 1792. Religious fervor is mani- fest in all his works, contrasting strikingly with the prevailing spirit of the age. His Let- tres physiques et morales sur Vhistoire de la terre (6 vols. 8vo, the Hague, 1778-'80) treat particularly of the comparatively recent origin of the present continents and their mountains, and the difficulty of carrying back this origin to a period more remote than that assigned by the Mosaic chronology to the flood. His rev- erence for the Bible led him to attempt to ex- plain all apparent contradictions between geo- logical phenomena and the Mosaic account of creation. Though his conclusions are not now admitted in geology, he extended the limits of this science. In his "Elementary Treatise on Geology" (8vo, London, 1809), he opposes the system of Hutton and Playfair, which attrib- utes the changes in the earth's structure to the action of fire. Cuvier ranks him among the first geologists of his age. He contributed many papers to the Journal de Physique, the Journal des Mines, and the "Philosophical Magazine." He separated the chemical from the electrical effects of the voltaic pile, and constructed an ingenious but incomplete instru- ment, the dry electric column, for measuring the electricity of the air. He published also several volumes of his geological travels in England and northern and central Europe, and works on the Baconian philosophy, on the re- ligious education of children, and on Chris- tianity. II. Onillanme Antoine, brother of the preceding, born in 1729, died in Geneva, Jan. 26, 1812. He travelled extensively, and at Vesuvius and Etna in 1756-'7 made fine col- lections of volcanic products, fossil shells, and other objects of natural history. His papers on mineralogy and geology may be found in the Journal de Physique, 1798-1804; Bibli- otheque Britannique, 1801 ; and Mercure de France, 1806-'7. DELUGE (Fr. deluge, from Lat. diluvium), a great flood of water covering the land ; but the words " the deluge " usually designate the Noachian flood of the Scriptures. The history of this event, of its causes and imme- diate consequences, is contained in Genesis vi.-ix. According to the chronology of the authorized English version of the Scriptures, it occurred hi the year 2349 B. 0., or in the year 1656 after the creation. Traditions agree- ing in a greater or less degree with the Scrip- tural narrative have been found among almost every known people of the earth. Among the most remarkable are the tradition of the Chaldeans, recorded by Berosus and quoted by Josephus and other writers. It agrees with the Mosaic account in representing a race of giants as inhabiting the earth before the flood, which was sent as a punishment for their wickedness. Abydenus, a later historian than Berosus, using him as authority, recounts the same tradition. He mentions the sending out of birds from the ark and their return with mud upon their feet. Both writers state that the ark still existed in the mountains of Ar- menia, and Abydenus says the people converted pieces of it into bracelets and amulets. The Hindoo tradition represents the god Vishnu as warning the prince Satyavarata, and furnishing him with a large vessel in which he and seven IsTishis and their wives were saved. The sa- cred bo'oks of the Persians also record a uni- versal deluge sent upon mankind for the cor- ruption introduced by Ahriman, the evil spirit. The Greeks had a similar tradition of a univer- sal deluge, the only survivors of which were Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha. (See DEUCA- LION.) The Chinese, the Mexicans, the Peru- vians, and even the Feejee islanders have a similar tradition. But each of these traditions makes the country where it exists the scene of the deluge, and the details are always ac- commodated to the thoughts and habits of the people and to the physical characteristics of the country. These traditions were formerly re- garded as strongly corroborating the Scriptural account, but of late years the tendency has been to consider them of minor importance. The interest in the subject has, however, been re- cently renewed by the discovery, by Mr. George Smith of the British museum, of several muti- lated clay tablets on which is inscribed in cunei- form characters an ancient Chaldean tradition of the deluge. (See CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS.) These tablets are unfortunately much mutilated