Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/130

* DELTA. 100 DELUGE. thickness until it reaches the surface, and then by tlooils and l>y jrrowlh of vegetation it is ri'ust'il Ih-voiu1 the" limits of lii^ili wati-r. At tlu- head of each hind area tlius liuilt up, tlie river divides into divcrp^iiij; branehe-i. forming a tri- angle, the base of which fronts upon the sea. A delta may occur at the junction of two rivers or at the entrance of a river into sea or lake; a fan-shaped deposit resembling a delta is some- times found, also, where a river debouches from a mountainous region upon a plain. The large deltas are found at the mouths of great rivers which discharge into comparatively quiet seas. Coastal currents and strong tidal action remove the river deposits before they accunuilatc to any considerable thickness. The area of a delta va- ries with the size of the river, the amount of sediment carried and the length of time it has been deposited, and the relative quietude of the sea. The combined delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra in India occupies more than 50.- 000 square miles, and the deposit has been found in places to be nearly .500 feci thick; that of the Nile is 200 miles wide at the base of the iMediter- ranean Sea and 100 miles long. The Mississippi delta is irregular in form, but it atTords a fine illustration of the manner in which a river ex- tends its channel seaward. Us area is about 12.- .300 sqiare miles, and it is advancing into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate of about 21.0 feel a year. In Italy the Po has constructed a delta so rapidly that "the city Adria. which in ancient times was a ])ort of sulTicicnt importance to have given its name to the Adriatic Sea, is now about l;j miles inlan<l. Delta lands are usually fertile, but by reason of their low elevation they are un- healthful ami their cultivation is hindered by inundations during storms and floods. Consult Geikic. TcxIIS'iuk of Geology (London. 1893). See I?IVFR ; Shore. DEL'TOID MUSCLE. See Muscle. DELUC, d« Ink'. .Ieax AxDRft (1727-1817). A Swiss j;i'ologist and meteorologist. He was en- gaged in mercantile pursuits until nearly fifty years of age; but within that time, assisted by "his brother, he collected a fine nuiseum of miner- alogy- and natural history, lie removed to Eng- land in 1773, was made a fellow of the Royal Society, and appointed reader to Queen Char- lotte, a position which he held for many years, and which afforded him ample time for study. He invented a hygrometer, a jiortable barometer, etc.. and carried q»it many interesting experi- ments in physics and meteorologj'. His principal geological work is Letlrc.s plu/sir/iics cl morales Kur Ir.i moiiliiiinen el .sur I'hisloire de la lerrc ct dc riioiiniir (1778). In this work he endeavors to reconcile the Mosaic accniiut of creation with the data of science by extending the six days of Genesis to so many geological epochs. DELUGE (OF., from I-at. diluihim. Hood, from diliirir, to wash away, from rfi-, away + hirre, to wash). .A flood of waters supposed by many p«'oples to have submerged the whole earth. or a large part of it, in primeval times, involving the destruction of all, or nearly all, life upon the planet. The most unmistakable evidence of n belief in such a flood is foimd in the literari' remains, not only of the ancient Hebrews, but also of India. Persia. Pahylonia. .Syria. .sin Minor, and Gn>ece. In one form or another, it also seems to have existed among the aborigines of America and Polynesia, according to the testi- mony of Christian missionaries, whose accoimts, however, cannot always be accepted without caution. On the other hand, there is practically no trace of a fhxtd story in Africa, not even among the ancient ICgyptiaiis. though an earlier form of one may have been familiar in the Nile Valley. Aside irom (Ireece, and possibly Lithu- ania, there is none in Europe. Of course the most obvious way to account for this widespread story is to suppose that there really was a flood. The fact that the IJible gives a det.Tiled and intelligible account of one was formerly generally regarded by Jews and Christians as unqucstional>lc evidence that it occurred ; and the story of it in other nations was considered remarkable confirmation of the Uible narrative. The organic remains found every- where in the rocks of the earth's surface were also held to prove that the waters had covered every known country and risen over the highest hills. With the progress of geologj' it became evident that most of the stratified rocks de- manded an earlier origin than a few thousand years, and the inlluence of the deluge was con- sequently restricted to the slightly altered super- ficial deposits. Hut many of these were found to belong to a period vastly anterior to any his- torical epoch, and to have been produced by a long-continued action under uniform conditions, viz. regional glacial ion, which was most active during that portion of geidogical times known as the (ilacial Period. Consequently, there arose a tendency to regard a Xoachian deluge as hav- ing been of merely local extent, and this explana- tion was adopted by certain conmu-ntators on the narrative of (ienesis. At the present time the most important discussion of the subject belongs to the department of comparative religion and mythology. By far the earliest and most important of all deluge. stories outside of the Bible is the Babylo- nian. Through the excerpts from Berosus (c..S;iii. 2(i0 D.C. ), made liy Alexander Polyhistor (died I C.40 B.C.), and preserved by .Josephus. Eusebiu-, and ticorgius Syncelhis, one version of the Baby- lonian story has long been familiar. It relates how. in order to escape the fiood. the Babylonian King. Xisuthrns, was conniiamlcd to enter a vessel with wife, children, friends, and a pilot, and to steer "toward the gods': and how. when the waters had sulisidcd. he sent out birds three limes, grounded on a Kordyanian nuiuntain in .rmenia, disembarked, sacrificed to the gods and was translated. In 1S72 George Smith discov- ered another version, forming the eleventh tablet of the Oilgamish epic. According to this story, . u. Bil. Ninip. and Innugi sent out a destroy- ing fiood (abubii). but la. determined to save I'tanapishti of Shurippak. advised him to 'build a house, to construct a ship." and to take with him into it 'seeds of life of all kinds.' He accordingly constructed his house, or boat, coated it -within and without with bitumen (Aii/irii), and made apartments in it. His possessions, family, relatives, laborers, the cattle and the beasts of the field. Ita-napishti brought into the house. Then the rain fell, the storm arosp, nnd darkness covered the earth. .All living beincrs were destroyed, except those in the house. On the seventh day I'tanapishti opened the wimlow. and soon the ship groimded on the mountain of Xizir. Seven d.nvs l:itir be ii>nt out a ibne, a