ts amazing number of teeth. And
certainly a _geologic_ argument of this ingenious character has one
signal advantage,--it is in no danger whatever of being answered by the
geologists. Mr. Penn, in a second edition of his work, expressed some
surprise that an Edinburgh Reviewer should have merely stated his
_argument_ without replying to it!!

But I need not dwell on the arguments for a universal deluge which have
been derived from the superficial deposits. They all belong to an
immature age of geologic science, and are of no value whatever. Let us
pass rather to the consideration of the facts and arguments which
militate against the universality of the catastrophe.

The form and dimensions of Noah's ark are definitely given in the sacred
record. It seems to have been a great oblong box, somewhat like a wooden
granary, three stories high, and furnished with a roof apparently of the
ordinary angular shape, but with a somewhat broader ridge than common;
and it measured three hundred cubits in length, fifty cubits in breadth,
and thirty cubits in height. A good deal of controversy has, however,
arisen regarding the cubit employed; some holding, with Sir Walter
Raleigh, and most of the older theologians, such as Shuckford and Hales,
that the Noachian cubit was what is known as the common or natural
cubit, "containing," says Sir Walter, "one foot and a half, or a length
equal to that of the human fore-arm measured from the sharp of the elbow
to the point of the middle finger;" others contending that it was the
palm-cubit, "which taketh," adds my authority, "one handful more than
the common;" yet others, the royal or Persian cubit of twenty-one
inches; and so on; for there are, it seems, five several kinds of cubit
to choose from, all differing each from the others. The controversy is
one in which there is exceeding little footing for any party. I am
inclined, however, to adopt, with Raleigh and Hales, the _natural_
cubit, for the following reason. The given dimensions of the ark form
the oldest example of measurement of which we have any record; and all,
or almost all, the older and simpler standards of measure bear reference
to portions of the human frame. There is the span, the palm, the
hand-breadth, the thumb-breadth (or inch), the hair-breadth, and the
_foot_. The simple fisherman on our coasts still measures off his
fathoms by stretching out both his arms to the full; the village
sempstress still tells off her cloth-br