HERBINIUS, Johannes.

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Dissertationes de admirandis mundi cataractis First edition of Herbinius's illustrated study of waterfalls, subterranean waters, tides, and the circulation of the elements. His hydrological system combines observation with classical geography and scriptural exegesis, proposing a hidden water-world beneath the earth populated by subterranean reservoirs, boiling abysses, and siphon-like channels. Herbinius discusses celebrated cataracts including Scylla and Charybdis and attempts to explain the tides through the influence of the moon. He also devotes a substantial section to the location of the earthly paradise. He argues for Palestine against competing theories and illustrates his proposed site with a chorographic map. The work's unusually broad conception of terrestrial waters brings physical geography and biblical geography together within a single account of the earth.

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