{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_52973/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_52973","id":"gutenberg_52973","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52973","summary":null,"tags":["Bible and geology","Bible and science","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Science - Earth/Agricultural/Farming"],"text":"[Transcriber's Note:\n\nThis project uses utf-8 encoded characters. If some characters\nare not readable, check your settings of your reader and that\nyou have a font installed that can display utf-8 characters.]\n\n\n\n\nGEOLOGY AND REVELATION.\n\n\nSicut Augustinus docet, in hujusmodi qu\u00e6stionibus duo sunt observanda.\nPrimo quidem ut Veritas Scriptur\u00e6 inconcusse teneatur. Secundo, cum\nScriptura Divina multipliciter exponi possit, quod nulli expositioni\naliquis ita pr\u00e6cise inh\u00e6reat, ut si certa ratione constiterit hoc esse\nfalsum quod aliquis sensum Scriptur\u00e6 esse credebat, id nihilominus\nasserere pr\u00e6sumat; ne Scriptura ex hoc ab infidelibus derideatur, et ne\neis via credendi pr\u00e6cludatur.\n\n  S. THOMAS, _De Opere Secund\u00e6 Diei_; Summa, Pars 1, Qu\u00e6st. 68, Art. 1.\n\nAs Augustine teacheth, there are two things to be observed in questions\nof this kind. First, that the truth of Scripture be inviolably\nmaintained. Secondly, since Divine Scripture may be explained in\nmany ways, that no one cling to any particular exposition with such\npertinacity that, if what he supposed to be the teaching of Scripture\nshould turn out to be plainly false, he would nevertheless presume to\nput it forward; lest thereby Sacred Scripture should be exposed to the\nderision of unbelievers, and the way of salvation should be closed to\nthem.\n\n  SAINT THOMAS, _On the Work of the Second Day_.\n\n\n\n\n  GEOLOGY AND REVELATION:\n\n  OR THE\n\n  Ancient History of the Earth,\n\n  CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF\n\n  GEOLOGICAL FACTS AND REVEALED RELIGION.\n\n  _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS._\n\n\n  BY THE\n\n  REV. GERALD MOLLOY, D. D.,\n  PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ST. PATRICK, MAYNOOTH.\n\n\n  WITH AN INTRODUCTION\n\n  To the American edition; and a chapter on COSMOGONY, [by permission]\n  from the Manual of Geology, by Prof. J. D. DANA.\n\n\n  NEW YORK:\n  G. P. PUTNAM & SONS,\n  1870.\n\n\n\n\n  Stereotyped by LITTLE, RENNIE & CO., 645 and 647 Broadway, N. Y.\n\n  PRESS OF THE NEW YORK PRINTING COMPANY, 81, 83, and 85 Centre St., N. Y.\n\n\n\n\n  TO THE VERY REVEREND\n\n  CHARLES WILLIAM RUSSELL, D. D.\n\n  PRESIDENT OF SAINT PATRICK\u2019S COLLEGE, MAYNOOTH,\n\n  _This Volume is Inscribed_,\n\n  WITH EVERY SENTIMENT OF AFFECTION AND RESPECT.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe progress of modern Science has given rise to not a few objections\nagainst the truths of Revelation. And of these there is none which\nseems to have taken such a firm hold of the public mind in England,\nand, indeed, throughout Europe generally, as that which is derived from\nthe interesting and startling discoveries of Geology. Accordingly,\nwhen I was engaged, some years ago, in explaining and defending the\nEvidences of Revealed Religion, I found myself brought face to face\nwith Geological phenomena and Geological speculations.\n\nIt was plainly impossible to consider, in a candid and philosophical\nspirit, the argument with which I had to deal, so long as I remained\nignorant of the evidence on which it was based. I resolved, therefore,\nto make myself familiar with the leading principles and the leading\nfacts of Geology. And thus I was drawn insensibly into the study of\nthis science; to which I have devoted, for some years, the greater part\nof my leisure hours.\n\nImpressed with the conviction that no fact can be really at variance\nwith Revealed Truth, I determined, in the first place, to ascertain the\nfacts which have been brought to light by the researches of Geologists.\nThe general principles, which might afterward appear to be clearly\ninvolved in these facts when duly classified and arranged, I was fully\nprepared to admit. And I hoped, in the end, to search out and discover\nthe harmony which, I was satisfied, must exist between conclusions thus\nestablished and the Inspired Word of God.\n\nWhile occupied in working out this problem for myself, it was suggested\nto me that others, who had not time or opportunity to pursue the same\nline of inquiry, would, perhaps, be glad to share in the fruits of\nmy studies. In deference to this suggestion I consented, not without\nmisgivings, to write a series of papers on Geology in its relations\nwith Revealed Religion, which have appeared, from time to time, in\nthe _Irish Ecclesiastical Record_. From the attention these papers\nattracted, crude and fragmentary as they were, it soon became evident\nthat the question was not without interest for a large class of\nreaders. And I have been led to believe that a more full and mature,\nbut at the same time a popular, Treatise on the subject would be a\nwelcome accession to ecclesiastical literature, and would supply a want\nthat has long been felt. Such a Treatise I have proposed to myself in\nthe present Volume.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn Geology I wish to disclaim at the outset, all pretension to original\nresearches; which my opportunities did not permit, nor the scope of my\nWork demand. It was not my object to enlarge the bounds of Geological\nknowledge; but rather to ascertain what that knowledge is, and to set\nit before my readers in plain and simple words. For this purpose I have\nhad recourse to the great masters of the science: and have endeavored\nto gather into a systematic form the phenomena upon which they are all\nagreed; to sketch in outline the general theory about which there is\npractically no dispute; and to draw out the line of reasoning by which,\nas it seems to me, this theory may be most effectively demonstrated.\n\nExact references are given to the original authorities on all questions\nof importance, and on many points even of minor detail: partly that\nI might not seem to claim as my own what belongs to others; partly\nthat I might consult for the convenience of those who should wish to\ninvestigate more minutely what I have but lightly touched. And here it\nmay be well to observe, with regard to the two classic works of Sir\nCharles Lyell, his _Elements_ and his _Principles_, which have been\nreproduced so many times and in so many forms, that I have uniformly\nreferred to the latest edition of each.\n\nThe Woodcuts which illustrate the Volume will, I venture to hope, help\nto convey a clear and distinct impression of many natural objects which\ncan be represented but imperfectly in words. Some of the most striking\nand effective are taken from the admirable Manual of Geology brought\nout some years ago by the Reverend Doctor Haughton, of Trinity College,\nDublin. My best thanks are due to the learned author for the kindness\nwith which he placed his Woodblocks at my disposal. I have also to\nexpress my acknowledgments to Sir Charles Lyell, who has allowed me\nto reproduce some of the drawings that embellish his works; and to\nthe eminent publishers, Messrs. Bell and Daldy of London, and Mr.\nNimmo of Edinburgh, who have, with great courtesy, furnished me with\nelectrotypes of several figures from the works of Doctor Mantell and\nMr. Hugh Miller.\n\nTo my colleagues in Maynooth I am much indebted for their judicious\nsuggestions and friendly assistance during the progress of the Work.\nIn particular I desire to testify my obligations to our distinguished\nProfessor of Scripture, the Reverend Doctor M\u2019Carthy, for the unwearied\nkindness with which he has allowed me to draw at pleasure on his\nprofound and extensive knowledge of the Sacred Text.\n\n  G. M.\n\n  SAINT PATRICK\u2019S COLLEGE, MAYNOOTH,\n  _December 1st, 1869_.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.\n\n\nDr. Molloy has, in the present work, made an important contribution\nto a department of scientific and theologic literature, which has\nalready been enriched by the labors of several other Catholic Fathers,\namong whom must be mentioned CARDINAL WISEMAN,[1] FATHER PERRONE,[2]\nand FATHER PIANCIANI,[3] who, in Italy, maintain substantially, the\nsame ground which, in England, has been sustained by DR. CHALMERS,\nDR. BUCKLAND, PYE SMITH, and HUGH MILLER, and we may now add with\npleasure, by DR. MOLLOY. Names which, in the United States, find their\ncounterparts in DR. HITCHCOCK, PROF. SILLIMAN, PROF. A. GUYOT, DR.\nTHOMPSON, and J. D. DANA.\n\nReviewing the progress of opinion touching the relations of Science\nto Revealed Religion, it is noteworthy that while many Protestant\ntheologians and writers on both sides of the Atlantic have, until a\nrecent period, treated the discoveries of science, and especially of\nGeology, so far as they affect theological dogmas, in a manner, if\nnot of contempt, at least of distrust or unfairness: on the contrary,\nthe Romanist writers who have discussed these themes, have done so,\ngenerally, in a spirit of broad catholicity well calculated to command\nthe respect it merits. They have shown no sensitiveness or timidity\nlest, perchance, their exegesis might be disturbed by candidly\nadmitting the changes demanded by the discoveries of Science.\n\nThe author\u2019s discussion of the principles of Geology evinces much\nfamiliarity both with the science and what is equally important, the\nnecessities of the unscientific reader. He has presented, in the second\npart of his book, an interesting review, infused by copious quotations\nfrom the Christian Fathers, from the time of St. Augustine, showing\nthat long before Geology had any existence as a science, and of course,\nwhen the discussions and doubts it has excited were unknown, the\nessential points respecting Time and the order of Creation had received\ncareful attention from devout thinkers, and that the conclusions at\nwhich they arrived, on purely theological grounds, were, in most cases,\nmuch the same as those which the best writers of our time deduce from\nGeological evidence.\n\nIt is now thirty-five years since (1835) CARDINAL, then DR. WISEMAN,\ndelivered in Rome, before the English College, of which he was the\nhead, his Lectures, already referred to, on the connection between\nScience and Religion, in the fifth and sixth of which he considers more\nparticularly the Geological argument. The spirit of these lectures\nwas a just rebuke to the narrow bigotry of such writers as MR. CROLY,\nFAIRHOLM, and GRANVILLE PENN, as well as certain American theologians,\nwho, by means of arrogance and denunciation, sought to silence the\nvoice of truth, as proclaimed in the language of discovery, announcing\nthe nature and the extent of those changes in life and in physical\ndevelopment which are recorded in the Genesis of the Rocks, because\nthey conceived these immutable truths must of necessity conflict with\nthe Genesis of Moses; the real conflict being only with their narrow\ninterpretations. With rare moral courage DR. WISEMAN grappled with the\ngreat questions discussed so well in his lectures, at a time when there\nprevailed, with reference to such themes, a very wide-spread distrust,\neven among men of moderate opinions. In fact, the candor and courtesy\ndisplayed by DR. WISEMAN in his lectures, presents an enviable contrast\nto the acrimony of many theologians, and worthy of all praise, and\nin harmony with the learning and good taste which characterize his\nwritings.\n\nDR. MOLLOY is a worthy disciple of the same school, and we are glad to\nfind in him the same candor and liberality which it is certainly to be\nhoped he will receive at the hands of those who may differ from him.\nHis geological arguments and illustrations are very naturally drawn,\nchiefly from British authorities. It is evident that the condition\nof opinion upon these matters among religious teachers and readers\nin Great Britain is less advanced than it is in this country or in\ncontinental Europe. Our author has obviously but little familiarity\nwith the American literature of this subject. The similarity in some\nparts of his book both in thought and style with the writings on this\nsubject of the late PROFESSOR SILLIMAN, of Yale College, is quite\nnoticeable. He has obviously not seen the writings of DR. HITCHCOCK, of\nGUYOT, of DANA, and of other American writers. We have therefore by the\nkind permission of the author reproduced in this edition the chapter\non COSMOGONY from PROFESSOR DANA\u2019S _Manual of Geology_.[4] The views\nset forth, in a very condensed form, in this chapter, embrace also the\nideas of PROFESSOR ARNOLD GUYOT, of Princeton, as presented by him in\nhis unpublished lecture upon the same subject.\n\nAmerican readers will remember also that PROFESSOR DANA has discussed\nthis subject much more at length in a series of papers published in the\n_Bibliotheca Sacra_,[5] in a review of DR. TAYLER LEWIS\u2019S _Six Days of\nCreation_.[6] It is greatly to be desired that PROFESSOR DANA should\nsoon make a revised edition of his various writings upon this subject,\na work which would be received with interest on both sides of the\nAtlantic.\n\nWe do not propose here to present the bibliography of this subject with\nany completeness, but we desire to mention, to those who have not seen\nit, a little volume of excellent spirit by DR. JOS. P. THOMPSON, of\nNew York, entitled _Man in Genesis and Geology_,[7] which discusses\nchiefly the relations of man to creation, in seven lectures, the first\nof which is an \u201cOutline of Creation in Genesis.\u201d Even as we write\nanother small volume on this subject comes to hand under the title of\n_Chemical History of the Six Days of Creation_,[8] by MR. JOHN PHIN,\nwhich also contains the substance of a series of lectures delivered by\nthe author, who handles his theme in a spirit equally reverential and\nscientific, and well calculated to do good.\n\nThose who desire to know the best exposition of this subject at the\nhands of a modern theologian will read the first part of DR. LANGE\u2019S\n_Genesis, or the First Book of Moses_,[9] in DR. TAYLER LEWIS\u2019S\ntranslation, pp. 159-177. The candid and scholarly spirit of the\nlearned authors of this work indicates a marked change in discussions\nof this nature when compared with similar literature of the last\ngeneration.\n\nThese few suggestions, chiefly on the American literature of this\nsubject, are offered in the belief that some readers may be glad to\nknow where to turn for similar discussions, while DR. MOLLOY will\ncertainly not misinterpret our kindly intentions in suggesting to him\nsome contemporary sources of information to most of which he very\nprobably had no means of access when his excellent work was prepared.\n\nJULY, 1870.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n  INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.\n\n                                                                   PAGE.\n\n  Scope of the Work explained--Geology looked on with Suspicion\n  by Christians--hailed with Triumph by Unbelievers--no Contradiction\n  possible between the Works of Nature and the Word of\n  God--Author not jealous of Progress in Geological Discoveries--Points\n  of Contact between Geology and Revelation--the\n  Question stated--the Answer--Division of the Work,                  25\n\n\n  PART I.\n\n  GEOLOGICAL THEORY AND THE EVIDENCE BY\n  WHICH IT IS SUPPORTED.\n\n\n  CHAPTER I.\n\n  THEORY OF GEOLOGISTS.\n\n  Geology defined--Facts and Theories--Recent Progress of Geology\n  --Stratification of Rocks--Aqueous Rocks; of Mechanical\n  Origin--of Chemical Origin--of Organic Origin--Igneous\n  Rocks, Plutonic and Volcanic--Metamorphic Rocks--Summary\n  of the Rocks that compose the Crust of the Earth--Relative\n  Order of Position--Internal Condition of the Globe--Movements\n  of the Earth\u2019s Crust--Subterranean Disturbing Force--Uplifting\n  and Bending of Strata--Denudation and its Causes--Fossil\n  Remains--their Value in Geological Theory,                          30\n\n\n  CHAPTER II.\n\n  THEORY OF DENUDATION ILLUSTRATED BY FACTS.\n\n  Principle of Reasoning common to all the Physical Sciences--This\n  Principle applicable to Geology--Carbonic Acid an Agent of\n  Denudation--Vast Quantity of Lime dissolved by the Waters of\n  the Rhine and borne away to the German Ocean--Disintegration\n  of Rocks by Frost--Professor Tyndall on the Matterhorn--Running\n  Water--its Erosive Power--an active and unceasing Agent\n  of Denudation--Mineral Sediment carried out to Sea by the\n  Ganges and other great Rivers--Solid Rocks undermined and\n  worn away--Falls of the Clyde at Lanark--Excavating Power\n  of Rivers in Auvergne and Sicily--Falls of Niagara--Transporting\n  Power of Running Water--Floods in Scotland--Inundation\n  in the Valley of Bagnes in Switzerland,                             47\n\n\n  CHAPTER III.\n\n  THEORY OF DENUDATION--FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n  The Breakers of the Ocean--Caverns and Fairy Bridges of Kilkee--Italy\n  and Sicily--The Shetland Islands--East and South\n  Coast of Britain--Tracts of Land swallowed up by the Sea--Island\n  of Heligoland--Northstrand--Tides and Currents--South\n  Atlantic Current--Equatorial Current--The Gulf Stream--its\n  Course described--Examples of its Power as an Agent of\n  Transport,                                                          61\n\n\n  CHAPTER IV.\n\n  THEORY OF DENUDATION--CONCLUDED.\n\n  Glaciers--their Nature and Composition--their unceasing Motion\n  --Powerful Agents of Denudation--Icebergs--their Number\n  and Size--Erratic Blocks and loose Gravel spread out over\n  Mountains, Plains, and Valleys, at the Bottom of the Sea\n  --Characteristic Marks of moving Ice--Evidence of ancient Glacial\n  Action--Illustrations from the Alps--from the Mountains of\n  the Jura--Theory applied to Northern Europe--to Scotland,\n  Wales, and Ireland--The Fact of Denudation established--Summary\n  of the Evidence--This Fact the first Step in Geological\n  Theory,                                                             71\n\n\n  CHAPTER V.\n\n  STRATIFIED ROCKS OF MECHANICAL ORIGIN--THEORY DEVELOPED\n  AND ILLUSTRATED.\n\n  Formation of Stratified Rocks ascribed to the Agency of Natural\n  Causes--This Theory supported by Facts--The Argument\n  stated--Examples of Mechanical Rocks--Materials of which\n  they are composed--Origin and History of these Materials\n  traced out--Process of Deposition--Process of Consolidation\n  --Instances of Consolidation by Pressure--Consolidation perfected\n  by Natural Cements--Curious Illustrations--Consolidation of\n  Sandstone in Cornwall--Arrangement of Strata explained by\n  intermittent Action of the Agents of Denudation,                    87\n\n\n  CHAPTER VI.\n\n  STRATIFIED ROCKS OF MECHANICAL ORIGIN--FURTHER\n  ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n  Impossible to witness the Formation of Stratified Rocks in the\n  Depths of the Ocean--On a small scale Examples are exhibited\n  by Rivers and Lakes--Alluvial Plains--their extraordinary Fertility\n  --Great Basin of the Nile--Experiments of the Royal Society--The\n  Mississippi and the Orinoco--Some Rivers fill up\n  their own Channels--Case of the River Po--Artificial Embankments--Large\n  Tract of Alluvial Soil deposited by the Rhone in\n  the Lake of Geneva--Deltas--The Delta of the Ganges and\n  Brahmapootra--Delta of the Nile,                                   100\n\n\n  CHAPTER VII.\n\n  STRATIFIED ROCKS OF CHEMICAL ORIGIN.\n\n  Chemical Agency employed in the Formation of Mechanical Rocks--But\n  some Rocks produced almost exclusively by the Action of\n  Chemical Laws--Difference between a Mixture and a Solution--a\n  Saturated Solution--Stalactites and Stalagmites--Fantastic\n  Columns in Limestone Caverns--The Grotto of Antiparos in\n  the Grecian Archipelago--Wyer\u2019s Cave in the Blue Mountains\n  of America--Travertine Rock in Italy--Growth of Limestone\n  in the Solfatara Lake near Tivoli--Incrustations of the Anio\n  --Formation of Travertine at the Baths of San Filippo and San\n  Vignone,                                                           109\n\n\n  CHAPTER VIII.\n\n  STRATIFIED ROCKS OF ORGANIC ORIGIN--ILLUSTRATIONS FROM\n  ANIMAL LIFE.\n\n  Nature of Organic Rocks--Carbonate of Lime extracted from the\n  Sea by the Intervention of minute Animalcules--Chalk Rock--its\n  vast Extent--supposed to be of Organic Origin--A Stratum\n  of the same kind now growing up on the Floor of the Atlantic\n  Ocean--Coral Reefs and Islands--their general Appearance--their\n  Geographical Distribution--their Organic Origin--Structure\n  of the Zoophyte--Various Illustrations--Agency of the\n  Zoophyte in the Construction of Coral Rock--How the sunken\n  Reef is converted into an Island--and peopled with Plants and\n  Animals--Difficulty proposed and considered--Hypothesis of\n  Mr. Darwin--Coral Limestone in the solid Crust of the Earth,       118\n\n\n  CHAPTER IX.\n\n  STRATIFIED ROCKS OF ORGANIC ORIGIN--ILLUSTRATIONS FROM\n  VEGETABLE LIFE.\n\n  Origin of Coal--Evident Traces of Plants and Trees in Coal\n  Mines--Coal made up of the same Elements as Wood--Beds of\n  Coal found resting upon Clay in which are preserved the Roots\n  of Trees--Insensible Transition from Wood to Coal--Forest-covered\n  Swamps--Accumulations of Drift Wood in Lakes and\n  Estuaries--Peat Bogs--Beds of Lignite--Seams of pure Coal\n  with half Carbonized Trees, some lying prostrate, some standing\n  erect--Summary of the Argument hitherto pursued--Objection\n  to this Argument from the Omnipotence of God--Answer to\n  the Objection,                                                     141\n\n\n  CHAPTER X.\n\n  FOSSIL REMAINS--THE MUSEUM.\n\n  Recapitulation--Scope of our Argument--Theory of Stratified\n  Rocks the Framework of Geological Science--This Theory\n  brings Geology into Contact with Revelation--The Line of Reasoning\n  hitherto pursued confirmed by the Testimony of Fossil\n  Remains--Meaning of the Word Fossil--Inexhaustible Abundance\n  of Fossils--Various States of Preservation--Petrifaction--Experiments\n  of Professor G\u00f6ppert--Organic Rocks afford\n  some Insight into the Fossil World--The Reality and Significance\n  of Fossil Remains must be learned from Observation--The\n  British Museum--Colossal Skeletons--Bones and Shells of\n  Animals--Fossil Plants and Trees,                                  156\n\n\n  CHAPTER XI.\n\n  FOSSIL REMAINS--THE EXPLORATION.\n\n  From the Museum to the Quarry--Fossil Fish in the Limestone\n  Rocks of Monte Bolca--in the Quarries of Aix--in the Chalk\n  of Sussex--The Ichthyosaurus or Fish-like Lizard--Gigantic\n  Dimensions of this Ancient Monster--its Predatory Habits--The\n  Plesiosaurus--The Megatherium or great Wild Beast--History\n  of its Discovery--the Mylodon--Profusion of Fossil\n  Shells--Petrified Trees erect in the Limestone Rock of Portland--Fossil\n  Plants of the Coal Measures--The Sigillaria--The\n  Fern--The Calamite--The Lepidodendron--Coal Mine of Treuil--Fossil\n  Remains afford undeniable Evidence of former Animal\n  and Vegetable Life--Their Existence cannot be accounted for\n  by the Plastic Power of Nature--nor can it reasonably be\n  ascribed to a Special Act of Creation,                             172\n\n\n  CHAPTER XII.\n\n  GEOLOGICAL CHRONOLOGY--PRINCIPLES OF THE SYSTEM EXPLAINED\n  AND DEVELOPED.\n\n  Significance of Fossil Remains--Science of Pal\u00e6ontology--Classification\n  of existing Animal Life--Fossil Remains are found to\n  fit in with this Classification--Succession of Organic Life--Time\n  in Geology not measured by Years and Centuries--Successive\n  Periods marked by Successive Forms of Life--The Geologist\n  aims at arranging these Periods in Chronological Order--Position\n  of the various Groups of Strata not sufficient for this purpose--It\n  is accomplished chiefly through the aid of Fossil\n  Remains--Mode of proceeding practically explained--Chronological\n  Table,                                                             198\n\n\n  CHAPTER XIII.\n\n  GEOLOGICAL CHRONOLOGY--REMARKS ON THE SUCCESSION OF\n  ORGANIC LIFE.\n\n  Summary of the History of Stratified Rocks--Striking Characteristics\n  of certain Formations--Human Remains found only in\n  superficial Deposits--Gradual Transition from the Organic Life\n  of one Period to that of the next--Evidence in favor of this\n  Opinion--Advance from Lower to Higher Types of Organic\n  Life as we ascend from the Older to the more Recent Formations\n  --Economic Value of Geological Chronology--Illustration--Search\n  for Coal--the Practical Man at Fault--the Geologist\n  comes to his aid, and saves him from useless Expense,              217\n\n\n  CHAPTER XIV.\n\n  SUBTERRANEAN HEAT--ITS EXISTENCE DEMONSTRATED BY FACTS.\n\n  Theory of Stratified Rocks supposes Disturbances of the Earth\u2019s\n  Crust--These Disturbances ascribed by Geologists to the Action\n  of subterranean Heat--The Existence of Subterranean Heat,\n  and its Power to move the Crust of the Earth, proved by direct\n  Evidence--Supposed Igneous Origin of our Globe--Remarkable\n  Increase of Temperature as we descend into the Earth\u2019s Crust--Hot\n  Springs--Artesian Wells--Steam issuing from Crevices\n  in the Earth--The Geysers of Iceland--A Glimpse of the subterranean\n  Fires--Mount Vesuvius in 1779--Vast Extent of\n  Volcanic Action--Existence of subterranean Heat an established\n  fact,                                                              233\n\n\n  CHAPTER XV.\n\n  SUBTERRANEAN HEAT--ITS POWERS ILLUSTRATED BY VOLCANOS.\n\n  Effects of subterranean Heat in the present Age of the World--Vast\n  Accumulations of solid Matter from the Eruptions of Volcanos--Buried\n  Cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum--Curious\n  Relics of Roman Life--Monte Nuovo--Eruption of Jorullo in\n  the Province of Mexico--Sumbawa in the Indian Archipelago--Volcanos\n  in Iceland--Mountain Mass of Etna the Product of\n  Volcanic Eruptions--Volcanic Islands--In the Atlantic--in the\n  Mediterranean--Santorin in the Grecian Archipelago,                244\n\n\n  CHAPTER XVI.\n\n  SUBTERRANEAN HEAT--ITS POWERS ILLUSTRATED BY\n  EARTHQUAKES.\n\n  Earthquakes and Volcanos proceed from the same common Cause--Recent\n  Earthquakes in New Zealand--Vast Tracts of Land\n  permanently upraised--Earthquakes of Chili in the present Century\n  --Crust of the Earth elevated--Earthquake of Cutch in\n  India, 1819--Remarkable Instance of Subsidence and Upheaval--Earthquake\n  of Calabria, 1783--Earthquake of Lisbon, 1755--Great\n  Destruction of Life and Property--Earthquake of Peru,\n  August, 1868--General Scene of Ruin and Devastation--Great\n  Sea Wave--A Ship with all her Crew carried a Quarter of a\n  Mile inland--Frequency of Earthquakes,                             258\n\n\n  CHAPTER XVII.\n\n  SUBTERRANEAN HEAT--ITS POWERS ILLUSTRATED BY UNDULATIONS\n  OF THE EARTH\u2019S CRUST.\n\n  Gentle Movements of the Earth\u2019s Crust within Historic Times--Roman\n  Roads and Temples submerged in the Bay of Bai\u00e6--Temple\n  of Jupiter Serapis--Singular Condition of its Columns--Proof\n  of Subsidence and subsequent Upheaval--Indications\n  of a second Subsidence now actually taking place--Gradual\n  Upheaval of the Coast of Sweden--Summary of the Evidence\n  adduced to establish this Fact--Subsidence of the Earth\u2019s Crust\n  on the West Coast of Greenland--Recapitulation,                    271\n\n\n  PART II.\n\n  THE ANTIQUITY OF THE EARTH CONSIDERED IN\n  RELATION TO THE HISTORY OF GENESIS.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n  STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION AND EXPOSITION OF THE AUTHOR\u2019S\n  VIEW.\n\n  The General Principles of Geological Theory accepted by the Author\n  --These Principles plainly import the extreme Antiquity\n  of the Earth--Illustration from the Coal, the Chalk, and the\n  Boulder Clay--This Conclusion not at Variance with the Inspired\n  History of the Creation--Chronology of the Bible--Genealogies\n  of Genesis--Date of the Creation not fixed by Moses--Progress\n  of Opinion on this Point--Cardinal Wiseman, Father\n  Peronne, Father Pianciani--Doctor Buckland, Doctor Chalmers,\n  Doctor Pye Smith, Hugh Miller--Author\u2019s View explained--Charge\n  of Rashness and Irreverence answered--Admonitions\n  of Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas,                               280\n\n\n  CHAPTER XIX.\n\n  FIRST HYPOTHESIS;--AN INTERVAL OF INDEFINITE DURATION\n  BETWEEN THE CREATION OF THE WORLD AND THE FIRST\n  MOSAIC DAY.\n\n  The Heavens and the Earth were created before the First Mosaic\n  Day--Objection from Exodus, xx. 9-11--Answer--Interpretation\n  of the Author supported by the best Commentators--Confirmed\n  by the Hebrew Text--The Early Fathers commonly held\n  the Existence of created Matter prior to the Work of the Six\n  Days--Saint Basil, Saint Chrysostom, Saint Ambrose, Venerable\n  Bede--The most eminent Doctors in the Schools concurred\n  in this Opinion--Peter Lombard, Hugh of Saint Victor, Saint\n  Thomas--Also Commentators and Theologians--Perrerius,\n  Petavius--Distinguished Names on the other side, A Lapide,\n  Tostatus, Saint Augustine--The Opinion is at least not at\n  Variance with the Voice of Tradition--This Period of created\n  Existence may have been of indefinite Length--And the Earth\n  may have been furnished then as now with countless Tribes of\n  Plants and Animals--Objections to this Hypothesis proposed\n  and explained,                                                     300\n\n\n  CHAPTER XX.\n\n  SECOND HYPOTHESIS;--THE DAYS OF CREATION LONG PERIODS OF\n  TIME.\n\n  Diversity of Opinion among the Early Fathers regarding the Days\n  of Creation--Saint Augustine, Philo Jud\u00e6us, Clement of Alexandria,\n  Origen, Saint Athanasius, Saint Eucherius, Procopius--Albertus\n  Magnus, Saint Thomas, Cardinal Cajetan--Inference\n  from these Testimonies--First Argument in favor of the\n  popular Interpretation; a Day, in the literal Sense, means a\n  Period of Twenty-four Hours--Answer--This Word often used\n  in Scripture for an indefinite Period--Examples from the Old\n  and New Testament--Second Argument; the Days of Creation\n  have an Evening and a Morning--Answer--Interpretation of\n  Saint Augustine, Venerable Bede, and other Fathers of the\n  Church--Third Argument; the Reason alleged for the Institution\n  of the Sabbath Day--Answer--The Law of the Sabbath\n  extended to every Seventh Year as well as to every Seventh Day--The\n  Seventh Day of God\u2019s Rest a long Period of indefinite\n  Duration,                                                          318\n\n\n  CHAPTER XXI.\n\n  APPLICATION OF THE SECOND HYPOTHESIS TO THE MOSAIC HISTORY\n  OF CREATION--CONCLUSION.\n\n  Summary of the Argument--Striking Coincidence between the\n  Order of Creation as set forth in the Narrative of Moses and in\n  the Records of Geology--Comparison illustrated and developed--Scheme\n  of Adjustment between the Periods of Geology and\n  the Days of Genesis--Tabular View of this Scheme--Objections\n  considered--It is not to be regarded as an established Theory,\n  but as an admissible Hypothesis--Either the first Hypothesis\n  or the second is sufficient to meet the demands of Geology as\n  regards the Antiquity of the Earth--Not necessary to suppose\n  that the Sacred Writer was made acquainted with the long Ages\n  of Geological Time--He simply records faithfully that which\n  was committed to his charge--The Mosaic History of Creation\n  stands alone, without Rivals or Competitors,                       343\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n  1. Granitic Rocks off the Shetland Islands,                         63\n\n  2. Iceberg seen in mid ocean, 1400 miles from land,                 75\n\n  3. Block of Limestone Rock with Glacial-markings,                   78\n\n  4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Examples of living Zoophytes:\n          Campanularia Gelatinosa; Gorgonia Patula,                  131\n          Frustra Pilosa; Madrepora Plantaginea,                     132\n          Corallium Rubrum,                                          133\n\n  9, 10. Fossil Ferns from the Coal Measures,                        143\n\n  11. Trunk and roots of a forest tree; found erect in a Coal\n      Mine, near Liverpool,                                          152\n\n  12. Fossil Irish Deer,                                             163\n\n  13. Fossil Wood, showing the rings of annual growth,               171\n\n  14, 15. Fossil Fish from Monte Bolea in Italy,                173, 174\n\n  16. Group of several Fossil Fish in one block of Limestone,        176\n\n  17. Fossil Fish from the Chalk Rock of Sussex,                     177\n\n  18, 19. Two Skeletons of the Ichthyosaurus, from the Lias of\n      Dorsetshire, preserved in the Museum of Trinity College,\n      Dublin,                                                        179\n\n  20. Plesiosaurus Cramptonii, from the Lias of Yorkshire,\n      preserved in the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society,           182\n\n  21. The Megatherium, or Great Wild Beast,                          185\n\n  22. The Mylodon Robustus,                                          186\n\n  23. Section of a Quarry in the Island of Portland, showing the\n      stumps of an ancient forest standing erect in the solid rock,  189\n\n  24. Calamite from the Coal Measures of Newcastle,                  191\n\n  25. Lepidodendron Sternbergii; a forest tree erect in a Coal Mine, 192\n\n  26. Lepidodendron Elegans; Stem and branches, from a Coal Mine,\n      near Newcastle,                                                193\n\n  27. Section of a Coal Mine near Lyons, showing an ancient forest\n      enveloped in Sandstone,                                        194\n\n  28. Bird\u2019s-eye View of Santorin during the volcanic eruption\n      of 1866,                                                       255\n\n\nLIST OF TABLES.\n\n  Table of Stratified Rocks Chronologically arranged,                211\n\n  Table of Geological Formations, showing the first appearance on\n    the Earth of the various forms of Animal Life,                   226\n\n  Table exhibiting the Genealogies of Genesis according to the\n    various Readings of the three most ancient Versions, the\n    Hebrew, the Samaritan, and the Septuagint,                       291\n\n  Table representing a possible Adjustment of the Mosaic Days with\n    the Periods of Geology,                                          251\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nGEOLOGY AND REVELATION.\n\n\n\n\n_INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER._\n\n    _Scope of the work explained--Geology looked on with suspicion\n    by Christians--Hailed with triumph by Unbelievers--No\n    contradiction possible between the works of Nature and the\n    Word of God--Author not jealous of progress in Geological\n    Discoveries--Points of contact between Geology and\n    Revelation--The question stated--The answer--Division of the\n    work._\n\n\nAmong the various pursuits that engage the human mind, there are few so\nattractive as Geology, none so important as Revelation. Each of these\ntwo studies has an interest peculiar to itself. The one is chiefly\nconcerned about the world in which we are living: the other about the\nworld to which we are hastening. Geology leads us down into the depths\nof the Earth, and there, unfolding to our view a long series of strange\nunwritten records impressed on lasting monuments by the hand of Nature,\nit proceeds to trace back the history of our Globe through myriads of\nages into the distant past. Revelation, on the other hand, comes to us\nfrom above; and setting forth the far more wonderful records of God\u2019s\ndealings with man, holds out the hope of another world \u201ceverlasting in\nthe heavens\u201d[10] which shall still remain when this earth and all the\nworks that are therein shall have melted away with fervent heat.[11]\n\nBut, it may be asked, why should two such incongruous topics be set\ndown for discussion side by side? To answer this question is to explain\nthe scope and design of the present work. We are not going to write a\nManual of Geology; nor yet a Treatise on Revelation. Taken separately,\nthese two subjects have been handled with eminent skill and ability;\nthe one by the votaries of Science, the other by the friends of\nTheology. It is our purpose to consider them not so much in themselves\nas in their mutual relations: to compare the conclusions of Geology\nwith the truths of Revelation; and to inquire if it be possible to\naccept the one and yet not to abandon the other.\n\nAn uneasy apprehension has long prevailed among devout Christians, and\na declared conviction among a large class of unbelievers, that the\ndiscoveries of Geology are at variance with the facts recorded in the\nBook of Genesis. Now, the historical narrative of Genesis lies at the\nvery foundation of all Revealed Religion. Hence the science of Geology,\nhas come to be looked on with suspicion by the simple-minded faithful,\nand to be hailed with joy, as a new and powerful auxiliary, by that\ninfidel party which, in these latter days, has assumed a position so\nbold and defiant. It is now confidently asserted that we cannot uphold\nthe teaching of Revelation, unless we shut our eyes to the evidence of\nGeology; and that we cannot pursue the study of Geology, if we are not\nprepared to renounce our belief in the doctrines of Revelation.\n\nVet surely this cannot be. Truth cannot be at variance with truth. If\nGod has recorded the history of our Globe, as Geologists maintain, on\nimperishable monuments within the Crust of the Earth, we may be quite\nsure He has not contradicted that Record in His Written Word. There\nmay be for a time, indeed, a conflict between the student of Nature and\nthe student of Revelation. Each is liable to error when he undertakes\nto interpret the record that is placed in his hands. Many a brilliant\nGeological theory, received at first with unbounded applause, has been\ndissipated by the progress of discovery even within the lifetime of its\nauthor. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that Theologians have\nsometimes imputed to the Bible that which the Bible does not teach.\nLearned and pious men--Protestants and Catholics alike--once believed\nthat the Book of Joshua represents the succession of day and night\nas produced by the revolution of the Sun around the Earth: whereas\nit is now considered quite plain that the Book of Joshua, properly\nunderstood, teaches nothing of the kind; but that the Inspired Writer,\nin describing a wonderful phenomenon of Nature, simply employs the\nlanguage of men according to the established usage of his time. We need\nnot wonder, therefore, that a conflict of opinion should sometimes\narise between the Geologist and the Theologian; but a conflict there\ncannot be between the story which God has described on His works and\nthe story He has recorded in His Written Word.\n\nThough we come forward, therefore, among those whose duty and whose\nglory it is to uphold Revelation, we are by no means jealous of the\nwonderful ardor, and we may add, the wonderful success, with which the\nstudy of Geology has been lately pursued. We have too much confidence\nin the truth of our cause to apprehend that it can suffer in any way\nfrom the progress of Natural Science. It is our conviction, rather,\nthat the more thoroughly the works of Nature are understood, the\nmore perfectly they will be found to harmonize with the truths of\nRevelation. We are not afraid, therefore, to venture into the realms\nof Geology and to come face to face with its discoveries. Too long,\nperhaps, has this interesting and popular science been neglected by\nthose who are ranged under the banner of Religion. Let it be ours to\nshow that the study of God\u2019s works is not incompatible with the belief\nin God\u2019s Word; and that it is quite possible to investigate the ancient\nhistory of the world we inhabit without forfeiting our right to a\nbetter.\n\nThe points of contact between Geology and Revelation are chiefly these\ntwo:--First, the Antiquity of the Earth; Secondly, the Antiquity of the\nHuman Race. In the present Volume we shall confine our attention to the\nAntiquity of the Earth. The subject that offers itself for discussion\nmay be stated in a few words. Geologists maintain that the Crust of the\nEarth has been slowly built up by means of a long series of operations\nwhich would require hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of years\nfor their accomplishment: whereas the Bible narrative, it is alleged,\nallows but the short lapse of six or eight thousand years from the\ncreation of the world to the present time. The Geological record, then,\nseems to contradict the Mosaic; and the question is, how this apparent\ncontradiction is to be explained.\n\nSome have ventured to solve the problem by rejecting the historical\nnarrative of the Bible: others by ignoring the plain facts of Geology.\nBut there is a third class of writers, including many names of the\nhighest eminence and authority, who contend that we may admit the\nextreme Antiquity of our Globe, which Geology so imperatively demands,\nwithout compromising in the smallest degree the truthfulness of the\nMosaic story. They say that the Chronology of the Bible stops short\nwith Adam, and does not go back to the beginning of the world. By\nmeans of the data which the Bible supplies we may calculate, at least\nroughly, the lapse of time from the Creation of Adam to the Birth of\nChrist. But from the first beginning of all created things, when God\nmade the Heavens and the Earth, to the close of the Sixth Day when Adam\nwas introduced upon the scene, that is an interval which, in the Bible\nnarrative, is left altogether undefined and uncertain. This is the\nview which we hope to develop and to illustrate in the course of the\nfollowing pages.\n\nOur task naturally divides itself into two parts. First, it will be\nour duty to consider the received theory of Geology, and to examine\nin detail some of the interesting and wonderful phenomena on which\nit is founded. This course of investigation, while it is plainly\nindispensable for the intelligent appreciation of our subject, cannot\nfail at the same time to unfold many new and striking views of the\nPower, and the Goodness, and the Providence of God. \u201cFor the invisible\nthings of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being\nunderstood by the things that are made; even His eternal Power and\nGodhead.\u201d[12]\n\nIn the Second Part we shall consider the Antiquity of the Earth in\nreference to the History of Genesis. It will be our purpose to show\nthat, as far as the Bible narrative is concerned, an interval of\ncountless ages may have elapsed between the first creation of the\nHeavens and the Earth and the beginning of the Six Mosaic Days.\nFurthermore, we shall contend that, without any prejudice to the Sacred\nHistory, we may suppose these Days themselves to have been, not days\nin the ordinary sense of the word, but long and indefinite Periods of\nTime. If we succeed in establishing these views, it will be obvious\nto infer that, while the Bible enables us to determine, at least by\napproximation, the Age of the Human Race, it allows time without limit\nfor the past history of the Earth.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nPART I.\n\nGEOLOGICAL THEORY AND THE EVIDENCE BY WHICH IT IS SUPPORTED.\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER I._\n\nTHEORY OF GEOLOGISTS.\n\n    _Geology defined--Facts and Theories--Recent progress of\n    Geology--Stratification of Rocks--Aqueous Rocks; of Mechanical\n    Origin--of Chemical Origin--of Organic Origin--Igneous Rocks,\n    Plutonic and Volcanic--Metamorphic Rocks--Summary of the\n    Rocks that compose the Crust of the Earth--Relative order\n    of position--Internal condition of the Globe--Movements of\n    the Earth\u2019s Crust--Subterranean disturbing force--Uplifting\n    and bending of Strata--Denudation and its Causes--Fossil\n    Remains--Their Value in Geological Theory._\n\n\nThe object of Geology is to examine and record the appearances\npresented by the Crust of the Earth; and by the aid of these\nappearances, to trace out the long series of events by which it has\nbeen brought into its present condition. Geology, therefore, like\nall other natural sciences, is made up partly of fact, and partly of\ntheory. It belongs to the Geologist first to investigate the phenomena\nwhich the Crust of the Earth exhibits to the eye. For this purpose he\ndescends into the mine and the quarry; he visits the lofty cliff by\nthe sea-shore, the deep ravine on the mountain side, the cutting of a\nrailway; in a word, every spot where a section of the Earth\u2019s Crust is\nexposed to view, either by the action of Nature or by the hand of man.\nHe then retires into the silence of his closet, with his note-book and\nhis specimens; and there, having arranged and classified the various\nphenomena which he has already examined with his eyes in the outer\nworld, he proceeds to make his deductions, and to build up his theory.\nHe seeks to explain how materials, so diverse in their composition,\nhave come to be piled up together, with such admirable order, and yet\nwith such endless variety; and how the solid rocks have come to be the\nrepository of petrified trees and plants and bones and shells, which\nseem, as it were, to start up from their graves, and to tell strange\nstories of a bygone world.\n\nIn the early days of Geology there were comparatively few who devoted\nthemselves with patient industry to the collection and classification\nof facts: while the number was legion of those who, with a very\nmeagre knowledge of facts, set themselves to build up systems. A\nvast multitude of different and conflicting theories were, in this\nway, brought into existence, and attracted for a time much public\nattention, each one being vehemently defended by its friends and as\nvehemently assailed by its enemies. These theories resting on no solid\nfoundation, could not hold their ground against the advancing tide of\nnew discoveries. They flourished for a brief space, and then gave way\nto others scarcely more substantial, which were destined in their turn\nto be likewise rejected and forgotten. Thus it came to pass, from the\nmanifest instability of its principles, that Geology was long held\nin light repute, and practical men set little store by its boasted\ndiscoveries and startling revelations.\n\nBut it would be unjust and unphilosophical to condemn the modern theory\nof Geologists because of their past errors. We must judge of this\nscience, not according to what it once was in the feebleness of its\ninfancy, but according to what it now is in the growing strength of its\nmature years. It seems to be in the nature of things that groundless\nspeculations and wild conjectures go before, and sober Science follows\nin their wake. The visionary dreams of the Alchemist led the way to\nthe science of Chemistry, and the idle fancies of the Astrologist have\ngiven place to the marvellous discoveries of Astronomy. So, too, amidst\nthe confused mass of conflicting arguments and opinions, by which the\nphenomena of Geology were for a long time enveloped and obscured, the\nseeds of a new science were slowly germinating. New facts were eagerly\nsought after to support or to impugn the favorite theory of the hour;\nand though theory after theory passed away, yet the facts remained. In\ncourse of time this accumulation of facts became broad and deep and\nsolid enough to form a sound basis for inductive reasoning; and thus\nalmost within our own days Geology may be fairly said to have assumed\nthe rank and dignity of a science.\n\nDuring the last quarter of a century it has been studied with a more\nardent enthusiasm than, perhaps, any other science in England, in\nFrance, in Germany, and in America. It has been studied, too, upon\nbetter principles than before: less attention has been paid to the\nbuilding up of theories, and far more pains and labor have been\nexpended on the careful investigation of natural phenomena. There are\nstill, no doubt, different schools of Geologists which are divided\namong themselves as regards many important details of theory; but\nthere are some general conclusions upon which all Geologists are\nsubstantially agreed, and which, they assure us, are established by\nevidence that is absolutely irresistible. It is to these conclusions we\nwish to invite the attention of our readers; for they bear very closely\non the question of the Antiquity of the Earth.\n\nGeologists tell us, then, that the materials of which the Earth\u2019s\nCrust is composed, are not heaped together in a confused mass, but are\ndisposed with evident marks of definite and systematic arrangement.\nThis is an important truth, of which many examples are familiar to us\nall, though perhaps we do not all attend to their significance. Thus\nin a quarry, we see commonly enough first a bed of limestone, then\nabove that a bed of gravel, and higher still a bed of clay: and even\nthe limestone itself is not usually a compact mass, but is arranged in\nsuccessive layers, something like the successive courses of masonry in\na building. Now it appears that a very large proportion of the Earth\u2019s\nCrust is made up in this way of successive layers, or _strata_, as\nthey are called by Geologists. These _strata_ are composed of various\nsubstances, such as clay, chalk, sand, lime, and coal; and they present\neverywhere the same general appearances. They are known under the\ncommon name of Aqueous Rocks,[13] because it is believed that they\nwere originally formed under water; and here it is that the professors\nof Geology first come into collision with the popular notions that\nformerly prevailed.\n\nThey hold that these stratified rocks were not arranged as we see them\nnow, when the Earth first came from the hands of its Creator, but have\nbeen formed, during the lapse of unnumbered ages, by the operation\nof natural causes. Nay more, they have divided the rocks into sundry\nclasses, and they undertake to explain the particular process by which\neach several variety has been produced. First in order and importance\nare those which derive their existence from the mechanical force of\nmoving water. The materials of which they are composed first existed in\nthe form of minute particles, which were transported by the action of\nwater from one place to another; then they were spread out over a given\nsurface, just as we now see layers of sand, or mud, or gravel deposited\nnear the mouths of rivers, or in the estuaries of the sea, or even upon\nthe land itself during temporary inundations. Lastly, after a long\ninterval came the slow but certain process of consolidation. The fine\nsand was cemented together and became sandstone; the loose gravel by a\nsimilar process was transformed into a solid mass, known by the name of\nConglomerate or Pudding-stone; while the soft mud by simple pressure\nwas converted into a kind of slaty clay, called Shale. Thus from age to\nage Nature was ever building up new strata, and consolidating the old.\n\nNext in order are the Aqueous Rocks, which owe their origin to the\nagency of chemical laws. To this class belong many of our limestone\nformations. Large quantities of carbonate of lime are held in solution\nby water charged with carbonic acid gas: when the carbonic acid, in\ncourse of time, passes off, the carbonate of lime can no longer be held\nin solution, and it is accordingly precipitated in a solid form to\nthe bottom. In this manner was formed that peculiar kind of limestone\ncalled Travertine, which abounds in Italy, and which is well known\nto all who have visited Rome, as the stone of which the Coliseum was\nbuilt. A still more familiar example, on a small scale, is seen in the\ncase of Stalactites and Stalagmites. Water saturated with carbonic\nacid trickles down the sides, or drops from the roof of a limestone\ncavern. In its course it dissolves carbonate of lime, and holds it\nin solution; afterward, reaching the floor of the cavern, it slowly\nevaporates and leaves behind it a thin sheet of limestone which is\ncalled a Stalagmite; while the icicle-like pendants that are formed by\na similar process, on the roof of the cavern, are called Stalactites.\n\nThere is a third class of Aqueous Rocks which are supposed to be\nmade up almost exclusively of the fragmentary remains of plants and\nanimals, and are therefore called Organic. The well-known coral reefs,\nso dreaded by the sailor in tropical seas, are believed to be nothing\nmore than a mass of stony skeletons belonging to the minute marine\nanimalcules known among zoologists as Polyps or Zoophytes. These\nlittle creatures, existing together in countless multitudes, extract\ncarbonate of lime from the waters of the ocean in which they dwell, and\nby the action of their living organs, convert it into a solid frame\nor skeleton, which is called coral. From generation to generation the\nsame process has been going on during the long succession of Geological\nages; and huge masses of coral rock, hundreds of miles in length, have\nthus been slowly built up from fathomless depths of the ocean to within\na few feet of its surface. Our vast coal formations, on the other hand,\nafford a ready example of rocks which are chiefly composed of vegetable\nremains.\n\nSo much for the Aqueous or Stratified Rocks. Geology next brings before\nus another and a very different group, of which the origin is ascribed\nto fire, and which are consequently designated by the title of Igneous\nRocks. In their general appearance they are chiefly distinguished\nfrom the former by the absence of regular stratification; but they\nare, nevertheless, intersected by numerous planes of division, or\njoints, as they are called, and thus divided into blocks of various\nsize and form. Geologists believe that these rocks were at one time\nreduced to a molten state by the action of intense heat, and afterward\nallowed slowly to cool and to crystallize. They are divided into two\nclasses, the Plutonic and the Volcanic. The Plutonic Rocks are chiefly\ngranite of some kind or another; and though they now often appear at\nthe surface, they are supposed to have been produced originally at\na considerable depth within the crust of the Earth, \u201cor sometimes,\nperhaps, under a certain weight of incumbent ocean.\u201d[14] The Volcanic\nRocks have been formed at or near the surface of the Earth, and, as the\nname implies, they are usually ejected, in a state of fusion, from the\nfissures of an active volcano; though not unfrequently they assume the\nmore imposing form of basaltic columns, as at the Giant\u2019s Causeway in\nIreland, or on the island of Staffa near the coast of Argyleshire in\nScotland.\n\nOne group of rocks yet remains to be noticed. They have been called\nby various names at different times, but are now generally designated\nby the term Metamorphic. In some respects they resemble the Aqueous\nRocks, while, in others, they are more nearly allied to the Igneous.\nLike the former, they are stratified in their outward arrangement;\nlike the latter, they are more or less crystalline in their internal\ntexture. As to their origin, we are told that they were first deposited\nunder water, like the Aqueous Rocks, and that afterward their internal\nstructure was altered by the agency of subterranean heat. Hence the\nname Metamorphic, first suggested by Sir Charles Lyell, which conveys\nthe idea that these rocks have undergone a _change of form_. To this\ngroup belong many varieties of slate, and also the far-famed statuary\nmarble of Italy.\n\nOur readers will perceive from this brief outline that, if we follow\nthe theory of Geologists, the rocks which compose the Crust of the\nEarth may be conveniently divided, according to their origin, into\nthree leading groups, the Aqueous, the Igneous, and the Metamorphic.\nThe Aqueous are formed under water, either by the mechanical force of\nthe water itself when in motion, or by the agency of chemical laws,\nor by the intervention of organic life. Hence they are naturally\nsubdivided into three classes, the Mechanical, the Chemical, the\nOrganic. The Igneous Rocks are produced by heat, being first melted\nand then allowed to cool. When this process takes place under great\npressure in the depths of the Earth, the result is granite; and the\ngranite Rocks are called Plutonic: when near the surface, through the\nagency of a volcano, the Rocks so formed are called Volcanic. Lastly,\nthe Metamorphic Rocks are nothing else than Aqueous Rocks, of which the\ntexture has been altered by the action of intense heat.\n\nAs regards the relative order of position amongst these various classes\nof rocks, the lowest place seems uniformly to belong to the granitic or\nPlutonic group. It is true that the granite will often appear at the\nsurface of the Earth; but wherever there is a series of rocks piled one\nabove the other, the granite will always be the lowest. This assertion\nis based on two broad facts; first, whenever we get to the bottom\nof the other rocks, they are always found to rest on granite; and\nsecondly, no other rock has ever yet been found beneath it. From this\ncircumstance granite is conceived to be the solid foundation of the\nEarth\u2019s Crust, and so is often called fundamental granite. Above the\ngranite the Aqueous Rocks have been slowly spread out layer by layer\nduring the long lapse of ages, now in this part of the world, now in\nthat, according as each in its turn was exposed to the action of water.\nThe Volcanic Rocks do not occur in any fixed order of succession. They\nare distributed irregularly over almost every country of the globe,\noccurring sometimes in the form of cone-shaped mountains, sometimes in\nthe form of stately pillars, and sometimes in the form of massive solid\nwalls, called Dykes, forced right through the softer Aqueous Rocks,\nwhich were deposited on the surface of the Earth before the eruption.\nAs to the Metamorphic Rocks, which are supposed to owe their peculiar\ncharacter to the contact of molten mineral matter, wherever they occur,\nthey are found in the immediate neighborhood of some Igneous Rock.\n\nThe condition of the Earth beneath its thin external crust has never\nbeen the subject of direct observation; for Geologists have never yet\nbeen able to penetrate below the granite rocks. Nevertheless, this\nsubject has been often discussed, and has offered a wide field for\nphilosophical speculation. Upon one point all are agreed, that within\nthe Crust of the Earth an intense heat very generally prevails;--a heat\nso intense that it would be quite sufficient, acting under ordinary\ncircumstances, to reduce all known rocks to a state of igneous fusion.\nHence it was a common opinion among the older Geologists that the\ncondition of our globe is that of a vast central nucleus composed of\nmolten mineral, and covered over with a comparatively thin external\nshell of solid rock. The most eminent Geologists, however, of the\npresent day, hesitate to accept this opinion. They observe: (1) That\nwe have not yet learned what the material is of which the interior\nof the Earth is composed; therefore we cannot tell for certain what\ndegree of heat is sufficient to reduce that material to a liquid state.\n(2) It is uncertain how far the immense pressure at great depths may\noperate to keep matter in a solid state, even when raised to a very\nhigh degree of temperature. (3) There are certain astronomical and\nphysical difficulties involved in this theory, which have not yet been\nfully cleared up. Modern Geologists, therefore, proceeding with more\ncaution than their predecessors, while they regard the opinion as\nprobable, refuse to set it down as conclusively demonstrated. But, that\na very high temperature prevails in the interior of our globe, is a\nconclusion, they say, which is established by abundant evidence, and\nwhich may be regarded as morally certain.\n\nIt may be asked how the various strata of Aqueous Rocks, which\nconstitute the chief portion of the Earth\u2019s Crust, have been lifted up\nabove the level of the sea; for, according to our theory, they were all\nfirst deposited under water. This is a question that must inevitably\noccur to the mind of every reader, and Geologists are ready with an\nanswer. They tell us that from the earliest ages the Crust of the Earth\nhas been subject to disturbance and dislocation. At various times and\nin various places it was upheaved, and what had been before the bed of\nthe ocean became dry land; again it sunk below its former level, and\nwhat had been before dry land became the bed of the ocean. Thus, in the\nformer case a new stratum which had been deposited at the bottom of the\nsea, with all its varied remains of a bygone age, was converted for a\nseason into the surface of the Earth, and became the theatre of animal\nand vegetable life: while in the latter case, the old surface of the\nEarth with its countless tribes of animals and plants,--its _fauna_\nand _flora_ as they are called,--was submerged beneath the waters,\nthere to receive in its turn the broken up fragments of a former\nworld, deposited in the form of mud, or sand, or pebbles, or minute\nparticles of lime. Nor is this all; it is but a single link in the\nchain of Geological chronology. We are asked to believe that, in many\nparts of the globe, this upward and downward movement has been going on\nalternately for unnumbered ages; so that the very same spot which was\nfirst the bed of the ocean, was afterward dry land, then the bottom of\nan estuary or inland lake, then perhaps once more the floor of the sea,\nand then dry land again: and furthermore we are assured that, while\nit remained in each one of these various conditions, thousands and\nthousands of years may have rolled away.\n\nBut from what source does that mighty power come which can thus upheave\nthe solid Earth, and banish the ocean from its bed? We are told in\nreply that this giant power dwells in the interior of the Earth\nitself, and is no other than the subterranean heat of which we have\nalready spoken. This vast internal fire acts with unequal force upon\ndifferent parts of the shell or Crust of the Earth, uplifting it in\none place, and in another allowing it to subside. Now it is violent\nand convulsive, bursting asunder the solid rocks, and shaking the\nfoundations of the hills: again it is gentle and harmless, upheaving\nvast continents with a scarcely perceptible undulation, not unlike the\nlong, silent swell of the ocean. So it has been from the beginning,\nand so it is found to be even now, in this last age of the Geological\nCalendar. For even within historic times mountains have been suddenly\nupheaved from the level plain; and many parts of the Earth\u2019s Crust have\nbeen subject to a slow, wave-like movement, rising here and subsiding\nthere, at the rate of perhaps a few feet in a century. Sometimes,\ntoo, the fiery liquid itself has burst its barriers, and poured its\ndestructive streams of molten rock far down into the peaceful, smiling\nvalleys.\n\nThis theory of an internal disturbing force, which from time to time\nproduces elevations and depressions of the Earth\u2019s Crust, serves to\nexplain another phenomenon, that cannot fail to have struck even the\nleast observant eye. The Aqueous Rocks of mechanical formation are\nsaid to have been composed of minute fragments, which were first held\nsuspended in water, and afterward fell to the bottom. If this be true,\nit follows that these rocks, in the first period of their existence,\nmust have been arranged in beds parallel to the horizon, or nearly\nso. But we now find them, as everybody knows, in a great variety\nof positions: sometimes they are parallel to the horizon, sometimes\ninclined to it, sometimes at right angles to it; sometimes, too, they\nare broken right across, sometimes curved and twisted after a very\nfantastic fashion. Now, all these appearances are the natural results\nof an upheaving force acting irregularly from below on the solid shell\nof the Earth. When the subterranean fire is brought to bear equally at\nthe same time on a broad extent of surface, then the overlying strata\nare bodily lifted up, and preserve their horizontal position. But when\nthe whole force acts with local intensity on a very contracted area,\nthen, at that particular spot, the rocks above will be tilted up, and\ntheir position entirely changed. Sometimes they will be only bent and\ncrushed together, sometimes dislocated and turned over; sometimes,\nperhaps, a mountain will be formed, and the rocks before parallel\nto the horizon, will afterward remain parallel to the slopes of the\nmountain.\n\nThere is another process known by the name of Denudation, which we\ncannot pass over in silence, for it occupies a very important place in\nthe Natural History of our globe. Since time first began Denudation\nhas been ever going on at the surface of the Earth, and it has left\nits mark more or less distinctly upon every group of rocks, from the\nlowest to the highest. It includes all the various operations by which\nthe old existing rocks are broken up into fragments, or ground into\npowder, or worn away by friction, or dissolved by chemical action,\nand then transported from their former site to become the elements\nof new strata. Hence the name Denudation; since by these operations\nthe former surface of the Earth is carried away and a surface before\ncovered is _laid bare_. The amount of destruction effected by this\nprocess in each successive age is always equal to the bulk of Aqueous\nRocks formed within the same time. This will be at once understood\nwhen we remember that the Aqueous Rocks are produced, for the most\npart, by the deposition of sediment; and sediment is nothing else than\nthe fragments, more or less minute, of pre-existing rocks. What is\ndeposited on the bed of the ocean has been taken from the surface of\nthe land; and the new strata are built up from the ruins of the old.\nWhen we see a great building of stone towering aloft to the sky, we\nare certain that somewhere else on the Earth a quarry has been opened,\nand that the amount of excavation in the quarry is exactly represented\nby the bulk of solid masonry in the building. Just in the same way,\nthe mass of Aqueous Rocks is at once the monument and the measure of\nprevious Denudation.\n\nThe process of Denudation is the work of many and various natural\ncauses. Heat and cold, rain, hail, and snow, chemical affinities,\nthe atmosphere itself, all have a share in it; but the largest share\nbelongs to the mechanical action of moving water. Every little rill\nthat flows down the mountain side is charged with finely-powdered\nsediment which it is ever wearing away from the surface of its own\nbed. Every great stream, besides the immense quantities of mud and\nsand which in times of flood it carries along in its turbulent course,\nhas its channel strewn over with pebbles at which it never ceases to\nwork, rounding off the angles and polishing the surfaces; and these\npebbles, what are they but the fragments of old rocks and the elements\nof new,--the rubble-stone of Nature\u2019s edifice on its way from the\nquarry to the building? Then there are those mighty rivers, such as the\nAmazon, the Orinoco, the Mississippi, the Nile, the Ganges, discharging\ninto the sea day by day their vast freight of mineral matter, millions\nof cubic feet in bulk, and thousands upon thousands of tons in weight.\nOften this ponderous volume of mud or sand is carried far out to sea by\nthe action of currents, but sometimes it is deposited near the shore,\nforming what is called a Delta, and exhibiting an admirable example\nof stratified rock in the earliest stage of its existence. Lastly, we\nhave to notice the giant power of the great ocean itself, acting with\nuntiring energies on the coasts of continents and islands all over the\nworld, excavating and undermining cliffs, rolling huge rocks hither and\nthither, and spreading out the divided fragments in a new order at the\nbottom of the sea.\n\nTo apprehend fully the magnitude of the effects which may fairly be\nascribed to this last-mentioned power, we must remember that, according\nto Geological theory, almost every portion of the Earth\u2019s Crust has\nbeen more than once lifted up above the surface of the ocean, and\nafterward depressed below it. It is believed that this alternate\nrising and sinking was effected very often, perhaps most commonly,\nnot by sudden convulsions, but rather by slow or gradual movements.\nNow, during this process, as the land was emerging from the waters\nor sinking beneath them, new surfaces would be presented in each\nsucceeding century to the force of the ocean currents and the erosive\naction of the breakers; and it is not difficult to conceive that the\naccumulated ruins produced, in a long lapse of time, by destructive\nagents so powerful, so untiring, so universal, may have readily\nfurnished the materials for a very large proportion of the Aqueous\nRocks now in existence.\n\nHitherto we have considered the Crust of the Earth as a great structure\nslowly reared up by the hand of Nature; we have spoken of the Rocks\nthat compose it, of their origin and history, of the order in which\nthey are disposed, and of the various agencies that have been at\nwork to mould them into their present form and feature. We have now\nto contemplate this marvellous structure under a new aspect; for we\nare told by Geologists that it is a vast sepulchre, within which lie\nentombed the remains of life that has long since passed away. Each\nseries of strata is but a new range of tombs; and each tomb has a story\nof its own. Here a gigantic monster is disclosed to view, compared\nto which the largest beast that now roams through the forest is puny\nin form and contemptible in strength: there, within a narrow space,\nmillions of minute animal frames are found closely compacted together,\neach so small that its existence can be detected only by the aid of\na powerful microscope. In one place whole skeletons are found almost\nentire, embedded in the bosom of the solid rock; in another, we have a\nboundless profusion of bones and shells; and again in another, neither\nthe skeleton itself appears, nor yet its scattered bones, but simply\nthe imprint of footsteps once left upon the sandy beach, and still\nremaining engraved on the stone into which the fine sand has been\nconverted chiefly by the agency of pressure. There is no scarcity of\nrelics in this wonderful charnel-house of Nature. For half a century\nthe work of plunder has been going on without relaxation or remorse;\nthe tombs have been yielding up their dead; every city in the civilized\nworld has filled its museums, and the cabinets of private collectors\nare overflowing: but the spoils that have hitherto been carried away\nseem to bear a very small proportion to those which yet remain behind.\n\nThese remains of animals and plants embedded in the Crust of the\nEarth are called Fossils; and Geologists maintain that the Fossils\npreserved in each group of strata represent the animals and plants\nthat flourished on the surface of the Earth, or in the waters of the\nocean, when that group of strata was in process of formation. There\nthey lived, and there they died, and there they were buried, in the\nsand, or the shingle, or the mud that came down from the waters above.\nTheir descendants, however, still lived on, and new forms of life were\ncalled into being by the voice of the Omnipotent Creator, making, as\nit were, a connecting link between the new age of the world that was\ncoming in and the old one that was passing away. But they, too, died\nand found a tomb beneath the waters; for Nature, with unexhausted\nenergies, was still busy collecting materials from the old rocks, and\nbuilding up the new. And so that age passed away like the former, and\nanother came; and every age was represented by its own group of strata;\nand each group of strata was, in its turn, covered over with a new\ndeposit; and the tombs were all sealed up, with their countless legions\nof dead, their massive monuments of stone, their strange hieroglyphic\ninscriptions. At length came the last stage of the world\u2019s history, and\nman appeared upon the scene; and it is his privilege to descend into\nthis wonderful sepulchre, and to wander about amidst the monuments, and\nto strive to read the inscriptions. In our own days more especially,\neager and enthusiastic students are abroad over the whole face of the\nglobe, and are gathering together from every country the Fossil Remains\nof extinct worlds. By the aid of Natural History they seek to assign to\neach its own proper place in the ranks of creation; to trace the rise,\nthe progress, and the extinction of every species in its turn; and even\nto describe the nature and the character of all the various forms of\nlife that have dwelt upon the Earth from the beginning.\n\nSuch is the theory of Geology as expounded at the present day by its\nmost able and popular advocates. We have passed over a multitude of\nminor details that we might not weary our readers, and we have kept\naloof from disputed points that we might not get entangled in a purely\nscientific controversy. Our object has simply been to gather together\ninto a systematic form those more general conclusions which, however\nstartling they may seem to practical men of the world, and even to many\nof those whose minds have been accustomed to the pursuit of science\nin other departments, are nevertheless regarded as certain by all\nwho have devoted their lives to the study of Geology. It now remains\nto investigate the facts on which these conclusions are based, and\nto consider the line of argument by which so many able and earnest\nmen have been led to accept them. In this vast field of inquiry we\nshall chiefly direct our attention to those points that bear upon the\nAntiquity of the Earth; and in attempting to bring home to our readers\nthe nature and the force of Geological reasoning, we shall confine\nourselves altogether to simple and familiar illustrations.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER II._\n\nTHEORY OF DENUDATION ILLUSTRATED BY FACTS.\n\n  _Principle of reasoning common to all the physical sciences--This\n  principle applicable to Geology--Carbonic acid an agent\n  of denudation--Vast quantity of lime dissolved by the\n  waters of the Rhine and borne away to the German ocean--Disintegration\n  of rocks by frost--Professor Tyndall on the\n  Matterhorn--Running water--Its erosive power--An active\n  and unceasing agent of denudation--Mineral sediment carried\n  out to sea by the Ganges and other great rivers--Solid\n  rocks undermined and worn away--Falls of the Clyde at\n  Lanark--Excavating power of rivers in Auvergne and\n  Sicily--Falls of Niagara--Transporting power of running\n  water--Floods in Scotland--Inundation in the valley of\n  Bagnes in Switzerland._\n\n\nIn the physical sciences it is a common principle of reasoning to\naccount for the phenomena that come before us in nature, by the\noperation of natural causes which we know to exist. Nay, this principle\nseems to be almost an instinct of our nature, which guides even the\nleast philosophical amidst us, in the common affairs of life. When we\nstand amongst the ruins of an ancient castle, we feel quite certain\nthat we have before us, not alone the monument of Time\u2019s destroying\npower, but also the monument of human skill and labor in days gone\nby. We entertain no doubt that ages ago the sound of the mason\u2019s\nhammer was heard upon these walls, now crowned with ivy; that these\nmoss-grown stones were once hewn fresh in the quarry, and piled up one\nupon another by human hands; and that the building itself was designed\nby human skill, and intended for the purposes of human habitation and\ndefence. Or, if we see a footprint in the sand, we conclude that a\nliving foot has been there; and from the character of the traces it has\nleft, we judge what was the species of animal to which it belonged,\nwhether man, or bird, or beast. It is true that God is Omnipotent.\nHe might, if it had so pleased Him, have built the old castle at the\ncreation of the world, and allowed it to crumble slowly into ruins: or\nhe might have built it yesterday, and made a ruin begin to be where no\ncastle had stood before; and covered the stones with moss, and mantled\nthe walls in ivy. And as to the footprint in the sand, it were as easy\nfor Him to make the impress there, as to make the foot that left the\nimpress. All this is true: but yet if any one were to argue in this\nstyle against us, he would fail to shake our convictions; we should\nstill unhesitatingly believe that human hands once built the castle,\nand that a living foot once trod the shore.\n\nNow, this principle of reasoning is the foundation on which the ablest\nmodern Geologists claim to build their science. The untiring hand of\nNature is ever busy around us: they ask us to come and look at her\nworks, and to judge of what she has done in past ages, by that which\nshe is now doing before our eyes. She is still, they say, building\nup her strata all over the globe, of limestone, and sandstone, and\nclay; she is still lifting up in one place the bed of the ocean, and\nin another submerging the dry land; she is still bursting open the\nCrust of the Earth by the action of internal fire, disturbing and\ntilting up the horizontal strata; she is still upheaving her mountains\nand scooping out her valleys. All these operations are open to our\ninspection; we may go forth and study them for ourselves; we may\nexamine the works that are wrought, and we may discover, too, the\ncauses by which they are produced. And if it should appear that a very\nclose analogy exists between these works that are now coming into\nexistence, and the long series of works that are piled up in the Crust\nof the Earth, it is surely not unreasonable to refer the latter class\nof phenomena to the action of the same natural causes which we know to\nhave produced the former.\n\nIt cannot be denied that this argument is deserving of a fair and\ncandid consideration. Let us proceed, then, to examine how far it is\nfounded on fact, and how far it can be justly applied to the various\nheads of Geological theory. We will commence with the origin and\nhistory of Stratified Rocks; for this constitutes, in a manner, the\nframework on which the whole system of Geology is supported and held\ntogether. It is alleged that the elements of which Stratified Rocks are\ncomposed are but the broken fragments and minute atoms of pre-existing\nrocks, carried off by the agents of Denudation, and spread out over\nsome distant area in regular beds or layers; which, in progress of\nages, were slowly consolidated into rocks of various quality and\ntexture. With the view of testing this theory by the light of the\nprinciple just explained, we purpose, in the first place, to exhibit\nsome examples of the many forms in which the process of Denudation\nis going on at the present day all over the world; and afterward, to\nshow that out of the materials thus obtained Stratified Rocks of every\ndescription--Mechanical, Chemical, Organic--are being regularly built\nup in sundry places; and that these correspond in every essential\nfeature with the Stratified Rocks in the Crust of the Earth.\n\nAmong the chemical agents of Denudation, there is none more widely\ndiffused than Carbonic acid gas. It is everywhere given out by dead\nanimal and vegetable matter during the process of putrefaction; it is\nplentifully evolved from springs in every country; and it is emitted\nin enormous quantities from the earth in all volcanic districts, as\nwell those in which the volcanoes are now extinct as those in which\nthey are active. Now, it is well known from observation, that carbonic\nacid has the property of decomposing many of the hardest rocks,\nespecially those in which felspar is an ingredient. This phenomenon\nis exhibited on a large scale in the ancient volcanic district of\nAuvergne, in central France. The carbonic acid, which is abundantly\nevolved from the earth, penetrates the crevices and pores of the solid\ngranite, which being unable to resist its decomposing action, is\nrapidly crumbling to pieces. This mysterious decay of hard rock has\nbeen happily called by Dolomieu, \u201cla maladie du granite.\u201d[15]\n\nAgain, all the water which flows over the surface of the land is highly\ncharged with carbonic acid. The rain imbibes it in falling through the\natmosphere; and the rivers receive still further accessions from the\nearth as they pursue their course to the sea. In this combination we\ndiscover a powerful agent of Denudation; for limestone rock will be\ndissolved by water which is impregnated with carbonic acid. Thus all\nthe rivers and streams in the world, when they flow through a limestone\nchannel, are constantly dissolving the solid rock and bearing away the\nelements of which it is composed. A single example will be sufficient\nto show the magnitude of the results which are thus produced. It has\nbeen calculated by Bischof, a celebrated German chemist, that the\ncarbonate of lime which is carried each year to the sea by the waters\nof the Rhine, is sufficient for the formation of 32,000,000,000 of\noyster shells; or, to view the matter in another light, it would be\nsufficient to produce a stratum of limestone one foot thick, and four\nsquare miles in extent.[16] If such be the yearly produce of one\nriver, how great must be the accumulated effects of all the rivers in\nthe world since our planet first came from the hand of its Creator!\n\nPassing from the chemical to the mechanical agents of Denudation, it\nis worth while to notice the immense power which is often generated by\nthe agency of frost, especially in those countries that are subject to\ngreat vicissitudes of heat and cold. During a thaw, water finds its way\ninto the clefts and joints by which all rocks are traversed, and when\nit is afterward converted into ice, it expands with a mechanical force\nthat is almost irresistible. The hardest rocks are burst asunder, great\nblocks are detached from the mountain side, and sent rolling down its\nslopes, or tumbling over crags and precipices, until at length they\ncome to rest in shattered fragments at the bottom of the valley. In\nthis condition they await but the coming of the winter\u2019s torrent to be\nborne still further on their long journey to the sea.\n\nThe fearful havoc done in this way by the alternate action of sun and\nfrost contributes in no small degree to the fantastic and picturesque\nforms assumed by the mountain peaks of Switzerland. Huge masses of\nrock have been literally hewn away, until nothing has remained behind\nbut those splintered obelisks and tapering pinnacles so familiar to\nthe eye amidst the sublime scenery of the Alps. Indeed one of the\ngreatest perils encountered by the adventurous spirits whose ambition\nit is to rival one another in the danger of their exploits, and to\nclimb whatever was before regarded as inaccessible, arises from the\nenormous fragments of rock which are rent almost unceasingly from the\noverhanging crags and hurled into the abysses below them. The following\nincident related by Professor Tyndall is very much to the point. \u201cWe\nhad gathered up our things, and bent to the work before us, when\nsuddenly an explosion occurred overhead. Looking aloft, in mid-air was\nseen a solid shot from the Matterhorn describing its proper parabola\nthrough the air. It split to pieces as it hit one of the rock-towers\nbelow, and its fragments came down in a kind of spray, which fell wide\nof us, but still near enough to compel a sharp look out. Two or three\nsuch explosions occurred afterward, but we crept along the back fin of\nthe mountain, from which the falling boulders were speedily deflected\nright and left.\u201d\n\nThis occurred in 1862, on the occasion of an unsuccessful attempt\nto reach the highest peak of the Matterhorn. Six years later, when\nProfessor Tyndall at length actually accomplished the object on which\nhe seems to have set his heart, he found the work of destruction\nstill going on. \u201cWe were now,\u201d he says in his narrative, \u201cbeside a\nsnow-gully, which was cut by a deep furrow along its centre, and\notherwise scarred by the descent of stones. Here each man arranged his\nbundle and himself so as to cross the gully in the minimum of time. The\npassage was safely made, a few flying shingle only coming down upon us.\nBut danger declared itself where it was not expected. Joseph Maquignas\nled the way up the rocks. I was next, Pierre Maquignas next, and last\nof all the porters. Suddenly a yell issued from the leader: \u2018Cachez\nvous!\u2019 I crouched instinctively against the rock, which formed a by no\nmeans perfect shelter, when a boulder buzzed past me through the air,\nsmote the rocks below me, and with a savage hum flew down to the lower\nglacier.\u201d[17]\n\nEven in our own country, every one is familiar with the efficacy of\nfrozen water in producing landslips. The rain which soaks into the\nground in winter, is converted into ice when frost sets in; and upon\nsteep slopes or precipices, its expansive power bursts open the earth,\nand causes large masses of stones and clay to tumble headlong to the\nbottom.\n\nBut moving water constitutes the most powerful, and, at the same\ntime, the most universal agent of Denudation. And it is chiefly to the\neffects of moving water that we mean to direct attention; because its\naction is more striking to the eye, and more easily understood by the\ngeneral reader. Every one is aware that the waters of the ocean are\nconstantly passing off by evaporation into the higher regions of the\natmosphere, and are there condensed into clouds. These clouds in course\nof time descend upon all parts of the earth, but especially on the high\nand mountainous districts. Then rivulets are formed which flow smoothly\ndown the gentle slopes of the undulating country, or plunge headlong\nover the rocky mountain cliffs; and the rivulets uniting form streams,\nand the streams, receiving new tributaries as they advance, become\nrivers; and the rivers flow on to the sea, and discharge each day and\neach hour their enormous volumes of water back again into the ocean\nfrom which they came. Thus all the water of the world is constantly\nin motion, ever hurrying on, as it were, in one unending round of\nduty. This is the teaching of daily experience and observation. And\nwe may add, it is the teaching of Sacred Scripture as well. The Wise\nMan said long ago: \u201cAll the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea doth\nnot overflow: unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they\nreturn to flow again.\u201d[18]\n\nNow, the power of this moving water is a mighty wide-spread agent of\nchange in the physical condition of the globe. For wherever water is in\nmotion over the surface of the land, whether it be a rippling stream,\nor a mountain torrent, or a majestic river, it is surely wearing away\nthe channel through which it flows, and carrying along in its course\nparticles of clay, or sand, or gravel. This subject is illustrated with\ngreat force and great simplicity by Mr. Page. \u201cEvery person,\u201d he says,\n\u201cmust have observed the rivers in his own district, how they become\nmuddy and turbid during floods of rain, and how their swollen currents\neat away the banks, deepen the channels, and sweep away the sand and\ngravel down to some lower level. And if, during this turbid state, he\nwill have the curiosity to lift a gallon of the water, and allow it\nto settle, he will be astonished at the amount of sediment or solid\nmatter that falls to the bottom. Now, let him multiply this gallon by\nthe number of gallons daily carried down by the river, and this day\nby years and centuries, and he will arrive at some faint idea of the\nquantity of matter worn from the land by rivers, and deposited by them\nin the ocean. In the same way as one river grinds and cuts for itself a\nchannel, so does every stream and rill and current of water. The rain\nas it falls washes away what the winds and frosts have loosened; the\nrill takes it up, and, mingling it with its own burden, gives it to the\nstream; the stream takes it up and carries it to the river, and the\nriver bears it to the ocean.\u201d[19]\n\nWhen the current is feeble, the greater part of this earthy material is\nthrown down upon the way, and forms a stratum of alluvial soil in the\nbed of the river, and also in the adjoining lowlands, during the time\nof temporary floods. But when several streams unite, then the carrying\npower of the current is enormously increased: huge stones are rolled\nalong, and dashed one against another, and broken into fragments, and\nthe fragments are rounded by friction, and become pebbles, and the\npebbles become gravel, and the gravel, mud; and the mud is carried on\nto the mouth of the river, and there falling to the bottom, it forms a\ntongue of land which is called a delta; or else perhaps it chances to\nmeet with some great ocean current, and then it begins a new journey,\nand is borne far away to be deposited in the profound and tranquil\ndepths of the sea. It is not, however, mineral matter alone that is\ntransported by the action of rivers. Trees that once were growing on\nthe banks of the stream, and the bones of animals, and human remains,\nand works of art, are seen floating down with the current, and are\nfound embedded in the sand and mud of the delta at the river\u2019s mouth.\n\nThese are some of the actual realities which all may witness, who will\ngo and study for themselves the history of this wonderful element,\nfrom the time when it first soars aloft as vapor to the sky, until it\nreturns to the bosom of its parent ocean laden with the spoils of the\nland. To some of our readers, perhaps, results of this kind may appear\ninsignificant, when considered in relation to the enormous bulk of the\nstratified rocks. But it should be remembered that the force of which\nwe speak is unceasing in its operation over the whole surface of the\nearth; and even though the work were small which is accomplished in\neach successive year, the accumulated effects produced in a lengthened\nperiod of time must be immensely great. Besides, it would be a very\nserious error to form our ideas on this subject, as many would seem to\ndo, from the examples which are to be found within the narrow limits of\nour own island. We should rather seek for our illustrations among those\nmighty rivers that drain the vast continents of the world, and exhibit\nthe erosive and transporting power of running water on the grandest\nscale.\n\nIt happens, fortunately for our purpose, that an attempt has been\nmade by scientific men to compute the amount of matter discharged\ninto the sea, by some particular rivers within a given time. For such\na computation it is necessary, in the first place, to calculate the\nvolume of water that passes down the channel during that time; and\nthen, by repeated experiments, to ascertain the average proportion of\nearthy matter which is held suspended in the water. This has been done\nwith the greatest care by the Rev. Mr. Everest, in the case of the\nriver Ganges; and it appears that during the rainy season, which lasts\nfour months every year, from June to September, about 6,000,000,000\ncubic feet of mud are carried along by the stream past the town of\nGhazepoor, near which the observations were made. Now this enormous\nbulk of mineral matter would be sufficient to form a stratum of rock\none foot in height, and two hundred and eighteen square miles in\nextent. Or, to adopt the computation of Sir Charles Lyell, the amount\nwhich passes by every day is equal to that which might be transported\nby 2000 Indiamen, each freighted with a cargo of mud 1400 tons in\nweight. And it is important to remember that this estimate represents\nbut a portion of the sediment which passes into the sea through the\nchannel of the Ganges; for the observations of Mr. Everest were taken\nat a point which is 500 miles from the sea, and at which the river has\nnot yet received the contributions of its largest tributaries.\n\nWe are able, therefore, with some degree of confidence, to estimate\nthe amount of Denudation which is every year effected by the Ganges.\nAnd, although the same calculations have not yet been applied with\nequal care to other great rivers, there is no reason to suppose that\nthe Ganges is an exception. It is asserted on good grounds that the\nBrahmapootra, which unites with the Ganges close to the Bay of Bengal,\ncarries with it an equal amount of earthy sediment. According to Sir\nCharles Lyell, the quantity of solid matter brought down each year by\nthe Mississippi amounts to 3,702,758,400 cubic feet. And it is said\nthat 48,000,000 cubic feet of earth are _daily_ discharged into the sea\nby the Yellow River in China, called by the natives the Hoang Ho.[20]\nThus year after year the waste of the land is carried away by rivers,\nto be spread out over wide areas of the ocean, and perhaps to furnish\nthe materials of future continents.\n\nThe effects of running water in wearing away and transporting masses\nof solid rock are not less deserving of our notice. Every one who has\nfollowed the course of a great river when it flows through a rocky\nchannel, must have observed large blocks projecting from the cliffs\nabove, which, having been undermined by the action of the water, seem\nready to tumble headlong into the stream; and others lying below, which\nhad fallen before; and others again which had been already carried a\nconsiderable distance by the winter\u2019s torrent. Even where the rocks\nare not displaced, they are gradually being worn away, partly by the\nfriction of the water, but much more by the grinding action of the\ngravel which the water holds in suspension. Not only is the surface of\nthe rocks thus rounded and polished, but large circular pits, called\n_pot-holes_, are formed by the whirling waters of an eddy carrying\nround and round a few grains of hard sand.\n\nAt the falls of the Clyde near Lanark in Scotland, these various\nphenomena may be seen to great advantage. Good illustrations are to\nbe found also in many volcanic regions. Some of the larger streams in\nAuvergne have in course of time forced their way through the solid lava\nrock, cutting out for themselves channels broad and deep. In Sicily\ntoo, we are told, the river Simeto, whose course was blocked up by a\ncurrent of lava about the beginning of the seventeenth century, has\nsince that time eaten its way through this compact and hardened mass,\nand now flows on to the sea through a rocky passage forty feet in depth\nand from fifty to several hundred feet in width.[21]\n\nBut there is no part of the world yet explored where these effects\nare exhibited on the same gigantic scale as at the far-famed Falls\nof Niagara. The massive limestone rock from which the waters are\nprecipitated is slowly but certainly disappearing. An enormous volume\nof water, more than a third of a mile in breadth, plunges in a single\nbound over a sheer precipice of one hundred and sixty-five feet. The\nsoft slaty rocks upon which the limestone rests are soon eaten away\nby the action of the spray which rises from the pool below; and then\nthe overhanging cliffs, left without any support, topple over, and\nare carried off by the torrent. The position of the Falls, therefore,\nis not stationary, but is receding by very sensible degrees in the\ndirection of Lake Erie, from which the river flows. Speaking of this\nphenomenon, Sir Charles Lyell observes with much show of reason: \u201cThe\nidea of perpetual and progressive waste is constantly present to the\nmind of every beholder: and as that part of the chasm which has been\nthe work of the last hundred and fifty years resembles precisely in\ndepth, width, and character the rest of the gorge, which extends seven\nmiles below, it is most natural to infer, that the entire ravine has\nbeen hollowed out in the same manner, by the recession of the cataract.\nIt must at least be conceded, that the river supplies an adequate cause\nfor executing the whole task thus assigned to it, provided we grant\nsufficient time for its completion.\u201d[22]\n\nWith a view to enable our readers to understand more fully the\nprodigious force which rivers have been known to exert in the\ntransportation of rocks, it may be useful to draw attention to one or\ntwo principles of physical science. First, we have the well-known law\nof Archimedes, that _a solid body immersed in a liquid loses a part\nof its weight equal to the weight of the liquid displaced_. Now solid\nrock as compared with water, bulk for bulk, is rarely more than three\ntimes, and often not more than twice as heavy. Consequently, according\nto this law, almost all rocks will lose a third of their weight, and\nmany will lose one-half, when immersed in water. Again, it has been\nestablished that _the power of water to move bodies that are in it\nincreases as the sixth power of the velocity of the current_. Hence,\nif the velocity of a current is increased _two-fold_, its moving power\nwill be increased _sixty-four fold_; if the velocity is increased\n_three-fold_, the moving power will be increased _seven hundred and\ntwenty fold_; and so on.\n\nFrom these principles it follows, first, that a much smaller power is\nrequired to move a block of stone lying in the bed of a river, than if\nit were lying on the surface of the land; and secondly, that a very\nslight increase in the velocity of a current effects a very great\nincrease in its moving power. We need not wonder, then, when we hear of\nthe enormous masses of rocks and trees and mason-work which are carried\naway even by small rivers in times of flood.[23]\n\nHere are a few examples. In August, 1829, a fragment of sandstone,\nfourteen feet long, three feet wide, and one foot thick, was carried\nby the river Nairn, in Scotland, a distance of two hundred yards. On\nthe same occasion the river Dee swept away a bridge of five arches,\nbuilt of solid granite, which had stood uninjured for twenty years;\nthe whole mass of masonry sunk into the bed of the stream and was\nseen no more. And the river Don, as we are assured on the authority\nof Mr. Farquharson, forced a mass of stones four or five hundred\ntons in weight up a steep inclined plane, leaving them in a great\nrectangular heap on the summit. A small rivulet called the College, in\nNorthumberland, when swollen by a flood in August, 1827, \u201ctore away\nfrom the abutment of a mill-dam a large block of greenstone-porphyry\nweighing nearly two tons, and transported it to the distance of a\nquarter of a mile.\u201d[24] But it is needless to multiply examples of\nphenomena which are occurring every day around us, and of which many\namong our readers have probably been eye-witnesses.\n\nThe transporting power of rivers must not always be estimated by the\nbulk and velocity of the current; for it is often greatly increased by\nsome accidental obstruction, which for a time blocks up the channel\nthrough which the river flows. An instructive illustration is afforded\nby the river Dranse, which flows through the valley of Bagnes, in\nSwitzerland, and empties itself into the Rhone above the lake of\nGeneva. In the year 1818 the avalanches which fell down from the\nmountain side formed a barrier across the valley, and thus effectually\nblocked up the course of the stream. The upper part of the valley was,\nin consequence, soon converted into a lake which gradually increased in\nsize as the season advanced. When summer came, and the melting of the\nsnows began, the ice barrier suddenly gave way with a tremendous crash,\nand the lake was emptied in half an hour. The mass of water, thus in\na moment disengaged, burst with destructive violence over the lower\nvalley, sweeping away rocks, forests, houses, bridges, and cultivated\nlands. Thousands of trees were torn up by the roots, fragments of\ngranite as large as houses were rolled along, and the whole flood\npresented the appearance of a moving mass of ruins.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER III._\n\nTHEORY OF DENUDATION--FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n    _The breakers of the ocean--Caverns and fairy bridges\n    of Kilkee--Italy and Sicily--The Shetland Islands--East\n    and south coast of Britain--Tracts of land swallowed up\n    by the sea--Island of Heligoland--Northstrand--Tides and\n    currents--South Atlantic current--Equatorial current--The Gulf\n    Stream--Its course described--Examples of its power as an agent\n    of transport._\n\n\nWhile the rain, the rivers, and the streams, are thus wasting away\nthe mountains and plains of the interior country, the waves of the\nsea are exerting a power no less destructive on the coasts of islands\nand of continents. The breakers dashing against the foot of a lofty\ncliff, dissolve and decompose and wear away the lower strata; and\nthe overhanging rocks, thus undermined, fall down in course of time\nby their own weight. With the next returning wave these rocks are\nthemselves hurled back against the cliff; and so, as some one has\nhappily remarked, the land would seem to supply a powerful artillery\nfor its own destruction. The effects of the breakers are often very\nunequal, even on the same line of cliffs. Some parts of the rock are\nmore yielding than others, or perhaps they are more exposed to the\naction of the waves, or perhaps they are divided by larger joints and\nmore freely admit the destructive element. These parts will be the\nfirst to give way, while the harder and less exposed rock will be left\nstanding: and in this way forms the most capricious and fantastic are\nproduced.\n\nNo finer examples could be wished for than those which are seen in the\nneighborhood of Kilkee, and along the promontory of Loop Head, in the\ncounty of Clare. Sometimes the ground is undermined with caverns, into\nwhich, when the tide is coming in, the waves of the Atlantic rush with\nresistless force, making new additions each day to the accumulated\nruins of ages. Sometimes lofty pinnacles of rock are left standing in\nthe midst of the waters, like giant sentinels stationed there by Nature\nto guard the coast. In one or two instances these isolated fragments\nare connected with the main land by natural arches of rock, which are\ncalled _fairy bridges_ by the people; but more commonly they appear as\nrocky islets, and answer exactly to the poet\u2019s description--\n\n                            \u201cThe roaring tides\n    The passage broke that land from land divides;\n    And where the lands retired the rushing ocean rides.\u201d\n\nIt is interesting to observe in passing, that, in the original verses\nof the \u00c6neid, of which these lines are Dryden\u2019s translation, Virgil\nhas recorded a belief which prevailed in his time, and which, upon\nscientific grounds, is now regarded as highly probable by Geologists,\nthat the island of Sicily had been once connected by land with Italy,\nand was separated from it by the action of the waves:\n\n        \u201cH\u00e6c loca, vi quondam et vasta convulsa ruina,\n        Tantum \u00e6vi longinqua valet mutare vetustas!\n        Dissiluisse ferunt, quum protenus utraque tellus\n        Una foret; venit medio vi pontus et undis\n        Hesperium Siculo latus abscidit, arvaque et urbes\n        Litore deductas angusto interluit \u00e6sta.\u201d\n\n        \u00c6neid, iii., 414-19.\n\nBut whatever may be thought of this opinion thus rendered immortal\nby the genius of the poet, we shall not stop to discuss its merits.\nFor in the present stage of our argument, it is our object to deal,\nnot with vague and uncertain traditions, nor even with philosophical\nspeculations, but rather with the facts which are actually going on in\nnature, and which any one of our readers may examine for himself. With\nthis object in view, we shall take a few examples from the Eastern and\nSouthern coasts of Great Britain, which have been carefully explored by\nscientific men for the purpose of observing and recording the amount of\ndestruction accomplished by the waves within recent times.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 1.--Granitic rocks to the south of Hillswick Ness,\nShetland. From Lyell\u2019s Principles of Geology.]\n\nThe Shetland Islands, exposed to the whole fury of the Atlantic,\npresent many phenomena not unlike those of Kilkee and Loop Head, but\nupon a far grander scale. Whole islands have been swept away by the\nresistless power of the waters, and of others nothing remains but\nmassive pillars of hard rock, which have been well described as rising\nup \u201clike the ruins of Palmyra in the desert of the ocean.\u201d Passing\nto the mainland, it is recorded that in the year 1795 a village in\nKincardineshire was carried away in a single night, and the sea\nadvanced a hundred and fifty yards inland, where it has ever since\nmaintained its ground. In England, almost the whole coast of Yorkshire\nis undergoing constant dilapidation. On the south side of Flamborough\nHead the cliffs are receding at an average rate of two yards and a\nquarter in the year, for a distance of thirty-six miles along the\ncoast. This would amount to a mile since the Norman Conquest, and\nto more than two miles since the occupation of York by the Romans.\nIt is not surprising, therefore, to learn that many spots marked in\nthe old maps of the country as the sites of towns or villages, are\nnow sandbanks in the sea. Even places of historic name have not been\nspared. The town of Ravenspur, from which, in 1332, Edward Baliol\nsailed for the invasion of Scotland, and at which Henry the Fourth\nlanded in 1399, to claim the throne of England, has long since been\nswallowed up by the devouring element.\n\nOn the coast of Norfolk it was calculated, at the beginning of the\npresent century, that the mean loss of the land was something less\nthan one yard in the year. The inn at Sherringham was built on\nthis calculation in 1805, and it was expected to stand for seventy\nyears. But unfortunately the actual advance of the sea exceeded the\ncalculation. Sir Charles Lyell, who visited this spot in 1829, relates\nthat during the five preceding years seventeen yards of the cliff had\nbeen swept away, and nothing but a small garden was then left between\nthe building and the sea. The same distinguished writer tells us that\nin the harbor of this town there was at that time water sufficient to\nfloat a frigate where forty-eight years before had stood a cliff fifty\nfeet in height with houses built upon it. And remarking upon these\nfacts, he says, that \u201cif once in half a century an equal amount of\nchange were produced suddenly by the momentary shock of an earthquake,\nhistory would be filled with records of such wonderful revolutions of\nthe earth\u2019s surface; but if the conversion of high land into deep sea\nbe gradual, it excites only local attention.\u201d\n\nIn the neighborhood of Dunwich, once the most considerable seaport on\nthe coast of Suffolk, the cliffs have been wasting away from an early\nperiod of history. \u201cTwo tracts of land which had been taxed in the\ntime of King Edward the Confessor, are mentioned in the Conqueror\u2019s\nsurvey, made but a few years afterward, as having been devoured by the\nsea.\u201d And the memory of other losses in the town itself--including a\nmonastery, several churches, the town-hall, the jail, and many hundred\nhouses--together with the dates of their occurrence, is faithfully\npreserved in authentic records. In 1740 the sea reached the churchyard\nof Saint Nicholas and Saint Francis, so that the graves, the coffins,\nand the skeletons, were exposed to view on the face of the cliffs.\nSince that time the coffins, and the tombstones, and the churchyard\nitself, have disappeared beneath the waves. Nothing now remains of this\nonce flourishing and populous city but the name alone, which is still\nattached to a little village of about twenty houses. The spot on which\nthe Church of Reculver stands, near the mouth of the Thames, was a\nmile inland in the reign of Henry the Eighth; in the year 1834 it was\noverhanging the sea; and it would long ago have been demolished, but\nfor an artificial causeway of stones constructed with a view to break\nthe force of the waves. It is estimated that the land on the northeast\ncoast of Kent is receding at the rate of about two feet in the year.\nThe promontory of Beachy Head in Sussex is also rapidly falling away.\nIn the year 1813 an enormous mass of chalk, three hundred feet in\nlength and eighty in breadth, came down with a tremendous crash; and\nslips of the same kind have often occurred, both before and since.\n\nTo these examples from Great Britain we may add one or two from the\nGerman Ocean. Seven islands have completely disappeared within a very\nnarrow area since the time of Pliny; for he counted twenty-three\nbetween Texel and the mouth of the Eider, whereas now there are but\nsixteen. The island of Heligoland, at the mouth of the Elbe, has been\nfor ages subject to great dilapidation. Within the last five hundred\nyears three-fourths of it have been carried away; and since 1770 the\nfragment that remains has been divided into two parts by a channel\nwhich is at present navigable for large ships. A still more remarkable\ninstance of destruction effected by the waves of the sea occurred in\nthe island of Northstrand, on the coast of Schleswig. Previous to the\nthirteenth century it was attached to the mainland, forming a part\nof the continent of Europe, and was a highly cultivated and populous\ndistrict about ten miles long, and from six to eight broad. In the year\n1240 it was cut off from the coast of Schleswig by an inroad of the\nsea, and it gradually wasted away up to the seventeenth century, when\nits entire circumference was sixteen geographical miles. Even then the\nindustrious inhabitants,--about nine thousand in number,--endeavored to\nsave what remained of their territory by the erection of lofty dykes;\nbut on the eleventh of October, 1634, the whole island was overwhelmed\nby another invasion of the sea, in which 6000 people perished, and\n50,000 head of cattle. Three small islets are all that now remain of\nthis once fertile district.[25]\n\nThe breakers of the ocean receive no small aid in their work of\ndestruction from the action of tides and currents which co-operate with\nthe winds to keep the waters of the sea in constant motion. And though\nthe winds may sleep for a time, the tides and currents are always\nactively at work, and never for a moment cease to wear away the land.\nBut they are even more powerful auxiliaries as agents of transport. If\nit were not for them, the ruins which fall from the rocks to-day would\nto-morrow form a barrier against the waves, and the work of destruction\nwould cease. But Nature has ordained it otherwise. When the tide\nadvances, it rolls the broken fragments toward the land, and when it\nrecedes, it carries them back to the deep; and so by unceasing friction\nthese fragments are worn away to pebbles, and then, being more easily\ntransported, they are carried off to sea and deposited in the bed of\nthe ocean: or else, perhaps, they are cast up on the sloping shore, to\nform what is so familiar to us all under the name of a shingle-beach.\n\nThis is a subject on which it is needless to enlarge. Every one\nknows that the tides have the power of transporting solid matter;\nthough most of us, perhaps, do not fully appreciate the magnitude of\ntheir accumulated effects, working as they do with untiring energies\nupon the coasts of islands and continents all over the world. It is\nnot, however, so generally known that the ocean is traversed in all\ndirections by powerful currents, which, from their regularity, their\npermanence, and their extent, have been aptly called the rivers of\nthe ocean. We do not mean here to inquire into the causes of these\ncurrents, upon which the progress of physical science has thrown\nconsiderable light: neither can we hope to describe even the principal\ncurrents that prevail over the vast tracts of water which constitute\nabout three-fourths of the entire surface of our globe. We shall\ncontent ourselves with tracing the course of one great system, which\nmay serve to give some idea of their general character and enormous\npower.\n\nThis system would seem to have its origin with a stream that flows from\nthe Indian Ocean toward the southwest, and then doubling the Cape of\nGood Hope, turns northward along the African coast. It is here called\nthe South Atlantic Current. When it encounters the shores of Guinea, it\nis diverted to the west, and stretches across the Atlantic, traversing\nforty degrees of longitude until it reaches the projecting promontory\nof Brazil in South America. In this part of its course it is known as\nthe Equatorial Current, because it follows pretty nearly the line of\nthe Equator: it varies in breadth from two hundred to five hundred\nmiles, and it travels at the mean rate of thirty miles a day, though\nsometimes its velocity is increased to seventy or eighty. Next, under\nthe name of the Guyana Current, it pursues a northwesterly direction,\nfollowing the line of the coast; and passing close to the island\nof Trinidad, becomes diffused, and almost seems to be lost, in the\nCaribbean Sea. Nevertheless, it again issues with renewed energy from\nthe Gulf of Mexico, and rushing through the Straits of Florida at the\nrate of four and five miles an hour, it issues once more into the broad\nwaters of the Atlantic. From this out it is called the Gulf Stream, and\nis well known to all who are concerned in Transatlantic navigation;\nfor it sensibly accelerates the speed of vessels which are bound from\nAmerica to Europe, and sensibly retards those sailing from Europe to\nAmerica.\n\nThe Gulf Stream, however, does not set out on its Transatlantic voyage\ndirectly that it issues from the Straits of Florida. It keeps at\nfirst a northeasterly course, following the outline of the American\ncontinent, passing by New York and Nova Scotia, and brushing the\nsouthern extremity of the great Newfoundland Bank. Then taking leave\nof the land, it sweeps right across the Atlantic. After a time it\nseems to divide into two branches, one inclining to the south, and\nlosing itself among the Azores, the other bending toward the north,\nwashing the shores of Ireland, Scotland, Norway, and reaching even to\nthe frozen regions of Spitzbergen. The breadth of the Gulf Stream,\nwhen it issues from the Straits of Florida, is about fifty miles, but\nit afterward increases to three hundred. Its color is a dark indigo\nblue, which, contrasting sharply with the green waters of the Atlantic,\nforms a line of junction distinctly visible for some hundreds of miles:\nafterward, when this boundary line is no longer sensible to the eye, it\nis easily ascertained by the thermometer; for the temperature of the\nGulf Stream is everywhere from eight to ten degrees higher than that of\nthe surrounding ocean.[26]\n\nWe leave our readers to infer from this brief description how immense\nmust be the power of transport which belongs to such currents as\nthese. They sweep along the shores of continents, and carry away the\naccumulated fragments of rock, which had first been rent from the\ncliffs by the waves of the sea, and then borne out to a little distance\nby the tides: they pass by the mouths of great rivers, and receiving\nthe spoils of many a fertile and populous country, and the ruins of\nmany an inaccessible mountain ridge, they hurry off to deposit this\nvast and varied freight in the deep abysses of the ocean. There is one\ncircumstance, however, which we ought not to pass over in silence; for\nit is of especial importance to the Geologist, and might easily escape\nthe notice of the general reader. It is a well ascertained fact that\nplants and fruits and other objects from the West Indian Islands are\nannually washed ashore by the Gulf Stream on the northwestern coasts of\nEurope. The mast of a man-of-war burnt at Jamaica was after some months\nfound stranded on one of the Western Islands of Scotland;[27] and\nGeneral Sabine tells us that when he was in Norway, in the year 1823,\ncasks of palm-oil were picked up on the shore near the North Cape,\nwhich belonged to a vessel that had been wrecked the previous year at\nCape Lopez on the African coast.[28] It seems most probable that these\ncasks of oil must first have crossed the Atlantic from east to west in\nthe Equatorial Current, then described the circuit of the West Indian\nIslands, and finally coming in with the Gulf Stream, recrossed the\nAtlantic, performing altogether a journey of more than eight thousand\nmiles. From these facts it is clear that, by the agency of ocean\ncurrents, the productions of one country may be carried to another\nthat is far distant. And Geologists do not fail to make use of this\nimportant conclusion when they find the animal and vegetable remains of\ndifferent climates associated together in the same strata of the Earth.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER IV._\n\nTHEORY OF DENUDATION--CONCLUDED.\n\n    _Glaciers--Their nature and composition--Their unceasing\n    motion--Powerful agents of denudation--Icebergs--Their\n    number and size--Erratic blocks and loose gravel spread out\n    over mountains, plains, and valleys, at the bottom of the\n    sea--Characteristic marks of moving ice--Evidence of ancient\n    glacial action--Illustrations from the Alps--From the mountains\n    of the Jura--Theory applied to northern Europe--To Scotland,\n    Wales, and Ireland--The fact of denudation established--Summary\n    of the evidence--This fact the first step in geological theory._\n\n\nThe next agent of Denudation to which we invite the attention of our\nreaders, is one of which our own country affords us no example, but\nwhich may be seen in full operation amidst the wild and impressive\nscenery of Switzerland. And we know not how we can better introduce the\nsubject than by the solemn address of a great poet, in whom an ardent\nlove of nature was blended with a deep sense of religion. As he stood\nin the midst of the snow-clad mountains that shut in the valley of\nChamouni, his spirit, \u201cexpanded by the genius of the spot,\u201d soared away\nfrom the scenes before him to the Great Invisible Author of all that is\nbeautiful and sublime in nature, and he poured forth that well-known\nhymn of praise and worship in which he thus apostrophizes the massive\nglaciers of Mont Blanc:--\n\n    \u201cYe ice-falls! ye that from the mountain\u2019s brow\n    Adown enormous ravines slope amain--\n    Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice,\n    And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge!\n    Motionless torrents! silent cataracts!\n    Who made you glorious as the gates of Heaven\n    Beneath the keen full moon? Who bade the sun\n    Clothe you with rainbows? Who with living flowers\n    Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your feet?\n    God! let the torrents, like a shout of nations,\n    Answer! and let the ice-plains echo, God!\n    God! sing ye meadow-streams with gladsome voice!\n    Ye pine-groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds!\n    And they too have a voice, yon piles of snow,\n    And in their perilous fall shall thunder, God!\u201d[29]\n\nA Glacier is an enormous mass of solid ice filling up a valley, and\nstretching from the eternal snows which crown the summits of the\nmountains, down to the smiling cornfields and rich pastures of the\nplains. It is constantly fed by the accumulated snows of winter,\nwhich, slipping and rolling down the slopes of the mountains, lodge\nin the valleys below, and are there converted into ice. For it must\nbe remembered that the Glacier properly so called does not commonly\nextend much higher than 9000 feet above the level of the sea. Beyond\nthat elevation the compact and massive ice gradually passes into\nfrozen snow, called by the French Nev\u00e9, and by the Germans Firn. The\nchange which takes place in the condition of the snow as it descends\ninto the valley is chiefly owing to these two circumstances: first,\nit is closely compacted together by the weight of the snowy masses\npressing down upon it from above; and secondly, in the summer months\nit is thawed upon the surface during the day by the heat of the\nsun, and frozen again at night. On a small scale this process is\npractically familiar to every school-boy. When he makes a snow-ball he\nis practically converting a mass of snow into ice, and that by a series\nof operations very closely resembling those which Nature employs in the\nmanufacture of a Glacier.\n\nIn Switzerland the Glacier is often two or three miles in breadth,\nfrom twenty to thirty miles in length, and five or six hundred feet in\ndepth. Though so vast in its bulk and so solid in its character, it is\nnot, as might be supposed, a fixed, immovable mass. On the contrary, it\nis moving incessantly, but slowly, down the valley which it occupies,\nat the rate of several inches--sometimes one or two feet, and even\nmore--in the day. In Greenland a Glacier explored by Doctor Hayes, in\nhis expedition to the North Pole, was found to move for a whole year at\nthe average rate of a hundred feet a day. It may be thought, perhaps,\nthat this fact requires further confirmation; but at all events it is\ncertain that the language of the poet, when he addresses the Glaciers\nas \u201cmotionless torrents,\u201d though it conveys an accurate and beautiful\nidea of the appearance they present to the eye, is not rigorously true\nin a scientific sense. Indeed, it is just because the Glaciers are not\nmotionless that they serve as instruments of Denudation.\n\nTheir agency in this respect \u201cconsists partly in their power of\ntransporting gravel, sand, and huge stones, to great distances,\nand partly in the smoothing, polishing, and scoring of their rocky\nchannels, and the boundary walls of the valleys through which they\npass. At the foot of every steep cliff or precipice in high Alpine\nregions, a sloping heap is seen of rocky fragments detached by the\nalternate action of frost and thaw. If these loose masses, instead\nof accumulating on a stationary base, happen to fall upon a Glacier,\nthey will move along with it, and, in place of a single heap, they\nwill form in the course of years a long stream of blocks. If a Glacier\nbe twenty miles long, and its annual progression about five hundred\nfeet, it will require about two centuries for a block thus lodged upon\nits surface to travel down from the higher to the lower regions, or\nto the extremity of the icy mass. This terminal point usually remains\nunchanged from year to year, although every part of the ice is in\nmotion, because the liquefaction by heat is just sufficient to balance\nthe onward movement of the Glacier, which may be compared to an endless\nfile of soldiers, pouring into a breach, and shot down as fast as they\nadvance.\n\n\u201cThe stones carried along on the ice are called in Switzerland the\n_moraines_ of the Glacier. There is always one line of blocks on each\nside or edge of the icy stream, and often several in the middle, where\nthey are arranged in long ridges or mounds of snow and ice, often\nseveral yards high. The reason of their projecting above the general\nlevel, is the non-liquefaction of the ice in those parts of the surface\nof the Glacier which are protected from the rays of the sun, or the\naction of the wind, by the covering of the earth, sand, and stones.\nThe cause of _medial moraines_ was first explained by Agassiz, who\nreferred them to the confluence of tributary Glaciers. Upon the union\nof two streams of ice, the right lateral moraine of one of the streams\ncomes in contact with the left lateral moraine of the other, and they\nafterward move on together, in the centre, if the confluent Glaciers\nare equal in size, or nearer to one side if unequal.\n\n\u201cFragments of stone and sand which fall through crevasses in the ice,\nand get interposed between the moving Glacier and the fundamental rock,\nare pushed along so as to have their angles more or less worn off, and\nmany of them are entirely ground down into mud. Some blocks are pushed\nalong between the ice and the steep boundary rocks of the valley,\nand these, like the rocky channel at the bottom of the valley, often\nbecome smoothed and polished, and scored with parallel furrows, or\nwith lines and scratches produced by hard minerals, such as crystals of\nquartz, which act like the diamond upon glass. The effect is perfectly\ndifferent from that caused by the action of water, or a muddy torrent\nforcing along heavy stones; for these not being held like fragments of\nrock in ice, and not being pushed along under great pressure, cannot\nscoop out long rectilinear furrows or grooves parallel to each other.\nThe discovery of such markings at various heights far above the surface\nof existing Glaciers, and for miles beyond their present terminations,\naffords geological evidence of the former extension of the ice beyond\nits present limits in Switzerland and other countries.\u201d[30]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 2.--Iceberg seen in mid-ocean 1400 miles from any\nknown land.]\n\nSometimes, however, it happens, especially in extreme northern and\nsouthern latitudes, that the glacier valley leads down to the sea.\nIn such cases, huge masses of ice are floated off, and, with their\nponderous burden of gravel, mud, and rocks, are carried away by\ncurrents toward the equator. Immense numbers of these floating islands\nof ice, or Icebergs, as they are called, are seen by mariners drifting\nalong in the Northern and Southern oceans. In 1822 Scoresby counted\nfive hundred between the latitudes 69\u00b0 and 70\u00b0 N., many of which\nmeasured a mile in circumference, and rose two hundred feet above the\nsurface of the sea.[31] The annexed drawing, copied by kind permission\nof the author from Sir Charles Lyell\u2019s Principles of Geology, affords a\ngood idea of the appearance that such Icebergs present to the eye. The\none represented in the fore-ground was supposed to reach a height of\nnearly three hundred feet, and was observed with many others floating\nabout in the Southern Ocean at a distance of 1400 miles from any known\nland. An angular mass of rock was visible on the surface. The part\nexposed was twelve feet high and from five to six broad: but it was\nconjectured, from the color of the surrounding ice, that the greater\npart of the stone was concealed from view.\n\nHow enormous must be the magnitude of those ponderous masses may be\nlearned from the fact that the bulk of ice below the level of the water\nis about eight times as great as that above: and in point of fact,\nCaptain Sir John Ross saw several of them aground in Baffin\u2019s Bay,\nwhere the water was 1500 feet deep. It has been calculated that the\nbeds of earth and stones which they carry along cannot be less than\nfrom 50,000 to 100,000 tons in weight. Sir Charles Lyell, writing in\n1865 from the results of the latest investigations on this subject,\nsays: \u201cMany had supposed that the magnitude commonly attributed to\nicebergs by unscientific navigators was exaggerated; but now it appears\nthat the popular estimate of their dimensions has rather fallen within\nthan beyond the truth. Many of them, carefully measured by the\nofficers of the French exploring expedition of the Astrolabe, were\nbetween 100 and 225 feet high above water, and from two to five miles\nin length. Captain d\u2019Urville ascertained one of them, which he saw\nfloating, to be _thirteen miles long_, and a hundred feet high, with\nwalls perfectly vertical.\u201d[32]\n\nThey have been known to drift from Baffin\u2019s Bay to the Azores, and\nfrom the South Pole to the Cape of Good Hope.[33] As they approach the\nmilder climate of the temperate zones, the ice gradually melts away,\nand thus the moraines of arctic and antarctic glaciers are deposited\nat the bottom of the deep sea. In this way, submarine mountains\nand valleys and table-lands are strewn over with scattered blocks\nof foreign rocks, and gravel, and mud, which have been transported\nhundreds of miles across the unfathomable abysses of the ocean.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThough we are chiefly concerned with Glaciers and Icebergs as agents\nof Denudation, yet we cannot pass away from the subject without\nreferring to the Geological theory of an ancient Glacial Period. This\nlittle digression from the main purport of our present argument will\nnot be unacceptable, we hope, to our readers. The theory is in itself\ninteresting and ingenious; and it offers an admirable illustration\nof the kind of reasoning by which Geologists are guided in their\nspeculations.\n\nIt is well known that the action of moving ice leaves a very peculiar\nand characteristic impress on the surface of the rocks, and even on the\ngeneral aspect of the country over which it passes. This is no mystery\nof science, but a plain fact which any one that chooses may observe\nfor himself. Every Glacier carries along in its course a vast quantity\nof loose gravel, hard sand, and large angular stones. A considerable\nproportion of these materials in course of time fall through crevasses\nin the ice, and become firmly embedded in the under surface of the\nGlacier. Then, as the moving mass slowly descends the valley, they\nare shoved along under enormous pressure, and the surface of the\nrocks beneath is furrowed, scratched, and polished, in a remarkable\nand unmistakable manner. The furrows and scratches are rectilinear\nand parallel to an extent never seen in the marks produced by any\nother natural agency: and they always coincide more or less in their\ndirection with the general course of the valley. A reciprocal action\noften takes place: the large blocks of stone, frozen into the under\nsurface of the Glacier, are themselves scored and polished by friction\nagainst the floor and sides of the valley.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 3.--Block of Limestone furrowed, scratched, and\npolished, from the Glacier of Rosenlaui, Switzerland. (Lyell.)\n\n_aa_, White streaks or scratches. _bb_, Furrows.]\n\nSimilar effects are produced by Icebergs; not of course when drifting\nabout in the deep sea, but when they come into contact with a\ngently-shelving coast and grate along the bottom. These mountains of\nice, laden with the d\u00e9bris of the land, are often carried along with\nthe velocity of from two to three miles an hour; and before their\nenormous momentum can be entirely destroyed, an extensive surface of\nrock must have been rounded, grooved, and scarred, pretty much in the\nsame way as by the action of a Glacier. There can be no failure of\nthe grinding materials. During the process of melting, the Iceberg is\nconstantly turning over according as the centre of gravity shifts its\nposition; and thus a new part of its surface, with fresh angular blocks\nof stone, together with fresh masses of sand and gravel, is constantly\nbrought into contact with the floor of the ocean. And this is not mere\ntheory. All these phenomena may be witnessed any day on the shores of\nBaffin\u2019s Bay and Hudson\u2019s Bay, and along the coast of Labrador.\n\nAgain, the evidence of glacial action may be discovered in the\nmaterials themselves which have been transported by ice. Many of the\nlarge erratic blocks, after having travelled immense distances, exhibit\nthe same sharp angular appearance as if they had only just fallen\ndown from the cliff on the mountain side. By this circumstance they\nare at once distinguished from blocks of stone transported by running\nwater; for in these the angles are sure to be rounded off by friction.\nSometimes, too, they are deposited not only far away from the same\nrock, but in regions where no rock of the same kind exists. In the\ncase of Icebergs, they are not unfrequently carried many hundreds of\nmiles before being dropped into the depths of the ocean, and, in the\ncourse of their long journey, borne over the lofty ridges of submarine\nmountain chains.\n\nFurthermore, it often happens that a Glacier shrinks backward up the\nvalley, and sometimes even disappears altogether. When the melting of\nthe ice at the lower extremity exactly balances its onward progress,\nthen the Glacier seems stationary to the eye, and occupies from year to\nyear the same position. But, when a number of hot seasons follow one\nanother in immediate succession, the ice is melted more rapidly than\nthe Glacier advances, and in consequence it gradually becomes shorter,\nand seems to the eye to recede toward the upper parts of the valley. In\nthis case the long lines of moraines, which before had rested on the\nice, are left spread out on the plains or deposited on the slopes of\nthe mountain. Immense blocks of stone are by this means frequently set\ndown on the summits of lofty crags, and in such like positions to which\nthey could not be brought by any other natural agency. These Perched\nBlocks, as they are called, and also those long regular mounds of earth\nand stones abound in several of the Swiss valleys, and constitute a\nvery striking feature of Alpine scenery.\n\nNow, it appears that all these various characteristic marks of glacial\noperations can be distinctly traced in many countries where the action\nof moving ice has been unknown within the period of history. And on\nthis fact is founded the Geological theory of an ancient Glacial\nPeriod. We are confidently assured that a great part of Northern\nEurope, including even our own islands, not to speak of America and\nother countries as well in the northern as in the southern hemisphere,\nwere, in some far distant age, the scene of those same phenomena\nwhich are witnessed at the present day amid the solemn grandeur of\nthe Alps, and in the frozen wastes of the Arctic regions. In that age\nenormous Glaciers moved slowly downward from the snow-clad heights over\ninnumerable valleys now rich with the fruits of the earth; ponderous\nIcebergs floated over wide areas of the ocean, where now the dry land\nappears; and vast piles of promiscuous rubbish, with great angular\nblocks of stone, were deposited on the slopes and crests of submarine\nmountains that now tower hundreds of feet above the level of the sea.\n\nTo illustrate this theory, we would begin with a country where the\nvestiges of glacial operations in past times may be studied side by\nside with the glacial phenomena of the present day. In Switzerland\nit needs but little skill to discern many marks and tokens of moving\nice where moving ice is no longer found. In descending, for example,\nthe valley of the Hasli or the valley of the Rhone, the intelligent\ntraveller can hardly fail to observe how the rocks all around are\nscarred and furrowed, precisely after the same fashion as the rocks in\nthe higher parts of the same valleys are now being scarred and furrowed\nby the Glacier of the Aar and the Glacier of the Rhone. At intervals,\ntoo, may be seen long mounds of unstratified gravel and mud, with large\nfragments of rock, in every way resembling the terminal moraines now\ndaily accumulating at the extremities of existing Glaciers. When these\nfacts are once distinctly brought home to the mind, it is impossible to\nresist the conclusion that several of the Alpine Glaciers once extended\nfar beyond their present limits down the valleys of Switzerland.\n\nIf we proceed a little distance to the mountains of the Jura, now\nwholly devoid of Glaciers, we shall find that the same glacial\nphenomena with which we have become so familiar in the Alps, are still\neverywhere presented to the eye. And we feel instinctively impelled to\npursue the same line of inductive reasoning. Moving ice, we know from\nabundant observation, is capable of producing these effects: nor have\nwe ever seen effects of this kind produced by any other cause: nay,\nthere is no other natural agent known that is capable of producing such\neffects: it is therefore reasonable to infer that moving ice was the\ncause of these effects; and that, in some bygone age, great masses of\nice moved slowly over the valleys of the Jura as they now move slowly\nover the valleys of the Alps.\n\nAnother circumstance may here be noticed which is well worthy of\nconsideration. The Alps are composed of granite, gneiss, and such like\ncrystalline rocks: the Jura, of limestone and various other formations,\naltogether different from those of the Alps. Now, scattered loosely\nover the valleys of the Jura, and perched upon its lofty crests, we\nfind immense angular blocks--some of them as large as cottages--of\nthe Alpine rocks. The question naturally arises, how have they been\ntransported to their present site. Certainly not by the action of\nwater; for in that case the projecting angles would have been rounded\noff, and the sharp edges worn away. But the work might have been easily\naccomplished by the power of moving ice, and could not have been\naccomplished by any other natural agency with which we are acquainted.\nThus we are led to conclude that the Glaciers of the Alps must, by some\nmeans or another, have once made their way northward across the great\nvalley of Switzerland, fifty miles wide, and deposited their ponderous\nburdens of gravel, sand, and erratic blocks on the mountains of the\nJura.\n\nIt would carry us too far from our present purpose to draw out this\ntheory in all its details. But we cannot for-bear briefly to touch upon\nsome of the bold and startling conclusions to which it has led. The\nGeologist having, by patient and varied exercise, in the regions of\nexisting Glaciers, trained his eye and his judgment in the observation\nof those phenomena that mark the action of moving ice, soon begins to\ndiscover that they are not wanting in other countries. They are not\nto be found, indeed, beneath the burning sun of Africa, nor on the\nborders of the Mediterranean Sea. But as he travels northward they\nbegin by degrees to appear; and when at length he reaches the shores\nof the Baltic, they are spread out profusely before him as they were\nin the bosom of the Alps. All this had puzzled Geologists for years;\nbut the clue has been found at last. What is going on to-day in\nSwitzerland, and in Greenland, and on the shores of Labrador, must have\nbeen going on, ages ago, in Germany, and in Denmark, and on the shores\nof the Baltic. We may argue from the effect to the cause. Here are the\nmoraines, the erratics, the perched blocks, and the surfaces of rock\nfurrowed and scratched with ice: at some past time there must have been\nthe moving Glaciers and the floating Icebergs.\n\nFollowing out this line of argument, and applying it to countries\nnearer home, Geologists have come to the conclusion that the Grampian\nHills in Scotland, the mountains of Kerry in Ireland, the Snowdonian\nheights in Wales, and many other ranges of hills in these islands,\nwere in former times subjected to the action of moving ice. Nay, it\nis contended, with much show of reason, that these islands must have\nbeen, for a considerable time, in great part submerged beneath the\nsea, and traversed by floating Icebergs. When large erratic blocks are\nfound in the immediate neighborhood of the formation from which they\nhave been derived, then it is easy to explain their origin and to trace\ntheir course. But it often happens that the nearest rock of the same\nmineral composition, and therefore, the nearest rock from which they\ncan possibly have been derived, is separated from the site which they\nnow occupy by a lofty chain of mountains. By what means, then, have\nthey been transported hither? Not by moving water, for their sharp\nedges and projecting angles are still preserved. Not by Glaciers; for\na Glacier cannot climb a steep mountain ridge. It would seem, indeed,\nthat in the present geographical distribution of land and water, there\nis no natural cause which could carry them from the parent rocks to\ntheir present position. But if we suppose that in some long past age of\nthe world, Great Britain and Ireland were submerged beneath the sea,\nand that Icebergs floated in the waters above, the problem is solved\nat once. The fragments of far distant rocks frozen into the Icebergs\nmight then have been carried over the summits of what are now lofty\nmountains, and as the ice melted away, might have been deposited all\nalong their slopes and even on their highest crests.\n\nThe presence of marine shells, belonging chiefly to species which now\nexist only in the arctic seas, affords a strong confirmation of this\nhypothesis. For they are found intimately associated with the erratic\nblocks, not merely in valleys, to which the sea might be supposed\nto have had access in times of extraordinary flood, but upon lofty\nmountains at a height of five hundred, six hundred, and even thirteen\nhundred feet above the level of the sea. There is no difficulty in\naccounting for this phenomenon if we suppose the country to have been\nat one time submerged, and the glacial drift in which the shells are\nfound embedded to have been deposited by Icebergs on the floor of the\nocean. If we refuse to make this supposition the difficulty is simply\ninsurmountable.[34]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBut it is somewhat beside our purpose to wander so far into the region\nof theory and speculation. Our main object in these chapters has been\nto establish the fact that Denudation is actually taking place to an\nalmost incredible extent, in the present age of the world. For this\npurpose we have enumerated the principal agents by which this process\nis carried on; and we have endeavored to show from the authenticated\nresearches of travellers and scientific men that they have been at work\nwithin the period of history, and are still at work around us. Our\nsummary is, indeed, brief; but it is still sufficient to demonstrate\nthat, even during the present age, the whole surface of the Globe has\nbeen ever in a constant state of change; that mountain heights have\nbeen worn away, and valleys have been scooped out, and lofty cliffs\nhave disappeared, and bold headlands have been rent in twain, and rocks\nand earths have day by day been broken up and dissolved and decomposed,\nby the never ceasing operation of natural causes; and that the broken\nfragments are at every moment moving along over the surface of the land\nor through the depths of the sea.\n\nNow Geologists tell us that these are the raw materials of a new\nbuilding which is going on in these latter times under the guiding hand\nof Nature. Indeed, they say it is not so much a new building as the\nuppermost story of an old building. If we descend into the Crust of\nthe Earth we may trace this building even from the foundations, which\nare laid upon the solid granite, up through each successive stage of\nlimestone, and sandstone, slate, conglomerate, and clay, until we come\nto the surface, where new strata, composed of the same elements, and\nexhibiting the same general characteristics, are slowly growing up\nbefore our eyes. Thus will the idea gradually steal upon the mind, that\nthe works of ages long gone by are reproduced once again in our own\ndays, and that we may study the history of the past in the mirror of\nthe present which nature holds up to our view.\n\nThis is the branch of Geological argument upon which we are now about\nto enter. We have visited Nature, as it were, in her quarry, and we\nhave seen how she collects her materials, how she fashions them to\nher purpose, how she transports them to the place for which they are\ndesigned. If it be true, as alleged, that with these materials she is\nactually engaged, at the present moment, in building upon the existing\nsurface of our Globe a new series of stratified rocks, which are the\nexact counterpart of those beneath, this fact affords at least a very\nstrong presumption in favor of one very important principle in the\ntheory of Geologists. Let us, then, follow the course of her operations\nand judge for ourselves.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER V._\n\nSTRATIFIED ROCKS OF MECHANICAL ORIGIN--THEORY DEVELOPED AND ILLUSTRATED.\n\n    _Formation of stratified rocks ascribed to the agency of\n    natural causes--This theory supported by facts--The argument\n    stated--Examples of mechanical rocks--Materials of which they\n    are composed--Origin and history of these materials traced\n    out--Process of deposition--Process of consolidation--Instances\n    of consolidation by pressure--Consolidation perfected by\n    natural cements--Curious illustrations--Consolidation of\n    sandstone in Cornwall--Arrangement of strata explained by\n    intermittent action of the agents of Denudation._\n\n\nThe Stratification of Rocks is one of the most remarkable features\nwhich the Crust of the Earth presents to our notice; and the principles\nby which this phenomenon is explained belong to the very foundation of\nGeological theory. It is now universally agreed that the successive\nlayers or strata, which constitute such a very large proportion of the\nEarth\u2019s Crust, and which cannot fail to attract the notice even of the\nmost careless observer, have been slowly built up during a long series\nof ages by the action of natural causes. In support of this bold and\ncomprehensive theory, geologists appeal to the operations which are\ngoing on in nature at the present day, or which have been observed and\nrecorded within historic times. There is a vast machinery, they say,\neven now at work all over the world, breaking up the rocks that appear\nat the surface of the Earth, transporting the materials to different\nsites, and there constructing new strata, just the counterpart of those\nwhich we see piled up one above the other, wherever a section of the\nEarth\u2019s Crust is exposed to view. It is given to us, therefore, on the\none hand to contemplate the finished work as it exists in the Crust\nof the Earth, and on the other, to examine the work still in progress\nupon its surface; and if both are found to agree in all their most\nremarkable characteristics, it is not unreasonable to infer that the\none was produced in bygone ages by the very same causes that are now\nbusy in the production of the other.\n\nIn the examination of this argument we first turned our attention to\nthe numerous and powerful agents that are now employed in the breaking\nup and transporting of existing rocks. It was impossible within our\nnarrow limits to enumerate them all. But we selected those which are\nat the same time the most familiar in their operations, and the most\nstriking in their results:--mighty rivers discharging daily and hourly\ninto the sea the accumulated spoils of vast continents; the breakers\nof the ocean dashing with unceasing energy against all the cliffs and\ncoasts of the world; the tides and currents of the sea taking up the\nruins which the breakers have made, and carrying them far away to the\nlonely depths of the ocean; the frozen rain bursting massive rocks\nasunder with its expansive force, and sending the fragments over lofty\ncliffs and steep precipices to become the prey of roaring mountain\ntorrents, or perhaps, more fortunate, to find a place of tranquil rest\non the bosom of the glittering Glacier; then this wondrous Glacier\nitself, a moving sea of ice, bearing along its ponderous burden from\nthe summits of lofty mountains far down into the smiling plains, and\nmeanwhile, with tremendous power, grinding, and furrowing, and wearing\naway the floor of the valley, and leaving behind it an impress which\neven time cannot efface; and lastly, the massive Icebergs which stud\nthe northern and southern seas, drifting along like floating islands\nabove the fathomless abysses of the ocean, and scattering their huge\nboulders over the surface of submarine mountains and valleys.\n\nAll these phenomena have been learned from actual and repeated\nobservation. They are not philosophical speculations, but ascertained\nfacts. We cannot doubt, therefore, that the work of demolition is going\non; it remains for us now to inquire about the work of reconstruction.\n\nThe reader will remember that Geologists divide the stratified rocks\ninto three distinct classes, Mechanical, Chemical, and Organic. This\ndistinction, they say, is founded on the actual operations of Nature.\nFrom a close examination of the natural agents now at work in the\nworld, it appears that some strata are being formed chiefly by the\naction of mechanical force; others chiefly by the influence of chemical\nlaws; and others again chiefly by the intervention of organic life.\nThus we have three distinct classes of rock at present coming into\nexistence, each exhibiting its own peculiar characteristics, and each,\nmoreover, having its counterpart among the strata that compose the\nCrust of the Earth. We shall now proceed to set forth some of the\nevidence that may be advanced in favor of these important conclusions,\nbeginning with those rocks that are called Mechanical.\n\nAnd first it is important to have, at least, a general idea of the\nappearance which Mechanical Rocks present to the eye. We shall\ntake three familiar examples, Conglomerate, Sandstone, and Clay.\nConglomerate, or Pudding-stone as it is sometimes called, is composed\nof pebbles, gravel, and sand, more or less compacted together, and\ngenerally forming a hard and solid mass. The various materials of\nwhich it is composed, though united in the one rock, nevertheless\nremain their own external forms, and may be distinctly recognized even\nby the unpractised eye. Sandstone, as the name implies, is made up of\ngrains of sand closely compressed and cemented together. The quality\nand appearance of this rock vary very much according to the size and\ncharacter of its constituent particles. Often the grains of sand are\nas large as peas, or even larger; sometimes they are so minute that\nthey cannot be distinguished without the aid of a lens. For the most\npart they consist of quartz, with grains of limestone intermixed; and\nthey are usually rounded, as if by the action of running water. Clay\nis a rather vague and general term, now commonly employed to denote\nany finely-divided mineral matter which contains from ten to thirty\nper cent. of Alumina, and is thereby rendered plastic, and capable,\nwhen softened with water, of being moulded like paste with the hand.\nIt occurs in many different forms among the strata of the Earth,\naccording to the different minerals that enter into its composition\nand the different influences to which it has been subjected. Marl and\nLoam may be taken as well-known illustrations: the former is a clay in\nwhich there is a large proportion of calcareous matter; the latter is\na mixture of clay and sand. Sometimes by pressure clay is condensed\ninto a kind of slaty rock called Shale, which has the property of being\neasily split up into an immense number of thin plates or lamin\u00e6.\n\nIt should be remembered that there is not always a perfect uniformity\nin the structure of these rocks. In Conglomerate, for example, the\npebbles may be as large as cannon balls, or they may be only the size\nof walnuts. So, too, we have every variety of fineness and coarseness\nin the quality of Sandstone. Again, both Conglomerate and Sandstone\nare often largely adulterated with clay, and on the other hand, clay\nwill sometimes contain more than its usual proportion of sand or lime.\nLastly, these materials are in one place compacted into hard and solid\nrock, in another they are found in a loose and incoherent condition.\n\nBut amidst all these varieties of form and texture, the rocks we have\nbeen describing generally preserve their peculiar characteristics,\nand with a little experience can be easily recognized. They are found\nto constitute a very large part, perhaps we might say the larger\npart, of the stratified rocks in every country that has hitherto been\nexplored by Geologists. Wherever we go we are met by the same familiar\nappearances;--beds of Conglomerate, Sandstone, Clay, Marl, Shale,\nrecurring again and again through a series of many hundred strata,\nsometimes in one order, and sometimes in another; sometimes without any\nformation of a different kind intervening, and sometimes alternating\nwith limestone or other rocks of which we shall speak hereafter.\n\nSuch is the general character and appearance of those strata which are\nknown among Geologists as Aqueous Rocks of Mechanical origin. Now,\nit must at once strike the reader, that these rocks are made up of\njust those very materials--the same both in kind and in form--that we\nhave already shown to be daily prepared and fashioned by a vast and\ncomplex machinery in the great workshop of Nature. He will remember\nhow enormous blocks are detached from the mountain side, or from the\ncliffs on the seashore, and broken up into fragments; how the fragments\nin time become pebbles, sand, and mud; and how these are caught up by\nrivers, tides, and currents, and carried far away to sea. Here we have\ncertainly all the materials that are necessary for the building up of\nConglomerate, Sandstone, and Shale. We have seen how they are prepared\nby the hand of Nature, how they are moulded into shape, how they are\ntransported from place to place. Let us now pursue the sequel of their\nhistory, and follow them on to the end.\n\nIt is plain they cannot remain forever suspended in water; sooner\nor later they must fall to the bottom. Yet they will not all fall\ntogether. For though all are carried downward by the one force of\ngravity, those materials that are smaller and lighter will be more\nimpeded by the resistance of the water. The pebbles and coarse gravel\nwill be the first to reach the bottom, then the sand, and last of all\nthe fine, impalpable mud. Thus, as the current sweeps along in its\ncourse, the sediment which it bears away from the land will be in a\nmanner sorted, and three distinct layers of different materials will\nbe deposited in the bed of the ocean;--first, nearest to the shore,\na layer of pebbles and coarse gravel, then a layer of sand, and last\nof all a layer of fine mud or clay. This is the first step in the\nconstruction of stratified rock. To complete the work nothing more\nis necessary than the consolidation of these loose and incoherent\nmaterials. If this could be accomplished, then we should have a solid\nstratum of Conglomerate, a solid stratum of Sandstone, and a solid\nstratum of Shale formed in the bed of the ocean.\n\nWith regard to this operation, however, we cannot hope for the\nadvantage we have hitherto enjoyed, of actual observation. The process\nof consolidation, if it take place at all, is going on in the depths of\nthe Sea. But though it is thus removed beyond the reach of our senses,\nit is not beyond the reach of our intelligence. We may borrow the torch\nof Science, and search even into the hidden recesses of Nature\u2019s secret\nlaboratory.\n\nIn the first place, a partial consolidation of clay and sand, and\neven of gravel, may take place under the influence of pressure alone.\nMany of us are familiar with this truth, but few, perhaps, are aware\nhow extensively it is illustrated in the practical arts of life. Here\nare some curious and interesting examples. The minute fragments of\ncoal which are produced by the friction of larger blocks against one\nanother, and which may be obtained abundantly in the neighborhood of\nevery coal mine, are now manufactured into a solid patent fuel by the\nsimple process of forcible compression. Again, the dust and rubble\nof black lead, formerly cast aside as useless, are now carefully\ncollected, and by no other force than pressure are converted into a\nsolid mass, fit to be employed in the manufacture of lead-pencils. \u201cThe\ngraphite or black lead of commerce,\u201d says Sir Charles Lyell, \u201chaving\nbecome very scarce, Mr. Brockedon contrived a method by which the\ndust of the purer portions of the mineral found in Borrowdale might\nbe recomposed into a mass as dense and as compact as native graphite.\nThe powder of graphite is first carefully prepared and freed from\nair, and placed under a powerful press on a strong steel die, with\nair-tight fittings. It is then struck several blows, each of a power\nof a thousand tons; after which operation the powder is so perfectly\nsolidified that it can be cut for pencils, and exhibits, when broken,\nthe same texture as native graphite.\u201d[35] An instance yet more to our\npurpose occurs in the experiments made to try the force of gunpowder.\nLeathern bags filled with sand are put into the mortar that is to\nreceive the cannon-ball at a distance of fifty feet from the mouth of\nthe gun; and the sand is often compressed by the percussion of the\nball into a solid mass of Sandstone.[36] Now the deposits of which we\nare speaking cannot fail to be subjected to a very powerful and a very\nconstant compressing force. For, since the process of deposition is\nalways going on, the matter which is deposited to-day will to-morrow be\ncovered with a new layer, and in the course of ages it may lie beneath\nan immense pile of mineral matter, hundreds or even thousands of feet\nin thickness.\n\nBut in fact there is another and more important agent at work. When\nthe harder and more compact blocks of Conglomerate and Sandstone are\nsubjected to a close analysis in the laboratory of the chemist, it is\nfound that they are strongly cemented together, sometimes by a solution\nof lime filling up the interstices between the grains or pebbles,\nsometimes by a solution of silica, sometimes by a solution of iron. Now\nthis discovery affords a useful clue when we come to study the present\noperations of Nature. It is to the agency of a mineral cement we must\nlook for the perfect consolidation of Mechanical Rocks. Let us see if\nsuch a cement can be found.\n\nIt is well known that the water of rivers, lakes, and springs, is\nmore or less charged with carbonic acid gas; and therefore, when it\ncomes in contact with limestone, it dissolves a portion of the lime\nand holds it in solution. Hence it follows that in every part of the\nworld there exists an abundant store of calcareous cement. Again, our\nreaders must have observed the brownish, rusty color sometimes produced\nby streams on the surface of rocks and herbage. This is the result of\nthe iron with which the streams are impregnated: and we are informed by\nscientific inquirers that water containing a solution of iron prevails\nvery generally in almost all countries. The solution of silica in water\nis not so common; because pure silica cannot be dissolved by water\nexcept at a very high temperature. Nevertheless, it has been clearly\ndemonstrated by observation, that silica, where it occurs in certain\ncombinations with other mineral substances, may be dissolved readily\nenough: for instance, in the decomposition of felspar, and of all rocks\nin which felspar is an ingredient, silica is carried off in a state of\nsolution.[37] And since these rocks are very numerous, and distributed\nover every part of the earth, we may fairly conclude that a solution of\nsilica exists very abundantly in nature.\n\nNow when we bear in mind that we have on the one hand in the Crust of\nthe Earth, solid strata of Conglomerate and Sandstone, exhibiting the\nevident operation of these mineral cements; and on the other hand, near\nthe surface, the loose materials of Conglomerate and Sandstone as if\nready to be cemented, and close at hand the cementing mineral itself in\na convenient form, it is not unreasonable to assume that the process\nshould actually take place;--that water highly charged with iron, or\nlime, or silica, should filter through the loose gravel and sand,\ndepositing its mineral cement as it passes along, and converting the\nnewly-formed strata into compact and solid rock.\n\nBut this conclusion does not rest upon antecedent probability alone.\nWe have proof unquestionable that a process such as we have described\nis actually going on. In the dredging of the river Thames large masses\nof solid Conglomerate are found from time to time, firmly compacted\ntogether by a ferruginous cement. And there is internal evidence that\nthe process of solidification has been effected by natural causes\nwithin historic times; for it happens not unfrequently that Roman coins\nand fragments of pottery are found embedded in the solid block of\nstone. Similar discoveries were made in deepening the bed of the river\nDove in Derbyshire, about the year 1832. Thousands of silver coins were\nfound about ten feet under the surface, firmly cemented into a hard\nConglomerate. Several of these coins bear dates of the thirteenth and\nfourteenth centuries; and therefore the pebbles which form the rock\nmust have been deposited and converted into a solid mass since that\ntime. But we must not suppose that so long an interval is necessary for\nthe consolidation of rocks. In the early part of the present century\na vessel called the Thetis was wrecked off cape Frio on the coast of\nBrazil. A few months afterward, when an attempt was successfully made\nto recover the dollars and other treasures which had gone to the\nbottom with the wreck, they were found completely enveloped in solid\nmasses of quartzose Sandstone. The materials of the newly-formed stone\nwere in this case manifestly derived from the granite rocks of the\nBrazilian coast.[38]\n\nIn many parts of the Mediterranean, and along its shores, this process\nis known to be going on with equal rapidity. \u201cThe new-formed strata\nof Asia Minor,\u201d writes Sir Charles Lyell, \u201cconsists of stone, not of\nloose, incoherent materials. Almost all the streamlets and rivers,\nlike many of those in Tuscany and the south of Italy, hold abundance\nof carbonate of lime in solution, and precipitate Travertine, or\nsometimes bind together the sand and gravel into solid Sandstones\nand Conglomerates; every delta and sandbar thus acquires solidity,\nwhich often prevents streams from forcing their way through them, so\nthat their mouths are constantly changing their position.\u201d[39] In the\nMuseum at Montpelier is exhibited a cannon embedded in a crystalline\ncalcareous rock which was taken up from the bed of the Mediterranean\nnear the mouth of the Rhone.[40]\n\nTo these examples of the solidification of rock within recent times\nwe are tempted to add one more, taken from a Memoir published by the\nlate Dr. Paris in the Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of\nCornwall. \u201cA sandstone occurs in various parts of the northern coast\nof Cornwall, which affords a most instructive example of a recent\nformation, since we here actually detect Nature at work in converting\nloose sand into solid rock. A very considerable portion of the northern\ncoast of Cornwall is covered with calcareous sand, consisting of minute\nparticles of comminuted shells, which in some places has accumulated\nin quantities so great, as to have formed hills of from forty to\nfifty feet in elevation. In digging into these sand-hills, or upon\nthe occasional removal of some part of them by the winds, the remains\nof houses may be seen; and in places where the churchyards have been\noverwhelmed, a great number of human bones may be found. The sand is\nsupposed to have been originally brought from the sea by hurricanes,\nprobably at a remote period. It first appears in a state of slight but\nincreasing aggregation on several parts of the shore in the Bay of St.\nIves; but on approaching the Gwythian River it becomes more extensive\nand indurated.... It is around the promontory of New Kaye that the\nmost extensive formation of Sandstone takes place. Here it may be seen\nin different stages of induration, from a state in which it is too\nfriable to be detached from the rock on which it reposes, to a hardness\nso considerable that it requires a very violent blow from a sledge to\nbreak it. Buildings are constructed of it; the church of Cranstock is\nentirely built with it; and it is also employed for various articles of\ndomestic and agricultural uses.\u201d\n\nNo reasonable doubt can therefore remain that the loose beds of gravel,\nsand, and clay, which, as we have already seen, are deposited from day\nto day, and from year to year, and from century to century, beneath\nthe waters of the ocean, may be converted in the course of time by\nnatural agents into solid rocks of Conglomerate, of Sandstone, and of\nShale. But this is not enough. It yet remains for us to explain how\nthese solid rocks come to be arranged in a series of distinct layers\nor strata. The reader will remember that the supply of materials in\nany given area of the ocean is not fixed and continuous, but, on the\ncontrary, variable and intermittent. During the periodical rains within\nthe tropics, and during the melting of the snows in high latitudes or\nin mountain regions, the rivers become enormously swollen, and carry\ndown a far greater quantity of sediment than at other seasons. The\nwaste of cliffs, too, by the action of the waves, is much greater in\nwinter than in summer. Thus, while at one season a particular river\nor current may be comparatively free from sediment, at another it\nwill carry along in its turbid course an almost incredible freight of\nmineral matter. We have a notable example in the case of the Ganges.\nThe bulk of earthy matter which this river discharges into the sea\nduring the four months of rain, averages about 50,000,000 of cubic feet\nper day; whereas the daily discharge during the three months of hot\nweather is considerably less than one hundredth part of that amount.[41]\n\nBesides this variety in the quantity of materials carried, there is\nalso a great variety in the velocity both of rivers and of currents;\nand therefore they will not always carry the same materials to the same\ndistance; for the less rapid the stream, the sooner will the sediment\nfall to the bottom. We may add that currents, as is well known, often\nchange their direction from various causes, and thus at different times\nthey will carry the waste of the land to different parts of the ocean.\n\nFrom these considerations two conclusions may be fairly deduced:\nFirst, that the process of deposition may often go on very rapidly\nfor a time over a given area, and then altogether cease, and after an\ninterval begin again. In this way time may be allowed for one deposit\nto acquire more or less consistency before the next is superimposed;\nand thus a succession of distinct beds will be produced. Secondly, we\nmay infer that the same precise materials will not always be deposited\nover the same area; at one time it will be sand, at another gravel,\nat another clay, at another some combination of these or other\nmineral substances. And thus it may happen that the strata deposited\nin successive periods of time shall not only be distinct one from the\nother, but composed of different materials;--that there shall be,\nin fact, as we so often see that there are, beds of Conglomerate,\nSandstone, Clay, Marl, and other rocks, succeeding one another in every\nvariety of order.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER VI._\n\nSTRATIFIED ROCKS OF MECHANICAL ORIGIN--FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n    _Impossible to witness the formation of stratified rocks in the\n    depths of the ocean--On a small scale examples are exhibited\n    by rivers and lakes--Alluvial plains--Their extraordinary\n    fertility--Great basin of the Nile--Experiments of the Royal\n    Society--The Mississippi and the Orinoco--Some rivers fill\n    up their own channels--Case of the river Po--Artificial\n    embankments--Large tract of alluvial soil deposited by the\n    Rhone in the Lake of Geneva--Deltas--The delta of the Ganges\n    and Brahmapootra--Delta of the Nile._\n\n\nThe argument set forth in the last chapter is simple, ingenious,\nand persuasive. Nay, we must fairly confess that to us it seems\nconclusive. We do not mean to say that it amounts to a rigorous\ndemonstration. But it affords at least a strong presumption that the\nprocess of deposition, the process of consolidation, and the process of\nstratification, are going on to a vast extent beneath the waters of the\nocean; and that, in these latter ages of the world\u2019s history, Aqueous\nRocks are slowly growing up under the influence of natural causes,\nwhich resemble in every important feature those that are now attracting\nso much attention within the Crust of the Earth. We are therefore\nprepared to accept this conclusion, if it be not found at variance with\nany well-established fact, or with any known and certain truth. But in\nmatters of physical science the evidence of our senses is, after all,\nthe most satisfactory argument. And our readers, no doubt, would like\nto witness, if possible, with their eyes, the building up of Stratified\nRocks. Now, though it is not given to us to see this process in all its\ncolossal magnitude as it goes on within the depths of the mighty ocean,\nit is yet possible to behold it exhibited, as it were, in miniature, in\ncertain cases where the sediment of rivers is deposited within reach of\nobservation.\n\nEvery one is familiar with the fact that many rivers overflow their\nbanks at certain seasons, and spread themselves out over a wide area,\nsometimes reaching to the foot of the hills that bound the valleys\nthrough which they flow. This is the origin of those Alluvial Plains\nso remarkable for their surpassing richness and fertility. In each\nsuccessive year a thin film of sediment is deposited on the surface\nof the land; and thus in the course of ages a soil is formed capable\nof producing, season after season, the most luxuriant crops without\nmanifesting any symptoms of exhaustion. The soil of the Alluvial Plain\nnear St. Louis, on the Mississippi, is thus spoken of by a modern\ntraveller: \u201cAs to the quality of the land, any given number of crops\nmight be grown off it. Corn has been raised on it for a hundred years\ntogether--as far back as the settlement is known. To inquire about the\nsystem of farming in the West is not productive of information which\nwould be of service on the continent of Europe. There is no system: the\nfarmer scratches the ground and throws in the seed, and his bountiful\nharvests come up year after year without further thought or trouble.\nThousands of centuries have made the soil for him, and it defies him to\nmake too heavy demands upon it. It gives him all he asks, and is never\nknown to disappoint or fail.\u201d[42]\n\nThe great basin of the Nile offers an admirable example of an\nAlluvial Plain on a scale of considerable magnitude. Even in the days\nof Herodotus, Egypt was regarded as the \u201cgift of the Nile:\u201d and the\ncorrectness of this opinion has been placed beyond all reasonable\ndoubt by the investigations of modern science. The river bears along\nin its current, especially during the flood season, a large quantity\nof fine earthy sediment obtained by the process of Denudation from the\nmountains of central Africa. Once a year, between the months of July\nand November, it overflows its banks, and this sediment is deposited on\nthe adjoining plains. Thus a new layer of rich soil is spread out every\nyear over the existing surface; and the whole country is, in a manner,\ngrowing upward at the average rate, according to a rough estimate, of\nabout six inches in the century. Near Cairo, where excavations have\nbeen made, the successive layers of annual deposit are distinctly\nvisible to the eye. And it is worthy of remark that, although each one\nof these is no thicker than a sheet of paste-board, the stratum of\nalluvial soil which overlies the sands of the desert, and which to all\nappearance has come into existence by the very same process, is often\nforty, fifty, and even sixty feet in depth.\n\nA series of interesting observations and experiments have been recently\nmade under the auspices of the Royal Society, which afford some useful\ninformation on this subject. The colossal statue of Rameses, near\nMemphis, was found to be partly embedded in a stratum of mud which\nhad gradually accumulated around it. Upon sinking a shaft, it was\ndiscovered that from the present surface of the plain to the base of\nthe pedestal is a distance of nearly ten feet. Now, Rameses flourished,\naccording to Lepsius, about one thousand three hundred and sixty years\nbefore the Christian Era; and therefore, since that time, or within a\nspace of 3200 years, it is pretty clear that a thickness of ten feet\nhas been added at this spot to the Alluvial Plain of the Nile. It is\nhard to resist the conclusion that the next stratum of ten feet as we\nproceed downward, which, in every respect, resembles the first, must\nhave been produced in the same way by natural causes; and so on till we\nreach the barren sand of the desert, which is here just forty-two feet\nbelow the present level of the plain.[43]\n\nIt should seem, therefore, that Egypt is nothing more than a great\nAlluvial Plain, slowly built up in the long lapse of ages, by the\nannual inundations of the Nile. Vast tracts of the same kind are to\nbe found in other parts of the world. The Mississippi, which drains\nabout one-seventh of the whole North American continent, has formed an\nAlluvial Plain more than a thousand miles in length, and from thirty\nto eighty in breadth. And in South America, the Orinoco once a year\nspreads out its swollen and turbid waters over an area not unfrequently\nseventy miles broad; leaving behind, when it subsides, a substantial\nlayer of muddy sediment to enrich the soil.[44] It would be easy to\naccumulate examples. But we shall be content with having referred\nthe reader to the Great Basin of the Nile, which affords special\nopportunities for the study of alluvial phenomena; being illustrated at\nonce by the historical monuments of remote antiquity and the scientific\nresearches of recent times.\n\nThere is another process by which Alluvial Plains are formed. It often\nhappens that a river fills up the channel in which it has been moving\nfor years, and is forced to shift its course and seek a new passage\nto the sea. In progress of time this channel is filled up like the\nformer and deserted, and then a third, and then a fourth. At each\nchange a new stratum is formed, almost always distinguished for its\nextraordinary fertility. This phenomenon is chiefly to be looked for\nwhen an extensive and almost level plain lies between some lofty range\nof mountains and the sea. In such a case, the river which bears away\nthe waste of the mountains, will move onward in its course with a\nsluggish current, and will, of necessity, deposit the greater part of\nits burden on the way. There is scarcely a country in the world that\ndoes not abound in formations of this kind; and we could point to many\nnotable instances in which herds of cattle are now grazing on the very\nspot where, within quite recent times, the turbid waters of some great\nstream flowed sullenly along.\n\nThe river Po, which receives through a thousand mountain torrents\nan enormous quantity of mineral sediment from the Alps, affords an\ninstructive example. Since the beginning of the fifteenth century it\nhas many times changed its course, often committing great devastations,\nand always leaving behind unmistakable traces of its movements. Several\ntowns that once stood on the left bank of the river are now on the\nright. In some instances parish churches and religious houses were\npulled down when the devouring stream was seen slowly to approach,\nand then rebuilt with the same materials at a greater distance. An\nold channel may be easily recognized at the present day near Cremona,\nwhich bears the name of Po Morto, and another called Po Vecchio, in the\nterritory of Parma.\n\nIt may be interesting to our readers to learn that these movements have\nbeen checked in modern times. By a system of artificial embankment the\nwaters of the river are now confined within definite and narrow limits:\nthus the velocity of the current is increased and a very considerable\nportion of the sediment is carried on to the sea. Nevertheless, much\nis still deposited in the bed of the river, which is, in consequence,\nraised higher and higher each successive year. Hence it has become\nnecessary, in order to prevent inundations, to add every season to\nthe height of the embankments, so that the river now presents the\nappearance of an enormous aqueduct, of which some idea may be formed\nfrom the fact that, in the neighborhood of Ferrara, the surface of\nthe stream is higher than the roofs of the houses. This system of\nembankment is carried on very extensively in Northern Italy to check\nthe overflowing of rivers, and to prevent them from changing their\ncourses. It is as old as the time of Dante, who tells us that the\ninhabitants of Padua erected barriers along the Brenta when the snows\nbegan to melt and the season of the floods was approaching,\n\n        \u201cPer difender lor ville e lor castelli,\n        Anzi che Chiarentana il caldo senta.\u201d\n\n        _Inferno_, Canto xv.\n\nAs a river sometimes fills up its own channel, so too may it fill up\na lake through which it flows, and convert it likewise into a great\nAlluvial Plain. Thus it is said several extensive lakes have been\ntransformed into dry land in modern times near Parma, Piacenza, and\nCremona. Elsewhere the process may be seen in actual operation. The\nRhone when it enters the lake of Geneva is a turbid discolored stream;\nthe natural consequence of the immense quantity of earthy sediment\nwith which it is charged. But as it slowly moves along, the sediment\nfalls to the bottom, and when, at length, \u201cby Leman\u2019s waters washed,\u201d\nit emerges at the town of Geneva, and shoots beneath the magnificent\nbridge that joins the opposite shores, it has already assumed that\nbeautiful azure blue which travellers love to gaze on, and poets love\nto sing. The sediment left behind goes to form a great alluvial tract\nwhich is slowly but steadily advancing into the lake. An ancient town\ncalled Port Vallais, which, eight centuries ago, stood at the water\u2019s\nedge, is now a mile and a half inland. And if the world were to last\nlong enough, and the natural agents at present in operation were to\nremain unchanged, the time would come, we can scarcely doubt, when the\nwhole lake of Geneva would have been converted into an Alluvial Plain\nof vast extent and inexhaustible fertility.\n\nThis last example leads us on to the phenomenon of Deltas, which\nafford, perhaps, the best opportunity of observing the actual formation\nof stratified rocks. Some large rivers, as we have already seen, enter\nthe sea with such extreme velocity as to bear away their sediment to a\ndistance of several hundred miles from the land. But in other cases the\nonward rush of the stream is much sooner arrested, and the sediment,\nif it be not caught up by ocean currents, is deposited near the mouth\nof the river, and forms a triangular tract of alluvial land. This kind\nof deposit is called a Delta, from the resemblance it bears to the\nletter (\u0394) of that name in the Greek Alphabet. The apex of the triangle\npoints up the stream, the base is toward the sea. Hence, when a Delta\nis formed the river naturally divides into two branches, one flowing to\nthe right, the other to the left. In progress of time new channels are\nalmost always made, and the great stream empties itself into the sea by\nmany mouths.\n\nThe Delta formed in the Bay of Bengal by the two great rivers of\nIndia, the Ganges and the Brahmapootra, offers an illustration of\nthis phenomenon on a scale of unusual magnitude. Indeed, strictly\nspeaking, it is not one Delta only, but rather two Deltas lying side\nby side; the one deriving its origin from the Ganges, the other from\nthe Brahmapootra. This double Delta extends its base for two hundred\nand fifty miles along the Bay of Bengal, and stretches inward into the\ncontinent of India to an almost equal distance. Here, then, is a vast\ntract of country manifestly composed of earthy sediment, obtained by\nthe process of Denudation from the Himalayan mountains, and afterward\ntransported to its present site by the agency of moving water. But\nthe deposition of earthy matter does not suddenly come to an end when\nwe reach the present line of the coast. The sea is visibly discolored\nby the sediment far beyond the actual base of the Delta; and a sloping\nbank of mud is found to stretch beneath the waters of the Bay to a\ndistance of a hundred miles.\n\nEven within the short period of a man\u2019s life the domain of dry land\nis often visibly enlarged. Sandbanks are first formed in some of\nthose numerous winding channels through which the two rivers find\ntheir way to the sea. The sandbanks, receiving fresh accessions\nduring each succeeding flood, in a short time become islands; and\nthe islands have been known, in a few years, to attain a superficial\nextent of many square miles. Then begins to appear a wild and\nluxuriant vegetation--reeds, long grass, shrubs, and trees; and those\nimpenetrable thickets are formed, to which the buffalo, the rhinoceros,\nand the tiger soon resort for shelter. A very extensive tract of this\nkind, adjoining the sea-coast, and known as the Sunderbunds, is said to\nbe as large as the principality of Wales.\n\nThe Delta of the Nile, though not quite one-half as large as the\nDelta of the Ganges, presents nevertheless some features of peculiar\ninterest. In many places where a vertical section is exposed to view,\nthe phenomenon of stratification may be distinctly recognized. The\nupper part of the deposit belonging to each year is composed of earth\nof a lighter color than the lower part; and the whole forms a distinct\nlayer of hardened clay, which may be easily separated from those above\nand below. This formation, therefore, corresponds exactly with those\nstrata of shale which we so often meet with in the Crust of the Earth.\nAgain, many of the old channels through which the Nile made its way\nto the sea in ancient times, have been since filled up and converted\ninto solid land. The two extreme arms of the river, which formerly\nenclosed the Delta, were two hundred miles apart where they entered\nthe Mediterranean. But these channels are now Alluvial Plains, and the\nbase of the Delta is but ninety miles in length. Hence, though the\nquantity of land which has been formed by the sediment of the Nile is\nmuch greater now than it formerly was, the size of the Delta properly\nso called has not been increased but diminished.\n\nIf we turn to the great continent of America, we are met by results\nnot less striking and important. The Delta of the Mississippi is two\nhundred miles in length, and one hundred and forty in breadth. This\nvast stratum of mud is between five and six hundred feet thick, and\ncovers an area twelve thousand square miles in extent. Each year it\nreceives from the great _Father of Rivers_ a new accession of sediment\nwhich is computed at 3,700,000,000 of cubic feet. And besides this\nannual deposit of inorganic matter, we must not omit from our estimate\nthe countless trees of various species and of gigantic size, which\nare torn up by the floods, carried along by the impetuous stream, and\nburied at last with the bones of animals, and works of human art,\nand other spoils of the land, in the mud of the Delta at the river\u2019s\nmouth.[45]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER VII._\n\nSTRATIFIED ROCKS OF CHEMICAL ORIGIN.\n\n    _Chemical agency employed in the formation of mechanical\n    rock--But some rocks produced almost exclusively by the\n    action of chemical laws--Difference between a mixture\n    and a solution--A saturated solution--Stalactites and\n    Stalagmites--Fantastic columns in limestone caverns--The grotto\n    of Antiparos in the Grecian Archipelago--Wyer\u2019s cave in the\n    Blue Mountains of America--Travertine rock in Italy--Growth of\n    limestone in the Solfatara Lake near Tivoli--Incrustations of\n    the Anio--Formation of travertine at the baths of San Filippo\n    and San Vignone._\n\n\nThe Aqueous Rocks of which we have spoken in the last two chapters are\ncalled by Geologists Mechanical; inasmuch as they owe their existence\nchiefly to the agency of Mechanical force. It should be observed,\nhowever, that a very considerable share in the production of these\nrocks must be ascribed, not unfrequently, to Chemical influence.\nChemical action helps to prepare the materials of which they are\ncomposed; and Chemical action likewise furnishes the calcareous,\nsiliceous, and other mineral cements by which they are, in a great\nmeasure, consolidated. There is, however, a second class of Aqueous\nRocks which are produced almost exclusively by the operation of\nChemical laws, and which we have accordingly denominated Stratified\nRocks of Chemical Origin. It is of these that we purpose to speak in\nthe present chapter. They constitute a much smaller proportion of the\nEarth\u2019s Crust than either the Mechanical or the Organic Rocks. But the\nhistory of their formation is curious and instructive. We shall confine\nourselves to one or two simple and familiar illustrations.\n\nIn the course of these illustrations we shall have a good deal to say\nabout Carbonate of Lime in a state of solution; and it may perhaps be\nuseful to explain, first of all, what is meant by a solution, in the\ntechnical language of Chemistry. If a spoonful of salt is put into a\ntumbler of water, the particles of salt, after a little time, cease to\ncohere together, and become so diffused through the water as to be no\nlonger visible to the eye, although their presence in every part may be\neasily discerned by the taste. The salt is then said to be _dissolved_,\nand the water in which it is dissolved is called a _solution_ of salt.\nIt is important to distinguish the case of a solution from the case of\na mere mechanical mixture. If, instead of the salt, we were to put into\nthe tumbler of water a spoonful of very fine sand, then we should have\na _mixture_ but not a _solution_. By stirring briskly the contents of\nthe tumbler we might, indeed, effect a very close union between the\nparticles of water and the particles of sand: but this union would be\naltogether different in kind from the union that was observed in the\nformer case between the particles of water and the particles of salt.\nFirst, the sand would remain visible to the eye, making the water\nturbid and discolored; whereas the salt entirely disappeared, leaving\nthe water limpid and transparent as before. Again, if the water be\nallowed to rest, the sand will in time fall to the bottom, whereas the\nsalt will not.\n\nBut there is a limit to the capacity of water for holding salt in\nsolution. If spoonful after spoonful be added, it will be found, when a\ncertain point has been reached, that the water can at length dissolve\nno more. It is then called a _saturated solution_ of salt. If, in\nthis case, a portion of the water were to pass away by evaporation,\nit is clear, we should have the same quantity of salt as before, in\na smaller quantity of water. The consequence would be that _all_ the\nsalt could not then be held in solution, and some of it would fall to\nthe bottom; or, in chemical language, a precipitate of salt would be\nformed on the bottom of the tumbler. Now, according to the theory of\nGeologists, many rocks, hundreds of feet thick, and solid enough to\nform the walls of our palaces, our churches, and our castles, have been\nproduced in the Crust of the Earth by just such a process as this.\nIn support of their theory we are about to show that the process is\nactually going on in our own time, and is open to the examination of\nall who may desire to study it for themselves.\n\nWe shall begin with the formation of Stalactites and Stalagmites. The\nmode in which these singular masses of rock are brought into existence\nis very clearly explained, and the picturesque appearance they so often\npresent to the eye is very graphically described, by Dr. Mantell,\nin his Wonders of Geology, from which the following passages are\ntaken:--\u201cOne of the most common appearances in limestone caverns is the\nformation of what are called Stalactites, from a Greek word signifying\ndistillation or dropping. Whenever water filters through a limestone\nrock it dissolves a portion of it; and on reaching any opening, such as\na cavern, oozes from the sides or roof, and forms a drop, the moisture\nof which is soon evaporated by the air, and a small circular plate or\nring of calcareous matter remains; another drop succeeds in the same\nplace, and adds, from the same cause, a fresh coat of incrustation. In\ntime, these successive additions produce a long, irregular, conical\nprojection from the roof, which is generally hollow, and is continually\nbeing increased by the fresh accession of water, loaded with calcareous\nor chalky matter: this is deposited on the outside of the Stalactite\nalready formed, and, trickling down, adds to its length by subsiding\nto the point, and evaporating as before; precisely in the same manner\nas, during frosty weather, icicles are formed on the edges of the eaves\nof a roof. When the supply of water holding lime in solution is too\nrapid to allow of its evaporation at the bottom of the Stalactite, it\ndrops on the floor of the cave, and drying up gradually, forms in like\nmanner a Stalactite rising upward from the ground, instead of hanging\nfrom the roof; this is called for the sake of distinction Stalagmite.\n\n\u201cIt frequently happens, where these processes are uninterrupted, that a\nStalactite hanging from the roof, and a Stalagmite formed immediately\nunder it from the super-abundant water, increase until they unite, and\nthus constitute a natural pillar, apparently supporting the roof of the\ngrotto. It is to the grotesque forms assumed by Stalactites and these\nnatural columns, that caverns owe the interesting appearances described\nin such glowing terms by those who witness them for the first time. One\nof the most beautiful stalactitic caverns in England is at Clapham,\nnear Ingleborough. In the Cheddar Cliffs, Somersetshire, there has been\ndiscovered a similar cave richly incrusted with sparry concretions.\nThere are others in Derbyshire.\n\n\u201cThe grotto of Antiparos in the Grecian Archipelago, not far from\nParos, has long been celebrated. The sides and roof of its principal\ncavity are covered with immense incrustations of calcareous spar, which\nform either Stalactites depending from above or irregular pillars\nrising from the floor. Several perfect columns reaching to the ceiling\nhave been formed and others are still in progress, by the union of the\nStalactite from above with the Stalagmite below. These, being composed\nof matter slowly deposited, have assumed the most fantastic shapes;\nwhile the pure, white, and glittering spar beautifully catches and\nreflects the light of the torches of the visitors to this subterranean\npalace, in a manner which causes all astonishment to cease at the\nromantic tales told of the place--of its caves of diamonds and of its\nruby walls; the simple truth, when deprived of all exaggeration, being\nsufficient to excite admiration and awe.\n\n\u201cSometimes a linear fissure in the roof, by the direction it gives to\nthe dropping of the lapidifying water, forms a perfectly transparent\ncurtain or partition. A remarkable instance of this kind occurs in a\ncavern in North America called Wyer\u2019s Cave. This cave is situated in\na ridge of limestone hills running parallel to the Blue Mountains.\nA narrow and rugged fissure leads to a large cavern, where the most\ngrotesque figures, formed by the percolation of water through beds of\nlimestone, present themselves, while the eye, glancing onward, watches\nthe dim and distant glimmers of the lights of the guides--some in the\nrecess below, and others in the galleries above. Passing from these\nrecesses, the passage conducts to a flight of steps that leads into\na large cavern of irregular form and of great beauty. Its dimensions\nare about thirty feet by fifty. Here the incrustations hang just like\na sheet of water that was frozen as it fell; there they rise into a\nbeautiful stalactite pillar; and yonder compose an elevated seat,\nsurrounded by sparry pinnacles. Beyond this room is another more\nirregular, but more beautiful; for besides having sparry ornaments in\ncommon with the others, the roof overhead is of the most admirable and\nsingular formation. It is entirely covered with Stalactites, which\nare suspended from it like inverted pinnacles; and they are of the\nfinest material, and most beautifully shaped and embossed. In another\napartment an immense sheet of transparent Stalactite, which extends\nfrom the floor to the roof, emits, when struck, deep and mellow sounds\nlike those of a muffled drum.\n\n\u201cFarther on is another vaulted chamber, which is one hundred feet\nlong, thirty-six wide, and twenty-six high. Its walls are filled with\ngrotesque concretions. The effect of the lights placed by the guides\nat various elevations, and leaving hidden more than they reveal, is\nextremely fine. At the extremity of another range of apartments, a\nmagnificent hall, two hundred and fifty feet long, and thirty-three\nfeet high, suddenly appears. Here is a splendid sheet of rock-work\nrunning up the centre of the room, and giving it the aspect of two\nseparate and noble galleries. This partition rises twenty feet above\nthe floor, and leaves the fine span of the arched roof untouched.\nThere is here a beautiful concretion, which has the form and drapery\nof a gigantic statue; and the whole place is filled with stalagmitical\nmasses of the most varied and grotesque character. The fine perspective\nof this room, four times the length of an ordinary church, and the\namazing vaulted roof spreading overhead, without any support of pillar\nor column, produce a most striking effect. In another apartment, which\nhas an altitude of fifty feet, there is at one end an elevated recess\nornamented with a group of pendant Stalactites of unusual size and\nsingular beauty. They are as large as the pipes of a full-sized organ,\nand ranged with great regularity: when struck they emit mellow sounds\nof various keys, not unlike the tones of musical glasses. The length of\nthis extraordinary group of caverns is not less than one thousand six\nhundred feet.\u201d\n\nIn the case of Stalactites and Stalagmites the actual formation of\nlimestone by the influence of Chemical action is brought home forcibly\nto the mind, and, in a manner, made palpable to the senses. We shall\nnow pass to other examples in which the process is scarcely less\nopen to observation, and in which the limestone assumes a somewhat\nmore massive and rock-like form. Every one who has been in Italy is\nfamiliar with the limestone rock called Travertine. It is seen in the\nancient walls and the venerable temples of P\u00e6stum, which have withstood\nunharmed the wasting hand of time for upward of twenty centuries.\nIn Rome, too, this stone is associated in our minds as well with the\nenduring monuments of antiquity, as with the imposing splendor of\nChristian art. The Coliseum, the most stupendous of ruins, and St.\nPeter\u2019s, the most sublime of temples, are built of Travertine. In fact\nit seems to have been, in every age, the chief building stone employed\nin the architecture of the Eternal City; and the quarries from which\nit was taken in ancient times may still be seen at Ponte Lucano, near\nTivoli. Now it is an interesting fact, that close to this very spot,\nat the Solfatara lake on the one side, and at Tivoli itself on the\nother, the formation of Travertine is going on in our own time, by the\nprecipitation of lime from a state of solution.\n\nThe Solfatara lake, situated about fourteen miles from Rome, on the\nroad to Tivoli, is supplied with an unfailing stream of tepid water,\nimpregnated with carbonic acid gas and saturated with carbonate of\nlime. The amount of carbonate of lime which the water is capable of\nholding in solution depends chiefly on three things: first, on the\npresence of carbonic acid; secondly, on the high temperature of the\nwater; and thirdly, on its quantity. Now the carbonic acid is ever\nrising in bubbles to the surface and passing away; the temperature\nof the water is lowered by contact with the cooler atmosphere; and\nits quantity is diminished by evaporation. Thus the capacity which\nthe water at first had for holding the carbonate of lime in solution\nis notably diminished, and a part of the lime is precipitated to the\nbottom in a solid form, or clings to the vegetable matter with which it\ncomes in contact.\n\nA very simple and interesting experiment, made in the early part of\nthe present century by Sir Humphrey Davy, will illustrate the rapidity\nwith which the formation of solid stone is even now taking place. In\nthe month of May he fixed a stick in the bed of the lake, and left\nit standing until the following April, when he found that it was\ncovered with an incrustation of limestone several inches thick.[46] In\nprecisely the same way new layers of Travertine are annually deposited\nin the bed of the lake, and incrusted on its rocky margin; and so the\nlake itself is becoming smaller and smaller from year to year. We are\ntold that in the middle of the seventeenth century it was a mile in\ncircuit, and now it is a little more than a quarter of a mile.[47]\nHere, therefore, we have an immense mass of compact limestone rock,\nbuilt up by natural agents within the last two centuries.\n\nAt Tivoli, about four miles beyond the Solfatara, and two miles from\nthe quarries of Ponte Lucano, phenomena of the same kind are exhibited.\nThe waters of the Anio, which are saturated with carbonate of lime,\nform incrustations of Travertine on the banks of the river; and at the\ncelebrated falls, where the whole volume of the stream leaps at a bound\nfrom a height of three hundred and twenty feet, the most beautiful\nstalactites are formed by the foam.\n\nThe formation of Travertine is going on with no less activity in\nother parts of the Italian Peninsula. At the baths of San Filippo, in\nTuscany, there are three warm springs which contain a very large amount\nof mineral matter in solution. The water which supplies the baths falls\ninto a pond, where it has been known to deposit a solid stratum of rock\n_thirty feet thick_ in twenty years. In the same neighborhood are the\nmineral baths of San Vignone. The source from which the water flows is\nsituated on the summit of a hill not more than a few hundred yards from\nthe high road between Sienna and Rome; and so rapid is the formation\nof stone, that half a foot of solid Travertine is deposited every year\nin the pipe that conducts the water to the baths. At this spot we have\na very good illustration of the argument we are now considering. As\nthe stream of water flows down the slopes of the hill, a thin layer\nof Travertine rock is produced on the surface of the earth, almost\nbefore our eyes; and so it was previous to our own time, and so it has\nbeen for ages, as history and tradition testify. The quantity produced\nin each year and in each century is comparatively small, but we can\nhave no doubt that it _has_ been produced by the means described.\nNow, beneath the surface of the Earth, immediately below these modern\nformations, of which we have so clearly ascertained the origin, we find\nstrata of the same kind, composed of the same materials, and arranged\nin the same way, layer resting upon layer, down to a depth of two\nhundred feet: and the Geologist accounts for the formation of the one\naccording to the same laws which he has seen at work in the production\nof the other.[48]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER VIII._\n\nSTRATIFIED ROCKS OF ORGANIC ORIGIN--ILLUSTRATIONS FROM ANIMAL LIFE.\n\n    _Nature of organic rocks--Carbonate of lime extracted from the\n    sea by the intervention of minute animalcules--Chalk rock--Its\n    vast extent--Supposed to be of organic origin--A stratum of\n    the same kind now growing up on the floor of the Atlantic\n    ocean--Coral reefs and islands--Their general appearance--Their\n    geographical distribution--Their organic origin--Structure\n    of the zoophyte--Various illustrations--Agency of the\n    zoophyte in the construction of coral rock--How the sunken\n    reef is converted into an island and peopled with plants and\n    animals--Difficulty proposed and considered--Hypothesis of Mr.\n    Darwin--Coral limestone in the solid crust of the earth._\n\n\nWe now pass to the third division of Aqueous Rocks, those, namely,\nwhich are believed to have come into existence chiefly through the\nagency of animal and vegetable life, and are therefore called Organic.\nThe study of these rocks has been prosecuted with no inconsiderable\nardor during the last thirty years; and the facts which have been\nbrought to light are certainly amongst the most curious and interesting\nin the whole range of physical science. Indeed we are convinced that\na simple narrative of the researches which have recently been made\nupon this subject, and the discoveries to which these researches\nhave led, would be no less attractive, and scarcely less wonderful,\nthan a fairy tale. But it is not for us to wander at large over this\nvast and tempting field of inquiry. We must be content with one or\ntwo examples, which may help to illustrate the process of inductive\nreasoning upon which the general principles of geological science are\nfounded.\n\nIt is argued, then, that the present operations of Nature afford\nthe best key for the interpretation of her works in bygone times.\nWe observe various beds of rocks now in course of formation on the\nsurface of the Earth; and within the Crust of the Earth we discover\ncorresponding strata of the self-same rock already complete, and laid\nby, as it were, in Nature\u2019s storehouse. Side by side, therefore, we\nmay study and compare the finished work and the work that is yet in\nprogress; and if, on a close examination, they are found to agree in\nall essential characters, we have doubtless a strong presumption,\nthat the same causes which are now producing the one, must in former\ntimes have produced the other. This line of argument we have already\nconsidered in reference to those two classes of Aqueous Rocks, which\nare said to be respectively of Mechanical and of Chemical origin. We\nnow proceed to show that it is no less applicable to those which are\ncalled Organic. And although we may not hope to unfold all the secret\nwonders of Nature\u2019s laboratory, that have come to light in recent\ntimes, yet we may afford a passing glimpse at her operations, which can\nscarcely fail to be interesting and instructive.\n\nWe have shown how strata of solid rock are sometimes formed in lakes by\nthe precipitation of lime from a state of solution. Now this process\ncannot take place in the sea; for though lime is present in the sea,\nthe quantity of carbonic acid with which it is there associated, is\nfar more than sufficient to render its precipitation impossible.[49]\nBut Nature has another contrivance for gathering together the solid\nelements of her building. The depths of the ocean are teeming with\nlife; and countless tribes of minute animals are furnished with the\npower of extracting the lime from the waters they inhabit, and of\nreproducing it under a new form. Sometimes, through this mysterious\noperation of organic life, the lime is converted into a calcareous\nshell, like that of the oyster; sometimes into a stony skeleton, as\nin the case of the numerous families of coral-producing animalcules.\nAfter death the soft, fleshy substance of these animals melts away\nand disappears; but the limestone shells and skeletons remain,\naccumulating during the long course of ages to an almost incredible\nextent. And, if we are to believe Geologists, out of these accumulated\nmaterials, sometimes preserving their original form and structure,\nsometimes altered more or less by chemical action, sometimes broken\nup into fragments by mechanical force, has been produced a very large\nproportion of the limestone rocks which occur so abundantly in the\nCrust of the Earth.\n\nNo better illustration can be found than the white earthy limestone,\nfamiliar to every one under the name of chalk. An undulating stratum\nof Chalk Rock, attaining not unfrequently a thickness of one thousand\nfeet, may be said, speaking roughly, to underlie the southeastern half\nof England. Sometimes it appears at the surface: sometimes it dips\ndownward, and forms a kind of great basin, over which are regularly\nspread out various other groups of Stratified Rocks. On the southern\ncoast it rises to a height of several hundred feet above the level of\nthe sea in a line of perpendicular cliffs, conspicuous from a distance\nby their dazzling whiteness. But the White Chalk of England is only an\ninsignificant part of a great rock-formation, which may be traced over\nextensive areas throughout all Europe, from Ireland to the Crimea, from\nthe Baltic Sea to the Bay of Biscay; and which everywhere preserves in\na remarkable degree the same mineral character, and presents to the eye\nthe same general appearance.\n\nNow it had often been suggested by Geologists that this wide-spread\nformation derived its existence chiefly from the accumulated remains\nof organic life. For in many instances the broken shells of minute\nanimalcules could be distinctly observed to constitute a part of the\nrock. And even where the organic structure could not be so clearly\ntraced, the carbonate of lime composing the Chalk presented just\nthat appearance which would naturally result from the decomposition\nof such shells. This theory, however, was long put forward with\ndiffidence and received with incredulity. Even scientific men found\nit hard to persuade themselves that a solid rock of such great extent\nand thickness could have been the work of agents apparently so\ninsignificant. But it has been confirmed and illustrated in a very\ninteresting and unexpected manner within the last few years.\n\nWhen the project of connecting Europe and America by a telegraph\ncable was first set on foot, it became necessary to ascertain, as far\nas possible, the general configuration of the ocean bottom and the\nexact nature of the bed on which the cable was to lie. Accordingly\nin the year 1857 an expedition was fitted out for this purpose under\nthe command of Captain Dayman; and a careful series of soundings was\ntaken between Valentia, on the West Coast of Kerry, and Trinity Bay on\nthe shores of Newfoundland. It was found that the floor of the ocean\nbetween Ireland and America is a vast irregular plain, and that by\nfar the greater part is covered over with a kind of soft mud or ooze.\nSamples of this ooze were scooped up, even at the most profound depths,\nby means of an ingenious apparatus attached to the sounding-lines, and\nbrought undisturbed to the surface. Afterward they were carried home to\nEngland and submitted for examination to Professor Huxley. The result\nhas been to show that the materials of a limestone rock, resembling in\nevery essential feature the White Chalk of Europe, are being spread out\nat the present day over an area of immense extent on the floor of the\nAtlantic Ocean.\n\nWith the permission of our readers we shall allow Professor Huxley, as\nfar as may be, to tell his own story.[50] As to the ocean floor itself,\n\u201cIt is,\u201d he says, \u201ca prodigious plain--one of the widest and most even\nplains in the world. If the sea were drained off, you might drive a\nwagon all the way from Valentia to Trinity Bay. And, except upon one\nsharp incline about two hundred miles from Valentia, I am not quite\nsure that it would even be necessary to put the skid on, so gentle are\nthe ascents and descents upon that long route. From Valentia the road\nwould lie down hill for about two hundred miles to the point at which\nthe bottom is now covered by 1700 fathoms of sea-water. Then would come\nthe central plain, more than a thousand miles wide, the inequalities\nof the surface of which would be hardly perceptible, though the depth\nof water upon it now varies from 10,000 to 15,000 feet; and there are\nplaces in which Mont Blanc might be sunk without showing its peak\nabove water. Beyond this the ascent on the American side commences,\nand gradually leads for about three hundred miles, to the Newfoundland\nshore.\u201d\n\nThe central plain here described, which has been since found to extend\nmany hundred miles north and south of the cable line, is covered almost\neverywhere by that soft, mealy sort of mud of which we have already\nspoken; and this, it is now confidently believed, is nothing else than\na stratum of Chalk Rock in an early stage of formation. When thoroughly\ndried it assumes a whitish color, and exhibits a texture which even\nto the superficial observer appears closely to resemble fine chalk.\nNay, we are told that if so disposed, one may take a bit of it in his\nfingers and write with it upon a blackboard. Like chalk, too, when\nchemically analyzed it is found to be almost pure carbonate of lime.\n\nBut there is a yet more striking analogy between the mud of the\nAtlantic and the White Chalk of Europe. Both have been submitted to\nthe magnifying power of the Microscope; and, after an examination\nconducted with scrupulous care, a wonderful and almost startling\nidentity of mineral, or rather we should say of organic, composition\nhas been established between them. To the naked eye Chalk is simply a\nsoft, earthy sort of stone. But when a thin transparent slice is placed\nunder the Microscope, the general mass is found to be made up of very\nminute particles, in which are embedded a vast number of other bodies\npossessing a well-defined form and structure. These are of various\nsizes, but on a rough average may be said not to exceed a hundredth\nof an inch in diameter. Hundreds of thousands of them are sometimes\ncontained in a cubic inch of Chalk, together with countless millions of\nthe more minute granules.\n\nProfessor Huxley succeeded in separating these bodies from the mass of\ngranules in which they were embedded, and by examining them apart, he\nhas ascertained still more fully their exact structure and composition.\n\u201cEach one of them,\u201d he says, \u201cis a beautifully constructed calcareous\nfabric, made up of a number of chambers communicating freely with one\nanother. They are of various forms. One of the commonest is something\nlike a badly-grown raspberry, being formed of a number of nearly\nglobular chambers of different sizes congregated together. It is called\nGlobigerina; and some specimens of Chalk consist of little else than\nGlobigerin\u00e6 and granules.\u201d\n\nPrevious to 1857 the Globigerin\u00e6 of the Chalk were a matter of no small\ncontroversy among Geologists and Naturalists. Some contended that\nthey were the organic remains--the shells or skeletons--of ancient\nanimalcules. Others were disposed to regard them simply as aggregations\nof lime, which, so to speak, chanced to assume the form of these\nlittle chambered bodies; though it was not easy to explain, on this\nhypothesis, how these chance concretions, however much they varied\nin size, preserved over the whole of Europe the same exact form and\nstructure. But the controversy is now at an end. The specimens of the\nAtlantic ooze brought home by Captain Dayman, when examined under the\nhigher powers of the Microscope, are found, like Chalk, to be composed\nalmost entirely of Globigerin\u00e6. And that no doubt may remain as to\ntheir organic origin, a portion of the fleshy integument of the little\nanimalcules is seen, in many cases, still adhering to the calcareous\nskeleton.\n\n\u201cGlobigerin\u00e6 of every size,\u201d we are told, \u201cfrom the smallest to the\nlargest, are associated together in the Atlantic mud, and the chambers\nof many are filled by a soft animal matter. This soft substance is,\nin fact, the remains of the creature to which the Globigerina shell,\nor rather skeleton, owes its existence--and which is an animal of\nthe simplest imaginable description. It is, in fact, a mere particle\nof living jelly, without defined parts of any kind--without a mouth,\nnerves, muscles, or distinct organs; and only manifesting its vitality\nto ordinary observation by thrusting out and retracting, from all\nparts of its surface, long filamentous processes which serve for arms\nand legs. Yet this amorphous particle, devoid of everything which, in\nthe higher animals we call organs, is capable of feeding, growing,\nand multiplying; of separating from the ocean the small proportion of\ncarbonate of lime which is dissolved in sea-water; and of building up\nthat substance into a skeleton for itself, according to a pattern which\ncan be imitated by no other known agency.\u201d\n\nThat the same process is going on in other parts of the ocean appears\nby observations made by Sir Leopold M\u2019Clintock during the cruise of\nthe Bulldog in 1860. He discovered that a calcareous ooze having the\nconsistency of putty is spread out over extensive areas between the\nFaroe Islands and Iceland, and also between Iceland and Greenland. Of\nthis mud about ninety-five per cent. is composed of Globigerin\u00e6, which\nin some instances were brought up actually living to the surface, and\nbusily engaged in secreting, by their vital powers, carbonate of lime\nfrom the waters of the sea.[51]\n\nProfessor Huxley goes yet one step further in following out the\nresemblance between the Chalk Rock that exists in the Crust of the\nEarth and the stratum of Chalk that is now growing up in the depths\nof the Atlantic. Not only are the Globigerin\u00e6, of which the one is in\ngreat part composed, identical with the animalcules that make up about\nnine-tenths of the other, but even the minute granules that constitute\nthe residue of each formation, correspond in a very remarkable manner.\n\u201cIn working over the soundings collected by Captain Dayman, I was\nsurprised to find that many of what I have called the Granules of\nthat mud were not, as one might have been tempted to think at first,\nthe mere powder and waste of Globigerin\u00e6, but they had a definite\nform and size. I termed these bodies Coccoliths, and doubted their\norganic nature. Doctor Wallich verified my observation, and added the\ninteresting discovery that, not unfrequently, bodies similar to these\nCoccoliths were aggregated together into spheroids, which he termed\nCoccospheres. So far as we knew, these bodies, the nature of which is\nextremely puzzling and problematical, were peculiar to the Atlantic\nsoundings.\n\n\u201cBut a few years ago Mr. Sorby, in making a careful examination of the\nChalk by means of thin sections and otherwise, observed, as Ehrenberg\nhad done before him, that much of its granular basis possesses a\ndefinite form. Comparing these formed particles with those in the\nAtlantic soundings, he found the two to be identical; and thus\nproved that the Chalk, like the soundings, contains these mysterious\nCoccoliths and Coccospheres. Here was a further and a most interesting\nconfirmation, from internal evidence, of the essential identity of the\nChalk with modern deep-sea mud.\u201d\n\nWe may, therefore, set it down as certain, first, that the formation\nof Chalk Rock is going on very extensively at the present day; and\nsecondly, that the chief agency employed in its production is no other\nthan the vital action of minute animalcules. This is no longer merely\na plausible theory or an ingenious hypothesis: it is simply a matter\nof fact ascertained by direct observation. If then it is just and\nphilosophical to ascribe like effects to like causes, the conclusion is\nplain that the White Chalk of Europe came into existence in some far\ndistant age by just such a process as that which is now in operation on\nthe bed of the Atlantic Ocean.\n\nFrom the Chalk mud of the Atlantic we will now pass to the Coral Reefs\nthat are growing up beneath the waters of the Pacific and the Indian\nOceans. Every one has heard of Coral Reefs and Coral Islands; yet we\nfancy many persons have but vague and indefinite notions about them.\nWe shall, therefore, in the first place, give a brief account of their\ngeneral appearance, their extent, and their geographical distribution.\nAfterward we shall give some of the evidence which goes to show that\nthese huge masses of rock owe their existence to the organic powers of\nminute living animalcules.\n\nThe Coral Reef is familiar to the navigator of tropical seas under a\ngreat variety of forms, and in many different stages of development.\nIn one case it is a chain of hidden rocks rising not quite to the\nlevel of the sea; in another it appears just above the waters, but is\nwashed over by each returning tide; while in another it rises up beyond\nthe reach of the waves, is clothed with luxuriant vegetation, and\ninhabited by various species of animals, even by man himself. Again\nthere is great diversity of outline among these rocks, whether they are\nsunk beneath the surface of the waters or lifted above them. But all\nmay be reduced to four classes, of which we propose to give a short\ndescription.\n\nFirst is the Atoll, or lagoon island. It is a circular strip of\nlimestone rock enclosing a shallow lake within, and surrounded by a\ndeep and often unfathomable ocean without. The scene presented by\nsome of these circular reefs is described by travellers as equally\nstriking for its singularity and its beauty. \u201cA strip of land a few\nhundred yards wide is covered by lofty cocoa-nut trees, above which\nis the blue vault of heaven. This band of verdure is bounded by a\nbeach of glittering white sand, the outer margin of which is encircled\nwith a ring of snow-white breakers, beyond which are the dark heaving\nwaters of the ocean. The inner beach encloses the still clear water\nof the lagoon, resting in its greater part on white sand, and, when\nilluminated by a vertical sun, of a most vivid green.\u201d\n\nThese lagoon islands are often found in groups stretching, with little\ninterruption, for many hundred miles across the ocean. The Maldives,\nfor example, which lie a little distance to the southwest of Hindostan,\nform a continuous chain, running due north and south, four hundred and\nseventy miles in length and fifty miles in breadth. Each successive\nlink in this chain does not consist, as might be supposed, of a single\ncircular reef, but it is rather a ring of small coral islets, sometimes\nmore than a hundred in number, each of which is itself a perfect Atoll\nor lagoon island such as we have just described. Of these miniature\nislets many are from three to five miles in diameter; while the larger\nrings of which they form a part are from thirty to fifty. The Laccadive\nislands, a little more to the north, exhibit a similar arrangement,\nand indeed would seem to be a continuation of the same group. In the\nPacific are found some chains of coral islands yet more extensive;\nas for instance the Dangerous Archipelago, which is upward of eleven\nhundred miles in length, and from three to four hundred in breadth; but\nthe islands within these spaces are thinly scattered, and insignificant\nin size.\n\nSometimes the annular strip of coral rock encloses within itself a\nlofty island, which rises up from the centre of the lagoon. In this\ncase it is called an Encircling Reef; the lagoon being simply a broad\nchannel surrounding the island in the centre, and encompassed itself by\nthe coral rock. An example occurs in the island of Vanikoro, celebrated\nfor the shipwreck of La Peyrouse, where the Encircling Reef runs at a\ndistance of two or three miles from the shore, the channel between it\nand the land having a general depth of between two and three hundred\nfeet. The well-known mountainous island of Tahiti in the South Pacific\nOcean is also encompassed by an Encircling Reef, from which it is\nseparated by a broad belt of tranquil water.\n\nA third class of Coral Reefs consists of those which run parallel to\nthe shores of continents or great islands, from which they are cut off\nby a broad channel, to which the sea has free access through certain\nopen passages in the rock. They are called Barrier Reefs; and differ\nfrom the former only in this, that they do not surround the land, but\nrun parallel to it at a distance of some miles. The Great Barrier Reef\nof Australia offers a noble example. It has been described as a huge,\nmassive, submarine wall or terrace, fronting the northeastern coast\nof that continent, varying from ten to ninety miles in breadth, and\nextending, with some trifling interruptions, to a length of 1250 miles.\nAnother reef of the same kind, 400 miles in length, faces the western\ncoast of the long narrow island of New Caledonia.\n\nWhen a chain of Coral rocks approaches close to the shore, so as to\nleave no intervening channel of deep water, they are called Fringing\nReefs; and these constitute the fourth and last class of the Coral\nformation. They prevail everywhere in tropical regions, and appear as\nbanks of Coral encrusting the rocky shores of islands and continents.\n\nAs regards the geographical distribution of Coral Reefs, the first\ncircumstance that claims our notice, is that they are exclusively\nconfined to the warmer regions of the globe. They exist in great\nprofusion within the tropics, and are rarely to be found beyond the\nthirtieth parallels of latitude on each side of the Equator. The only\nremarkable exception is in the case of the Bermuda Islands in 32\u00b0 north\nlatitude; but here, it is to be observed, the ocean is warmed by the\nwaters of the Gulf Stream. Another singular fact is the almost total\nabsence of Coral Reefs from the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, the Bermudas,\nwe believe, constitute here again the only exception. The Pacific,\non the contrary, is wonderfully productive of coral; also the Indian\nOcean, the Persian and Arabian Gulfs, and the Red Sea.\n\nIt may gratify, perhaps, the curiosity of some readers, if we add a\nword on the Red Coral which is now so favorite an ornament in the\nfashionable world. Though it never attains to the magnitude of those\nreefs and islands we have been describing, it partakes nevertheless of\nthe same peculiar structure; and no doubt is entertained that, like\nthem, it derives its existence from animal life, in the manner we shall\npresently explain. It is produced chiefly in the Mediterranean, in the\nRed Sea, and in the Persian Gulf; and is brought up from the great\ndepths by means of a grappling apparatus attached to boats. The largest\npieces have a shrub-like branching form, and are supposed to grow to\nthe height of one foot in about eight years.[52]\n\nSo much for the existence of the Coral Formation. Next comes the\nquestion of its origin, with which, of course, we are chiefly\nconcerned. It is now the received belief of all distinguished\nNaturalists, that these huge and wide-spread masses of limestone rock,\nagainst which the breakers of the ocean are ever thundering in vain,\nare the work of tiny marine animalcules, and chiefly of those seemingly\ninsignificant creatures known by the name of Polyps or Zoophytes. The\nZoophyte, they tell us, is a mason who himself produces the stones\nthat he employs in his building. \u201cHe has neither plane, nor chisel,\nnor trowel; there is no sound of hammer in his city. He erects mighty\nand enduring edifices, yet has no mechanical power by which to raise\nhis rocks to their summits. He can answer thee nothing--no tongue, no\neyes, no hands, no brains has he--yet from the caves of old ocean has\nhe raised that which fills you with admiration.\u201d[53] Surely if all this\nbe true, these countless myriads of animalcules call aloud to us from\nthe depths of the ocean in language that cannot be mistaken: \u201cKnow\nye that the Lord He is God; it is He that hath made us, and not we\nourselves.\u201d[54]\n\nThe Zoophyte belongs to the simplest form of the animal creation. Its\nbody consists merely of a pouch or stomach, with tentacles arranged\nround the margin, which it can extend at pleasure to supply itself with\nfood. In many species the individuals grow together on a common stem,\nfrom which new members are constantly shooting forth like buds from\nthe branches of a tree. Hence the origin of the name Zoophyte, which\nliterally means a plant-like animal. The common stem on which they grow\nis sometimes composed of a horny substance, but more generally it is\npure carbonate of lime, which they secrete by the powers of organic\naction from the waters of the sea. It forms, therefore, a kind of\ninternal skeleton or framework, to which the soft, gelatinous parts of\nthe animal adhere, pretty much as, in the case of other animals, the\nflesh adheres to the bones. Thus we have, as it were, a community of\nliving creatures, growing together upon one common stony framework,\ncalled a Polypidom or Polyp edifice, which they themselves build by the\nvery fact of living.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 4.--Campanularia Gelatinosa.]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 5.--Gorgonia Patula.]\n\nThe peculiar structure of these wonderful little communities may\nperhaps be made more intelligible by the aid of a few illustrations.\nFigure 4 exhibits the branching skeleton and, at the extremities of\nthe branches, the several Polyps by whose vital action the skeleton\nhas been constructed. Some of the animalcules are shown in a state of\nactivity, with their tiny arms spread out in search of food: others\nare withdrawn within their cells, and appear in a state of repose.\nThis species of Zoophyte, which is highly magnified in the figure,\nflourishes abundantly on the shores of Ireland and England. It has\nreceived the name of Campanularia, from the bell-like form of its\ncells. Our next cut represents a Gorgonia from the Mediterranean,\nwhich is also considerably magnified. The fleshy integument of this\nspecimen is of a brilliant red color: the Polyps are arranged in rows\non each side of the stem, and are shown in a state of expansion.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 6.--Frustra Pilosa.]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 7.--Madrepora Plantaginea.]\n\nA mass of Coral animalcules, which are known by the name of Frustra\nPilosa, is represented of the natural size in Figure 6. To the\nnaked eye it seems like a piece of fine net-work, disposed around a\nfragment of sea-weed, which may be observed protruding in the upper\npart of our illustration. With the aid of an ordinary magnifier the\nnet-like surface is seen to abound in minute pores arranged with much\nregularity. Each of these pores is the cell of a Zoophyte. And if\na fragment of Frustra be examined with a powerful microscope, when\nimmersed in sea-water, the curious little inhabitants themselves may be\nseen darting in and out of their cells, expanding and contracting their\nlong feelers, and exhibiting altogether a wonderful activity. In the\nadjoining woodcut, Figure 7, is shown another interesting species of\nthe arborescent Zoophyte. It belongs to the family of Madrepores, and\nabounds in almost all Coral Reefs. Alive under water it appears clothed\nin a gelatinous coating of rich and varied hues. But when removed from\nits native element this gelatinous coating, which is the living animal\nsubstance, quickly melts away; and, in some instances, runs off from\nthe calcareous skeleton in a kind of watery slime.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 8.--Corallium Rubrum.]\n\nA good idea of the celebrated red and pink Coral of commerce, so much\nadmired for its brilliant color, and the high polish of which it is\nsusceptible, may be gathered from our next illustration. As in the\nother species to which we have referred, the calcareous skeleton is\nenveloped in a living gelatinous substance, from which the Zoophytes\nseem to shoot out like buds from the bark of a tree. Several of these\nanimalcules are exhibited in our figure, in the active enjoyment of\nlife; gathering in, with their expanded tentacles, the elements of\ntheir stony edifice from the surrounding waters. After death the fleshy\nintegument is wasted away by the action of the sea; and the framework\nthat remains behind, washed ashore by the waves, or hooked up by the\ncoral fisherman, is wrought into brooches, bracelets, necklaces, and\nother ornaments of various kinds.\n\nNot a few varieties of the Coral-producing Zoophytes are to be found\nin actual living reality on our own coasts, where the curious student\nmay examine for himself their habits and general structure. But it\nis in the warmer regions of the Earth that they are developed in the\ngreatest numbers, and decked in the brightest hues. Those who have seen\nthem through the crystal waters of tropical seas, swarming in countless\nmultitudes on the clear white sand below, speak with enthusiasm of\ntheir luxuriant profusion and of their striking beauty. Combining to\na picturesque elegance of form a rich variety and pleasing harmony of\ncolors, they present to the eye a scene which has been compared to\na magnificent garden, laid out in diverse beds of rare and splendid\nflowers.\n\nSo far we have spoken only of the Polypidom, that is to say, the\ncommunity of Polyps living together on a common stem of their own\nconstruction. Now this Polypidom is the first element of the Coral\nReef. In some species of Zoophytes, the Red Coral for instance, the\ncalcareous stem never attains a size greater than that of a diminutive\nshrub. But in others, and they are very numerous, especially in\ntropical seas, there seems to be no limit to the growth of the solid\nstony framework. As the existing generation of Zoophytes is dying out,\nnew individuals are ever budding forth, which continue unceasingly to\nsecrete carbonate of lime, as their predecessors had done before them,\nfrom the waters of the ocean; and thus the tree-like form spreads its\nbranching arms on every side, growing upward and outward day by day.\nThe soft gelatinous parts of those generations that have passed away\nare, in a short time, dissolved, and the stony skeleton alone remains\nbehind. Ages roll on: the calcareous framework, ever increasing in\nsize, becomes at length a formidable rock; and this rock is the Coral\nReef.\n\nLet it not be supposed we are here advancing a theory: we are only\nstating a fact that has been established by close and repeated\nobservations. All the phenomena exhibited in the development of the\nPolypidom, are exhibited no less plainly in every Coral Reef that\nhas yet been examined. On the surface of the Reef are the living\nZoophytes, clinging to the calcareous skeleton which is ever growing\nlarger through the unconscious action of their vital functions; while\nimmediately beneath may be seen the same stony skeleton, already\ndivested of its fleshy integument, and beginning to assume the\nappearance of compact and massive rock. We can behold, therefore, the\nmason at work on the upper story of his building, and the structure\nalready finished below. And so we have little less than ocular\ndemonstration that the Coral Reef is the work of the Zoophyte.\n\nIt must not be supposed, however, that in every part of the Coral Reef,\nthe form and outline of the stony skeleton are exactly preserved.\nFragments of the rock are broken off by the force of the waves, and\nmixed up with the comminuted shells of oysters, mussels, and other\ncrustaceous animals inhabiting the same waters. In this way a sort of\ncalcareous gravel, sometimes a calcareous paste, is formed, which fills\nup the interstices, and connects the tree-like coral into a compact\nrock.\n\nWe have yet to explain how the Coral Reefs come, in many cases, to\nrise above the surface of the ocean, and to form dry land: for it has\nbeen found that the reef-building Zoophytes require to be continually\nimmersed in salt water, and therefore, by their own efforts, they\ncannot raise their structure above the ordinary level of the sea.\nThis question was for a long time involved in obscurity; but it has\nbeen cleared up by the actual observations of Naturalists in modern\ntimes. The following description, which is given to us by Chamisso,\nthe companion of Kotzebue on his voyages, will convey a good idea of\nthe process by which a sunken reef is often converted into a smiling,\nfruitful island. \u201cWhen the reef is of such a height that it remains\nalmost dry at low water, the corals leave off building. Above this\nline a continuous mass of solid stone is seen, composed of the shells\nof mollusks and echini, with their broken-off prickles and fragments\nof coral, united by calcareous sand, produced by the pulverization of\nshells. The heat of the sun often penetrates the mass of stone when it\nis dry, so that it splits in many places, and the force of the waves is\nthereby enabled to separate and lift blocks of coral, frequently six\nfeet long and three or four in thickness, and throw them upon the reef,\nby which means the ridge becomes at length so high that it is covered\nonly during some seasons of the year by spring tides. After this the\ncalcareous sand lies undisturbed, and offers to the seeds of trees\nand plants cast upon it by the waves, a soil upon which they rapidly\ngrow, to overshadow its dazzling white surface. Entire trunks of trees,\nwhich are carried by the rivers from other countries and islands, find\nhere at length a resting place after their long wanderings: with these\ncome some small animals, such as insects and lizards, as the first\ninhabitants. Even before the trees form a wood, the sea-birds nestle\nhere; stray land-birds take refuge in the bushes; and, at a much later\nperiod, when the work has been long since completed, man appears and\nbuilds his hut on the fruitful soil.\u201d[55]\n\nAnother question that seems to call for some explanation is suggested\nby the well-known habits of the Zoophytes themselves. From the\nobservations of Kotzebue and Darwin it appears that those species\nwhich are most effective in the construction of Reefs cannot flourish\nat a greater depth than twenty or thirty fathoms; whereas the coral\nrocks rise up in many cases from the bottom of an unfathomable\nocean. How, then, it may be asked, have the foundations of these\nwonderful structures been laid? This question opens a wide field for\nphilosophical speculation; and we freely admit that no theory of\nCoral Reefs can be regarded as complete and satisfactory, which does\nnot furnish a reasonable answer. But so far as the purpose of our\nargument is concerned, it is quite sufficient if a stratum of solid\nlimestone, twenty fathoms thick, has been formed mainly through the\nagency of these minute animalcules. And this conclusion, so abundantly\ndemonstrated by facts, is left quite untouched by the difficulty to\nwhich we now refer.\n\nIt will be interesting, however, to notice in passing the explanation\nof this phenomenon first suggested by Mr. Darwin, and now very\ngenerally accepted. He maintains that the whole Coral Reef--foundations\nand superstructure alike--is, in most cases, the result entirely of\norganic agency. The reef-building Zoophyte always begins his labors in\nwater that is comparatively shallow. But as he is building upward, it\noften happens that the bed of the sea is sinking downward in pretty\nnearly the same proportion; and thus the reef is ever increasing in\nheight from its original base, while the living mass of Zoophytes on\nits upper surface remains in about the same depth of water as when the\nbuilding first began.\n\nThis theory is supported by a vast amount of curious and ingenious\nreasoning. In the first place, there is nothing more remarkable in the\nphysical conformation of the Globe, than the immense predominance of\nwater over land throughout those extensive tracts of ocean where Coral\nReefs abound. Now this is just what we should naturally expect if the\nhypothesis of Mr. Darwin were admitted; for wherever the Crust of the\nEarth has been subsiding for many ages on a large scale, the domain of\nthe sea must of necessity have been considerably enlarged, and that\nof the land contracted in proportion. Again, this hypothesis will be\nfound to harmonize most perfectly with all the phenomena of Fringing\nReefs, Barrier Reefs, Encircling Reefs, and Lagoon Islands. The\nFringing Reef represents, as it were, the first stage of progress. The\nbuilding operations have just commenced near the shore of some island\nor continent, and but little space intervenes between the land and the\nincrusting wall of coral. Then, as the Crust of the Earth gradually\nsubsides, the water encroaches on the land, and forms a channel between\nit and the reef. Meanwhile the Zoophytes are at work, and the coral\nrock is growing upward as the foundation on which it rests is sinking\ndownward: each year it is higher from the bed of the sea, and yet no\nnearer to the surface of the waters. And when at length the channel,\nwhich is ever growing wider and wider, has reached a certain limit, the\nFringing Reef becomes a Barrier Reef, or if it encompasses an island,\nan Encircling Reef. Lastly, the Encircling Reef will finally become\na Lagoon Island, when the highest peaks of the land it encloses have\nslowly disappeared beneath the surface of the waters.\n\nIn confirmation of this reasoning Mr. Darwin has pointed out numerous\nexamples to illustrate each intermediate stage through which, according\nto his hypothesis, the Coral Reef must pass in the progress of its\nconstruction. He traces the gradual transition from the low bank of\ncoral incrusting a rocky shore to the Encircling Reef that compasses\nround a lofty island, like Tahiti, with a broad channel between.\nThen he shows how this channel insensibly becomes wider and wider,\nencroaching more and more upon the land, until at length only a few\nhigh peaks remain above water. Finally he leads us on to the case of a\nperfect Atoll, within which no trace of land remains to be seen; and\nthe channel, now become a lagoon, is encompassed by a Reef of Coral\nRock that rises steeply from an unfathomed ocean.\n\nWe do not mean to dwell upon this ingenious speculation, which would\ncarry us too far from the object at which we are aiming. It seems to\nus, however, that the arguments in its favor are at least deserving of\ncareful consideration; and we may add that they receive new strength\nfrom the facts we shall have occasion hereafter to bring forward, when\nwe come to speak of the undulating movements to which the Crust of the\nEarth has been subject at many different times, and in many different\nlocalities, even within the historic period.\n\nThe formation and structure of existing Coral Reefs being once fairly\nestablished, Geologists have little difficulty in ascribing a similar\norigin to many of the limestone strata that are found in the Crust\nof the Earth. For though the internal texture has been considerably\nmodified in the long course of ages, by chemical and other influences,\nnevertheless the stony skeletons of the reef-building Zoophytes can be\ndistinctly recognized in great abundance. Indeed it is not an uncommon\nthing to meet with limestone rock exhibiting plainly to the eye all\nthe appearance of Coral Reefs lifted up from the bed of the ocean.\n\u201cThe Oolite,\u201d says Doctor Mantell, \u201cabounds in corals, and contains\nbeds of limestone which are merely coral reefs that have undergone\nno change but that of elevation from the bottom of the deep, and the\nconsolidation of their materials. The Coral-rag of Wilts presents in\nfact all the characters of modern reefs: the polypifera belong chiefly\nto the Astr\u00e6id\u00e6, the genera of which family principally contribute to\nthe formations now going on in the Pacific. Shells, echinoderms, teeth,\nand bones of fishes, and other marine exuvi\u00e6, occupy the interstices\nbetween the corals, and the whole is consolidated by sand and gravel,\nheld together in some instances by calcareous, in others by siliceous\ninfiltrations. Those who have visited districts where the Coral-rag\nforms the immediate subsoil, and is exposed to view in the quarries\nor in natural sections, must have been struck with the resemblance of\nthese rocks to modern coral banks.\u201d[56]\n\nEven in many of our finest marbles the coral skeletons may be traced\ndistinctly enough, and contribute not a little to that variegated color\nwhich is so much admired. Nay, it is recorded by Mr. Parkinson that he\ndiscovered in a piece of solid marble, the _animal membrane itself_ by\nwhich the lime was originally abstracted from the sea. He immersed the\nmarble in dilute muriatic acid; and he relates with delight how, as\nthe calcareous earth dissolved, and the carbonic acid gas escaped, he\nobserved the animal tissue begin distinctly to appear in the form of\nlight, elastic membranes.[57]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nSTRATIFIED ROCKS OF ORGANIC ORIGIN--ILLUSTRATIONS FROM VEGETABLE LIFE.\n\n    _Origin of coal--Evident traces of plants and trees in\n    coal-mines--Coal made up of the same elements as wood--Beds\n    of coal found resting upon clay in which are preserved\n    the roots of trees--Insensible transition from wood to\n    coal--Forest-covered swamps--Accumulations of drift-wood in\n    lakes and estuaries--Peat bogs--Beds of Lignite--Seams of\n    pure coal with half-carbonized trees, some lying prostrate,\n    some standing erect--Summary of the argument hitherto\n    pursued--Objection to this argument from the Omnipotence of\n    God--Answer to the objection._\n\n\nAs animals, by organic action, extract lime from the waters of the\nocean they inhabit, which, being converted in the first instance into\nminute shells, or stony skeletons, afterward passes into a compact\nand solid rock, so in like manner do plants and trees extract carbon\nfrom the atmosphere in which they vegetate, and convert it into coal.\nNo reasonable doubt can now be entertained that coal derives its\nexistence, almost entirely, from the woody tissue of sunken swamps and\nforests. Though the nature of the process by which this transformation\ntakes place, is yet but imperfectly understood, and is, indeed, at\nthe present moment a subject of much discussion and controversy,\nnevertheless the _fact_ that the change _has_ taken place is fully\naccepted by all as an established truth, and is supported by an\naccumulation of evidence which it is not easy to resist.\n\nThe first circumstance to which we shall call attention, is the\nwonderful profusion of vegetable life that is always associated with\ncoal. Every one who has descended at any time into a coal mine, or\nwho has examined the specimens usually exhibited in a well-furnished\nmuseum, must have been struck by the countless forms of trees and\nplants, which still remain vividly impressed on this black and\nunsightly mineral. Dr. Buckland has described this phenomenon with\nmuch vigor and beauty in his celebrated Bridgewater Treatise: \u201cThe\nfinest example I have ever witnessed is that of the coal mines of\nBohemia just mentioned. The most elaborate imitations of living foliage\nupon the painted ceilings of Italian palaces, bear no comparison with\nthe beauteous profusion of extinct vegetable forms with which the\ngalleries of these instructive coal mines are overhung. The roof is\ncovered as with a canopy of gorgeous tapestry, enriched with festoons\nof most graceful foliage, flung in wild irregular profusion over every\nportion of its surface. The effect is heightened by the contrast of\nthe coal-black color of these vegetables with the light ground-work\nof the rock to which they are attached. The spectator feels himself\ntransported, as if by enchantment, into the forests of another world;\nhe beholds trees of forms and characters now unknown upon the surface\nof the earth, presented to his senses almost in the beauty and vigor of\ntheir primeval life; their scaly stems and bending branches, with their\ndelicate apparatus of foliage, are all spread forth before him, little\nimpaired by the lapse of countless ages, and bearing faithful records\nof extinct systems of vegetation, which began and terminated in times\nof which these relics are the infallible historians.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  Fig. 9.--Pecopteris Adiantoides.      Fig. 10.--Sphenopteris Affinis.\n\nFossil Ferns found in the Coal Measures of Europe and America.]\n\nThe next important fact that points to the vegetable origin of\nCoal is, that wood and Coal are both composed of the same ultimate\nelements--carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. This analogy is the more\nremarkable when we are told that no other rock except Coal exhibits\nanything approaching to this composition. It is true that the elements\njust enumerated do not exist in the same proportions in wood and in\nCoal. But the difference, when rightly understood, rather tends to\nconfirm our theory that the one is derived from the other. There is\nmore Carbon in Coal than in wood; while there is less oxygen and less\nhydrogen. To explain how this may have come to pass during the process\nof transition, we must call in the assistance of the chemist. It\nappears from the researches of Liebig that, when vegetable matter is\nburied in the earth, exposed to moisture, and partially or entirely\nexcluded from the air, the process of decomposition sets in, and that\nunder this process carbonic acid gas and carburetted hydrogen gas are\nslowly evolved. At the same time a portion of the oxygen when set free\nwould naturally enter into a new combination with a portion of the\nhydrogen, and form water. The result of these several changes would\nnecessarily be, that the accumulation of vegetable matter buried in the\nearth would part, in course of time, with no small share of its carbon,\nits hydrogen, and its oxygen, but not with all in the same proportions:\nfor the new combinations would use up more of the oxygen than of the\nhydrogen, and more of the hydrogen than of the carbon.[58] In other\nwords, if the process should have gone on for a sufficient lapse of\nages, these elements would no longer exist together in the proportions\nwhich are necessary to constitute wood, but would rather exist in the\nproportions which are found to constitute coal.[59]\n\nThis explanation is confirmed by a fact with which our readers are\nno doubt familiar. According to the explanation, carbonic acid and\ncarburetted hydrogen are evolved during the process by which coal is\nproduced from wood. We should therefore expect to find these gases\nclosely associated with Coal. If they are _not_ so associated, their\nabsence is a serious objection against our theory; but if they _are_\nso associated, their presence is a strong evidence in its favor. Now\non this point, as every one knows, practical miners bear testimony\nthat the fact corresponds exactly with our theory. They tell us that\nreservoirs of Choke-damp, which is carbonic acid, and of Fire-damp,\nwhich is carburetted hydrogen, are found very commonly pent up in the\ncrevices and cavities of coal beds, and are the cause, when tapped, of\nmany of the accidents which take place. They even assure us that some\nbeds of coal are so saturated with gas that, when cut into, it may\nbe heard oozing from every pore of the rock, and the coal is called\n_singing coal_ by the colliers.[60]\n\nTo sum up, then, what we have said on this point: it appears, first,\nthat the same constituent elements are found in wood and Coal;\nsecondly, though they do not exist in the same proportions in the two\nsubstances, the difference is fully accounted for by the changes which\nwe should naturally expect to take place when large accumulations of\nvegetable matter are buried in the earth; thirdly, in the hypothesis of\nthese changes, carbonic acid and carburetted hydrogen would certainly\nbe developed; and in point of fact, these gases are found intimately\nassociated with Coal all over the world.\n\nThere is another remarkable fact which fits in most admirably with our\ntheory. Coal is found at the present day in the Crust of the Earth,\ndisposed in thin seams or beds, and each bed is almost uniformly\nfound to rest upon a stratum of fine clay, sometimes several feet in\nthickness. This is just what our theory would lead us to expect. If\ncoal is produced from plants and trees, these plants and trees must\nhave grown upon some suitable soil; and, therefore, in this hypothesis\nwe should expect, ordinarily speaking at least, to find a bed of clay\nbeneath every bed of coal. But this is not all. When we examine more\nclosely the stratum on which the coal reposes, we find the roots and\nstems of trees mingled with the clay in the greatest profusion. In\nthe Welsh coal field, in a depth of twelve thousand feet, there are\nfrom fifty to a hundred beds of coal, each lying on a stratum of clay\nabounding in these remains.[61]\n\nWe now come to an argument of a practical kind which appeals to common\nsense and common experience. Let us suppose that a person wholly\nunacquainted with the art of manufacturing paper, were to enter a\npaper-mill when the workmen are away, and the process of manufacture\nfor a time suspended. At first sight he would probably find it\ndifficult to persuade himself, that the piles of clean white paper,\nwhich attract his notice at one end of the building, are produced\nfrom the heaps of filthy rags which he sees accumulated at the other.\nBut if he be a sagacious observer, he will soon find evidence to\nconvince him that this is really the case. For he will perceive, upon\nclose examination, that the self-same material is exhibited in every\nintermediate state of progress from one extreme to the other. First,\nthere is the great chest with its numerous compartments, in which the\nrags are seen carefully sorted, according to their various degrees of\nquality and texture. Next comes the fulling-mill, where they are washed\nand bleached. Then the revolving cylinder, furnished on the exterior\nsurface with sharp blades or cutters; and the vat in which it moves is\nfilled with the rags, which now assume the form of a thin liquid pulp.\nAdvancing still further he will see this pulp evenly spread out upon\na wire-gauze frame, and now at last it is beginning to exhibit some\nlikeness to the form and substance of paper. Further on it is seen\npressed and dried; and last of all cut into sheets and laid aside in\nlofty piles.\n\nNow it seems to us that we are placed in somewhat of the same\nposition, as regards the manufacture of Coal. We cannot observe the\nprocess actually going on; for though, in this process, the work is\nnever suspended, the workmen never at rest, yet extending as it does\nover a space of many centuries, it is too slow to be sensible; and\nbesides it is conducted in great part beneath the surface of the\nEarth. Nevertheless, we can trace the progress of change through\neach intermediate stage of the transition, from one extreme to the\nother,--from the primeval swamps and forests through the numerous\nvarieties of the Peat and Lignite to the richest beds of pure Coal.\n\nFirst, then, we have the great forest-covered swamps, like those which\nnow occupy the valley and delta of the Mississippi. They are composed\nin many cases of pure vegetable matter without any intermixture of\nearthy sediment. A dense growth of reeds, and shrubs, and herbage of\nevery kind, covers the whole surface of the land, mixed up with the\ndecaying leaves and prostrate trunks of forest-trees. Sir Charles Lyell\nmentions a very remarkable fact observed in the swamps of Louisiana.\nDuring an unusually hot season, when any part of a swamp is dried up,\nif the surface be set on fire, a pit is burned into the ground many\nfeet deep, in fact, as far down as the fire can descend without meeting\nwater; and it is then found that scarcely any residuum or earthy matter\nis left.[62]\n\nVegetable strata of this kind are produced, not only upon dry land by\nthe growth and decay of forests, but also beneath the waters of lakes\nand estuaries, by the accumulation of Drift-timber borne along in the\ncurrent of swollen rivers. The Mackenzie River, which drains a great\npart of Northwestern America, affords many admirable illustrations.\nFlowing as it does from south to north, it is subject to annual\ninundations when the snows begin to melt in the higher parts of its\ncourse, while the channel lower down, situated in colder latitudes, is\nstill blocked up with ice. At this season then it overflows its banks,\nand sweeping through vast forests, carries away thousands of uprooted\ntrees in its impetuous torrent.\n\n\u201cAs the trees,\u201d says Dr. Richardson, \u201cretain their roots, which are\noften loaded with earth and stones, they readily sink, especially\nwhen water-soaked; and accumulating in the eddies, form shoals, which\nultimately augment into islands. A thicket of small willows covers\nthe new-formed island as soon as it appears above water, and their\nfibrous roots serve to bind the whole firmly together. Sections of\nthese islands are annually made by the river; and it is interesting to\nstudy the diversities of appearances they present according to their\ndifferent ages. The trunks of the trees gradually decay until they\nare converted into a blackish-brown substance resembling peat, but\nstill retaining more or less of the fibrous structure of the wood; and\nlayers of this often alternate with layers of clay and sand, the whole\nbeing penetrated, to a depth of four or five yards or more, by the\nlong fibrous roots of the willows. A deposition of this kind, with the\naid of a little infiltration of bituminous matter, would produce an\nexcellent imitation of Coal, with vegetable impressions of the willow\nroots.\n\n\u201cIt was in the rivers only that we could observe sections of these\ndeposits; but the same operation goes on, on a much more magnificent\nscale, in the lakes. A shoal of many miles in extent is formed on the\nsouth side of Athabasca Lake by the Drift-timber and vegetable d\u00e9bris\nbrought down by the Elk River; and the Slave Lake itself must in\nprocess of time be filled up by the matters daily conveyed into it from\nSlave River. Vast quantities of Drift-timber are buried under the sand\nat the mouth of the river, and enormous piles of it are accumulated on\nthe shores of every part of the lake.\u201d\n\nNot unfrequently it happens that these strata of vegetable matter, with\nthe roots and trunks of trees, their branches, fruits, and leaves, more\nor less perfectly preserved, are covered over by subsequent deposits.\nSuch accumulations, we are assured by Doctor Mantell, have been found\ndeep in the soil on the coast of England, in places that are still\nsubject to periodical inundations. \u201cThe trees are chiefly of the oak,\nhazel, fir, birch, yew, willow, and ash; in short, almost every kind\nthat is indigenous to this island occasionally occurs. The trunks and\nbranches are dyed throughout of a deep ebony color by iron; and the\nwood is firm and heavy, and occasionally fit for domestic use; in\nYorkshire and elsewhere, timber of this kind is sometimes employed in\nthe construction of houses.\u201d[63] Here, then, is the first stage of\nthe conversion of wood into Coal,--a stratum more or less compacted\ntogether of vegetable matter, spread out sometimes over the surface of\nthe dry land, sometimes on the floor of lakes and estuaries, and often\nburied beneath an accumulation of subsequent deposits.\n\nThe next stage in the process of transformation may be represented by\nthose Peat Bogs which constitute one of the most remarkable physical\ncharacteristics of Ireland, covering as they do an area equal to\none-tenth of the whole island. In these the vegetable matter is more\nclosely condensed, but the structure of the plants from which the\nPeat is derived is still preserved, and may be distinctly recognized\nby the naked eye. Nay, we have still the prostrate trunks of trees\nlying around on every side as they fell to the ground in their ancient\nforests. The researches recently pursued upon this subject have brought\nto light a fact which is very much to our present purpose; for it\nseems to prove our thesis by direct evidence. \u201cIn Limerick, in the\ndistrict of Maine, one of the States of North America, there are Peat\nBogs of considerable extent, in which a substance exactly similar to\n_cannel coal_ is found at the depth of three or four feet from the\nsurface amidst the remains of rotten logs of wood and _beaver sticks_:\nthe peat is twenty feet thick, and rests upon white sand. This coal\nwas discovered on digging a ditch to drain a portion of the bog, for\nthe purpose of obtaining peat for manure. The substance is a true\nbituminous coal, containing more bitumen than is found in any other\nvariety. Polished sections of the compact masses exhibit the peculiar\nstructure of coniferous trees, and prove that the coal was derived from\na species allied to the American Fir.\u201d[64] A similar phenomenon was\nobserved by Doctor Dieffenbach in the Chathain Islands. In the same\nbed of peat he was able distinctly to trace a gradual transition from\npure vegetable matter to a mineral substantially identical with common\ncoal.[65]\n\nBut though Peat may thus, as it should seem, pass directly into pure\nCoal, there are many cases in which it first assumes a more imperfect\nform, known under the name of Lignite. This substance is described\nas of a brownish color, \u201csoft and mellow in consistence when freshly\nquarried, but becoming brittle by exposure, the fracture following\nthe direction of the fibre of the wood.\u201d[66] It clearly occupies an\nintermediate position between Peat and Coal. Like the former, it still\nexhibits the stems and woody fibre of the plants from which it is\nderived, very little altered in their structure; while on the other\nhand it is already beginning to acquire some of the consistency and\ndensity of Coal; to which also it approaches much more closely in its\nchemical composition. It should be remembered, moreover, that Lignite\ndoes not designate a substance of a fixed, invariable character. On the\ncontrary, under the one general name are comprised a definite number of\nvarieties, leading from one extreme to the other by a series of almost\ninsensible gradations; the extreme variety on one side being scarcely\ndistinguishable from Peat, while the extreme variety on the other is\npractically identical with ordinary Coal. It can hardly be doubted,\ntherefore, that Coal must have the same origin as Lignite, while it is\nat least equally certain that Lignite has been derived from Peat; and\nwe have already seen what overwhelming evidence may be adduced to show\nthat the origin of Peat is to be sought for in the sunken swamps and\nforests of a long past age.\n\nLastly, when we come to examine the texture of Coal itself, we find\nmuch to confirm the conclusion at which we have thus arrived. In beds\nof pure Coal the remains of many species of plants have been detected,\nand sometimes in such abundance as to constitute visibly the bulk of\nthe Coal. Even large trees are sometimes found standing erect in the\nCoal fields, with their bark actually converted into this mineral. The\nannexed Figure represents a portion of the stem, together with the\nroots of a tall forest tree, Sigillaria, discovered not long ago in a\nCoal mine at Saint Helens, near Liverpool. The stem, which was nine\nfeet high, was found erect in the seam of Coal, while the roots, ten\nin number, stretched away into the vegetable soil beneath.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 11.--Stem and roots of a Forest Tree, Sigillaria.\nFrom a Coal-mine, near Liverpool.\n\n  _a_, The trunk traversing a bed of Coal.\n\n  _b_, The roots spreading out in the underclay.]\n\nNot less than thirty such trees, some of them four or five feet in\ndiameter, and all incrusted with Coal, were laid bare a short time\nsince, in a Colliery near Newcastle, within an area of fifty yards\nsquare. \u201cIn 1830,\u201d writes Sir Charles Lyell, \u201ca slanting trunk was\nexposed in Craigleith quarry, near Edinburgh, the total length of which\nexceeded sixty feet. Its diameter at the top was about seven inches,\nand near the base, it measured five feet in its greater, and two feet\nin its lesser, width. The bark was converted into a thin coating of\nthe purest and finest Coal.\u201d Again, \u201cin South Staffordshire, a seam of\nCoal was laid bare in the year 1844, in what is called an open work\nat Parkfield Colliery, near Wolverhampton. In the space of about a\nquarter of an acre, the stumps of no less than seventy-three trees,\nwith their roots attached, appeared, some of them more than eight feet\nin circumference. The trunks, broken off close to the root, were lying\nprostrate in every direction, often crossing each other. One of them\nmeasured fifteen, another thirty feet in length, and others less. They\nwere invariably flattened to the thickness of one or two inches, and\nconverted into Coal. Their roots formed part of a stratum of Coal ten\ninches thick, which rested on a layer of clay two inches thick, below\nwhich was a second forest resting on a two-foot seam of Coal. Five feet\nbelow this again was a third forest, with large stumps of Lepidodendra,\nCalamites, and other trees.\u201d[67]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe have now brought to a close a very important line of argument in\nthe Science of Geology. We have pointed out that, in the strata which\ncompose the Crust of the Earth, there are rocks of various kinds,\ndistinguished from one another as well by the nature of the materials\nwhich compose them, as by the manner in which these materials are\narranged together; and we have shown that rocks presenting the same\ngeneral appearances, and composed of exactly the same materials, are\nbeing produced in the present age upon the Surface of the Earth,\nthrough the agency of natural causes. Moreover, we have closely\nexamined, in certain cases, the nature of the process by which the\nformation of these rocks is accomplished at the present day; and we\nhave seen how difficult it is, when the facts of the case are once\nclearly before us, to resist the conclusion that the rocks which we now\nfind buried in the Earth, were produced in some former age, by the same\ncauses which are still at work. We shall next proceed to inquire how\nfar this conclusion is confirmed by the independent evidence of Fossil\nRemains.\n\nBut before entering on a new line of argument, it is fit we should\ntake notice of an objection which has sometimes been urged against the\nreasoning we have hitherto pursued, and which has done much to create\nand to keep alive a prejudice unfavorable to the Science of Geology.\nReligious writers have not unfrequently insinuated, and sometimes have\nplainly asserted, that, in ascribing the present structure of the\nEarth\u2019s Crust to the operation of natural causes, Geologists would\nseem to make no account of God\u2019s Omnipotence. A moment\u2019s reflection\nwill convince the reader that this charge is utterly unphilosophical.\nIs it not plain that the more fully we appreciate and acknowledge the\nwonderful works of Nature, the more deeply must we become impressed\nwith the power and wisdom of Him who is the Author and Ruler of Nature?\nTo say that secondary causes exist, and to point out the monuments that\nbear witness to their operation in long passed ages, is not to deny,\nbut rather to affirm the existence of a Great First Cause, upon whom\nthey all depend for their existence, their preservation, and their\nguidance.\n\nWe are everywhere reminded by abundant evidence, that it has pleased\nthe Great Creator to employ the agency of His creatures in the\nfashioning and the adorning of this material universe. He does not\ncreate at once, as He well might do, the great oak of the forest; but\nHe allows the seed to sink into the earth, where it is watered by the\ngentle dews of Heaven, and fructified by the genial warmth of the sun;\nsoon it puts forth a tender germ; the germ, in time, imbibing the\nelements of its support from the air and the earth, becomes a sappling,\nand the sappling a tree, which spreads its huge branches on every side,\nand serves for many purposes of ornament and of use. Or let us take\nthe case of the honeycomb, that most curious and ingenious work, at\nonce the palace and the storehouse of a vast and busy community. It is\nnot produced in a moment by a simple act of creation. God has not made\nit Himself, but He has taught the bee to make it. In like manner He\nhas provided for the little birds, not by building their nests, but by\ninfusing into their nature that mysterious instinct which prompts them\nto build, and guides them in their work.\n\nGeologists, therefore, when they undertake to explain the existence\nof Stratified Rocks, not by the immediate action of the Creator, but\nby the intervention of natural causes, are not on that account to be\naccused of impiety. They do not disparage, but rather magnify His\nglory, when they expatiate upon the endless variety of agents which,\naccording to their theory, He has employed in the structure of the\nmaterial world. If the honeycomb, as a work of contrivance and design,\nexcites the wonder and admiration of the philosopher, what must we\nthink of the contrivance and design exhibited by Him who has made, not\nthe honeycomb only, but the bee that builds the honeycomb? And so, too,\nwe get novel and unexpected views of God\u2019s Omnipotence, when, through\nthe science of Geology, we come to understand the vast and harmonious\nseries of secondary causes by which he has brought the Crust of the\nEarth into its present form and shape. The impress of His hand is\nstamped upon His works; and all that is wonderful and attractive in\nNature is but the token of His power and the shadow of His beauty. And\nso our national poet has sung:\n\n    \u201cThou art, O GOD, the life and light\n      Of all this wondrous world we see;\n    Its glow by day, its smile by night,\n      Are but reflections caught from Thee.\n    Where\u2019er we turn, Thy glories shine,\n    And all things fair and bright are Thine.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER X._\n\nFOSSIL REMAINS--THE MUSEUM.\n\n    _Recapitulation--Scope of our argument--Theory of\n    stratified rocks the framework of geological science--The\n    theory brings geology into contact with revelation--the\n    line of reasoning hitherto pursued confirmed by the\n    testimony of fossil remains--Meaning of the word\n    fossil--Inexhaustible abundance of fossils--Various states\n    of preservation--Petrifaction--Experiments of Professor\n    G\u00f6ppert--Organic rocks afford some insight into the fossil\n    world--The reality and significance of fossil remains must\n    be learned from observation--The British Museum--Colossal\n    skeletons--Bones and shells of animals--Fossil plants and\n    trees._\n\n\nReader, you are beginning to suspect us. \u2018How long do we propose to\ndetain people?\u2019 For anything that appears we may be designing to write\non to the twentieth century. \u2018And _whither_ are we going?\u2019 Toward what\nobject? which is as urgent a qu\u00e6re as, _how far_? Perhaps we may be\nleading you into treason. You feel symptoms of doubt and restiveness;\nand like Hamlet with his father\u2019s ghost, \u201cyou will follow us no further\nunless we explain what it is that we are in quest of.\u201d\n\nThese words of Thomas De Quincey to his readers, in the middle of one\nof his discursive essays, which, interesting as they certainly are in\nall their parts, yet sometimes beget a feeling of weariness from the\nuncomfortable apprehension that they will not come to an end, are,\nperhaps, scarcely less appropriate in our own case. It may be that our\nreaders have been left too long in the uneasy state of suspense and\nhope deferred. They came to our pages to look for a practical solution\nof the question, Is Geology at variance with the Bible? And what avails\nit, they may ask, to discourse to them of the Gulf Stream, and Rivers,\nand Glaciers, and Alluvial Plains, and Coral Rocks, and Coal Mines?\nWith painful steps they have been toiling after us through tedious\ndisquisitions, straining their eyes to see the end, but the end is not\nyet in sight. Well, then, if they will rest for a few minutes by the\nway, we will pause, too, and tell them what we are about, and try to\nbring out more clearly the object at which we are aiming.\n\nOur design from the beginning was to consider the points of contact\nbetween Geology and Revelation; to examine the relations that exist\nbetween these two departments of knowledge,--one resting upon reason\nand observation, the other given to us from Heaven; and to inquire\nhow far it may be possible to adopt the conclusions of the former,\nwhile we adhere, at the same time, with unswerving fidelity, to the\nunchangeable truths of the latter. With this end in view, we proceeded\nat once to sketch out the more prominent features of Geological theory;\nnot the particular theory of one writer, or of one school, but that\nmore general theory which is adopted by all writers, and prevails in\nevery school. This theory, we were all well aware, is in many points\nwidely at variance with the common notions of sensible and even\nwell-informed men who have not devoted much attention to the study of\nPhysical Science. And it occurred to us that, possibly, many of our\nreaders might be disposed to cut the controversy short by rejecting,\nin a summary way, the whole system of Geology, and treating it as an\nempty shadow or an idle dream. This, we were convinced, would be a\nmistaken and mischievous course. Geology is not a house of cards that\nit may be blown down by a breath. It is a hypothesis, a theory, if you\nwill; but no one can in fairness deny that behind this theory there are\nfacts,--unexpected, startling, significant facts; that these facts,\nwhen considered in their relation to one another, when illustrated\nby the present phenomena of Nature, and skilfully grouped together,\nas they have been by able men, disclose certain general truths, and\nsuggest certain arguments, which do seem to point in the direction of\nthose conclusions at which Geologists have arrived.\n\nIt follows that he who would investigate fairly the claims of Geology,\nmust first learn to appreciate the significance of these facts, and\nto estimate the value of these arguments. And this is precisely what\nwe have been trying to do. We are not writing a treatise on Geology.\nCertainly not: it would be presumptuous in us, with our scanty\nknowledge, to attempt it. Besides, Geology has it own professors, and\nits lecture-halls, and its manuals. Neither do we mean to assume the\ncharacter of the advocates or champions of Geology. It does not ask\nour services; in its cause are enrolled no small proportion of the\nmost illustrious names which for the last fifty years have adorned the\nannals of Physical Science. Nor do we want even to enforce upon our\nreaders that more general theory of Geology which we are endeavoring to\nexplain and illustrate. Our purpose is merely to collect from various\nsources, and to string together, the evidence that may be adduced in\nits favor; that so, when we come hereafter to consider this theory\nin its relation with the History of the Bible, we may not incur the\nrisk of discomfiture by denying that which has been proved by facts,\nbut rather approach the subject with such knowledge as may help us to\ndiscover the real harmony that we know to exist between the truths\ninscribed on the works of God, and those which are recorded in His\nWritten Word.\n\nIn the accomplishment of this task we have devoted ourselves chiefly to\nthe study of the Aqueous or Stratified Rocks. According to Geologists,\nthese rocks, such as we find them now, were not the immediate work of\ncreation, but were slowly produced in the long lapse of ages, and laid\nout one above another, by a vast and complex machinery of secondary\ncauses. The elements of which they are composed were gathered together\nfrom many and various sources; from the ocean, from the air, from other\npre-existing rocks; and, for aught we know, may have had a long and\neventful history before they came to assume their present structure\nand arrangement. Thus, for example, the Conglomerates, and Sandstones,\nwith which we are so familiar, are made up of broken fragments derived\nfrom earlier rocks, and then transported to distant sites by the\nmountain torrents, or the stately rivers of vast continents, or the\nsilent currents of the sea; the Limestone with which we build our\nhouses is the work of living animals that once swarmed in countless\nmyriads beneath the waters of the ocean; and the Coal which supplies\nthe motive power to our manufactories, our railways, our ships of war\nand commerce, is but the modern representative of ancient swamps and\nforests, which, having been buried in the earth, and there, by the\naction of chemical laws, endowed with new properties, were laid by for\nthe future use of man in the great storehouse of Nature.\n\nThis mode of accounting for the origin and formation of Stratified\nRocks constitutes in a manner the framework that supports and binds\ntogether the whole system of Geology. If it be once fairly established,\nGeology is entitled to take high rank as a Physical Science. If on\nthe contrary it should prove to be without foundation, then Geology\nis no longer a science, but a dream. Moreover, it is this theory of\nstratification which, from the first, has brought Geology into contact\nwith Revelation. For Geologists have been led to infer the extreme\nAntiquity of the Earth, from the immense thickness of the Stratified\nRocks on the one hand, and, on the other, the very slow and gradual\nprocess by which each stratum in the series has been, in its turn,\nspread out and consolidated. Those likewise who claim for the Human\nRace a greater Antiquity than the Bible allows, seek for their proofs\nin the supposed origin and antiquity of those superficial deposits, in\nwhich the remains of Man or of his works are sometimes found entombed.\n\nIt is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the theory of Stratified\nRocks should engage the largest share of our attention when we\nundertake to discuss the relation in which Geology stands to Revealed\nReligion. For the present we say nothing about the conclusions that\nflow from this theory, or the errors to which it has led when hastily\nor ignorantly applied: we are only investigating the evidence by which\nit is supported. In our former chapters we have drawn out at some\nlength the line of reasoning which is derived from the character of\nthe Aqueous Rocks themselves when considered in the light of Nature\u2019s\npresent operations. We have shown that Stratified Rocks of many\ndifferent kinds, just such as those which compose the Crust of the\nEarth, have been produced by natural causes within historic times; and\nwe have explained some of the more simple and intelligible parts of\nthat complex machinery, which, even now, is busily at work gathering,\nsorting, distributing, piling up together, and consolidating the\nmaterials of new strata all over the world. These considerations, as\nwe took occasion to point out, beget a strong presumption in favor\nof Geological theory. Here we have Nature at work, actually bringing\ninto existence a stratum of rock before our eyes. And there, in the\nCrust of the Earth, we find another stratum of precisely the same kind\nalready finished. What can be more reasonable than to ascribe the one\nto the action of the same causes which we see at work upon the other?\nAnd thus, by extending the area of our observations from one class\nof Aqueous Rocks to another, the idea gradually grows upon us that\nthese rocks have been spread out, stratum upon stratum, during many\nsuccessive ages, by the agency of secondary causes similar to those\nwhich are still in operation; and that each stratum, in its turn, as it\nfirst came into existence, was for a time the uppermost of the series.\n\nIn support of this conclusion we are now about to bring forward a new\nand independent argument founded on the testimony of Fossil Remains. An\neminent writer has summed up in a few words the value and importance\nof Fossil Remains in reference to Geological theory. \u201cAt present,\u201d\nhe says, \u201cshells, fishes, and other animals are buried in the mud or\nsilt of lakes and estuaries; rivers also carry down the carcases of\nland animals, the trunks of trees, and other vegetable drift; and\nearthquakes submerge plains and islands, with all their vegetable and\nanimal inhabitants. These remains become enveloped in the layers of mud\nand sand and gravel formed by the waters, and in process of time are\npetrified, that is, are converted into stony matter like the shells\nand bones found in the oldest strata. Now, as at present, so in all\nformer time must the remains of plants and animals have been similarly\npreserved; and, as one tribe of plant is peculiar to the dry plain,\nanother to the swampy morass; as one family belongs to a temperate,\nanother to a tropical region, so, from the character of the embedded\nplants, we are enabled to arrive at some knowledge of the conditions\nunder which they flourished. In the same manner with animals: each\ntribe has its locality assigned it by peculiarities of food, climate,\nand the like; each family has its own peculiar structure for running,\nflying, swimming, plant-eating, or flesh-eating, as the case may be;\nand by comparing Fossil Remains with existing races, we are enabled to\ndetermine many of the past conditions of the world with considerable\ncertainty.\u201d[68]\n\nOn this branch of our subject we do not mean to offer much in the\nway of argument strictly so called. We shall content ourselves\nwith a simple statement of facts, and leave them to produce their\nown impression. It will be necessary at the outset to explain some\ntechnical matters, that what we have to say hereafter may be the better\nunderstood: and if in this we are somewhat dry and tiresome, we will\ntry to make amends by the curious and interesting story of Nature\u2019s\nlong buried works, which we hope in the sequel to unfold.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen the word _Fossil_ was first introduced into the English language,\nit was employed to designate, as the etymology suggests, whatever is\n_dug out of the earth_.[69] But it is now generally used in a much\nmore restricted sense, being applied only to the remains of plants\nand animals embedded in the Crust of the Earth and there preserved\nby natural causes. When we speak of remains, we must be understood\nto include even those seemingly transient impressions, such as\nfoot-prints in the sand, which having been made permanent by accidental\ncircumstances, and thus engraved, as it were, on the archives of\nNature, now bear witness to the former existence of organic life.\n\nNow in every part of the world where the Stratified Rocks have been\nlaid open to view, remains of this kind are found scattered on all\nsides in the most profuse abundance. In Europe, in America, in\nAustralia, in the frozen wastes of Siberia, in the countless islands\nscattered over the waters of the Pacific, there is scarcely a single\nformation, from the lowest in the series to the highest, that, when it\nis fairly explored, does not yield up vast stores of shells, together\nwith bones and teeth, nay, sometimes whole skeletons of animals; also\nfragments of wood, impressions of leaves, and other organic substances.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Fossil Irish Deer (County Fermanagh). In the\nMuseum of Trinity College, Dublin. From Haughton\u2019s Manual of Geology]\n\nThese Fossil Remains do not always occur in the same state of\npreservation. Sometimes we have the bone, or plant, or shell, in its\nnatural condition; still retaining not only its own peculiar form and\nstructure, but likewise the very same organic substance of which it was\noriginally composed. Examples innumerable may be seen in the British\nMuseum, or, indeed, in almost any Geological collection: the fine\nskeletons of ancient Irish Deer, which are exhibited in the Museum of\nTrinity College, Dublin, and of which all the bones are in excellent\npreservation, must be familiar to many of our readers.\n\nIt happens, however, more frequently that the organic substance itself\nhas disappeared, but has left an impression on the rock, that now\nbears witness to its former presence. Thus, for instance, when a shell\nhas been dissolved and carried away by water percolating the rock,\nit has very often left after it, on the hard stone, a mould of its\nouter surface and a cast of its inner surface, with a cavity between\ncorresponding to the thickness of the shell. In such cases we have\nthe form, the size, and the superficial markings of the organic body,\nbut we have no part of its original substance, and no traces of its\ninternal structure. This form of fossilization, as Sir Charles Lyell\nhas well put it, \u201cmay be easily understood if we examine the mud\nrecently thrown out from a pond or canal in which there are shells.\nIf the mud be argillaceous, it acquires consistency in drying, and\non breaking open a portion of it, we find that each shell has left\nimpressions of its external form. If we then remove the shell itself,\nwe find within a solid nucleus of clay, having the form of the interior\nof the shell.\u201d[70] In many cases the space first occupied by the shell\nis not left empty when the shell has been removed, but is filled up\nwith some mineral substance, such as lime or flint. The mineral thus\nintroduced becomes the exact counterpart of the organic body which\nhas disappeared; and has been justly compared to a bronze statue,\nwhich exhibits the exterior form and lineaments, but not the internal\norganization nor the substance of the object it represents.\n\nThere is a third form more wonderful still, in which Fossil Remains\nare not uncommonly found. The original body has passed away as in the\nformer case, and yet not only does its _outward shape_ remain, but even\nits _internal texture_ is perfectly preserved in the solid stone which\nhas taken its place. This kind of change is exhibited most remarkably\nin the vegetable kingdom. Fossil trees of great size have been\ndiscovered of which _the whole substance has been changed from wood\nto stone_: yet with such exquisite skill has the change been effected\nthat the minute cells and fibres, and the rings of annual growth, may\nstill be clearly traced; nay, even those delicate spiral vessels which,\nfrom their extreme minuteness, can be discerned only by the aid of the\nmicroscope. Thus the tree remains complete in all its parts; but it is\nno longer a tree of wood; it is, so to speak, a tree of stone.\n\nThe mystery of this extraordinary transformation has not yet been\nfully cleared up by scientific men; but the general principle, at\nleast, is sufficiently understood. It is thus briefly explained by\nSir Charles Lyell: \u201cIf an organic substance is exposed in the open\nair to the action of the sun and rain, it will in time putrefy, or be\ndissolved into its component elements, consisting usually of oxygen,\nhydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon. These will readily be absorbed by the\natmosphere or be washed away by rain, so that all vestiges of the dead\nanimal or plant disappear. But if the same substances be submerged\nin water, they decompose more gradually; and if buried in the earth,\nstill more slowly, as in the familiar example of wooden piles or\nother buried timber. Now, if as fast as each particle is set free by\nputrefaction in a fluid or gaseous state, a particle equally minute of\ncarbonate of lime, flint, or other mineral is at hand and ready to be\nprecipitated, we may imagine this inorganic matter to take the place\njust before left unoccupied by the organic molecule. In this manner\na cast of the interior of certain vessels may first be taken, and\nafterward the more solid walls of the same may decay and suffer a like\ntransmutation.\u201d[71] This exposition, so simple and luminous in itself,\nmay, perhaps, be rendered still more intelligible to the general reader\nby an ingenious illustration of Mr. Jukes. \u201cIt is,\u201d he says, \u201cas if\na house were gradually rebuilt, brick by brick, or stone by stone, a\nbrick or a stone of a different kind having been substituted for each\nof the former ones, the shape and size of the house, the forms and\narrangements of its rooms, passages, and closets, and even the number\nand shape of the bricks and stones, remaining unaltered.\u201d[72]\n\nThis singular kind of petrifaction, by which not only the external\nform, but even the organic tissue itself, is converted into stone,\nhas been illustrated, in a very interesting way, by Professor G\u00f6ppert\nof Breslau. With a view to imitate as nearly as he could the process\nof Nature, \u201che steeped a variety of animal and vegetable substances\nin waters, some holding siliceous, others calcareous, others metallic\nmatter in solution. He found that in the period of a few weeks, or even\ndays, the organic bodies thus immersed were mineralized to a certain\nextent. Thus, for example, thin vertical slices of deal, taken from the\nScotch fir, were immersed in a moderately strong solution of sulphate\nof iron. When they had been thoroughly soaked in the liquid for several\ndays, they were dried and exposed to a red heat until the vegetable\nmatter was burnt up and nothing remained but an oxide of iron, which\nwas found to have taken the form of the deal so exactly that casts even\nof the dotted vessels peculiar to this family of plants were distinctly\nvisible under the microscope.\u201d[73]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIf we have succeeded in making ourselves understood, the reader will\nnow have a pretty accurate notion of what is meant, in modern Geology,\nby Fossil Remains. They are the remains or impressions of plants and\nanimals, buried in the earth by natural causes, and preserved to our\ntime in any one of the three forms we have just described. Either\nthe body itself remains, still retaining its own natural substance,\ntogether with its external form and its internal structure. Or\nsecondly, the organic substance and the organic structure have both\ndisappeared, but the outward form and the superficial markings have\nbeen left impressed on the solid rock. Or thirdly, the substance of the\nbody has been converted into stone, but with such a delicate art, that\nit is in all respects, outwardly and inwardly, still the same body,\nwith a new substance. We should observe, however, that these three\ndifferent forms of fossilization, which we have successively described,\nare not always clearly distinct in actual fossil specimens, but are\noften curiously blended together according as the original organic\nsubstance has been more or less completely displaced, or the process of\npetrifaction has been more or less perfectly accomplished.\n\nIt will probably have occurred to the intelligent reader that we have\nalready had some insight into the Fossil world, when investigating the\norigin of Organic Rocks. We have seen, for instance, that Coal is the\nrepresentative to our age of swamps and forests which once covered the\nearth with vegetation; that Mountain Limestone is in great part formed\nfrom the skeletons of reef-building corals; that the White Chalk of\nEurope is almost entirely derived from the remains of marine shells.\nBut it should be observed that these and such like rocks, while they\nafford us much valuable information about the ancient organic condition\nof our planet, are not, strictly speaking, Fossil Remains. For, not\nonly does the substance of the organic bodies they represent exhibit\nan altered character, but the internal structure has been in great\npart effaced, and even the outward forms and superficial markings have\ndisappeared. They contain, it is true, great multitudes of Fossils.\nIn the Coal, for example, are found, as we have seen, trunks of trees,\ntogether with the impressions of plants and leaves: in the Chalk and\nMountain Limestone, fragments of shells and corals are often discovered\nin a state of perfect preservation. But the bulk of these formations\nis made up not so much of Fossil Remains, as of that into which Fossil\nRemains have been converted. Coal, for instance, is something more than\nFossil wood; Chalk, and Limestone, and Marble, are something more than\nFossil shells and corals.\n\nFossil Remains properly so called present a very much more lively\npicture of the ancient inhabitants of our Globe. But it is a picture\nthat can but faintly be conveyed to the mind by the way of mere\nverbal description. He who would appreciate aright the reality and\nthe significance of Fossil Remains must gather his impressions from\nactual observation. Let him go, for instance, to the British Museum,\nand walk slowly through the long suite of noble galleries which are\nthere exclusively devoted to this branch of science. He will feel\nas if transported into another world, the reality of which he could\nscarcely have believed if he had not seen it with his own eyes. Before\nhim, and behind him, and on each side of him, as he moves along, are\nspread out in long array forms of beasts, and birds, and fish, and\namphibious animals, such as he has never seen before, nor dreamt of in\nhis wildest dreams. Yet much as he may wonder at these strange figures,\nhe never for a moment doubts that they were once indued with life, and\nmoved over the surface of the earth, or disported in the waters of\nthe deep. Nay more, though the forms are new to him, he will be at no\nloss, however inexperienced in Natural History, to find many analogies\nbetween the creation in the midst of which he stands, and the creation\nwith which he has been hitherto familiar. There are quadrupeds, and\nbipeds, and reptiles. Some of the animals were manifestly designed to\nwalk on dry land, some to swim in the sea, and some to fly in the air.\nSome are armed with claws like the lion or the tiger, others have the\npaddles of a turtle, and others again have the fins of a fish. Here is\nan enormous beast that might almost pass for an elephant, though an\nexperienced eye will not fail to detect an important difference; and\nthere is an amphibious monster that suggests the idea of a crocodile;\nand again a little further on is an unsightly creature which unites\nthe general characteristics of the diminutive sloth with the colossal\nproportions of the largest rhinoceros.\n\nIf left to mere conjecture, the visitor would perhaps suppose that\nthese uncouth monsters had been brought together by some adventurous\ntraveller from the remote regions of the world. But no: he will\nfind on inquiry that the vast majority belong to species which for\ncenturies have not been known to flourish on the Earth; and that many\nof the strangest forms before him have been dug up almost from beneath\nthe very soil on which he stands,--from the quarries of Surrey, of\nSussex, and of Kent, and from the deep cuttings on the many lines of\nrailway that diverge from the great metropolis of London. The life\nthey represent so vividly is, indeed, widely different from that which\nflourishes around us; but it is the life not so much of a far distant\ncountry as of a far distant age.\n\nIt must not be supposed, however, that such skeletons as those which\nfirst arrest the eye in the galleries of the British Museum--so\ncolossal in their proportions and so complete in all their\ndetails--fairly exhibit the general character of Fossil Remains.\nPerfect skeletons of gigantic animals are rarely to be found. They are\nthe exception and not the general rule,--the magnificent reward of long\nand toilsome exploration, or, it may be, the chance discovery that\nbrings wealth to the humble home of some rustic laborer. Very different\nare the common every day discoveries of the working Geologist.\nDisjointed bones and skulls, scattered teeth, fragments of shells,\nthe eggs of birds, the impressions of leaves,--these are the ordinary\nrelics that Nature has stored up for our instruction in the various\nstrata of the Earth\u2019s Crust: and these likewise constitute by far\nthe greater part of the treasures which are gathered together in our\nGeological Museums.\n\nWe will suppose, then, that the visitor has gratified his sense of\nwonder in gazing at the larger and more striking forms, few in number,\nthat rise up prominently before him, and seem to stare at him in return\nfrom their hollow sockets: he must next turn his attention to the cases\nthat stand against the walls, and to the cabinets that stretch along\nthe galleries in distant perspective. Let him survey that multitude of\nbones of every shape and size, and those countless legions of shells,\nand then try to realize to his mind what a profusion and variety of\nanimal life are here represented. And yet he must remember that this\nis but a single collection. There are thousands of others, public and\nprivate, scattered over England, France, Germany, Italy, and beyond\nthe Atlantic, on the continent of America, and even in Australia; all\nof which have been furnished from a few isolated spots,--scarcely more\nthan specks on the surface of the Globe,--where the interior of the\nEarth\u2019s Crust has chanced to be laid open to the explorations of the\nGeologist.\n\nLastly, before he leaves this splendid gallery, let him take a passing\nglance at the Organic Remains of the vegetable world. There is no\nmistaking the forms here presented to his view. He will recognize\nat once the massive and lofty trunks of forest trees with their\nspreading branches; the tender foliage of the lesser plants; and, in\nparticular, the graceful fern, which cannot fail to attract his eye by\nits unrivalled luxuriance. But if the forms are familiar, how strange\nis the substance, of this ancient vegetation! The forest tree has been\nturned into sandstone; many of the plants are of the hardest flint;\nand the rich green of the fern has given place to the jet black color\nof coal. Let him take a magnifying glass and scrutinize the internal\nstructure of these mineralized remains; for the more closely they are\nexamined the more wonderful do they appear. He can observe without\ndifficulty their minute cells and fibres, the exact counterpart of\nthose which may be seen in the plants that are now growing upon the\nearth; he may detect the little seed-vessels on the under surface of\nthe coaly fern; nay, if he gets a polished transverse section of the\nsandstone tree, he may count the rings that mark its annual growth, and\ntell the age it attained in its primeval forest.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Fossil Wood, from the Carboniferous Limestone\nof Mayo, showing the rings of Annual Growth.]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER XI._\n\nFOSSIL REMAINS--THE EXPLORATION.\n\n    _From the museum to the quarry--Fossil fish in the limestone\n    rocks of Monte Bolca--In the quarries of Aix--In the chalk\n    of Sussex--The ichthyosaurus or fish-like lizard--Gigantic\n    dimensions of this ancient monster--Its predatory\n    habits--The plesiosaurus--The megatherium or great wild\n    beast--History of its discovery--The mylodon--Profusion\n    of fossil shells--Petrified trees erect in the limestone\n    rock of Portland--Fossil plants of the coal measures--The\n    sigillaria--The fern--The calamite--The lepidodendron--Coal\n    mine of Treuil--Fossil remains afford undeniable evidence\n    of former animal and vegetable life--Their existence cannot\n    be accounted for by the plastic power of nature--Nor can it\n    reasonably be ascribed to a special act of creation._\n\n\nFrom the galleries of the Museum we must now descend into the\nsubterranean recesses of the mine and the quarry. For it is not enough\nto be familiar with the appearance of Fossil Remains, as they are laid\nout for show by human hands: we must see them also as they lie embedded\nin the successive strata of the Earth\u2019s Crust, which are the shelves\nof Nature\u2019s cabinet. We shall begin with the celebrated quarries of\nMonte Bolca, in Northern Italy, not far from Verona. Here, in the hard\nlimestone rock, fifty miles from the nearest sea, entire skeletons\nof many different species of fish are found embedded in profuse\nabundance, and in a wonderful state of preservation. They lie parallel\nto the layers of the rock; and, though flattened by pressure, still\nretain their scales, bones, fins, nay, even their muscular tissue,\nundisturbed and unharmed. Their color is a deep brown, which forms\na remarkable contrast with the creamy hue of the limestone in which\nthey are enveloped. The quarries have been worked only by students of\nNatural History for the sake of Organic remains, and are, therefore,\nof very limited extent; yet so abundant are these fossil treasures\nthat upward of a hundred different species have been discovered,\nand thousands of specimens have been dispersed over the cabinets\nof Europe. So closely are they sometimes packed together that many\nindividuals are contained in a single block.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 14.--Platax Papilio.\n\nFrom the limestone of Monte Bolca.]\n\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 15.--Semiophorus Velicans. From the limestone of\nMonte Bolca.]\n\nFrom these facts Geologists have been led to conclude:--that the\nstrata in question were deposited on the bed of an ancient sea in\nwhich these fishes swam; that the waters of the sea were suddenly\nrendered noxious, probably by the eruption of volcanic matter; that the\nfishes in consequence perished in large numbers, and were then almost\nimmediately embedded in the calcareous deposits of which the strata\nare composed. These views receive no small confirmation from a very\nremarkable phenomenon to which we may be allowed, in passing, to call\nattention. In the year 1831 a volcanic island was suddenly thrown up in\nthe Mediterranean between Sicily and the African coast; and the waters\nof the sea were at the same time observed to be charged with a red mud\nover a very wide area, while hundreds of dead fish were seen floating\non the surface. Is it not pretty plain that when the mud subsided many\nof the fish were enveloped in the deposit, and thus preserved to future\ntimes? If so, then, we should have an exact modern parallel to the\nfossil fishes of Monte Bolca. But for the present it is our purpose\nrather to describe facts than to develop theories.[74]\n\nNear the town of Aix, the ancient capital of Provence, in the south\nof France, is a group of strata, consisting chiefly of Conglomerate,\nMarl, Gypsum, and Limestone, which has earned for itself no small fame\nin the annals of Geology. Besides many curious relics of an extinct\nvegetation, these strata yield also an abundance of Fossil Insects,\nwhich emerge from the rocky bed in which they have slept for ages, with\na surprising freshness and a life-like reality. But the quarries of\nAix, like those of Monte Bolca, are chiefly famous for their Fossil\nFish. And in this case, too, as in the former, it would seem as if vast\nmultitudes had suddenly perished together from some mysterious cause,\nand were then as suddenly entombed. They exhibit no mark of mechanical\nviolence: and yet they are found, not unfrequently, crowded together\nas closely as they can fit, in every variety of position, on the same\nslab of limestone. A good example of such a block is represented in our\nwoodcut.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 16.--Fossil Fish from Aix.]\n\nThe White Chalk Rock of Sussex has been rendered classical to the\nstudents of Geology by the skilful and laborious researches of the late\nDoctor Mantell. Previous to his time the Fish of the Chalk were known\nonly by their teeth and bones, which abounded in every quarry. But he\nsucceeded in bringing to light many whole skeletons, and disengaging\nthem without injury from their chalky envelopment. In many cases these\nFossil Fish appear to have suffered little from compression: the body\nstill retains its rounded form; and even the most delicate scales and\nfins are as little disturbed or distorted as if the original had been\nsurrounded by soft Plaster of Paris while floating in the water. For\nmany years Doctor Mantell devoted himself, with indefatigable zeal,\nto the gathering of these interesting remains; and his magnificent\ncollection now adorns the Galleries of the British Museum. In the\nannexed illustration is figured a specimen belonging to one of the\nmost abundant species. It is closely allied to the common perch; and\nis popularly called Johnny Dory by the quarrymen of Sussex, but is\nentitled Beryx Lewesiensis by the learned.[75]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 17.--Beryx Lewesiensis, from the Chalk, near Lewes.]\n\nFrom Fossil Fish we now turn to Fossil Reptiles. Many of our readers\nhave, perhaps, heard or read something about an important group of\nrocks known by the name of the Lias. This formation is well developed\nin England, and has received much attention from Geologists. It\nstretches in a belt of varying width from Whitby on the coast of\nYorkshire to Lyme Regis on the coast of Dorsetshire; passing in its\ncourse through the counties of Leicester, Warwick, Gloucester, and\nSomerset. It is composed chiefly of Limestone, Marl, and Clay; and is\ncelebrated for the number and size of its great Fossil Reptiles. Of\nthese the most remarkable is the Ichthyosaurus or Fish-like Lizard.\n\nThis monster of the ancient seas combined, as its name denotes, the\nessential characters of a reptile with the form and habits of a fish.\nNo such creature has been known to exist within historic times;\nnevertheless, all the various parts of its complicated structure\nhave their analogies, more or less perfect, in the present creation.\nIt had the head of a Lizard, the beak of a Porpoise, the teeth of a\nCrocodile, the back bone of a Fish, and the paddles of a Whale. In\nlength it sometimes exceeded thirty feet; it had a short thick neck,\nan enormous stomach, a long and powerful tail. This last appendage,\ntogether with four great paddles or fins, constituted the chief organs\nof motion. But of all its parts the head was perhaps the most wonderful\nand characteristic. In the larger species the jaws were six feet long,\nand were armed with two rows of conical sharp-pointed teeth,--a hundred\nbelow, a hundred and ten above. The cavities in which the eyes were set\nmeasured often fourteen inches across, and the eyeballs themselves must\nhave been larger than a man\u2019s head.\n\nNow what we want particularly to impress upon our readers is, that\nthe remains of this singular aquatic reptile abound throughout the\nwhole extent of the Lias Formation in England. Far down below the\nsurface of the earth they are found embedded in the marls, and clays,\nand limestones of Dorsetshire, and Gloucester, and Warwick, and\nLeicester, and Yorkshire. Sometimes whole skeletons are found entire,\nwith scarcely a single bone removed from the place it occupied during\nlife; but more frequently the scattered fragments are found lying\nabout in a state of confused disorder; skulls, and jaw-bones, and\nteeth, and paddles, and the joints of the vertebral column and of the\ntail. The neighborhood of Lyme Regis is a perfect cabinet of these\ncurious treasures. In some of the specimens there exhumed, a singular\ncircumstance has been observed, which is deserving of special notice.\nWe should naturally have expected, from the prodigious power of this\nanimal, from the expansion of his jaws and the immense size of his\nstomach, that he preyed upon the other fish and reptiles that had the\nmisfortune to inhabit the waters in which he lived. And so indeed it\nwas. For here enclosed within his vast ribs, in the place that once was\nhis stomach, are still preserved the remains of his half-digested food;\nand amidst the d\u00e9bris we can distinguish the bones and scales of his\nvictims. Nay, in some of the more colossal specimens of this ancient\nmonster, we can distinctly recognize the remains of his own smaller\nbrethren; which, though less frequent than the bones of fishes, are\nstill sufficiently numerous to prove that, when he wanted to appease\nhis hunger, he did not even spare the less powerful members of his own\nspecies.[76]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 18.--Ichthyosaurus Platyodon. Museum of Trinity\nCollege, Dublin. Found in the Lias of Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire.]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 19.--Ichthyosaurus Communis. Museum of Trinity\nCollege, Dublin. Found in the Lias of Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire.]\n\nIt is with facts like these, which are revealed by the Crust of the\nEarth all over the world, that Geologists are called upon to deal. When\nthey meet with skeletons and bones such as we have been describing,\nburied deep in the hard rock, hundreds of feet beneath the green grass,\nand the waving corn, they cannot help but ask the question: Where did\nthese creatures come from? When did they live? And by what revolutions\nwere they embedded here, and lifted up from beneath the waters of the\ndeep?\n\nIn the same formation are found the remains of another ancient\nreptile, called the Plesiosaurus, that is to say, nearly allied to\nthe Lizard. Of this extraordinary monster Cuvier observed that its\nstructure was the most singular and anomalous that, up to his time,\nhad been discovered amid the ruins of the ancient world. It is\nchiefly distinguished from the Ichthyosaurus, to which it has no small\naffinity, by the enormous length of its neck, which, in some species,\nresembles the body of a serpent. Dr. Buckland tells us that in the\nPlesiosaurus Dolichodeirus the neck is longer than the trunk; the one\nbeing five times, the other only four times, as long as the head. Our\nillustration, for which we are indebted to the kindness of Doctor\nHaughton, represents a fine specimen of Plesiosaurus Cramptonii, which\nwas found in the Lias Beds of Kettleness, near Whitby, in Yorkshire,\nand which is now a prominent object in the Museum of the Royal Dublin\nSociety.\n\nThe habits and character of the Plesiosaurus have been thus sketched\nout by Mr. Conybeare:--\u201cThat it was aquatic is evident, from the form\nof its paddles; that it was marine is almost equally so, from the\nremains with which it is universally associated; that it may have\noccasionally visited the shore, the resemblance of its extremities to\nthose of the turtle may lead us to conjecture. Its motion, however,\nmust have been very awkward on land; its long neck must have impeded\nits progress through the water; presenting a striking contrast to the\norganization which so admirably fits the Ichthyosaurus to cut through\nthe waves. May it not therefore be concluded (since, in addition to\nthese circumstances, its respiration must have required frequent access\nof air), that it swam upon or near the surface; arching back its long\nneck like the swan, and occasionally darting it down at the fish which\nhappened to float within its reach. It may perhaps have lurked in shoal\nwater along the coast concealed among the sea-weed, and raising its\nnostrils to a level with the surface from a considerable depth, may\nhave found a secure retreat from the assaults of dangerous enemies;\nwhile the length and flexibility of its neck may have compensated for\nthe want of strength in its jaws, and its incapacity for swift motion\nthrough the water, by the suddenness and agility of the attack which\nthey enabled it to make on every animal fitted for its prey, which came\nwithin its reach.\u201d[77]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 20.--Plesiosaurus Cramptonii. Museum of the Royal\nDublin Society.]\n\nThe Pampas of South America are not less famous in Geology for the\nremains of Gigantic quadrupeds, than the Lias of England for its\ncolossal marine reptiles. These vast undulating plains, which present\nto the eye for nine hundred miles a waving sea of grass, consist\nchiefly of stratified beds of gravel and reddish mud; and it is in\nthese beds that the remains of many unshapely but powerful terrestrial\nanimals have been found embedded. So abundant are they, that it is said\na line drawn in any direction through the country would cut through\nsome skeleton or bones. Indeed, Mr. Darwin is of opinion that the whole\narea of the Pampas is one wide sepulchre of these extinct animals.\nIt will be enough for our purpose to describe one in particular,\nwhich, from its prodigious bulk, has received the appropriate name of\nMegatherium, or the Great Wild Beast.\n\nThe Megatherium, like the Ichthyosaurus and the Plesiosaurus, had\nmany affinities with the existing creation. In its head and shoulders\nit resembled the sloth which still browses on the green foliage of\nthe trees in the dense forests of South America; while in its legs\nand feet it combined the characteristics of the Ant-Eater and the\nArmadillo. But it was eminently distinguished from these and all the\nother modern representatives of the family to which it belonged by\nits colossal proportions. It was often twelve feet long and eight\nfeet high; its fore-feet were a yard in length and twelve inches in\nbreadth, terminating in gigantic claws; its haunches were five feet\nwide, and its thigh bone was three times as big as that of the largest\nelephant. \u201cHis entire frame,\u201d as Dr. Buckland has admirably observed\nand carefully demonstrated, \u201cwas an apparatus of colossal mechanism,\nadapted exactly to the work it had to do; strong and ponderous, in\nproportion as this work was heavy, and calculated to be the vehicle of\nlife and enjoyment to a gigantic race of quadrupeds, which, though they\nhave ceased to be counted among the living inhabitants of our planet,\nhave, in their fossil bones, left behind them imperishable monuments\nof the consummate skill with which they were constructed,--each limb,\nand fragment of a limb, forming co-ordinate parts of a well adjusted\nand perfect whole; and through all their deviations from the form and\nproportions of the limbs of other quadrupeds, affording fresh proofs\nof the infinitely varied and inexhaustible contrivances of Creative\nWisdom.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis Leviathan of the Pampas, as it has been justly called, became\nfirst known in Europe toward the close of the last century. In the year\n1789 a skeleton was dug up, almost entire, about three miles southwest\nof Buenos Ayres, and was presented by the Marquis of Loreto to the\nRoyal Museum at Madrid, where it still remains. Since that time other\nspecimens, besides numerous fragments, have been discovered, chiefly\nthrough the zeal and energy of Sir Woodbine Parish; by the aid of which\nthe form, structure, and consequently the habits of this clumsy and\nponderous animal have been fully ascertained. The complete skeleton\nwhich forms so prominent an object of attraction in the British Museum,\nand which is represented in the woodcut on the adjoining page, is\nonly a model; but it has been constructed with great care from the\noriginal bones, some of which are to be found in the wall-cases of the\nsame room, and others in the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of\nSurgeons.\u201d[78]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 21.--The Megatherium. From the British Museum.\nLength 12 feet; Height 8 feet.]\n\nClosely allied to the Megatherium, but somewhat less colossal in its\ndimensions, is the Mylodon. Its remains are found associated with those\nof the Megatherium and other great animals of the same family, in\nthe superficial gravels of South America. A splendid specimen, which\nmeasures eleven feet from the fore part of the skull to the end of the\ntail, was dug up, in the year 1841, a few miles north of Buenos Ayres.\nIt is well figured in the adjoining woodcut, which we reproduce, by\nkind permission of the Author, from Dr. Haughton\u2019s admirable Manual of\nGeology.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 22.--Mylodon Robustus, from Buenos Ayres.]\n\nPassing from the petrified fish, and the reptiles, and the quadrupeds,\nthat thus come forth, as it were, from their graves to bring us tidings\nof an extinct creation, we must next turn our attention for a moment to\nFossil Shells. These relics of the ancient world, which are scattered\nwith profuse abundance through all the strata of the Earth\u2019s Crust,\nmay seem, indeed, of little value to the careless observer; but to\nthe practised eye of science they are full of instruction. They have\nbeen aptly called the Medals of Creation; for, stamped upon their\nsurface they bear the impress of the age to which they belong; and they\nconstitute the largest, we may say, perhaps, the most valuable part of\nthose unwritten records from which the Geologist seeks to gather the\nancient history of our Globe.\n\nAs regards the prodigious abundance of Fossil Shells preserved in\nthe Crust of the Earth, it is unnecessary for us here to speak. We\nhave already seen that the great mass of many limestone formations is\ncomposed almost exclusively of such remains, broken up into minute\nfragments, and more or less altered by chemical agency; and besides,\nthere are quarries within the reach of all, where they may collect\nat pleasure these interesting relics of the olden time. But there\nare one or two facts of peculiar significance connected with Fossil\nShells, which it may be useful briefly to set down. In the first place,\nwe would remind our readers that there is a marked and well-known\ndifference between the shells of those animals that can live only in\nthe sea, of those that inhabit rivers, and of those, finally, that\nfrequent the brackish waters of estuaries. Now it has been made clear\nbeyond all reasonable doubt, by the explorations of Geologists, that\nsea-shells abound in great numbers far away from the present line\nof coast, in the heart of vast continents. And they are found, not\nmerely on the surface, but buried deep in the Crust of the Earth, and\noverlaid, in many cases, by numerous strata of solid rock, thousands\nof feet in thickness. It is also to be observed that they occur at\nall heights above the level of the ocean; having been discovered at an\nelevation of eight thousand feet in the Pyrenees, ten thousand in the\nAlps, thirteen thousand in the Andes, and above eighteen thousand in\nthe Himalaya.[79] Such are the phenomena which are constantly forcing\nthemselves on the attention of the Geologist, and which involve a\nnumber of problems that he cannot help attempting to investigate and\nexplain. He is instinctively impelled to ask himself, how can the\nshells of marine animals have come to exist so far away from the sea?\nhow have they been buried in the Crust of the Earth? how have they been\nlifted up to the highest pinnacles of lofty mountains?\n\nOur subterranean exploration would be incomplete if it did not\nillustrate the Vegetable as well as the Animal Life of the ancient\nworld. Let the reader then descend in fancy into the celebrated\nquarries of Portland on the south coast of England, and he will see\nthe fossilized remains of a long past vegetation exhibited in a\nvery striking manner. In one, of these quarries a vertical section,\nextending from the surface downward to the depth of about thirty feet,\npresents the following succession of strata arranged in horizontal\nlayers:--first, a light covering of vegetable soil, beneath which are\nthin beds of cream-colored limestone, forming a stratum of solid rock\nten feet thick; then a bed of dark-brown loam, mixed with rounded\nfragments of stone, and varying in thickness from twelve to eighteen\ninches. This is known to the quarrymen by the name of Dirt-bed, and\nseems, in former ages, to have supported a luxuriant vegetation; for\nall around are scattered the petrified fragments of an ancient forest.\nThe prostrate stems and shattered branches of great trees are met at\nevery step; but what is most striking and peculiar is, that, in many\ncases, the petrified stumps are still standing erect, with their roots\nfixed in the thin stratum of loam, and their trunks stretching upward\ninto the hard limestone rock. Immediately below the Dirt-bed is another\nthick stratum of limestone, and below this again is a stratum of the\nfamous Portland stone, so highly prized for building purposes. As the\nquarries of Portland are worked chiefly for the sake of this building\nstone, little attention is paid to the Dirt-bed and its contents, which\nare commonly thrown aside by the quarrymen as rubbish.\n\n[Illustration: Vegetable soil.\n\nFresh-water Limestone.\n\nClay.\n\nLaminated fresh-water Limestone.\n\nDirt-bed with fossil trees and plants.\n\nFresh-water Limestone.\n\nBed of Clay.\n\nPortland building-stone full of marine shells.\n\nFig. 23.--Section of a Quarry in the Island of Portland. Total\nthickness about thirty feet.]\n\nThe scene of this petrified forest is thus described by Doctor\nMantell:--\u201cOn one of my visits to the island the surface of a large\narea of the Dirt-bed was cleared preparatory to its removal, and the\nappearance presented was most striking. The floor of the quarry was\nliterally strewn with fossil wood, and before me was a petrified\nforest, the trees and plants, like the inhabitants of the city in\nArabian story, being converted into stone, yet still remaining\nin the places which they occupied when alive! Some of the trunks\nwere surrounded by a conical mound of calcareous earth, which had,\nevidently, when in the state of mud, accumulated round the roots. The\nupright trunks were generally a few feet apart, and but three or four\nfeet high; their summits were broken and splintered, as if they had\nbeen snapped or wrenched off by a hurricane at a short distance from\nthe ground. Some were two feet in diameter, and the united fragments\nof one of the prostrate trunks indicated a total length of from thirty\nto forty feet; in many specimens portions of the branches remained\nattached to the stem.\u201d[80]\n\nThe Coal Measures of Europe and America offer to the student of Geology\na boundless field for the investigation of Fossil Plants and Trees.\nWe have already had occasion to notice the Sigillaria. This ancient\ntree, remarkable for its beautiful sculptured stem, has no exact\nrepresentative in the vegetable kingdom of the present day. But it\nabounds everywhere in the Coal Measures; and there seems little doubt\nthat several great seams of Coal are composed almost entirely of its\ncarbonized remains. Indeed the ancient soil, which commonly constitutes\nthe floor on which the bed of Coal reposes, is often as thickly crowded\nwith the branching roots of the Sigillaria, as the soil of a dense\nforest with the roots of the trees by which it is covered. The stem\nitself, when converted into Coal, generally assumes the form of long\nnarrow slabs; having been flattened by pressure during the process of\nmineralization. Sometimes, however, it is found uncompressed and erect.\nIn this case the interior of the trunk is usually observed to have been\nfilled up with sand or clay: and thus the forest tree, still retaining\nits external shape and character, is transformed into a cylindrical\nshell of carbonized bark without, and a solid cylinder of sandstone or\nshale within. An interesting example is exhibited in our illustration,\nFigure 11.\n\nEvery Coal mine, too, is adorned with the imprint of the graceful Fern,\nwhich constitutes one of the most attractive features in the Flora of\nthe ancient world. Not unfrequently it assumes a tree-like character,\nas it often does even now in tropical countries; and then, indeed, it\nis an object of striking beauty, reaching to a height of forty or fifty\nfeet, and expanding at the summit into an elegant canopy of foliage.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 24.--Calamites Nodosus. From the Coal Measures of\nNewcastle.]\n\nThe Calamite is another plant in which the Coal abounds. Its true\nbotanical character is not yet clearly ascertained; but it bears a\ngeneral resemblance, except for its gigantic dimensions, to the common\nHorse-tail of our swamps and marshy grounds. It is a reed-like, jointed\nstem, sometimes thirty feet in length, hollow within, and curiously\njointed without.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 25.--Lepidodendron Sternbergii; a Fossil Tree, 39\nfeet high. From a Coal Mine near Newcastle.]\n\nScarcely less conspicuous than the Sigillaria, the Fern, and the\nCalamite, is the Lepidodendron or Scaly Tree, one of the most curious\nand interesting among the plants of the Coal-bearing period. Like the\nSigillaria and the Calamite, it has been, and still is, a puzzle to\nthe student of Botany. But it needs not the eye of science to see that\nit is unmistakably a stately forest tree, shut up in the Crust of the\nEarth, encased in a solid framework of indurated Shale, or Sandstone,\nor Coal, as the case may be, and overlaid with massive strata of rock\nhundreds of feet in thickness. Such a specimen as that represented\nin our woodcut was laid bare some years ago in Yarrow Colliery, near\nNewcastle.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 26 Lepidodendron Elegans. Portion of Stem and\nbranches; Coal Mine, Newcastle.]\n\nIn the same neighborhood was found a portion of the stem and branches\nof another variety, Lepidodendron Elegans, which will enable the reader\nto form a more complete idea of the appearance presented by this\nancient tree as it stood in its primeval forest.\n\nAn unusually favorable illustration of our present subject may be\nseen at the colliery of Treuil, in France, not far from the city of\nLyons. The beds of Coal are overlaid by a kind of slaty sandstone,\nten feet thick; and this sandstone is traversed by the vertical stems\nof enormous petrified plants, chiefly Calamites. Here, then, to all\nappearance, we have an ancient forest enveloped in sandstone. We must\nsuppose that the forest was submerged while the trees were still erect;\nthat in this condition it received the sedimentary deposits carried\ndown by the current of some great river; and finally, that these\ndeposits were, in the course of ages, compacted into sandstone by a\nprocess already explained. It would seem that after the sandstone had\nbeen partially, at least, consolidated, it was subjected to a sliding\nmovement here and there, by which the continuity of the stems was\nbroken; the upper part being pushed on one side, as shown in our Figure.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 27.--Section of a Coal sandstone at Treuil, near\nLyons. Showing the erect position of Fossil Trees. (Alex. Brongniart.)]\n\nIt is time we should bring to a close our survey, meagre and imperfect\nas it is, of Fossil Remains. Those who desire to pursue the inquiry\nfor themselves will easily find an opportunity of doing so. There are\nfew, we should suppose, who may not, occasionally, have access to one\nor other of those splendid Museums of Geology, which have been set up\nin all the great towns of Europe. And the still more extensive cabinets\nof Nature\u2019s Museum, spread out beneath our feet, are within the reach\nof all.\n\nBut even the scanty facts which have been set forth faithfully, we\ntrust, though perhaps feebly, in these pages, are sufficient to satisfy\nall reasonable minds that the bones, the skeletons, the trunks and\nbranches of trees, which have been exhumed from the Stratified Rocks\nare really the remains of Organic Life that once flourished on the\nearth, or in the waters of the ancient seas. Obvious, however, as this\nfact must appear to all who have fully realized the character and\nappearance of Fossil Remains, it has been often vigorously assailed and\nvehemently denounced. In the early days of Geology phenomena of this\nkind were ascribed, not uncommonly, to the \u201cplastic power of Nature,\u201d\nor to the influence of the stars. Such notions, however, meet with\nlittle support among modern writers. They were nothing more than wild\nfancies, without any foundation either in the evidence of facts or\nin the analogy of Nature. The \u201cplastic power of Nature\u201d was a phrase\nthat sounded well, perhaps, in the ears of unreflecting people; but no\none ever undertook to show that Nature really possesses that \u201cplastic\npower\u201d which was so readily imputed to her. No one ever undertook to\nshow that it is the way of Nature to make the stems, and branches,\nand leaves of trees, without the previous process of vegetation; or\nto make bones and skeletons which have never been invested with the\nordinary appendages of flesh and blood. Yet surely this is a theory\nthat requires proof; for all our experience of the laws of Nature\npoints directly to the opposite conclusion. And as for the influence of\nthe stars, we may be content to adopt the language of the celebrated\npainter Leonardo da Vinci:--\u201cThey tell us that these shells were\nformed in the hills by the influence of the stars; but I ask where\nin the hills are the stars now forming shells of distinct ages and\nspecies? and how can the stars explain the origin of gravel occurring\nat different heights and composed of pebbles rounded as if by the\naction of running water? or in what manner can such a cause account for\nthe petrifaction in the same places of various leaves, sea-weeds, and\nmarine crabs?\u201d[81]\n\nIn modern times the form of objection has been somewhat changed. We\nare told by some writers that, when we seek to explain the existence\nof Fossil Remains by the action of natural laws, we seem to forget the\nOmnipotence of God. They urge upon us, with much solemnity, that He\ncould have made bones, and shells, and skeletons, and petrified wood,\nthough there had been no living animal to which these bones belonged,\nand no living tree that had been changed into stone. And if He made\nthem, might He not disperse them up and down through His creation, on\nthe lofty mountains, in the hidden valleys, and in the profound depths\nof the sea? and buried them in limestone rocks and in the soft clay?\nand arranged them in groups, or scattered them in wild confusion as He\nbest pleased?\n\nTo this line of argument we must be content to reply, that we have no\nwish to limit the power of God. But we have learned from our daily\nexperience that in the physical world He is pleased to employ the\nagency of secondary causes; and when we know that for many ages a\ncertain effect has been uniformly produced by a certain cause, and not\notherwise, then if we again see the effect, we infer the cause. When\na traveller in the untrodden wilds of Western America, comes upon a\nforest of great trees, or a herd of unknown animals, surely he never\nthinks of supposing that the wild beasts and the forest trees came\ndirectly from the hand of the Creator, in that state of maturity in\nwhich he beholds them. And why? for it might be argued that the power\nof God is unbounded, and he might have created them as they now are\nif He had so pleased. Is it not that the traveller is impelled, by an\ninstinct of his nature, to interpret the works of God which he now\nsees for the first time, according to the analogy of those with which\nhe has been long familiar? Now this is just the principle for which we\nare contending. According to all our experience of the works of God\nin the physical world, the living body comes first, and the skeleton\nafterward; the living tree comes first, and afterward the prostrate\ntrunk and the splintered branches. Therefore when we meet with a\nskeleton, we conclude that it was once a living body; and when we find\nthe petrified stems, and branches, and leaves of trees, we have no\ndoubt that they are the remains of an ancient vegetation.\n\nBut, in truth, if any one, with all the facts of the case fully before\nhis mind, were deliberately to adopt this theory, that Fossils, as\nwe find them now, were created by God in the Crust of the Earth, we\ncandidly confess we have no argument that we should think likely to\nshake his conviction; just as we should be utterly at a loss if he\nwere to say that the Pyramids of Egypt, or the colossal sculptures\nof Nineveh, or the ruins of Baalbec, were created by God from the\nbeginning. The evidence of human workmanship is certainly not more\nclear in the one case than is the evidence of animal and vegetable\nlife in the other. We believe, however, that no such persons are\nto be found; that theories of this kind have their origin, not so\nmuch in false reasoning, as in imperfect knowledge of facts; and we\nhave, therefore, judged it most expedient not to spend our time in a\ndiscussion of philosophical axioms, but to set forth the facts, and\nleave them to speak for themselves.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER XII._\n\nGEOLOGICAL CHRONOLOGY--PRINCIPLES OF THE SYSTEM EXPLAINED AND DEVELOPED.\n\n    _Significance of fossil remains--Science of\n    Pal\u00e6ontology--Classification of existing animal\n    life--Fossil remains are found to fit in with this\n    classification--Succession of organic life--Time in Geology not\n    measured by years and centuries--Successive periods marked by\n    successive forms of life--The Geologist aims at arranging these\n    periods in chronological order--Position of the various groups\n    of strata not sufficient for this purpose--It is accomplished\n    chiefly through the aid of fossil remains--Mode of proceeding\n    practically explained--Chronological table._\n\n\nThe existence of Fossil Remains is, then, a fact. Go where you will\nthrough the civilized world, and every chief town has its Museum, into\nwhich they have been gathered by the zeal and industry of man; descend\nwhere you can into the Crust of the Earth,--the quarry, the mine,\nthe railway cutting,--and there, notwithstanding the plunder which\nhas been going on for two centuries or more, you will find that the\ninexhaustible cabinets of Nature are still teeming with these remains\nof ancient life.\n\nWhen we are brought, for the first time, face to face with these\ncountless relics of a former world, we are impressed with a sense of\nwonder and bewilderment. That the skeletons before us, though now dry\nand withered, were once animated with the breath of life; that the\ntrees now lying shattered and prostrate, and shorn of their branches,\nonce flourished on the earth, we cannot for a moment hesitate to\nbelieve. But beyond this one fact, all is darkness and mystery. These\ngaunt skeletons, these uncouth monsters, these petrified forests, are\nsilent, lifeless, as the rocks within whose stony bosoms they have\nlain so long entombed. Had they speech and memory, they could tell us\nmuch, no doubt, of that ancient world in which they bore a part, of\nits continents, and seas, and rivers, and mountains; of the various\ntribes of animals and plants by which it was peopled; of their habits\nand domestic economy; how they lived, how they died, and how they\nwere buried in those graves from which, after the lapse of we know\nnot how many ages, they now come forth into the light of day. As it\nis, however, we can but gaze and wonder. We have nothing here but the\nrelics of death and destruction: there is no feeling, no memory, no\nvoice, in these dry bones; no living tenant in these hollow skulls, to\nrecount to us the history of former times.\n\nSo thinks and reasons the ordinary observer. But far different is the\nlanguage of the Geologist. These dry and withered bones, he tells us,\n_are_ gifted with memory and speech; and, though the language they\nspeak may seem at first unfamiliar and obscure, it is not, on that\naccount, beyond our comprehension. Like the birds, reptiles, fish, and\nother symbols, inscribed on the obelisks of ancient Egypt, these bones\nand shells stored up in the Crust of the Earth, have a hidden meaning\nwhich it is the business of Science to search out and explain. They are\nNature\u2019s hieroglyphics, which she has impressed upon her works to carry\ndown to remote ages the memory of the revolutions through which our\nGlobe has passed; and when we come to understand them aright, they do\nunfold to us the story of that ancient world to which they belonged.\n\nThe interpretation of Fossil Remains is, then, an important department\nof Geology. Of late years it has been admitted to the rank of a\nspecial science, under the name of Pal\u00e6ontology, which means, as the\nword denotes--\u03c0\u03b1\u03bb\u03b1\u03b9\u1ff6\u03bd \u1f44\u03bd\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2--the science which is concerned\nabout the organic remains of ancient life. The honor of having been\nthe first to place this science on a solid basis, in fact we may say\nthe honor of having brought it into existence, is justly accorded to\nthe distinguished Cuvier, whose name shed a lustre upon France during\nthe early years of the present century. It is therefore still in its\ninfancy; but it has already rewarded the zeal of its students by many\nwonderful and unexpected revelations. We purpose in the first place to\nexamine the principles on which it is founded, and then to take a rapid\nglance at the conclusions to which it has led.\n\nAt the outset it is worthy of notice that the very existence of Fossil\nRemains, buried deep in the Crust of the Earth, forcibly confirms the\nGeological theory of Stratified Rocks. These rocks, as the reader will\nremember, are said to have been slowly spread out, one above another,\nduring the lapse of many ages, by the operation of natural causes; and\nwe have seen how this doctrine is supported by arguments founded on an\nexamination of the rocks themselves,--of the materials that compose\nthem, and of the way in which these materials are piled together. Now\nlet us observe how clearly the testimony of Fossil Remains seems to\npoint in the same direction.\n\nFirst, the bones and shells which we now find in such profusion, far\ndown beneath the superficial covering of the Earth, must have belonged\nto animals which, when living, flourished on what was then the surface.\nYet now they are buried in the bosom of the hard rock, and covered over\nwith beds of solid limestone, and sandstone, and conglomerate, hundreds\nand thousands of feet in thickness. How can we explain this fact,\nunless we suppose that these animals, when they perished, were embedded\nin some soft materials, which afterward became consolidated, and above\nwhich, in the course of ages, more and more matter was deposited, until\nat length that lofty pile of strata was produced, beneath which the\nremains are now found buried?\n\nAgain, it is part of our theory that the formation of Stratified Rocks\ntook place, for the most part, under water. The Organic Remains,\ntherefore, which we should naturally expect to find preserved in the\nstrata of the earth, would be those of aquatic animals; or, if the\nremains of land animals were to be looked for, it should be of those\nchiefly which live near the banks of rivers and estuaries, and which,\nafter death, might have been carried down by the current and buried in\nthe silt and mud with which almost all rivers are charged at certain\nseasons of the year. We know as a fact that such animals are buried at\nthe present day in the Deltas of the Ganges and the Mississippi; and\nit would be reasonable to suppose that the same should have occurred\nin former ages. Now here again the evidence of Fossil Remains exactly\nfits in with our theory. For the vast bulk of them are manifestly the\nremains of animals that lived in water: and the terrestrial animals,\ncomparatively few, whose bones are preserved in the Crust of the Earth,\nare such as frequent the banks of great rivers or the marshy swamps of\nestuaries.\n\nThus much we may learn even from a cursory glance at Fossil Remains.\nBut these curious monuments of ancient times have a deeper meaning,\nwhich cannot be unfolded without a more minute and laborious\ninvestigation. Our readers are aware that all the animals at present\nexisting on the face of the Earth have been scientifically grouped\ntogether, according to certain well-marked characteristics, into\nvarious Kingdoms, Classes, Genera, and Species. Thus, for example, the\nhorse and the dog are two different Species, belonging to the same\nClass of Mammalia; the eagle and the sparrow are two different Species\nof the same Class called Birds. Then again the Class of Mammalia and\nthe Class of Birds both belong to the one common Kingdom of Vertebrata;\nbecause, though different in many other respects, they agree in this,\nthat all the members of both Classes have a vertebral or spinal column,\nto which the other parts of the internal skeleton are attached.\n\nNow when Cuvier began to examine closely the Organic Remains of former\ntimes, to which his attention was called by the bones dug up in the\ngypsum quarries of Montmartre, near Paris, about the close of the last\ncentury, he brought with him to the task a very large acquaintance with\nthe various forms of life that, in the present age, prevail throughout\nthe world. And he was greatly struck with the marked difference between\nthose living animals with which he had been long familiar, and those\nwith which he now became acquainted for the first time. The more\nhe extended his researches, the more manifest did this difference\nappear; until at last it became quite clear that the great bulk of\nthe animals whose remains are preserved in the Crust of the Earth,\nhave no representatives now living on its surface. Nevertheless, he\nobserved that, though the Species no longer exists, it often happens\nthat we have still other Species of the same Genus; or if the Genus,\ntoo, be extinct, we have other Genera of the same Class. Here, then,\nis the first great truth at which Cuvier arrived, and which has been\nsince confirmed by extensive observations:--that the animals which\nformerly dwelt on this Earth of ours, were, for the most part, widely\ndifferent from those by which it is now inhabited: and yet there is a\nwell-defined likeness between them; that both have been created on a\nplan so strictly uniform, that the one and the other naturally find\ntheir place in the same system of classification.\n\nAs the science of Pal\u00e6ontology progressed, and new facts were day by\nday accumulated, another truth, not less important, was gradually but\ncertainly developed. In the distribution of Fossil Remains through\nthe various strata of the Earth, there is a certain order observed,\na certain regular law of succession, which cannot have been the mere\nresult of chance, and which it is the business of science to unravel\nand explain. The facts are these. If we follow a particular set of\nstrata _in a horizontal direction_, we find that the same fossils\ncontinue to prevail over hundreds of square miles, nay, often over a\nspace as large as Europe, though beyond certain limits this uniformity\nof Fossil Remains will gradually be observed to disappear. But when we\npenetrate _in a vertical direction_ through the strata, the forms of\nanimal and vegetable life that we meet with are constantly changing.\nAfter a few hundred yards at the most, we find ourselves in the midst\nof a group of fossils, altogether different from those which we have\npassed in the beds above: and so on, as we proceed downward, _each\nparticular set of strata is found to have an assemblage of fossils\npeculiar to itself_.[82]\n\nThere can be no reasonable doubt as to the truth of these facts. They\nhave been established and confirmed by the positive testimony of a\nwhole host of Geologists, whose researches have extended to all parts\nof the globe. And we have besides a kind of negative evidence on the\nsubject which is scarcely less convincing than the positive. Nothing\nis more easy than to refute a universal proposition if it is false. If\nit is not a fact that each group of strata, as we proceed downward,\nexhibits a collection of Fossils peculiar to itself, the assertion may\nbe at once disproved by pointing out two or three different groups\nwith the same Fossils. There are thousands of practical Geologists at\nwork all over the world, eager for fame; and any one of them would\nmake his name illustrious if he could overturn a theory so generally\nreceived. Now, when a statement of facts can be easily disproved if\nuntrue; and when, at the same time, there is a large number of men\nwhose interest it would be to disprove the statement if possible;\nand when it is nevertheless _not_ disproved; this circumstance, we\ncontend, is a convincing argument that the alleged facts _are_ true.\nAnd such precisely is the case before us. We therefore think it would\nbe unreasonable not to accept the facts.\n\nLet us next examine what is their significance. Each group of strata,\nbe it remembered, represents to us the animal life that flourished\non the Earth during the period in which that particular group was\nin progress of formation. It is, as it were, a cabinet in which are\npreserved for our instruction certain relics or memorials of that age\nin the world\u2019s history. Of course it is not a perfect collection; but\nonly a collection of those remains that chanced to escape destruction,\nand by some natural embalming process to be saved from dissolution.\nWhen we learn, then, that there is a marked uniformity in the\nassemblage of Fossils that are spread over a large horizontal area, in\nany group of strata, we conclude that, when that group was in course\nof formation, there was a certain uniformity in the animal life that\nextended over the corresponding area of the globe; just as, at the\npresent day, the same species of animals are found to flourish over\na great part of Europe, or America. And if this uniformity of Fossil\nRemains does not extend horizontally to an indefinite distance, this is\nprecisely what we should have expected from the analogy of the existing\ncreation: for, when we examine the present distribution of animal life\nover the earth, we find a marked diversity to exist between countries\nthat are removed from one another; as, for instance, between Europe and\nAustralia.\n\nIn the next place, we are told that, as we proceed _downward_ into the\nCrust of the Earth, each successive group of strata has an assemblage\nof Fossils clearly distinct in character from those of the group above\nand of the group below. The conclusion to which this fact points is\nobvious enough. If, in the former case, we inferred that the animal\nlife of any one period, considered in itself, was the same over\nextensive areas, in this case we must infer that the animal life of\neach successive period was _peculiar to that particular age_; being\naltogether distinct in its character from the animal life of the period\nthat went before and of the period that followed. It would appear,\ntherefore, as Sir Charles Lyell puts it, \u201cthat from the remotest\nperiod there has been ever a coming in of new organic forms, and an\nextinction of those which pre-existed on the earth; some species having\nendured for a longer, others for a shorter time; while none have ever\nreappeared after once dying out.\u201d[83]\n\nNow, from these principles, Geologists have been gradually led to build\nup a system of Geological Chronology; in other words, to determine the\norder of time in which the numerous groups of strata that make up the\nCrust of the Earth have been formed, and thus to fix the age of each\ngroup in reference to the rest. This Chronology is not reckoned by the\ncommon measures of time which are used in history, but rather by the\nsuccessive periods during which each group of rocks was in its turn\nslowly deposited on the existing surface of the globe. For example,\nthe Coal-measures that so abound in the North of England are very much\nolder than the bluish clay of which London is built. But if we ask\nwhat is the difference between the age of the one and of the other,\nthe answer is given not in days and years and centuries, but in the\nnumber of different Formations that intervened between the two. We are\ntold that the Coal-measures belong to the Carboniferous Formation;\nthat this Formation was followed by the Permian, and that again in\nsuccession by the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous; and that,\nupon this last was spread out the Eocene, to which the London clay\nbelongs. Indeed, as regards the precise length of any given period,\nGeologists can offer nothing but the wildest conjectures. Some form\ntheir estimates in thousands of years; others in millions. And the\nwisest amongst them fairly confess they have no sufficient data to\nmake an accurate computation. Nevertheless, they are all agreed in\nthis, that the ages of which the memory is preserved in history, that\nis to say, the last six thousand years, are but a small part of one\nGeological period. Compared to the voluminous chronicles laid up in the\nCrust of the Earth, the records inscribed by human hands constitute but\nan insignificant fraction of the world\u2019s history. Our readers will be\nglad to learn something of the way in which this startling system of\nGeological Chronology is constructed and developed.\n\nAt first sight, perhaps, it might be imagined that the order of time\nin which the various strata were deposited, can be easily learned from\nthe relative position in which they lie. Since each stratum, when first\nproduced, was spread out on the existing surface of the globe, it is\nclear that the one which lies uppermost in the series must be the\nnewest, then that which lies next below, and so on till we reach the\nlowest of the pile, which must be the oldest of all. Nothing could be\nmore satisfactory than this reasoning, if each stratum was spread out\nover the whole Earth, and if, after having been once deposited, it was\nnever afterward removed. We might then regard each stratum as a volume\nin the Natural History of the Globe, which, when it was finished, was\nlaid down upon that which contained the chronicles of the preceding\nage; and thus the position of every stratum would be in itself a\nsufficient evidence of the age to which it belonged.\n\nBut such is not the case. Nowhere does the Crust of the Earth exhibit\na complete series of the Stratified Rocks laid out one above another.\nIn any given section we can find but a few only of the long series of\ngroups that are familiar to Geologists. And if we follow them on, in a\nhorizontal direction, we shall invariably find that some of the strata\nwill _thin out_ and disappear, while new strata will gradually be\ndeveloped between two groups that were before in immediate contact. Let\nit be observed, in passing, that this fact fits in most perfectly with\nthe theory we have been all along defending. The Stratified Rocks were\ndeposited under water; therefore, the strata of any given period were\nnot _spread out over the whole Globe_, but at most over those parts\nonly which, for the time, were submerged. With the next period came a\nchange in the boundaries of land and water; and the formation of strata\nceased in some localities and began in others: and so on from epoch to\nepoch. Thus the areas over which the process has been going on, have\nbeen, in every age, of limited extent, and have been ever shifting\nfrom place to place over the surface of the earth. Moreover, there is\nthe opposite process of Denudation. Many of the strata deposited in\nthe depths of the ocean must have been afterward swept away by the\nbreakers, as they slowly emerged from the waters; or at a later time,\nreduced to their original elements, and carried back to the sea, by the\naction of rivers, rain, and frost. It should seem, therefore, as well\nfrom the _fact_, which is obvious to any one who will examine it, as\nfrom our _theory_, which harmonizes so completely with the fact, that\nthe strata which we meet with in any given section of the Earth\u2019s Crust\npresent to us but a very broken and imperfect series of monuments. They\nare, as it were, but odd volumes of a long series, and though they lie\nin juxtaposition, they may belong, nevertheless, to Geological epochs\nwidely removed from each other.\n\nHence, in order to construct a complete system of Geological\nChronology it is necessary to collect together these odd volumes, as\nthey may be called, of the Great Geological Calendar, and to assign to\neach one its proper place in the series. This difficult and complicated\ntask is accomplished chiefly by the aid of Fossil Remains. We have\nalready shown that the Fossil Remains which are found embedded in\neach group of strata, represent the organic life of the period during\nwhich that group of strata was in progress of formation. Moreover,\nwe have seen that each period was marked by the existence of an\nanimal and vegetable creation peculiar to itself. If, therefore, we\nfind that the Fossils of two different districts exhibit the same\ngeneral character, we may conclude that the beds in which they are\npreserved were deposited about the same age, and consequently belong\nto the same Geological Period. Whereas, on the other hand, if, within\ncertain limits, we discover two groups of strata, each of which has\na collection of Fossils totally different from the other, it is a\nproof that these two groups were _not_ deposited in the same age, and\nmust, consequently, be referred to different Epochs of the Geological\nCalendar. Let us now see in what manner the practical Geologist\nproceeds to apply these general principles.\n\nHe takes first some one country, say England, and in that country he\nselects some one particular district to begin with. Here he examines\na number of different sections, and makes himself familiar with all\nthe strata of the neighborhood, and with the order in which they lie.\nLet us suppose that he finds three different groups spread out one\nabove another, and let us call these groups A, B, and C; A being the\nlowest, B immediately above A, and C above B. The chronological order\nof these strata will be, therefore, A, B, C. He will study next the\nFossil Remains which he finds embedded in each group. For convenience\nwe may designate the Fossils of A by the letter a, those of B by b,\nand those of C by c. Now, according to the principles above explained,\nthese three collections of Fossils will be specifically distinct from\none another, each collection being characteristic of one particular set\nof strata. Our Geologist next goes into a neighboring district, and\nthere examines a number of sections as before. Let us suppose that he\nencounters again the groups A and B. He may, perhaps, have been able\nto trace the beds from one district to the other, by observations made\nupon his line of route: or it may be that the nature of the country\nhas rendered such observations impossible; or the observations may\nhave been so imperfect that from _them_ he could arrive at no certain\nconclusion regarding the identity of the strata. But, at all events, if\nthe new district yield an abundant supply of Fossils, he cannot long\nbe at a loss. He will recognize the group A by the Fossils a, and the\ngroup B by the Fossils b. An important fact, however, soon attracts his\nattention. Group C has entirely disappeared, and is not to be found in\nthis district; while between A and B there is a new group of rocks that\nhe has not seen before, with a collection of Fossils different from a,\nb, and c. We will call this new group X, and its Fossils x. It is clear\nthat the formation of X must have intervened between the formation of\nA and B; and the chronological order now stands A, X, B, C. In like\nmanner another district may disclose a fourth group of strata, say Y,\nintervening between B and C. The chronological order will then stand A,\nX, B, Y, C. And thus the Geologist pursues his explorations until he\nhas gone through the whole country, and arranged the principal groups\nof strata according to the order of time in which they were deposited.\n\nIn this way the whole of England has been minutely explored during the\nlast half century. The task was first undertaken by William Smith,\nwho is justly called the Father of English Geology. After multiplied\nresearches, extending over a space of many years, during which he\ntravelled the whole country on foot, this eminent man published in\n1815 his Geological Map of England and Wales with part of Scotland; a\nwork which is described by Sir Charles Lyell as \u201ca lasting monument of\noriginal talent and extraordinary perseverance.\u201d Hundreds followed in\nthe same course, exploring every day new districts, and, by the new\nfacts which they brought to light, supplying what was wanting in the\nwork of Smith, correcting what was faulty, and confirming what was\ntrue; until at length, in our day, it may be said that the Stratified\nRocks of England are almost as well known and as completely mapped out\nas are its counties and its towns, its rivers, lakes, and mountains.\n\nMeanwhile, Geologists were not idle in other parts of the world.\nGermany, France, Italy, even many districts of America and\nAustralia, have been diligently explored according to the same\nprinciples as England. And by a comparison of the observations\nmade, the Chronological order of strata over a considerable part\nof the Earth, but more particularly of Europe, has been now pretty\nfairly ascertained. This order we have attempted to set forth in an\nintelligible and sensible form by means of the table here annexed.\n\nIn the Woodcut are represented the strata hitherto examined by\nGeologists, laid out one above another, according to the order of time\nin which they are supposed to have been produced. The whole series\nis divided into a number of Formations, the names of which are given\nin the first column, together with an approximate estimate of their\nthickness, in feet. These Formations are distinguished from each other\nin the drawing by a difference of shading. Each of them, according\nto Geological theory, is believed to have come into existence by the\naccumulation of solid matter at the bottom of the sea; and the Period\nof time occupied in its production is usually designated by the\nsame name as the Formation itself. Thus we read of the Carboniferous\nFormation and the Carboniferous Period: by the former phrase is meant\ncertain groups of strata contemporaneously deposited over various parts\nof the Earth\u2019s surface; and by the latter, the Period of time during\nwhich these groups of strata were spread out. In like manner, when we\nhear of the Carboniferous Fauna and Flora, we are to understand the\nanimal and vegetable life that flourished during the Carboniferous\nPeriod. And again, when Geologists talk of the Cretaceous sea, and tell\nus that it rolled over a great part of what is now called Europe, they\nmean to speak of that sea on the bottom of which the Cretaceous rocks\nwere deposited.\n\n[Illustration: TABLE OF STRATIFIED ROCKS,\n\nCHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED.]\n\nMost of the Formations comprise various groups of strata; and these\ngroups are made up of different varieties of rocks, which are again\ndivided into layers or beds of varying thickness. Even in these beds\nthemselves we can often distinguish an indefinite number of lamin\u00e6 or\nplates, scarcely thicker than a sheet of paper, which correspond to\nthe periodical depositions of matter by which the rock was originally\nformed. These numerous subdivisions may be conveniently illustrated\nfrom the Carboniferous Formation. It is divided into two leading groups\nof strata; the Mountain Limestone below, the Coal Measures above. The\nupper group is the larger as well as the more important. It attains\na maximum thickness in South Wales of 12,000 feet; and consists of\nnumerous strata of Sandstone and Shale, with thin seams of Coal\noccasionally interposed. In one remarkable instance a hundred distinct\nlayers of Coal, varying in thickness from six inches to ten feet,\nhave been counted in one Coal-field, each resting on a bed of Shale,\ncalled in mining phraseology the Underclay. This Shale itself naturally\ndivides into an indefinite number of thin plates, just like the stratum\nof mud accumulated by the annual inundations of the river Nile, and\nconstituting the present soil of Egypt.\n\nWe have not attempted to represent in our Woodcut these various\ndivisions and subdivisions of Stratified Rocks. But the names of some\nimportant and well-known groups we have had engraved, to impress more\nvividly on the mind the place to which they are to be referred in the\nGeological Calendar. Thus the reader may see at a glance the respective\nages of the Coal and the Chalk; of the Lias, in which are preserved the\nremains of extinct gigantic reptiles, and the Glacial Drift, in which\nthe elephant, the rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus are found entombed;\nof the Mountain Limestone, which is often nothing else than vast beds\nof Coral uplifted from beneath the waters of the ocean, and the Oolite,\nwhich includes the Portland quarries, where the petrified stems of\nancient forest trees are found standing erect in the solid rock.\n\nAs the series of Stratified Rocks is divided by Geologists into a\ncertain number or systems or Formations, so these are again grouped\ninto still larger classes, called Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary;\nthat is to say, first, second, and third, in the order of formation.\nThese larger classes correspond to the Great Epochs or Ages of\nGeological time, each comprising within itself many distinct Periods.\nThe Primary rocks are also called Pal\u00e6ozoic--\u03c0\u03b1\u03bb\u03b1\u03b9\u1f41\u03bd, ancient, and\n\u03be\u1ff6\u03bf\u03bd, an organic being--because they contain the oldest forms of\norganic life: in like manner the term Mesozoic--\u03bc\u03b5\u03c3\u03bf\u03bd, middle, and\n\u03be\u1ff6\u03bf\u03bd--is applied to the Secondary strata, inasmuch as they contain\nthe middle or intermediate forms of organic life: and the name\nKainozoic--\u03c7\u03b1\u03b9\u03bd\u1f41\u03bd, new, and \u03be\u1ff6\u03bf\u03bd--is given to the Tertiary, which\ncontain the newest forms of organic life.\n\nThe term Post-Tertiary has recently been adopted to designate those\nsuperficial deposits which are subsequent to the Tertiary Age. They are\ndivided into two groups; the Recent, which corresponds with the period\nof history, and the Post-Pliocene which precedes it. Some writers seem\nto think that these deposits, being so very insignificant and so very\nmodern when compared with the long series of Stratified Rocks, are not\ntruly Geological. But this, we should say, is a mistaken view of the\nquestion. It seems to us that even the minute layer of mud that is\ndeposited every day at the mouth of the Ganges or the Mississippi, is\nlinked on to the long chain of events which have brought the Crust of\nthe Earth into its present condition; and, therefore, truly belongs\nto the science of Geology, and is deserving of its proper place in\nGeological classification.\n\nWe may here observe that the names of the great Geological Epochs are\ndescriptive names; that is to say, the obvious meaning of the words\ncorresponds to the character of the strata they are used to represent.\nPrimary, Secondary, Tertiary, mean First, Second, and Third, in the\norder of formation: Pal\u00e6ozoic, Mesozoic, and Kainozoic, signify\nthat the strata so called are characterized by Ancient, Middle, and\nModern, forms of organic life. But it is very often quite otherwise\nwith the names of the several Formations: and this is a point of\nno small importance to the student of Geology. These names must be\nregarded simply _as names_ employed to designate the strata formed in\neach successive period, and not exactly to describe their character.\nThey generally had their origin in some accidental circumstance, or\nwere derived from some particular locality; and afterward, being\nperpetuated, gradually came to receive a much more extended application\nthan that which the words themselves would seem to suggest. Thus, for\ninstance, the Cretaceous Formation is so called from the remarkable\nstratum of white chalk (creta) which was deposited during that period\nover a great part of Europe; but it would be a mistake to suppose that\nthe whole Formation is made up of chalk. On the contrary, in different\nlocalities it is composed of very different materials; near Dresden,\nfor example, it is a gray quartzose sandstone, and in many parts of the\nAlps it is hard compact limestone.[84] Again, the Devonian Formation\nderives its name from Devonshire, where the rocks of the Devonian\nperiod were first minutely examined; but we must not therefore infer\nthat this Formation is peculiar to the county of Devon; it is to be\nfound in many other parts of England, also in Ireland, and on the\ncontinent of Europe. So, too, another Formation has received the name\nof Carboniferous, which literally means Coal-bearing (carbo fero)\nbecause of the beds of Coal which are sometimes associated with its\nstrata; yet this Formation is often found quite destitute of Coal over\na very extensive area.\n\nIn looking over our Table of strata the reader must have noticed that\nthe successive spaces in the Woodcut are not proportioned to the\nactual thickness of the successive Formations for which they stand.\nThe Secondary and Tertiary Rocks taken together are scarcely one-third\nas thick, in reality, as the Primary; yet they occupy an equal space\nin the engraving: and, more remarkable still, the Cretaceous system\nis allowed double the space of the Laurentian, though less than half\nas thick. This circumstance calls for a passing word of explanation.\nIn the early annals of a country there is generally a great scarcity\nof authentic records; and, from a simple dearth of facts, the history\nof a whole century is compressed, not unfrequently, into a few\npages: whereas, in later times, when documentary evidence begins to\naccumulate, the historians will often spread out the events of two or\nthree years over several chapters. Something of the same kind takes\nplace in Geology. The Fossil Remains, from which, as from authentic\ndocuments, the Geologist chiefly derives his information regarding the\nhistory of the Earth\u2019s Crust, are scanty in the earlier Formations,\nand abundant in the more recent. And thus it happens that the older\nGeological Periods, notwithstanding the vast thickness of the rocks by\nwhich they are represented, do not occupy a very prominent position\nin the annals of Geology, and are compressed into a comparatively\ninsignificant space in its Tables. Nevertheless, the immense depth of\nthe earliest Stratified Rocks must be taken into account in any attempt\nto estimate the comparative duration of the several Geological Periods.\nWe have, therefore, set down, under the name of each Formation, an\napproximate estimate of its actual thickness, taken chiefly from the\nworks of Doctor Haughton and Sir Charles Lyell.\n\nBefore bringing this chapter to an end we would observe that the\nsystem of classification we have here endeavored to explain does not\npretend to be final and complete. It is, on the contrary, little\nmore than a temporary expedient to render intelligible the results\nat which Geologists have hitherto arrived; and is liable to manifold\nmodifications in proportion as their acquaintance with the records they\nhave undertaken to interpret becomes more extensive and more minute.\nAll that they now contend for is this: that the successive Formations\nrepresent successive Periods of time, which followed one another in\nthe order here set forth, and during which the Earth was peopled with\ncertain species of Plants and Animals, for the most part peculiar to\ntheir respective eras.[85]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER XIII._\n\nGEOLOGICAL CHRONOLOGY--REMARKS ON THE SUCCESSION OF ORGANIC LIFE.\n\n    _Summary of the history of stratified rocks--Striking\n    characteristics of certain formations--Human remains found\n    only in superficial deposits--Gradual transition from the\n    organic life of one period to that of the next--Evidence\n    in favor of this opinion--Advance from lower to higher\n    types of organic life as we ascend from the older to the\n    more recent formations--Economic value of geological\n    chronology--Illustration--Search for coal--The practical man\n    at fault--The geologist comes to his aid, and saves him from\n    useless expense._\n\n\nWith this sketch of Geological Chronology before us, we can now more\nfully realize to our minds the story we are told about the formation of\nthe Earth\u2019s Crust. In the earliest age to which Geologists can trace\nback the history of the Aqueous Rocks--for they do not profess to trace\nit back to the beginning--this Globe of ours was, as it is now, partly\ncovered with water, and partly dry land. The formation of stratified\nrocks went on in that age, as it is still going on, chiefly over those\nareas that were under water--not indeed throughout the entire extent of\nsuch areas, but over certain portions of them to which mineral matter\nhappened to be carried by the action of natural causes. And the Earth\nwas peopled then as now, though with animals and plants very different\nfrom those by which we are surrounded at the present day. Some of these\nhappened to escape destruction, and to be embedded in the deposits of\nthat far distant age, and have thus been preserved even to our time.\nAnd these strata with their Fossils are the same that we now group\ntogether under the title of the Laurentian Formation: which being the\noldest group of stratified rocks we can recognize in the depths of the\nEarth\u2019s Crust, occupies the lowest position in our table of Chronology.\nAges rolled on; and the Crust of the Earth was moved from within by\nsome giant force, the bed of the ocean was lifted up in one place,\nislands and continents were submerged in another, and so the outlines\nof land and water were changed. With this change the old forms of life\npassed away; a new creation came in; and the Laurentian period gave\nplace to the Cambrian. But the order of nature was still the same as\nbefore. The deposition of stratified rocks still continued, though the\nareas of deposition were, in many cases, shifted from one locality to\nanother. And the organic life that flourished in the Cambrian times\nleft its memorials behind it buried in the Cambrian rocks. Then that\nage, too, came to an end, and gave place in its turn to the Silurian:\nand this was, again, followed by the Devonian. Thus one period\nsucceeded to another in the order set forth in our table; and every\npart of the globe was, in the course of ages, more than once submerged,\nand covered with the deposits of more than one age, and enriched with\nthe Organic Remains of more than one creation.\n\nAs we advance upward in the series of Formations we soon perceive that\nthe Fossil Remains, which, in the earlier groups were scanty enough,\nbecome profusely abundant, until even the unpractised eye cannot\nfail to mark the peculiar character of each successive period;--the\nexuberant vegetation of the Carboniferous, with its luxuriant herbage\nand its tangled forests, its huge pines, its tall tree-ferns, and its\nstately araucarias: the enormous creeping monsters of the Jurassic,\nthe ichthyosaurs, the megalosaurs, the iguanodons, which filled its\nseas, or crowded its plains, or haunted its rivers; and higher up in\nthe scale, the colossal quadrupeds of the Miocene and the Pliocene, the\nmammoths, the mastodons, the megatheriums, which begin to approximate\nmore closely to the organic types of our own age. But amidst these\nvarious forms of life, the eye looks in vain for any relic of human\nkind. No bone of man, no trace of human intelligence, is to be found\nin any bed of rock that belongs to the Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary\nFormations. It is only when we have passed all these, and come to the\nlatest formation of the whole series, nay, it is only in the uppermost\nbeds of this Formation, that we meet, for the first time, with human\nbones, and the works of human art.\n\nThus it appears pretty plain, even from the testimony of Geology, that\nman was the last work of the creation; and that, if the world is old,\nthe human race is comparatively young. These broken and imperfect\nrecords, which have been so curiously preserved in the Crust of the\nEarth, carry us back to an antiquity which may not be measured by\nyears and centuries, and then set before us, as in a palpable form,\nhow the tender herbage appeared, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit\naccording to its kind; and how the Earth was afterward peopled with\ngreat creeping things, and winged fowl, and the cattle, and the beasts\nof the field; and then, at length, they disclose to us how, last of\nall, man appeared, to whom all these things seem to tend, and who was\nto have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the fowl of the air, and\nevery living thing that moveth upon the earth. We do not mean to dwell\njust now upon this view of the history of creation so clearly displayed\nin the records of Geology. But we shall return to it hereafter when we\ncome in the sequel to consider how admirably the genuine truths of this\nscience fit in with the inspired narrative of Moses.\n\nIt may here, very naturally, be asked, if the records of Geology\ngive us any information as to the manner in which each period of\nanimal and vegetable life was brought to an end? Did the old organic\nforms gradually die out, and the new gradually come in to take their\nplaces? or were the one suddenly extinguished and the others as\nsuddenly produced? This question has been a subject of controversy\namong Geologists themselves; and therefore it is somewhat outside our\nscope, since we propose to exhibit only that more general outline of\nGeological theory which is accepted by all. Nevertheless, as it is a\nquestion that must needs occur to the mind of every reader, it seems to\ncall for a few words of explanation as we pass along. In the early days\nof Geology, it was commonly held that each great period was brought\nto an end by a sudden and violent convulsion of Nature. The Crust of\nthe Earth was burst open in many places all at once; the bottom of the\nocean was upheaved with a tremendous shock; the waters, driven from\ntheir accustomed bed, rushed with furious impetuosity over islands and\ncontinents; and the whole existing creation perished in a universal\ndeluge. Then succeeded an interval of chaotic confusion, and when at\nlength the waters subsided, and dry land again appeared, a new age\nin the history of the Globe was ushered in, and the Earth was again\npeopled by a new creation.\n\nBut this old theory has gradually given way as the Stratified Rocks\nhave been more and more fully examined, and at the present day it\nis almost universally abandoned. Geologists have observed that the\nsame species of Fossil Remains which prevail in the upper beds of one\nFormation, are met with also in the lower beds of the next, though in\nless numbers and mixed up with new species; and that, as we ascend\nhigher and higher into the later Formation, the old species gradually\nbecome more and more scarce, while the new gradually become more and\nmore numerous; until at length the characteristic forms of one age\nhave disappeared altogether, and those of the succeeding age have\nattained their full development.\n\nFor this important fact, which was brought to light within the last\nhalf century, we are mainly indebted to the unwearied researches and\ngreat ability of Sir Charles Lyell. Speaking of the Formations of the\nTertiary Epoch, to which, as is well known, he has principally devoted\nhimself, this distinguished writer thus sums up the result of his long\ninvestigation:--\u201cIn passing from the older to the newer members of\nthe Tertiary system we meet with many chasms, but none which separate\nentirely, by a broad line of demarkation, one state of the organic\nworld from another. There are no signs of an abrupt termination of one\nfauna and flora, and the starting into life of new and wholly distinct\nforms. Although we are far from being able to demonstrate geologically\nan insensible transition from the Eocene to the Miocene, or even from\nthe latter to the recent fauna, yet the more we enlarge and perfect our\ngeneral survey, the more nearly do we approximate to such a continuous\nseries, and the more gradually are we conducted from times when many of\nthe genera and nearly all the species were extinct, to those in which\nscarcely a single species flourished which we do not know to exist at\npresent.\u201d[86] Hence he concludes, and his conclusion is now the common\ndoctrine of Geologists, that the extinction and creation of species has\nbeen \u201cthe result of a slow and gradual change in the organic world.\u201d[87]\n\nIt was long argued against this view, that we often meet, especially\nin the Primary and Secondary Formations, two groups of strata in\nimmediate contact, in which there is a perfectly sudden transition\nfrom one set of Fossil Remains to another altogether different. Each\ngroup contains a countless variety of species, and yet there is not a\nsingle species common to the two. Does it not appear that in such a\ncase the organic life of one period was suddenly destroyed, and that\nof the next as suddenly introduced? Not so; there is one link wanting\nin the argument. It must be shown that these two strata which are\nnow in _immediate contact_ were originally deposited in _immediate\nsuccession_. But this it is impossible to prove: nay, it must needs be\nvery often false. We have before observed that the areas of deposition\nwere limited in every age, and were ever shifting from one locality to\nanother. Therefore it must have been a frequent occurrence that, after\none bed of rock was formed, the process of deposition ceased altogether\nin that locality, and did not begin again for many ages. Thus a long\nlapse of time often intervened between the deposition of two strata,\nwhich were laid out one immediately above the other. Furthermore, we\nhave also seen that whole groups of strata may in any age be swept away\nby Denudation; and then the rocks which are next deposited in that\nlocality, will be in immediate contact with strata indefinitely more\nancient than themselves. From these considerations it is plain that two\ngroups of strata which are now found in juxtaposition, may have been\ndeposited in two Geological ages widely remote from each other. And\nconsequently a sudden transition from the Organic Life of one group to\nthe Organic Life of the other affords no proof of a sudden transition\nfrom the Organic Life of one Geological Period to the Organic Life of\nthat which next succeeded. We may observe, however, that the recent\nresearches, which have contributed so much to fill up the interstices\nof the Geological Calendar, have conduced in no small degree to fill up\nlikewise some of the more remarkable gaps or chasms in the succession\nof Organic Life. It is, therefore, not unreasonable to suppose that, as\nour knowledge of the Earth\u2019s Crust becomes more and more minute, the\nsudden breaks in the continuity of the scale will be still further\ndiminished and the successive stages of gradual transition will be made\nmore clearly apparent.\n\nThis subject has been very happily illustrated by Sir Charles\nLyell:--\u201cTo make still more clear the supposed working of this\nmachinery [for the deposition of Stratified Rocks and the preservation\nof Organic Remains], I shall compare it to a somewhat analogous case\nthat might be imagined to occur in the history of human affairs. Let\nthe mortality of the population of a large country represent the\nsuccessive extinction of species, and the birth of new individuals, the\nintroduction of new species. While these fluctuations are gradually\ntaking place everywhere, suppose commissioners to be appointed to\nvisit each province of the country in succession, taking an exact\naccount of the number, names, and individual peculiarities of all the\ninhabitants, and leaving in each district a register containing a\nrecord of this information. If, after the completion of one census,\nanother is immediately made on the same plan, and then another, there\nwill, at last, be a series of statistical documents in each province.\nWhen these belonging to any one province are arranged in chronological\norder, the contents of such as stand next to each other will differ\naccording to the length of time between the taking of each census. If,\nfor example, there are sixty provinces, and all the registers are made\nin a single year, and renewed annually, the number of births and deaths\nwill be so small in proportion to the whole of the inhabitants, during\nthe interval between the compiling of two consecutive documents, that\nthe individuals described in such documents will be nearly identical;\nwhereas, if the survey of each of the sixty provinces occupies all the\ncommissioners for a whole year, so that they are unable to revisit\nthe same place until the expiration of sixty years, there will then\nbe an almost entire discordance between the persons enumerated in two\nconsecutive registers in the same province.\n\n\u201cBut I must remind the reader that the case above proposed has no\npretentions to be regarded as an exact parallel to the Geological\nphenomena which I desire to illustrate; for the commissioners are\nsupposed to visit the different provinces in rotation; whereas the\ncommemorating processes by which organic remains become fossilized,\nalthough they are always shifting from one area to the other, are yet\nvery irregular in their movements. They may abandon and revisit many\nspaces again and again, before they once approach another district; and\nbesides this source of irregularity, it may often happen that, while\nthe depositing process is suspended, Denudation may take place, which\nmay be compared to the occasional destruction by fire or other causes\nof some of the statistical documents before mentioned. It is evident\nthat where such accidents occur, the want of continuity in the series\nmay become indefinitely great, and that the monuments which follow next\nin succession will by no means be equi-distant from each other in point\nof time.\n\n\u201cIf this train of reasoning be admitted, the occasional distinctness\nof the fossil remains, in formations immediately in contact, would be\na necessary consequence of the existing laws of sedimentary deposition\nand subterranean movement, accompanied by a constant mortality and\nrenovation or species.\u201d[88]\n\nThere is another and a very striking fact in the succession of ancient\norganic life, which claims from us a moment\u2019s notice. As we proceed\nupward through the series of Stratified Rocks, from the oldest to the\nnewest, we find a gradual advance in the types of animal organization\ntherein preserved, from the humbler and more simple forms of structure\nto those of a higher and more perfect character. That form of\norganization is regarded among Zoologists as the more perfect in which\nthere is \u201ca greater number of organs specially devoted to particular\nfunctions.\u201d Now all the forms of animal life with which we are\nacquainted, may be reduced to two great divisions, the Vertebrate and\nthe Invertebrate,--the former having a _vertebral_ or spinal column,\nthe latter having none: and it is agreed in conformity with the notion\nset forth above, that the Vertebrate animals as a class exhibit a more\nperfect organization than the Invertebrate. Again, among the Vertebrate\nthemselves there is a gradation; the Reptiles are ranked higher than\nthe Fish, the Birds higher than the Reptiles, and the Mammalia higher\nagain than the Birds.\n\nAll this we learn from Zoologists, who have pursued their\ninvestigations without any reference whatever to the science of\nGeology. It is, therefore, not a little remarkable that we should\ndiscover this very order and gradation of animal life in the successive\ngroups of Stratified Rocks. All the Remains hitherto discovered in the\nearliest Geological Formations belong to Invertebrate animals, while\nthe Vertebrate, which appear for the first time in the latter part\nof the Silurian Period, are, from that age on, more and more fully\ndeveloped down to the present day, and now constitute, if not the most\nnumerous, at least the most important part of the animal creation.\nMoreover, it is to be observed that the Vertebrate animals do not all\nmake their appearance at once, but come in successively according to\nthe same scale of organic perfection,--the Fish appearing first, then\nthe Reptiles, then the Birds, and lastly the Mammalia. Even among\nthe Mammalia a well-defined order of progressive succession has been\nobserved, which finally culminates in the appearance of Man, the last\ncreated and the most perfect of animals.\n\n[Illustration: TABLE OF GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS,\n\nSHOWING THE FIRST APPEARANCE ON THE EARTH OF THE VARIOUS FORMS OF\nANIMAL LIFE.]\n\nThis remarkable succession of animal life in the history of the\nEarth\u2019s Crust will be more readily understood by means of the annexed\nTable. The remains of Invertebrate animals have been traced as far\nback as the Lower Laurentian Rocks. The Vertebrate first become\nmanifest in the Ludlow beds of the Upper Silurian; where they are\nrepresented by the bones of Fish, the lowest class belonging to the\nProvince of Vertebrates. Next in order come the Reptiles: the oldest\nknown Reptile having been found in the Coal Measures of Saarbr\u00fcck\nbetween Strasburg and Treves. The skeletons of Birds are rare in the\nStratified Rocks. It is supposed that their powers of flight have in\nall ages secured them, to great a extent, from being carried away by\nfloods, like other land animals, and buried in the sedimentary deposits\nof rivers and estuaries. Nevertheless their presence in the ancient\nworld is frequently attested by their footsteps, impressed originally\non the sandy beach, and still preserved now that the soft sand has\nbeen converted into solid rock. Such traces have been discovered in\ngreat abundance on the New Red Sandstone of the Connecticut River in\nAmerica; and afford the earliest evidence we possess in the records\nof Geology regarding the existence of the feathered tribe. This group\nof strata belongs to the lower Trias. In the higher beds of the same\nFormation we meet with the first relic of ancient Mammals. It was found\nnear Stuttgardt, in 1847, and belongs to the more imperfect form of\nMammalian life, the Non-Placental. Similar remains have been since\ndiscovered in the Upper Trias of Somersetshire. The Placental, or more\nperfect form of animal life in the same class, first appears in the\nEocene Formation: and the bones of Man, the highest of the Placental,\nare found for the first time in the upper deposits of the Post-Tertiary\nAge.\n\nLet it be remembered that we are here but stating the facts which have\nbeen hitherto brought to light by the researches of Geologists. It\nmay be, it is indeed most probable, that new discoveries will lead to\nnumerous modifications in our Table. There is no reason to suppose that\nGeologists have yet exhumed the earliest remains of Vertebrates or\nInvertebrates preserved in the Crust of the Earth: that Fish may not\nhereafter be traced back beyond the Silurian, or Reptiles beyond the\nCarboniferous Period: that Birds may not be found among the Primary\nRocks, and Placentals among the Secondary. But in a science which\ndepends mainly upon observation, it is better to register the facts\nwe have than to speculate idly about those we have not. And, having\nregistered them, we cannot fail to be struck with the succession of\nanimal life on the Earth, to which they seem to point. It is certainly\ndeserving of notice that, as far as the Organic Remains hitherto\ndiscovered may be taken as a guide, Invertebrates and Vertebrates,\nFish, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals, Non-Placentals and Placentals,\nfollow one another in the ascending series of Geological Formations\nexactly in the same order as they follow one another in the ascending\nscale of Zoological Classification.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd so Geologists go on ever searching out new phenomena, and grouping\nthem together into classes, until from particular facts they lead us\nto general truths. Then starting with these general truths as the\ngroundwork of their science, they proceed to sketch out the Natural\nHistory of our Globe from the remotest ages of the past down to\nthe present time. They first study the stratified deposits of each\nsucceeding age, and analyze the Fossil Remains embedded therein;\nafterward they make their inferences, and they compile their history.\nThey describe the forms, the character, the habits, of the plants\nand animals that flourished of old in this world of ours; they tell\nus where the deep sea rolled its waves in each succeeding age, and\nwhere the dry land appeared; they point out the Deltas of its ancient\nrivers, they measure the breadth of its Estuaries, they trace the\ncourse of its Glaciers, they mark the outlines of its Mountain chains.\nBut with these and such like speculations we are not here concerned.\nMany of them are open to controversy, and not a few are at this moment\nwarmly disputed among Geologists themselves: besides, whether true or\nfalse, they do not in any way affect the relations between Geology and\nRevealed Religion. We shall be quite content, and it is all that our\npresent scope demands, if we have made intelligible the general theory\nof Geological Chronology, and the kind of evidence on which it rests.\n\nBefore taking leave of this subject, however, we will venture to offer\nwhat seems to us an interesting illustration of the principles we\nhave been explaining in the last two chapters;--one that will help\nto confirm the conclusions for which we have been contending, and\nthat will also bring home to many minds the practical advantage to be\nderived from a thorough knowledge and just application of Geological\nscience. Perhaps, too, it may help to revive the flagging attention\nof our readers; for the subject of our illustration is _Coal, and the\nway to find it_. In this age of manufactories and steam-engines,--when\nthe atmosphere of great towns is heavy with smoke, and the quiet\nsolitude of the country is so rudely disturbed by the shrieking of the\nrailway-whistle and the snorting of the sooty locomotive,--this black,\ndirty mineral has acquired a value and importance, which may succeed\nin rousing even the practical money-making man to pay some heed to the\nlessons of science.\n\nCoal might have been produced in any Geological Period; and in point of\nfact, beds of coal have been discovered in many different Formations.\nBut in England, and in Western Europe generally, it has been found by\nlong experience that the Coal-beds of the Carboniferous Formation are\nmore abundant, and of better quality, than those of any other. Indeed\nthe beds of Coal that occur in other Formations are so thin, and of\nsuch inferior quality, that they cannot be worked with profit. It is\ntherefore of the highest importance in the search for Coal, before\ngoing to the enormous expense of sinking deep shafts, to discover\nwhether or no the rocks in which the search is to be made belong to\nthe Carboniferous Period. In this matter the more _practical man_ is\noften seriously at fault. Coal-bearing strata generally consist pretty\nlargely of dark-colored clay, black shales, and similar deposits. This\nis a fact which, as it strikes the eye, is perfectly familiar to all\nwho are engaged in the working of Coal mines. Hence it happens, not\nunfrequently, that the practical man, when he meets with strata of this\nkind, is apt at once to infer that Coal is near at hand. The Geologist,\non the contrary, knows well that such strata are not peculiar to the\nCarboniferous rocks, but are often found in other Formations in which\nthere is no Coal at all, or at least no Coal that will repay the\nexpense of working; and therefore he will pronounce it most rash to\nundertake costly works on the strength of these appearances. He has\nlearned, however, that there are certain species of animals and plants\nwhich are found in the Carboniferous rocks and in them alone; he will\nsearch for these in the strata which it is proposed to explore, and\nby their presence or their absence he will know whether the strata in\nquestion belong to the Carboniferous Formation or not.\n\nAgain, it will often happen that, in the midst of an extensive region\nwell known to abound in Coal, the rocks which appear at the surface in\none particular locality, are not wholly devoid of Coal, but exhibit no\nresemblance either in mineral character or in Fossil Remains to the\nCoal-bearing strata. A question then arises of the highest practical\nimportance. May it be that the Coal-bearing strata are spread out\nbeneath this uppermost bed of rocks? and is it worth the expense to\nsink a shaft through the one in the hope of reaching the other? The\npractical miner has no very clear or certain principles to help him\nin the solution of this problem; and thus it has often happened that\nthousands upon thousands of pounds have been expended in sinking shafts\nto look for Coal, where, as it afterward proved, there was not the\nslightest chance of finding it. Now, though Geology cannot tell if we\nshall succeed in finding Coal beneath these rocks, it _can_ tell if\nthere is a _good chance_ of succeeding. It can tell whether there is\na reasonable hope, by penetrating into the Crust of the Earth at this\nparticular spot, of reaching the Carboniferous Formation; and if we can\nreach the Carboniferous Formation in the midst of a Coal district, it\nis very likely we shall meet with beds of Coal.\n\nHis first object will be to ascertain what is the Formation to which\nthe superficial rocks belong. If it be a Formation earlier in date than\nthe Carboniferous,--the Silurian, for instance, or the Devonian,--he\nknows that it would be simply waste of money to look for Coal beneath\nthem; because the Carboniferous rocks cannot possibly be found\nunderneath the rocks of an earlier age. And so the Geologist can tell\nbeforehand what the mere practical man would find out only when he had\nspent his money. If, on the other hand, the rocks which appear at the\nsurface belong to a period later than the Carboniferous, the Geologist\nwill not always conclude that it is expedient to sink a shaft in\nsearch of Coal. For though the Carboniferous rocks may, in this case,\nbe underneath, they may be so far down in the Crust of the Earth that\nwe should have no chance of ever reaching them. Suppose, for example,\nthat the strata which appear at the surface belong to the Cretaceous\nFormation. He knows from his Chronological table that the Carboniferous\nage is separated from the Cretaceous by three intermediate\nPeriods,--the Permian, the Triassic, the Jurassic. Therefore, when he\nfinds the Cretaceous rocks at the surface in any locality, it is quite\npossible, though of course not certain, that before the Carboniferous\nFormation could be reached it would be necessary to bore through\nthousands of feet of Jurassic, Triassic, and Permian rocks. And even\nthen there would be no certainty of meeting with the Coal-bearing\nstrata. Perhaps they were never deposited over this area of the earth\u2019s\nsurface; or, if deposited, perhaps they were subsequently swept away\nby Denudation. Hence our Geologist would reasonably conclude that, the\nprobable expense of the search being so enormous, and the chance of\nsuccess so remote, it would be much wiser not to make the attempt.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nSUBTERRANEAN HEAT--ITS EXISTENCE DEMONSTRATED BY FACTS.\n\n    _Theory of stratified rocks supposes disturbances of the\n    earth\u2019s crust--These disturbances ascribed by geologists\n    to the action of subterranean heat--The existence of\n    subterranean heat, and its power to move the crust of the\n    earth, proved by direct evidence--Supposed igneous origin of\n    our globe--Remarkable increase of temperature as we descend\n    into the earth\u2019s crust--Hot springs--Artesian wells--Steam\n    issuing from crevices in the earth--The geysers of Iceland--A\n    glimpse at the subterranean fires--Mount Vesuvius in 1779--Vast\n    extent of volcanic action--Existence of subterranean heat an\n    established fact._\n\n\nIn developing the modern theory of Geology, we have all along assumed\nthat the Crust of the Earth has been subject to frequent disturbances\nfrom the earliest ages of the world. Again and again, in the course\nof our argument, we have talked of the bed of the sea being lifted\nup, and converted into dry land; and, on the other hand, of the dry\nland being submerged beneath the waters of the sea. We have not even\nhesitated to suppose that these two opposite movements of upheaval and\nsubmersion often took place by turns over the same area; nay, that\nthere is scarcely a region on the surface of the Globe which has not\nbeen several times submerged, and several times again upheaved.\n\nYet all this has not been taken for granted without proof. Our readers\nhave seen what a long array of sober reasoning may be drawn out to\nshow that the Stratified Rocks have been, for the most part, deposited\n_under water_:--first, from the nature and arrangement of the materials\nwhich compose them; secondly, from the character of the Organic Remains\nthey contain. And since they are now _above water_, it is plain that\neither they have been lifted or the ocean has subsided. Furthermore, if\nwe find, as we often do, two strata in immediate succession, the one\nunderneath, exhibiting the trees of an ancient forest still standing\nerect with their roots attached, the other above, abounding in the\nremains of aquatic animals; we must conclude that when the ancient\nforest flourished this portion of the Earth\u2019s Crust was above the\nlevel of the sea; that afterward it was submerged, and a new deposit,\nin which the marine remains were embedded, was spread out above the\nearlier vegetation; and that, last of all it again emerged from the\nwaters, and became once more dry land. Finally, when a vertical section\nof the Earth\u2019s Crust exhibits a continued series of such strata\nalternating with each other, it affords a proof that this particular\narea must have been several times under water, and several times again\ndry land, in the long course of ages.\n\nThese conclusions are now all but universally received among\nGeologists. The Crust of the Earth, we are assured, is not that\nunyielding and immovable mass which men commonly take it to be. On the\ncontrary, it has been from the beginning ever restless and in motion,\nrising here and subsiding there, sometimes with a convulsive shock\ncapable of upturning, twisting, distorting hard and stubborn rocks as\nif they were but flimsy layers of pliant clay; sometimes with a gentle,\nundulating movement, which, while it uplifts islands and continents,\nleaves the general aspect of the surface unchanged, the arrangement of\nthe strata undisturbed, and even the most tender Fossils unharmed.\nDisturbances of this kind have been going on in various parts of the\nworld even within the period of history; and they may be distinctly\ntraced to the action of subterranean Heat. In support of a theory so\nstartling and unexpected, Geologists appeal to the direct evidence of\nfacts: and we now propose to bring some of these facts under the notice\nof our readers.\n\nAt the outset, however, it is important to set forth clearly the\ndoctrine we hope to illustrate and confirm. With the origin of the\ninternal heat that prevails within the Crust of the Earth we have no\nconcern. This is still an unsettled point among Geologists themselves.\nSome conjecture that our Globe, when first launched into space, was\nin a state of igneous fusion; that is to say, that all the solid\nmatter of which it is composed was held in a molten condition by the\naction of intense heat; that, in course of time, as this heat passed\noff by radiation, the surface gradually cooled and grew hard; that\nan external shell of solid rock was thus formed, which has been ever\ngrowing thicker in proportion as the Earth has been growing cooler; and\nthat the actual condition of our planet is the result of this process\ncontinued down to the present day,--a fiery mass of seething mineral\nwithin, and a comparatively thin crust of consolidated rock without.\nOthers suppose that the internal heat of the Globe is developed by the\nagency of chemical changes constantly going on in the depths of the\nEarth; and others, again, look for a cause to the action of electricity\nand magnetism. But these and such like speculations are still under\ndiscussion, and not one of them can be regarded as anything more, at\nbest, than a satisfactory hypothesis. Anyhow, it is not about the\ncauses of internal heat that we are just now interested, but about\nthe fact of its existence, and the nature of its effects. Is it true\nthat an intense heat prevails very generally beneath the superficial\ncovering of the Globe? and is that heat capable of producing those\nstupendous changes which are ascribed to it in our theory of Geology?\nThese are the questions to which we mean to devote our chief attention.\n\nIt is a very significant fact, that _the deeper we penetrate into the\nCrust of the Earth, the hotter it is_. At first, no doubt, for a short\ndistance, the reverse is the case. When we begin to descend we find it\ncooler below than above, because the further we depart from the surface\nthe more we are removed from the influence of the Sun. But at a certain\npoint--in our climate at about fifty feet below the surface--the\ninfluence of the Sun\u2019s heat ceases to be sensibly felt. When this limit\nis passed, the temperature begins to rise, and thenceforth the deeper\nwe go the hotter the earth becomes.\n\nThis broad and general fact has been tested by experiments in every\npart of the world, and has been found true in all countries, in\nall climates, in all latitudes, whether in coal-pits, or mines, or\ndeep subterranean caves. \u201cIn one and the same mine,\u201d says Sir John\nHerschel,[89] \u201ceach particular depth has its own particular degree of\nheat, which never varies: but the lower always the hotter; and that\nnot by a trifling, but what may well be called an astonishingly rapid\nrate of increase,--about a degree of the thermometer additional warmth\nfor every ninety feet of additional depth,[90] which is about 58\u00b0 per\nmile!--so that, if we had a shaft sunk a mile deep, we should find in\nthe rock a heat of 105\u00b0, which is much hotter than the hottest summer\nday ever experienced in England.\u201d Now if the temperature continue\nto increase at this rate toward the centre of the Earth, it is quite\ncertain that, at no very great distance from the surface, the heat\nwould be sufficiently intense to reduce the hardest granite and the\nmost refractory metals to a state of igneous fusion.\n\nAgain, every one is familiar with the existence of hot springs,\nwhich come up from unknown depths in the Earth\u2019s Crust, and which,\nappearing as they do in almost all parts of the world, testify in\nunmistakable language to the existence of internal heat. At Bath,\nfor instance, in England, the water comes up from the bowels of the\nEarth, at a temperature of 117\u00b0 Fahrenheit; and in the United States,\non the Arkansas River, there is a spring at 180\u00b0--not much below the\nboiling point. This remarkable phenomenon, however, may be more closely\ninvestigated in the case of Artesian Wells, so called from the province\nof Artois, in France, where they first came into use. These wells are\nformed artificially, by boring down through the superficial strata of\nthe Earth, sometimes to enormous depths, until water is reached. It\nhas been found in every case that the water coming up from these great\ndepths is always hot; and, furthermore, that the deeper the boring the\nhotter the water. A well of this kind was sunk in 1834 at Grenelle, in\nthe suburbs of Paris, to a depth of more than 1800 English feet, and\nthe water, which rushed up with surprising force, had a temperature\nof 82\u00b0 Fahrenheit; whereas the mean temperature of the air in the\ncellars of the Paris Observatory is only 53\u00b0. The water has ever since\ncontinued to flow, and the temperature has never varied. At Salzwerth,\nin Germany, where the boring is still deeper, being 2,144 feet, the\nwater which rises to the surface is 91\u00b0 of our scale.\n\nThen we have, in many countries, jets of steam which issue at a high\ntemperature from crevices in the Earth, and which tell of the existence\nof heated water below, as plainly as the steam that escapes from the\nfunnel of a locomotive or from the spout of a tea-kettle. Phenomena of\nthis kind are very common in Italy, where they are sometimes exhibited\nat intervals along a line of country twenty miles in length. But in\nIceland it is that they are displayed in the highest degree of splendor\nand power. On the southwest side of that island, within a circuit of\ntwo miles, there are nearly a hundred hot springs called Geysers, from\nsome of which, at intervals, immense volumes of steam and boiling water\nare violently projected into the air. The Great Geyser is a natural\ntube, ten feet wide, descending into the Earth to a depth of seventy\nfeet, and opening out above into a broad basin, from fifty to sixty\nfeet in diameter. This basin, as well as the tube which connects it\nwith the interior of the Earth, is lined with a beautifully smooth\nand hard plaster of siliceous cement, and is generally filled to the\nbrim with water of a clear azure color, and a temperature little\nbelow boiling point. The ordinary condition of the spring is one of\ncomparative repose, the water rising slowly in the tube and trickling\nover the edge of the stony basin. But every few hours an eruption takes\nplace. Subterranean explosions are first heard, like the firing of\ndistant cannon; then a violent ebullition follows, clouds of steam are\ngiven out, and jets of boiling water are cast up into the air. After a\nlittle the disturbance ceases, and all is quiet again. Once a day, or\nthereabouts, these phenomena are exhibited on a scale of extraordinary\ngrandeur: the explosions which announce beforehand the approaching\ndisplay are more numerous and violent than usual; then such volumes of\nsteam rush forth as to obscure the atmosphere for half a mile around;\nand, finally, a vast column of water is projected to a height of from\none to two hundred feet, and continues for a quarter of an hour to play\nlike an artificial fountain. Geysers scarcely less grand and striking\nare to be seen in New Zealand, from which the water is thrown up at a\ntemperature 214\u00b0 Fahrenheit, or two degrees above boiling point.\n\nSuch are the evident symptoms of subterranean heat,--hot springs, jets\nof steam, fountains of boiling water,--which are manifested unceasingly\nat the surface of the Earth in every quarter of the Globe. But it is\nsometimes given us to behold, as it were, the subterranean fire itself,\nand to contemplate its power under a more striking and awful form. From\ntime to time, in the fury of its rage, the fiery element bursts asunder\nthe prison-house in which it is confined, and rushes forth into the\nlight of day; then flames are seen to issue from the surface of the\nEarth, yawning chasms begin to appear on every side, the roaring of\nthe furnaces is heard in the depths below, clouds of red-hot cinders\nare ejected high into the air, and streams of incandescent liquid rock\nare poured forth from every crevice, which, rolling far away through\nsmiling fields and peaceful villages, carry destruction and desolation\nin their track. These are the ordinary phenomena of an active volcano\nduring the period of eruption; and even while we write, most of them\nmay be witnessed actually taking place for the hundredth time, on the\nhistoric ground of Mount Vesuvius. Our typical example, however, we\nshall take from the eruption of that mountain in the year 1779. It\nwas not, indeed, especially remarkable for its violence or for the\ncatastrophes by which it was attended; but it had the good fortune\nto be accurately recorded by an eye-witness, Sir William Hamilton,\nwho, at that time, represented the English Government at the Court of\nNaples; and we are thus more minutely acquainted with all its various\ncircumstances than with those of any other eruption of equal importance.\n\nFor two years before, the mountain had been in a state of excitement\nand disturbance. From time to time rumbling noises were heard\nunderground, dense masses of smoke were emitted from the crater, liquid\nlava at a white heat bubbled up from crevices on the slopes of the\nmountain, and through these crevices a glimpse could be had here and\nthere of the rocky caverns within, all \u201cred-hot like a heated oven.\u201d\nBut in the month of August, 1779, the eruption reached its climax.\nAbout nine o\u2019clock in the evening of Sunday the eighth, according to\nthe graphic description of Sir William Hamilton, \u201cthere was a loud\nreport, which shook the houses at Portici and its neighborhood to\nsuch a degree as to alarm the inhabitants and drive them out into\nthe streets. Many windows were broken, and, as I have since seen,\nwalls cracked, from the concussion of the air from that explosion.\nIn one instant, a fountain of liquid transparent fire began to rise,\nand, gradually increasing, arrived at so amazing a height, as to\nstrike every one who beheld it with the most awful astonishment. I\nshall scarcely be credited when I assure you that, to the best of my\njudgment, the height of this stupendous column of fire could not be\nless than three times that of Vesuvius itself, which, you know, rises\nperpendicularly near 3,700 feet above the level of the sea. Puffs of\nsmoke, as black as can possibly be imagined, succeeded one another\nhastily, and accompanied the red-hot, transparent, and liquid lava,\ninterrupting its splendid brightness here and there by patches of\nthe darkest hue. Within these puffs of smoke, at the very moment of\ntheir emission from the crater, I could perceive a bright but pale\nelectrical light playing about in zigzag lines. The liquid lava, mixed\nwith scoriae and stones, after having mounted, I verily believe, at\nleast 10,000 feet, falling perpendicularly on Vesuvius, covered its\nwhole cone, and part of that of Somma, and the valley between them. The\nfalling matter being nearly as vivid and inflamed as that which was\ncontinually issuing fresh from the crater, formed with it a complete\nbody of fire, which could not be less than two miles and a half in\nbreadth, and of the extraordinary height above mentioned, casting a\nheat to the distance of at least six miles around it. The brushwood of\nthe mountain of Somma was soon in a flame, which, being of a different\ntint from the deep red of the matter thrown out from the Volcano,\nand from the silvery blue of the electrical fire, still added to the\ncontrast of this most extraordinary scene. After the column of fire\ncontinued in full force for nearly half an hour the eruption ceased at\nonce, and Vesuvius remained sullen and silent.\u201d[91]\n\nThe existence, then, of intense heat within the Crust of the Earth\nmay be regarded as an established fact where-ever an active Volcano\nappears at the surface. Now let us consider for a moment, the very\nextensive scale on which these fiery engines of Nature are distributed\nover the face of the Globe. First, on the great continent of America.\nThe whole chain of the Andes--that stupendous ridge of mountains which\nstretches along the western coast of South America, from Tierra del\nFuego on the south to the isthmus of Panama on the north--is studded\nover with Volcanos, most of which have been seen in active eruption\nwithin the last 300 years. Passing the narrow isthmus of Panama, this\nline of Volcanos may still be traced through Guatemala to Mexico, and\nthence northward even as far as the mouth of the Columbia River. Here\nis a vast volcanic region extending fully 6,000 miles in length, and\nspreading out its fiery arms, we know not how far, to the right and to\nthe left. At Quito, just on the Equator, a branch shoots off toward the\nnortheast, and, passing through New Granada and Venezuela, stretches\naway across the West India Islands, taking in St. Vincent, Dominica,\nGuadaloupe, and many others; while, in the opposite direction, it is\ncertain that the volcanic action extends westward, far away beneath the\nwaters of the Pacific, though we have no definite means of ascertaining\nwhere its influence ceases to be felt.\n\nAnother vast train of active Volcanos is that which skirts the eastern\nand southern coasts of Asia. Commencing on the shores of Northwestern\nAmerica, it passes through the Aleutian Islands to Kamtschatka; then,\nin a sort of undulating curve, it winds its course by the Kurile\nIslands, the Japanese group, the Philippines, and the northeastern\nextremity of the Celebes, to the Moluccas. At this point it divides\ninto two branches; one going in a southeasterly direction to New\nGuinea, the Solomon Islands, the Friendly Islands, and New Zealand; the\nother pursuing a northwesterly course through Java and Sumatra into the\nBay of Bengal.\n\nThere is a third great line of volcanic fires which has been pretty\nwell traced out by modern travellers, extending through China and\nTartary to the Caucasus; thence over the countries bordering the Black\nSea to the Grecian Archipelago; then on to Naples, Sicily, the Lipari\nIslands, the southern part of Spain and Portugal, and the Azores.\nBesides these there are numerous groups of Volcanos not apparently\nlinked on to any regular volcanic chain, nor reduced as yet by\nscientific men to any general system; Mount Hecla, for instance, in\nIceland, the Mountains of the Moon in Central Africa, Owhyhee in the\nSandwich Islands, and many others rising up irregularly from the broad\nwaters of the Pacific.\n\nFrom this brief outline some idea may be formed of the magnificent\nscale on which volcanic agency is developed within the Crust of the\nEarth. It must be remembered, however, that any estimate based upon\nthe enumeration we have given, would be, in all probability, far\nbelow the truth; for we have mentioned those Volcanos only which\nhave attracted the notice of scientific men, or which have chanced\nto fall under the observation of travellers. Many others, doubtless,\nmust exist in regions not yet explored, and in the profound depths\nof the seas and oceans, which cover nearly two-thirds of the area\nof our planet. Moreover, we have said nothing at all of _extinct_\nVolcanos--such as those of Auvergne in France, and of the Rocky\nMountains in America--which have not been in active operation within\nhistorical times; but in which, nevertheless, the hardened streams of\nlava, the volcanic ashes, and the cone-shaped mountains terminating in\nhollow craters, tell the story of eruptions in bygone ages, not less\nclearly than the blackened walls and charred timbers of some stately\nbuilding bear witness to the passing wayfarer of a long extinguished\nconflagration.\n\nWe contend, therefore, that the doctrine of intense subterranean heat\nis not a wild conjecture, but is based on a solid groundwork of facts.\nFirst, there is presumptive evidence. In every deep mine, in every deep\nsinking of whatever kind, the heat of the earth increases rapidly as we\ndescend. Hot water comes from great depths, and never cold. Sometimes\nit is boiling: sometimes it has been converted into steam. All this is\nfound to be the case universally, whenever an opportunity has occurred\nfor making the trial; and it seems to afford a strong presumption that\nif one could go still deeper, the heat would be found yet more intense,\nand would at length be capable of reducing to a liquid state the solid\nmaterials of which the earth is composed. Next, there is the direct\ntestimony of our senses. A channel is opened from the depths below,\nflames are seen, red-hot cinders are cast up, and molten rock is poured\nout over the surface of the Earth in a liquid stream of fire. This\nevidence, however, though direct and conclusive as far as it goes, is\nnot universal. It proves that an intense white heat prevails within the\nCrust of the Earth, not everywhere, but at least in those numerous and\nextensive regions where active Volcanos exist. So stands the case, as\nit seems to us, for the doctrine of subterranean heat as far as regards\nthe fact of its existence.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER XV._\n\nSUBTERRANEAN HEAT--ITS POWERS ILLUSTRATED BY VOLCANOS.\n\n    _Effects of subterranean heat in the present age of the\n    world--Vast accumulations of solid matter from the eruptions\n    of volcanos--Buried cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum--Curious\n    relics of Roman life--Monte Nuovo--Eruption of Jorullo in the\n    province of Mexico--Sumbawa in the Indian Archipelago--Volcanos\n    of Iceland--Mountain mass of Etna the product of volcanic\n    eruptions--Volcanic islands--In the Atlantic--In the\n    Mediterranean--Santorin in the Grecian Archipelago._\n\n\nHaving now sufficiently demonstrated the existence of intense\nsubterranean heat, diffused, if not universally, at least very\ngenerally, beneath the superficial shell of the Earth, we shall next\nproceed to inquire if it is capable of effecting those physical\nchanges which are ascribed to it in Geology;--of producing land where\nnone before existed, of upheaving the solid Crust of the Earth, of\ndriving the ocean from its bed, of dislocating and contorting solid\nmasses of rock. The argument is still an appeal to facts. Such effects\nas these have been produced by the agency of internal heat, under\nactual observation, in the present age of the world; and it is not\nunreasonable to attribute to the same cause similar phenomena in ages\ngone by.\n\nWe will not run the risk of dissipating the force of this reasoning\nby attempting to expand it. It will be enough for us to state the\nfacts: we shall leave it to our readers to estimate for themselves the\nvalue of the argument. There are three forms, more or less distinct,\nthough closely associated, under which the subterranean fires have\nexerted their power in modern times to disturb and modify the Physical\nGeography of the Globe;--(1) the Volcano, (2) the Earthquake, (3) the\ngentle Undulation of the Earth\u2019s Crust. Of these we shall speak in\norder.\n\nIn the case of Volcanos, as we have already sufficiently conveyed, the\nhidden furnaces of the Earth find a vent for their surplus energies;\nand when this vent is once established, that is to say, when the active\nVolcano has begun to exist, it seems probable that there is little\nfurther upheaval, properly so called, of the surface. Nevertheless,\nVolcanos contribute largely to the formation of land by the vast\naccumulation of ashes, mud, and lava, which they vomit forth. The\ndestruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii is a case in point. For eight\ndays successively, in the year 79, the ashes and pumice stone cast\nup from the crater of Vesuvius, fell down in one unceasing shower\nupon these devoted cities; while at the same time floods of water,\ncarrying along the fine dust and light cinders, swept down the sides\nof the mountain in resistless torrents of mud, entering the houses,\npenetrating into every nook and crevice, and filling even the very wine\njars in the underground cellars.\n\nAt the present moment the layers of volcanic matter beneath which\nPompeii has been slumbering for centuries, are from twelve to fourteen\nfeet over the tops of the houses. Loftier still is the pile that\noverlies the buried Herculaneum. This city, situated nearer to the base\nof the Volcano, has been exposed to the effects of many successive\neruptions; and accordingly, spread out over the mass of ashes and\npumice by which it was first overwhelmed, in the time of Pliny, we now\nfind alternate layers of lava and volcanic mud, together with fresh\naccumulations of ashes, to a height, in many places, of 112 feet, and\nnowhere less than 70. Nor was this ejected matter confined to these two\npopulous towns. It was scattered far and wide over the country around,\nand has contributed in no small degree to that extraordinary richness\nand fertility for which the soil of Naples is so justly famed.\n\nAs regards the production of land where none before existed, here is\none fact of singular significance. At the time of the eruption, in 79,\nPompeii was a seaport town to which merchantmen were wont to resort,\nand a flight of steps, which still remains, led down to the water\u2019s\nedge: it is now more than a mile distant from the coast, and the tract\nof land which intervenes is composed entirely of volcanic tuff and\nashes.\n\nGladly would we linger over the reminiscences of these luxurious and\nill-fated cities. By the removal of the ashes, Pompeii is now laid\nopen to view for at least one-third of its extent; and a strange\nsight it is, this ancient Roman city thus risen as it were from the\ngrave,--risen, but yet lifeless,--with its silent streets, and its\ntenantless houses, and its empty Forum. Wherever we turn we have before\nus a curious and interesting picture, ghastly though it is, of the\nsocial, political, and domestic life of those ancient times, of the\nglory and the shame that hung around the last days of Pagan Rome;--in\nthe theatres and the temples, in the shops and the private houses, in\nthe graceful frescoes, in the elaborate mosaics, and, not least, in\nthe idle scribblings on the walls, which, with a sort of whimsical\nreverence, have been spared by the destroying hand of Time. Then again,\nwhat a host of singular relics are there to be wondered at:--articles\nof domestic use and luxury, kitchen utensils and surgical instruments;\nfemale skeletons with the ornaments and vanities of the world, rings\nand bracelets and necklaces, still clinging to their charred remains;\nand strangest perhaps of all, eighty-four loaves of bread, which were\nput into the oven to bake 1800 years ago, and were taken out only\nyesterday, with the baker\u2019s brand upon them, and the stamp of the\nbaker\u2019s elbow still freshly preserved in the centre of each. No subject\ncould be more tempting to a writer, none more attractive to a reader.\nBut our present purpose is to show the effects of Volcanos in elevating\nthe level of the land; and so we must turn our back on the buried\ncities, and crossing the Bay of Naples, seek for a new illustration in\nthe formation of Monte Nuovo, a lofty hill overlooking the ancient town\nof Pozzuoli.\n\nAbout one o\u2019clock at night, on Sunday, the twenty-ninth of September,\n1538, flames were seen to issue from the ground close to the waters of\nthe beautiful bay of Baiae. After a little, a sound like thunder was\nheard, the earth was rent asunder, and through the rent large stones,\nred-hot cinders, volcanic mud and volumes of water, were furiously\nvomited forth, which covered the whole country around, reaching even\nas far as Naples, and disfiguring its palaces and public buildings.\nThe next morning it was found that a new mountain had been formed by\nthe accumulation of ejected matter around the central opening. This\nmountain remains to the present day, and is called the Monte Nuovo.\nIn form it is a regular volcanic cone, four hundred and forty feet\nhigh, and a mile and a half in circumference at its base, with an open\ncrater in the centre, which descends nearly to the level of the sea. An\neye-witness who has left us a minute account of this eruption, relates\nthat on the third day he went up with many people to the top of the new\nhill, and looking down into the crater, saw the stones that had fallen\nto the bottom, \u201cboiling up just as a caldron of water boils on the\nfire.\u201d The same writer informs us--and it is very much to our present\npurpose to note the fact--that immediately before the eruption began,\nthe relative position of land and sea was materially changed, the coast\nwas sensibly upraised, the waters retired about two hundred paces, and\nmultitudes of fish were raised high and dry upon the sand, a prey to\nthe inhabitants of Pozzuoli.[92]\n\nThe Monte Nuovo is but a type of its class. If we travel westward 8,000\nmiles from Naples to the more stupendous Volcanos of the New World,\nwe may witness the same phenomena on a still grander scale. In the\nprovince of Mexico, there is an elevated and extensive plain called\nMalpais, where for many generations the cotton plant, the indigo, and\nthe sugar-cane, flourished luxuriantly in a soil richly endowed with\nnatural gifts, and carefully cultivated by its industrious inhabitants.\nEverything was going on as usual in this smiling and prosperous region,\nand no one dreamed of danger, when suddenly, in the month of June,\n1759, subterranean sounds were heard, attended with slight convulsions\nof the earth. These symptoms of internal commotion continued until the\nmonth of September, when they gradually died away, and tranquillity\nseemed to be restored. But it was only the delusive lull that precedes\nthe fury of the storm. On the night of the twenty-eighth of September\nthe rumbling sounds were heard again more violent than before. The\ninhabitants fled in consternation to a neighboring mountain, from the\nsummit of which they looked back with wonder and dismay upon the utter\nannihilation of their homesteads and their farms. Flames broke out\nover an area half a square league in extent, the earth was burst open\nin many places, fragments of burning rock were thrown to prodigious\nheights in the air, torrents of boiling mud flowed over the plain, and\nthousands of little conical hills, called by the natives Hornitos or\nOvens, rose up from the surface of the land. Finally a vast chasm was\nopened, and such quantities of ashes and fragmentary lava were ejected\nas to raise up six great mountain masses, which continued to increase\nduring the five months that the eruption lasted. The least of these is\n300 feet high, and the central one, now called Jorullo, which is still\nburning, is 1600 feet above the level of the plain. When Baron Humboldt\nvisited this region just forty years after the eruption had ceased, the\nground was still intensely hot, and \u201cthe Hornitos were pouring forth\ncolumns of steam twenty or thirty feet high, with a rumbling noise like\nthat of a steam boiler.\u201d[93] Since that time, however, the face of the\ncountry has become once more smiling and prosperous; the slopes of the\nnewly-formed hills are now clothed with vegetation, and the sugar-cane\nand the indigo again flourish luxuriantly in the fertile plains below.\n\nOn the opposite side of the Globe, 10,000 miles from Mexico, we have\nhad, almost in our own time, an exhibition of volcanic phenomena not\nless wonderful than those we have been describing. The island of\nSumbawa lies about two hundred miles to the east of Java in the Indian\nArchipelago; and it belongs to that remarkable chain of Volcanos which\nwe have already described as stretching, with little interruption,\nalong the coast of Asia from Russian America to the Bay of Bengal. In\nthe year 1815, this island was the scene of a calamitous eruption, the\neffects of which were felt over the whole of the Molucca Islands and\nJava, as well as over a considerable portion of Celebes, Sumatra, and\nBorneo. Indeed, so extraordinary are the incidents of this eruption,\nthat we might well hesitate to believe them if they had not been\ncollected on the spot with more than ordinary diligence, and recorded\nwith an almost scrupulous care. Sir Stamford Raffles, who was at\nthe time governor of Java, then a British possession, required all\nthe residents in the various districts under his authority to send\nin a statement of the circumstances which occurred within their own\nknowledge; and from the accounts he received in this way, combined with\nother evidence, chiefly obtained from eye-witnesses, he drew up the\nnarrative to which we are mainly indebted for the following facts.\n\nThe explosions which accompanied this eruption were heard in Sumatra,\nat a distance of 970 geographical miles; and in the opposite direction\nat Ternate, a distance of 720 miles. In the neighborhood of the Volcano\nitself, immense tracts of land were covered with burning lava, towns\nand villages were overwhelmed, all kinds of vegetation completely\ndestroyed, and of 12,000 inhabitants in the province of Tomboro,\nonly twenty-six survived. The ashes, which were ejected in great\nquantities, were carried like a vast cloud through the air, by the\nsoutheast monsoon, for 300 miles in the direction of Java; and, still\nfarther to the west, we are told that they formed a floating mass in\nthe ocean two feet thick and several miles in extent, through which\nships with difficulty forced their way. It is recorded, too, that they\nfell so thick on the island of Tombock, 100 miles away, as to cover\nall the land two feet deep, destroying every particle of vegetation,\ninsomuch that 44,000 people perished of the famine that ensued. \u201cI have\nseen it computed,\u201d writes Sir John Herschel, \u201cthat the quantity of\nashes and lava vomited forth in this awful eruption would have formed\nthree mountains the size of Mont Blanc, the highest of the Alps; and\nif spread over the surface of Germany, would have covered the whole\nof it two feet deep.\u201d Finally, it appears that this eruption was\naccompanied, like that of Monte Nuovo, by a permanent change in the\nlevel of the adjoining coast; in this case, however, it was a movement,\nnot of upheaval, but of subsidence: the town of Tomboro sunk beneath\nthe ocean, which is now eighteen feet deep where there was dry land\nbefore.[94]\n\nOnce more we will ask our readers to take a rapid flight over the map\nof the world, passing, this time, from the Indian Archipelago to the\nisland of Iceland,--that \u201cwonderful land of frost and fire.\u201d Besides\nthe famous Volcano of Hecla, there are five others scarcely less\nformidable, all of which have been in active eruption within modern\ntimes. Of these the most celebrated is that of Skaptar Jokul. In the\nyear 1783, this Volcano poured forth two streams of lava, which, when\nhardened, formed together one continuous layer of igneous rock, ninety\nmiles in length, a hundred feet in height, and from seven to fifteen\nmiles in breadth. The phenomena which accompanied the eruption are\nthus vividly described by Sir John Herschel:--\u201cOn the tenth of May\ninnumerable fountains of fire were seen shooting up through the ice\nand snow which covered the mountain; and the principal river, called\nthe Skapta, after rolling down a flood of foul and poisonous water,\ndisappeared. Two days after, a torrent of lava poured down into the bed\nwhich the river had deserted. The river had run in a ravine 600 feet\ndeep and 200 broad. This the lava entirely filled; and not only so,\nbut it overflowed the surrounding country, and ran into a great lake,\nfrom which it instantly expelled the water in an explosion of steam.\nWhen the lake was fairly filled, the lava again overflowed and divided\ninto two streams, one of which covered some ancient lava fields; the\nother re-entered the bed of the Skapta lower down, and presented the\nastounding sight of a cataract of liquid fire pouring over what was\nformerly the waterfall of Stapafoss. This was the greatest eruption on\nrecord in Europe. It lasted in its violence till the end of August,\nand closed with a violent earthquake; but for nearly the whole year a\ncanopy of cinder-laden cloud hung over the island: the Faroe Islands,\nnay, even Shetland and the Orkneys, were deluged with ashes; and\nvolcanic dust and a preternatural smoke which obscured the sun, covered\nall Europe as far as the Alps, over which it could not rise. The\ndestruction of life in Iceland was frightful: 9,000 men, 11,000 cattle,\n28,000 horses, and 190,000 sheep perished; mostly by suffocation. The\nlava ejected has been computed to amount in volume to more than twenty\ncubic miles.\u201d[95]\n\nWith these very significant facts before us, it is hard to resist the\nconclusion that the great mountain mass of Etna, 11,000 feet high and\nninety miles in circumference, is formed entirely of volcanic matter\nejected during successive eruptions. For the whole mountain is nothing\nelse than a series of concentric conical layers of ashes and lava, such\nas have been poured out more than once upon its existing surface in\nmodern times. Just, then, as Monte Nuovo was produced by an outburst\nof volcanic power in a single night, and the far larger mountain of\nJorullo in the course of a few months, so may we believe that the more\nstupendous Etna is the work of the same power operating through a\nperiod of many centuries. And applying this conclusion to many other\nmountains throughout the world of exactly the same structure, we come\nto form no very mean estimate of the permanent changes wrought on the\nphysical geography of our Globe by the operations of volcanic agency.\n\nWe must remember, too, that volcanic eruptions are not confined to the\nland; they often break out in the bed of the sea. In such cases the\nwaters are observed in a state of violent commotion, jets of steam and\nsulphurous vapor are emitted, light scoriaceous matter appears floating\non the surface, and not unfrequently the volcanic cone itself slowly\nrises from the depths below, and continues to grow from day to day,\nuntil at length it becomes an island of no inconsiderable magnitude.\nSometimes when the violence of the eruption has subsided, the new\nisland, consisting chiefly of ashes and pumice-stone, is gradually\nwashed away by the action of the waves; but in the other cases, these\nlighter substances are compacted together by the injection of liquid\nlava, and being thus able to withstand the erosive power of the ocean,\nassume the importance of permanent volcanic islands. Many examples of\nthe former kind are recorded within the last hundred years. In 1783 an\nisland was thrown up in the North Atlantic Ocean, about thirty miles to\nthe southwest of Iceland. It was claimed by the King of Denmark, and\ncalled by him Ny\u00f6e or New Island; but before a year had elapsed, this\nportion of his Majesty\u2019s dominion disappeared again beneath the waves,\nand the sea resumed its ancient domain. A cone-shaped island of the\nsame kind, called Sabrina, three hundred feet high, with a crater in\nthe centre, appeared amongst the Azores in 1811, but was quickly washed\naway again.\n\nA more interesting example, because the circumstances are more minutely\nrecorded, is the island which made its appearance in the Mediterranean,\noff the southwest coast of Sicily, in the year 1831. During its brief\nexistence of three months, it received from contemporary writers seven\ndifferent names; but the name of Graham Island seems to be the one by\nwhich it is most likely to be known to posterity. \u201cAbout the tenth\nof July,\u201d writes Sir Charles Lyell, \u201cJohn Corrao, the captain of a\nSicilian vessel, reported that, as he passed near the place, he saw a\ncolumn of water like a waterspout, sixty feet high, and eight hundred\nyards in circumference, rising from the sea, and soon afterward a\ndense steam in its place, which ascended to the height of 1800 feet.\nThe same Corrao, on his return from Girgenti, on the eighteenth of\nJuly, found a small island, twelve feet high, with a crater in the\ncentre, ejecting volcanic matter and immense columns of vapor; the sea\naround being covered with floating cinders and dead fish. The scoriae\nwere of a chocolate color, and the water, which boiled in the circular\nbasin, was of a dingy red. The eruption continued with great violence\nto the end of the same month, at which time the island was visited by\nseveral persons, and amongst others by Captain Swinburne, R. N., and M.\nHoffman, the Prussian Geologist.\u201d[96] By the fourth of August the new\nisland is said to have attained a height of 200 feet, and to have been\nthree miles in circumference. Yet this was nothing more than the top of\nthe volcanic cone; for, a few years before, Captain W. H. Smyth, in his\nsurvey, had found a depth of 600 feet at this very spot; and therefore\nthe total height from the base of the mountain must have been 800\nfeet. From the beginning of August it began to melt away; and at the\ncommencement of the following year, nothing remained of Graham Island\nbut a dangerous shoal.\n\nBut even of the islands that occupy a prominent place on the map of\nthe world, there is not wanting evidence to show that a large number\nderive their origin from the action of volcanic power. Among these may\nbe mentioned many of the Molucca and Philippine groups, also several\nin the Grecian Archipelago, and not a few of the Azores and the\nCanaries,--in particular the lofty peak of Teneriffe, rising 12,000\nfeet above the level of the sea. In some cases, indeed, the actual\nprocess of their birth, and of their subsequent growth and development,\nhas been minutely observed. A remarkable example occurs among the\nAleutian Islands already referred to. In the year 1796 a column of\nsmoke was seen to issue from the sea; then a small black point appeared\nat the surface of the water; then flames broke out, and other volcanic\nphenomena were exhibited; then the small black point grew into an\nisland, and the island increased in size until it was at last several\nthousand feet high, and two or three miles in circumference. And such\nit remains to the present day.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 28.--Bird\u2019s-eye view of Santorin during the\nvolcanic eruption of February, 1866. (Lyell.)\n\n  _a._ Therasia.\n  _b._ The northern entrance, 1068 feet deep.\n  _c._ Thera.\n  _d._ Mount St. Elias, rising 1887 feet above the sea.\n  _e._ Aspronisi.\n  _f._ Little Kaimeni.\n  _g._ New Kaimeni.\n  _h._ Old Kaimeni.\n  _i._ Aphroessa.\n  _k._ George.]\n\nThe neighborhood of Santorin in the Grecian Archipelago has been noted\nfrom very remote times as the theatre of submarine eruptions. This\nisland, which is itself to all appearance the crater of a vast volcano,\nhas the form of a crescent, and, with the aid of two smaller islands\nwhich stretch across between the horns of the crescent, encloses an\nalmost circular bay. We learn from Pliny that in the year 186 before\nChrist, within this bay an island rose up which was called Hiera or\nthe Sacred island. It was twice enlarged during the Christian era, once\nin 726, and again in 1427, and still exists under the name of Palaia\nKaimeni, that is to say, the Old Burnt Island. In 1573 a second island\nmade its appearance, and received the name of the Little Burnt Island,\nMikra Kaimeni. In 1707 and 1709, a third island was thrown up, and was\ndistinguished from the other two as Nea Kaimeni, the New Burnt Island.\nLastly, in 1866 the hidden volcanic power again became active, and\ntwo new vents were formed, called respectively Aphroessa and George.\n\u201cAt the end of January,\u201d writes Sir Charles Lyell, \u201cthe sea had been\nobserved in a state of ebullition off the southwest coast, and part\nof the Channel between New and Old Kaimeni, marked seventy fathoms\nin the Admiralty chart, had become, on February the eleventh, only\ntwelve fathoms deep. According to M. Julius Schmidt, a gradual rising\nof the bottom went on until a small island made its appearance called\nafterward Aphroessa. It seems to have consisted of lava pressed upward\nand outward almost imperceptibly by steam, which was escaping at every\npore through the hissing scoriaceous crust. \u2018It could be seen,\u2019 says\nCommander Lindesay Brine, R. N., \u2018through the fissures in the cone\nthat the rocks within were red hot, but it was not till later that an\neruption began.\u2019 On February the eleventh the village of Vulcano on the\nsoutheast coast, where there had been a partial sinking of the ground,\nwas in great part overwhelmed by the materials cast out from a new vent\nwhich opened in that neighborhood, and to which the name of George was\ngiven, which finally, according to Schmidt, became about two hundred\nfeet high.\n\n\u201cCommander Brine having ascended on February the twenty-eighth, 1866,\nto the top of the crater of Nea Kaimeni, about three hundred and fifty\nfeet high, looked down upon the new vent then in full activity. The\nwhole of the cone was swaying with an undulating motion to the right\nand left, and appeared sometimes to swell to nearly double its size and\nheight, to throw out ridges like mountain spurs, till at last a broad\nchasm appeared across the top of the cone, accompanied by a tremendous\nroar of steam and the shooting up from the new crater, to the height of\nfrom fifty to a hundred feet, of tons of rock and ash mixed with smoke\nand steam. Some of these which fell on Mikra Kaimeni, at a distance of\nsix hundred yards from the crater, measured thirty cubic feet. This\neffort over, the ridges slowly subsided, the cone lowered and closed\nin, and then, after a few minutes of comparative silence, the struggle\nwould begin again with precisely similar sounds, action, and result.\nThreads of vapor escaping from the old crater of Nea Kaimeni proved\nthat there was a subterranean connection between the new and the old\nvents. Aphroessa, of which the cone was at length raised to a height\nof more than sixty feet, was united in August with the main island.\nThis was due in part at least to the upheaval of the bottom of the sea,\nwhich is now only seven fathoms deep in the channel dividing the New\nand Old Kaimenis, whereas in the Admiralty chart the soundings gave a\nhundred fathoms.\u201d[97]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER XVI._\n\nSUBTERRANEAN HEAT--ITS POWERS ILLUSTRATED BY EARTHQUAKES.\n\n    _Earthquakes and volcanos proceed from the same common\n    cause--Recent earthquakes in New Zealand--Vast tracts of\n    land permanently upraised--Earthquakes of Chili in the\n    present century--Crust of the Earth elevated--Earthquake of\n    Cutch in India, 1819--Remarkable instance of subsidence and\n    upheaval--Earthquake of Calabria, 1783--Earthquake of Lisbon,\n    1755--Great destruction of life and property--Earthquake\n    of Peru, August, 1868--General scene of ruin and\n    devastation--Great sea wave--A ship with all her crew carried a\n    quarter of a mile inland--Frequency of earthquakes._\n\n\nThe chief effect of volcanic eruptions on the Geological structure of\nour Globe consists in the accumulation of cinders and molten rock,\neither upon the Surface of the Earth, or in the crevices and caverns\nthat abound within its solid Crust. Sometimes, indeed, the operations\nof an active Volcano are accompanied by a movement of upheaval or\nof subsidence. Thus for instance, we have seen that a portion of\nthe Italian coast was elevated when Monte Nuovo was thrown up, that\nthe town of Tomboro was submerged on the occasion of the eruption\nof Sumbawa, and that the bottom of the sea was notably upheaved by\nthe last outbreak of the volcanic fires of Santorini. Nevertheless\nit appears to be generally the case that when the Crust of the\nEarth is once burst open, and a means of escape thus afforded to\nthe fiery agent below,--in other words, when the active volcano is\nestablished,--the process of upheaval gives place to that of eruption.\nBut when, as is often the case, no such safety-valve is offered to the\nsurplus energies of the subterranean fires, then the giant power of\nheat, in its struggle to escape, shakes the foundation of the hills,\nand uplifts the superincumbent mass of solid rocks.\n\nThis theory which ascribes the phenomena of Earthquakes and Volcanos\nto the same common cause, acting under different circumstances, is\nnow almost universally adopted by Geologists; and it may be briefly\nenforced by the following considerations. First, though Earthquakes\nhave sometimes occurred far away from any known volcanic region,\nyet they are more frequent in the neighborhood of active or extinct\nVolcanos. Secondly, almost all volcanic eruptions are preceded by\nEarthquakes; and the Earthquakes generally cease, or, at least become\nless violent, when the subterranean fire breaks out in the form of a\nVolcano. And, Thirdly, it is plain that the condensed steam which is\ngenerated by internal heat, and the expansive power of the heat itself,\nmust, of necessity, when pent up in the caverns of the Earth, tend to\nproduce those very phenomena by which Earthquakes are distinguished.\n\nLet it be observed, however, that while we explain the phenomena in\nquestion by the agency of subterranean heat, this doctrine is by no\nmeans necessary for the main purpose of our present argument. Whatever\nmay be the cause from which the Earthquake shock proceeds, it is\nenough for us to show that the Crust of the Earth has been from time\nto time upraised, and dislocated, and rent asunder in modern times,\njust as it is supposed in Geological theory, to have been upraised, and\ndislocated, and rent asunder from time to time in by-gone ages. We will\nset down a few out of the many examples observed and recorded during\nthe last hundred and twenty years.\n\nWhen the English colonists settled in New Zealand, about fifty years\nago, they were told by the natives that they might expect a great\nEarthquake every seven years. This alarming prediction has not been\nliterally fulfilled; but it is fully admitted that the total number of\nsuch disturbances within the last half century has not fallen short of\nwhat it should have been according to the above estimate. During the\nyears 1826 and 1827 several shocks were felt in the neighborhood of\nCook Strait, after which it was observed that the sea-shore had been\nuplifted on the north side of Dusky Bay. So transformed was the outline\nof the coast that its former features could no longer be recognized;\nand a small cove called the Jail, which had previously afforded a\ncommodious harbor to vessels, engaged in seal fishing, was completely\ndried up.\n\nBut the most memorable convulsion took place on the night of January\nthe twenty-third, 1855. A tract of land, about as large as Yorkshire,\non the southwest coast of the North Island, was permanently upraised\nfrom one to nine feet. The harbor of Port Nicholson, together with\nthe valley of the Hutt, was elevated four to five feet; and a sunken\nrock, regarded before as dangerous to navigators, has remained since\nthe Earthquake three feet above the level of the water. The shock was\nfelt by ships at sea a hundred and fifty miles from the coast; and it\nis estimated that the whole area affected was not less than three times\nthe extent of the British Islands.\n\nThe whole coast of Chili has been subject to great disturbances and\nchanges of level during the present century. In November, 1837, the\ntown of Valdivia was destroyed by an Earthquake, and at the same\nmoment, a whaling vessel, a short distance out at sea, was violently\nshaken, and lost her masts. The bottom of the sea was afterward\nfound to have been raised in some places more than eight feet; and\nseveral rocks appeared high above the water which had previously\nbeen covered at all times by the sea. Two years before, in 1835, the\ntown of Conception and several others were reduced to ruins by a like\nvisitation. After the first great convulsion the Earth remained for\nmany days in a state of commotion. More than three hundred lesser\nshocks were counted from the twentieth of February to the fourth of\nMarch. On this occasion, too, the bed of the sea was upheaved; and the\nwhole island of Santa Maria, seven miles in length, was lifted up from\neight to ten feet above its former level.\n\nThe Earthquake of 1822 was more violent, perhaps, and more striking in\nits effects, than either of those just mentioned. On the nineteenth of\nNovember in that year a sudden convulsive shock was simultaneously felt\nover a space 1200 miles in length. At Valparaiso, and on either side\nfor a considerable distance, the coast was permanently upheaved. When\nMrs. Graham, who was then living on the spot, and who has left us an\naccount of the Earthquake, went down to the shore on the following day,\nshe \u201cfound the ancient bed of the sea laid bare and dry, with beds of\noysters, mussels, and other shells adhering to the rocks on which they\ngrew, the fish being all dead, and exhaling most offensive effluvia.\u201d\nSome idea may be formed of the gigantic power here in operation, when\nit is remembered that to uplift the coast of Chili, it was necessary\nto move the mighty chain of the Andes, and, amongst the rest, the\ncolossal mass of Aconcagua, 24,000 feet in height. How far this process\nof upheaval extended out to sea, beneath the bed of the ocean, has not\nbeen accurately ascertained: but certain it is that, for a considerable\ndistance, the soundings were found to be shallower than before the\nEarthquake. It is roughly estimated that the Crust of the Earth was\nelevated over an extent of 100,000 square miles, or about half the area\nof France.\n\nOn the western coast of India, near the mouth of the river Indus, is\nthe well-known district of Cutch. In the month of June, 1819, this\nextensive territory, not less than half the size of Ireland, was\nviolently shaken by an Earthquake, several hundred people were killed,\nand many towns and villages were laid in ruins. The shocks continued\nfor some days, and ceased only when the outburst of a Volcano seemed to\nopen a vent for the troubled spirit within. But what is particularly\nworthy of note is that when the Earthquake had passed away, a permanent\nchange was found to have been effected in the level of the surrounding\ncountry. The town and fort of Sindree, situated on the eastern arm of\nthe Indus, together with a tract of land 2,000 square miles in extent,\nwere submerged beneath the waters. The principal buildings, however,\nstill remained standing, with their upper parts above the surface; and\nmany of the inhabitants, who had taken refuge in one of the towers\nattached to the fort, were saved in boats when the Earthquake had\nceased. On the other hand, within five miles and a half of this very\nspot, the level surface of the Earth was upheaved, so as to form a long\nelevated bank, fifty miles in length and sixteen in breadth, which\nhas been called the Ullah Bund, or the Mound of God. Nine years after\nthis event, Sir Alexander Burnes went out in a boat to the ruins of\nSindree, and standing on the summit of the tower, which still rose two\nor three feet above the surface of the water, he could see nothing\naround him but a wide expanse of sea, save where a blue streak of land\non the edge of the horizon marked the outline of the Ullah Bund. Here\nwas a striking illustration, on a small scale, of those changes which\nGeologists suppose to have been going on since the world first began;\nthe dry land had been converted into the bed of the sea, and the level\nplain had been elevated into a mountain ridge.\n\nToward the close of the last century the province of Calabria, in\nSouthern Italy, was the scene of an Earthquake which offers a very\napposite illustration of our present argument. This celebrated\nconvulsion is not, however, chiefly remarkable for its violence, or\nfor its duration, or for the extent of the territory moved. In all\nthese respects it has been surpassed by many Earthquakes, experienced\nin other countries, within the last hundred and fifty years. But the\nCalabrian Earthquake has an especial claim on our attention, mainly\nfrom this unusual circumstance, that the region of disturbance was\nvisited, as Sir Charles Lyell tells us, \u201cboth during and after the\nconvulsions, by men possessing sufficient leisure, zeal, and scientific\ninformation, to enable them to collect and describe with accuracy such\nphysical facts as throw light on geological questions.\u201d\n\nThe shocks were first felt in February, 1783, and continued for nearly\nfour years. Over a very considerable area of country all the common\nlandmarks were removed, large tracts of land were forced bodily down\nthe slopes of mountains; and vineyards, orchards, and cornfields were\ntransported from one site to another; insomuch that disputes afterward\narose as to who was the rightful owner of the property that had thus\nshifted its position. Two farms near Mileto, occupying an extent of\ncountry a mile long and half a mile broad, were actually removed for\na mile down the valley; and \u201ca thatched cottage, together with large\nolive and mulberry trees, most of which remained erect, was carried\nuninjured to this extraordinary distance.\u201d In other places the surface\nof the Earth heaved like the billows of a troubled sea; many houses\nwere lifted up above the common level, while others subsided below it.\nAgain and again the solid Crust of the Earth was rent asunder, and\nchasms, gorges, ravines, of various depths, were suddenly produced,\nin less time than it takes to tell it. Sometimes when the strain was\nremoved, the yawning gulf as quickly closed again, and then houses,\ncattle, and men were swallowed up in the abyss, leaving not a trace\nbehind. It has even been recorded--strange though it may seem--that\nwhen two shocks rapidly followed one another at the same spot, the\npeople engulphed by the first, were again cast forth by the second,\nbeing literally disgorged alive from the jaws of death. About 40,000\npersons perished in this dreadful visitation, the greater number being\ncrushed to death beneath the ruins of the towns and villages, others\nswallowed up in the yawning fissures as they fled across the open\ncountry, and others again burned in the conflagrations which almost\nalways followed the shocks of Earthquake.\n\nEveryone has heard of the famous Earthquake of Lisbon. It is chiefly\nmemorable for the extreme suddenness of the shock, for the immense\nextent of the area affected, and for the amount of havoc and\ndestruction done. On the morning of the fatal day--it was the first\nof November, 1755--the sun rose bright and cheerful over the devoted\ncity, no symptom of impending danger was visible in the sky above or\non the Earth below, and the gay-hearted people were pursuing their\naccustomed rounds of pleasure or business, when, suddenly, at twenty\nminutes before ten o\u2019clock, a sound like thunder was heard underground,\nthe Earth was violently shaken, and in another moment, the greater part\nof the city was lying in ruins. Within the brief space of six minutes,\n60,000 people were crushed to death. The mountains in the vicinity\nof the town were cleft asunder. The waters of the sea first retired\nfrom the land, and then rolled back in a huge mountain-like wave fifty\nfeet above the level of the highest tide. A new quay, built entirely\nof marble, had offered a temporary place of refuge to the terrified\ninhabitants as they fled from the tumbling ruins of the city. Three\nthousand people are said to have been collected upon it, when, all\nat once, it sunk beneath the waves, and not a fragment of the solid\nmasonry, not a vestige of its living freight, was ever seen again. The\nbottom of the sea where the quay then stood is now a hundred fathoms\ndeep.\n\nFrom Lisbon as a centre the shock of this Earthquake radiated over an\narea not less than four times the extent of Europe. Like a great wave\nit rolled northward, at the rate of twenty miles a minute, upheaving\nthe Earth as it moved along, to the coasts of the Baltic Sea and the\nGerman Ocean. The waters of Loch Lomond, in Scotland, were violently\ndisturbed from beneath, and at Kinsale, in Ireland, the sea rushed\nimpetuously into the harbor without a breath of wind, and mounting over\nthe quay, flooded the market-place. Eastward the convulsion was felt as\nfar as the Alps, and westward it extended to the West India Islands,\nand even to the great lakes of Canada. On the north coast of Africa the\ndisturbance was as violent as in Spain and Portugal; and it is recorded\nthat at a distance of eight leagues from Morocco, the earth opened and\nswallowed up a considerable town with its inhabitants, to the number of\neight or ten thousand people.\n\nEven on the high seas the shock was felt no less distinctly than on\ndry land. \u201cOff St. Lucar,\u201d says Sir Charles Lyell, \u201cthe captain of the\nship Nancy felt his vessel so violently shaken, that he thought she\nhad struck the ground, but, on heaving the lead, found a great depth\nof water. Captain Clark, from Denia, in latitude 36\u00b0 24\u00b4 N., between\nnine and ten in the morning, had his ship shaken and strained as if she\nhad struck upon a rock, so that the seams of the deck opened, and the\ncompass was overturned in the binnacle. Another ship, forty leagues\nwest of St. Vincent, experienced so violent a concussion, that the men\nwere thrown a foot and a half perpendicularly up from the deck.\u201d It\nis worthy of note that this, the most destructive Earthquake recorded\nin history, was not attended with any volcanic eruption; which goes\nto confirm our theory that the active Volcano serves as a kind of\nsafety-valve for the escape of the struggling powers confined within\nthe Crust of the Earth.[98]\n\nWe must not bring our notice of Earthquakes to an end without at least\nsome brief account of one which has startled the world even since we\nbegan to put together the materials of this Volume. On the Western\nCoast of South America there is a long, narrow strip of land, lying\nbetween the lofty crests of the Andes and the shores of the Pacific\nOcean, which from the earliest times has been the familiar home of\nEarthquakes. Toward evening on the thirteenth of August, 1868, this\nfated region was the scene of a convulsion the most appalling and\ndestructive that has been recorded within the present century. The\ndisturbance was felt in its extreme violence for a distance of 1500\nmiles along the coast; from Ibarra one degree north of the Equator\nto Iquique more than twenty degrees south. In ten minutes from the\nfirst shock, 20,000 people perished, and a vast amount of property,\nroughly estimated at sixty millions sterling, was utterly destroyed.\nMany thriving towns--Iquique, Mexillones, Pisagua, Arica, Ylo, Chala,\nand others--were levelled to the ground. Even the very ruins were not\nspared. The sea rushed in when the Earthquake shock had ceased, and\ncarried everything before it in one universal wreck: so that in some\ncases not a vestige remained behind to tell the dismayed survivors\nwhere their homesteads once had stood. It might be fancied perhaps\nthat the cities seated aloft in the security of the Eternal Hills were\nbeyond the reach of the convulsion that shook the plain below. But no:\nArequipa, far up on the slopes of the western Cordillera, and Pasco,\nthe highest city in the world, situated on a level with the snowy\nsummit of the Jungfrau, were shattered into fragments with the same\nviolence as the cities of the coast.\n\nThe various incidents recorded by the survivors are full of fearful\ninterest. At Iquique, according to one account, about five o\u2019clock in\nthe evening of the thirteenth of August, a rumbling noise was heard,\nthen the earth shook violently for some minutes, then the sea, with\na great moan, retired from the shore, and rearing itself up into a\ntremendous wave, rushed back upon the land and swept away the town.\n\u201cI saw,\u201d says one writer, \u201cthe whole surface of the sea rise as if a\nmountain side, actually standing up. Another shock, accompanied with\na fearful roar, now took place. I called to my companions to run for\ntheir lives on to the Pampa. Too late! With a horrid crash the sea was\non us, and at one sweep--one terrible sweep--dashed what was Iquique on\nto the Pampa. I lost my companions, and in an instant was fighting with\nthe dark water. The mighty wave surged and roared and leaped. The cries\nof human beings and animals were dreadful. A mass of wreck covered me\nand kept me down, and I was fast drowning when the sea threw me on to\na beam, but a nail piercing my coat, the timber rolled me again under,\nand I lost all sense. I suppose, as in all such cases, I must have\nstruggled after sensation had left me, for when returning consciousness\ncame I was grasping under one arm a large plank. Looking round, all was\nwreck and desolation. In a moment I was by a returning wave swept into\nthe bay, and meeting a mass of broken timber, I was struck a fearful\nblow on the chin, and the broken end of the plank passed through my\nthigh. I knew no more until I found myself on the Pampa, and all dark\naround me. I was without trousers, coat, shoes, or hat. Trying to\ncollect myself, I thought of another wave, and crawled away to the\nmountain side, scooped a hole in the ground, and got in; here, wet and\nshivering, I spent the night. My wound bled freely. In the morning\nI looked out and found Iquique gone, all but a few houses round the\nchurch.\u201d\n\nA good deal of shipping was lying in the bay of Arica. When the waters\nfirst receded the vessels were all carried out to sea, chains, cables,\nand anchors snapping asunder like packthread. A moment, afterward they\nwere borne back irresistibly by the returning wave, and dashed to\npieces on the coast. One more fortunate than the rest, the Wateree, a\nvessel of war belonging to the United States Government, was caught up\non the crest of the wave, and with the loss of only one man, was landed\nhigh and dry among the sand-hills a quarter of a mile from the shore.\n\nBefore the Earthquake, Arequipa was a prosperous town of 30,000\ninhabitants. It enjoyed a considerable trade, and, in importance as\nwell as size, it was regarded as the third city of Peru, being inferior\nonly to Lima and Cuzco. The houses were constructed with especial\nregard to security against the shock of Earthquakes. They were but\none story high, built of solid stone, and massive to an extraordinary\ndegree. But these precautions, though the fruit of long experience,\nwere all of no avail. At Sunset on the fatal thirteenth of August the\npopulous and thriving city of Arequipa was little better than a heap of\nruins. \u201cNot a church is left standing,\u201d writes an eye-witness, \u201cnot a\nhouse habitable. The shock commenced at twenty minutes past five in the\nafternoon, and lasted six or seven minutes. The houses being solidly\nbuilt and of one story, resisted for one minute, which gave the people\ntime to rush into the middle of the streets, so that the mortality,\nalthough considerable, is not so great as might have been expected. If\nthe Earthquake had occurred at night, few indeed would have been left\nto tell the story. As it is, the prisoners in the public prison, and\nthe sick in the hospital, have perished. The Earthquake commenced with\nan undulating movement, and as the shock culminated, no one could keep\nhis feet: the houses rocked as a ship in the trough of the sea, and\ncame crumbling down. The shrieks of the women, the crash of falling\nmasonry, the upheaving of the earth, and the clouds of blinding dust,\nmade up a scene that cannot be described. We had nineteen minor shocks\nthe same night, and the earth still continues in motion. Nothing has as\nyet been done toward disinterring the dead; but I do not think any are\nburied alive, as certain death must have been the fate of all those who\nwere not able to get into the street. The earth has opened in all the\nplains around, and water has appeared in various places.\u201d[99]\n\nThese are a few typical examples of the more violent convulsions by\nwhich the Crust of the Earth has been disturbed within little more\nthan a century; and they leave no doubt as to the kind of changes\nwhich may fairly be ascribed to similar agency in the past history of\nthe Globe. Nor must it be supposed that, because our examples are few\nin number, the Earthquake is itself a rare and exceptional event. On\nthe contrary, the state of partial disturbance and convulsion would\nseem to be the natural and ordinary condition of our planet. From the\ninteresting Catalogue drawn up by Mr. Mallet, it appears that, in our\nown times, the number of Earthquakes actually observed and recorded\nis, on an average, not less than from two to three every week. Now\nthis catalogue cannot represent more than one-third of the Globe: for\nthe disturbances which take place in the profound depths of the ocean\nmust for the most part escape observation, and many parts even of the\ninhabited Earth are still beyond the reach of scientific researches.\nIt is, therefore, quite a reasonable speculation of Sir Charles\nLyell, that \u201cscarcely a day passes without one or more shocks being\nexperienced in some part of the Globe.\u201d\n\nMoreover, in Mr. Mallet\u2019s Catalogue no account is taken of those minor\nvibrations or tremblings of the Earth\u2019s Crust, which are not attended\nby any striking or noteworthy event. And yet such phenomena, when\noften repeated, may produce a very important change of level, and\nare far more frequent than most persons would be likely to suppose.\nIn our quiet region of the Globe people are too apt to take for\ngranted the general stability of the Earth: but in other countries\nthe inhabitants, warned by long experience, are no less deeply\nimpressed with a conviction of its instability. Sir John Herschel says\nthat, in the volcanic regions of Central and Southern America, \u201cthe\ninhabitants no more think of counting Earthquake shocks, than we do of\ncounting showers of rain:\u201d nay, he adds that, \u201cin some places along\nthe coast a shower is a greater variety.\u201d And in Sicily, we are told\nthey make provision against movements of the Earth\u2019s Crust, just as\nwe make provision against lightning and storms; so much so that it\nis quite a common thing for architects to advertise their houses as\nEarth-quake-proof.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER XVII._\n\nSUBTERRANEAN HEAT--ITS POWERS ILLUSTRATED BY UNDULATIONS OF THE EARTH\u2019S\nCRUST.\n\n    _Gentle movements of the Earth\u2019s Crust within historic\n    times--Roman roads and temples submerged in the bay of\n    Bai\u00e6--Temple of Jupiter Serapis--Singular condition\n    of its columns--Proof of subsidence and subsequent\n    upheaval--Indications of a second subsidence now\n    actually taking place--Gradual upheaval of the coast of\n    Sweden--Summary of the evidence adduced to establish this\n    fact--Subsidence of the Earth\u2019s Crust on the west coast of\n    Greenland--Recapitulation._\n\n\nSO far we have spoken of the disturbance of the Earth\u2019s Crust in\nmodern times by sudden and violent convulsions. But there are many\nphenomena with which the Geologist is familiar, that cannot be fairly\naccounted for unless by supposing that the surface of the Earth was\noften elevated and depressed in ancient times, without any sudden\nshock, by a slow and almost insensible movement. And, accordingly,\ngentle undulations of this kind enter largely into that general theory\nof Geology which we have been attempting to draw out and illustrate.\nIt may be asked, therefore, if we are able to support this part of our\nsystem by examples of similar phenomena occurring within the period\nof history. In reply, we shall endeavor to set forth, as briefly as\nwe can, some of the evidence which has recently come to light on\nthis subject, and which seems to us not less conclusive than it is\ninteresting and unexpected.\n\nIn the bay of Bai\u00e6, to the west of Naples, two ancient Roman roads may\nbe distinctly traced, at the present day, for a considerable distance,\npermanently submerged beneath the waters. There are, also, in the same\nneighborhood, the ruins of the temple of Neptune and of the temple of\nthe Nymphs, both likewise submerged. \u201cThe columns of the former edifice\nstand erect in five feet of water, the upper portions just rising\nto the surface;[100] the pedestals are supposed to be buried in the\nmud below.\u201d Again, on the opposite side of Naples, near Sorrento, \u201ca\nroad with fragments of Roman buildings, is covered to some depth by\nthe sea;\u201d[101] and in the island of Capri, at the opening of the bay\nof Naples, one of the palaces of Tiberius is also under water. Here,\ntherefore, it is clear that the Crust of the Earth has subsided over\na very considerable area; since what is now the bed of the sea, was\nin the days of the Romans dry land, traversed by roads, and dotted\nover with buildings. That the subsidence was slow and gradual may be\ninferred, partly from the absence of any record or tradition of a\nsudden convulsion producing such a change, and partly, too, from the\nunshaken and undisturbed condition of the monuments themselves.\n\nBut while this conclusion falls in most happily with our present\nargument, it would seem on further examination to bring with it a very\nserious difficulty. For, while those ancient monuments testify that\nthe Crust of the Earth in this locality has _subsided_, the structure\nof the sea-coast, interpreted according to Geological principles,\nwould indicate, on the contrary, that the Crust of the Earth has\nbeen _upheaved_. Close to the sea, at the present day, on the bay of\nBai\u00e6, there is a low, level tract of fertile land, and at a little\ndistance inland, a lofty range of precipitous cliffs, eighty feet high,\nparallel to the line of the coast. This fertile tract, lying between\nthe sea-beach and the perpendicular cliffs, is about twenty feet\nabove the sea level, and is composed of regularly stratified deposits\nabounding in marine shells of recent species, together with works of\nhuman art, such as tiles, squares of mosaic pavement, fragments of\nbricks, and sculptured ornaments. Upon these facts a Geologist would\npronounce without hesitation:--First, that at some period since the\ndistrict around Naples was first inhabited by man, the waters of the\nsea washed the base of the perpendicular cliffs; secondly, that the\nstrata in which we now find the recent marine shells, and the remains\nof man\u2019s workmanship, were formed during that period by the process\nof deposition at the bottom of the sea; and thirdly, that at some\nsubsequent time, by an upheaval of the Earth\u2019s Crust, these strata were\nlifted up so as to form a pretty considerable area of dry land, fit for\nagriculture and the arts of life.\n\nDoes it not seem, therefore, that we have here a direct contradiction\nbetween the evidence of ancient Roman buildings and the inferences of\nmodern Geology? Doubtless, they both agree in the main point about\nwhich we are concerned just now, that the Crust of the Earth has\nbeen moved in recent times on the shores of the bay of Naples; but\naccording to the testimony of the Roman temples, now covered by water,\nthis movement has been one of _subsidence_, while, according to the\ninferences of Geological theory, it has been one of _upheaval_. This\napparent contradiction seems to call for some elucidation.\n\nIf we were left in this matter to mere conjecture, we might offer\nthe following hypothesis as a fair and reasonable solution. We might\nsuppose that since the days of the Roman Empire, there have been _two\nsuccessive movements_ of the Earth\u2019s Crust in the neighborhood of\nNaples; first, a movement of subsidence, by which the ancient temples\nand roads were submerged to a considerable depth beneath the sea;\nafterward, a movement of upheaval, by which the marine strata were\nlifted up. If this second movement were exactly equal to the first,\nit is plain that the ancient roads and buildings would have been just\nrestored to their former level. But let us suppose that the amount of\nupheaval was something less than the amount of previous subsidence,\nand we should have these roads and buildings still submerged, as they\nare in point of fact, in a few feet of water. By such an hypothesis,\ntherefore, the two classes of phenomena might be brought into perfect\nharmony.\n\nBut we are not obliged to take refuge in hypothesis: for it is now\ndistinctly proved by a very curious kind of evidence, that the Crust of\nthe Earth in and about the bay of Bai\u00e6, has been successively depressed\nand upraised since the third century of the Christian era; nay more,\nthat the subsidence in the first case was greater than the subsequent\nupheaval. Near Pozzuoli, on the level tract of land which, as we\nhave said, intervenes between the sea and the lofty range of inland\ncliffs, are to be seen at the present day the ruins of a splendid\nRoman edifice, usually called the temple of Jupiter Serapis, though,\naccording to some writers, it was not a temple at all, but a public\nestablishment for baths. These ruins first attracted attention about\nthe middle of the last century. Three magnificent marble columns were\nstill standing erect, with their lower parts buried in the stratified\ndeposits already described, and their upper portions, which projected\nabove the surface of the land, partly concealed by bushes. When the\nsoil was removed the original plan of the building could be distinctly\ntraced. \u201cIt was of a quadrangular form, seventy feet in diameter, and\nthe roof had been supported by forty-six noble columns, twenty-four\nof granite and the rest of marble.\u201d Many of the pillars have been\nshattered in the course of time, and lie strewn in fragments on the\npavements. The three which are still standing erect, are upward of\nforty feet in height, each carved out of a solid block of marble; and,\nwhat is chiefly to our purpose, they exhibit, curiously inscribed on\ntheir surface, memorials of the physical changes in which they have\nborne a part.\n\nThe base of these lofty columns is, at present, slightly below the\nlevel of the sea. Their outer surface is smooth for about twelve\nfeet above the pedestals; then, for the next nine feet the marble is\neverywhere bored by a well-known species of mussel, which it is certain\ncan live only in the sea. Above this band of perforations the pillars\nagain present a smooth surface, and continue smooth to the top. The\nfirst inference from these facts is, that the columns in question\nmust have been at one time submerged to a height of twenty-one feet\nabove the pedestals; otherwise they could not have been bored at that\nheight by a species of animal that can only exist in sea-water. Since\nthat time, therefore, the land at this spot must have been upraised\ntwenty-one feet. Furthermore, the temple of Jupiter was certainly not\nbuilt at the bottom of the sea, but upon dry land; therefore, after\nthe temple had been built, the Crust of the Earth must have subsided\nat least twenty-one feet. Once more: as the floor of the temple is now\nsomewhat below the level of the sea, and as it is not very likely it\nwas at first so built, we may fairly infer that it is now lower than it\noriginally stood; and consequently, that the total amount of upheaval\nhas not been equal to the total amount of subsidence. Though we cannot\nfix the exact date at which the subsidence began, it was probably not\nearlier than the third century; for in the atrium of the temple is an\ninscription recording that it was adorned with precious marbles by the\nemperor Septimus Severus.\n\nIt cannot be supposed for a moment that these changes were effected\nby a rise and fall in the level of the sea rather than by a movement\nof the Earth\u2019s Crust. A permanent change in the level of the\nMediterranean, in any given locality, would, of necessity, imply a\nchange of level over its entire extent; and therefore, if the phenomena\nexhibited in the bay of Bai\u00e6 arose from such a cause, we should meet\nwith phenomena of the same kind along the whole length of the Italian\ncoast. Now, in point of fact, no such changes of level are elsewhere\napparent; and consequently, they must be ascribed in the bay of Bai\u00e6,\nnot to an upward and downward movement of the sea, but to an upward and\ndownward movement of the land.\n\nWe must not omit to state, before leaving the subject, that it is now\nascertained, by a series of accurate observations, that the Crust\nof the Earth in this interesting locality is once again slowly and\ngradually subsiding. At the beginning of the century the platform of\nthe temple stood at about the level of the sea; it is now more than\na foot below it. Nay, this second subsidence appears to have begun\neven before the present century. \u201cIn the year 1813,\u201d writes a modern\ntraveller, \u201cI resided for four months in the Capuchin convent of\nPozzuoli, which is situated between the road from Naples and the sea,\nat the entrance of the town of Pozzuoli. In the Capuchin convents\nthe oldest friar is called \u2018il molto reverende,\u2019 and the one who\nthen enjoyed the title in this convent was ninety-three years old.\nHe informed me that, when he was a young man, the road from Naples\npassed on the _seaward side_ of the convent; but that, from the\ngradual sinking of the soil, the road was obliged to be altered to\nits present course. While I was staying at the convent, the refectory\nas well as the entrance gate, were from six inches to a foot under\nwater whenever strong westerly winds prevailed, so as to cause the\nwaters of the Mediterranean to rise. Thirty years previously, my old\ninformant stated, such an occurrence never took place. In fact, it is\nnot probable that the builder of the convent would have placed the\nground-floor so low as to expose to inundation as it now is.\u201d[102]\n\nOn the shores of the Baltic Sea we find another illustration of\nour theory upon a more extended scale. About a century and a half\nago the Swedish naturalist, Celsius, expressed a belief that a\nremarkable change of level was taking place along the eastern coast\nof Scandinavia; and he ascribed the change to a subsidence of the\nwaters of the Baltic Sea. This opinion was received at first with\nno small amount of incredulity; but the arguments of Celsius were\nplausible and attractive enough to excite a controversy, and the\ncontroversy once aroused was not easily set at rest. Accordingly,\nsince his time the facts upon which he relied have been more strictly\nexamined, difficulties have been started and investigated, many new\nfacts, at first unknown or unnoticed, have been brought to light, and\nthe whole question has been rigorously discussed by scientific men.\nIt would be tedious to go through the history of the discussion, or\nto develop at any length the arguments which in the end have proved\nsuccessful, involving as they do a multitude of minute observations and\nnice measurements, made at a great variety of different places with\nhard-sounding names. But the general result may be readily stated and\nas readily understood.\n\nIt appears that numerous sunken reefs, well known to navigators, have,\nwithin the last two centuries, become visible above water; that many\nancient ports have become inland towns; that many small islands have\nbecome united to one another and to the mainland by grassy plains;\nthat rocky points which in former times just peeped above the water,\nand afforded refuge only to a solitary sea-bird, are now grown into\nlittle islets; and that several of the old fishing grounds are now\ndeserted for their shallowness, nay, in some cases, altogether dried\nup. From these facts the inference is plain; either the solid Crust of\nthe Earth has been uplifted, or the waters of the sea have subsided.\nNow it is certain there has been no subsidence of the sea; for such\na subsidence, as we before observed, if it took place at all, should\nhave been general; whereas there are many points on the shores of the\nBaltic, especially along the coasts of Denmark and Prussia, where it\ncan be proved that no change of level has taken place for centuries.\nAnd therefore the phenomena above described we must attribute to an\nupheaval of the Earth\u2019s Crust.[103]\n\nSuch is the kind of reasoning with which this inquiry has been pursued;\nand it may now be set down as a received and established fact, that a\nslow and gradual process of upheaval is going on, at the present day,\non the shores of the Baltic Sea, at the rate of from two to four feet\nin a century; and this is over an area of unknown breadth, and not less\nthan 1000 miles in length. Evidence of a similar kind has lately been\nadduced to prove that the west coast of Greenland is just now gradually\nsubsiding for a space of more than 600 miles from north to south.\n\u201cAncient buildings on low, rocky islands, and on the shore of the\nmainland, have been gradually submerged, and experience has taught the\naboriginal Greenlander never to build his hut near the water\u2019s edge.\nIn one case the Moravian settlers have been obliged more than once to\nmove the poles upon which their large boats were set, and the old poles\nstill remain beneath the water as silent witnesses of the change.\u201d[104]\n\nIt should seem, therefore, that the Crust of the Earth is not that\nfixed and immovable mass of unyielding rock which it is often supposed\nto be. Whatever the gigantic power is which lies shut up within it,\nand which seems, clearly enough, to be developed in some way or\nanother--perhaps in many ways at once--from internal heat, that power\nexercises a mighty influence from age to age on the outward form of\nour planet. Like the wind, indeed, it bloweth where it listeth, and\nwe cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth; but we can hear\nthe sound thereof, and witness its effects when it breaks out now in\nthis quarter of the world, and now in that, bursting open the massive\nrocks, and furiously vomiting forth whole mountains of smouldering\nashes and molten mineral; or again, when, failing to find a vent, it\nshakes the foundations of the hills, and shivers into fragments the\nmost enduring works of man--castles, temples, palaces,--filling every\nheart with terror and dismay; or, in fine, when it gently upheaves the\nbottom of the ocean, or by withdrawing the strain, allows the Crust of\nthe Earth to subside, with a movement so gradual and insensible as to\nescape the notice of the multitudes who are toiling in the busy cities\non its Surface. That phenomena of this kind have been going on in all\npast ages, is now universally assumed in the speculations of Geology:\nthat they are going on in the present age, we have here endeavored to\nprove by the evidence of facts. If we have succeeded according to our\nexpectations, the reader will be prepared to admit that, on this point\nat least, it is not the Geologist who may fairly be charged with having\nrecourse to the inventions of his fancy, but rather those who, assuming\nas a first principle that Geology is false, perseveringly shut their\neyes to the physical changes that are going on around them.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nPART II.\n\nTHE ANTIQUITY OF THE EARTH CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE HISTORY OF\nGENESIS.\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER XVIII._\n\nSTATEMENT OF THE QUESTION AND EXPOSITION OF THE AUTHORS VIEW.\n\n    _The general principles of geological theory accepted by the\n    author--These principles plainly import the extreme antiquity\n    of the earth--Illustration from the coal, the chalk, and the\n    boulder clay--This conclusion not at variance with the inspired\n    history of creation--Chronology of the Bible--Genealogies of\n    Genesis--Date of the creation not fixed by Moses--Progress of\n    opinion on this point--Cardinal Wiseman, Father Perrone, Father\n    Pianciani--Doctor Buckland--Doctor Chalmers, Doctor Pye Smith,\n    Hugh Miller--Author\u2019s view explained--Charge of rashness and\n    irreverence answered--Admonitions of Saint Augustine and Saint\n    Thomas._\n\n\nThe reader has now before him a general outline of Geological theory,\ntogether with some familiar illustrations of the evidence by which it\nis supported. We shall not attempt to enforce this evidence by any\nremarks of our own. Indeed it is of a kind that can derive but little\naid from the arts of logic or rhetoric. It needs but to be fairly\nunderstood, and if it does not altogether compel our assent, it begets\nat least a presumption so strong as to leave little room for doubt or\nhesitation.\n\nNobody, so far as we know, has ever hesitated to believe that the\nRound Towers of Ireland are the work of human hands. And yet if some\nincredulous skeptic were to raise the cry against this common opinion,\nwere to argue that it is a mere hypothesis, and call for proof, we\nshould be embarrassed how to answer him. We could only say that these\nmonuments have all the characteristic marks of man\u2019s handiwork;\nand that buildings of this kind have never been known to come into\nexistence except through the agency of Man. But should our vexatious\nskeptic contend that they were possibly produced by a freak of Nature;\nor that they were built in the beginning by the Creator of the World,\nwho certainly might have made them had He been so minded, we should\nthink him very unreasonable, and probably not feel much disposed to\nprolong the discussion. In like manner the theory of Geology which we\nare defending, cannot be established by a rigid demonstration; but we\nbelieve there is not one man of sense and judgment, who, being fully\nmaster of the evidence on which it rests, hesitates to accept that\ntheory, at least in its more general outlines. No doubt many able and\neminent men are to be found arrayed against Geology; but it would\nbe easy to show from their writings that they have never thoroughly\nexamined the facts about which they talk so flippantly, and which they\noften set aside so lightly.\n\nFor ourselves, therefore, we frankly avow that while we attach\nbut little importance to the mere conjectures and speculations of\nGeological writers; while we look with doubt and suspicion on many\nplausible theories commonly enough adopted at the present day; and\nwhile we consider that the discoveries of modern times, wonderful\nthough they are, have given rise to far more problems than they are\nyet able to solve; yet we do fully assent to those general principles\nwhich we have been attempting to develop and to illustrate in this\nVolume. Absolutely metaphysical certainty we have not; but we have a\nfirm and rational conviction. We feel quite satisfied that the great\nCreator of the Universe did not bring suddenly into existence the\nwithered remains and broken fragments of animals which had never lived;\nthat He did not stamp upon the massive rocks, buried in the profound\nrecesses of the earth, the impress of a luxuriant vegetation which had\nnever flourished; that He did not, in short, create under millions of\nforms, the delusive appearances of things which had never been, and\nscatter them through this world of ours in wild profusion, well knowing\nthat after many centuries they would come to light to bewilder human\nreason, and to lead it into error. This conclusion, of course, we are\nprepared to abandon if it should be found to clash with any certain\ntruth or with any demonstrated fact. But, in the mean lime, it seems\nto us as well grounded and as fairly established as the conclusions\nwe are accustomed to accept without hesitation in the matter of other\nsciences, and in the common business of life.\n\nIt is argued, however, that Geological theory is, in fact, at variance\nwith the very highest order of truth; with that truth which comes to\nus on the authority of God Himself. The Bible tells us that the world\nfirst came into existence about six or eight thousand years ago:\nGeology, on the contrary, tells us that six or eight thousand years are\nbut as yesterday in the history of the revolutions through which our\nGlobe has passed. This is the argument to which we are now about to\naddress ourselves; and it well deserves our best attention, not only\nfrom its intrinsic importance, but also from the interesting nature of\nthe discussion to which it has given rise.\n\nIn the first place, we fully admit that the extreme Antiquity of the\nEarth is a necessary consequence of our theory. Setting out from the\npresent stage of the world\u2019s existence, Geology carries us back from\nepoch to epoch, through a long succession of ages, each extending over\nmany thousand years, until the mind is lost in the seeming infinity of\nthe past. It may be asked, perhaps, in what way Geology can testify to\nthe great length of each successive period in the history of the Globe.\nA familiar example will furnish the most convenient reply to such a\nquestion.\n\nLet the reader call to mind what we have already explained about the\norigin and formation of Coal; and then let him examine the structure\nof the Carboniferous Rocks. In the great Coal-fields of Wales, for\ninstance, he will find, in a depth of 12,000 feet, from fifty to\na hundred distinct beds of coals, spread out one above another,\nwith intervening strata of clay several feet thick. Now each one of\nthese beds represents an ancient forest which must have grown up\nand flourished and decayed; or else an immense and varied mass of\nDrift-wood, transported from a distance by the action of moving water,\nand deposited near the mouth of some great river. In either case a\nconsiderable lapse of time would have been necessary for such an\naccumulation of vegetable matter as would furnish the elements even of\na single seam of Coal. And, when that period came to an end, only one\nlittle stage in the long series had been accomplished: one stratum of a\nfew feet had been laid down in that great Formation which was to reach\nat length a height of more than two miles. A new condition of things\nthen ensued. This layer of vegetable matter, sunk below the waters, was\ngradually covered over with a thick deposit of clay, which, in course\nof time, was to emerge, and become dry land, and give birth to a second\nforest, destined in its turn to wither and decay. Or, at least, when\nthe stratum of clay had been deposited, it was to be overlaid, in some\nway or another, with a second layer of vegetable matter sufficient\nfor the production of a second bed of coal. And so this process must\nhave gone on, doubtless with many and long interruptions, for a hundred\ntimes in succession.\n\nThen it must be remembered that the Coal-bearing strata represent\nbut one of many periods, and that not the longest in the Geological\nCalendar. Before the age of the Coal, England was for centuries at the\nbottom of the sea, while the Old Red Sandstone was slowly spread out\nover its existing surface. And after the age of the Coal, England was\nagain submerged, and gigantic Ichthyosaurs with their companions of the\ndeep, sported in the waters that rolled over her plains and covered\nthe tops of her mountains; and, when they had run their course, left\ntheir remains buried in the clays of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire and\nDorsetshire.\n\nFurthermore, the beds in which these monstrous reptiles are entombed\nwere overlaid by a stratum of calcareous ooze, now forming a solid\nmass of Chalk Rock, often a thousand feet in thickness. This Chalk,\nas we have seen, is nothing else than a vast accumulation of shells,\nso minute that millions of them would fit together on the blade of a\nsmall pen-knife, and hundreds of millions are carried about by every\ncarpenter in his waistcoat pocket. How many generations of animalcules\nit took to pile up such an immense thickness of rock, by the action of\ntheir vital powers, and how many ages were consumed in the process it\nis beyond the reach of science to calculate, almost beyond the power\nof imagination to conceive. And yet the Chalk itself was followed by\nthe various Formations of the Tertiary Age; while the last of these is\nseparated by the Drift and Boulder Clay from the superficial deposits\nwhich correspond with the period of history, and which go by the name\nof Recent.\n\nThis topic has been illustrated in a lively and striking manner by\nProfessor Huxley, in a Lecture delivered not long ago before the\nworking-men of Norwich. \u201cAt Cromer,\u201d he says, \u201cone of the most\ncharming spots on the coast of Norfolk, you will see the Boulder Clay\nforming a vast mass, which lies upon the Chalk, and must consequently\nhave come into existence after it. Huge boulders of chalk are, in fact,\nincluded in the clay, and have evidently been brought to the position\nthey now occupy by the same agency as that which has planted blocks of\nsyenite from Norway side by side with them.\n\n\u201cThe Chalk, then, is certainly older than the Boulder Clay. If you ask\nhow much, I will again take you no further than the same spot upon\nyour own coasts for evidence. I have spoken of the Boulder Clay and\nDrift as resting upon the Chalk. That is not strictly true. Interposed\nbetween the Chalk and the Drift is a comparatively insignificant layer,\ncontaining vegetable matter. But that layer tells a wonderful history.\nIt is full of stumps of trees standing as they grew. Fir-trees are\nthere with their cones, and hazel-bushes with their nuts; there stand\nthe stools of oak and yew trees, beeches and alders. Hence this stratum\nis appropriately called the Forest-bed.\n\n\u201cIt is obvious that the Chalk must have been upheaved and converted\ninto dry land before the timber trees could grow upon it. As the trunks\nof some of these trees are from two to three feet in diameter, it is no\nless clear that the dry land thus formed remained in the same condition\nfor long ages. And not only do the remains of stately oaks and\nwell-grown firs testify to the duration of this condition of things,\nbut additional evidence to the same effect is afforded by the abundant\nremains of elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, and other great\nwild beasts, which it has yielded to the zealous search of such men as\nthe Reverend Mr. Gunn.\n\n\u201cWhen you look at such a collection as he has formed, and bethink\nyou that these elephantine bones did veritably carry their owners\nabout, and these great grinders crunch in the dark woods of which the\nForest-bed is now the only trace, it is impossible not to feel that\nthey are as good evidence of the lapse of time as the annual rings of\nthe tree-stumps.\n\n\u201cThus there is a writing upon the wall of cliffs at Cromer, and whoso\nruns may read it. It tells us with an authority which cannot be\nimpeached, that the ancient bed of the Chalk sea was raised up and\nremained dry land until it was covered with forest, stocked with the\ngreat game whose spoils have rejoiced your Geologists. How long it\nremained in that condition cannot be said; but the \u2018whirligig of time\nbrought its revenges\u2019 in those days as in these. That dry land, with\nthe bones and teeth of generations of long-lived elephants hidden away\namong the gnarled roots and dry leaves of its ancient trees, sank\ngradually to the bottom of the icy sea, which covered it with huge\nmasses of Drift and Boulder Clay. Sea-beasts, such as the walrus,\nnow restricted to the extreme north, paddled about where birds had\ntwittered among the topmost twigs of the fir-trees. How long this state\nof things endured we know not, but at length it came to an end. The\nupheaved glacial mud hardened into the soil of modern Norfolk. Forests\ngrew once more, the wolf and the beaver replaced the reindeer and the\nelephant; and at length what we called the history of England, dawned.\n\n\u201cThus evidence which cannot be rebutted, and which need not be\nstrengthened, though, if time permitted, I might indefinitely increase\nits quantity, compels you to believe that the Earth from the time of\nthe Chalk to the present day, has been the theatre of a series of\nchanges as vast in their amount as they were slow in their progress.\nThe area on which we stand has been first sea and then land for at\nleast four alternations, and has remained in each of these conditions\nfor a period of great length.\n\n\u201cNor have these wonderful metamorphoses of the sea into land, and of\nland into sea, been confined to one corner of England. During the Chalk\nPeriod not one of the present great physical features of the Globe was\nin existence. Our great mountain ranges, Pyrenees, Alps, Himalayas,\nAndes, have all been upheaved since the Chalk was deposited, and the\nCretaceous sea flowed over the sites of Sinai and Ararat.\n\n\u201cAll this is certain, because rocks of Cretaceous or still later\ndate have shared in the elevatory movements which gave rise to these\nmountain chains, and may be found perched up, in some cases, many\nthousand feet high upon their flanks. And evidence of equal cogency\ndemonstrates that, though in Norfolk the Forest-bed rests directly upon\nthe Chalk, yet it does so, not because the period at which the forest\ngrew immediately followed that at which the Chalk was formed, but\nbecause an immense lapse of time, represented elsewhere by thousands of\nfeet of rock, is not indicated at Cromer.\n\n\u201cI must ask you to believe that there is no less conclusive proof that\na still more prolonged succession of similar changes occurred before\nthe Chalk was deposited. Nor have we any reason to think that the first\nterm in the series of these changes is known. The oldest sea-beds\npreserved to us are sands and mud and pebbles, the wear and tear of\nrocks which were formed in still older oceans.\u201d[105]\n\nIt is needless to pursue this subject further, or to seek for other\nillustrations. We may reject Geology if we will: but if we put any\nfaith even in its main principles, we must believe that the Crust of\nthe Earth has passed through an indefinite series of revolutions,\nduring which the Stratified Rocks were slowly built up by the action of\nnatural causes. And it would be utterly ridiculous to suppose that the\nhistory of these revolutions can be compressed into the narrow compass\nof six thousand years.\n\nTurning now to the other side of the question, we maintain that this\nextreme Antiquity of the Earth, which we have learned from Geology,\nis perfectly consistent with the historical narrative of the Bible.\nThe Bible, indeed, does fix the Chronology of the Human Race at a\ncomparatively recent period; but as for the Chronology of the World\nitself, the Bible simply tells us that, \u201cIn the beginning God created\nthe Heavens and the Earth.\u201d For all that appears to the contrary, this\nEarth of ours may have been in existence for millions of years before\nman was introduced upon the scene; and during that time may have been\npeopled with those countless tribes of plants and animals which play\nso important a part in the records of Geology. This view, which is not\nonly fully tolerated by the Church, but now largely supported by her\nDivines and Commentators, we hope to bring home clearly to our readers\nin the following pages; and thus to satisfy them that, as regards\nthe Antiquity of the Earth, the discoveries of Geology can offer no\nprejudice to our religious belief.\n\nAt the outset it is of some importance to understand clearly the\nnature of that system of Chronology which is gathered from the Bible.\nNowhere in the Sacred Text is the age of the human race explicitly set\nforth. But various data are found scattered here and there through\nthe historical narrative, which afford us sufficient materials to\ncompute the years that elapsed from the Creation of Adam to the Birth\nof Christ. Unfortunately, however, these data are in some respects\nobscure, and in some respects uncertain. And thus it has come to pass\nthat many different systems of Chronology have come into vogue, even\namongst those who profess to be guided entirely by the authority of the\nBible.\n\nThe whole period may be conveniently divided into two parts;--from the\nCreation of Adam to the Call of Abraham; and from the call of Abraham\nto the Birth of Christ. As regards the latter interval, the difference\nof opinion between Chronologists is not very substantial; the length\nof the period may be roughly set down at about 2,000 years. But in the\ncomputation of the former interval a very wide difference prevails,\narising from a diversity of reading in the earliest versions of the\nPentateuch.\n\nThe materials for the computation are derived from two genealogical\nlists, one extending from Adam to Noah,[106] the other from Noah to\nAbraham.[107] In these lists we have not only the direct line of\ndescent from father to son, extending through the whole period in\nquestion, but, moreover, we have the age of each individual member of\nthe genealogy at the time when the next in succession was born. As,\nfor example:--\u201cAdam lived _a hundred and thirty years, and begot a\nson_ to his own image and likeness, and called his name Seth. And the\ndays of Adam, after he had begot Seth, were eight hundred years: and\nhe begot sons and daughters. And all the time that Adam lived came to\nnine hundred and thirty years, and he died. Seth also lived _a hundred\nand five years, and begot Enos_. And Seth lived, after he begot Enos,\neight hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. And all\nthe days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. And\nEnos lived _ninety years, and begot Cainan:_\u201d[108] and so on. Now it\nis plain, according to this statement, that from the Creation of Adam\nto the birth of Seth was a hundred and thirty years; to the birth of\nEnos, a hundred and thirty, more a hundred and five years; to the\nbirth of Cainan, a hundred and thirty, more a hundred and five, more\nninety years. And in this way, following the genealogies of the Book\nof Genesis, we may easily compute the time from the Creation of Adam\nto the Birth of Abraham. Adding seventy-five years to this period, we\nreach the epoch known as the Call of Abraham; for we are told that\n\u201cAbraham was seventy and five years old when he went forth from\nHaran.\u201d[109]\n\nNow every one knows that when a long catalogue of names and numbers is\ncopied and recopied from age to age, errors are very likely to creep in\nand be perpetuated. And so it has been in the present case. The three\nearliest versions of the Pentateuch are the Hebrew, the Samaritan, and\nthe Septuagint: and between these three versions there is a very great\ndiscrepancy with regard to the figures in question; so great, indeed,\nas to make up, on the whole, a difference of 1500 years, or more, in\nthe age of the human race. In the table that appears on the following\npage, for which we are mainly indebted to the work of a modern\nwriter,[110] this diversity of reading is set forth in a very simple\nand intelligible form.\n\nIt is plain that of these three different versions, one only can\nrepresent the true age of the human race when Abraham went forth, at\nthe command of God, from his country and his kindred and his father\u2019s\nhouse, to go into the land of Canaan: and at this distance of time,\nit is impossible to determine with anything like certainty, which of\nthe three has the greatest claim on our acceptance. The Church has not\npronounced upon the subject; and the question is freely discussed among\nBiblical scholars. But the details of this controversy have little to\ndo with our present argument. Enough it is for us to know that, from\nthe Creation of Adam to the Birth of Christ, cannot have been more than\nsix thousand years at the highest computation, nor much less than four\nthousand at the lowest. Adding 1869 years of the Christian Era, the\npresent age of the Human Race according to the data of the Bible would\nseem to lie between six and eight thousand years.\n\n\nGENEALOGIES OF GENESIS.\n\n  LIST OF                             AGE OF EACH WHEN THE NEXT\n  PATRIARCHS.                                WAS BORN.\n\n                                             ACCORDING TO\n                                     Septuagint. Hebrew. Samaritan.\n\n  Adam,                                 230        130     130\n  Seth,                                 205        105     105\n  Enos,                                 190         90      90\n  Cainan,                               170         70      70\n  Malaleel,                             165         65      65\n  Jared,                                162        162      62\n  Henoch,                               165         65      65\n  Mathusala,                            167        187      67\n  Lamech,                               188        182      53\n  Noe,                                  500        500     500\n  Sem,                                  100        100     100\n  From the creation of Adam to the   } ----       ----    ----\n  birth of Arphaxad, two years after } 2242       1656    1307\n  the Flood,[111]                    } ----       ----    ----\n  Arphaxad,                             135         35     135\n  Cainan,[112]                          130         --      --\n  Sale,                                 130         30     130\n  Heber,                                134         34     134\n  Phaleg,                               130         30     130\n  Reu,                                  132         32     132\n  Sarug,                                130         30     130\n  Nachor,                                79         29      79\n  Thare,                                 70         70      70\n  Abraham called by God,                 75         75      75\n                                       ----       ----    ----\n  From the Flood to the Call of }      1145        365    1015\n  Abraham,                      }      ----       ----    ----\n  From the Creation of Adam to  }\n  the Call of Abraham,          }      3387       2021    2322\n\nThe Bible, then, does determine, though with some vagueness and\nuncertainty, the age of the Human Race. We have now to consider\nwhether, in fixing the age of the Human Race, it fixes likewise the age\nof the World itself. For this purpose we must turn our attention to the\nfirst chapter of Genesis, in which is briefly set forth the origin and\nearly history of our Globe from the Creation of the Heavens and the\nEarth in the beginning to the Creation of Man at the close of the Sixth\nDay. If it should appear that these two events were comprised within a\nvery narrow limit of time, as is not unfrequently supposed, then indeed\nthe age of the world must agree pretty nearly with the age of the Human\nRace. But if on the other hand, between these two events the Sacred\nRecord allows us to suppose an interval of indefinite length, then it\nplainly follows that the age of the Human Race, as set forth in the\nBible Genealogies, can afford no evidence against the Antiquity of the\nEarth. The question is thus brought within very narrow limits. We have\nsimply to take up the First Chapter of Genesis, and inquire whether or\nno it is there conveyed that the Creation of Man, which is described\ntoward the close of the chapter, followed after the lapse of only a few\ndays upon the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth, which is recorded\nin the first verse.\n\nFor many centuries this question received but little attention from\nthe readers of the Bible. It was commonly assumed that, as the various\nevents of the Creation are traced out in rapid succession by the\nInspired Writer, and strung together into one continuous narrative, so\ndid they follow one another, in reality, with a corresponding rapidity,\nand in the same unbroken continuity. The progress of Physical Science\nhad not yet shown any necessity for supposing a lengthened period of\ntime to have elapsed between the Creation of the World and the Creation\nof Man: nor was there anything in the narrative itself to suggest such\nan idea. Thus it was generally taken for granted, almost without\ndiscussion, that when God had created the Heavens and the Earth in the\nbeginning, He _at once_ set about the work of arranging and furnishing\nthe universe, and fitting it up for the use of man; that He distributed\nthis work over a period of six ordinary days, and at the close of the\nsixth day, introduced our First Parents upon the scene: and that,\ntherefore, the beginning of the Human Race was but six days later than\nthe beginning of the World.\n\nThese notions about the history of the Creation continued to prevail\nalmost down to our own time. It is to be observed, however, that they\nwere not founded on a close and scientific examination of the Sacred\nText. The hypothesis of a long and eventful state of existence prior to\nthe Creation of Man may be said rather to have been overlooked, than\nto have been rejected, by our Commentators. There was no good reasons\nfor entertaining such a speculation, and so they said nothing about\nit. But now that the world is ringing with the wonderful discoveries\nof Geology, which seem to point more and more clearly every day to\nthe extreme Antiquity of the Earth, it becomes an imperative duty to\nexamine once again with all diligence and care the Inspired narrative\nof the Creation, and to consider well the relation in which it stands\nwith this new dogma of Physical Science.\n\nWe are not the first to enter upon the inquiry. Already it has engaged\nthe attention and stimulated the industry of Theological writers\nfor more than half a century. Many eminent men, distinguished alike\nfor their extensive acquirements and for their religious zeal, have\nprotested warmly against the opinion of Geologists, concerning the\nAntiquity of the Earth, as one that cannot be reconciled with the\nhistorical accuracy of the Bible. But, on the other hand, there are\nwriters no less illustrious, and no less sincerely attached to the\ncause of religion, who contend that there is nothing in the Sacred\nText to exclude the supposition of a long and indefinite interval--an\ninterval if necessary of many millions of years--between the first\ncreation of matter and the creation of man. Thirty years ago this\nopinion was defended by Cardinal Wiseman with great learning, and\nwith great felicity of illustration, in his famous Lectures on the\nConnection between Science and Revealed Religion. The eminent Roman\nJesuit, Father Perrone, has followed the same line of argument in his\nPr\u00e6lectiones Theologic\u00e6, which, as every one knows, has long since\nbecome a classic work in schools of Theology. It has been yet more\nfully discussed, and supported by more elaborate reasoning, in a work\nentitled Cosmogonia Naturale Comparata col Genesi, lately published in\nRome at the press of the Civilt\u00e0 Cattolica, by another distinguished\nJesuit, John Baptist Pianciani. Amongst Protestant writers, too, this\nview of the Mosaic narrative has found no inconsiderable number of able\nadvocates. It is defended by Doctor Buckland, the eminent Geologist,\nin his celebrated Bridgewater Treatise, by Doctor Chalmers in his\nEvidences of the Christian Revelation, by Doctor Pye Smith in his\ndissertations on Geology and Scripture, by the eloquent and original\nHugh Miller in his interesting work on the Testimony of the Rocks; and\nby a host of others scarcely less distinguished than these.\n\nBut these learned writers are not altogether of one accord as to the\nprecise point in the First Chapter of Genesis, at which we may suppose\na long interval of time to have intervened. Some, with Doctor Buckland,\nDoctor Pye Smith, and Doctor Chalmers, consider that this interval may\nbest be introduced between the beginning of all time, when God created\nthe Heavens and the Earth, and the beginning of the First Day, when\nHe set about preparing the world as a dwelling-place for man. Sacred\nScripture, they say, simply records these two events, (1) that \u201cIn\nthe beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth,\u201d and (2) that,\nat some subsequent time, \u201cGod said: Let there be light: and light\nwas made.\u201d But Sacred Scripture does not tell us what length of time\nelapsed between these two great acts of Divine Omnipotence. For aught\nwe know from Revelation, it may have been but a single day, or it may\nhave been a million of years. Others again, as for instance Pianciani,\nprefer to suppose that each one of the Six Days may have been itself a\nperiod of indefinite, nay of almost inconceivable duration. So that,\nbetween the beginning of the world and the creation of man six great\nages of the Earth\u2019s history may have rolled by, each one distinguished\nby a new manifestation of God\u2019s power, and the introduction of new\nforms of life. These writers even fancy that they can discover a close\nanalogy between the successive acts of creation recorded in Genesis,\nand the gradual development of organic life exhibited in the great\nEpochs of Geology.\n\nTo us it seems that either one or the other of these two systems, or\nboth together, may be fairly admitted without any undue violence to the\ntext of the Inspired narrative: and this, we would observe in passing,\nis the opinion to which Cardinal Wiseman appears to have inclined,\nthirty years ago, in his Lectures on the Connection between Science and\nReligion. We maintain, then, in the first place, that there is nothing\nin the Mosaic narrative, when carefully examined, at variance with the\nhypothesis of an indefinite interval between the creation of the world\nand the work of the Six Days. And, in the second place, we contend that\nit is quite consistent with the usage of Sacred Scripture to explain\nthese Days of Creation as long periods of time.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt may appear, perhaps, to some of our readers that this is dangerous\nground on which we are about to venture. They may have been accustomed\nall their lives to view the history of Creation through the medium\nof those notions that commonly prevailed before the discoveries of\nGeology: and from the influence of long association they may have\ncome, in the end, to regard their own interpretation with scarcely less\nveneration than the Inspired Text itself. Such persons will naturally\nbe disposed to look upon our undertaking with disfavor and suspicion.\nThey will think us guilty of irreverence toward Holy Scripture when\nwe seek to modify our views about its meaning, in deference to the\nconclusions of Physical Science; and they may be tempted even to charge\nus with putting the idle interpretations of men into the balance\nagainst the Inspired Word of God.\n\nTo this line of objection we would answer, that we cannot be guilty of\nirreverence to the Holy Scripture, when we are only striving, with due\nsubmission to the authority of the Church, to discover the true meaning\nof an obscure and difficult passage, on which the Church has pronounced\nno definite judgment. Nor can we be said to make light of the Word\nof God, when we are but attempting to defend its unerring veracity\nfrom the assaults of infidel writers. Furthermore we would add, that,\nif it is a dangerous thing to modify the received interpretation of\ncertain parts of Scripture, when the progress of science enables us to\nsee physical phenomena under a new light, it is a far more dangerous\nthing to persist in imputing to Scripture a doctrine that, in a very\nshort time, may be proved to be false, beyond the possibility of\ncontradiction.\n\nThese sentiments are not altogether our own. They have come to us, in\ngreat part, from an illustrious Doctor of the Church; and we are glad,\nat this early stage of our discussion, to be able to shelter our humble\nefforts under the authority of his venerable name. It is now more than\nfourteen centuries and a half since Saint Augustine set about the\nliteral interpretation of Genesis, which he accomplished in a Treatise\nof twelve books. Toward the close of the first book he expatiates at\nsome length on the difficulty of his undertaking, and on the variety of\ndiverse interpretations, which prevailed even in his time. From this\nhe takes occasion to warn his readers that, \u201cif we find anything in\nDivine Scripture that may be variously explained without any injury to\nfaith, we should not rush headlong by positive assertion either to one\nopinion or the other; lest, if perchance the opinion we have adopted\nshould afterward turn out to be false, our faith should fall with it;\nand we should be found contending, not so much for the doctrine of the\nSacred Scriptures as for our own; endeavoring to make our doctrine\nto be that of the Scriptures, instead of taking the doctrine of the\nScriptures to be ours.\u201d[113] And a little further on he again exposes\nthe imprudence of such a proceeding, in words that cannot but be\nconsidered peculiarly applicable to our present subject:--\n\n\u201cIt often happens that one who is not a Christian hath some knowledge\nderived from the clearest arguments or from the evidence of his senses\nabout the earth, about the heavens, about the other elements of this\nworld, about the movements and revolutions, or about the size and\ndistances of the stars, about certain eclipses of the sun and moon,\nabout the course of the years and the seasons, about the nature of\nanimals, plants, and minerals, and about other things of a like kind.\nNow it is an unseemly and mischievous thing, and greatly to be avoided,\nthat a Christian man speaking on such matters, as if according to the\nauthority of Christian Scripture, should talk so foolishly that the\nunbeliever, on hearing him, and observing the extravagance of his\nerror, should hardly be able to refrain from laughing. And the great\nmischief is, not so much that the man himself is laughed at for his\nerrors, but that our authors are believed by people without the Church\nto have taught such things, and so are condemned as unlearned, and\ncast aside, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we are so\nmuch concerned. For, when they find one belonging to the Christian\nbody falling into error on a subject with which they themselves are\nthoroughly conversant, and when they see him, moreover, enforcing\nhis groundless opinion by the authority of our Sacred Books, how are\nthey likely to put trust in these Books about the resurrection of the\ndead, and the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, having\nalready come to regard them as fallacious about those things they had\nthemselves learned from observation or from unquestionable evidence?\nAnd, indeed, it were not easy to tell what trouble and sorrow some\nrash and presumptuous men bring upon their prudent brethren, who, when\nthey are charged with a perverse and false opinion by those who do\nnot accept the authority of our Books, attempt to put forward these\nsame Holy Books in defence of that which they have lightly and falsely\nasserted; sometimes even quoting from memory what they think will suit\ntheir purpose, and putting forth many words, without well understanding\neither what they say, or what they are talking about.\u201d[114]\n\nAnd many ages after, Saint Thomas, the great luminary of the schools,\nappeals to this wise admonition of Saint Augustine, and applies it\nto the circumstances of his own times. Writing about the work of\nthe Second Day, he says that \u201cin questions of this sort there are\ntwo things to be observed. First, that the truth of Scripture be\ninviolably maintained. Secondly, since Scripture doth admit of diverse\ninterpretations, that we must not cling to any particular exposition\nwith such pertinacity, that if what we supposed to be the teaching of\nScripture should afterward turn out to be clearly false, we should\nnevertheless still presume to put it forward; lest thereby we should\nexpose the Inspired Word of God to the derision of unbelievers, and\nshut them out from the way of salvation.\u201d[115]\n\nUnder the sanction of two such illustrious Saints and Doctors we\nneed not hesitate to proceed in our attempt to reconcile the Inspired\nnarrative of the Creation with the doctrine of the Antiquity of the\nEarth, as set forth by the advocates of Geology. Let it be remembered,\nhowever, that we do not undertake to prove the extreme Antiquity of\nthe Earth from the language of Scripture; but simply to show that\nthe language of Scripture leaves the Antiquity of the Earth an open\nquestion. The Geologist holds that this Globe of ours has been in\nexistence for hundreds of thousands, perhaps for millions of years; and\nour object is to show that, while maintaining this opinion, he may,\nnevertheless, accept the historical truth of the Bible narrative.\n\nAs before explained, two points arise for discussion: first, can we\nsuppose an interval of indefinite length to have elapsed between the\nCreation of the World, and the work of the Six Days? and secondly, is\nit lawful to explain these Days in the sense of long periods? We shall\ntake these two questions in succession, dealing with each upon its own\nmerits; and if we fail to enforce conviction, we hope, at least, to\nvindicate our right to toleration.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nFIRST HYPOTHESIS;--AN INTERVAL OF INDEFINITE DURATION BETWEEN THE\nCREATION OF THE WORLD AND THE FIRST MOSAIC DAY.\n\n    _The heavens and the earth were created before the first Mosaic\n    day--Objection from Exodus, xx. 9-11--Answer--Interpretation of\n    the author supported by the best commentators--Confirmed by the\n    Hebrew text--The early fathers commonly held the existence of\n    created matter prior to the work of the Six Days--Saint Basil,\n    Saint Chrysostom, Saint Ambrose, Venerable Bede--The most\n    eminent doctors in the schools concurred in this opinion--Peter\n    Lombard, Hugh of Saint Victor, Saint Thomas--Also commentators\n    and theologians--Perrerius, Petavius--Distinguished names\n    on the other side, A Lapide, Tostatus, Saint Augustine--The\n    opinion is at least not at variance with the voice of\n    tradition--This period of created existence may have been of\n    indefinite length--And the earth may have been furnished then\n    as now with countless tribes of plants and animals--Objections\n    to this hypothesis proposed and explained._\n\n\nThe opening verses of the Mosaic history may be rendered thus literally\nfrom the Hebrew Text:--\n\n(1) \u201cIn the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.\n\n(2) \u201cAnd the Earth was waste and empty; and darkness was upon the face\nof the deep; and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.\n\n(3) \u201cAnd God said, Let there be light; and there was light.\n\n(4) \u201cAnd God saw the light that it was good; and God divided the light\nfrom the darkness.\n\n(5) \u201cAnd God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.\nAnd the evening was, and the morning was, the first day.\u201d\n\nNow it appears to us that the great event with which this narrative\nbegins, the creation of the Heavens and the Earth, is not represented\nas a part of the work that was accomplished within the Six Days. It\nis not said that _on the first day_ God created the Heavens and the\nEarth, but _in the beginning_. Besides, the Sacred writer, uniformly\nthroughout the chapter, employs one and the same peculiar phrase to\nintroduce the work of each successive day. In describing the operations\nof God on the second day, he begins: \u201c_And God said_, Let there be a\nfirmament in the midst of the waters:\u201d on the third day, \u201c_And God\nsaid_, Let the waters that are under the Heavens be gathered together\ninto one place:\u201d on the fourth, \u201c_And God said_, Let there be lights\nin the firmament of the Heavens to divide the day from the night:\u201d on\nthe fifth, \u201c_And God said_, Let the waters bring forth the creeping\nthing having life:\u201d on the sixth, \u201c_And God said_, Let the earth bring\nforth the living creature after its kind.\u201d Hence, when we meet this\nsame phrase for the first time in the third verse, \u201c_And God said_,\nLet there be light,\u201d we may reasonably suppose that the work of the\nfirst day began with the decree which is set forth in these words. If\nso it plainly follows that we may allow the existence of created matter\nbefore that particular epoch of time which, in the language of Moses,\nis styled the First Day: for, before the creation of light, the Heavens\nand the Earth were already in existence, and the Earth was waste and\nempty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of\nGod moved upon the face of the waters.\n\nAn objection is sometimes raised from the words of God in the\npromulgation of the third commandment:--\u201cSix days shalt thou labor\nand do all thy work. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord\nthy God; thou shalt do no work on it.... For _in six days the Lord\nmade the Heavens and the Earth_ and the sea, and all that is in them,\nand resteth the seventh day.\u201d[116] It is argued that the creation of\nthe Heavens and the Earth is here set forth as a part of the work\naccomplished within the Six Days; which is directly against our\nopinion. This difficulty would be simply insurmountable, if it could be\nproved that the text refers to that _first act of creation_ by which\nthe Heavens and the Earth were brought into existence out of nothing.\nWe think, however, that the phrase may fairly be understood to mean,\nin six days the Lord _fashioned_ the Heavens and the Earth; that is to\nsay, gave to them that form and shape and outward character which they\nnow possess. In this sense the words would apply, not to the first act\nof creation out of nothing, but rather to that subsequent series of\noperations by which the Earth was fitted up and furnished for the use\nof man.\n\nAnd this interpretation is supported by the authority of our best\nCommentators. Perrerius formally discusses the point, and maintains\nthat God may truly be said to have made the Heavens and the Earth in\nSix Days, although the Heavens and the Earth, as far as regards their\nsubstantial matter, had been created before the First Day: for it was\nonly within the Six Days that they were adorned and completed and\nperfected. Tostatus is not less explicit. In this passage, he says, the\nword _made_ is very properly employed; for the Heavens and the Earth\nwhich are here referred to, and the other things that are included\nunder this general designation, were all _made from matter already\nexisting_, but this matter itself was not _made_, it was _created_.\nPetavius also adopts this view in his remarks upon the fourth verse of\nthe second chapter of Genesis.[117]\n\nWe may add that this mode of explaining the passage receives no small\nsupport from the Hebrew text. When it is said, in the first chapter\nof Genesis, that \u201cIn the beginning God _created_ the Heavens and the\nEarth,\u201d the word used by the Sacred writer is \u200f\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0 (_Bara_), which\nstrictly means to create out of nothing; whereas, in describing the\noperations of the Six Days, he commonly uses the word \u05e2\u05e9\u05d4 (_Hasah_),\nwhich means to _form_ and _fashion_, or to produce something out of\npre-existing materials.[118] Now, in the text of Exodus we find the\nword \u05e2\u05e9\u05d4 (_Hasah_), to _fashion_ or _produce_, and not the word \u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\n(_Bara_), to _create_. We do not want to insist very rigorously upon\nthis distinction between the two words \u05d1\u05e8\u05d0 (_Bara_) and \u05e2\u05e9\u05d4 (_Hasah_),\nnor would we deny that they are sometimes interchanged as regards their\nmeaning. We think they are related to one another pretty nearly as the\ncorresponding words to _create_ and to _make_ in English, and we know\nthat the distinction between these two words is not always strictly\nobserved. Thus, we sometimes say that God _made_ the world, meaning\nthat he brought it forth from nothing, and we speak of the _creation_\nof peers; and Shakspeare says:--\n\n    \u201cNow is the time of help; your eye in Scotland\n    Would _create_ soldiers, make our women fight\n    To doff their dire distresses.\u201d--_Macbeth_, Act iv., Sc. iii.\n\nNevertheless, when we compare two such passages as these:--\u201cIn the\nbeginning God _created_ the Heavens and the Earth,\u201d and \u201cIn Six Days\nthe Lord _made_ the Heavens and the Earth and the sea, and all that in\nthem is,\u201d we think the studied contrast of expression is a fair ground\nfor supposing that, while the one refers to the Divine decree by which\nmatter was first brought into existence out of nothing, the other may\nbe understood of those subsequent operations by which it received its\npresent form and shape.\n\nWe see no difficulty, then, as far as the Sacred Text is concerned,\nin supposing a condition of created existence prior to the period of\nthe Six Days. But since this opinion is the foundation on which our\nwhole argument rests, we should wish to show, moreover, even at the\nrisk of being tedious, that it has been put forward and defended by\nthe most eminent writers in every age of the Church. Amongst the early\nFathers, Saint Basil reasons after this manner when commenting upon the\npassage, \u201cThere was evening and there was morning the first day:\u201d--\u201cThe\nevening is the common term of day and night; and, in like manner, the\nmorning is the point of union between night and day. Wherefore, in\norder to signify that to the day belonged the prerogative of being the\nfirst begotten, the sacred writer first commemorates the close of day,\nand afterward the close of night; implying thereby that _the day was\nfollowed by the night_. As to the condition of the world _before the\nformation of light_, that is not called Night, but simply Darkness;\nwhereas that period which is distinguished from day and opposed to it,\nis called night.\u201d[119] This great Doctor, therefore, teaches that the\nFirst Day began with a period of light which is called day, and ended\nwith a period of darkness which is called night; and he recognizes a\nprevious state of existence which was no part of the First Day. So,\ntoo, Saint Chrysostom, in his third Homily upon Genesis, lays down that\nthe Earth was first created a rude and shapeless mass, without form or\nornament; that _afterward_ light was made, and that, _with the creation\nof light, the First Day began_.[120]\n\nIn the Western Church, Saint Ambrose adopts the same line of\ninterpretation. He sets forth that God first created the world, in the\nbeginning; and afterward during the Six Days furnished and adorned it;\njust as a skilful workman first lays the foundation of a building,\nand afterward raises the superstructure, and superadds the ornament.\nAnd elsewhere, he says that, when the voice of God went forth, \u201cLet\nlight be made,\u201d in the same moment the First Day began. It follows,\ntherefore, that the world existed before the beginning of the First\nDay. In another place he gives a new turn to the same idea, telling\nus that in the beginning God made the world; and with the world, time\nbegan. But not with time did the First Day begin: for the First Day is\nnot the beginning of time, it is rather an epoch of time.[121]\n\nPassing on to the middle ages, we find our view supported by the\nauthority of Venerable Bede, in several parts of his writings. His\nnotion is that, during the Six Days, God formed and fashioned the\nworld out of shapeless matter; but, before the Six Days began, He\nhad made this shapeless matter itself out of nothing. \u201cTwo things,\u201d\nhe says, \u201cdid God make before all days, the angelical nature, and\nshapeless matter.\u201d And again, he dresses up this opinion in the form\nof a dialogue:--\u201c_Disciple._ Tell me the order in which things were\nmade throughout the Six Days? _Master._ First, in the very beginning\nof created existence, were made heaven and earth, the angels, air, and\nwater. _Disciple._ Continue the order of creation? _Master. In the\nbeginning of the First Day_ light was made; on the second was made the\nfirmament,\u201d etc.[122] Nothing can be more plain than the distinction\nhere set up between the beginning of all time, when the Heavens and the\nEarth were made, and the beginning of the First Day, when light was\nmade.\n\nAnd when we come to still more recent times, we find this\ninterpretation was taken up and defended by the great masters in the\nschools of Theology. Peter Lombard, the famous Magister Sententiarum,\nreferring to the first verse of Genesis, says that \u201cin the beginning\nGod created Heaven, which means the Angels, and the Earth, which means\nconfused and unshapely matter, the same that is called Chaos by the\nGreeks; _and this was before any day_.\u201d Not less clearly speaks out\nHugh of Saint Victor, who for his profound and varied erudition, was\ncalled the second Augustine. In explaining the history of the Six Days,\nhe says: \u201cThe first of the Divine operations was the creation of light.\nBut the light was not then created from nothing, it was formed from\npre-existing matter. This was the work that was accomplished on the\nFirst Day: but the material of this work had been created _before the\nFirst Day_. Directly with the light the day began; for before the light\nit was neither night or day, though time already existed.\u201d[123]\n\nLater still, St. Thomas himself clearly leans to this view when he\nsays: \u201cIt is better to maintain that the creation was before any day.\u201d\nAnd Perrerius, the most learned, perhaps, of all our commentators\non Genesis, argues with us that the world was created before the\nproduction of light, and before the commencement of the First Day. Nay,\nhe adds that he cannot tell how long that primeval state of existence\nmay have endured before the Six Days began; nor does he think it can\nbe known except by a special revelation. Petavius, too, is with us.\nHe does not indeed accept our interpretation of the first verse. When\nit is said, \u201cIn the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth,\u201d\nhe holds that these words do not describe any one particular act of\nGod, but represent, as it were in a brief summary, the whole work\nof creation. Thus we are informed, at the outset, that the Heavens\nand the Earth as we see them now are the work of God; and afterward,\nthe various parts that make up this great whole are described, and\nthe order in which they were accomplished is set forth. According to\nPetavius, then, the creation of the Heavens and the Earth, recorded in\nthe first verse, was not a distinct act from the operations of the Six\nDays, but rather includes them all. Nevertheless, he maintains, as we\ndo, that the earth, at least, and water, were in existence before the\ncreation of light; and that, therefore, some period of time must have\nelapsed before the beginning of the Six Days. Furthermore, he says in\nthe same spirit as Perrerius, that it is beyond our power to conjecture\nhow long that period may have lasted.[124]\n\nOur opinion, then, is not open, in the slightest degree, to the\nimputation of novelty or singularity. On the contrary, it would seem\nrather to reflect the prevailing tradition of the Church. We think\nit right, however, to add that there are great names against us. A\nLapide, for instance, who considers that the Heavens and the Earth\nwere created at the beginning of the First Day.[125] And Tostatus, who\nincidentally notices our view, and contents himself with saying that it\nis unreasonable. For himself he seems to waver between two opinions. He\nthinks the primeval darkness, described in the second verse, may have\nbeen the night belonging to the First Day; and that during that night,\nwhich probably lasted about twelve hours, we may suppose the Heavens\nand the Earth to have been created. Or else, he says, we may allow that\nthe First Day of the Mosaic narrative began with the creation of light;\nbut in that case we must hold that the Heavens and the Earth were\ncreated at the same time with light.[126]\n\nSaint Augustine, too, we must reluctantly give up; or, at least, we\nmust be content to regard him as neutral. If he is not a decided\nopponent, he is certainly not a consistent advocate, of our opinion.\nNo doubt he is often quoted in its favor; and it would be easy to\nselect passages from his works which seem to enforce it in the plainest\nterms. As for example: \u201cIn the beginning, O my God, _before any day_,\nThou didst make the Heavens and the Earth.\u201d[127] But, in truth, this\nopinion is utterly irreconcilable with the well known and very singular\nteaching of Saint Augustine concerning the creation of the world.\nHe held that all the great works recounted in the first chapter of\nGenesis were, in fact, accomplished in a single instant. There was no\nreal succession, according to him, in the order of time, between the\nproduction of the Heavens and the Earth, of light and the firmament,\nof the sun, moon, and stars, of plants, trees, and animals. In one and\nthe same instant of time all these came into existence together. As to\nthe description given by Moses, it is accommodated to the capacity of\na rude people; and the succession there set forth is intended only to\nexhibit the several parts of a great whole, in the manner best suited\nto the conceptions of human intelligence.[128]\n\nThis view of the creation is repeated again and again by Saint\nAugustine in his numerous works upon Genesis, and illustrated in\ndiverse ways, so as to leave no doubt that he held it deliberately\nand persistently. With regard to such passages as that quoted above,\nin which he says that God created the Heavens and the Earth _before\nany day_, it may be maintained that Saint Augustine was not always\nconsistent with himself, and that he held different opinions at\ndifferent times; or even that he put forward opposite opinions at the\nsame time, not setting them forth as true, but only as possible and\nlegitimate.[129]\n\nWe think, however, that his consistency, in this case at least, can be\ndefended, and that he has himself sufficiently explained in what sense\nhe wished these passages to be understood. He tells us that we must\ndistinguish two kinds of succession: succession in the order of time,\nand succession in the order of our conceptions. Thus, for example,\nin the order of time there is no succession between the sound of the\nvoice in singing and the musical note that is sung: the sound is, in\nfact, the note, and the note is the sound. But in the order of our\nconceptions we first apprehend a thing according to its substance, and\nthen according to its qualities. We first conceive the sound itself, as\na sound, and then we conceive it as having that peculiar quality which\nmakes it a musical note. Such as this is the succession Saint Augustine\nseems to admit in the order of the creation. He tells us, no doubt,\nthat God first created shapeless matter, and afterward gave to it form\nand beauty: and certainly this statement, if standing alone, would,\naccording to the ordinary use of language, imply a real succession\nin the order of time. But then, a little further on, he expressly\nrepudiates the idea of a succession in point of time, and says that\nthe priority he ascribes to shapeless matter is only a priority in\nthe order of our conceptions. We must first conceive matter to exist\nbefore we can conceive it to have this or that particular form; and the\nInspired Writer follows the order of our conceptions, in order to adapt\nhis narrative to the mental feebleness of our present condition.[130]\n\nWith the truth or falsehood of these views we are not concerned just\nnow. We have dwelt upon them rather from an honest desire of showing\nthat Saint Augustine is not so clearly on our side in this question,\nas might be supposed from some isolated passages of his writings. He\nsays indeed that the world was created before light, and before the\nbeginning of the First Day; but then again he tells us that this is\nonly a way of speaking, and that, in reality, all things were created\ntogether.\n\nBut although these high authorities--A Lapide, Tostatus, Saint\nAugustine--and some others less illustrious than these, are unfavorable\nto our interpretation, we think it is supported by a preponderance of\nthe best interpreters, both in ancient and modern times. At all events,\nwith such an array of venerable names as we have been able to bring\nforward in its behalf,--and they are but a few chosen out of many,--no\none can deny that we are fairly entitled to hold it without any note of\ncensure, without any suspicion of Theological error. Setting out, then,\nfrom this point, that there was a state of created existence prior to\nthe Six Days of the Mosaic history, the question naturally arises, how\nlong did that state of existence endure? Was it for an hour? a day?\na week? a month? a century? a million of years? We cannot tell. To\nthese questions the Sacred Text gives no reply. It simply records that\nin the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth, and that, at\nsome subsequent epoch of time, His decree again went forth, Let there\nbe light, and light there was. One thing, however, is plain, that, if\nthis period existed at all, it might just as well have lasted a hundred\nmillions of years as a hundred seconds. It would be folly to attempt to\nmeasure the succession of God\u2019s acts, when he does please to produce\neffects in succession, according to our petty standards of time. \u201cOne\nday with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one\nday.\u201d[131]\n\nAnd it is not a little remarkable that, long before the discoveries of\nGeology had suggested any necessity for allowing the lapse of many ages\nbetween the first creation of the world and the creation of man, the\nsagacity of our commentators led them to observe that the duration of\nthis interval is left undefined in the Sacred Record. \u201cHow long that\ninterval may have lasted,\u201d says Petavius, \u201cit is absolutely impossible\nto conjecture.\u201d And Perrerius, as we have seen, declared that it\ncould not be known except by a special revelation. And five centuries\nearlier, at the very dawn of Scholastic Theology, Hugh of Saint Victor\nraised the same question, and expressed his opinion that it could not\nbe solved from Scripture. Citing the passage, In the beginning God\ncreated the Heavens and the Earth, he says, \u201cFrom these words it is\nplain that in the beginning of time, or rather with time itself, the\noriginal matter of all things came into existence. But how long it\nremained in this confused and unshapely condition the Scripture clearly\ndoes not tell us.\u201d[132]\n\nWe may go further still. If we are at liberty to admit an interval of\nindefinite length between the creation of the world and the work of the\nSix Days, there is certainly nothing which forbids us to suppose that,\nduring this period, the earth should have undergone many revolutions,\nand have been peopled by countless tribes of plants and animals, which,\nas age rolled on after age, came into existence, and died out, and\nwere succeeded by new creations. We cannot, perhaps, see the use of\nall this, nor can we penetrate the motives the Great Creator might\nhave had in bringing into existence such a boundless profusion of\norganic life. Granted: but then we have studied the Sacred Text to\nlittle purpose if we have not yet realized the solemn truth that, to\nour poor and feeble intellects, His judgments are incomprehensible,\nand his ways unsearchable. Did He not set His stars in the remotest\nregions of space, far beyond the reach of unaided human vision, and did\nthey not shine there for ages, though man could see them not? And for\nages, too, did not the wild flowers spring up, and bloom, and decay, in\nmany a fair and favored spot of this beautiful Earth, where there was\nnone to admire their splendor, none to inhale their sweetness? Then\nagain, look at that marvellous kingdom of minute animalcules, in number\nalmost infinite, which only within the last few years the microscope\nhas revealed to our wondering eyes. They swarm around us in the air,\nin the earth, in the water. Millions of them would fit in the hollow\nof your hand; many hundreds might swim side by side, without crowding,\nthrough the eye of a cambric needle. And they too, we can hardly doubt,\nmust have flourished for centuries in countless myriads, unseen and\nunknown by man. It is impossible for us, in our present imperfect\nstate, to understand the motives of an All-wise Creator in this profuse\nexpenditure of his goodness, this lavish display of His power. How\nthen can we presume to say that He may not have good reasons, though\ninscrutable to us, for peopling this Earth with many tribes of plants\nand animals, through a long cycle of ages, before it pleased Him to fit\nit up for the habitation of man? \u201cWho is he among men that can know\nthe counsel of God? or who can find out His designs? For the judgments\nof mortal men are hesitating, and uncertain are our thoughts. For the\ncorruptible body is a load upon the soul, and the earthly dwelling\npresseth down the mind that museth upon many things. And hardly do we\nguess aright at things that are upon earth: and with labor do we find\nthe things that are before us. But the things that are in heaven who\nshall search out?\u201d[133]\n\nWe have heard it sometimes objected that plants and animals could\nnot have existed without light; and that light was not created until\nthe beginning of the First Mosaic Day. Many curious and interesting\nfacts are adduced in support of this argument. For example, we are\nreminded that certain Fossil animals belonging to the earliest\nGeological Periods, are shown by the clearest evidence, to have had\neyes constructed on the same optical principles, and accommodated to\nthe same optical conditions, as the eyes of those animals that have\nflourished on the Earth during the period of history: and such eyes,\nit is contended, plainly import the existence of light. The answer to\nthis objection may be stated in a very few words. We freely admit that\nthe hypothesis we have been defending would be of little use to account\nfor Geological phenomena, if it did not include the existence of light,\nduring that Period of indefinite duration which we suppose to have\nelapsed between the first creation of the world and the work of the Six\nDays. But in truth there is no difficulty in supposing that, during\nsuch an interval, light may have prevailed upon the earth, and air, and\nall the other conditions of organic life, pretty much as they do at\nthe present day. Afterward, at the close of the period, when, perhaps,\nages innumerable had rolled by, this planet of ours would have appeared\nin that condition which is described in the second verse of Genesis:\n\u201cAnd the earth was waste and empty, and darkness was upon the face of\nthe deep.\u201d Then the command of God would have gone forth, \u201cLet there\nbe light:\u201d and at once the darkness would have been dispelled, a new\nera of existence would have commenced, and the Earth would forthwith\nhave been set in order and furnished, in a special manner, for the\nhabitation of man.\n\nEven as regards the Sun, Moon, and Stars, they too may have existed\nbefore the work of the Six Days began. We read, no doubt, that on the\nFourth Day, God said, \u201cLet there be lights in the firmament of the\nheavens to divide the day from the night:\u201d and a little farther on it\nis added that \u201cGod made two great lights; the greater light to rule the\nday, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars.\u201d But then\nit must be remembered that some of our best Commentators, without any\nreference to Geology, have taught that, before this command was given,\nthe heavenly bodies were already in existence for three days, and were\nalready discharging the office of dividing day and night. They explain\nthe passage by saying that the Sun, Moon, and Stars, are represented\nas having been made on the Fourth Day, not because they were then\nproduced for the first time out of nothing, but because the vapors by\nwhich they had been obscured were, on that Day, dissipated, and they\nbegan to shine visibly in the Firmament of Heaven. If this line of\ninterpretation is admissible, and it seems to us not unreasonable,\nthen we are certainly at liberty to hold, consistently with the Mosaic\nnarrative, that the Heavenly bodies may have been created with the\nHeavens and the Earth in the beginning of all time; and that on the\nFourth Day they were made manifest in the Firmament to rule over the\nday and the night, and to regulate the course of the years and the\nseasons.[134]\n\nAgain it is urged against our hypothesis that Moses could not have\npassed over in complete silence such a long and eventful era in the\nhistory of the world. Certainly not, we admit, if he professed to\nwrite a complete history of the Earth and all its revolutions. But\nthis was not his purpose. Every book, whether sacred or profane, must\nbe examined and interpreted according to the end for which it was\ndesigned. Now the end and scope of the Book of Genesis was not to\ninstruct mankind about the movements of the heavenly bodies, or the\nphysical changes of the Earth\u2019s surface, or the laws which govern the\nmaterial universe. It was, first of all, to impress on the minds of\nthe Jewish people that this world of ours is the work of one only God,\ndistinct from all creatures, and Himself the Creator of sun, moon,\nand stars, and of every other object which pagan nations were wont to\nworship: and in the next place, to set forth, briefly and simply, the\nstory of God\u2019s dealings with man in the first ages of the human race.\nWhatever we may hold, therefore, about the revolutions and changes of\nthe Earth\u2019s surface previous to the work of the Six Days, it is plain\nthat the history of these phenomena did not appertain to the object\nwhich the Sacred writer had in view. Consequently he cannot be said, by\nthe omission of these events, to lead his readers into error; he simply\nallows them to remain in ignorance. What it was his purpose to tell,\nhe tells truly: what did not belong to his purpose, he passes by in\nsilence.\n\nBut it is further argued that this long interval of time we have\nbeen contending for, is incompatible with the use of the copulative\nconjunction, by which the several clauses of the narrative are\nconnected together. The Sacred text runs thus:--\u201cIn the beginning God\ncreated the Heavens and the Earth. _And_ the Earth was waste and empty:\nand darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved\nupon the face of the waters. _And_ God said, Let there be light; and\nthere was light.\u201d Is it possible, we are asked, to admit a period of\nindefinite length between events thus closely linked together? Our\nanswer is that, according to the idiom of the Hebrew language, the\nconjunction \u05d5\u05b0 or \u05d5\u05b8 (_ve_ or _va_), which is here employed, while it\nserves to connect together the clauses of a narrative, does not of\nnecessity imply the immediate succession of the events recorded. The\nvery wide and indefinite signification which belongs to this little\nparticle is well known to all who are familiar with the Hebrew text. It\nis sometimes copulative, sometimes adversative, sometimes disjunctive,\nsometimes causal. Very frequently it is used simply for the purpose of\n_continuing the discourse_;[135] and this we believe is the true force\nof the word in the passage under discussion.\n\nAn example very much to the point occurs in the Book of Numbers,\ntwentieth chapter and first verse:--\u201c_And_ the children of Israel, the\nwhole congregation came into the desert of Sin.\u201d Here the narrative\nopens with the connecting particle \u05d5\u05d9\u05d1\u05d5\u05d0\u05d5 \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc \u05db\u05dc \u05d4\u05e2\u05d3\u05d4\u2014:\u05d5. And\nyet the reader will find, if he carefully examine the passage, that\nthe event thus introduced by the sacred writer was separated by a\nperiod of eight-and-thirty years from those which had been related in\nthe pre\u05e8ceding chapter. This conjunction, therefore, does not exclude\nan interval of eight-and-thirty years between the events which it\nlinks together in history. And that being so, there is no good reason\nfor supposing that it should, of necessity, exclude an interval of\nindefinite length.\n\nThe Weakness of this objection may be made even more strikingly\nmanifest by an inspection of the opening words in the first chapter\nof Ezechiel:\u2014\u05e8\u05d9\u05d4\u05d9 \u05d1\u05e9\u05dc\u05e9\u05d9\u05dd \u05e9\u05e0\u05d4. So little did the notion prevail that\nthe conjunction \u05d5 (_ve_) could be used only to connect together events\nclosely associated in point of time, that here it actually _begins_ the\nnarrative, and is, in fact, the first word of the whole book. In the\nDouay version the passage is not inaptly rendered after this manner:\n\u201cNow it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the\nfifth day of the month, when I was in the midst of the captives by the\nRiver Chobar, the heavens were opened, and I saw the visions of God.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe have now brought to a conclusion the first part of our inquiry.\nWe have endeavored to show that there is nothing in Scripture or\nTradition which forbids us to admit a long interval of time between\nthe Creation of the world and the work of the Six Days. It remains to\nexamine what was the nature of these Six Days themselves. Were they, as\nSaint Augustine maintained, one single indivisible instant of time? or\nwere they days of twenty-four hours, as is more commonly supposed? or\nwere they simply periods of time of which the duration is left wholly\nundetermined in the Sacred Text?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER XX._\n\nSECOND HYPOTHESIS;--THE DAYS OF CREATION LONG PERIODS OF TIME.\n\n    _Diversity of opinion among the early fathers regarding the\n    days of creation--Saint Augustine, Philo Jud\u00e6us, Clement\n    of Alexandria, Origen, Saint Athanasius, Saint Eucherius,\n    Procopius--Albertus Magnus, Saint Thomas, Cardinal\n    Cajetan--Inference from these testimonies--First argument in\n    favor of the popular interpretation; a day, in the literal\n    sense, means a period of twenty-four hours--Answer--This word\n    often used in Scripture for an indefinite period--Examples\n    from the Old and New Testament--Second argument; the days of\n    creation have an evening and a morning--Answer--Interpretation\n    of Saint Augustine, Venerable Bede, and other fathers of the\n    church--Third argument; the reason alleged for the institution\n    of the Sabbath-day--Answer--The law of the Sabbath extended to\n    every seventh year as well as to every seventh day--The seventh\n    day of God\u2019s rest a long period of indefinite duration._\n\n\nNo one who will take the trouble to investigate, with any reasonable\ndiligence and research, the nature of the Mosaic Days, can fail to be\nstruck with the remarkable diversity of opinion that existed on the\nsubject among the early Fathers of the Church. Yet this diversity of\nopinion is often overlooked by modern writers. They fancy that the\nmeaning of the word Day is so plain as to leave no room for doubt\nor controversy; that a day can be nothing else than a period of\ntwenty-four hours, marked by the succession of light and darkness; and\nthat in this sense the Mosaic narrative was universally understood\nuntil quite recently, when a new explanation was invented, to meet the\nrequirements of modern science. All this is far from true. The meaning\nof the Mosaic Days has been, in point of fact, a subject of controversy\nfrom the earliest times. And Saint Augustine tells us that the question\nappeared to him so difficult that he could pronounce no decisive\njudgment upon it. \u201cAs to these Days,\u201d he says, \u201cwhat kind they were, it\nis very difficult, nay, it is impossible to imagine, and much more so\nto explain.\u201d[136]\n\nNevertheless, this great Doctor, having long pondered over the subject,\nand considered it on many sides, does not hesitate to express his own\nopinion. And he departs very widely, indeed, from the literal and\nobvious interpretation. He maintains, at great length,[137] as we had\nbefore occasion to observe, that God created all things in a single\ninstant of time, according to the words of Ecclesiasticus, \u201cHe who\nliveth forever created all things at once.\u201d[138] Thus he is led to\ninfer that the Six Days commemorated by Moses were, in reality, but one\nday; and this not such a day as those which are now measured by the\nrevolution of the sun, for we find three successive days recorded by\nMoses before the sun appeared in the Heavens. It was, in fact, nothing\nelse than that one single instant of time in which all things were\ncreated together.[139]\n\nNor was this opinion peculiar to Saint Augustine. At the very dawn of\nthe Christian Era it was set forth by Philo the Jew; and afterward it\nwas maintained by Clement of Alexandria, and by Origen. The great Saint\nAthanasius seems to throw the weight of his authority in the same\ndirection, when he says, speaking of the Creation, that \u201cno one thing\nwas made before another, but all things were produced at once together\nby the self-same command.\u201d And after the time of Saint Augustine this\nfigurative interpretation was defended by Saint Eucherius, Bishop\nof Lyons, in the course of the fifth century, and by Procopius of\nGaza in the sixth. In the days of the schools we find it approved by\nAlbertus Magnus, and treated respectfully by Saint Thomas; and later\nstill, adopted by Cardinal Cajetan, in his commentary on the Book of\nGenesis.[140]\n\nIt will be said, perhaps, that we are here arguing against ourselves:\nthese eminent writers are in favor of reducing the days of Creation to\none single point of time; whereas it is our purpose to stretch them\nout to periods of indefinite length. But no: our object just now is\nnot precisely to establish our own hypothesis, but rather to prepare\nthe way for its discussion. We want to show that we are quite free to\nabandon the popular view of the Mosaic Days if there be good reason for\nour doing so. And it seems to us that we have abundantly established\nthis point by a long list of eminent ecclesiastical writers, who,\nwithout any note of censure, have diverged very widely from the common\ninterpretation. No doubt they have shortened the time, and we want to\nlengthen it. But in this they agree with us, that the days of Creation\nare not of necessity days in the ordinary sense of the word. Nay, Saint\nAugustine goes farther, and maintains, from the evidence of the Sacred\nText itself, that they cannot be understood in this sense.[141]\n\nHaving thus cleared away a serious difficulty that seemed to obstruct\nour path, we may proceed without hesitation to the direct object of\nour inquiry. The burden of proof, let it be remembered, is not with\nus, but rather with those who contend for Days of twenty-four hours.\nThey must prove that this word Day in the first chapter of Genesis\nmeans a period of twenty-four hours, and _can mean nothing else_. If it\n_may_ be understood in a wider sense, consistently with the usage of\nScripture, that is quite enough for us. We are perfectly at liberty to\nadopt an interpretation which, on the one hand, the Sacred Text fairly\nadmits, and on the other, the discoveries of Natural Science would seem\nto demand. Let us examine, then, the arguments that are usually adduced\nin favor of the popular interpretation.\n\nThroughout the first chapter of Genesis the Hebrew word \u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd (_yom_)\nis everywhere employed by Moses to designate the Days of Creation.\nAnd many writers contend that the use of this word is, in itself,\nevidence enough that he spoke of days in the common sense of the term.\nIt is plain, they say, from the usage of Scripture, that the word \u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd\n(_yom_) had a fixed and certain meaning in the Hebrew language; the\nsame precisely as that which we now attach to the English word Day.\nSometimes, when contra-distinguished from night, it was applied to\nthe period of light, from sunrise to sunset; otherwise, it meant the\ncivil day of twenty-four hours, measured by the revolution of the Sun.\nMoreover, it had unquestionably attained this meaning at the time when\nMoses wrote, and therefore it could not have been employed by him in\nany other sense.\n\nThis argument rests upon a false foundation. It is true, no doubt,\nthat the word \u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd (_yom_) was more usually employed in one or other\nof the two senses just explained;--that is to say, (1) for the period\nof light from sunrise to sunset, or (2) for the period of twenty-four\nhours corresponding to a complete revolution of the Sun. But, for the\nvalidity of the argument, it would be necessary to show that, beside\nthese two senses, there is no other in which the word may be fairly\nunderstood, conformably to the usage of the Hebrew language. Now this\nhas never yet been proved. On the contrary, the Scripture affords\nabundant evidence that the word \u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd (_yom_) had a third meaning quite\ndifferent from the other two; that it was freely used to designate\na period of time much longer than a common day, and generally of\nuncertain and indefinite duration. A few examples will be interesting,\nwe hope, to our readers.\n\nIn the second chapter of Genesis, Moses, having completed his account\nof the Creation, says (v. 4): \u201cThese are the generations of the Heavens\nand the Earth when they were created, in the _Day_ \u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd, (_yom_) that\nthe Lord God created the Earth and the Heavens: (v. 5), and every\nplant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the\nfield before it grew.\u201d There is a good deal of controversy about the\nprecise meaning of this passage. But one thing at least appears to be\nplain, that the word \u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd (_yom_), is not used to designate a day of\ntwenty-four hours; nor yet the period of light from sunrise to sunset;\nbut rather the whole period of the Creation.\n\nOn this point almost all our best commentators are agreed. \u201cIt is\nmanifest,\u201d says Venerable Bede, \u201cthat in this place the sacred writer\nhas put the word Day for all that time during which the primeval\ncreation was brought into existence. For it was not upon any one of\nthe Six Days that the sky was made and adorned with stars, and the\ndry land was separated from the waters, and furnished with trees and\nplants. But, _according to its accustomed practice_, Scripture here\nuses the word day in the sense of time.\u201d Saint Augustine gives even a\nwider expansion to the word when he writes: \u201cSeven Days are enumerated\nabove, and now that is called one Day in which God made the Heavens\nand the Earth, and every green thing of the field; by which term we\nmay well suppose that _all time is meant_. For God then made all time\nwhen He made creatures that live in time; and these creatures are\nhere signified by the Heavens and the Earth.\u201d Molina on the same\npassage says: \u201cLearned writers tell us commonly that Moses in this\nplace puts the word Day in the sense of Time, just as in the passage\nof Deuteronomy, \u2018The day of perdition is at hand.\u2019... And elsewhere in\nScripture Day is often used for Time.\u201d Bannez, too, concurs in this\nopinion. \u201cThe word Day,\u201d he says, \u201ccan be understood _for any duration\nwhatsoever_.\u201d Perrerius, answering an objection taken from this text,\nsays that \u201cDay is put for Time, as is _frequently done in Scripture_.\u201d\nAnd Petavius not only adopts this interpretation, but contends that it\nis conformable to the usage even of the Greek and Latin writers. He\ngives an example from Cicero against Verres: \u201cItaque cum ego _diem_ in\nSiciliam perexiguam postulavissem, invenit iste qui sibi in Achaiam\n_biduo breviorem diem_ postularet.\u201d[142] Here, then, is an instance in\nwhich Moses himself uses the word Day (\u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd, _yom_) not in the ordinary\nsense, but for a long period of time;--for all that time, whatever it\nmay have been, which elapsed from the first act of creation to the\nclose of the Six Days.\n\nAnother striking example occurs in the prophet Amos. \u201cBehold, the days\nare coming, saith the Lord God, and I will send forth a famine into\nthe land: not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing\nthe word of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea and from\nthe north to the east; they shall go about seeking the word of the\nLord, and shall not find it. In that _day_ (\u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd, _yom_) shall the fair\nvirgins and the young men faint for thirst.\u201d[143] Every one will see\nat a glance that the word Day in the latter part of this passage does\nnot mean a day of twenty-four hours. It evidently refers to the whole\nperiod during which the calamities here foretold were to be inflicted\non the Jewish people. What that period was may be a question of\ndispute. By some it is taken for the time of the Babylonian captivity;\nby others, for the present age of the world, in which the Jews are\nwanderers on the face of the earth, without a prophet and without a\npastor, thirsting for the word of God, and seeking it in vain. But, in\nany case, it is clear from the opening words: \u201cBehold, the days are\ncoming,\u201d that it was a period not of one day only, but of many.\n\nThen we have those well known words addressed by God the Father to His\nEternal Son: \u201cThou art my Son, this _day_ (\u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd, _yom_) have I begotten\nthee.\u201d[144] The Son of God was begotten of the Father before all ages;\nand the _day_, therefore, on which he was begotten, cannot be a common\nday of twenty-four hours, but must rather be the long day of Eternity,\nwithout beginning and without end.\n\nThis text, we know, is sometimes applied to the day of our Lord\u2019s\nResurrection; and sometimes, too, to the day of His Incarnation:\nnor do we want to deny that it may be thus rightly explained in a\nsecondary and mystical sense. But in its literal sense we think it\nplainly refers to the Eternal Generation of the Son. This meaning is\nsufficiently implied by the word _begotten_, which cannot be understood\nwith propriety, except of that Generation by virtue of which our Divine\nLord was from Eternity the natural Son of God. Moreover, this is the\nsense in which the passage is adopted by Saint Paul in his Epistle to\nthe Hebrews. Wishing to show that Our Lord has received by inheritance\na name more excellent than any given to the Angels, he argues thus:\n\u201cFor to which of the Angels hath he said at any time, Thou art my Son,\nthis day have I begotten thee?\u201d[145] Now it seems to us that, unless\nwe understand these words of the Eternal Generation, the point of\nthe Apostle\u2019s argument is completely lost. The Angels are sometimes\ncalled in Scripture the sons of God; but they were only the _adopted\nsons_, whereas Our Lord was the _natural Son_ in virtue of His Eternal\nGeneration. Consequently it was no other than the Eternal Generation\nwhich made the name of Son more excellent when applied to Christ than\nthe same name when applied to the angels.\n\nAgain, it is quite a common thing, with the prophets generally, to use\nthe word (\u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd, yom) for the season of tribulation and affliction,\nthough the same may have extended over a period of many days or even\nmany years. Jeremias employs it in this sense when he describes so\nvividly the manifold calamities that were impending over the ill-fated\nBabylon. \u201cI have caused thee to fall into a snare, and thou art taken,\nO Babylon, and thou wast not aware of it: thou art found and caught\nbecause thou hast provoked the Lord. The Lord hath opened His armory,\nand hath brought forth the weapons of his wrath: for the Lord the God\nof hosts hath a work to be done in the land of the Chaldeans. Come ye\nagainst her from the uttermost borders: open, that they may go forth\nthat shall tread her down: take the stones out of the way, and make\nheaps, and destroy her: and let nothing of her be left. Destroy all\nher valiant men, let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them, for\ntheir _day_ (\u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd, yom) is come, _the time_ of their visitation. The\nvoice of them that flee, and of them that have escaped out of the\nland of Babylon: to declare in Sion the revenge of the Lord our God,\nthe revenge of His temple. Declare to many against Babylon, to all\nthat bend the bow: stand together against her round about, and let\nnone escape; pay her according to her work: according to all that she\nhath done, do ye to her: for she hath lifted up herself against the\nLord, against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore shall her young men\nfall in her streets: and all her men of war shall hold their peace in\nthat _day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_), saith the Lord. Behold I come against thee,\nO proud one, saith the Lord the God of hosts: for the _day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8,\n_yom_) is come, the _time_ of thy visitation. And the proud one shall\nfall, he shall fall down, and there shall be none to lift him up: and\nI will kindle afire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about\nhim.\u201d[146] And in the following chapter:--\u201cThus saith the Lord: Behold,\nI will raise up as it were a pestilential wind against Babylon, and\nagainst the inhabitants thereof who have lifted up their heart against\nme. And I will send to Babylon fanners, and they shall fan her, and\nshall destroy her land: for they are come upon her on every side in the\n_day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_) of her affliction.\u201d[147]\n\nIn another place the same prophet applies the word \u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8 (_yom_) to the\nwhole duration of a long campaign carried on by Nabuchodonosor against\nPharao Nechao, king of Egypt. \u201cPrepare ye the shield and buckler, and\ngo forth to battle. Harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen: stand\nforth with helmets, furbish the spears, put on coats of mail. What\nthen? I have seen them dismayed, and turning their backs, their valiant\nones slain: they fled apace, they looked not back: terror was round\nabout, saith the Lord. Let not the swift flee away, nor the strong\nthink to escape: they are overthrown and fallen down, toward the north\nby the river Euphrates. Who is this that cometh up as a flood: and\nhis streams swell like those of rivers? Egypt riseth up like a flood,\nand the waves thereof shall be moved as rivers, and he shall say: I\nwill go up and will cover the earth: I will destroy the city and its\ninhabitants. Get ye up on horses, and glory in chariots, and let the\nvaliant men come forth, the Ethiopians and the Lybians, that handle the\nshield, and the Lydians that handle and bend the bow. For this is the\n_day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_) of the Lord the God of hosts, a _day_ of vengeance\nthat He may revenge Himself of His enemies: the sword shall devour,\nand shall be filled, and shall be drunk with their blood: for there\nis a sacrifice of the Lord God of hosts in the north country, by the\nriver Euphrates.... Furnish thyself to go into captivity, thou daughter\ninhabitant of Egypt: for Memphis shall be made desolate, and shall be\nforsaken and uninhabited. Egypt is like a fair and beautiful heifer:\nthere shall come from the north one that shall goad her. Her hirelings\nalso that lived in the midst of her, like fatted calves are turned\nback, and are fled away together, and they could not stand: for the\n_day_(\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_) of their slaughter is come upon them, the _time_ of\ntheir visitation.\u201d[148]\n\nThe prophet Ezechiel, too, furnishes a forcible illustration when\nhe thus foreshadows the course of a second expedition against Egypt\nundertaken by the same prince:-- \u201cTherefore thus saith the Lord God:\nBehold I will set Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon in the land of\nEgypt: and he shall take her multitude, and take the booty thereof for\na prey, and rifle the spoils thereof: and it shall be wages for his\narmy; and for the service he hath done me against it: I have given\nhim the land of Egypt, because he hath labored for me, saith the Lord\nGod. In that _day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_) a horn shall bud forth for the house\nof Israel, and I will give thee an open mouth in the midst of them:\nand they shall know that I am the Lord.\u201d[149] And a little further\non:--\u201cFor the _day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_) is near, yea the _day_ of the Lord\nis near: a cloudy _day_, it shall be the _time_ of the nations. And\nthe sword shall come upon Egypt: and there shall be dread in Ethiopia,\nwhen the wounded shall fall in Egypt, and the multitude thereof shall\nbe taken away, and the foundations thereof shall be destroyed. Ethiopia\nand Lybia, and Lydia, and all the rest of the crowd, and Chub, and\nthe children of the land of the covenant, shall fall with them by the\nsword.... And they shall know that I am the Lord: when I shall have\nset a fire in Egypt, and all the helpers thereof shall be destroyed.\nIn that _day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_), shall messengers go forth from my face in\nships to destroy the confidence of Ethiopia, and there shall be dread\namong them in that _day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_) of Egypt: because it shall\ncertainly come.\u201d[150]\n\nOnce more, this word is applied to the period of Our Lord\u2019s life\nupon earth, and even to the whole duration of the Christian Church.\nSophonias, for example, thus foretells the coming of the kingdom\nof Christ. \u201cWherefore expect me, saith the Lord, in the day of my\nresurrection that is to come, for my judgment is to assemble the\nGentiles, and to gather the kingdoms.... From beyond the rivers of\nEthiopia shall my suppliants, the children of my dispersed people,\nbring me an offering. In that _day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_) thou shalt not be\nashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me:\nfor then I will take away out of the midst of thee thy proud boasters,\nand thou shalt no more be lifted up because of my holy mountain....\nGive praise, O daughter of Sion: shout, O Israel: be glad and rejoice\nwith all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away\nthy judgment, he hath turned away thy enemies: the King of Israel the\nLord is in the midst of thee, thou shalt fear evil no more. In that\n_day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_) it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not; to Sion:\nLet not thy hands be weakened. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is\nmighty, He will save: He will rejoice over thee with gladness, He will\nbe silent in His love, He will be joyful over thee in praise.\u201d[151]\n\nAnd Isaias: \u201cIs it not yet a very little while, and Libanon shall be\nturned into a charmel, and charmel shall be esteemed as a forest? And\nin that _day_ (\u05dd\u05da\u05c4\u05e8, _yom_) the deaf shall hear the words of the book,\nand out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind shall see. And\nthe meek shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor men shall\nrejoice in the Holy One of Israel.\u201d[152] That this passage refers to\nthe time of the Christian Church there can be no doubt; for our Lord\nhimself appeals to it in proof of His divine mission: \u201cGo and relate to\nJohn what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the\nlepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have\nthe Gospel preached to them.\u201d[153]\n\nWe may trace this use of the word even in the New Testament. Our Lord\nsays, arguing with the Jews: \u201cAbraham your father rejoiced that he\nmight see my _day_: he saw it and was glad.\u201d[154] Saint Paul, too,\nthough writing in the Greek language to the Corinthians, does not\nhesitate to adopt a passage from Isaias, in which the same meaning is\nconspicuously brought out: \u201cAnd we helping do exhort you, that you\nreceive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith: In an accepted\ntime have I heard thee, and in the _day_ of salvation have I helped\nthee. Behold, now is the _acceptable time_: behold, now is the _day of\nsalvation_.\u201d[155] And finally, Our Divine Lord, in His last touching\naddress to the city of Jerusalem, applies the word _day_ to the season\nof grace and mercy: \u201cWhen he drew near, seeing the city, He wept over\nit, saying: If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy _day_,\nthe things that are to thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy\neyes. For the days shall come upon thee; and thy enemies shall cast a\ntrench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every\nside.\u201d[156]\n\nSo much, then, for the first argument. From the numerous examples we\nhave given it is plain enough that the word word \u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd (_yom), in\nScripture language, was often used for a period of many days, and even\nmany years; nay sometimes for a period of many centuries. If so, Moses\nwas free to use it in this sense. And consequently, as far as the word\nitself is concerned, it affords no conclusive proof that the Days\nof Creation were days of twenty-four hours only: we may hold them to\nbelong and indefinite periods of time, without departing in any degree\nfrom the established usage of Scripture.\n\nBut it is urged--and this is the second argument,--that, whatever\nmay be the meaning of the word word \u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd (_yom) elsewhere, in the\nfirst chapter of Genesis it must mean a day of twenty-four hours. For\nwe are not merely told that there was a First Day, and a Second Day,\nand a Third Day; but each day is in a manner analyzed by the sacred\nwriter, and its component parts set forth for our instruction. _There\nwas evening and there was morning_, he says, the First Day; _there\nwas evening and there was morning_ the Second Day; _there was evening\nand there was morning_ the Third Day; and so on. Now if the word were\nunderstood of those indefinite periods we have been speaking about,\nthere would be no meaning in this analysis: for it could hardly be\nmaintained that each of those periods had but one evening and one\nmorning like an ordinary day. Furthermore, it is argued that there is\na peculiar appropriateness in this phrase, which goes far to confirm\nthe common interpretation. Amongst the Jews it was usual to compute\nthe civil day from sunset to sunset. The civil day began then with the\nevening. And accordingly Moses, in describing the Days of Creation,\nputs the evening first, and says: There was evening and there was\nmorning the First Day; there was evening and there was morning the\nSecond Day; and so for the rest.\n\nAll this reasoning seems to us unsatisfactory and inconclusive. In\nthe first place, it is not a fact, as would seem to be supposed, that\nthe civil day is made up of evening and morning. The evening and the\nmorning do not make the whole day; they are only certain periods of\nthe day. Neither do they mark the limits of the day: for, though it is\nquite true that, in the computation of the Jews, the civil day began\nwith the evening, it certainly did not end with the morning. If, then,\nby the word Day, Moses here meant the civil day of twenty-four hours,\nhow is this clause to be understood, There was evening and there was\nmorning the First Day? It cannot mean that the evening and the morning\nput together made up the First Day: for this is not a fact. It cannot\nmean that the evening marked the beginning of the day, and the morning\nmarked its close: for the period included between the evening and the\nmorning is not the day but the night. What does it mean, then?\n\nMany writers seem to suppose that the evening and the morning are\nintended by Moses to designate the night and the day;--that is to say,\nthe whole period of darkness and the whole period of light, which\nput together make up the civil day of twenty-four hours. If the text\ncould be explained in this way, it would fit in, no doubt, much more\nappropriately with the theory of ordinary days than with the theory of\nindefinite periods. But the text _cannot_ be explained in this way. The\nevening is _not_ the whole period of darkness, and the morning is _not_\nthe whole period of light. No English writer could say, with propriety,\nthat the Day is made up of the evening and the morning. Neither could\nMoses have meant to say this in the first chapter of Genesis: for the\nHebrew words \u05e2\u05e8\u05d1 (_Ghereb_) _and_ \u05d1\u05e7\u05e8 (_Boker_) which are found in the\noriginal text, have a meaning not less fixed and definite than the\ncorresponding words Evening and the Morning in the English language.\n\nTo prove the truth of this assertion by an investigation of all the\npassages in the Hebrew Bible, in which these words are found, would\nbe a tedious and uninteresting task. But it may be easily tested in\nanother way. If the words \u05e2\u05e8\u05d1 (_Ghereb_) and \u05d1\u05e7\u05e8 (_Boker_) were ever\nused to mean, not strictly the evening and morning, but the whole\nperiod of night and the whole period of day, this fact would surely\nhave become known in the course of time to some of the many eminent\nand accomplished Hebrew lexicographers. We ask, then, is there one\nHebrew lexicon of note which assigns the sense of _night_ to the word\n\u05e2\u05e8\u05d1 (_Ghereb_) and the sense of _day_ to the word \u05d1\u05e7\u05e8 (_Boker_). For\nourselves, we have searched several of the best of them, and we have\nnot found a single one that even hints at such an explanation.\n\nPerhaps, however, some of our readers might be unwilling to accept\nthe authority of lexicons as conclusive on a point of this kind;\nseeing that lexicons very often represent but imperfectly the full\npower of a language. Well, then, there is another process, and a\nsimple one enough, by which they may demonstrate the inaccuracy of our\nstatement, if inaccurate it be. Let them produce any passage from the\nHebrew Bible in which the words \u05e2\u05e8\u05d1 (_Ghereb_) and \u05d1\u05e7\u05e8 (_Boker_) are\nemployed to designate the whole night and the whole day. If they fail\nto do so,--and as far as we are aware, no such passage has yet been\ndiscovered,--then surely we may fairly contend that the interpretation\nwhich thus explains the words in the first chapter of Genesis\ncannot be regarded as certain: nor can the argument founded on that\ninterpretation be received as conclusive.\n\nThere is a text in the eighth chapter of the prophet Daniel which\nmight, perhaps, appear at first sight to militate against our opinion.\nThe prophet had a vision in which it was foreshadowed that Antiochus\nEpiphanes should come and prevail against the Jews, and should profane\nthe temple of God, and should abolish the daily sacrifice. One of the\nAngels in the vision is heard asking of another, for how long should\nthe daily sacrifice cease, and the sanctuary remain desolate. And\nthe answer is given in these words: \u201cUnto _evening-morning_ (\u05e2\u05d3 \u05e2\u05e8\u05d1\n\u05d1\u05e7\u05e8, ghad ghereb boker) two thousand three hundred; then shall the\nsanctuary be cleansed.\u201d[157] Now, this is commonly understood to mean\nthat the daily sacrifice should be abolished for two thousand three\nhundred _days_. And therefore, it would seem that, in this passage,\nthe _evening and morning_ are used to signify the _whole civil day_ of\ntwenty-four hours.\n\nWe will not dispute the correctness of the interpretation which is here\nset forth, although the words of the Angel are explained in a very\ndifferent sense by many eminent commentators. But we think that the\npassage, even when understood according to this interpretation, cannot\nfairly be brought in evidence against us. The evening and the morning\ndo not make up the whole day: but they occur once, and only once, in\neach day. Therefore a period of many days may be properly signified\nby noting the recurrence of the evening and morning a certain number\nof times. And in point of fact, a usage of this kind seems to prevail\nin most languages. The common word _fortnight_, in English, affords a\ngood illustration. It signifies a period of fourteen nights and days:\nyet it does not specify the recurrence of fourteen days, but only the\nrecurrence of fourteen nights. Again, the poet says:\n\n    \u201cFair was she to behold, that maiden of seventeen _summers_.\u201d\n\nNobody would argue from these examples that the word _summer_ means a\nperiod of twelve months; or that the word _night_ means a period of\ntwenty-four hours. And so, in the case before us, the recurrence of the\nevening and morning two thousand three hundred times may be pointed\nout to mark a period of two thousand three hundred days, although the\nevening and morning are not the whole day, but only certain parts of\nthe day. Nay, more; we fancy we can see a good reason why the Angel in\nthe vision should single out the evening and the morning for special\nnotice. He had been asked about the profanation of the sanctuary, and\nthe abolition of the daily sacrifice. Now it was in the evening and the\nmorning that the daily sacrifice was wont to be offered. And the Angel\nseems to answer: The evening and the morning shall return two thousand\nthree hundred times; and there shall be no evening and morning\nsacrifice: but, after that time, the sanctuary shall be cleansed and\nsacrifice restored.\n\nSo far we have been arguing from the common usage of Scripture that\nthe evening and the morning mentioned in the history of the Creation\ncannot mean the whole night and the whole day. But there is a special\nobjection against this interpretation from the history of the Creation\nitself. The fifth verse in the first chapter of Genesis runs thus:\n\u201cAnd God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And\nthere was evening and there was morning the First Day.\u201d In the first\nsentence it is recorded that God, having divided the light from the\ndarkness, gave to each its proper name: He called the light, Day;\nand the darkness, Night. Is it not highly improbable that, after\nthis announcement, the sacred writer would himself, in the very next\nsentence, employ names altogether different, if he wished to designate\nthe period of light and the period of darkness?\n\nWe are not maintaining that the phrase under consideration--\u201cthere\nwas evening and there was morning the First Day\u201d--cannot be explained\non the hypothesis that the Days of Creation were days of twenty-four\nhours. But we do contend that it affords no conclusive proof in favor\nof that hypothesis; because even in that hypothesis the meaning of\nthe phrase is still doubtful and obscure. For ourselves, we candidly\nconfess we can offer no explanation that seems to us, in any system of\ninterpretation, altogether satisfactory. We may be allowed, however, to\ncall attention to an opinion put forward by Saint Augustine, which fits\nin very appropriately with the doctrine that the Days of Creation were\nlong periods of time. The distinctions of evening and morning, he says,\nare not to be understood in reference to the rising and setting of the\nSun, which, in point of fact, was not created until the Fourth Day;\nbut rather in reference to the works themselves that are recorded to\nhave been produced. In this way the evening will naturally represent\nthe bringing to an end of the work that had been accomplished; and the\nmorning, on the other hand, the coming in of the work that was to be.\nThis opinion was afterward adopted by Saint Eucherius, Bishop of Lyons,\nwho seems almost to borrow the very words of Saint Augustine; and also\nby Venerable Bede, who says: \u201cWhat is the evening, but the completion\nof each work? and the morning, but the beginning of the next?\u201d In\nthe twelfth century we find it again set forth by Saint Hildegarde,\nwho was considered by Saint Bernard, as well as by Pope Eugenius the\nThird, to have been gifted with the spirit of prophecy.[158] This\ninterpretation, it is true, does not explain the words _evening_ and\n_morning_ according to their literal signification: but then the\nmetaphorical sense it ascribes to them is both simple and appropriate;\nmore especially if we understand the word Day in the sense of a long\nand indefinite period. As the morning literally means the break of day,\nand the evening its decline, the Sacred Writer might, not inaptly, have\nemployed these words to represent metaphorically the opening and the\nclose of the various works which are ascribed to each successive period\nin the history of the Creation.\n\nIt may be observed, moreover, that this explanation seems quite in\naccord with the etymology of the Hebrew words \u05e2\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05d1 (_Ghereb_), and\n\u05d1\u05bc\u05e7\u05e8 (_Boker_). The latter is formed from the root \u05d1\u05bc\u05e7\u05b6\u05e8 (_Bakar_), _to\nlay open_, and used to signify the morning, because in the morning\nthe light of the sun is, as it were, unveiled, and _laid open_ to\nthe earth. Hence, the word might be applied with much propriety, in\na metaphorical sense, to the unfolding of the various works of God,\nas each new period was, in its turn, ushered in with a new act of\nCreation. On the other hand, \u05e2\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05d1 (_Ghereb_) seems to be derived from\n\u05e2\u05e8\u05d1 (_Gharab_), _to mingle_, and has probably come to signify the\nevening, as the famous Hebrew scholar, Aben Ezra, suggests, because,\nin the uncertain light of evening, the forms of external objects\nlose their distinctness of outline, and become, in a manner, blended\ntogether. And so this word might have been employed, not unfitly, to\nrepresent the close of each period in the creation, which was marked,\nas Geologists tell us, by the gradual dying out or extinction of the\nvarious forms of life peculiar to that period. Anyhow, in following the\nopinion of so ancient and so venerable an authority as Saint Augustine,\nwe cannot be charged with unduly straining the Sacred Text to meet the\nexigencies of modern science.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe next argument is founded on a passage in Exodus, to which we have\nalready had occasion to refer: \u201cSix days shalt thou labor, and do all\nthy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou\nshalt do no work on it, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy\nman-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger\nthat is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made the Heavens\nand the Earth, and the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the\nseventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and sanctified\nit.\u201d[159] We are to work upon six days, and to rest upon the seventh;\n_because_ in six days God accomplished all the works of the creation,\nand rested on the seventh. There can be no mistake as to the meaning\nof this commandment. The six days on which it is lawful to labor are,\nbeyond all doubt, six days in the common sense of the word; six days of\ntwenty-four hours each: and the seventh day, on which it is forbidden\nto work, is a day of the same kind. But the example of God\u2019s labor and\nGod\u2019s rest is set forth, in the text, as the pattern after which this\nlaw of the Sabbath was framed. And therefore, the six days in which God\nfurnished and embellished the earth must have been likewise six days of\ntwenty-four hours each. This argument is regarded by many writers as\ndecisive.\n\nTo us, on the contrary, it seems by no means necessary to understand\nthe days on which God labored and rested, in precisely the same sense\nas the days on which it is enjoined that we should labor and rest. The\nexamples of God is, no doubt, represented in the Sacred Text as the\nreason for the Jewish Sabbath: \u201cSix days shalt thou labor, and rest\nupon the seventh; _for_ in six days the Lord made the Heavens and the\nEarth, and rested on the seventh.\u201d But, suppose for a moment that the\ndays of creation were long periods of time, will not the significance\nof this reason remain unchanged? As God, in the great work of the\ncreation, labored for six successive periods, and then rested for a\nseventh, so shall you likewise do all your work during six of those\nsuccessive periods into which your time is divided, and rest upon the\nseventh.\n\nIn support of this view, we may observe that the Jews were commanded to\nabstain from work, not only every seventh _day_, but also every seventh\n_year_. \u201cSix years thou shalt sow thy ground, and shalt gather the corn\nthereof; but the seventh year thou shalt let it alone, and suffer it\nto rest, that the poor of thy people may eat, and whatsoever shall be\nleft, let the beasts of the field eat it: in like manner shalt thou\ndo with thy vineyard and thy oliveyard. Six days shalt thou work: the\nseventh day thou shalt cease, that thy ox and thy ass may rest; and\nthe son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed.\u201d[160] And\nin another place we read: \u201cWhen you shall have entered into the land\nwhich I will give you, observe the rest of the Sabbath to the Lord.\nSix years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune\nthy vineyard, and shalt gather the fruits thereof; but in the seventh\nyear there shall be a Sabbath to the land, of the resting of the Lord;\nthou shalt not sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. What the ground\nshall bring forth of itself thou shalt not reap: neither shalt thou\ngather the grapes of the first fruits as a vintage; for it is a year of\nrest to the land: But they shall be unto you for meat; to thee, and to\nthy man-servant, and to thy maid-servant, and to thy hireling, and to\nthe strangers that sojourn with thee, to thy beasts of burden, and to\nthy cattle, all things that grow shall be for meat.\u201d[161] The seventh\nyear, then, according to Divine command, was a year of rest among the\nJews, just as the seventh day was a day of rest; and it is evident\nthat the one precept, no less than the other, was founded on the great\nexample of God\u2019s rest when He had finished the work of Creation. We\nare satisfied, therefore, that whatever may have been the length of\nthose six days in which God labored, and of the seventh day on which He\nrested, His example might still be properly set forth as the model on\nwhich the law of the Sabbath was founded.\n\nIt is urged, however, that in this passage of Exodus, we have the same\nword \u05d9\u05d5\u05ba\u05dd (_yom_) applied in the very same context to the six days of\nthe Creation and to the six days of the week; and it can hardly be\nsupposed that the inspired writer would pass thus suddenly from one\nmeaning of the word to another, and a very different meaning, without\ngiving any intimation to his readers of such a transition. If this\nargument is a good one, we can only say that it completely oversets the\nopinion of those against whom we are contending. In the fifth verse\nof the first chapter of Genesis we read: \u201cAnd God called the _light_\n_Day_, and the _darkness_ he called _Night_. And there was evening and\nthere was morning the first _Day_.\u201d Now, those who reject the theory\nof long periods, maintain that by the word Day in the latter part of\nthis verse, is meant the whole civil day of twenty-four hours; while it\nis plain that, in the earlier part of the verse, the same word Day is\nemphatically applied to only a part of that period--that is, to the\ntime of light as distinguished from the time of darkness. Therefore,\nthey are themselves, in fact, upholding an interpretation which\nsupposes the inspired writer to pass from one meaning of the word Day\nto another, without any intimation of a change of meaning.\n\nBut we do not want to shrink from dealing with this argument on its\nmerits. The principle on which it is founded seems to us unsound and\ninconsistent with the evidence of the Sacred Books themselves. It is\nquite a common thing, we contend, in Scripture, for the writer to pass\nfrom one meaning of a word to another without any explicit indication\nof such a transition, when, as in the case before us, the two senses,\nthough different, are analogous: the one being, as it were, the figure,\nor the symbol, or the pattern, of the other. A few examples will make\nthis clear. In the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, we\nread as follows: \u201cFor the charity of Christ presseth us: judging this,\nthat if one _died_ for all, then all were _dead_; and Christ _died_ for\nall.\u201d[162] Here, when it is said that \u201call were _dead_,\u201d the meaning\nis, that all men were _dead spiritually_ by sin; whereas, in the clause\nimmediately preceding, and in the clause immediately following, the\nsame word is used in its literal sense for the death of Christ upon\nthe cross. And yet the Apostle, though he thus passed from the literal\nto the metaphorical sense of the word, and then back again from the\nmetaphorical sense to the literal, gives no express indication of these\ntransitions.\n\nAgain, in the Gospel, when a certain man, being called by our Lord,\nsaid: \u201cLord, suffer me first to go and bury my father,\u201d Jesus reproved\nhim in these words: \u201cLet the _dead_ bury their _dead_; but go thou and\npreach the kingdom of God.\u201d[163] There is some difference of opinion\namongst commentators as to the exact meaning of this phrase. But\nwhatever interpretation be adopted, it seems evident from the context\nthat the _dead to be buried_ were those who were literally dead;\nwhereas, the _dead_ who were to _bury them_ were manifestly _not_ those\nwho were literally dead, but those who were dead in some analogous or\nmetaphorical sense. Another example occurs in the twentieth chapter of\nSaint John. Christ says to His Apostles: \u201cI ascend to my Father and\nyour Father, to my God and your God.\u201d[164] When He says, \u201cI ascend\nto my Father,\u201d the meaning is, \u201cto Him who has begotten me from all\neternity.\u201d When He adds, \u201cand your Father,\u201d the meaning is, \u201cto Him who\nhas _adopted_ you for His children.\u201d Here, then, the word Father is\nfirst used in the sense of a natural father, and immediately after in\nthe sense of a father by adoption, without any explicit declaration of\na change in meaning.\n\nThe Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans furnishes an instance in which\nthe transition from one meaning to another occurs in the case of the\nword Day itself: \u201cThe night is passed, and the _day_ is at hand. Let\nus, therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of\nlight. Let us walk honestly as in the _day_.\u201d[165] The word Day, in\nthe earlier part of this passage, is used by Saint Paul for the Day of\nEternity which is to follow the darkness of this life; while, in the\nnext sentence, it means clearly the period of light between sunrise\nand sunset. Another illustration of the same kind occurs in the first\nEpistle to the Thessalonians. \u201cBut you, brethren, are not in darkness\nthat that _day_ should overtake you as a thief; for you are all the\nchildren of light and the children of the _day_.\u201d[166] No one familiar\nwith the language of Scripture can doubt that the first _day_ here is\nthe Day of Judgment; and it is quite plain that the second _day_ is\n_not_ the Day of Judgment.\n\nOur next example, and one most appropriate to our purpose, is taken\nfrom the prophet Amos: \u201cAnd it shall come to pass in that _day_, saith\nthe Lord God, that I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will\ndarken the earth in the clear _day_.\u201d[167] This prophecy is commonly\nreferred by the Fathers to the time of our Lord, when the earth was\ndarkened in the clear day on the occasion of His crucifixion; but some\neminent authorities, with Saint Jerome at their head, explain it of the\nCaptivity in Babylon. Either interpretation will suit our argument. The\nsacred writer first employs the word Day for a long period of time, and\nafterward proceeds to use it in its more ordinary sense, without giving\nhis readers any express intimation of such a transition.\n\nWe hope it is now pretty clear that neither the reason assigned for\nthe institution of the Sabbath Day, nor the particular form of words\nin which that ordinance is set forth, offers any insurmountable\nobstacle to the opinion we are defending. And this is quite enough for\nour purpose. For we would again remind our readers that we are not\nattempting to prove from the Sacred Text that this opinion _must_ be\ntrue, but only that it _may_ be true. Our object has been sufficiently\nattained if we have succeeded in showing that the hypothesis which\nmakes the Days of Creation long periods, is not inconsistent with the\nlanguage of Scripture.\n\nWe are tempted, however, in the case of this objection, to go somewhat\nfurther than the scope of our argument strictly demands. The text we\nhave just been discussing brings before us, in fact, a consideration\nof great weight in favor of the system of long periods. \u201cIn six days\nthe Lord made the Heavens and the Earth and the sea, and all that in\nthem is, and rested on the seventh day.\u201d Now, what was this Seventh Day\non which God rested? Was it a common day of twenty-four hours? or was\nit not rather a long and undefined period of time? Saint Augustine\nanswers plainly enough: \u201cThe seventh day,\u201d he says, \u201cis without an\nevening, and has no setting.\u201d And Venerable Bede, asking why the sacred\nwriter had assigned no evening to the seventh day, gives this answer:\n\u201cBecause it has no end, and is shut in by no limit.\u201d[168]\n\nThe common sentiment of Theologians, as far as we know, seems to point\nin the same direction. They tell us that God is said to have rested,\ninasmuch as He ceased from the creation of new species; and they\nhold that since the close of the Sixth Day no new species have been\nbrought into existence. But whether this be true or not, it would be\nvery difficult, we think, to point out any sense in which God can be\nsaid to have rested after the work of the Six Days, and in which He\nis not resting at the present moment. If so, the day of His rest is\nstill going on; and it is not a period of twenty-four hours only, but\na period of many thousand years. Now, if the Seventh Day on which God\nrested is a period of many thousand years, are we not fully justified\nin supposing that the Six Days on which He formed and furnished the\nHeavens and the Earth were likewise periods of many ages?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER XXI._\n\nAPPLICATION OF THE SECOND HYPOTHESIS TO THE MOSAIC HISTORY OF\nCREATION--CONCLUSION.\n\n    _Summary of the argument--Striking coincidence between the\n    order of creation as set forth in the narrative of Moses\n    and in the records of Geology--Comparison illustrated\n    and developed--Scheme of adjustment between the periods\n    of Geology and the days of Genesis--Tabular view of this\n    scheme--Objections considered--It is not to be regarded as an\n    established theory, but as an admissible hypothesis--Either\n    the first hypothesis or the second is sufficient to meet the\n    demands of Geology as regards the antiquity of the earth--Not\n    necessary to suppose that the sacred writer was made acquainted\n    with the long ages of geological time--He simply records\n    faithfully that which was committed to his charge--The\n    Mosaic history of creation stands alone, without rivals or\n    competitors._\n\n\nThe results at which we have arrived by the long, and we fear tedious,\nline of argument pursued in the last Chapter, may be briefly summed up.\nFirst, many illustrious Fathers of the Church--Saint Augustine, Origen,\nClement of Alexandria, Saint Athanasius, and others--plainly declared\nagainst the opinion that the Days of Creation were days in the ordinary\nsense of the word; and, therefore, it is a mistake to suppose that this\nopinion is supported by the unanimous voice of Christian tradition.\nSecondly, the word Day is frequently used in Scripture for a long\nperiod of time, and sometimes for a period of indefinite duration.\nThirdly, there is nothing in the language of Moses that forbids us\nto explain the word according to this sense, in the first chapter of\nGenesis. And fourthly, there is, at least, one grave consideration,\nderived from Holy Scripture itself, which distinctly points to such\nan interpretation. The Six Days of Creation are contrasted with the\nSeventh Day of God\u2019s rest; and this Seventh Day of God\u2019s rest is\nunquestionably a long period of undefined duration. From all this it is\nobvious to conclude, that we may fairly adopt this mode of interpreting\nthe Mosaic Days, if it will assist us in reconciling the received\nconclusions of science with the truths of Revelation.\n\nNow, there is a striking resemblance, in some important respects,\nbetween the order of Creation as exhibited in the successive days of\nthe Sacred Record, and the order of Creation as manifested in the\nsuccessive periods of Geological time. Three days are specially marked\nout by the Inspired Historian as distinguished by the creation of\nvegetable and animal life--the Third, the Fifth, and the Sixth. On\nthe Third Day were created plants and trees; on the Fifth, reptiles,\nfish, and birds; on the Sixth, cattle, and the beasts of the earth,\nand, toward the end, man himself. Geologists, on the other hand, not\ninfluenced in the least degree by the Scripture narrative, but guided\nchiefly by the remains of animal and vegetable life which are preserved\nin the Crust of the Earth, have established three leading divisions\nof Geological time; the Pal\u00e6ozoic, or first age of organic life, the\nMesozoic, or second great age of organic life, and the Kainozoic,\nor third great age of organic life. Here, no doubt, is a remarkable\ncoincidence.\n\nBut it would be still more remarkable if we could recognize, in the\nthree epochs of Geology, the same general characteristics of organic\nlife as we find ascribed by Moses to the three successive days of the\nBible narrative. And so we may, it is said, if we will only take the\npains to examine for ourselves the organic remains of these geological\nepochs as they lie dispersed through the Crust of the Earth, or even\nas they are to be found collected and arranged for exhibition in our\nmuseums. The first great age of Geology is eminently distinguished\nfor its plants and trees; the second, for its huge reptiles and great\nsea-monsters; the third, for its vast herds of noble quadrupeds. Nay,\nto complete the harmony between the two Records, as man is represented\nby the Inspired Writer to have been created toward the close of the\nlast day, so, toward the close of the last Geological age, the remains\nof man and of his works are found, for the first time, laid by in the\narchives of the Earth.\n\nSuch is the coincidence which some ingenious writers fancy they can\ntrace between the history that is set forth in the written Word of\nGod, and the history that is so curiously inscribed upon His works.\nOur readers, perhaps, will not be unwilling to consider it a little\nmore in detail. We read in the first chapter of Genesis, that on the\nThird Day God said: \u201cLet the earth bring forth the green herb, and\nsuch as may seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after its kind,\nwhich may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done. And\nthe earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed\naccording to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed\neach one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.\u201d[169]\nLet us now turn to the Carboniferous Period of Geology, which occupies\na large space in the great Pal\u00e6ozoic age. All writers agree that it\nwas specially marked by a gorgeous and luxuriant vegetation: and as\nwe contemplate the multitudinous remains of plants and trees which\nhave been gathered so abundantly in our coal measures, and ranged with\nsuch striking effect along the walls of our museums, we can scarcely\nhelp thinking that we have before us a practical commentary on the\ntext of Moses. The gifted Hugh Miller, who is universally allowed\nto have been one of the most practical and experienced Geologists of\nthe modern school, gives a very picturesque and graphic sketch of the\nCarboniferous flora. \u201cIn no other age,\u201d he says, \u201cdid the world ever\nwitness such a flora: the youth of the earth was peculiarly a green\nand umbrageous youth,--a youth of dusk and tangled forests,--of huge\npines and stately araucarians,--of the reed-like calamite, the tall\ntree-fern, the sculptured sigillaria, and the hirsute lepidodendron.\nWherever dry land, or shallow lake or running stream appeared, from\nwhere Melville Island now spreads out its ice-wastes under the star of\nthe pole, to where the arid plains of Australia lie solitary beneath\nthe bright cross of the south, a rank and luxuriant herbage cumbered\nevery footbreadth of the dank and steaming soil; and even to distant\nplanets our earth must have shown, through the enveloping cloud, with\na green and delicate ray.\u201d[170] Such an age as this might well be\ndescribed in history as the age in which the earth brought forth the\ngreen herb, and the fruit-tree yielding seed according to its kind.\n\nAgain, the work of the Fifth Day is thus described in the Sacred\nNarrative:--\u201cGod also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping\ncreature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under\nthe firmament of Heaven. And God created the great whales, and every\nliving and moving creature which the waters brought forth, according\nto their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God\nsaw that it was good.\u201d[171] And in this case, as in the former, we may\nfind the counterpart of the Bible story in the records of Geology. \u201cThe\nsecondary age of the geologist,\u201d says the eminent writer from whom\nwe have already quoted, \u201cpossessed, like the earlier one, its herbs\nand plants, but they were of a greatly less luxuriant and conspicuous\ncharacter than their predecessors, and no longer formed the prominent\ntrait or feature of the creation to which they belong. The period\nhad also its corals, its crustaceans, its molluscs, its fishes, and,\nin some one or two exceptional instances, its dwarf mammals. But the\ngrand existences of the age,--the existences in which it excelled every\nother creation, earlier or later,--were its huge creeping things,--its\nenormous monsters of the deep,--and, as shown by the impressions of\ntheir footprints stamped upon the rocks, its gigantic birds. It was\npeculiarly the age of egg-bearing animals, winged and wingless. Its\nwonderful _whales_, not however as now, of the mammalian, but of the\nreptilian class--ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and cetiosaurs--must have\ntempested the deep; its creeping lizards and crocodiles, such as the\nteleosaurus megalosaurus, and iguanodon,--creatures some of which more\nthan rival the existing elephant in height, and greatly more than\nrivalled him in bulk,--must have crowded the plains, or haunted by\nmyriads the rivers of the period; and we know that the foot-prints of,\nat least, one of its many birds, are fully twice the size of those made\nby the horse or camel. We are thus prepared to demonstrate that the\nsecond period of the geologist was peculiarly and characteristically a\nperiod of whale-like reptiles of the sea, of enormous creeping reptiles\nof the land, and of numerous birds, some of them of gigantic size.\u201d[172]\n\nOnce more, it is written that, on the Sixth Day, \u201cGod said: Let the\nearth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping\nthings, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was\nso done. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds,\nand cattle and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind.\nAnd God saw that it was good.\u201d[173] And again Geology seems to confirm\nthe truth of the Inspired narrative, and to fill up the details of the\npicture. \u201cThe Tertiary period,\u201d continues Hugh Miller, \u201chad also its\nprominent class of existences. Its flora seems to have been no more\nconspicuous than that of the present time; its reptiles occupy a very\nsubordinate place; but its beasts of the field were by far the most\nwonderfully developed, both in size and numbers, that ever appeared\nupon the earth. Its mammoths and its mastodons, its rhinoceri and\nits hippopotami, its enormous dimotherium and colossal megatherium,\ngreatly more than equalled in bulk the greatest mammals of the present\ntime, and vastly exceeded them in number. The remains of one of its\nelephants (Elephas primigenius) are still so abundant amid the frozen\nwastes of Siberia, that what have been not inappropriately termed\n\u2018ivory quarries\u2019 have been wrought among their bones for more than a\nhundred years. Even in our own country, of which, as I have already\nshown, this elephant was for long ages a native, so abundant are the\nskeletons and tusks, that there is scarcely a local museum in the\nkingdom that has not its specimens, dug out of the Pleistocene deposits\nof the neighborhood. And with this ancient elephant there were meetly\nassociated in Britain, as on the northern continents generally all\naround the globe, many other mammals of corresponding magnitude. \u2018Grand\nindeed,\u2019 says an English naturalist, \u2018was the fauna of the British\nislands in those early days. Tigers as large again as the biggest\nAsiatic species lurked in the ancient thickets; elephants nearly\ntwice the size of the largest individuals that now exist in Africa or\nCeylon roamed in herds: at least two species of the rhinoceros forced\ntheir way through the primeval forests; and the lakes and rivers were\ntenanted by hippopotami as bulky, and with as great tusks, as those\nof Africa.\u2019 The massive cave-bear and large cave-hy\u00e6na belong to the\nsame formidable group, with at least two species of great oxen, with a\nhorse of smaller size, and an elk that stood ten feet four inches in\nheight. Truly this Tertiary age--this third and last of the geologic\nperiods--was peculiarly the age of great \u2018beasts of the earth after\ntheir kind, and of cattle after their kind.\u2019\u201d[174]\n\nWe shall be told, perhaps, that there are Six Days assigned to the\nwork of creation in the Mosaic narrative, and that we have accounted\nbut for three. Let it be remembered, however, that Geology does not\nprofess to give a complete history of our Globe. It can set before us\nthose events only which have left their impress indelibly stamped upon\nthe rocks that compose the Crust of the Earth. These events Geologists\nhave attempted to reduce to the order of a chronological system; and in\nprosecuting this task they have been guided almost exclusively by the\nevidence of Organic Remains. Hence it was not to be expected that, in\nGeological Chronology, we should find a Period specially set apart as\nthe Period in which Light was made; or another as the Period in which\nthe Firmament was spread out over the Earth; or a Third as the Period\nin which the sun and moon and stars shone forth in the expanse of\nHeaven. Such phenomena had, indeed, a very important influence on the\nphysical condition of our globe. But they must occupy a very secondary\nplace, if indeed they are distinctly chronicled at all in the records\nof Geology. It is the formation of rocks and the embedding therein of\nFossil Remains that constitute the main study of the Geologist, and\nthat guide him in the distribution of Geological time.\n\nFurthermore, we would observe that the scheme of Chronology which\nGeologists put before us, affords abundant room for each and all of\nthe Mosaic Days. Let it be assumed for a moment that the Carboniferous\nPeriod corresponds with the Third Day of the Sacred narrative. The\nearlier Periods of the Pal\u00e6ozoic Age will then fit in with the First\nand Second Days of Scripture; and the Permian, which intervenes between\nthe Carboniferous Period and the Secondary Age, may be supposed to\ncorrespond with the Fourth Day of Scripture. This adjustment between\nthe Mosaic Days and the Periods of Geology will probably be made more\nintelligible to the general reader by the Table that appears on the\nfollowing page.\n\nThe reader must not think it amiss, in this distribution of the Mosaic\nDays, that four out of six are crowded together into one Geological\nAge, while each of the other two has an entire Age assigned to\nitself. If the Days of Creation were indefinite periods, there is no\nincongruity in supposing that one may have corresponded to a longer,\nanother to a shorter interval in the history of our planet. But, in\ntruth, our scheme of distribution does not of necessity imply that\nthe Mosaic Days were periods of unequal length. Geologists do not\npretend that there is even a remote approximation to equality between\nthe several divisions of Geological time. The three great Epochs are\ndistinguished from each other by reason of the very marked difference\nin the character of their Fossil Remains. And the multiplication\nof Periods in each Epoch seems to depend rather upon the degree of\ncompleteness with which the strata of that Age have been examined,\nthan upon any conjecture as to the probable length of its duration.\nThus, for example, Sir Charles Lyell thinks that, as far as the present\ncondition of Science affords the means of forming an opinion, almost\nany one of the Periods in the Pal\u00e6ozoic Age was as long as all the\nPeriods of the Tertiary Age taken together.[175]\n\nBut there is another and a more serious objection against our\nhypothesis. It has been observed more than once that the periods of\nGeology are out of harmony with the Days of Genesis, even as regards\nthe history of Organic life. According to the Scripture narrative\nno Organic life appeared upon the Earth previous to the Third Day.\nNow the Third Day of Scripture corresponds, in our scheme, with the\nCarboniferous Period of Geology. And yet there is abundant evidence\nin the Fossil Remains of the Devonian, the Silurian, and the Cambrian\nFormations, that Organic life--both plants and animals--prevailed upon\nthe Earth for many ages before the Carboniferous Period began. Nay,\nit is now commonly held, since the discovery of the famous _Eozoon\nCanadense_, the oldest known Fossil, that life already existed during\nthe deposition of the Laurentian Rocks, the earliest of all the\nStratified Formations. Furthermore, in the Mosaic account, Fish are\nrepresented as having been created only on the Fifth Day, which we have\nfitted in with the Secondary Age of Geology: whereas in the Geological\nRecord we find Fish as early as the Silurian Period, which is far back\nin the Primary Age. These considerations, and divers others of a like\nnature, have been regarded by some eminent writers as altogether fatal\nto the hypothesis for which we are contending.\n\n  +--------------------+-----------------+-----------------+\n  |       DAYS.        |     PERIODS.    |    EPOCHS.      |\n  |                    |                 |                 |\n  | DAY OF GOD\u2019S REST. |     RECENT.     |  HISTORIC AGE.  |\n  +--------------------+-----------------+-----------------+\n  |                    |  POST-PLIOCENE. |                 |\n  | SIXTH MOSAIC DAY.  |  PLIOCENE.      |    TERTIARY     |\n  |                    |  MIOCENE.       |       OR        |\n  |                    |  EOCENE.        |  KAINOZOIC AGE. |\n  +--------------------+-----------------+-----------------+\n  |                    |  CRETACEOUS.    |    SECONDARY    |\n  | FIFTH MOSAIC DAY.  |  JURASSIC.      |       OR        |\n  |                    |  TRIASSIC.      |  MESOZOIC AGE.  |\n  +--------------------+-----------------+-----------------+\n  | FOURTH MOSAIC DAY. |  PERMIAN.       |                 |\n  | THIRD MOSAIC DAY.  |  CARBONIFEROUS. |     PRIMARY     |\n  |                    |  { DEVONIAN.    |       OR        |\n  | FIRST AND SECOND   |  { SILURIAN.    |  PAL\u00c6OZOIC AGE. |\n  | MOSAIC DAYS.       |  { CAMBRIAN.    |                 |\n  |                    |  { LAURENTIAN.  |                 |\n  +--------------------+-----------------+-----------------+\n\nTo us, however, it appears that such points of discrepancy involve no\ncontradiction between the two Records. The Sacred Writer tells us, no\ndoubt, that on the Third Day God created plants and trees: but he does\nnot say, either expressly or otherwise, that previous to the Third Day\nthe Earth was devoid of vegetation. Again, we read that reptiles, fish,\nand birds were created on the Fifth Day. But there is nothing in the\nlanguage of the Inspired narrative from which it can be inferred that\nthese several classes of animal life may not have been represented\nbefore that time, by many and various species: though probably, it\nwas only on the Fifth Day that they were developed in such vast\nnumbers, and assumed such gigantic proportions, as to become the most\nconspicuous objects of creation.\n\nThe first chapter of Genesis is but a brief summary of an inconceivably\nvast series of events. It is nothing more than a rapid sketch,\nexhibiting, as it were, to the eye the prominent features in the\nhistory of Creation. Moreover, we should remember that it was written\nwith a specific end in view. The purpose of the Sacred Writer was\nplainly to impress upon the Hebrew people, naturally prone to idolatry,\nthe existence of One Supreme Being, who has made all things. Hence\nwe should naturally expect that, amid the boundless variety of God\u2019s\nworks, he would make choice of those that were most calculated to\nstrike the mind with wonder and awe, and to bring home to a rude and\nuncultivated race of men the Almighty Power and Supreme Dominion of\nthe Great Creator. Now the Zoophytes, and Graptolites, and Trilobites,\nof the Devonian and Silurian Periods, however curious and interesting\nthey may be to men of science, would have had but little significance\nfor the Jewish people. Let us suppose that these more humble forms of\nanimal life had, in fact, existed during the First and Second Days\nof the Mosaic narrative, and where is the wonder that the Inspired\nHistorian, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, should pass them\nby in silence, and choose rather to commemorate the more striking and\nimpressive facts, that, at the bidding of God, Light shone forth from\nthe midst of darkness, and the blue firmament of Heaven was expanded\nabove the waste of waters?\n\nWe say, then, that events which are simply left unrecorded by the\nSacred Writer are not, on that account, untrue:[176] that he describes\nto us, not all the works of Creation, which would have been an endless\ntask, but only the more conspicuous objects in each successive stage;\nand that he sketches them, most probably, as they would have appeared\nto the eye of a human observer, if a human observer at the time\nhad existed on the Earth. If this view be admitted, then it is not\ninconsistent with the Scripture narrative to suppose that plants may\nhave existed before the Third Day, and fish before the Fifth. Each\nDay in its turn would have been rendered conspicuous to an observing\nspectator by those events which are recorded by Moses. But each Day,\ntoo, would have witnessed many other events, unnoticed by Moses, of\nwhich the memorials have been preserved, even to our time, in the Crust\nof the Earth.\n\nWe should observe, however, that though this scheme of adapting\nthe Periods of Geology to the Days of Moses, may be defended as a\nlegitimate hypothesis, it cannot be upheld as an established truth. The\ngeological records that have hitherto been brought to light represent\nbut the merest fragment of the Earth\u2019s past history. Each year that\npasses over our heads is adding largely to the store of facts already\naccumulated. And it needs but little reflection to perceive that an\nhypothesis may be quite consistent with the knowledge we possess\nto-day, and yet may be found altogether inconsistent with the knowledge\nwe shall possess to-morrow. We must be content, therefore, to suspend\nour judgment, and to await the progress of events. It may be that\nfuture discoveries shall bring to light new points of harmony between\nthe Days of Genesis and the Periods of Geology; it may be they shall\ndemonstrate that no such harmony exists. For us it is enough to have\nshown that this hypothesis is consistent, on the one hand, with the\nstory of Genesis--on the other, with the actual discoveries of Geology;\nand, therefore, that it may be adopted, in the present condition of\nour knowledge, as a legitimate means of reconciling the established\nconclusions of that science with the truths of Revelation.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nCONCLUSION.--We have, then, two distinct systems of interpretation,\naccording to which the vast Antiquity of the Earth, asserted by\nGeology, may be fairly brought into harmony with the history of\ncreation, recorded in Scripture. The one allows an interval of\nincalculable duration between the creation of the Heavens and the\nEarth, and the work of the Six Days: the other supposes each one of\nthese Six Days to have been itself an indefinite period of time. We\ncannot, indeed, prove that either of these two systems is true in point\nof fact; but we have attempted to show that neither is at variance with\nthe language of the Sacred Text. On the other hand, when we look to the\nevidence of geological facts, we see no decisive reason for preferring\none to the other. Either mode of interpretation seems in itself\nquite sufficient to meet all the present requirements of Geology;\nfor, according to either interpretation, the Bible narrative would\nallow time without limit for the past history of our Globe; and time\nwithout limit is just what Geology demands. We may say, then, on this\npoint, what Saint Augustine said long ago, in speaking of the diverse\ninterpretations which the text of Genesis admits: \u201cLet each one choose\naccording to the best of his power: only let him not rashly put forward\nas known that which is unknown; and let him not fail to remember\nthat he is but a man searching, as far as may be, into the works of\nGod.\u201d[177]\n\nIt must not be supposed that, according to our view, the Sacred\nWriter, in composing his account of the Creation, had before his mind\nthose vast Geological Periods about which we have said so much in\nthe course of this volume. Such an opinion is no part of our system.\nWe see no good reason for believing that the author of Genesis was\nspecially enlightened from Heaven on the subject of Stratified Rocks\nand Fossil Remains, of Upheaval and Denudation, of Volcanic Action and\nSubterranean Heat. These are matters of Physical, not of Religious\nScience. And it seems to be the order of Providence to leave the\ndiscovery of such things to the industry and ingenuity of man: \u201cCuncta\nfecit bona in tempore suo, et mundum tradidit disputationi eorum.\u201d[178]\n\nWhat we maintain, then, is simply this: that the Sacred Writer recorded\nfaithfully, in language fitted to the ideas of his time, that portion\nof Revelation which was committed to him; and, in the accomplishment of\nthis task, made such a choice of words and phrases, under the guidance\nof the Holy Spirit, to whom all truth is present, as to set forth\nplainly those facts that were unfolded to him, without introducing any\nerror about those facts of which he was ignorant. The language is the\nlanguage of men, but the voice that speaks therein is the voice of God.\nAnd thus it comes to pass that this Mosaic story, when fairly examined\naccording to the ordinary laws of human speech, is found in every age\nto accommodate itself, with quite an unexpected simplicity, to those\nnew and wonderful views of God\u2019s manifold power which each human\nscience in its turn brings to light.\n\nBefore taking leave of the subject, we would venture to bring under the\nnotice of our readers one very obvious reflection, which is sometimes\nlost sight of in the heat of controversy. The Mosaic history of the\nCreation absolutely stands alone. It has no rivals, no competitors.\nEvery other attempt that has been made to explain the origin of\nthe world, and of the human race, is refuted by its own intrinsic\nextravagance and absurdity. The wisest nations of antiquity failed to\ndiscover that great fundamental truth, which stands out so boldly on\nthe first page of Genesis, that there is One God who hath made all\nthings. The philosophers of Chald\u00e6a were familiar with the course of\nthe Heavens, and could predict the eclipses of the sun and moon. But\nthe philosophers of Chald\u00e6a could not rise from the contemplation of\ncreatures to the knowledge of the Creator: the creatures themselves\nwere the gods that Chald\u00e6a worshipped. Egypt had greatness of mind to\nconceive the idea of the Pyramids, and skill to devise the plan of\ntheir construction, and strength of arms to lift up the huge stones on\nthese stupendous piles. But Egypt raised up temples to the river that\nwaters its plain, and offered sacrifice to the reptile that crawls\nupon the earth, and the beast that grazes in the field. In Greece the\nhuman mind soared to its highest flight, and ranged over the widest and\nmost beautiful fields of thought. Peerless is she among the nations,\nthe mistress of the arts, the fountain source of refined taste, the\nstorehouse of intellectual power, the great nurse of human genius.\nHer schools of philosophy have influenced and guided to a marvellous\nextent the thoughts and speculations of all subsequent times. The\nsong of her immortal bard has kindled the imagination of the poet in\nevery generation, and enriched his mind with glowing images. Orators\nand statesmen still love to copy the lofty sentiments, the graceful\ndiction, the flowing periods, of her golden eloquence. And students\nfrom every clime stand enraptured before the beauty and the majesty\nof her sculptured marble. But Greece, Imperial Greece, knew not the\nOne God, the giver of all good gifts, by whom she was so highly\nendowed. She fashioned for herself gods and goddesses after her own\nfancy, and portioned out the universe between them. Jupiter hurled\nhis thunderbolts from the clouds: Neptune ruled the sea: Pluto swayed\nthe sceptre of the infernal regions: Minerva was the goddess of\nwisdom: Vulcan the god of fire: Apollo the god of music. Nay, the very\ninfirmities and vices of human nature were personified under the names\nof divinities, and worshipped in the Pantheon of the gods. Rome, too,\nthe conqueror of the world, had its philosophers and its orators, its\npoets and its sculptors, whose productions still charm and instruct\nmankind. Yet was Rome no exception to the common lot of the gentile\nworld. For Rome, like Greece, had its long array of gods and goddesses,\nwith their petty jealousies, their vindictive malice, their shameless\npassions. Alone, amidst all the Mythologies and Cosmogonies of ancient\nnations, the story of the Hebrew Legislator rises superior to the gross\nand silly speculations of mortal men. It alone proclaims to mankind\nwhat Philosophy and Science, when left to themselves, have never been\nable to teach, that, In the beginning God created the Heavens and the\nEarth; that the plants and the animals, the ocean and the elements,\nthe sun and moon and stars, man himself, and all that delights the eye\nand charms the ear and fills the mind, are His creatures; and that\nbesides Him there is no other God. Away, then, with the idea that\nthis Sacred Narrative, stamped as it plainly is with the imprint of\nits Divine Author, should ever be found at variance with the truths\nof science,--or rather, we should say, with those scanty fragments\nof truth, those crumbs of knowledge, falling from the table of our\nHeavenly Father, which it is given to man here below to gather up with\nlaborious care, and which, however they may excite his longings, cannot\nsatisfy his hunger.\n\nHere, for the present, we must stop. At some future time, perhaps,\nif our opportunities permit, we shall return to this subject, and,\ntaking up the second branch of the controversy, investigate the recent\ndiscoveries of Geology in reference to the teaching of the Bible as\nregards the Antiquity of the Human Race.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\nEXTRACTS FROM THE FATHERS AND THEOLOGIANS.\n\nREFERRED TO IN THIS VOLUME.\n\n\n(1.) SAINT AUGUSTINE.--P. 297.\n\n\u201cEt in rebus obscuris atque a nostris oculis remotissimis, si qua\ninde scripta etiam divina legerimus, quae possunt salva fida qua\nimbuimur, alias atque alias parere sententias; in nullam earum nos\npraecipiti affirmatione ita projiciamus, ut si forte diligentius\ndiscussa veritas eam recte labefactaverit, corruamus: non pro sententia\ndivinarum Scripturarum, sed pro nostra ita dimicantes, ut eam velimus\nScripturarum esse, quae nostra est; cum potius eam quae Scripturarum\nest, nostram esse velle debeamus.\u201d--De Genesi ad Litteram, lib. i. cap.\n18, n. 37.\n\n\n(2.) IDEM.--P. 298.\n\n\u201cPlerumque enim accidit ut aliquid de terra, de coelo, de caeteris\nhujus mundi elementis, de motu et conversione vel etiam de magnitudine\net intervallis siderum, de certis defectibus solis ac lunae, de\ncircuitibus annorum et temporum, de naturis animalium, fruticum,\nlapidum atque hujusmodi caeteris, etiam non christianus ita noverit,\nut certissima ratione vel experientia teneat. Turpe est autem\nnimis et perniciosum ac maxime cavendum, ut christianum de his\nrebus quasi secundum christianas Litteras loquentem, ita delirare\nquilibet infidelis audiat, ut, quemadmodum dicitur, toto coelo errare\nconspiciens, risum tenere vix possit. Et non tam molestum est, quod\nerrans homo deridetur, sed quod auctores nostri ab eis qui foris sunt,\ntalia sensisse creduntur, et cum magno eorum exitio de quorum salute\nsatagimus, tanquam indocti reprehenduntur atque respuuntur. Cum enim\nquemquam de numero christianorum in ea re quam optime norunt, errare\ndeprehenderint, et vanam sententiam suam de nostris Libris asserere;\nquo pacto illis Libris credituri sunt, de resurrectione mortuorum, et\nde spe vitae aeternae, regnoque coelorum, quando de his rebus quas\njam experiri, vel indubitatis numeris percipere potuerunt, fallaciter\nputaverint esse conscriptos? Quid enim molestiae tristitiaeque ingerant\nprudentibus fratribus temerarii praesumptores, satis dici non potest,\ncum si quando de prava et falsa opinione sua reprehendi, et convinci\ncoeperint ab eis qui nostrorum Librorum auctoritate non tenentur, ad\ndefendendum id quod levissima temeritate et apertissima falsitate\ndixerunt, eosdem Libros sanctos, unde id probent, proferre conantur,\nvel etiam memoriter, quae ad testimonium valere arbitrantur, multa inde\nverba pronuntiant, \u2018non intelligentes neque quae loquuntur, neque de\nquibus affirmant\u2019 (1. Tim., i. 7).\u201d--Ibid., cap. 19, n. 39.\n\n\n(3.) SAINT THOMAS.--P. 298.\n\n\u201cDicendum quod, sicut Augustinus docet, in hujusmodi quaestionibus\nduo sunt observanda. Primo quidem, ut veritas Scripturae inconcusse\nteneatur. Secundo, cum Scriptura divina multipliciter exponi possit,\nquod nulli expositioni aliquis ita praecise inhaereat, ut si certa\nratione constiterit hoc esse falsum quod aliquis sensum Scripturae esse\ncredebat id nihilominus asserere praesumat; ne Scriptura ex hoc ab\ninfidelibus derideatur, et ne eis via credendi praecludatur.\u201d--Summa\nTheologica, Pars Prima, Quaest. lxviii. art. primus.\n\n\n(4.) PERRERIUS.--P. 302.\n\n\u201cQuod autem in xx. et xxxi. cap. Exod. dictum est, Deum sex diebus\nfecisse coelum et terram, et omnia quae in eis sunt, non est huic\nopinioni contrarium: illud enim spatium temporis ante primum diem\nannumeratur sex diebus, quia fuit quam brevissimum, et fuit continuata\nDei operatio: nec sane plures dies naturales consumpti sunt quam sex:\nac licet ante primum diem, coelum et elementa facta sint secundum\nsubstantiam, tamen non fuerunt perfecta et omnino consummata, nisi\nspatio illorum sex dierum; tunc enim datus est illis ornatus,\ncomplementum, et perfectio.\u201d--Comment. in Genes., cap. 1, v. 4, n. 80.\n\n\n(5.) TOSTATUS.--P. 302.\n\n\u201c_Sex diebus fecit Dominus coelum et terram._ Recte dicitur his\n_facere_, quia coelum et terra, quae hic nominantur, et omnia alia,\nquae nomine eorum subintelliguntur, ista quidem omnia de materia prima\nfacta sunt: materia autem non _facta_ sed _creata_ est.\u201d--Comment. in\nExod., cap. 20, quaest. 15.\n\n\n(6.) PETAVIUS.--P. 302.\n\nWriting on the phrase _In die quo fecit Dominus Deus coelum et terram_,\nhe says, \u201choc est, perpolitum et elaboratum esse sex continuis diebus,\nid enim _faceindi_ vox Hebraeis ipsis interpretibus significare\nvidetur.\u201d--De Opificio Sex Dierum, lib. cap. 14, sect. 1.\n\n\n(7.) SAINT BASIL.--P. 304.\n\n\u201c_Et facta est vespera, et factum est mane, dies unus._ Vespera igitur\ndiei ac noctis est communis terminus: et similiter mane, est noctis\ncum die vicinitas. Itaque ut _prioris generationis praerogativam\ndiei tribueret_, prius commemoravit finem diei, deinde noctis,\nvelut insequente diem nocte. Nam qui status in mundo fuit ante\nlucis generationem, is non erat nox, sed tenebrae: quod autem a die\ndistinguebatur, eique opponebatur, id nox appellatum est.\u201d--Homilia ii.\nin Hexaemeron; Edit. Bened. p. 20; Edit. Migne, Patr. Graec. Cursus\nCompletus, tom. 29, p. 47.\n\n\n(8.) SAINT CHRYSOSTOM.--P. 304.\n\n\u201cOstendimus enim heri, ut meministis, quomodo beatus Moses enarrans\nnobis horum visibilium elementorum creationem et opificium, dixerit:\n_In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram: terra autem erat invisibilis\net incomposita:_ et vos causam docuimus, quare Deus terram informen et\nnullis figuris expolitam creaverit; quae, opinor, omnia mente tenetis;\nnecessarium est igitur nos ad ea quae sequuntur hodie progredi. Nam\npostquam dixit, _Terra autem erat invisibilis et incomposita_, nos\naccurate docet, unde invisibilis erat et inculta, dicens: _Et tenebrae\nerant super abyssum, et Spiritus Dei superferebatur super aquam_....\nQuandoquidem igitur diffusa erat magna universi visibilis informitas,\npraecepto suo Deus, optimus ille artifex, deformitatem illam depulit,\net immensa lucis visibilis pulchritudo producta tenebras fugavit\nsensibiles, illustravitque omnia.\u201d--In Cap. i. Genes. Homil. iii.;\nEdit. Migne, Patr. Graec. Cursus Completus, tom. 53, p. 33. Here Saint\nChrysostom plainly teaches that the world existed before the creation\nof light. In his Fifth Homily he is equally clear that the First Day\nof the Mosaic narrative began with a period of light, and not with a\nperiod of darkness: \u201cVide quomodo de singulis diebus sic dicat: _Et\nfactum est vespere, et factum est mane, dies tertius_: non simpliciter\nnec absque causa: sed ne ordinem confundamus neque putemus vespera\ningruente finem accepisse diem; sed sciamus vesperam finem esse lucis,\net principium noctis: mane autem finem noctis, et complementum dici.\nHoc enim nos docere vult beatus Moses, dicens: _Et factum est vespere,\net factum est mane, dies tertius_.\u201d--Edit. Migne, p. 52.\n\n\n(9.) SAINT AMBROSE.--P. 305.\n\n\u201c_Terra autem erat invisibilis et incomposita._ Bonus artifex prius\nfundamentum ponit: postea, fundamento posito, aedificationis membra\ndistinguit, et adjungit ornatum. Posito igitur fundamento terrae, et\nconfirmata coeli substantia, duo enim ista sunt velut cardines rerum,\nsubtexuit: _Terra autem erat inanis et incomposita_.\u201d--Hexaemeron,\nLib. i. cap. 7; Edit. Bened. p. 13; Edit. Migne, Patr. Lat. Cursus\nCompletus, tom. 14, p. 135.\n\n\u201cPrincipium ergo diei, vox Dei est: _fiat lux_; _et facta est\nlux_.\u201d--Lib. i. cap. 10; Edit. Bened. p 21; Edit. Migne, p. 144.\n\n\u201cIn principio itaque temporis coelum et terram Deus fecit. Tempus enim\nab hoc mundo, non ante mundum: dies autem temporis portio est, non\nprincipium.\u201d--Lib. i. cap. 6; Edit. Bened. p. 10; Edit. Migne, p. 132.\n\n\n(10.) VENERABLE BEDE.--P. 305.\n\n\u201cScriptura ait: _Qui fecisti mundum de materia informi_. Sed materia\nfacta est de nihilo, mundi vero species de informi materia. Proinde\nduas res ante omnem diem et ante omne tempus condidit Deus angelicam\nvidelicet creaturam et informem materiam.\u201d--In Pentateuch. Comment.;\nsub. cap. 1: Edit Migne, Patr. Lat. Cursus Completus, tom. 91, p.\n191. In another place, citing the words of Ecclesiasticus, _Qui\nvivit in aeternum creavit omnia simul_, he says, \u201choc utique ante\nomnem diem hujus saeculi fecit, cum in principio coelum creavit et\nterram.\u201d--Hexaemeron, Lib. i. in Genes, ii. 4; Edit. Migne, tom. 91, p.\n39.\n\n\u201c_Discipulus._ Da ordinem per sex dies factarum rerum? _Magister._ In\nipso quidem principio conditionis facta sunt coelum, terra, aer, et\naqua.... _Discipulus._ Sequere ordinem generationis? _Magister._ In\nprincipio diei primae lux facta est; secunda vero factum firmamentum;\u201d\netc.--_Quaestiones super Genesim_; Edit. Migne, Patr. Lat. tom. 93, p.\n236. This work is classed by Migne among the Dubia et Spuria of Bede.\nThe critics, however, seem to be agreed that it belongs to a period not\nlater than the tenth century. If it is not the genuine composition of\nBede, which is considered more probable, then it only follows that we\nhave, besides Bede, another ancient authority in favor of our opinion.\n\n\n(11.) PETER LOMBARD.--P. 306.\n\n\u201cCum Deus in sapientia sua angelicos condidit spiritus, alia etiam\ncreavit, sicut ostendit supradicta Scriptura, quae dicit _in principio\nDeum creasse coelum_, id est, angelos, _et terram_ scilicet, materiam\nquatuor elementorum adhuc confusam et informem, quae a Graecis dicta\nest chaos, _et hoc fuit ante omnem diem_. _Deinde_ elementa distinguit\nDeus, et species proprias atque distinctas singulis rebus secundum\ngenus suum dedit; quae non simul, ut quibusdam sanctorum Patrum\nplacuit, sed per intervalla temporum ac sex volumina dierum, ut aliis\nvisum est formavit.\u201d--Sentent. Lib. ii. Distinct. 12; Edit. Migne,\nPatr. Latin. Cursus Completus, tom. 192, p. 675.\n\n\n(12.) HUGH OF SAINT VICTOR.--P. 306.\n\n\u201cPrincipium ergo divinorum operum fuit creatio lucis, quando ipsa\nlux non materialiter de nihilo creata est; sed de praejacenti illa\nuniversitatis materia formaliter facta est ut lux esset, et vim ac\nproprietatem lucendi haberet. Hoc opus prima die factum est; sed\nhujus operis materia ante primam diem creata. Moxque cum ipsa luce\ndies c\u0153pit; quia ante lucem nec nox fuit nec dies, _etiamsi tempus\nfuit_.\u201d--De Sacram. Lib. i. Pars i. cap. 9: Edit. Migne, Patr. Lat.\ntom. 176, p. 193.\n\n\n(13.) SAINT THOMAS.--P. 307.\n\n\u201cSed melius videtur dicendum quod _creatio fuerit ante omnem diem_.\u201d In\nII. Sentent. Distinct. xiii. Art. 3, _ad tertium_: see also ibidem _ad\nprimum_, and _ad secundum_. And again in the Summa he says: \u201cCoelum et\nterram fecit in prima die, _potius ante omnem diem_.\u201d--Pars i. Quaest.\nlxxxiv. Art. 2.\n\n\n(14.) PERRERIUS.--P. 307.\n\n\u201cLicet ante _primum diem_, coelum et elementa facta sint _secundum\nsubstantiam_, tamen non fuerint perfecta et omnino consummata,\nnisi spatio illorum sex dierum: tunc enim datus est illis ornatus,\ncomplementum, et perfectio. Quanto autem tempore status ille mundi\ntenebrosus duraverit, hoc est, utrum plus an minus quam unus dies\ncontinere solet, nec mini compertum est, nec opinor cuiquam mortalium\nnisi cui divinitus id esset patefactum.\u201d--Comment. in Genesim, cap. 1,\nv. 4, n. 80.\n\n\n(15.) PETAVIUS.--P. 307.\n\n\u201cNostra itaque sententia haec est; prima ilia Geneseos verba: _In\nprincipio creavit Deus coelum et terram_; non peculiare opus aliquod\ncontinere, quod initio, et ante dies sex molitus sit Deus: quasi ante\nlucem, ac reliquas deinceps opificii partes, qualecumque coelum ac\nterram creaverit. Sed esse generale quoddam effatum, quo omnia, quae\nsunt a Deo facta, complexus est. Etenim Moses, ut initio dicebam,\nJudaeos statim edocere voluit; totam illam aspectabilem rerum\nuniversitatem a Deo conditore profectam esse. Quare ita pronuntiavit,\ntanquam diceret: Quidquid videtis et quodcumque coeli ac terrae\ncomprehendit ambitus, una cum coelo ipso, terr\u00e2que, id omne fabricatus\nest initio Deus. Postea vero per partes, ac singillatim, ut quaeque est\nelaborata, decripsit.\u201d--De Opificio Sex Dierum, Lib. i. cap. 2, sect.\n10.\n\n\u201cImprimis _ante dierum sex initium_ solam cum aqua terram extitisse\ncredimus:.... Habet haec opinio fidem ex Mosis narratione; qui ante\ncoelum id est _firmamentum_, terram, et aquarum abyssum extitisse\nrefert.... Nam illud Severiani valde probatur, prima die Deum omnia\ncreasse: reliquis autem diebus, ex jam extantibus: Ubi primam diem non\nlucis tantum creatione circumscribit: sed quod ante illam factum est,\nid eidem tribuit. Quod intervallum quantum fuerit, nulla divinatio\nposset assequi. Neque vero mundi corpora illa, quae _prima omnium\nextitisse_ docui, aquam et terram, arbitror _eodem, in quem lucis ortus\nincidit, fabricata esse die_; ut quibusdam placet, haud satis firma\nratione.\u201d--Ibid., cap. 10, sect. 6.\n\n\n(16.) A LAPIDE.--P. 307.\n\n\u201cS. Basilius et Beda putant coelum et terram non primo die, sed paulo\nante primum diem, utpote ante lucem, create esse. Verum haec non ante,\nsed ipso primo die, puta initio primae diei, antequam lux produceretur,\ncreata esse, patet Exodi xx. v. 11.\u201d--Comment. in Genes., cap. 1, v. 1.\n\n\n(17.) SAINT AUGUSTINE.--P. 308.\n\n\u201cFecisti ante omnem diem in principio coelum et terram.\u201d--Confess.\nLib. xii. cap. 12: see also Lib. xii. cap. 8. And again, De Genesi ad\nLitteram, Lib. i. cap. 9, he writes:--\u201cAtque illud ante omnem diem\nfecisse intelligitur, quod dictum est, _In principio fecit Deus coelum\net terram_; ... Terrae autem nomine invisibilis et incompositae, ac\ntenebrosa abysso, imperfectio corporalis substantiae significata est,\nunde temporalia illa fierent, quorum prima esset lux.\u201d\n\n\n(18.) PETAVIUS.--P. 311.\n\n\u201cQuod intervallum quantum fuerit, nulla divinatio posset assequi.\u201d--De\nOpific. Sex Dierum, Lib. i. cap. 10, sec. 6.\n\n\n(19.) PERRERIUS.--P. 311.\n\n\u201cQuanto autem tempore status ille mundi tenebrosus duraverit, hoc est,\nutrum plus an minus quam unus dies continere solet, nec mihi compertum\nest, nec opinor cuiquam mortalium, nisi cui divinitus id esset\npatefactum.\u201d--Comment. in Genes., cap. 1, v. 4.\n\n\n(20.) HUGH OF SAINT VICTOR.--P. 311.\n\n\u201cFortassis jam satis est de his hactenus disputasse, si hoc solum\nadjecerimus _quanto tempore_ mundus in hac confusione, prius quam ejus\ndispositio inchoaretur, perstiterit. Nam quod illa prima rerum omnium\nmateria, in principio temporis, vel potius cum ipso tempore exorta sit,\nsonstat ex eo quod dictum est: in principio creavit Deus coelum et\nterram. _Quamdiu_ autem in hac informitate sive confusione permanserit,\n_Scriptura manifeste non ostendit_.\u201d--De Sacram., Lib. i., pars i. cap.\n6.\n\n\n(21.) SAINT AUGUSTINE.--P. 319.\n\n\u201cQui dies cujusmodi sint, aut perdifficile nobis, aut etiam impossibile\nest cogitare; quanto magis dicere.\u201d--De Civitate Dei, Lib. xi. cap. 6.\n\nAgain: \u201cArduum quidem et difficillimum est viribus intentionis\nnostrae, voluntatem scriptoris in istis sex diebus mentis vivacitate\npenetrare.\u201d--De Genesi ad Litteram, Lib. iv. cap. 1.\n\n\n(22.) IDEM.--P. 319.\n\n\u201cAc sic per _omnes illos dies units est dies, non istorum dierum\nconsuetudine intelligendus, quos videmus solis circuitu determinari\natque numerari_; sed alio quodam modo, a quo et illi tres dies, qui\nante conditionem istorum luminarium commemorati sunt, alieni esse non\npossunt. Is enim modus non usque ad diem quartum, ut inde jam istos\nusitatos cogitaremus, sed usque ad sextum septimumque perductus est; ut\nlonge aliter accipiendus sit dies et nox, inter quae duo divisit Deus,\net aliter iste dies et nox, inter quae dixit ut dividant luminaria\nquae creavit, cum ait, \u2018Et dividant inter diem et noctem.\u2019 Tunc enim\nhunc diem condidit, cum condidit solem, cujus praesentia eumdem\nexhibet diem: ille autem dies primitus conditus jam triduum peregerat\ncum haec luminaria illius diei quarta repetitione creata sunt.\u201d--De\nGenesi ad Litteram, Lib. iv. cap. 26. \u201cDe quo enim Creatore Scriptura\nista narravit, _quod sex diebus consummaverit omnia opera sua, de\nillo alibi non utique dissonanter scriptum est, quod creaverit omnia\nsimul_ (Eccles. xviii. 1). Ac per hoc et _istos dies sex vel septem vel\npotius unum sexies septiesve repetitum simul fecit qui fecit_ omnia\nsimul. Quid ergo opus erat sex dies tam distincte dispositeque narrari?\nQuia scilicet ii qui non possunt videre quod dictum est, \u2018Creavit\nomnia simul;\u2019 nisi cum eis sermo tardius incedat ad id quo eos ducit,\npervenire non possunt.\u201d--Ib. cap. 33.\n\n\n(23). PHILO JUD\u00c6US.--P. 320.\n\n\u201cTum igitur omnia _simul_ sunt condita. In quo quidem universali\nopificio necesse erat servari ordinem.\u201d--De Mundi Opificio; Edit.\nFrancofurti, p. 14. This passage may, at first sight, appear somewhat\nobscure; but the meaning of it is made clear enough, when we read\nelsewhere in the same writer: \u201c_Rusticanae simplicilatis est putare,\nsex diebus, aut utique certo tempore mundum conditum._... Ergo cum\naudis: \u2018Complevit sexto die opera, intelligere non debes de diebus\naliquot, sed de senario perfecto numero.\u2019\u201d--De Legis Allegor.; Edit.\nFrancofurti, p. 41.\n\n\n(24). CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.--P. 320.\n\nStromatum, Lib. vi. Edit. Benid. p. 291; Edit. Migne, Patrum Graec.\nCursus Completus, vol. 9, pp. 370-5. See also Dissertatio de Libris\nStromatum, by the learned Benedictine, Nicholas le Nourry, cap. viii.\nartic. 1.\n\n\n(25). ORIGEN.--P. 320.\n\n\u201cQuod autem prima die lucem, secunda firmamentum creaverit, tertia\naquae quae sub coelo erant, in suis fuerint collectae receptaculis,\natque ita terra solius naturae administratione suos fructus protulerit;\nquod quarta creata fuerint luminaria et stellae, quinta vero natatilia,\nsexta demum terrestria et homo, haec omnia, prout facultas tulit, in\nnostris in Genesim commentariis explicavimus. Quin et supra _contra\neos qui obvio sensu Scripturam interpretantes asserunt sex dies ad\ncreationem mundi insumptos fuisse_, adduximus hunc locum: \u2018Iste est\nliber generationis coeli et terrae quando creata sunt, in die quo\nfecit Deus coelum et terram,\u2019\u201d--Contra Celsum, Lib. vi. Edit. Bened.\npp. 678, 679; Edit. Migne, Patr. Graecor. Cursus Completus, vol. 11,\np. 1390: for the passage referred to at the close of the extract see\np. 1378. The Commentary upon Genesis of which Origen here speaks no\nlonger exists, but the following passage has been preserved. \u201cAliqui\njam absurdum existimantes Deum architecti more non aliter, quam plurium\ndierum, labore, fabricam valentis absolvere, intra multos dies mundum\nperfecisse _uno cuncta momento_ ac simul extitisse aiunt, et hinc illud\nadstruunt; ordinis autem causa, et ut series constet, dierum et rerum\nquae in illis factae sunt, numerum dictum putant. Hi probabiliter\nsententiam stabiliunt ea auctoritate qua dictum est: \u2018Ipse dixit et\nfacta sunt; ipse mandavit, et creata sunt.\u2019\u201d--Selecta in Genesim, Edit.\nBened. p. 27; Edit. Migne, Patr. Graec. Cursus Completus, vol. 12, p.\n98. Again, in his Treatise De Principiis, Lib. iv., he says: \u201cQuis\nigitur sanae mentis existimaverit primam et secundam et tertiam diem,\net vesperam, et mane, sine sole, luna, et stellis, et eam quae veluti\nprima erat, diem sine coelo fuisse?\u201d Edit. Bened. p. 175; Edit. Migne,\nvol. 11, p. 378. See also P. Danielis Huetii Origeniana, Lib. ii. cap.\n2, Quaest. 8, \u00a7 6; Edit. Migne, vol. 17, p. 979.\n\n\n(26.) SAINT ATHANASIUS.--P. 320.\n\n\u201cCum ex supra dictis constet, _nullam e rebus creatis prius altera\nfactam esse_, sed res omnes factas uno eodemque mandato _simul_\nextitisse.\u201d--Oratio ii. Contra Arianos, n. 63. Edit. Bened. p. 418. New\nEdition, p. 528. Edit. Migne, Patr. Graecor. Cursus Completus, p. 275.\n\n\n(27.) SAINT EUCHERIUS.--P. 320.\n\nSpeaking strictly we should rather say the author of a Commentary upon\nGenesis belonging to a very early period of the Church, ascribed by\nsome to Saint Eucherius, and usually published with his works. This\nauthor says, no doubt, that God first, in the beginning, created the\nsubstance of all things, and afterward developed the various forms\non successive days (Gen. ii. 4): but then he tells us expressly that\nthe substance did not precede the forms by any priority of time, but\nonly by priority of origin (Gen. i. 2). Thus his view coincides pretty\nnearly with that of Saint Augustine, whose words, indeed, he seems to\nborrow. \u201c\u2018Terra autem erat inanis et vacua.\u2019 Id est, adhuc informis\nerat ipsa materia: quia necdum ex ea coelum et terra, necdum omnia\nformata erant, quae formari restabant: haec enim materia, ex nihilo\nfacta, praecessit tamen res ex se factas, _non quidem aeternitate\nvel tempore, sicut praecedit lignum arcam_; sed sola origine, _sicut\npraecedit vox verbum, vel sonus cantum_: nam \u2018qui vivit in aeternum\ncreavit omnia simul.\u2019\u201d--Edit. Migne, Patr. Latin Cursus Completus, vol.\n50, p. 894.\n\n\n(28.) PROCOPIUS OF GAZA.--P. 320.\n\nWe quote this writer on the authority of Perrerius, from whom the\nfollowing passage is taken. \u201cIdem censet hoc loco Procopius Gaz\u00e6us:\nMozen enim, inquit, in describendo mundi opificium, sex dierum\ndistinctione usum esse docendi gratia ob tarditatem, videlicet,\nruditatemque Jud\u00e6orum, quibus h\u00e6c scribebat: qui qu\u00e6 Deus _simul_\nfecerat, ob tantam eorum multitudinem atque varietatem simul et\nindiscrete capere et comprehendere, ut erant angustissimis ingeniis\nnequaquam potuissent.\u201d--In Genes., cap. 2, vers. 4, 5, 6, n. 179.\n\n\n(29.) ALBERTUS MAGNUS.--P. 320.\n\n\u201cVidetur mihi Augustino consentiendum.\u201d--Summa P. 1, Qu\u00e6st. 12, art. 6.\nSee Pianciani, Cosmogonia Naturale, p. 23.\n\n\n(30.) SAINT THOMAS.--P. 320.\n\nSumma Pars. 1. Qu\u00e6st. 74, art. ii.; also in an earlier work, Super\nLibros Sententiarum Petri Lombardi Commentarius, Distinct. xii. art. i.\nand iii. Having explained the opinion of Saint Augustine that there was\nno real succession in the order of time between the various works of\nthe creation, but that all were created together; and also the opinion\nof other Holy Fathers, that there was a real succession, he continues\nthus: \u201cPrima ergo opinio [Sancti Augustini] _magis convenit rationi,\nnec est contra Scripturam_; quia ea quae in Scriptura ordinem temporis\nimportare videntur, ad ordinem naturae Augustinus refert: secunda vero\nmagis convenit Scripturae secundum suam superficiem. Quia ergo utraque\na Sanctis patrocinium habet, utramque sustinendo, objectionibus hinc\ninde factis respondendum est.\u201d--Loco citato, art. i. Solutio.\n\n\n(31.) CARDINAL CAJETAN.--P. 320.\n\nWe are again indebted to Perrerius for the views of Cardinal Cajetan.\nHe writes thus: \u201cAccedit huic sententi\u00e6 Cajet. in Comment. super i.\ncap. Genes., et distinctionem sex dierum putat in id positam a Mose,\nquo facilius declararet naturalem rerum ordinem, consequentiam et\ndependentiam. Sic enim res suapt\u00e8 natura inter se apt\u00e6 et connex\u00e6 sunt,\nut si mundum successiv\u00e8 voluisset Deus facere, non alio ordine vel\nsuccessione, qu\u00e0m ut hic narratur, facturus eum fuisset.\u201d--In Genes.,\ncap. ii. vers. 4, 5, 6, n. 179.\n\n\n(32.) VENERABLE BEDE.--P. 323.\n\n\u201cAperte intelligi quia diem hoc loco Scriptura _pro omni illo tempore\nponit_ quo primordialis natura formata est. Neque enim in unoquolibet\nsex dierum coelum factum est et sideribus illustratum, et terra est\nseparata ab aquis, atque arboribus et herbis consita; sed _more\nsibi solito Scriptura diem pro tempore ponit_; quomodo Apostolus,\ncum ait, \u2018Ecce nunc dies salutis,\u2019 non unum specialiter diem, sed\ntotum significat tempus hoc quo in praesenti vita pro aeterna salute\nlaboramus.\u201d--Hexaemeron, Lib. i. in Gen. ii. 4; Edit. Migne, Patr. Lat.\nCursus Completus, vol. 91, p. 39.\n\n\n(33.) SAINT AUGUSTINE.--P. 323.\n\n\u201cSuperius septem dies numerantur, nunc unus dicitur dies, quo die fecit\nDeus coelum et terram, et omne viride agri, et omne pabulum, _cujus\ndiei nomine omne tempus significari bene intelligitur_. Fecit enim Deus\nomne tempus simul cum omnibus creaturis temporalibus, quae creaturae\nvisibiles coeli et terrae nomine significantur.\u201d--De Genesi contra\nManichaeos, Lib. ii. cap. 3, n. 4.\n\n\n(34.) MOLINA.--P. 323.\n\n\u201cDicunt Doctores communiter, Moysem eo loco sumpsisse _diem_ pro\n_tempore_ juxta illud Deuteronomii xxxii., juxta est dies perditionis,\n... et alibi saepe, in Scriptura sumitur dies pro tempore.\u201d--In primam\npartem, De opere sex dierum, D. I. See Pianciani, Cosmogonia Naturale,\np. 27.\n\n\n(35.) BANNEZ.--P. 323.\n\n\u201cDies potest accipi pro quacumque duratione et mensura.\u201d--In Summa,\nPars 1. Qu\u00e6st. 73.\n\n\n(36.) PERRERIUS.--P. 323.\n\n\u201cNec officit huic sententiae, quod paullo superius ex cap. ii. Geneseos\nprolatum est, \u2018In die quo fecit Dominus Deus coelum et terram.\u2019\nIbi enim _dies pro tempore, sicut crebro fit in Scriptura, positus\nest_.\u201d--In Gen. cap. i. v. 4, n. 80; see also cap. ii., n. 186.\n\n\n(37.) PETAVIUS.--P. 323.\n\n\u201cPostquam Moyses sex dierum opificium toto primo capite descripsit,\nmox in sequenti summatim universeque colligens, \u2018Istae sunt,\u2019 inquit,\n\u2018generationes coeli et terrae, quando creata sunt, in die quo fecit\nDominus Deus coelum et terram.\u2019 Quae verba non unius diei mentionem\nfaciunt, ut quibusdam videtur; qui primum diem designari putant, in quo\nfactum illud est, praeter lucem, quod initio libri Moyses explicat, \u2018In\nprincipio creavit Deus coelum et terram.\u2019 Sed eam nos opinionem minime\nprobamus, ac supra docuimus, _diei_ nomen istic usurpari pro _tempore_:\nquod apud Graecos Latinosque, non minus quam Hebraeos, usitatem est.\nExemplo sit Ciceronis illud ex libro secundo in Verrem: \u2018Itaque cum\nego diem in Siciliam inquirendi prexiguam postulavissem, invenit iste,\nqui sibi in Achaiam _biduo breviorem diem_ postularet.\u2019 Igitur cum\ndixisset, _in die_, id est tempore illo, factum esse coelum et terram,\nhoc est perpolitum et elaboratum esse sex continuis diebus,\u201d etc.--De\nOpificio Sex Dierum, Lib. i. cap. 14, sect. 1.\n\n\n(38.) SAINT AUGUSTINE.--P. 335.\n\n\u201cTres enim dies superiores quomodo esse sine sole potuerunt, cum\nvideamus nunc solis ortu et occasu diem transigi, noctem vero fieri\nsolis absentia, cum ab alia parte mundi ad orientem redit? Quibus\nrespondemus, potuisse fieri ut tres superiores dies singuli per tantam\nmoram temporis computarentur, per quantam moram circumit sol, ex quo\nprocedit ab oriente quousque rursus ad orientem revertitur. Hanc\nenim moram et longitudinem temporis possent sentire homines etiamsi\nin speluncis habitarent, ubi orientem et occidentem solem videre non\npossent. Atque ita sentitur potuisse istam moram fieri etiam sine sole\nantequam sol factus esset, atque ipsam moram in illo triduo per dies\nsingulos computatam. Hoc ergo responderemus, nisi nos revocaret, quod\nibi dicitur, \u2018Et facta est vespera et factum est mane,\u2019 quod nunc sine\nsolis cursu videmus fieri non posse. Restat ergo ut intelligamus, in\nipsa quidem mora temporis _ipsas distinctiones operum sic appellatas,\nvesperam propter transactionem consummati operis, et mane propter\ninchoationem futuri operis_; de similitudine scilicet humanorum operum,\nquia plerumque a mane incipiunt, et ad vesperam desinunt. Habent enim\nconsuetudinem Divinae Scripturae de rebus humanis ad divinas res verba\ntransferre.\u201d--De Genesi contra Manichaeos, Lib. i. cap. 14, n. 20.\n\n\n(39.) SAINT EUCHERIUS.--P. 335.\n\nIt is uncertain, as we before observed, if this commentary is the\ngenuine work of Saint Eucherius; at all events it is the production of\nsome learned and Catholic writer of the fifth or sixth century. His\nwords run thus: \u201c_Vespere conditae creaturae terminus; mane initium\ncondendae creaturae alterius._\u201d--Comment. in Genes. cap. i. v. 4; Edit.\nMigne, Patr. Latin. Cursus Completus, vol. 50, p. 897. And again in v.\n10 et seqq.:--\u201cSi quarto die facta sunt luminaria, quomodo tres dies\njam ante fuerunt? nisi ut intelligamus, in ipsa hora temporis ipsas\noperum distinctiones ita appellatas; _vesperam propter transactionem\nconsummati operis; mane propter inchoationem_ futuri diei; in\nsimilitudinem humanorum operum quod plerique mane incipiunt et in\nvesperam desinunt.\u201d--Ib. p. 899.\n\n\n(40.) VENERABLE BEDE.--P. 335.\n\n\u201cQuid est _vespere_ nisi _ipsa perfectio singulorum operum_? et _mane_,\nid est inchoatio sequentium?\u201d--De Sex Dierum Creatione, De Prima Die;\nEdit. Migne, Patrum Lat. Cursus Completus, vol. 93, p. 210.\n\nIn another place he says: \u201cVespere autem in toto illo triduo, antequam\nluminaria essent, _consummati operis terminus_ non absurde fortasse\nintelligitur; Mane autem _futur\u00e6 operationis significatio_.\u201d--In\nPentateuchum Comment. Gen. cap. i.; Edit. Migne, vol. 91, p. 194.\n\n\n(41.) SAINT HILDEGARDE.--P. 335.\n\n\u201cSex enim dies, sex opera sunt; quia inceptio et completio singuli\ncujusque operis dies dicitur.\u201d--Epist. ad Colonienses. See Pianciani,\nCosmogonia, p. 34.\n\n\n(42.) SAINT AUGUSTINE.--P. 342.\n\n\u201cDies autem septimus sine vespere est nec habet occasum.\u201d--Confess.\nLib. xiii. cap. xxxvi.\n\n\n(43.) VENERABLE BEDE.--P. 342.\n\n\u201cQuia finem non habet, neque ullo termino clauditur.\u201d--De Sex Dierum\nCreatione, De Die Septima; Edit. Migne, Patr. Lat. Cursus Completus,\nvol. 93, p. 218. And elsewhere he says: \u201cSeptimus dies coepit a mane et\nin nullo vespere terminatur.\u201d--In Pentateuch Comment., Gen. ii.; Edit.\nMigne, vol. 91, p. 203.\n\n\n(44.) SAINT AUGUSTINE.--P. 355.\n\n\u201cEligat quis quod potest: tantum ne aliquid temere atque incognitum pro\ncognito asserat; memineritque se hominem de divinis operibus quantum\npermittitur qu\u00e6rere.\u201d--De Genesi Liber Imperfectus, cap. ix., n. 80.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.\n\n_From Prof. J. D. Dana\u2019s Manual of Geology. [8vo. Philadelphia: T.\nBliss & Co.] By permission of the author._\n\n\nCOSMOGONY.\n\nThe science of cosmogony treats of the history of creation.\n\nGeology comprises that later portion of the history which is within\nthe range of direct investigation, beginning with the rock-covered\nglobe, and gathering only a few hints as to a previous state of igneous\nfluidity.\n\nThrough Astronomy our knowledge of this earlier state becomes less\ndoubtful, and we even discover evidence of a period still more remote.\nAscertaining thence that the sun of our system is in intense ignition,\nthat the moon, the earth\u2019s satellite, was once a globe of fire, but is\nnow cooled and covered with extinct craters, and that space is filled\nwith burning suns,--and learning also from physical science that all\nheated bodies in space must have been losing heat through past time,\nthe smallest most rapidly,--we safely conclude that the earth has\npassed through a stage of igneous fluidity.\n\nAgain, as to the remoter period: the forms of the nebul\u00e6 and of other\nstarry systems in the heavens, and the relations which subsist between\nthe spheres in our own system, have been found to be such as would\nhave resulted if the whole universe had been evolved from an original\nnebula or gaseous fluid. It is not necessary for the strength of this\nargument that any portion of the primal nebula should exist now at\nthis late period in the history of the universe: it is only what might\nhave been expected that the nebul\u00e6 of the present heavens should be\nturning out to be clusters of stars. If, then, this nebular theory be\ntrue, the universe has been developed from a primal unit, and the earth\nis one of the individual orbs produced in the course of its evolution.\nIts history is in kind like that which has been deciphered with regard\nto the earth: it only carries the action of physical forces, under a\nsustaining and directing hand, further back in time.\n\nThe science also of Chemistry is aiding in the study of the earth\u2019s\nearliest development, and is preparing itself to write a history of the\nvarious changes which should have taken place among the elements from\nthe first commencement of combination to the formation of the solid\ncrust of our globe.\n\nIt is not proposed to enter either into chemical or astronomical\ndetails in this place, but, supposing the nebular theory to be true,\nbriefly to mention the great stages of progress in the history of the\nearth, or those successive periods which stand out prominently in\ntime through the exhibition of some new idea in the grand system of\nprogress. The views here offered, and the following on the cosmogony of\nthe Bible, are essentially those brought out by Professor Guyot in his\nlectures.\n\n_Stages of progress._--These stages of progress are as follow:--\n\n(1.) _The_ BEGINNING OF ACTIVITY IN MATTER.--In such a beginning from\nmatter in the state of a gaseous fluid the activity would be intense,\nand it would show itself at once by a manifestation of light, since\nlight is a resultant of molecular activity. A flash of light through\nthe universe would therefore be the first announcement of the work\nbegun.\n\n(2.) _The development of the_ EARTH.--A dividing and sub-dividing of\nthe original fluid going on would have evolved systems of various\ngrades, and ultimately the orbs of space, among these the earth, an\nigneous sphere enveloped in vapors.\n\n(3.) _The production of the_ EARTH\u2019S PHYSICAL FEATURES,--by the\noutlining of the continents and oceans. The condensible vapors would\nhave gradually settled upon the earth as cooling progressed.\n\n(4.) _The introduction of_ LIFE _under its simplest forms_,--as in the\nlowest of plants, and perhaps, also of animals. As shown on page 396,\nthe systems of structure characterizing the two kingdoms of nature, the\n_Radiate_ of the Vegetable kingdom, and the _Radiate_, _Molluscan_,\n_Articulate_, and _Vertebrate_ of the Animal, are not brought out\nin the simplest forms of life. The true _Zoic_ era in history began\nlater. As plants are primarily the food of animals, there is reason for\nbelieving that the idea of life was first expressed in a plant.\n\n(5.) _The display of the_ SYSTEMS _in the Kingdoms of Life_,--the\nexhibition of the four grand types under the Animal kingdom, being the\npredominant idea in this phase of progress.\n\n(6.) _The introduction of the highest class of Vertebrates--that of\nthe_ MAMMALS (the class to which MAN belongs), viviparous species,\nwhich are eminent above all other Vertebrates for a quality prophetic\nof a high moral purpose,--that of suckling their young.\n\n(7.) _The introduction of_ MAN,--the first being of moral and\nintellectual qualities, and one in whom the unity of nature has its\nfull expression.\n\nThere is another great event in the Earth\u2019s history which has not\nyet been mentioned, because of a little uncertainty with regard to\nits exact place among the others. The event referred to is the first\nshining of the sun upon the earth, after the vapors which till then had\nshrouded the sphere were mostly condensed. This must have preceded the\nintroduction of the Animal system, since the sun is the grand source\nof activity throughout nature on the earth, and is essential to the\nexistence of life, excepting its lowest forms. In the history of the\nglobe which has been given on page 196, it has been shown that the\noutlining of the continents was one of the earliest events, dating even\nfrom the Azoic age; and it is probable, from the facts stated, that it\npreceded that clearing of the atmosphere which opened the sky to the\nearth. This would place the event between numbers 3 and 5, and as the\nsun\u2019s light was not essential to the earliest of organisms, probably\nafter number 4.\n\nThe order will, then, be--\n\n(1.) Activity begun,--light an immediate result.\n\n(2.) The earth made an independent sphere.\n\n(3.) Outlining of the land and water, determining the earth\u2019s general\nconfiguration.\n\n(4.) The idea of life expressed in the lowest plants, and afterward,\nif not contemporaneously, in the lowest or systemless animals, or\nProtozoans.\n\n(5.) The energizing light of the sun shining on the earth,--an\nessential preliminary to the display of the systems of life.\n\n(6.) Introduction of the system of life.\n\n(7.) Introduction of Mammals, the highest order of Vertebrates,--the\nclass afterward to be dignified by including a being of moral and\nintellectual nature.\n\n(8.) Introduction of Man.\n\n_Cosmogony of the Bible._--There is one ancient document on\ncosmogony--that of the opening page of the Bible--which is not only\nadmired for its sublimity, but is very generally believed to be\nof divine origin, and which, therefore, demands at least a brief\nconsideration in this place.\n\nIn the first place, it may be observed that _this document if true, is\nof divine origin_. For no human mind was witness of the events; and no\nsuch mind in the early age of the world, unless gifted with superhuman\nintelligence, could have contrived such a scheme;--would have placed\nthe creation of the sun, the source of light to the earth, so long\nafter the creation of light, even on the _fourth_ day, and, what is\nequally singular, between the creation of plants and that of animals,\nwhen so important to both; and none could have reached to the depths of\nphilosophy exhibited in the whole plan.\n\nAgain, _If divine, the account must bear marks of human imperfection,\nsince it was communicated through man_. Ideas suggested to a human mind\nby the Deity would take shape in that mind according to its range of\nknowledge, modes of thought, and use of language, unless it were at\nthe same time supernaturally gifted with the profound knowledge and\nwisdom adequate to their conception; and even then they could not be\nintelligibly expressed, for want of words to represent them.\n\nThe central thought of each step in the Scripture cosmogony--for\nexample, Light,--the dividing of the fluid earth from the fluid\naround it, individualizing the earth,--the arrangement of its land\nand water,--vegetation,--and so on--is brought out in the simple and\nnatural style of a sublime intellect, wise for its times, but unversed\nin the depths of science which the future was to reveal. The idea\nof vegetation to such a one would be vegetation as he knew it; and\nso it is described. The idea of dividing the earth from the fluid\naround it would take the form of a dividing from the fluid above, in\nthe imperfect conceptions of a mind unacquainted with the earth\u2019s\nsphericity and the true nature of the firmament,--especially as the\nevent was beyond the reach of all ordinary thought.\n\n    Objections are often made to the word \u201cday,\u201d--as if its use\n    limited the time of each of the six periods to a day of\n    twenty-four hours. But in the course of the document this word\n    \u201cday\u201d has various significations, and, among them, all that\n    are common to it in ordinary language. These are--(1) The\n    light,--\u201cGod called the light day,\u201d v. 5; (2) the \u201cevening\n    and the morning\u201d before the appearance of the sun; (3) the\n    \u201cevening and the morning\u201d after the appearance of the sun; (4)\n    the hours of light in the twenty-four hours (as well as the\n    whole twenty-four hours), in verse 14; and (5) in the following\n    chapter, at the commencement of another record of creation,\n    the whole period of creation is called a \u201cday.\u201d The proper\n    meaning of \u201cevening and morning,\u201d in a history of creation, is\n    _beginning and completion_; and, in this sense, darkness before\n    light is but a common metaphor.\n\n    A Deity working in creation like a day-laborer by earth-days\n    of twenty-four hours, resting at night, is a belittling\n    conception, and one probably never in the mind of the sacred\n    penman. In the plan of an infinite God, centuries are required\n    for the maturing of some of the plants with which the earth is\n    adorned.\n\nThe order of events in the Scripture cosmogony corresponds essentially\nwith that which has been given. There was first a void and formless\nearth: this was literally true of the \u201cheavens and the earth,\u201d if they\nwere in a condition of a gaseous fluid. The succession is as follows:\n\n(1.) Light.\n\n(2.) The dividing of the waters below from the waters above the earth,\n(the word translated _waters_ may mean _fluid_.)\n\n(3.) The dividing of the land and water on the earth.\n\n(4.) Vegetation; which Moses, appreciating the philosophical\ncharacteristic of the new creation distinguishing it from previous\ninorganic substances, defines as that \u201cwhich has seed in itself.\u201d\n\n(5.) The sun, moon, and stars.\n\n(6.) The lower animals, those that swarm in the waters, and the\ncreeping and flying species of the land.\n\n(7.) Beasts of prey (\u201ccreeping\u201d here meaning \u201cprowling\u201d)--\n\n(8.) Man.\n\nIn this succession, we observe not merely an order of events, like\nthat deduced from science; there is a system in the arrangement, and\na far-reaching prophecy, to which philosophy could not have attained,\nhowever instructed.\n\nThe account recognizes in creation two great eras of three days\neach,--an _Inorganic_ and an _Organic_.\n\nEach of these eras opens with the appearance of _light_: the _first_,\nlight cosmical; the _second_, light from the sun for the special uses\nof the earth.\n\nEach are ends in a \u201cday\u201d of two great works,--the two shown to be\ndistinct by being severally pronounced \u201cgood.\u201d On the _third_ \u201cday,\u201d\nthat closing the Inorganic era, there was first the _dividing of the\nland from the waters_, and afterward the _creation of vegetation_,\nor the institution of a kingdom of life,--a work widely diverse from\nall preceding it in the era. Soon the _sixth_ \u201cday,\u201d terminating the\nOrganic era, there was first _the creation of Mammals_, and then a\nsecond far greater work, totally new in its grandest element, _the\ncreation of Man_.\n\nThe arrangement is, then, as follows:--\n\n  1. _The Inorganic Era._\n\n  1st Day.--LIGHT cosmical.\n\n  2d Day.--The earth divided from the fluid around it, or\n  individualized.\n\n           { 1. Outlining of the land and water.\n  3d Day.--{ 2. Creation of vegetation.\n\n\n  2. _The Organic Era._\n\n  4th Day.--LIGHT from the sun.\n\n  5th Day.--Creation of the lower orders of animals.\n\n  6th Day.--{ 1. Creation of Mammals.\n            { 2. Creation of Man.\n\nIn addition, the last day of each era included one work typical of the\nera, and another related to it in essential points, but also prophetic\nof the future. Vegetation, while, for physical reasons, a part of the\ncreation of the third day, was also prophetic of the future Organic\nera, in which the progress of life was the grand characteristic. The\nrecord thus accords with the fundamental principle in history that the\ncharacteristic of an age has its beginnings within the age preceding.\nSo, again, Man, while like other Mammals in structure, even to the\nhomologies of every bone and muscle, was endowed with a spiritual\nnature, which looked forward to another era, that of spiritual\nexistence.--The _seventh_ \u201cday,\u201d the day of rest from the work of\ncreation, is man\u2019s period of preparation for that new existence; and it\nis to promote this special end that--in strict parallelism--the Sabbath\nfollows man\u2019s six days of work.\n\nThe record in the Bible is, therefore, profoundly philosophical in the\nscheme of creation which it presents. It is both true and divine. It\nis a declaration of authorship, both of Creation and the Bible, on the\nfirst page of the sacred volume.\n\nThere can be no real conflict between the two Books of the GREAT\nAUTHOR. Both are revelations made by Him to man,--the _earlier_ telling\nof God-made harmonies coming up from the deep past, and rising to their\nheight when man appeared, the _later_ teaching man\u2019s relations to his\nMaker, and speaking of loftier harmonies in the eternal future.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n[Footnote 1: Twelve Lectures on the Connection between Science and\nRevealed Religion, by NICHOLAS WISEMAN, D.D., Principal of the English\nCollege, and Professor in the University of Rome. Andover: Gould &\nNewman, 1837.]\n\n[Footnote 2: Prelectiones Theologic\u00e6.]\n\n[Footnote 3: Cosmogonia Naturale comparata Col Genesi.]\n\n[Footnote 4: A Manual of Geology; treating of the Principles of the\nscience with special reference to American Geological History, etc., by\nJAMES D. DANA, M. A., LL. D., etc., 8vo, pp. 998. Philadelphia: Thos.\nBliss & Co.]\n\n[Footnote 5: January and July, 1856, and April and July, 1857, covering\nin all 219 pages, 8vo.]\n\n[Footnote 6: The Six Days of Creation, or the Scriptural Cosmology;\nwith the Ancient Idea of Time Worlds in Distinction from Worlds in\nSpace, by TAYLER LEWIS, Professor of Greek in Union College. 12mo, pp.\n407. Schenectady, 1855.]\n\n[Footnote 7: Man in Genesis and Geology; or, the Bible account of Man\u2019s\nCreation tested by Scientific Theories of his Origin and Antiquity, by\nJOSEPH P. THOMPSON, D. D., LL. D. New York, 12mo, pp. 149. 1870.]\n\n[Footnote 8: The Chemical History of the Six Days of Creation, by JOHN\nPHIN, editor of the Technologist. American News Company, New York, pp.\n95, 12mo, 1870.]\n\n[Footnote 9: Genesis, or the First Book of Moses, together with a\nGeneral Theological and Homitetical Introduction to the Old Testament,\nby JOHN PETER LANGE, D. D., Professor in Ordinary of Theology in the\nUniversity of Bonn. Translated from the German, with additions by\nProfessor TAYLER LEWIS, LL. D., Schenectady, New York, and A. GOSMAN,\nD. D., Lawrenceville, N. J. New York: Charles Scribner & Co., 654\nBroadway. 1868. 8vo, pp. 665.]\n\n[Footnote 10: 2 Cor. vi. 1.]\n\n[Footnote 11: 2 Pet. iii. 10.]\n\n[Footnote 12: Rom. i. 18.]\n\n[Footnote 13: It may be useful once for all to inform the reader that\nthe term _Rock_ is employed by Geologists in a technical sense. It is\napplied to every large mass of mineral matter that goes to form the\nCrust of the Earth, whether it be hard and strong, or soft and plastic.\nThus, for example, gravel and clay, coal and slate, are called _Rocks_,\njust as well as limestone and granite. \u201cOur older writers endeavored\nto avoid offering such violence to our language, by speaking of the\ncomponent materials of the Earth as consisting of rocks and _soils_.\nBut there is often so insensible a passage from a soft and incoherent\nstate to that of stone, that Geologists of all countries have found\nit indispensable to have one technical term to include both, and in\nthis sense we find _roche_ applied in French, _rocca_ in Italian, and\n_felsart_ in German. The beginner, however, must constantly bear in\nmind, that the term rock by no means implies that a mineral mass is in\nan indurated or stony condition.\u201d--Lyell\u2019s Elements of Geology, p. 4.]\n\n[Footnote 14: Lyell\u2019s Elements of Geology, p. 7.]\n\n[Footnote 15: See Lyell\u2019s Principles of Geology, vol. i., pp. 411-413.]\n\n[Footnote 16: See Jukes, The Student\u2019s Manual of Geology, p. 125.]\n\n[Footnote 17: Professor Tyndall, Odds and Ends of Alpine Life.]\n\n[Footnote 18: Ecclesiastes, i. 7.]\n\n[Footnote 19: Page, Advanced Text-Book of Geology, p. 55.]\n\n[Footnote 20: See on this subject, Lyell\u2019s Principles of Geology, vol.\ni., p. 458, and pp. 480-3; Jukes, Manual of Geology, pp. 105-11; Page,\nAdvanced Text-Book of Geology, pp. 52-56.]\n\n[Footnote 21: Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. i., pp. 356-7.]\n\n[Footnote 22: Principles of Geology, vol. i., p. 360.]\n\n[Footnote 23: See Jukes, Manual of Geology, pp. 108-10; Hopkins,\nPresidential Address to the Geological Society of London, 1852, p.\nxxvii.]\n\n[Footnote 24: For these facts see Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol.\ni., pp. 349, 350; Quarterly Journal of Science, No. xiii., New Series;\nThe English Cyclop\u00e6dia, Natural History Division, Alluvium.]\n\n[Footnote 25: For these facts illustrating the destructive action\nof the waves of the sea we are chiefly indebted to the following\nauthorities: Hibbert, Description of the Shetland Isles; Phillips,\nRivers, Mountains, and Sea-coast of Yorkshire; Geology of Yorkshire, by\nthe same author; Pennant\u2019s Arctic Zoology, vol. i.; Lyell\u2019s Principles\nof Geology, vol. i., chapters xx. and xxi.; Gardner\u2019s History of the\nBorough of Dunwich; the English Cyclop\u00e6dia, Alluvium.]\n\n[Footnote 26: Rennell\u2019s Investigation of the Currents in the Atlantic\nOcean; Maury\u2019s Physical Geography of the Sea, chapters ii. and iii.;\nHumboldt\u2019s Cosmos; The English Cyclop\u00e6dia, Atlantic Ocean; Lyell\u2019s\nPrinciples of Geology, vol. i., chapter xx.]\n\n[Footnote 27: Mantell\u2019s Wonders of Geology, p. 70.]\n\n[Footnote 28: In his notes to the translation of Humboldt\u2019s Cosmos, p.\nxcvii.]\n\n[Footnote 29: A Hymn before Sunrise in the Vale of Chamouni, by Samuel\nTaylor Coleridge.]\n\n[Footnote 30: Lyell\u2019s Principles of Geology, vol. i., pp. 374-5.]\n\n[Footnote 31: Voyage in 1822, p. 233.]\n\n[Footnote 32: Elements of Geology, pp. 145, 146.]\n\n[Footnote 33: Captain Horsburg, On Icebergs in Low Latitudes. Phil.\nTrans., 1830.]\n\n[Footnote 34: Agassiz, Etudes sur les Glaciers; Tyndall, Glaciers of\nthe Alps; also Heat as a mode of Motion, by the same Author; Lyell,\nPrinciples of Geology, vol. i., chapter xvi.; Elements of Geology,\nchapters xi., xii.; Wallace, Ice Marks in North Wales, in the Quarterly\nJournal of Science, No. xiii.]\n\n[Footnote 35: Elements of Geology, p. 38.]\n\n[Footnote 36: Mantell, Wonders of Geology, vol. i., p. 102.]\n\n[Footnote 37: Lyell, Elements of Geology, p. 42; also Principles, vol.\ni., p. 410.]\n\n[Footnote 38: Mantell\u2019s Wonders of Geology, pp. 70, 81, 82, 83.]\n\n[Footnote 39: Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. i., p. 431.]\n\n[Footnote 40: Id. ib., p. 429.]\n\n[Footnote 41: The figures given by Sir Charles Lyell, and derived from\nthe observations of Mr. Everest, are these: total discharge during the\nfour months of rain, 6,082,041,600 cubic feet; total discharge during\nthe three months of hot weather, 38,154,240 cubic feet.--Principles of\nGeology, vol. i., p. 481.]\n\n[Footnote 42: From a Special Correspondent, in the Times Newspaper,\nDecember 7, 1866.]\n\n[Footnote 43: Horner, Alluvial Land of Egypt, Phil. Trans., part I.,\nfor 1855; Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. i., pp. 431-9.]\n\n[Footnote 44: The English Cyclop\u00e6dia, Alluvium.]\n\n[Footnote 45: Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. i., chapters XVIII.,\nXIX.]\n\n[Footnote 46: Consolations in Travel, p. 127.]\n\n[Footnote 47: Handbook of Rome and its Environs: Murray, 1858, p. 325.]\n\n[Footnote 48: Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. i., 400-3.]\n\n[Footnote 49: Jukes, Manual of Geology, p. 127.]\n\n[Footnote 50: See his Lecture On a Piece of Chalk, delivered during the\nMeeting of the British Association at Norwich, 1868.]\n\n[Footnote 51: Lyell, Elements of Geology, p. 318.]\n\n[Footnote 52: Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. ii., chap. xlix.;\nMantell, Wonders of Geology, Lecture vi.; Jukes, Manual of Geology, pp.\n130-3.]\n\n[Footnote 53: Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons, by the Rev. Henry\nDuncan, D.D.; Summer, p. 168.]\n\n[Footnote 54: Ps. xcix. 3.]\n\n[Footnote 55: Kotzebue\u2019s Voyages, 1815-18, vol. iii., pp. 331-33.]\n\n[Footnote 56: Wonders of Geology, p. 648.]\n\n[Footnote 57: Organic Remains of a Former World, vol. ii., p. 16.]\n\n[Footnote 58: Carbonic acid gas contains two equivalents of oxygen to\none of carbon, the chemical expression for the compound being CO_{2};\ncarburetted hydrogen, which is the gas we employ in illuminating our\nstreets and houses, contains four equivalents of hydrogen to two of\ncarbon, and is chemically expressed by the symbols C_{2}H_{4}; water is\ncomposed of one equivalent of oxygen, and one of hydrogen, the symbolic\nform being HO.]\n\n[Footnote 59: See Jukes, Manual of Geology, pp. 138-141; Lyell,\nElements of Geology, p. 500.]\n\n[Footnote 60: Jukes, Manual of Geology, p. 140.]\n\n[Footnote 61: See Mantell, Wonders of Geology, pp. 680-2; also 760;\nLyell, Elements of Geology, 464, 465.]\n\n[Footnote 62: Elements of Geology, p. 488.]\n\n[Footnote 63: Mantell, Wonders of Geology, p. 67.]\n\n[Footnote 64: Mantell, Wonders of Geology, p. 66.]\n\n[Footnote 65: Id. Ib.]\n\n[Footnote 66: Chemical Technology, Ronalds and Richardson, vol. i., p.\n32.]\n\n[Footnote 67: See Lyell, Elements of Geology, 477-81; Jukes, Manual\nof Geology, 138, 149-53; The English Cyclop\u00e6dia, Natural History\nDepartment, Article, Coal; Mantell, Fossils of the British Museum,\nChapter i., Part I.]\n\n[Footnote 68: Page, Advanced Text-Book of Geology, n. 7, pp. 20, 21.]\n\n[Footnote 69: From the Latin _Fossilis_, _dug up_.]\n\n[Footnote 70: Elements of Geology, p. 38.]\n\n[Footnote 71: Elements of Geology, p. 40.]\n\n[Footnote 72: Manual of Geology, p. 375.]\n\n[Footnote 73: Lyell, Elements of Geology, pp. 40-41. The reader will\nfind a singularly clear and simple exposition of this subject in Doctor\nHaughton\u2019s Manual of Geology, Lecture III.; an exposition which it\nwas not our good fortune to have read until our own brief summary was\nalready in type.]\n\n[Footnote 74: Buckland, Bridgewater Treatise, vol. i., p. 123; Mantell,\nWonders of Geology, p. 269; Lyell, Elements of Geology, p. 687.]\n\n[Footnote 75: Mantell, Wonders of Geology, Lecture IV., Fossils of the\nBritish Museum, chapter V.; see, also, Medals of Creation, and Fossils\nof the South Downs, by the same Author.]\n\n[Footnote 76: Owen\u2019s Pal\u00e6ontology, pp. 200-9; Buckland, Bridgewater\nTreatise, vol. i., pp. 168-186; Mantell, Wonders of Geology, pp.\n576-581; Lyell, Elements of Geology, pp. 420-425; Jukes, Manual of\nGeology, pp. 598-599.]\n\n[Footnote 77: Buckland\u2019s Bridgewater Treatise, vol. i., pp. 202-14;\nOwen\u2019s Pal\u00e6ontology, 223-232.]\n\n[Footnote 78: Buckland, Bridgewater Treatise, vol. i., pp. 139-164;\nOwen\u2019s Pal\u00e6ontology, pp. 390-2; Mantell, Wonders of Geology, pp. 166-9;\nFossils of the British Museum, pp. 465-480; The English Cyclop\u00e6dia,\nNatural History Division, Article, Megatherid\u00e6.]\n\n[Footnote 79: Lyell, Elements of Geology, p. 4.]\n\n[Footnote 80: Wonders of Geology, p. 400.]\n\n[Footnote 81: See Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. i., p. 31, who\nrefers to Da Vinci\u2019s MSS. now in the Library of the Institute of\nFrance.]\n\n[Footnote 82: See Lyell, Elements of Geology, pp. 94-96; Principles of\nGeology, p. 116; Jukes, Manual of Geology, pp. 410, 411.]\n\n[Footnote 83: Elements of Geology, p. 95.]\n\n[Footnote 84: Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. i., p. 115.]\n\n[Footnote 85: Lyell, Elements of Geology, p. 100.]\n\n[Footnote 86: Principles of Geology, vol. i., p. 312.]\n\n[Footnote 87: Ib. 313.]\n\n[Footnote 88: Principles of Geology, vol. i., pp. 321, 322.]\n\n[Footnote 89: Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects: London, 1867;\npp. 9, 10.]\n\n[Footnote 90: It would be more strictly correct to say that the rate\nof increase varies considerably in different places, though the main\nfact is everywhere palpably apparent that the deeper we descend into\nthe Earth the higher the temperature becomes. Sir Charles Lyell records\na number of careful experiments made in England, France, Germany, and\nItaly, which seem to show that an increase of one degree Fahrenheit for\nevery sixty-five feet of descent would represent pretty correctly the\ngeneral average. See his Principles of Geology, vol. ii., pp. 205, 206.]\n\n[Footnote 91: See Sir John Herschel, Familiar Lectures on Scientific\nSubjects, pp. 26, 27.]\n\n[Footnote 92: See the elaborate work of Sir William Hamilton, entitled\nCampi Phlegraei, in which he gives a full account of the formation\nof Monte Nuovo, accompanied with colored plates. He has preserved\ntwo interesting narratives of the eruption written at the time by\neye-witnesses. See also Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. i., pp.\n606-616.]\n\n[Footnote 93: Sir John Herschel, Familiar Lectures on Scientific\nSubjects, p. 34; see also Lyell, Principles of Geology, chap. xxvii.;\nMantell, Wonders of Geology, pp. 872-4.]\n\n[Footnote 94: See Herschel, Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects,\npp. 34-6. Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. ii., pp. 104-6.]\n\n[Footnote 95: Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects, pp. 31, 32.]\n\n[Footnote 96: Principles of Geology, vol. ii., pp. 59, 60.]\n\n[Footnote 97: Principles of Geology, vol. ii. pp. 69, 70.]\n\n[Footnote 98: For the account of these various Earthquakes we are\nmainly indebted to the indefatigable industry of Sir Charles Lyell, who\nhas collected the facts with great care partly from the descriptions\nof eye-witnesses, and partly from authentic documents written upon the\nspot. See his Principles of Geology, vol. ii., chap, xxviii., xxix.,\nxxx. See also Mr. Mallet\u2019s Earthquake Catalogue; and the first of Sir\nJohn Herschel\u2019s Lectures on Familiar Subjects.]\n\n[Footnote 99: The following are the sources from which we have chiefly\nderived our information regarding the Peruvian Earthquake of 1868: (1)\na series of letters written upon the scene of the catastrophe, and\npublished in _The Times_ of September 26, 1868; amongst them is one\nfrom the British Vice-consul, and one from the agent of the Pacific\nSteam Navigation Company, who were both at the time residents of Arica:\n(2) a letter of Mr. Clements Markham in _The Times_ of September 15,\n1868: (3) Captain Powell\u2019s Report to the Admiralty, dated September 14,\n1868.]\n\n[Footnote 100: Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. ii., p. 176.]\n\n[Footnote 101: Id. ib.]\n\n[Footnote 102: Letter from C. Hullmandel, Esq.; see Mantell, Wonders of\nGeology, Appendix G., p. 470. For a full and elaborate disquisition on\nthe Temple of Jupiter Serapis, see also Lyell, Principles of Geology,\nvol. ii., chap. xxv.]\n\n[Footnote 103: Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. ii., chap. xxxi.]\n\n[Footnote 104: Ibid.]\n\n[Footnote 105: On a Piece of Chalk: A Lecture to Working Men.]\n\n[Footnote 106: Genesis, v. 3-32.]\n\n[Footnote 107: Ib., xi. 10-26.]\n\n[Footnote 108: Ib., v. 3-9.]\n\n[Footnote 109: Genesis, xii. 4.]\n\n[Footnote 110: The Genesis of the Earth and Man, Edited by Reginald\nStuart Poole: London; Williams and Norgate; 1860.]\n\n[Footnote 111: \u201cSem was a hundred years old when he begot Arphaxad, two\nyears after the flood.\u201d--Genesis, xi. 10.]\n\n[Footnote 112: This second Cainan does not appear in the Hebrew or the\nSamaritan version.]\n\n[Footnote 113: Appendix (1).]\n\n[Footnote 114: Appendix (2).]\n\n[Footnote 115: Appendix (3).]\n\n[Footnote 116: Exodus, xx. 9-11.]\n\n[Footnote 117: Appendix (4), (5), (6).]\n\n[Footnote 118: See Gesenius, sub vocibus.]\n\n[Footnote 119: Appendix (7).]\n\n[Footnote 120: Appendix (8).]\n\n[Footnote 121: Appendix (9).]\n\n[Footnote 122: Appendix (10).]\n\n[Footnote 123: Appendix (11) (12).]\n\n[Footnote 124: Appendix (13) (14) (15).]\n\n[Footnote 125: Appendix (16).]\n\n[Footnote 126: In Genes. cap. i. Qu\u00e6st. xiv.]\n\n[Footnote 127: Appendix (17).]\n\n[Footnote 128: See his various works upon Genesis, passim; in\nparticular de Genesi ad Literam, Lib. i. cap. xv., Lib. iv. cap.\nxxxiii.; De Genesi Liber Imperfectus, cap. vii. and cap. ix.]\n\n[Footnote 129: This latter view might be fairly maintained in\nconformity with the principles which Saint Augustine professes to\nfollow in the interpretation of Genesis. See De Genesi ad Literam, Lib.\ni. cap. xxi. and cap. xxii.]\n\n[Footnote 130: See De Genesi ad Literam, Lib. i. cap. xv.; De Genesi\nLiber Imperfectus, cap. vii.; Confess., Lib. xii. cap. xxix.]\n\n[Footnote 131: 2 Peter, iii. 8.]\n\n[Footnote 132: Appendix (18) (19) (20).]\n\n[Footnote 133: Wisdom, ix. 13-16.]\n\n[Footnote 134: See Pianciani, Cosmogonia, pp. 384-90.]\n\n[Footnote 135: See Gesenius, Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old\nTestament Scriptures; in voce. He thus explains the first meaning\nof this word: \u201c_copulative_, and serves to connect both words and\nsentences, especially in _continuing a discourse_.\u201d]\n\n[Footnote 136: Appendix (21).]\n\n[Footnote 137: See De Genesi ad Literam, Lib. iv. capp. xxvi.-xxxv.,\nLib. v. cap. i. n. 3, and cap. iii. n. 6.]\n\n[Footnote 138: Ecclesiasticus, xviii. 1.]\n\n[Footnote 139: Appendix (22).]\n\n[Footnote 140: Appendix (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31).]\n\n[Footnote 141: See De Genesi ad Literam, Lib. iv. capp. xxvi., xxvii.;\nalso Lib. i. capp. x., xi., xii.]\n\n[Footnote 142: Appendix (32) (33) (34) (35) (36) (37).]\n\n[Footnote 143: Amos, viii. 11, 12.]\n\n[Footnote 144: Psalm ii. 7.]\n\n[Footnote 145: Heb. i. 5.]\n\n[Footnote 146: Jeremias, cap. l. vv. 24-32.]\n\n[Footnote 147: Jeremias, li. 1, 2.]\n\n[Footnote 148: Jeremias, xlvi. 3-10, 19-21.]\n\n[Footnote 149: Ezechiel, xxix. 19-21.]\n\n[Footnote 150: Ezechiel, xxx. 3-9.]\n\n[Footnote 151: Sophonias, v. 8-11, 14-17.]\n\n[Footnote 152: Isaias, xxix. 17-19.]\n\n[Footnote 153: Matth. xi. 4, 5.]\n\n[Footnote 154: John, viii. 56.]\n\n[Footnote 155: 2 Cor. vii. 1, 2.]\n\n[Footnote 156: Luke, xix. 41-43.]\n\n[Footnote 157: Dan. viii. 14.]\n\n[Footnote 158: Appendix (38) (39) (40) (41).]\n\n[Footnote 159: Exodus, xx. 9-11.]\n\n[Footnote 160: Exodus, xxiii. 10-12.]\n\n[Footnote 161: Leviticus, xxv. 2-7.]\n\n[Footnote 162: 2 Cor. v. 14, 15.]\n\n[Footnote 163: Matt. viii. 22; Luke, ix. 60.]\n\n[Footnote 164: John, xx. 17.]\n\n[Footnote 165: Rom. xiii. 12, 13.]\n\n[Footnote 166: I. Thessal. v. 4, 5.]\n\n[Footnote 167: Amos, viii. 9.]\n\n[Footnote 168: Appendix (42) (43).]\n\n[Footnote 169: Gen. i. 11, 12.]\n\n[Footnote 170: The Testimony of the Rocks, p. 125.]\n\n[Footnote 171: Genesis, i. 20, 21.]\n\n[Footnote 172: Testimony of the Rocks, p. 126.]\n\n[Footnote 173: Genesis, i. 24, 25.]\n\n[Footnote 174: Testimony of the Rocks, pp. 127, 128.]\n\n[Footnote 175: Elements of Geology, p. 100.]\n\n[Footnote 176: \u201cAliquid esse a Deo conditum, de quo sileat liber\nGenesis, nihil repugnat.\u201d Saint Augustine, Confess. Lib. xii., cap.\nxxii.]\n\n[Footnote 177: Appendix (44).]\n\n[Footnote 178: Ecclesiastes, iii. 2.]\n\n\n[Transcriber's Note:\n\nInconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]","title":"Geology and Revelation: or, the Ancient History of the Earth, considered in the geological facts and revealed religion.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":114435}